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   EVERYONE IS SQUISHED INTO Billy's car—everyone except Casey and Stella because one of them—Stella—refused to ride in a car that a 13 year old girl is driving. No, no, Max and Dustin convinced them that Joyce would be okay with them stealing her car.

Paisley is trying to hold Brooke's pounding head up. Tires screech and the engine revs as Max can just barely reach the pedals of the car. Brooke's head swirls, her world is moving so fast. Steve's movement next to her makes her shift in her seat. Paisley holds an ice pack to Steve's head. Bruises and dried blood on his face are much worse compared to Brooke's face. Steve pants heavily. His eyes shift from the gasoline in Mike's hand to Mike's face but in his blurry state, Steve mistakes Mike for someone else.

"Nancy?" Mike frowns at Steve. Brooke closes her eyes tightly and then opens them again. Steve reaches groggily for his face but Paisley and Dustin move his hand. "Hey, no, Steve," Paisley mothers him. "Yeah, no, don't touch it," Dustin gently tells him. Steve now turns his head towards the other three. Paisley and Dustin smile at him, greeting him like a hurt child. The shushes from them echo in Steve's head.

Brooke weakly turns to look at him. He looks like shit. The brunette lets out a string of giggles at Steve's dazed state and Dustin's attempt at reassuring him that he's fine.

"Okay, you're gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai," Lucas directs someone that is definitely not Paisley because she's currently holding Brooke on her lap.

Both the injured teens sit up. "What's going on?" Steve's voice is rough. Brooke swats Paisley's hand that is trying to prevent her from moving, "Who's—who's driving?"

Max looks back at them and Brooke's eyes nearly pop out of her head. In normal circumstances—maybe she'd be okay with Max trying to get a few early driving lessons in but not in a fucking Camaro. "Oh, my God!" Steve shouts. "Max? Max! Stop the car!" Brooke frantically yells. "Told you they'd flip their lids," Danny scoffs.

Paisley nervously smiles down at Brooke, "You're okay. Just relax." Brooke doesn't even remember getting into the car. Everything has been a blur to her. The last thing she remembers is a massive migraine while putting a bandaid on Steve and then—boom—she practically blacked out, went on autopilot.

"She's driven before," Dustin tries to explain but they still squirm under their friends that are trying to help them. "Yeah, in a parking lot—"

"That counts!" Mike and Lucas argue. "No, it doesn't!" Danny adds on. The movement and speed of the car suddenly scares Brooke even more. "Oh, my God!" Steve repeats. Her heart rate increases rapidly as she pulls herself forward using the front seat headrests. "Brooke, sit back!" Paisley tries to pull her back but Brooke's grip digs into the seats. "You've driven faster than this!" Danny yells at his sister.

"Legally! With a license!" Brooke looks over her shoulder at Danny and then back at the road. Max steps even harder on the gas pedal. "Whoa, whoa! What's going on?" Steve tries to grip onto anything, including the end of Brooke's hoodie. "Fuck this! Max!" Brooke reaches forwards for the steering wheel, still half dazed. "No! No!" The kids and Paisley shout. Max freaks out and puts the pedal to the metal. Steve and Brooke let out a scream all while asking her to slow the car down.

"We told you they'd freak out!" Mike yells. "My exact words were, Brooke doesn't like me driving my quad, nonetheless a car!" Danny yells.

  Paisley finally gets a grip on Brooke's waist and pulls her back. "Paisley, let me go!" Brooke fights back.

"Stop the car!" Steve yells. Max loses her cool, "Everybody shut up! I'm trying to focus!" Her yelling only increases the anxiety in Steve and Brooke. His hand is still gripping her black hoodie. "Oh, wait, that's Mount Sinai. Make a left!" Lucas quickly yells at Max. "What?" Max asks.

"Make a left!" Paisley and Lucas shout at the redhead. Max abruptly makes the left turn, hitting a mailbox and nearly sending Brooke into the backside of the passenger door. Everyone is screaming now. Steve and Brooke somehow end up gripping each other's arms desperately as they scream their lungs out all the way till Max drifts in the dirt next to the portal. Once Brooke is able to fully determine that the car is actually stopped and it's just her head spinning, she realizes where her hands are.

