❛ Once I ran to you. Now, I'll run from you. This tainted love you've given. I give you all a boy could give you. ❜

SEASON 2, EPISODE 6
the spy

━━━━━━ November 5, 1984

"BUENOS DÍAS," FRIDA GREETED as she entered the kitchen. She wore her knee-length 'Snoopy For President' nightshirt and black socks. It was Saturday morning, and she didn't need to get dressed for at least another hour. (Good morning.)

⠀⠀⠀Frida's abuela stood at the stove as she scooped a plate of mouth-watering chilaquiles for her granddaughter. She handed Frida the plate before they went to the dining table to eat together. Her abuelo smiled over his newspaper as Frida sat down while Inés hardly glanced up.

⠀⠀⠀"How did you sleep?" her abuela asked, taking the empty seat beside Frida. Her wrinkled hand patted twice on her husband's beside her before digging into her meal.

⠀⠀⠀Frida stared at her food at the question. The nightmares were fear-inducing from what she could recall. A monster from a different reality, Dustin locking her in his room, and Steve Harrington acting civil with her. It almost felt real—

⠀⠀⠀"Mi amor?" her abuelo asked, pulling her from her reverie. All three of them were staring expectantly at her. Frida was usually the talkative one, whereas Inés might ignore someone's question if she wasn't feeling it. "Your abuela asked you a question."

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry," Frida sighed with an awkward smile. "Just a bad dream."

⠀⠀⠀"Did you eat too close to bed? I often have bad dreams when I do," her abuela said reassuringly.

⠀⠀⠀"I must have," Frida agreed with a slight pull to her lips.

⠀⠀⠀"Can I go with you to work today, abuelo?" Inés asked.

⠀⠀⠀"I knew you'd want to hang out with me sooner or later," her abuelo answered with a wide grin. His hand reached out to pinch her cheek affectionately, but Inés ducked out of the way.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm meeting Max there," Inés answered quickly before she got roped into child labor disguised as bonding time.

⠀⠀⠀"Of course, princesa," he said kindly. (Princess)

⠀⠀⠀"You're not working today, right?" Inés asked Frida, raising her brow critically.

⠀⠀⠀The doorbell rang before Frida could answer. They weren't expecting company, so their attention went to the door, a stillness in the air. Frida broke it by standing, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

⠀⠀⠀"No, I'm home all day," Frida answered her sister as she headed for the door.

⠀⠀⠀"Good, she can't embarrass me," Inés muttered.

⠀⠀⠀Frida rolled her eyes as she opened the door. On the other side, she came face to face with Steve Harrington. Her eyes slightly widened, but otherwise, she didn't move. He smiled awkwardly and sent her a small wave that sent a cold realization over her. The nightmares were real and she didn't dream any of it. Her chest constricted, and her hold on the door tightened. She could feel the blood drain from her face as Steve said something. In response, she slammed the door in his face.

⠀⠀⠀"Frida, what's wrong?" her abuelo called, his brows furrowed as he set down his newspaper.

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry! I, uh, forgot! I have a project with a classmate from school, and we were going to work on it today," Frida explained in a rush. Her cheeks burned as she realized Steve had seen her in only a nightshirt and could already anticipate the teasing she'd get. Now, she had to deal with both a real monster and Steve being a douchebag!

⠀⠀⠀"Who are you going with?" Inés asked innocently. Frida's eyes darted to her sister's taunting smirk as she picked at Frida's bare wound.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, Steve," Frida answered. She went for the stairs and waved at them dismissively. "I need to change!"

⠀⠀⠀"Steve? Who's Steve?" her abuelo asked, Frida just barely able to hear him.

⠀⠀⠀"Steve Harrington," Inés answered, her smug little voice making Frida want to tear her skin off. But she had bigger problems to deal with, and her sister wasn't one of them. "He's that boy Frida got into a fight with last year."

⠀⠀⠀Frida shut her door and pressed her back against it, taking a deep breath. She had really convinced herself the previous night was all in her head. A part of her knew that it wasn't, but she had hoped that if she acted like it was, then she wouldn't be dealing with it. Steve had even kept up his end of the bargain and came to get her so she wouldn't spend the whole day worrying. On one hand, she was thankful he didn't blatantly break his promise, while on the other, she kind of wished he had. Maybe she could live in her dreamland where she thought the Demogorgon was a weird nightmare, and she'd go play D&D that night with Eddie and June.

