Chapter Sixteen: Base of Operations

"Lucas!"

"Yo, Lucas!"

"Lucas, hey!"

Lydia waved a hand in the air excitedly as she approached him. He was stood with Jason (yuck) and some of the other basketball team meme nerd. Lydia was highly aware that she was about to publicly embarrass the younger boy – and potentially ruin any shred of street cred he'd gained after winning the basketball game for the Tigers – but she didn't care. And honestly? That ship had already sailed when Lydia and Steve jumped up and down like complete maniacs at the final whistle.

A huge smile stretched across Lucas' face. He moved away from his friends to greet them. "Holy shit, you guys came?"

"Hell yeah we did, superstar!" Lydia cheered. She bounded over to the teenager and squished him into a tight hug. "You were amazing!"

"Agh, you're suffocating me!" Lucas complained, his voice muffled against her shoulder. Lydia pulled back, ruffling his hair. He batted her arm away and she grinned.

"Really good game, man," Steve added, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for coming." Lucas glanced between the couple appreciatively. "Did uh...did Max say anything about..."

The dreaded fucking question.

Lydia hesitated and he seemed to notice, shoulders slumping in defeat. She felt terrible for him, especially whenever she had to break the bad news. It was always a No, Max isn't coming to your game tonight. Or a Yes, I talked to her about you guys hanging out again but she's not ready for that. Never a Omg yes Max would love to spend time with you again!

Lydia wasn't entirely sure when she became their personal messenger – well, more so Lucas' since Max was also mostly avoiding her too – but it was breaking her heart to have to keep diminishing his hopes.

But Lydia didn't actually think that Lucas should give up. Maybe she shouldn't have, but she'd told him exactly that a while ago. Max needed people to prove they would stay.

"She couldn't make it tonight," Lydia settled on. "But I'm sure she's really proud of you. All your friends will be."

Lydia added that last part through gritted teeth. She wasn't even going to start on how furious she was with Dustin and Mike for not showing up. They had absolutely no excuse and she was planning to kick their scrawny asses.

Lucas's eyes became downcast. "Yeah, I don't know about that."

She felt the urge to wrap him in her arms again. Lydia understood his motivations surrounding the basketball team and his attempts at some level of popularity – in fact, not even popularity. Acceptance.

A similar situation had happened to her when she started high school. Like Lucas, she never wanted to pull away from her friends, she just wanted to experience the other things out there too. And Lydia was lucky that Robin was supportive of all her endeavours, spare one or two small spats that were quickly resolved.

"Well, we're proud of you, bud," Steve assured him. Lucas looked up with a soft smile.

Lydia's heart warmed at the exchange. One of her favourite (and perhaps the most surprising) parts of learning more about Steve Harrington were his friendships with the kids. Watching their interactions, she often caught herself thinking that he would've been a great big brother. Though, those thoughts occasionally gradually descended into to wow, he's going to be a such great dad someday. Lydia tried not to think about that too much.

"You need a ride home?" Steve offered Lucas.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm–"

"He's celebrating with us tonight." Jason stepped out from behind the car, slapping two hands on Lucas' shoulders. Ew. Jason smirked as he looked back up at them, eyes trailing over Lydia before settling on Steve. "Harrington."

"Carver," Steve responded firmly.

Lydia shifted her weight uncomfortably. Alpha male dominance was so annoying. Of course, it had the addition of basketball captain rivalry, pride and a little jealously too. Christ, imagine if Lydia had confessed to Steve that she and Jason went on a string of dates last year.

"Lydia," Jason addressed her, a little too cockily. "It's nice to see you again."

Again.

It was the way Jason said it. The purposeful intent behind it. Maybe it would've gone over someone else's head, but Lydia knew her boyfriend very well.

Steve spared a questioning glance at her, but didn't linger on it too long. She was thankful for him not drawing attention, but Lydia knew she'd have to explain later.

"Good win tonight," Steve offered his congratulations, though it was definitely through gritted teeth. Still, Lydia was proud of him. Steve Harrington being the bigger person? She almost couldn't believe her eyes.

"Thanks, man," Jason replied. "Shame it only happened after you left."

Lydia tensed reactively, but Steve managed to take it in his stride, responding with a sarcastic chuckle. "Yeah, bad timing, huh?"

