Chapter Thirteen: Every Word

Steve called the next day. And also the day after that. And the day after that.

When the fifth in a row rolled around, Sarah Wu was getting suspicious. She leaned forwards, elbows on the kitchen counter as she watched Lydia place the phone back on the receiver. "Was that Robin again?"

"Yeah."

So, technically, Lydia wasn't lying. That time, it genuinely had been Robin. Although, when the phone first rang twenty minutes earlier, it was Steve letting Lydia he was picking her up at seven. Which is why she had dialled Robin's number straight after, begging her to come over and help her get ready.

Lydia knew she would eventually have to bite the bullet and tell her mother that, yes, she was going on a date with Steve Harrington. And yes, it was the same boy her mother had teased her about last week after he'd walked her to the front door. Which would then lead to the inevitable reminder that Sarah was always right.

"She's coming over later to hang out," Lydia told her. "Hope that's okay?"

Sarah was being unusually lenient with her recently. By Lydia's own admission, when she had returned home after the "mall fire" last week – the newspapers had successfully taken that cover up story bait and ran with it – she'd started acting a little different.

Lydia hadn't spoken about it at length with anybody besides Robin, but she was having some trouble sleeping. It seemed understandable – Lydia had witnessed something traumatic and unexpected. Of course, seeing somebody she went to school with impaled by a gigantic spider monster was bound to leave an impact.

But every night, Lydia went to bed and lay awake for several hours, her mind tormenting her with the moment Billy was killed. She never thought she'd feel even a molecule of any emotion towards him. Lydia had disliked Billy from the moment he'd sauntered into Hawkins High. She'd detested him even more after he'd grabbed her ass at a party last year – which ended in her physically having to restrain Robin before she rugby tackled him. But Billy's death was haunting her, over and over.

"Of course," Sarah said, straightening up. "Perhaps she can tell me why my daughter is receiving so many phone calls." Lydia smiled innocently in response, to which Sarah placed her hands on her hips. "That was a cue for you to tell me what's going on?"

"Huh? Nothing."

"I can tell when you lie to me," she reminded, thin eyebrows raised. "Is it to do with that boy? The one who dropped you home last week."

Damn she did not miss a trick.

"Who, Steve?" Lydia chuckled. "Pfft. Wh– why would it be anything to do with him?"

"Because you like him."

Lydia's jaw dropped at the insinuation. "No, I– I–"

"I– I– I–" Sarah mocked.

Lydia frowned. "Don't make fun of my stuttering."

"Then don't lie to me." All right, touché. "I'm your mother, you can tell me things."

Lydia sighed heavily, resting an arm against the counter. Since the cat was practically out the bag already, she supposed she should probably tell her. "Okay, fine, I've been talking to Steve. Happy?"

Sarah wiggled her eyebrows. "Tell me more."

"There's nothing to tell."

Okay, that was a massive lie. Lydia had been thinking about him non-stop. His lips, his arms, even his stupidly perfect hair. It was as if he'd just imprinted himself in her mind. Whenever she daydreamed about their upcoming date, she could hear his voice clear as day, telling her all the sweet nothings she wanted to hear. And all the–

Sarah groaned with impatience. "Of course there's things to tell me! Come on, spill the beans. Is he taking you out?"

"Okay, okay, fine. Jesus mom. We're going out tonight," Lydia informed. "That's why Robin's coming over. She's helping me get ready."

Sarah smirked. "Where's he taking you?"

Lydia shrugged. "Dinner and the drive-in theatre."

"What are you seeing?"

"Back To The Future," Lydia answered. "Is this interrogation gonna be over soon or?" She glanced up at the clock. "Because I only have a few hours to get ready and I need to take a shower."

"I'm just taking an interest, that's all," Sarah defended.

Lydia scoffed. "Well take less of one."

"How can I?" She asked. "You never bring boys home. I knew this one had to be special."

"Okay, woah, let's get something straight. I did not bring him home, he walked me to the door," Lydia corrected. "There's a distinction– a big distinction actually."