⠀⠀⠀Frida shook her head. She needed to get going before Dustin decided she was a liability and dragged Steve along without her. She changed into a pair of blue jeans, a white shirt, and a dark red jacket that was a size too large. She was already pushing it as it was, so she left her hair in the messy braid she'd slept in.

⠀⠀⠀When Frida returned downstairs, she found her abuelo talking to Steve at the door while Inés watched in amusement from the couch. Her abuelo had a stern look, and Steve was a little pale as he nodded reassuringly at every command. Steve's eyes caught Frida's, and she could see a little fear in them. If it weren't for the monster running loose in Hawkins, Frida might have let him squirm a little longer.

⠀⠀⠀"Steve! Hey!" Frida exclaimed, interrupting them as she pushed herself between her abuelo and the door. "Abuelo, me estás avergonzando," she said with a smile. (Grandpa, you're embarrassing me.)

⠀⠀⠀"Él necesita saber que no debe meterse contigo," her abuelo claimed, his glare pinned on Steve. (He needs to know not to mess with you.)

⠀⠀⠀"Él hace. Y prometa. Hablamos y todo está bien," Frida assured him. She kissed his cheek, and his eyes returned to her, albeit softer. "Volveré más tarde. ¿Bien?" (He does. I promise. We talked, and everything's okay. / I'll be back later. Okay?)

⠀⠀⠀Her abuelo sent one last devastating look to Steve before nodding reluctantly. He pulled her in for a hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek, and said, "Bien. Ten cuidado. Te quiero." (Alright. Be safe. I love you.)

⠀⠀⠀"Te quiero también." (Love you, too.)

⠀⠀⠀"Don't do anything stupid, son," her abuelo said to Steve.

⠀⠀⠀"Of course not, sir," Steve assured him, a slight tremor in his voice. "We'll just be, um..."

⠀⠀⠀"At the library," Frida covered for him.

⠀⠀⠀Then, she pushed Steve down the driveway toward Dustin's house, where his car was parked. The door behind them shut, and Steve explained that Dustin was gathering supplies inside. Frida sighed, sinking against his car with her head bowed.

⠀⠀⠀"Are you alright? It's okay if this is too much," Steve assured her with genuine concern that made Frida's spine tingle in anxiety. She didn't like that Steve knew how she could feel or even that he was involved in any of this.

⠀⠀⠀"No, not really," Frida admitted. She glanced at him, but she didn't like the kindness in his eye and looked away. "I woke up and told myself all this was a nightmare. It didn't feel real until you were on the other side of the door."

⠀⠀⠀"We shouldn't have dragged you into this," Steve said with a frown.

⠀⠀⠀"It's not anyone's fault," Frida assured him with a short-lasting smile. A smile to Steve Harrington? What a joke. She wiped it from her face and straightened herself up. "Besides, I'd come find you eventually."

⠀⠀⠀Steve nodded, knowing she wasn't lying. He'd made her a promise even if she wanted to convince herself that it didn't exist. She appreciated that he'd kept it no matter the circumstances.

⠀⠀⠀A few minutes later, Dustin walked outside with a backpack swung over his shoulder and a walkie-talkie connected to a headset.

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, people, let's get moving!" he shouted, ushering them into the car.

STEVE DROVE THEM TO the edge of the woods where the three unpacked the supplies Steve and Dustin grabbed earlier that morning before getting Frida. There were three buckets of meat, bright yellow cleaning gloves, and a can of gasoline. Frida's nose turned up at the smell.

⠀⠀⠀"So, what's the plan?" Frida asked after their silent journey. If you could even call it that, while none of them spoke to each other, Dustin did repeat 'code red' into his walkie-talkie with no response from his friends.

⠀⠀⠀"Lure Dart to the junkyard like I did with the baloney, then set him on fire," Dustin explained quickly.

⠀⠀⠀Frida glanced at him, remembering the night before. The flowery image and hundreds of teeth. Her lips formed into a frown, and she asked, "It didn't really follow the trail of baloney last night."

⠀⠀⠀"That's neither here nor there. He'll follow," Dustin assured her. However, his confidence did nothing to alleviate Frida's unrelenting worry. He was just a kid. What the hell did he know? Before Frida could argue, Dustin raised a finger to shush her and stepped away as he raised his walkie to his mouth. "Well, well, well, look who it is."

