wires, steve harrington

seventeen.

after steve's brilliant discovery, the group all made their way to their respective vehicles. "tomorrow will we be doing more translations?" robin asked while steve swung his arm, his fingers intertwined with meadow's.

"maybe. i have to go to work tomorrow since i didn't today." meadow replied, looking over at robin.

"where do you work?" robin asked in response, realizing that she'd never asked.

meadow smiled. "i'm a lifeguard at the pool this summer."

dustin nodded. "yeah, with billy."

steve instantly stopped in his tracks, and meadow bit her lip as robin and dustin turned to look at them. "what." steve said, his voice quiet, as if he didn't believe his ears. "what?" he repeated, looking down at meadow, whose hand had begun to get nervously sweaty.

"uh.. yeah, billy works at the pool, too." she replied, avoiding eye contact with him. she hadn't intended to tell steve, and she certainly hadn't intended to tell him in front of other people.

steve's jaw clenched. "so.. so you work with billy?" meadow nodded, finally making eye contact. dustin and robin awkwardly walked away, wanting to avoid whatever conversation was about to go down.

"i'll be in the car." dustin said. "sorry." he then sped off in the direction of meadow's car, leaving her with steve, whose expression was unreadable.

"yeah. yeah. it's no big deal, really. i avoid him at all costs." meadow turned so she was standing in front of steve, finally looking him in the eyes. "seriously, please don't get worked up about it."

the boy scoffed a little. "so you mean to tell me.. the guy who nearly killed me.. works with you? and sees you every day while i don't?" meadow nodded, a slight smile escaping her lips. "what, why are you smiling?"

"because you're cute when you're jealous." she replied, making him look away for a minute. "you seriously have nothing to worry about. i don't like him, and i don't have to actually hang out with him at work.. it's fine."

steve nodded, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "i trust you, i just don't trust him." he explained, thinking of all the horrible things billy could do to her.

meadow shook her head. "you have nothing to worry about." she repeated, getting into her toes to kiss his lips. when she pulled away, she could tell that something was still bothering him. "what?"

he bit his lip, looking down at his feet. "you promised you'd tell me if things went wrong, remember?" he said, making eye contact with her again. "i just.. i'm not mad, or anything, i just.. i want you to be able to talk to me. even about things like this; even if you think i'll be mad."

her gaze softened. that's why he was upset.. he just wanted her to tell him the truth. she mentally cursed herself for not thinking about how he'd feel about their relationship, instead only thinking about him being mad at billy. she didn't even think that he'd feel insecure in himself, or in their relationship.

"hey." she muttered, making him look at her. "i love you. and i know i can talk to you about anything, more than i can to anyone else. i'm sorry i didn't tell you about this, though. i just didn't want it to be a big deal, you know?"

steve nodded. "yeah, i get it. i probably wouldn't have wanted to say anything, either." he admitted in understanding. after a moment, he let out a loud sigh of relief, his knees bending as he leaned back dramatically. "i feel so much better now, whew."

meadow laughed, looking up at him. "i'm glad."

the two said goodbye and meadow drove home with dustin, unprepared for what was to happen tomorrow.