"Hello!" Steve randomly shouts.

Brooke lets go of Steve and pushes him by the chest which makes him let go in return. Steve blinks a few times but stabilizes himself as best as he can. "Never again," Danny lets out a nervous chuckle.

Max puts the car in park, a smug look on her face, "I told you. Zoomer."

Brooke rolls practically out of the car and onto the ground. "No, no more Zoomer," Brooke pants. The pain in her head only worsens as she pushes herself up. Steve falls onto the ground on the other side of the car, groaning loudly.

Brooke tries to stumble over to the other side but Danny shoves a set of blue goggles and a red bandana into her hands. They get the rest of the gear but Brooke keeps looking between Paisley and the items in her hands. "What is all this shit?" Brooke's rough voice surprises her. Her hand rubs at her throat.

As much as Brooke wants to watch the Upside Down burn, the idea of her going down there, surrounded by Demogorgons and Demodogs, makes her a bit sick. She really wants a Demogorgon rug though.

"We're, uh, going down there," Max tells her. "I'll stay, uh, up here. Yeah?" Stella smiles. A wave in her tone as she shakily hands Casey the gear she picked up. Casey frowns, he doesn't want to go down there alone, without Stella. Everything feels better with Stella but he also doesn't want the risk of both her and Brooke getting hurt. Knowing that Stella is set in her ways, Casey takes the gear.

Paisley snaps the purple goggles onto her face and nudges Brooke, "Go help, Harrington." Brooke nearly chokes on her own spit, "Why me? Casey, help Steve." Casey makes the same face that Brooke did, cocking his head back and frowning, "He'll be fine."

The cut on Brooke's lip splits up and it reminds her how fucked up Steve is. She begrudgingly walks over to him, hissing in pain every couple steps. Steve stands against the car door, the only thing holding his weak body up, "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Mike ignores him, the headlights light up his body and the gasoline in hand. "What are you, deaf? Hello?" Steve yells, "We are not going down there right now. I made myself clear!"

His words fall on silent ears. "Steve," Brooke holds her head, "Don't yell!" Brooke says but yells in his face anyway. Steve waves his hand in front of Brooke's face, "Paisley! You're letting them do this?"

Paisley shrugs, "I tried to stop them."

Steve bites on the inside of his cheeks, "Yeah, sure," He whispers but Paisley hears him. She raises an eyebrow, "I can rip those goddamn band aids right off, Harrington."

"This ends right now!" Steve continues to yell and grabs some random things from the trunk, throwing it. "Steve, you're upset, I get it. While you two boxers were dazed and knocked out, we all established a plan. But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe," Dustin pulls out a bag that includes the infamous nailed bat, "So, keep us safe."

Brooke sighs and puts the goggles onto her face. The shitty plastic only makes her world slightly blurry. Casey steps in front of her, a soft smile, "Need help gettin' down?" Brooke's eyes light up a bit but her stubborn side quickly takes over, "No, no. How's your head?"

Steve side eyes the conversation happening less than a foot away from him, scoffing as he pulls out the eyesore that is the big yellow goggles. "Could be better," Casey shrugs. They both stand awkwardly for a second. Casey can feel his hands sweat more and more as he leans forwards. A quick peck on the cheek from Casey makes Brooke's back hit the Camaro. She gets her shit together, "That was, uh, cheesy."

Casey presses his lips together, trying to scan over Brooke's face in the dark but can't figure out if she wants him dead or not. It's like one second he has Brooke figured out but in reality, she's the most confusing person on this planet to him.

He steps away, "See you down there, soldier."

Brooke finds herself watching him walk away while Steve finds himself hating Casey more and more. Totally because of how cocky he's being when they're going on a suicide mission. Steve pulls out the red bandana and turns to Brooke who has the same red bandana wrapped around her face already. Brooke notices the red material and laughs.