⠀⠀⠀"Are you sure this is going to work?" Frida asked, tugging on the pair of gloves Steve handed her.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I'm pretty sure he's a baby Demogorgon!"

⠀⠀⠀"Fire was the only thing that took it down last year," Steve said with a shrug.

⠀⠀⠀"God, you fought one?" Frida asked, her eyes widening. Her heart hammered in her chest, and just knowing that Steve had done this before made her all the more terrified.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I had help from some friends," he said with a terse smile.

⠀⠀⠀"I'll explain later. Meet me, Steve, and Frida at the old junkyard... and bring your binoculars and wrist rocket."

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, let's go!" Steve shouted at Dustin.

⠀⠀⠀"Just be there, stat. Over and out," Dustin concluded and followed the pair of teens onto the train track.

FRIDA FELT SICK, UNABLE to wrap her mind around what they were doing. Her hand scooped up a chunk of meat, letting it splat onto the train tracks and fallen leaves. She walked in front of Steve and Dustin while listening through a filter. She heard everything they said, but the insanity of it all was like she was walking through a field of static. Every word either boy said had an edge of grain to it that she focused on instead. Especially as Dustin started to explain why they ended up chasing a monster through Hawkins.

⠀⠀⠀It all started with trying to impress the new girl, Max, which seemed both insane and exactly what Dustin would do. He'd found Dart—short for D'Artagnan, named after one of the Three Musketeers—at school. Instead of killing the creature, he decided to take it home as a pet. Sure, the creature was strange, nothing like any reptile he'd seen before, but how was he supposed to know it was a freaking baby Demogorgon!

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?" Steve asked with a bewildered expression.

⠀⠀⠀"Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin said in annoyance.

⠀⠀⠀"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve continued.

⠀⠀⠀"An interdimensional slug?" Dustin asked, his tone incredulous at Steve's implication. "Because it's awesome."

⠀⠀⠀"Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't—"

⠀⠀⠀"She totally would!"

⠀⠀⠀"Would you?" Steve shouted, and it took Frida a moment to realize he was talking to her.

⠀⠀⠀Frida turned back to look at the pair staring at her expectantly. Her brow rose as she tried to remember the conversation going on around her, but she came up blank. They talked so fast, like when she and Inés bickered, that it was hard to keep up.

⠀⠀⠀"Would I what?" she asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Date a guy who got you a slug?" Steve pressed. His eyes bored a hole into her head.

⠀⠀⠀"An interdimensional slug!" Dustin exclaimed.

⠀⠀⠀"Uh, well, in fourth grade, Scott Cherry gave me a necklace made from animal teeth, and we dated for like two weeks," Frida answered with an unperturbed shrug. Steve's face dropped, and his face paled. But she continued, "Then I found out his dog passed away the night before he gave me the necklace..."

⠀⠀⠀"Frida, you're not helping," Steve hissed at her. "And what the hell!"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not trying to help you win a petty argument with a twelve-year-old," Frida hissed back in the same tone he held for her.

⠀⠀⠀"Thirteen," Dustin corrected but withered away at Frida's cold stare. She wasn't exactly in the mood for either of their antics.

⠀⠀⠀Steve waved her off and returned his attention to Dustin. Frida didn't want to play along with their weird conversation anyway. She returned her gaze to the never-ending rail tracks looming ahead.

⠀⠀⠀"I just feel like you're trying too hard," Steve told Dustin plainly.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?" Dustin sighed.

⠀⠀⠀"It's not about the hair, man," Steve said with a breathy laugh. Frida held onto a fraction of awareness that Steve hadn't been as insufferable as he had the past year. Maybe he changed. Maybe he'd figured out that the way he treated women, such as Nancy, was actually his own internalized issues with himself. Then he said, "The key with girls is just... just acting like you don't care."

⠀⠀⠀A snort blossomed out of Frida's chest at that claim, and she realized he had learned nothing. Likely, his breakup with Nancy had made him fear rejection and that 'not caring' was his coping mechanism to make it seem like Nancy was at fault for breaking up with him, and he held no blame in the matter.

⠀⠀⠀"Even if you do?" Dustin asked, and the tone of his voice conveyed the truth of his feelings. He really liked this girl, whoever it was, and he wanted a fighting chance.

⠀⠀⠀"Don't listen to him, Dustin. He's just setting you up for failure," Frida told him with a frown.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin wasn't looking for advice from her, and her blatant dismissal of Steve seemed to rub him the wrong way. His eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze steeled. "This is guy talk, Frida. You wouldn't understand."