"Right."

The muscles in Steve's jaw tightened. His attention returned Lydia. "Ready to go, babe?" He asked, reaching for her hand.

"Yeah," she nodded, fingers interlocking with his. Lydia couldn't get out of there fast enough. "See you later, Lucas. Don't party too hard," she smiled teasingly.

"He's in good hands," Jason assured. Lydia couldn't help but scoff. Yeah, right.

"Thanks again for coming," Lucas said gratefully.

"Anytime, man," Steve replied.

Lucas turned to Lydia. "If you see Max–"

"I'll tell her how great you were," she promised him. "And that you said hi."

Lucas gave her a small smile. Lydia took a step backwards, waving goodbye.

Steve clutched her hand tighter as they walked to the car. "You okay?" She asked.

He glanced back over his shoulder, then snaked an arm around Lydia's waist, pulling her closer. "Please stop me from turning around and smacking Carver in the face."

"Be the bigger person," Lydia told him.

"The bigger person is not the man you fell in love with," Steve argued.

Lydia chuckled, wrapping her arm around him. "Just ignore him."

Steve pulled the car keys out of his pocket, twirling them between his fingers. He unlocked the doors, then moved round to the passenger side, holding it open for Lydia.

He went to shut the door, but then hesitated. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I just...what did Jason mean when he said 'it's nice to see you again' because, like, the way he said it..." Steve trailed, eyes searching hers for answers. Lydia knew the question would come, she'd braced herself for it, yet she still felt completely unprepared. "I don't know, it was kind of a loaded statement, right?"

"Okay," she said. "I'm gonna tell you something, but you've gotta promise not to freak out. In fact, get in the car first."

Steve looked unsure, but still complied. He climbed into the drivers side. Lydia folded her hands in her lap.

"Okay, what's up?" He prompted.

"So, Jason and I..." Lydia paused. She almost couldn't say the words. "Jason and I were seeing each other a while back."

Lydia could practically see the cogs turning in his mind as he processed the information.

Steve drew in a deep breath, then gripped hold of the steering wheel for support. "You...dated Jason Carver?"

"We didn't exactly date," Lydia corrected. "I mean, we went on dates but–"

"Did you..." Steve couldn't say it.

"No!" Lydia shut down, horrified at the very thought. "Jesus, Steve."

"I was just asking," he defended.

"Well, don't," Lydia said, fumbling with her seatbelt. "I mean, we barely even made out."

Steve whirled around. "You kissed him?"

"I–"

"With tongue?!"

"Well, yeah–"

"Oh my God."

A stunned silence fell between them. Lydia was dumbstruck on what to say. She hadn't expected him to react quite so dramatically. Like, she didn't think it was a huge deal, nothing significant had even happened between them, and it was a long time ago.

Steve turned the key in the ignition and switched on the engine. He said nothing.

"Honestly, I'm not sure why you're judging me so hard right now when you've dated almost the entirety of Hawkins' female population," Lydia sniped.

"Are you slut shaming me?"

"A little, yeah."

Steve shook his head, shifting the gear into second. "I can't believe this."

"Steve, it was like, way over a year ago," she pointed out. "It never meant anything."

"Lydia, you took me on a date to see your ex lover boy play basketball!"

"He's not an ex lover!" Lydia argued. "And more importantly, we came to see Lucas play–"

"I don't care, Lydia, I don't like it!"

Lydia stared at him in disbelief. Steve spared a glance across at her, then returned his attention to the main road. He huffed in frustration, pressing his foot harder on the acceleration.

Lydia crossed her arms. "I cannot believe you're being such a big baby about this. We run into your ex girlfriends, like, all the time."

"Yeah well–" Steve thought for a moment. "Well, I– I don't take you on a date to see their ex basketball games!"

Lydia groaned in exasperation. "Oh my god, get over it!"

"What, so now you're invalidating my feelings?" He shot back

"You have got to stop watching Oprah."

Steve took that personally. He refused to talk to her for the remainder of the journey home. Luckily, they were going to his house, which was only a five minute drive from the school. His parents were away on a business trip, so the intention was for him and Lydia to have a romantic evening.