"And that's how I knew," Sarah said, grin toying at her lips. "I saw it in your faces. That love-struck look in your eyes..."

"I..." Lydia trailed. "Yeah, no, I'm not having this conversation. Bye."

"Stop hiding your feelings!" Sarah called after her as Lydia made a swift exit from the kitchen.

Pfft. Lydia, hide her feelings? Okay, fine, she was kind of an expert at it. And maybe Steve was making her...less good at that. Which, initially, she thought might be a bad thing, but opening up and being more vulnerable with someone wasn't that awful, right? Like, Lydia and Robin were great at that. Whispered secrets in the dead of night, early morning conversations in the car, even some tearful school bathroom confessions. Maybe Lydia wasn't ready yet to do all of that yet with Steve, but he certainly made her feel safe.

Oh God, she was definitely going soft.

—

"The pink one."

"The blue one."

"Dammit, I like the red one."

Lydia stood exasperatedly in front of her closet mirror, holding up three potential outfits, still on their hangers.

"Dude, the red one was my first pick but you completely dismissed it," Robin said exasperatedly, flopping onto the bed.

"Yeah, well I changed my mind."

"I prefer the pink. The red one is a little too tight," Sarah argued. "You don't want to give him the wrong impression."

To be fair, Lydia wanted to at least give him a taste of that impression. Not that she'd ever admit that to her mother.

"Oh, Steve loves tight." Both Wu women turned to look at Robin, who immediately sat up straighter upon realising the implication of her words. "I mean, tight clothes. You know, because he likes looking at girls and yeah, no, I should definitely stop talking?"

"Yes, you should," Sarah said.

Robin grimaced, shooting Lydia an apologetic look as she held the pink dress in front of her body. "I don't know, I think there's too many frills."

As she moved around, changing angles, Robin picked up an INXS vinyl cover that had been left on the bed. "See, this is why you should go simple," she said, eyes focused on the artwork. "And red is a classic date night colour."

Lydia let out a soft sigh, glancing between the dresses and her mom. "I hate to say it but I think Robin's right."

"Why do you hate to say it?"

"Because you're almost never right."

Robin sat back up, lowering the album cover into her lap. "Uh, name one instance where I've been wrong."

Lydia turned to face her. "You really wanna go down this route?"

"I do, actually."

Sarah chuckled at their back and forth. "I'll leave you girls to it."

"Thanks mom."

Sarah promptly left the room, the door clicking shut behind her. Lydia unhooked the dress straps from the hanger and lay the garment across the end of the bed. She drew in a deep breath, staring down at the outfit.

"You're nervous," Robin noted.

"No I'm not."

Lydia was concerned she might be coming a habitual liar because she was terrified, actually. And it was an unfamiliar feeling in terms of dating – Lydia never got nervous before dates, so this was entirely new territory.

Of course, Robin saw straight through her. She propped herself up, shifting to sit cross-legged. "Lydie, trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about. I mean it's Steve."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about."

"Why?" Robin asked, genuinely dumbfounded. "He's a much bigger idiot than you, so you won't even look that bad in comparison."

"Thank you for that."

"What I mean to say," Robin began, crawling towards the end of the bed. "Is that he's literally head over heels for you."

Lydia plonked herself down beside her. "I'm just..." she trailed. "I don't know. What if he changes his mind or–"

"Lydia," Robin interrupted her spiel, reaching for her hand. "You are a literal diamond. And if Steve doesn't see that then he's even more of a fucking idiot than I thought."

"But what if–"

"No," Robin immediately shut down, holding up a finger to silence her. "No more buts, no more what ifs. Now go and put that dress on, we've only got twenty minutes and I need to do the finishing touches on up your makeup."

"Holy shit, twenty minutes?" Lydia sprang up from the bed. "Why the hell didn't you warn me earlier?!"

Lydia was hoping to leave at least thirty minutes to mentally prepare, but it seemed as if she' d barely be able to spare one.

"Relax, it's fine," Robin assured as Lydia frantically began stripping out of her clothes. "It doesn't matter if you're late. In fact, it's probably good to make him wait a bit."