⠀⠀⠀Frida's eye twitched, and her hands clenched in irritation. She wanted to crack all her teeth from the anger and fear pumping in her head. Steve was beginning to rub off on him, and she hated seeing it. Then, her muscles relaxed, and she realized how tired she was. Tired of arguing, tired of listening, and tired of chasing monsters!

⠀⠀⠀"It's actually girl talk, asshole," Frida snapped at him, likely too harsh for a thirteen-year-old looking for advice, but she didn't really care at the moment.

⠀⠀⠀Frida set her attention back on the tracks and kept her distance. Dustin wasn't her brother, she couldn't treat him like she did Inés, and she definitely couldn't strangle him until he got her point.

⠀⠀⠀"Good," Steve exclaimed, hitting Dustin in the chest, but kept his voice low so Frida wouldn't overhear. "You've already got it. See, it drives them nuts if you act like you don't care."

⠀⠀⠀"They what?" Dustin asked, intrigued.

⠀⠀⠀"You just wait until, uh... until you feel it."

⠀⠀⠀"Feel what?"

⠀⠀⠀"It's like before it's gonna storm, y'know?" Steve asked as he tried to find the right words. "You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh... electricity, y'know?"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere..." Dustin started to rattle off in his techno-babble speak.

⠀⠀⠀"No, no, no, no, no. Like a... Like a sexual electricity," Steve corrected.

⠀⠀⠀Apparently, Frida had the hearing of a freaking hawk because she turned around suddenly and shouted, "Harrington! He's thirteen!"

⠀⠀⠀Steve cringed back. Then, embarrassed for getting scolded, exclaimed, "I had my first kid at seven!"

⠀⠀⠀"Congrats!" Frida yelled back with a broad, disapproving smile as she raised her hands. "He's not you. He's a good kid," she said, her lips deepening into a frown.

⠀⠀⠀"Right, and I'm not?" Steve retorted with an annoyed laugh.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not the one who humiliated my girlfriend!" Frida snapped, narrowing her eyes as they stood on the train tracks. Dart was a distant worry as the present conflict of her one-sided hatred for Steve impeded their journey.

⠀⠀⠀"I tried to apologize to you about that!" Steve said, exasperated, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

⠀⠀⠀"I thought it was all about acting like you don't care," she cheaply threw back into his face.

⠀⠀⠀"That's to girls you actually like," he said with a bite.

⠀⠀⠀Frida's jaw clenched, and she glared with sharp precision so that Steve could feel the drag of a blade across his skin. Then, she raised her hand to flip him off before she stormed further down the tracks so they were just whispers on the wind. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose as Frida flung handfuls of raw meat onto the tracks to take out her aggression. He sighed and turned to Dustin.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin was wide-eyed and silent throughout their argument. Steve squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and pushed him to start walking again.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, so, you feel that electricity, and then you make your move," Steve continued, wanting to return to their conversation rather than make a big deal about him and Frida.

⠀⠀⠀"So, that's when you kiss her?" Dustin asked, breaking his sight from Frida and back to Steve.

⠀⠀⠀"No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo!" Steve exclaimed.

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry," Dustin muttered, bowing his head.

⠀⠀⠀"Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive," Steve assured him. "You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a... I don't know. Like a lion."

⠀⠀⠀"Mmm."

⠀⠀⠀"But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a... like a ninja."

⠀⠀⠀"What type is Nancy?" Dustin asked suddenly.

⠀⠀⠀Steve's mood darkened dramatically at the mention of his girlfriend for a second time. Or rather, his ex-girlfriend, as he remembered her words echoing in his ears. How he was bullshit, their relationship was bullshit, everything was bullshit.

⠀⠀⠀"Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls," Steve answered honestly, even if it hurt slightly.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess," Dustin agreed.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah. Yeah, she is."

⠀⠀⠀"But this girl's special, too, you know. She kinda reminds me of Frida," Dustin muttered, contemplating his words before looking up at Steve. "What type do you think Frida is?"

⠀⠀⠀"Frida? I don't know," Steve muttered, looking at the back of Frida's figure. Her bleach-blond hair rustled in the wind, and her shoulders tensed in annoyance. "The type you steer clear of," he concluded sardonically with a roll of his eyes.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin narrowed his eyes at Steve. Even if Dustin had snapped at Frida to stay out of their conversation, he seemed to still hold a level of respect for her.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Steve asked, growing nervous under the pre-teen's gaze.

