~**Hawkins, Indiana-- 1985**~

Steve stared boredly at the customers in front of him. Girls would often visit the shop, but lately, it's as if someone's written loser across his forehead in bright red ink. They'd giggle at his attempt to flirt, walk off while gossiping with their friends and glancing back at him. It made him feel weird. No girl's ever been able to resist his charm, and now it's like it didn't exist.  Well, almost every girl's never resisted his charm. Juliet Henderson still remains the sole person resisting his flirting attempts with ease. So, Steve resigned himself to admiring her from afar, since he couldn't get hired on at her job. Across the mall floor, on the other side of the huge plants they put up just as he got the job at Scoops Ahoy, was a music store, where Juliet stood, chatting with customers with an irritated look on her face. A fond smile slipped onto Steve's face as he watches Juliet scowl at the customer and fling her hand towards the door as if to say get out. The customers just laugh and exit, and Steve can already tell they were just young teens trying to flirt with her. "Stalking again?" Robin piped up from behind him. Steve flailed his body and leapt to the side as Robin leaned over the counter, peering through the leaves of the plants to stare at Juliet. "Don't think she appreciates all the staring you do, Harrington."

Steve rolled his eyes, his cheeks flushing in response. "I'm not-- I wasn't--"

"Dude, she just called, like ten minutes ago, to tell me that I should tell you, to stop staring. She can see you plain as day." Robin retorted.

Steve rubbed at his face. Things have been tense for the past couple of weeks. He couldn't really tell if it was because he'd started flirting with her more, or because Dustin was still at camp, and she was worried. Either way, something was bothering Juliet. "Can't help it, man." Steve admitted lowly. He rubbed at his face again, leaning forward to prop his elbows on the counter. "Doesn't help I look like a total loser in this uniform."

Robin snorted. "No kidding. Must be nice to work there. She gets to wear her regular clothes."

"Don't remind me," Steve murmured. His first day on the job, he'd run into Juliet as she'd exited the music store with a handful of cash and a list of orders from the other employees in the store. She looked stunning, dressed in her summer casual. Denim shorts that rode up a bit on her thick thighs, to her midriff top that showed off tan lines on her hips from her bikini. Steve groaned inwardly, feeling hot and bothered by the memory.

Robin snorted and walked into the back. "You could try your luck again with this group." Robin chirped as she held up a white board while a group of pretty girls walked up to the counter. Steve rolled his eyes. Robin's eyes trailed to the scowling Brunette as she left the music shop, peering at Scoops Ahoy with a longing glint in her eye. She knew that look well enough, after a month of serving her, Robin knew it was time for Juliet's snack of the day. Cherries Jubilee on a waffle cone. Not a bowl, she hated just ice cream in a bowl because the waffle cone gave it that flavor its missing. Her eyes flicker back to Steve as he whirled around. "And another one bites the dust," Robin chirped. She made a mark on the side of the board labeled; You Suck. "You are oh-for-six, Popeye."

"Yeah, I can count," Steve retorted blandly.

"You know that means you suck." Robin hummed.

"Yep, I can read, too," Steve sighed.

"Since when?" Robin asked impishly.

Steve growled as Juliet approached the shop, peering at Robin curiously as the mocking girl discretely shushed her. Juliet's brows furrowed in confusion. "It's this stupid hat. I am telling you, it is totally blowing my best feature." Steve reminded Robin.

"Yeah, company policy is a real drag." Robin retorts. "You know, it's a crazy idea, but have you considered... telling the truth?"

"Oh, you mean, that I couldn't even get into Tech and my douchebag Dad's trying to teach me a lesson, I make three bucks an hour, and I have no future? That truth?" Steve asked.

Robin raised her brows impishly. "How about you try one more time with this next customer? She's pretty at least." Robin mentioned impishly. Juliet recoiled a bit, brows furrowed as she leaned on the counter, waiting for whatever the hell Robin had planned. It wasn't often Juliet was let in on her little schemes to annoy Steve, but it was fun when she did. Steve's shoulders scrunched and he began whispering something Juliet couldn't hear before plucking his sailor hat off to toss into the back.

"Screw company policy--"

"Oh my god, you're a whole new man," Robin shook her head.

As soon as Steve turned around, Juliet recoiled again at the volume of his voice. "Ahoy Ladies--" Steve exclaimed loudly, eyes widening in shock as Juliet stared at him in obvious distaste. "Uh, I'm sorry--"

"No, no--" Juliet shook her head, hand waving to stop him. "Clearly you were giving me some great customer service, and I want to hear the whole speech now." Juliet demanded.