Lydia understood that perhaps she should've told him about Jason beforehand, but it was already difficult enough to convince him to go on a date night to their school gymnasium. Even so, she thought Steve was overreacting about the situation. In fact, if anybody deserved to be overly jealous in their relationship, it was Lydia – given his multiple exes, flings and how many girls still threw themselves at him even now.

Steve's bad mood had put Lydia in an equally frustrated one. By the time he pulled into his drive and shut off the engine, she was sulking. He looked over at her, but she continued staring out the windshield, avoiding his eyes.

Steve made a point of sighing, then pushed open his car door and clambered out. He slammed it shut loudly behind him and stalked down the garden path. Lydia got out, shutting the door just as hard.

Steve twisted the house key in the lock, pushing open the front door. He stood aside and still let Lydia walk in first. She brushed her feet on the welcome home mat and slipped off her heel boots. 

Lydia padded into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Whilst he waited, Steve paced the sitting room, rubbing his chin.

She stepped into the open arch doorway between the kitchen and the lounge, watching him for a few moments. Lydia and Steve often bickered, with most of it being harmless, but they hardly ever argued.

"Lyds, this is stupid."

"I'm glad you agree," she said, leaning an arm against the cream walls. "I'm not even sure why you're so upset. It's not a big deal."

"I'm upset because you scrapped our original plans for a date night that consisted of watching your ex boy-thing win a basketball tournament–" Lydia immediately opened her mouth to argue back but he shook his head, continuing on. "One that I, as basketball captain, never even managed to win throughout the entirety of high school. So yeah, sorry if I'm mad that you went out with this dude, then took me to see him lift a trophy for a game I spent four years desperate to win."

Lydia leaned back into the kitchen and set her empty glass on the granite counter. She stepped through the archway, placing a hand on the back of the couch.

"First of all, I wanted to see that game because of Lucas, it had nothing to do with Jason," she reminded. "And yes, it coincided with date night and I'm sorry that we had to scrap your plans. But also, how the hell was I supposed to know they'd win it?!" Lydia added. "That– that isn't even the point anyway. You're upset because you think he's better than you for winning that stupid game?"

"I just..." Steve hesitated.

"Babe, I'm sorry you feel like that, but do you really think I'd do this on purpose?" She asked. "That I secretly wanted to spend two hours fawning over Jason and make you feel shit?" Steve sighed heavily in response. When he didn't respond, Lydia let out a half-hearted laugh, shaking her head. "Wow. Wow."

"Hang on–"

"No," Lydia snapped, brushing past him. "Don't blame your insecurities on me."

"Lydia," Steve said frustratedly, reaching out to catch hold of her arm, but she swerved him. "Fuck, Lydia, just– just sit down a second." Lydia ignored him, continuing towards the hall. "Lydia. Sit down."

Something authoritative in his voice made Lydia stop in her tracks. She stood in the doorway for a moment, questioning why she had the sudden urge to turn around and kiss him very hard on the mouth. She was riled, but Steve was ridiculously hot.

Slowly, Lydia backed up into the room. She made eye contact with Steve as she sat on the couch, smoothing down her skirt. "Ok, I'm sat."

He traipsed towards her. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, you are." She stared up into his apologetic eyes, desperately trying not to give in because ugh Steve Harrington was just too god damn irresistible to stay mad at.

"I don't want to argue."

"Mhm."

"And I understand why you didn't tell me."

Lydia hesitated, eyes flickering up at him. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I should've."

He shook his head. "I shouldn't have overreacted," Steve admitted. "I ruined the night. I'm sorry."

Dammit.

Lydia tried so hard, she really did. But she buckled.

She stretched out her arms and reached for him with her hands. Steve's expression softened with relief. He locked his fingers with hers. She moved her legs, allowing him to step in between them.

"You're an idiot," she said, craning her neck to look up at him. An idiot she loved.

"I know."

"Let's just not fight, yeah?"

Steve nodded in approval. He reached out a hand, brushing a lock of Lydia's dark hair behind her ear. "Let me make it up to you?"

She pursed her lips in pretend thought, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Depends on how you intend to do that."

Steve grinned in response. He leaned over, fingertips tickling her sides. Lydia squealed as Steve placed one secure arm around her waist and the other underneath her legs. He picked her up with ease. She hooked her arms around his neck as he carried her up the stairs.