"We're matching," Steve says. Brooke scoffs, walking away but looking over at a defeated Steve.

Brooke takes a deep breath as she stands over the hole leading to hell. "Come down, I got you," Paisley motions. Brooke dangles her foot over the entrance. "Fuck," Brooke curses and sits down. Paisley stands below her to make sure her leg doesn't get damaged anymore.

Dirt flies up around the two girls. Arms wrap around each other as Brooke throws her head back in pain. "You're okay," Paisley reassures her. Brooke stiffly nods. She takes in everything around her. The tunnels and odd quietness that takes her in.

Steve jumps down, "Holy shit." Stella stands over the hole in the ground, waving down at the others, "Don't die! Understand me, Casey?" The brunette boy throws a thumbs up at her and she returns it.

Particles of the Upside Down float around Paisley and Brooke who still have their hands laced together. Every step is another squelching noise. Mike points the flashlight at the makeshift map, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's this way."

"You're pretty sure or you're certain?" Dustin asks. "I'm 100% sure. Just follow me and you'll know," Mike yells and starts walking like it's the local supermarket that he would know from front to back. Paisley grabs Mike by the back of his jacket, "Hold on, trackstar. Any of you die it's on us, so," Paisley steps forwards, "Steve, go ahead!" Brooke laughs a bit. Steve shines his flashlight right in the girls faces and then at Casey, "He's there."

Brooke presses her lips together even though he can't see it under the bandana, "And Casey is a stoner that runs on beef jerky. Go ahead, Steven." Steve can see the evil smile that creeps onto Brooke's face even under their matching red material. She's ridiculous, Steve thinks. Casey turns back confused as to why everyone seems to be looking at him, "What? What'd I do?"

Lucas shrugs, "I don't know. Brooke doesn't hate you—rare. Very rare." Casey plants his hands on his hips having no idea what to say to the kid. He's an only kid and still the youngest out of his cousins so dealing with kids isn't exactly his forte.

Steve sighs, "Okay, from here on out, I'm leading the way. Come on, let's go!" His flashlight bounces off the dark tunnel walls. Brooke starts to walk with only a slight limp, the pounding of her head is now worse than the pain in her leg. "Hey, a little hustle!" Steve calls out. "Shut up, Steve!" Paisley and Brooke both yell to the forced group leader. Steve sucks on his teeth, looking over his shoulder and through the dark at Brooke.

Minutes feel like forever when everything looks the same in the tunnels. Still taking in everything around her, Brooke feels like she's in a horrible nightmare. "God, what is this place?" Max quietly asks. Brooke wishes she could give a proper answer but everything that pops into her head is sarcastic so she just moves along like Steve says to.

"Is Stella okay?" Brooke asks with a nudge to Casey next to her. Casey knows Stella like the back of his hand, he knows the answer is no, absolutely not but he doesn't want to worry Brooke more, "Yeah, she's fine. She's probably listening to the radio on full blast right now."

Dustin's screams ring through everyone's ears. Brooke and Danny shot a look at each other before they run towards the sound of Dustin in distress. "Help! Help! Help!" Steve speeds up but the boys get there before him. Dustin falls to the floor in front of them. They each call out for their friend, worried and confused as to what's wrong. Brooke somehow speeds up, her and Steve shove the boys out of the way. "What? What happened?" Steve frantically yells. Brooke steps closer to Dustin to examine him but she finds no cuts or wounds, "What's wrong?" She asks, scanning over what she can see of his face.

Dustin whimpers, "It's in my mouth! Some got in my mouth! Shit!" He starts coughing right in Brooke's face. All the flashlights are on him as he continues to cough up a lung. "Dustin, you'll be okay—" Danny is cut off by another coughing fit from Dustin. The curly haired boy spits onto the ground and then looks up at them, bandanna hanging from his neck, "I'm okay."

Everyone sighs and rolls their eyes. "Very funny, man," Steve says, walking away from the kid. Brooke pulls Dustin off the ground when she realizes the group has started to walk away without them, "Come on, little shit."