Robin grinned broadly as Steve's shoulders scrunched up, the tips of his ears turning bright red as he grasped onto the counter. "Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me?" He murmured in embarrassment.

Juliet's brows rose higher. "I'm not feeling the customer appreciation here, Stevie," Juliet commented.

The nickname she'd taken to calling him made his knees weak and his heart start pounding harder as he tried to keep what little dignity he had intact. "I-I'll be your captain."

Juliet pursed her lips and hopped onto the counter, leaning against the glass display and kicking her leg up, lips pursed in thought. "You gotta work on that, buddy." Juliet mentioned impishly.

Steve sighed and hung his head low. "I know..." He murmured.

"Hey, Hair Boy. That's another point for You Suck." Robin chirped.

"Yeah, thanks, Robin. Got it." Steve retorted, his thumbs jutting up. "So, what, the usual?" Juliet's lips split into a wide grin. "Cherries Jubilee, coming right up."

"Oh, and a Banana Boat. My coworker doesn't have cash for lunch, so I decided to treat him." Juliet mentioned.

Robin leaned out of the window. "You're taking advantage of Harrington's weakness again." Robin chimed.

Juliet laughed. "I'm paying this time." She retorted. "Munson can pay me back when he gets his paycheck."

Steve held out the cone and made a disgusted face when she held out cash. "Don't flash money at me like I'm a cheap floozy." He commented. "Keep it in your pants, Henderson, I've got more respect for myself than to accept your money."

"Oh my god, you're so into your self worth, it's amazing. Keep up the good work, Captain Flavor." Juliet chirped as she took the boat from him. "I promise I'll pay you back! Thanks Stevie!" Juliet exclaimed. Steve stared after her desperately as she barged into the music store, holding up the boat proudly.

Steve sighed loudly and turned back to Robin, who held up the board and made another tick. "Didn't score, once again. I'm telling you, Harrington. Juliet Henderson is just out of your league." That made his stomach turn.

~*****~

Juliet smiled fondly at her younger brother as he spoke animatedly about his newest invention he'd made at camp with his supposed girlfriend, Suzie. "And you'll never believe what I overheard while trying to get in contact with Suzie." Dustin chirped, shoveling a mouthful of food into his mouth.

"Oh yeah?" Juliet snorted, leveling an amused glance to her mother before propping her head on her hands. "What, did you overheard old Mr. Fitzpatrick talking about the good old days when his wife was perkier?"

"Juliet Elizabeth!" Mrs. Henderson scolded her daughter, cheeks flushed from the comment. "Mr. Fitzpatrick does not talk about his wife like that."

Juliet and Dustin stared at her for a long minute before breaking out in cackles. Mrs. Henderson huffed irritably before gathering up the dirty dishes and tromping into the kitchen. "So, what'd you hear?" Juliet asked quietly.

Dustin glanced into the kitchen suspiciously before leaning towards his sister. "I intercepted a Russian transmission." He whispered softly, cupping his hands over his mouth to keep it silent.

Juliet's brows furrowed. "Russians?" She asked, earning a glare and a hushed scolding to stay quiet. "Here in Hawkins?" Juliet whispered, lowering her voice. "Doubt it."

Dustin shot up and grasped her wrist, tugging Juliet down the hall and shoving her into his room. "Just listen!" He hissed as he tossed his cassette player into her hands. Juliet pressed the play button and held it up to her ear. Sure enough, the voice that rang through spoke in Russian.

"Holy shit, dude," Juliet snorted. "This could be big. I mean, how far does the super radio go?"

"It's not called a super radio, it's called Cerebro." Dustin chimed in. "And once I get in contact with Suzie, we can conclude it reaches Salt Lake City, Utah."

Juliet hummed in amazement. "Must've been a busy summer. All I did was laze around in my swimsuit." She mentioned as she set the cassette player down. "So, are you finally gonna tell me about this, Suzie." Juliet asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Absolutely not, Suzie-Poo's cuteness is for my ears only." Dustin retorted nonchalantly. "But I'd be willing to renegotiate if you tell me whether or not you and Steve finally stopped beating around the bush and started dating."

Juliet's lip quirked. "Sorry, kiddo. No matter how much you will it, Steve Harrington is not interested in someone like me. Trust me, I've given him plenty of chances to make a move." Dustin grunted irritably as he stared at his sister, her finger twirling her hair absently as she peered at his terrarium where his turtle sat, soaking in the sun.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dustin groaned. "How is it that you graduated Valedictorian, and yet you're too blind to see what's right in front of you?" Juliet's brow quirked again. "Steve's obsessed with you, how do you not see it?"

