Emma || Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove

017. Confusion

A/N: This double update is me making up for not posting for over a week. This is a little bit of the calm before the storm that will be the next chapter :)

*Emma's POV*

I got back to Hawkins from California a few weeks before school was supposed to start back up again. I was excited to get to see Jane and my parents and all my friends from school again because as weird as it may sound, I really missed Indiana. I missed my friends and I even missed the cold a little bit. The first night I got back, I basically just had dinner with my parents and got myself ready to go babysit Jane the next day. I'd spoken to Nancy a few times, and she'd told me that how the kids were now able to go see her and how happy they all were, so I was really excited to get to see them all and how they interacted. That next morning, my mom drove me to the cabin at around 8AM.

"Emma," Hopper smiled at me, "How are you kid? Jane's missed you."

"Hi chief," I smile back, "I've missed her too. I've been ready to come back for a few weeks now."

"Well, she's right inside. I think Mike and some of the other kids are coming by a little bit later. I told Jane to tell them not to cause you too much trouble," he said, "I'll be back at around 4, is that okay?" I smiled and nodded before we said our goodbyes and I entered the room.

"Emma!" Jane exclaimed as I walked inside. I was taken a little bit by surprise when she ran to me and pulled me into a tight hug. I didn't think she'd miss me all that much. "Guess what?"

"What's up kiddo?" I asked with a big smile on my face.

"I start school soon," she said excitedly, "with Mike and Dustin and Lucas and Will and you!"

"You're not getting homeschooled anymore?" I asked in surprise. She shook her head no. "That's great! I bet you're super excited."

"Yes," she smiled, "My friends are coming later."

"Yeah, Hop told me," I responded, "Will it just be the four boys coming or Max too?"

"Max too," she frowned.

"Do we not like Max?" I chuckled. She shrugged. "She's a really sweet girl, sweetie," I told her, "She reminds me of you a lot."

"How was California?" she asked, completely changing the topic.

"It was good," I smiled, "I really missed you and everyone in Hawkins though."

We kept talking for a little while longer. Knowing what I knew about her, I was very impressed with how far her vocabulary had come and how much she was talking to me. She was so smart and such an interesting person, I felt really bad for everything she'd had to go through, and it only made her that much more of a badass in my eyes.

After an hour or two, there was a knock on the door. I opened it to see Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Max all standing there. I quickly let them inside and they made their way over to Jane after saying hi to me. I looked past them as I began closing the door and gasped when I saw Steve leaning against his car.

"Jane, honey, I'm gonna go outside for a quick second, yeah? I'll be right back yell for me if you need anything," I called. I got a quick okay from her and I started walking out. "Hey," I smiled as I approached him.

"Hey," he smiled back. We stood there for a few seconds before he pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tucked my head into his neck. His grip around my waist tightened. "I missed you, peanut," he said.

"Peanut?" I giggled.

"Yeah, I'd forgotten how small you were," he said, "and now you remind me of a peanut." I laughed as I pulled away from the hug. "When did you get back?" he asked.

"Just yesterday," I told him, "how was your summer?"

"It was good," he answered, "not too eventful. I just worked for my dad, picked up a few shifts at the station with Hopper. How about you?"

"It was good too," I said, "Oddly though, I missed Hawkins a ton." I looked back at the house and let out a quiet laugh when I saw the kids staring out the window at the two of us. "I think I should probably get back inside," I said as I turned back to face Steve, "You're their ride, right?" I questioned. He nodded. "You're more than welcome to come inside if you want," I told him, "so you don't have to drive home and then back here when it's time for them to go home."

"That would be really nice, actually," he said. I nodded him over as I started walking back towards the cabin. I heard his footsteps behind me and then stopped at the door, waiting for him to enter before me before I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. The kids were all sitting on the couches by that point, looking very suspicious.

"Did you guys kiss?" Lucas asked out of nowhere, making me laugh with discomfort.

"No," Steve said, blushing.

"What the hell, man?" Dustin burst out, "What happened to all the things you said you'd do when she came back from California?" I turned to Steve with raised eyebrows and he blushed more. He glared at Dustin, making me and everyone else laugh.

"Alright, leave Steve alone," I smiled, "Go play or whatever you came to do." The rest of the day was pretty fun. Steve and I ended up spending a lot of time with the kids, and they were just as sweet to Jane, or Eleven as they all insisted I call her. They were all really nice. I even noticed Max and Eleven starting to get along a little more by the time they left than when they'd arrived. They left shortly before Hopper got there and my mom came and picked me up. She told me she had something waiting for me when I got home, but she wouldn't tell me what it was.

Let me just tell you it wasn't a "what" it was a who. Billy was upstairs in my room waiting for me with flowers and chinese takeout. The gesture made my heart flutter since that was our thing back in California. We'd do movie nights or stuff like that with chinese takeout from our favorite restaurant. I smiled at him and I ran to go hug him.

"Billy, I missed you so much!" I exclaimed, "You have no idea how weird it was being back home without you there after being here with you."

"You have no idea how much more this place sucked when you left," he chuckled, "I tried calling a few times, but you weren't home when I did."

"Yeah, I'm so sorry," I told him, "It was kind of hectic with college visits and all that stuff."

"It's okay, I get it," he smiled, "How about we eat this Chinese food and then I take you to go see The Return of the Living Dead?" I smiled and nodded eagerly. Watching horror movies had always been our thing back home and a tradition I'd certainly missed.

I had a lot of fun that night. I was happy that I still had my two best friends and that Jane was in a much better place now. Overall, I'd say my first day back was a success. The only thing that wasn't exactly great was that I still didn't know what was going on with me and Steve, or Billy for that matter. Being back and seeing the both of them only confused my feelings for them even more. When I was in California, I'd convinced myself that I just wanted to be just friends with them both, but now I wasn't sure about what I felt towards either one of them.