"I'm going. I'm going!" Dustin roughly tugs away from Brooke. They catch up with the others right as they find the hub. "Woah, holy fuck," Brooke curses. "Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub," Steve says. Brooke does a 360, looking at each of the tunnels that lead to where they stand.

"Let's drench it," Mike says.

They get to work pouring gasoline everywhere and anywhere. Once the group feels satisfied they go back to the tunnel they came from, standing in it, ready to run from the flames.

Brooke and Steve crouch in front of the others. "Light the motherfucker up, Harrington," Brooke smiles. Steve smirks, "You're getting too much enjoyment out of this," He tilts her head and Brooke matches him. Steve flicks the lighter on, "I'm in such deep shit," He says between pants.

Brooke is holding her own hands in anticipation, watching the flame from the lighter dance. Steve throws the lighter. It hits the ground and a burst of heat hits all of them. Steve glances at Brooke, the flames reflecting onto her brown eyes through the goggles.

Casey watches the fire spread, "Fuck, alright, let's go!" He claps his gloved hands. They all start running through the tunnels. The flames feel as though they're right in Brooke's back.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Steve repeats, following the shitty map. Brooke shuffles Danny forward. Her anxiety starting to get the best of her once again. Paisley walks along behind Brooke. She trips a bit and steadies herself thinking that's all it was. Something snakes around her ankle. Paisley falls to the ground, "Help! Shit! Help me!" Paisley cries out. She tries desperately to kick at the vine that has a tight grip on her.

Brooke's hairs stand up on the back of her neck, "Paisley? Paisley!" She runs towards her only to forget she doesn't have a weapon. The kids immediately start tugging at Paisley trying to free her. Steve freaks out hearing Paisley cry out for help. He runs over, "Everybody move!" Steve smacks the vine and it screams in pain at the nails digging into it. Brooke swallows hard as the vine splits and unwraps from Paisley's ankle. A hand rests on the top of her back. Brooke flinches and turns towards Casey.

Once the vine is gone, the kids pull Paisley up, each asking if she's okay. She catches her breath, "T—Thank you, Steve."

Steve pants, licking his lips, "Yeah, no problem. That's what friends are for, right?" Paisley wishes he could see the soft smile under the mask she has on. Friends. She always thought they were, ever since everything last year but it's never been said out loud.

Brooke finally averts her stare from a blushing Casey to the group, "Alright, we gotta go—" Growling from in front of the kids makes Brooke let out a scream and practically jump into Casey's arms. She swallows whatever dignity she has left and her eyes widen at the Demodogs in front of them. "No, fuck this! Steve, give me the bat!" Brooke tries to grab it but Steve steps back from her. "No! No! It's Dart!" Dustin tells the group.

Bullshit, Brooke thinks. She once again reaches for the bat but Steve shakes his head, pointing at Dustin walking towards the supposed Dart. They all yell at him to not go near it but he shushes them, "Trust me!"

Brooke holds her head in her hands, "He's crazy! He's batshit!" She harshly whispers. Dustin crouches down in front of Dart. Brooke can't hear much but she does hear it snarl as it opens up its mouth at Dustin. They all jump a bit but Dustin continues to talk to it.

"He's insane," Lucas whispers. "Shut up!" Max tells him, not wanting to get eaten thanks to Lucas' big mouth. Brooke watches Dustin give his odd pet a Nougat bar which lets them pass through. Brooke very, very carefully steps past him. Dustin bids Dart a farewell, putting his mask back up and walking with the others.

All seems well as the group gets closer to the surface, jumping and running. Suddenly, they all lose their footing as the ground rumbles violently beneath them. Brooke's fall isn't that bad though, Steve cushions her fall. "You okay?" Steve asks, hands trying to gently lift her off of him.

   The ground stops shaking. "Fine," Brooke answers. The monsters roar in the distance. Brooke looks at Steve, "I lied. Not fine."