Juliet snorted loudly. "As if. He's into girls who won't resort to violence if she's uncomfortable. You should see him strike out at the mall. He's lost his edge ever since he got dumped by Nancy."

Dustin rolled his eyes. "Sure," He grumbled irritably. "Anyway, how's Cherry?"

Juliet perked up. Dustin beamed at his sister's obvious affection for the python in her room. "She shed again. She's four feet long now, d'you wanna see the shed?" Juliet gushed. If there was one thing in the world that remained the same, it was Juliet's love for her banana Mojave ball python.

"Hell yeah!" Dustin gasped. The two spent the evening fawning over Cherry, who lounged on her rock, seemingly content with the two praising her and running their fingers over her little head.

~*****~

The next morning, Dustin all but shouted for Juliet to drive him to the mall to see Steve. She rolled her eyes at him, but complied, nonetheless. She dropped him off at the door, barking out that she was going to look for a parking spot. It was a hot day, and as soon as Juliet parked, she felt sweat beading at her brow. She wiped at it irritably and tugged at her shorts, hissing out curses as her thighs began to chaff with just the few steps she'd managed to take away from her truck.

Dustin waited eagerly at the door, bouncing in his spot as he waited for his sister to arrive. "You took forever! How far away did you have to park?"

Juliet grumbled irritably and scooped her wild hair up into a ponytail, muttering out obscenities. "I took forever because it's hot as hell out here. Look don't judge me, I'm already in an awful mood. The damn coffee was stale, my thighs are chaffing, and to top it all off, I'm off of work for three whole days, and if my boss sees me wandering around the mall on my day off, he might ask me to come in. That sounds like an awful day to me!"

"So? Just hide out at Scoops Ahoy with Steve." Dustin shrugged.

Juliet pursed her lips and clutched her chin tenderly. "Now that you mention it... I do get free ice cream, since I work in the mall and all." Juliet mentioned.

Dustin didn't think that's why she got it at all. If he was this obsessed with Juliet, Dustin was going to have fun teasing Steve the whole day.

The two Henderson's walked into the mall. The bright lights seemed almost familiar yet irritating to Juliet as she trailed behind her brother languishly. Her brother, on the other hand, couldn't hide his excitement. Juliet didn't bother shouting after him to not run ahead of her, but she couldn't help but adore the way he couldn't wait to see Steve again. She huffed irritably as she kept a slower pace behind her brother. She held her palm over her face as she crossed the windows to the record shop, extending her middle finger as her coworker, Eddie Munson, held up a shoddy sign that said, please come relieve me of my shift, that had been written sloppily on a piece of paper.

Juliet's lips quirked up as she finally reaches Scoops Ahoy, peering at her brother and Steve playing around like children. "How many children are you friends with?" Robin asked as Juliet reached the duo, her hand clapping onto Dustin's shoulder.

"Friends? He's a glorified babysitter." Juliet mentioned.

"Can it, Henderson." Steve retorted, cheeks flushing bright.

Dustin just smiled impishly as Steve's eyes wandered over Juliet's form, cheeks flushing darker. Although Juliet remained oblivious as she turned to Robin. "Mind if I hang out in the back? If my boss sees me, he might ask me to take a shift."

Robin swallowed lightly, her eyes flickering to the counter for a moment before nodding. "S-Sure..." She murmured softly. Juliet offered her a smile before trailing behind the counter.

"Come on, I'll get you some ice cream and we can catch up," Steve offered to Dustin.

The two wandered off, leaving the two girls in silence. Robin started scrubbing at her ice cream scoop nervously, chewing her lip as her eyes flickered to Juliet every so often. "Look," Juliet started, tossing her bag into the open window. "I know I may have come off as... mean in High School, and I'm sorry if I upset you in anyway." Juliet mentioned lightly, crossing her arms across her chest as she tilted her gaze down to the counter. "It was hard for me to, uh... well, it's still hard to get along with people. But I'm trying to express my emotions better..." Robin stared at her owlishly, teeth returning to gnawing on her lip. "Look, what I'm trying to say is, I want to start over and make some friends."

Robin swallowed lightly and smiled meekly. "Sorry if I seem a little-- weird about it, but... it's not every day Juliet Henderson asks you to be friends." Robin admitted sheepishly. "You're one of the coolest people in Hawkins."

Juliet grimaced. "Now that, I don't believe. I'm pretty sure there's not a person in this whole town who hasn't witnessed my angry ranting at some point."