"Yeah, but it's not a good idea to make him wait with my mom." Lydia pulled her jumper over her head and discarded it across the room. "You know exactly what she's like. It'll be a complete disaster."

"What are you talking about? That's a brilliant idea, he'll be terrified," Robin said, chuckling at the thought. Lydia hurriedly shimmied out of her jeans, almost stumbling into the bed. "Lydie, I don't know why you're so stressed out. It's just Steve. You know, the same asshole who put gum in your hair in third grade."

"That's why I'm so stressed!" Lydia exclaimed, snatching hold of the dress. "I spent the majority of my life hating him and now I can't get him out of my head!"

Robin watched as Lydia stepped into the dress, an amused smile curving on her lips. "Wow. I've never seen you freak out this much about a guy. You must have it super bad."

"Yeah, it's pretty fucking bad."

That was an understatement. It was horrifically bad. And whenever Lydia's doubts crept in, she tried to remind herself of what she'd overheard in the bathroom at Starcourt. But then that only made her like Steve even more. Ugh!

Lydia snapped the dress straps over her shoulders and turned around. "Can you zip me up?"

Robin nodded, getting to her feet. She brushed Lydia's curled hair over her shoulder and zipped the dress up to the top. Robin then took a step back to admire her best friend. Lydia smoothed down the material, staring into the full length mirror.

Okay, the red dress was the right option.

"You look incredible."

Lydia faced her, glancing down at the outfit again. "You don't think it's too much?"

"It's perfect, Lyds." Robin shook her head rapidly. "You know what? I might have to fight Steve to take you out myself."

The corners of Lydia's mouth tugged. "You'd probably win too."

"Oh, I'd totally win," Robin assured, crossing the room to reach Lydia's white dressing table. Her brown zip up makeup bag and all its contents had been splayed across the surface. Robin pulled out the chair from underneath the table and patted the seat.

Lydia traipsed over and sat, leaving a large enough gap between herself and the dresser. Robin stepped into it as she picked up a mascara wand and leaned closer to her face to apply it.

"Do not get that in my eye," Lydia warned sternly. Robin wasn't the most steady handed of people.

"Trust me."

"Trust you?" Lydia asked in disbelief. "The last time I trusted you we ended up in a Russian base."

"We survived, didn't we?" Robin dismissed, using her thumb and forefinger to stretch the skin around Lydia's eyes, keeping them open.

Lydia scoffed. "Barely."

"What's important is that you lived to tell the tale," Robin pointed out. "Plus it bonded you and Steve together. Honestly, if anything, you should be thanking me."

"Yeah, we'll see."

For the next ten minutes, with only the sound of Michael Hutchence emitting from the record player, Robin continued working on Lydia's makeup. After touching up her cheeks with blusher, she lowered the palette, hands hovering over the dressing table to locate the lipstick tube.

"Red lip, classic?" Robin asked.

"As long as it's not gonna be too much," Lydia said, sparing a glance at herself in the mirror. Robin had done a good job so far, not overly applying too much makeup, but enough to add a more radiant shine to Lydia's appearance – God knew she needed it, she'd barely slept a wink last night.

"No it's perfect," Robin told her. "Steve will go crazy for it."

Lydia sat still as Robin applied the lipstick. Her mind drifted back to the overheard conversation in Starcourt bathroom, how much her best friend and Steve had opened up to one another. It almost seemed too good to be true, as if there was some nasty catch in the waiting. There was no way it could all be that perfect; that Steve could accept her best friend with so much ease and, surprisingly, decorum, when the majority of people would never have behaved like that.

It was, perhaps, the most defining turning point in her misconceptions of Steve, to witness that special moment of their friendship blossoming. Because, aside from her mom and Rich, there was no other person on the planet that was more important to Lydia than Robin Buckley. They weren't just friends, they were sisters, soulmates.

Lydia and Robin were a package deal. And there Steve was, the former king of Hawkins High, prepared to let them both enter his life, despite the codes and conventions of popularity, despite the obvious damage it would bring to his reputation, and despite the guaranteed chaos they would bring along.