⠀⠀⠀"Frida's cool. She just doesn't like you," Dustin explained. "What did you do?"

⠀⠀⠀"What did I do?!" Steve exclaimed, offended.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I've known Frida since she moved here, and she's always cool with people. Except for her sister, that happens like with Mike and Nancy or Lucas and Erica. But, I've never seen her like this... and she works with Keith," Dustin said. To further his point, he motioned toward Frida's back as she got further away from them. She was close enough that they could make out the detail on her sweater but far away enough that they'd need to shout to get her attention.

⠀⠀⠀Steve sighed and shook his head. "I did some stupid things last year. I realized after what an asshole I had been, and I tried to apologize, but—"

⠀⠀⠀"When?" Dustin interrupted, and it felt like he was inside Steve's head, knowing he was telling half-truths.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Steve asked, taken aback.

⠀⠀⠀"When did you try to apologize?"

⠀⠀⠀"Um, Halloween night?" Steve answered softly, keeping his eyes on the meat in the bucket.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin's eyes narrowed. "And when did you do something stupid?"

⠀⠀⠀"It doesn't matter."

⠀⠀⠀"When?!" Dustin shouted. Frida glanced back over her shoulder but noticed no danger and continued forward.

⠀⠀⠀"When Will was still missing," Steve muttered, growing frustrated by the ninth degree.

⠀⠀⠀Dustin let out a loud breath, his eyes wide in realization as set in, and he claimed, "No wonder she hates you."

⠀⠀⠀"She doesn't hate me," Steve argued, but that was a lie. Frida hadn't necessarily been kind to Steve in the last twenty-four hours. It was either arguing or straight to the point. Other than the night prior when she'd let her guard down a fraction, she had been neutral to Steve at best.

⠀⠀⠀"Totally not," Dustin muttered, glancing at Frida's figure, which was half a mile down the track.

⠀⠀⠀Steve rolled his eyes, now annoyed that their conversation had veered off of Dustin's love life and into Steve's popularity decline.

⠀⠀⠀"Weren't we talking about you and this special girl you're trying to impress?" Steve asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Good save," Dustin said sarcastically, but he had nothing more to say about his relationship with Frida, so he went with it. "But yeah, there's just something about her," he admitted, a tone in his voice that Steve didn't like.

⠀⠀⠀"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?" Steve asked as he stopped Dustin in his place.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, no. No," Dustin assured him.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, good. Don't."

⠀⠀⠀"I won't."

⠀⠀⠀The two continued walking, and Steve added, "She's only gonna break your heart, and you're too young for that shit."

⠀⠀⠀Dustin didn't respond but bowed his head in disappointment at Steve's depressing claim about love. Steve looked over at him as guilt ebbed onto the edges of his heart. The downtrodden look on Dustin's face had Steve relent in telling Dustin something he would never tell anyone else. Not his best friend, not Nancy, not even Frida. He glanced at her, double-checking that she was still out of earshot.

⠀⠀⠀"Fabergé," he said swiftly.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Dustin asked, confused by the one word.

⠀⠀⠀"It's Fabergé Organics," Steve explained as he pointed at his hair. "Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp—not wet, okay—when it's damp!"

⠀⠀⠀"Damp," Dustin repeated with an eager expression as he soaked everything Steve said in.

⠀⠀⠀"You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray."

⠀⠀⠀"Farrah Fawcett spray?" Dustin asked with a bright, teasing smile.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, Farrah Fawcett," Steve repeated, turning to Dustin with a threatening glare and a finger pointed to his face. "You tell anyone I just told you that, and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yup!" Dustin agreed, the smile never wiping from his face.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Steve sighed, relaxed that his secret was safe.

⠀⠀⠀"Farrah Fawcett, really?"

⠀⠀⠀"I mean, she's hot."

🍂 ╱ AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi! Sorry this is late. It's been a busy few weeks for me and I'm behind on my editing... I'll try to get back on it. I've kind of gone into an Umbrella Academy phase so... :/ I'm trying to keep my attention on this fic but ADHD can really be a bitch, huh?

SONG: Tainted Love by Soft Cell

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like, they keep me motivated! However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic ♡ I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next update is Friday, June 7!