Robin laughed. "It's why I think you're cool. You're not afraid to be yourself."

Juliet's brows furrowed. There was something eating at Robin from that comment. Juliet hummed delicately before shrugging. "So, is there any way I could bully an ice cream cone out of you?"

Robin snorted. "Sorry, you gotta pay with me. I'm not totally obsessed with you like Steve." Robin mentioned as she scooped out a large scoop of Cherry Jubilee onto a waffle cone. "But since you're an employee in the mall, you do get a discount."

"I could've sworn they were free," Juliet murmured, picking out a few coins for the cone.

Robin glanced across the counter at the table where Steve and Dustin were, chatting aimlessly. "It's like I said. He's obsessed."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "I swear, it's all I ever hear." Juliet commented, her lips suctioning around the curved edge of the ice cream.

~*****~

Steve couldn't stop staring. His conversation with Dustin was pleasant, but nothing beat the sight of Juliet absently swirled her tongue over and over on her ice cream cone. Sure, he could be labeled as a pervert for staring for as long as he did. But the long months of nothing but fantasies in the middle of the night and the sad companionship with his hand, being around Juliet was enough to make his skin crawl with the need.

"Dude," Dustin complained. "Just ask her out already. It's getting disgusting with how much staring you do." Dustin explained as he shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

"Uh-huh." Steve murmured, propping his head on his hand with a soft sigh escaping his lips.

Dustin rolled his eyes again. "You wear make-up." Dustin commented dryly. Steve's gaze remained on Juliet. "Your hair is messed up." That got his attention for a brief second, but it was only to run his hand through his hair to fix it. "Son of a bitch--" Dustin grunted. "Juliet hooked up with--"

"What?" Steve snapped out of his daze, brows furrowing at Dustin's comment. "Juliet wouldn't hook up with... who?"

Dustin rolled his eyes. "It got your attention, didn't it?" Dustin remarked. "She didn't hook up with anyone, relax." Dustin commented.

Steve rubbed at his head lightly. "I zoned out, didn't I?"

Dustin nodded. "Sure did," He snorted. "Just how are you planning on asking her out?"

Steve's face flushed darker. "Dude, I'm not. Anyway, what were you saying?"

Dustin beamed proudly. "Oh, just how my girlfriend is way hotter than Phoebe Cates." Dustin retorted.

"Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No way," Steve scoffed.

"Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in." Dustin added. "She says kissing is way better without teeth."

Steve held back his grimace and swallowed it down. "Wow, yeah that's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro-- that's kinda romantic. That's like... wow."

Dustin beamed brighter. "So, do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked as he peered down at his sundae.

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta keep in shape with the ladies."

Dustin stared at him blankly. "You mean for my sister? Since she's got a type for pretty boys." Dustin commented. "It would be easier if you just admitted you're in love with her."

"I am not--"

"What're you ladies talking about?" Juliet asked as she perched her hip onto the table, chewing on the remnants of her waffle cone. "Robin and I thought you were having too much fun, so I'm here to ruin in."

Dustin smiled. "Ruin it? Have a seat! We were just talking about you!"

Steve shot a terrified glance at Dustin, eyes wide as Juliet hummed in response. "Oh? And what the hell were you saying about me? It better be good things."

"Totally good things," Dustin nodded as his sister shoved Steve to the side with her hip. "Steve here was just telling me--"

"How great you were getting along with your coworkers!" Steve said loudly. "You know, buying them ice cream and offering to take extra shifts if they couldn't make it in."

Juliet hummed at his declaration. Dustin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, we were both just happy you were making friends."

Steve cleared his throat as Juliet peered over at him, brows quirked in a question. "Anyway. Stop having fun. It's nauseating." Juliet commented before slipping out of the booth. Her gaze snapped onto Steve's hair and her eyes narrowed. Steve swallowed lightly as she leaned onto the table. "Your hair's a mess, Stevie." Juliet commented. "No wonder you're having trouble with the ladies." Dustin's brows rose upwards as Juliet reached her hands forward and dug them into Steve's thick hair. An unwilling groan froze in Steve's throat as Juliet fussed with his hair, tugging gingerly and maneuvering strands to sit in a specific way. Juliet pulled back and smiled. "There you go, now the ladies will swarm in." Juliet mentioned before trailing back to the counter to chat with Robin.

Dustin stared at Steve, lips quirked in a smirk as Steve just stared after her, throat bobbing as he swallowed lightly. "And this is why I say you should ask her out. You're not gonna get over her if you don't put yourself out there, man."

Steve couldn't answer him. Not when that groan was still waiting to be let out.