Steve backed them up into his bedroom door, pushing it open. Lydia let out a giggle as he set her down on the bed. She leaned back onto her elbows and stared up at him.

Steve tugged the bottom of his white shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it across the room. Lydia's eyes shamelessly trailed over her boyfriend's toned physique. It was simply insane for someone to be so unbelievably good looking.

"Your turn."

Lydia peeled off her white crop top and discarded it on the floor. Steve drank in the sight, then took slow steps towards her. He maintained her gaze as he got onto his knees.

Lydia almost fell apart. She drew in a deep, anticipatory breath. Her pulse quickened. Steve placed his hands on her bare legs, thumbs gently tracing her skin. His touch was warm. A shiver ran along her spine.

Lydia simpered as he nudged her legs apart. "This better be the best damn apology ever."

"Oh, I intend it to be."

—

Lydia woke up the next morning to an obnoxiously loud alarm clock.

Steve's way of waking up in the morning drove her absolutely crazy. He was a fairly heavy sleeper (she had witnessed him snore through a fire alarm once) so he needed a loud enough alarm to wake him up for work. One that, of course, scared the living shit out of Lydia in the process.

She suppressed a groan at being jolted so viciously awake. The curtains had been drawn messily, leaving a gap that filtered the morning sunlight inside. Lydia rolled onto her other side to block it all out. The arm that Steve had draped around her slid away.

"Turn it off."

Steve flung his hand out, blindly hitting the side table and almost knocking the lamp to the floor in the process. Eventually he located the alarm, stopping the blaring noise.

Steve snuggled back underneath the covers and wrapped both arms around Lydia's waist. His warm breath tickled her neck.

Lydia closed her eyes and tried to get another five minutes. But Steve had other ideas.

He pressed a trail of lazy kisses against her bare shoulder. "G'morning baby," he whispered, voice hoarse.

Lydia mumbled something sleepily incoherent in response. Steve continued peppering kisses until she eventually turned onto her back, squinting up at him. Lydia was not a morning person.

Steve grinned innocently, propping himself up with one arm. The duvet fell down, now only covering below his waist. Lydia could see a few red marks covering his collarbone and chest, reminders of the night before.

Abruptly, Steve's alarm blared again. Lydia jumped and then glared furiously at him. He scrambled to shut it off.

"What...time...is it?" Lydia asked through a yawn, rubbing her eyes.

"Eight."

Lydia's eyes widened. That had woke her up.

"Steve!" She proclaimed, throwing back the covers. He raised his eyebrows, eyes fixated on his girlfriend's body as she snatched the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her. "We have to be at work in forty-five minutes!"

Steve leaned back against the headboard. "Relax, we've got ages."

They really didn't.

"I'm gonna shower," Lydia announced, crossing the room to the en suite bathroom.

Steve immediately sat up, eyes raking over her figure as she dropped the sheet. "I'll join. Saves time. And water."

Lydia chuckled at his eagerness, glancing back at him over her shoulder. "You and I both know it won't save time."

Turns out, forty-five minutes wasn't long enough for the pair of them to shower, get ready (Lydia was going to kill Steve and his stupid hair routine), have breakfast, drive to town and find a decent parking space.

When they eventually squeezed through Family Video's front door, Robin was stood behind the counter, arms folded and tapping her foot impatiently. "You're late."

The couple instantly pointed at one another.

"His fault."

"Her fault."

Robin scowled at them. "I've been waiting all night to tell you my news."

"What news?"

"Did you ask out Vickie?"

"No, but–" Robin's mood instantly changed. She hurried out from behind the counter with an excited smile. "I talked to her."

"Finally."

Ten minutes later – Lydia had actually been routinely checking the clock because god, Robin could talk – she was finishing her dramatic retelling of what happened.

"And then Vickie laughed," Robin gushed. "And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like...It was a real, genuine laugh."

"Of course," Steve said. "It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious."

Lydia peered out from behind the shelf, arching her eyebrows at him.

"My point is that Vickie laughed," Robin continued, leaning against the shelf. "And everything was just like...it was perfect."

"But?" Lydia prompted, sensing one. She accidentally dropped a tape on the floor and bent over to pick it up. Steve abandoned his focus on setting up the display to watch. Robin whacked him on the back of the head with one of her tapes.