Robin stepped back to check over the look, smile forming on her lips. "You are literally the most stunning person on Earth. I'm not even joking."

Lydia smiled bashfully. "Thanks, Rob."

"And now, for my final piece," Robin started, reaching into her pocket. "I went rooting through your jewellery earlier," she explained, pulling out a navy box. "Oh, and I'm borrowing your charm bracelet for my job interview by the way, hope you don't mind."

"Well, I didn't exactly have much say in it," Lydia pointed out. Robin was a nightmare for 'borrowing' her things, like the literal human form of a magpie.

Robin untied the blue ribbon and opened the box, revealing a silver crystal necklace. It was a fairly simple chain, but with a small heart in the centre, made up of the tiniest crystals.

The necklace had belonged to Lydia's grandma, bought and given to her by her grandfather during the First World War. Lydia only tended to wear it for special occasions as she was completely petrified of losing or ruining it.

"I know you don't always wear this out, but I thought it would look nice," Robin said. She was right (again). It would be perfect with the sweetheart neckline of the dress.

Robin carefully removed it from the box and undid the clasp. Lydia held her hair up and out of the way as Robin leaned forwards to rest the jewellery around her neck.

Lydia looked in the mirror, placed a hand against her chest and smiled. "It's perfect." She glanced up at Robin, eyes threatening to water. "Thanks for being my best wing-woman."

Robin smiled earnestly. "Anytime." She started packing makeup back into the bag. "But, if you wanted to do me a favour after this, you could always get me a date with Marnie Bryant."

Lydia rolled her eyes as she got back to her feet. "Is it not time to let that crush go?" She spared a glance at the clock. Eleven minutes.

"Uh, of course not," Robin said. "I've still got one year left of the ten year plan."

That stupid fucking ten year plan. Despite how disastrously wrong both of their intended steps had gone over the years, Robin still attempted to abide by it whenever she could. Meanwhile, Lydia had given up a long time ago.

"It's the stupidest plan I've ever heard," Lydia criticised. Maybe that was a little harsh. After all, their Russian base plan had been fucking horrible. Nothing could be worse than that.

"You're going to look very, very silly when I prove you wrong," Robin stated, to which Lydia snickered.

"Yeah, yeah," Lydia dismissed. Robin was the best and deserved the world, but she would never be able to pull Marnie. Not that she didn't have the charm to, because she did in a sort of adorable, dorky way? But mostly, it was because no person on earth was apparently good enough for Marnie. And in Lydia's humble (but correct) opinion, Robin was certainly too good for about ninety nine percent of Hawkins' population.

"I, uh, told Steve, by the way," Robin spoke up. She zipped up the makeup bag and faced Lydia, leaning back against the dressing table. She fiddled with her hands in her lap. "In the bathroom at the mall, after you went to get water. We had this long conversation and I...well, I came out to him."

Lydia spared a sheepish glance at the ground. "Yeah, uh, I kind of overheard."

"Oh," Robin said. "Cool. Wait. Oh no, did you hear us singing like muppets?"

"Yes and it was beautiful."

Robin covered her face with her hands. "Christ, how much did you actually overhear?"

Lydia went quiet. "Well..."

"Holy shit," Robin's hands lowered back to her sides, eyes widening. "You heard all of it, didn't you? Including everything Steve said." Lydia nodded her head in confirmation. "Oh my God, Lydia! And you've been stood in this room doubting his feelings for you? After you overheard all that?!"

"Well, we were all drugged," Lydia pointed out.

"Yeah, with fucking truth serum!"

Okay, fair point. "Well, yeah, but he still probably didn't know what he was saying!"

Robin threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. "You're impossible."

"Thank you."

"Seriously though, Lyds, pull yourself together," Robin said, meeting her eyes. "Because Steve meant every single word."

A/N

My fave friendship <3

Wanted to write a little bit giving insight to Lydia's mind after what happened, don't want to just completely gloss over the kind of trauma that would give someone.

Also thought it was finally time to have Lydia fully simping over Steve and having the dreaded first date nerves 😂