"What was that?" Max asks. It roars again but this time from the other side. "I think they want a family size Nougat bar, Dustin," Casey pants. He swallows back his anxiety. The blunt waiting for him on his dresser becomes more and more enticing. "Run! Run!" Mike yells. They all listen and soon enough find the hole they dropped down from. "Go, go, go! Let's go!" Steve rushes them. He pulls all the kids up with the help of Stella grabbing the kids hands.

Everyone is up except Paisley, Brooke and Steve. The monsters shriek and the three panic. "Paisley, go!" Brooke pushes her best. friend towards the rope. "What? No! You're injured!" Paisley retorts. This isn't the time to argue. "Go! Steve's got me!" Brooke reassures Paisley. A year ago Brooke would've thought Steve would sacrifice her before anything but now a part of her trusts him—even with her life. Paisley looks between the two nervously, "Steve—"

"I got her!" He yells. Paisley sighs and starts to climb the rope. Paisley's hand grabs Max's right as the Demodogs turn the corner on her two friends below her. Steve takes a step in front of Brooke, fingers grip the bat. Her heart feels like it might explode. So many of them turn the corner and both of them accept the brutal death they're about to face together.

Brooke opens her eyes realizing all they're doing is running past them. As more and more come, Steve protectively grabs Brooke, bringing her closer to him. Brooke doesn't have the thought process to yell at him or deny the touch, all she's thinking of is El and Hopper.

"It's Eleven," Brooke whispers, looking up at Steve. Steve nods, "Yeah, yeah. Okay, go, go. I got you," Steve hoists Brooke up. She quickly climbs the rope and reaches the surface. Steve groans as the rope burns into his skin the faster he climbs it. Brooke grabs Steve's hand, pulling him up and onto the ground.

"I got you," She says, genuinely meaning it. Brooke wonders to herself how far she'd go with the words.

  They stand up but the headlights of the cars blind them. Brooke's arm blocks the light but she smiles, she smiles brightly because she knows it means Will is okay. It means Hopper, Cory and El are okay. The same smile is on Danny's face, "Will," He whispers.

THE MICROWAVE BEEPS LETTING Paisley know the frozen burritos are ready. Brooke and Steve are slumped on the couch trying to figure out how badly they're fucked up. Bruises are now darker on both their faces. A shitty romance movie plays. The TV is the only light on. "Burritos!" Paisley yells as she takes a big bite into her own. She places the plates on the coffee table in front of them.

"My body—it hurts," Brooke complains. Once the adrenaline had died down all their injuries hit them at once. Steve has no idea why he stumbled into the Slora household, he just knows he didn't want to go to his own. Their couch is comfy though—that's a bonus. "I'm not feeding you. Get up," Paisley tells them. Steve and Brooke flop their heads towards each other. Not an ill word has been spoken between the two in hours. It's the normal banter but nothing that would hurt the others feelings. God, is Paisley thankful for that.

Brooke's head feels like a bowling ball as she lifts her head on the couch, "Burrito..." She trails off. Paisley smiles at Brooke but pouts at Steve, "Harrington—"

"Okay, okay. Shit. I'll eat the burrito," Steve waves her off. Satisfied, Paisley leaves the living room to check on Cory.

"Did you really beat up Billy for me?" Steve's words are muffled. Brooke gags watching the bits of burrito fall out from his bruised mouth.

"Who the hell said it was for you?" Brooke raises an eyebrow and Steve raises one right back. The two stare at each other waiting for an answer from the other. Steve is fighting back a small smile as he subtly looks over the girl's features. A cut lip and a bruise forming on her cheek.

Brooke looks away shyly, taking a bite into the microwaved burrito.

"You can't be seeing much with your eye fucked up, Harrington. You owe me one. And a burrito."

Steve sucks on his teeth and his head falls against the cushion of the couch, "I don't owe you shit, Martel. You're still insufferable even after saving my life. This isn't even your burrito!" Brooke laughs, "So you admit Billy was gonna kill you if we didn't stop it?"

Steve shoves his face into the cushion now, realizing he admitted defeat, as if the fucked up face didnt already admit that. He stays quiet. His body is drained from going through alternate dimensions. Yet, being in Paisley Slora's house with Brooke Martel is one of the weirdest things about his night.