"I'm having this problem where it's like, I should stop talking," Robin started to tell them. "I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it's like my-my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or...or rather my-my mouth is moving faster than my brain," Robin rambled quickly. Lydia and Steve shared a passing look. "I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I'm trying to stop, but I can't." Her eyes flickered up to their glazed over expressions. "And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, you are."

Robin pressed her back against the wall, resting her head against it. "Oh, I'm hopeless."

Steve shrugged. "Eh."

"You're not hopeless," Lydia assured. Robin glanced over at her appreciatively. "You can be used as a bad example."

Her expression dropped. "Thank you, that makes me feel so much better."

"No problem."

Robin moved away from the wall, examining the shelves as a distraction. "Ooh, I think I found our morning movie." She perked up, holding out a tape. "Doctor Zhivago."

"No, that movie is way too sad," Lydia dismissed. She'd cried herself to a headache the last time she'd watched it.

"Ugh, you know I don't do double VHS," Steve complained.

"But it's about doomed love."

"Oh, well, that's relatable," Steve said sarcastically, throwing a glance at Lydia, who smiled amusedly.

"Precisely." Robin's eyes snapped up. "I mean, not for you guys, obviously. But for me, yes. Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this." She emphasised. "Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have seen in my life."

Lydia reached for the television remote and fiddled with the on button; it had been used so much it was getting stuck.

She pressed it hard several times until the TV eventually switched on. The channel was automatically set to the news. Lydia intended to turn it over, but then she realised where the correspondent was stood.

The trailer park.

Where Max lived.

"Fuck."

Hurriedly, Lydia turned up the volume. Robin put down the tape and joined her. Steve moved closer, placing a hand on Lydia's shoulder. The three of them tilted their heads, staring up at the screen.

"We're in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don't have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name–"

"Holy shit."

"–although we are told they're currently in the process of notifying the family."

The door burst open, bell chiming rapidly. Lydia whirled around, catching sight of Dustin and Max. She released a breath of relief.

Steve gestured towards the TV. "You see this?"

"How many phones do you have?" Dustin asked, leaning against the counter.

"Someone was murdered."

"How many phones do you have?" He pressed.

"Two. Why?"

"Technically three, if you count Keith's," Robin piped up.

Max nodded to Dustin. "Yeah, three works."

Dustin slipped his backpack from his shoulders and flung it over the counter. Lydia took a step back. "What...what the hell are you doing?"

"What are you–" Steve's sentence cut off as Dustin pulled himself up onto the counter, swung his legs across the surface, and accidentally knocked into his stack of tapes. "My pile! No, no, no! My tapes! Dude! What are you doing, man?!"

Dustin hunched over the computer. "Henderson," Lydia snapped, seeking answers.

Steve came up behind him. Dustin frantically typed on the keyboard, not even looking up as he responded. "Setting up base of operations here."

"Base of– base of operations?" Lydia questioned. "What?"

Steve reached for Dustin's arms, attempting to pry him away. "Get off. I need it!"

"For what?"

Lydia looked to Max for answers, but the ginger girl simply shook her head.

"Eddie's friends' phone numbers," Dustin elaborated.

Steve scoffed at the mention of Eddie. "Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?"

"Yes," Dustin answered. Upon then realising what he'd said, Dustin glanced up at Steve with a frown. "I never said that."

"Seriously, you guys." Robin's head popped up from where she'd crouched to gather the fallen tapes. "Maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it's Saturday. It's our busiest day."

"Robin, I empathize, but this cannot wait," Dustin insisted.

"Oh my God," Steve groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. "Calling Eddie's friends is an emergency?"

"Correct!"

Steve leaned closer to Lydia. "Want me to strangle him or you want to?"

"We could take turns."

Dustin addressed Max. "Can you fill them in while I do this?"

Max looked up at them. The trio exchanged unsure glances. "Fill us in on what?"

A/N

y'all when I robbed you of smut:

Also hiiii sorry this chapter lowkey sucked, I am stress updating because I have my graduation ceremony tomorrow and my anxiety is through the roof!!

Btw I'd love if u guys checked out my Eddie Munson fic 'Died In Your Arms' – it's gonna be connected to this story <3