STARCROSSED ▷ steve harrington

14. epilogue

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE GATE
EPILOGUE

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𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

JACKIE CURLED MAX'S hair, twirling one strand of it around her finger as the piece fell onto her shoulders. She continued through her thick locks until her entire head was curled before brushing them out so they looked more natural. Max smiled at her in the mirror. "Are you sure you can't chaperone or anything?"

Jackie chuckled softly, "no offense, but I've had enough babysitting gigs for a lifetime. Besides, Steve and I have plans."

Max shimmied her shoulders suggestively, and the two of them broke out into a fit laughter, which was quickly cut short when Billy appeared at the doorway. They stared at him in silence, until a weird emotion flickered across his face, and he walked away. Neither Max nor Jackie had bothered trying to mend the relationship with their step-brother, he didn't deserve it.

Although, for some reason, a part of Jackie felt guilty. She knew why Billy was the way he was, but that wasn't an excuse. Especially for what he did to Lucas just because of his skin color, as much as Billy tried to deny it, Jackie knew the true reasoning behind it. Not to mention the fact that he punched Jackie in the face—twice. And he gave Steve a black eye which lasted a week and a half.

"Jeez," Max said with another laugh, this time it was a little nervous, as if she was afraid talking about Billy would upset her sister. "He's so weird."

"You look really pretty, Max," Jackie complimented, her voice soft as she gazed at her sister, who had a tad of makeup on as well. She was surprised she even got Max to wear a dress, her sister was a tomboy to the extreme. It was so hard seeing the people you loved grow up, Jackie wanted Max to be little for forever.

"Shut up," she lightly shoved her shoulder, pretending there wasn't a blush forming on her face.

"Steve should be here to pick us up in a few minutes, so make sure you're ready."

"Okay, mom." Max replied, and Jackie flipped her off as she walked out of the room to get changed herself.

When Steve arrived, Jackie climbed into the front seat as Max plopped herself in the back. "Ladies," he greeted. Steve leaned over to give Jackie a kiss on the cheek, making the two younger teens in the backseat mime gagging. Jackie laughed in response, sticking her tongue out at the both of them. "Tell Dustin his hair looks good."

Jackie turned in her seat to look at him, her eyebrows raising in amusement. "Did you seriously take advice from Steve? Come on, Dustin. You know better."

"Does it look bad?"

"No," she answered quickly. "It's just...new. And new is good sometimes." As Steve shifted the gear into drive, Christmas music played softly over the radio, and Jackie looked out the window, wondering if Indiana got snow. California definitely didn't, and she had never seen it before. Steve pulled up to the school, and Max hopped out with a small wave goodbye. "Have fun!"

"Yeah, yeah," she slammed the door shut with an extreme eye roll, which told Jackie she wasn't serious.

"Jesus, one of these times she's gonna make my hinges fall off."

Jackie let out a bark of laughter, her gaze on her sister as she walked into the school. Dustin, however, still sat in the backseat. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet. You look great."

"She's right, you do. Remember, once you get in there..."

"Pretend I don't care."

"You don't care."

"I don't care!"

"That's it, you're learning my friend. You're learning."

"But also, don't be afraid to ask a girl to dance," Jackie said with a sigh, giving Steve a knowing look. "So for that, you might sorta kinda have to care. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Now you're gonna go in there," Steve instructed.

"Yeah."

"Look like a million bucks."

"Yeah!"

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead."

"Like a lion," Dustin said with a slight head nod, purring as he showed off his pearls.

"Don't do that," Jackie and Steve said in unison.

"Don't," Jackie repeated. "I would immediately reject your request to dance if you purr at me like a cat."

"Right," Dustin said, "got it. No purring."

Finally, he climbed out of the car, and Steve let out a sigh, leaning against his seat. Jackie lightly smacked his arm.

"Stop giving him bad dating advice!"

"It's not bad," Steve defended, holding his hands up in surrender. "It's worked before."

"Right," she sounded unconvinced as she turned to look at Dustin who was standing at the door talking to someone. "Think he'll be okay?"

"If he's not, I'm sure you can handle whoever hurts his feelings." Jackie laughed, grabbing his hand over the console. "So, what movie do you wanna see for our first date as an official couple?"

She pulled a mock thinking face. "Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure you owe me a big ass bucket of popcorn and a cinema date."

He sighed dramatically, and bowed his head. "As you wish, my fair maiden."

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authors note

(rewritten as of 3/15/21. i will admit i feel like i had them move a little fast but this was my first oc x character fic ever so i didn't really plan ahead. i apologize LMAOO)

that's a wrap!! i'm literally so shocked i finished this so quickly. the inspo was pouring out of me like water it was crazy

thank you guys for reading! i'll give details about s3 soon!

also don't remove this book from ur library! i'm adding next season to this as well.