Brooke stares at him, continuing to eat her burrito. He looks—peaceful when he shuts the fuck up. She decides to leave him be and gets up to go into the kitchen to find Paisley addressing her own wounds.

"How's the King doin' in there?"

"He owes me a burrito."

ONE MONTH LATER

BROOKE SMILES AT DANNY adjusting his tie for the SnowBall. Mike's words have made Brooke fight more to see Danny, not just to sneak to her old house but to sit in the house, not just the roof. So, when Danny had called her saying he needed help with his tie, Brooke ran over.

"I did it right, Danny," Brooke rolls her eyes. Danny puts his hands on his hips, "Why are you even coming?"

Brooke puts a hand to her heart, she's offended but her dramatics let her play it off as a joke, "I can't watch my little siblings dance the night away? Plus, maybe I wanna see which girl you have the guts to ask to dance." Danny tenses up, his hands stop moving with his tie, "I'm not—gonna ask a girl to dance."

Brooke pulls her lip between her teeth, wondering if her next question will fuck everything up even though she's always wondered. She takes a deep breath and pushes herself off the wall. No one is home. The house is quiet. All you can hear is the occasional tick from the clock downstairs.

"Would you wanna ask a boy?" Brooke asks. Danny turns pale white. He turns towards his sister like a creepy doll and that's enough of an answer for Brooke. She chokes back her tears as she crouches down in front of him, it's not her time to cry.

"It's okay to ask a boy. It's okay to love a boy. It's okay, Danny," Brooke holds his face in her hands. Danny knits his eyebrows together. He's always known that something was—off. He never understood the conversations about girls that Lucas, Mike and Dustin have. For a while, he thought it was just because Brooke raised him to be respectful but he seeing John Travolta in Grease made something click in his head and suddenly he was agreeing with the boys words but for boys.

Danny can't manage to get a word out, he just nods, happy that Brooke accepts him. She steps back, "Oh, yeah. Did Shawn know I was the one—"

"That broke the window? You were on the list but he couldn't narrow it down between the assholes at work and you so, you're okay," Danny laughs.

   There's no reason to make it a big thing if Danny doesn't want it to be. Brooke smiles, sniffling, "I have to go get ready. The Byers are taking you though, right?" Danny nods yes. Brooke walks out of the room but pops her head back in, "I'll see you later! You look handsome!" She shouts as she walks down the stairs.

PAISLEY LAST MINUTE CANCELLED on giving Brooke a ride to the SnowBall, claiming she forgot she promised to hangout with someone. Brooke has to be there earlier than the kids so Hopper can't give her a ride, plus, he's struggling enough with El picking an eyeshadow color.

The black and white dress slides up a bit as Brooke sits in the back of Steve's BMW, the same one a month ago she nearly puked out of the window of. Steve stares for all too long in the mirror, watching Brooke adjust her dark purple eyeshadow using a compact mirror.

"Why are you in the back?" He asks, breaking the very, very thin layer of ice there is between them. Things are better between them. Steve almost wants to call Paisley and Brooke his best friends but Brooke still might stab him if he says that. "It's Dustin's day, not mine. Thanks for the ride by the way, Steven," Brooke giggles and closes the mirror. Steve starts the car, "Don't call me that, dumbass."

Brooke shrugs, leaning forward between the seats to blast the radio. Runaway by Bon Jovi fills the car.

STEVE STOPS IN FRONT of the school. The gym is pretty much almost empty because they got there early thanks to Brooke. "Here we are," Steve whispers. Dustin nervously stares at the building.

"Pretend like I don't care," Dustin says. Steve repeats the horrible advice. "There you go, you're learning my friend," Steve says like a proud papa. Brooke can't deal with it, "Dustin, don't listen to him. Girls love when you care." Dustin is frazzled a bit, two people he trusts and look up to giving him opposite advice. He decides to ignore the both of them and looks at himself using Steve's mirror.

"Hey," Steve blocks the mirror, "Come on, you look great. You look—you look great. Now, you're gonna go in there, look like a million bucks. And you're gonna slay 'em dead!" Steve hypes Dustin up. Brooke rolls her eyes but on the inside she feels warm in chest. It's odd. Gross, even.

"Like a lion," Dustin says before purring. Steve and Brooke glance at each other. "Don't—Don't do that," Brooke tells him. "Okay," Dustin softly says.

Brooke opens the door, "Alright, Dustin, let's go, my boy." Dustin and Steve shake hands before Dustin leaves the car. Steve takes a deep breath, "Brooke!" He calls out for her. Brooke groans knowing she has to walk over in heels. She leans into the car with a fake smile, "Steve!" She shouts into the car. Steve rolls his eyes, "Wanna hang out tomorrow?"

It's nothing new for the past month that Steve would ask Brooke to hang out, she'd pretend to be annoyed but agree. This time though, Brooke's face drops a bit, "Oh, I'm actually hanging out with Casey tomorrow and not taking your shitty advice."

Steve wants to pretend like his heart didn't drop a bit, he wants to hang out with her, that's all. He sucks it up and smiles, "Okay, yeah. Good luck. I'll see you—another day." He starts the car up and Brooke steps away. The black heels already dig into her ankles. Brooke waves and walks into the gym and right to Jonathan who greets her with a hug.

Steve's eyes find Nancy, smiling and laughing. It doesn't affect him as much as he would've thought—seeing Nancy all dolled up and not with him.

  Instead, his eyes find Brooke, watching her happily help Jonathan set up the photo area. Steve will just see her another day, she's hanging out with a boy she likes. She's not ditching him by any means. Steve sighs and drives away, turning the radio back up to go home to an empty, quiet house.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS SURROUND BROOKE. Christmas somehow got worse because of last year. It's even worse watching the dads drop off their little girls with big smiles this time around.

  A slow dance starts as Brooke swirls the non alcoholic fruit punch in her cup, carefully watching Danny. "You think he's okay?" Brooke asks Jonathan. "Who? Danny?" He asks.

"Yeah, he worries me," Brooke pouts. The boy can be timid in crowded areas—especially in areas Brooke now knows he hates even more. "Why don't you ask Nancy to dance?" Brooke nudges him. Jonathan gets flustered, looking over the dance floor for the girl he likes, "I think she has a partner already." He laughs. Brooke cocks her head back, "Huh?" Her eyes land on Nancy and Dustin dancing together. Brooke smiles fondly at her childhood best friend.

The doors to the gym open up a song later to reveal El with pink eyeshadow and a dress definitely borrowed from Nancy's closet. "Oh, she looks so pretty," Brooke covers her mouth with her hand, "Jonathan, give me your camera!"

"What? Why?" Jonathan doesn't get an answer though because it's snatched out of his hands and Brooke is running with it, grabbing Danny and El.

"I want a picture of the both of you!" Brooke says like a mom. El and Danny glance at each other without moving their heads. "Why?" El gently asks. Brooke sighs, "I want a sibling photo. Squeeze together!" Danny notices how happy Brooke is with her idea and takes the picture. A smile plastered onto both their faces but El just copied whatever Danny was doing.

The girl quickly walks away to find Mike and Brooke smiles again. "I'm happy for them," Danny whispers. "Who?" Brooke asks. Danny watches all his friends dance with people. Two of the couples even kissed. Danny isn't bitter though, he's happy because his friends are happy.

"Danny," Will taps him on the shoulder, "Wanna get snacks with me? Turns out I suck at dancing." Her little brother glances at Brooke and then back at Will, "Yeah! Sure, let's go. I mean." The two boys run off to find the cupcakes Mrs. Wheeler made.

Brooke watches them, she glances at all the kids. Her heart is full and for once she feels okay. So okay that she can admit to herself that Brooke Martel is happy.

————

okay this is such a long chapter. i apologize. i didn't know it would be and it felt stupid to put the time jump in a separate chapter but EEEEEE onto season 3 folks