Steve's house was empty which is exactly the way Tessa wanted it. She stood awkwardly in the Harrington's living room and wrapped her arms around herself. Suddenly she felt incredibly nervous. Steve reappeared from the kitchen with two beers in hand. He looked just as nervous as Tessa now felt.

He handed her a can and ran a nervous hand through his hair again. Exchanging a look of fear, both downed their drinks. Steve finished his and crumpled it in his hand theatrically. Tessa snorted and mimicked him.

"Are we going to make out or what, Harrington?" As soon as it left Tessa's mouth, she grimaced in embarrassment.

Steve sighed and inched forward to grab the edges of her Levi jacket to pull her closer slowly. He looked down at his hands on her jacket. "Are we doing this…?"

Tessa inhaled shakily. Steve finally looked up and noticed that Tessa was still looking down at his hands. "Have you done, this stuff kind of… Have you been with a guy b-"

Tessa's head shot up and she nearly stepped back out of his reach but found herself stuck in his grasp. "No, it is not my first time, Harrington. It might not be our first time if you keep thinking shit like that. Is it your first time? Don't be such a dumbass."

"Cool I was just, y'know, checking, I heard you'd-" Steve started to say but this time he backed away as Tessa glared at him.

"You heard what? Harrington?" Tessa folded her arms.

"Nothing," Steve ran his hands over his face then let out a long exhale. "Can we start over? This," He gestured between them. "Is weird. I'm friends with your brother and we've known each other for ages and it just feels like I'm trying to sleep with a family friend."

They stood in silence. Tessa rubbed her chin in thought before looking down at the beer cans they had placed on the coffee table.

"You're right," Tessa nodded. "I think we need to get slightly drunk to deal with this level of awkwardness."

Steve nodded and jumped over the couch back towards the kitchen. He ran back with 4 more cans. Nearly dropping two of them, he offered one to Tessa and finally set the leftover two cans on the couch. They both stood and downed the two cans again.

"This is stupid," Tessa said frustrated and threw her empty can on the floor.

"Yeah so stupid!" Steve replied animatedly. In sync they both took a step forward and were a breath away from each other.

"So stupid," Tessa breathed, too aware of the proximity to focus properly. Did her breath smell? More importantly, did she smell? Her brain was panicking but her eyes just kept staring at Steve's lips. They were a soft pink. He must have shaved before the date because his chin and jaw were smooth.

Tessa thought she would be the first to cave but Steve surged towards her with two hands grasping the sides of her face. His lips were urgent, and his hands slipped down to push her jacket from her shoulders. His fingers ran down to loop in her belt loops on her denim skirt. The kiss was passionate and forceful. What Steve was giving, Tessa was taking it happily. Her own hands found their way to his neck and slid up into that mess of hair. He groaned slightly as her fingertips ran over his scalp.

Tessa took a step forward and felt them lose balance. They both cried out as they fell backward painfully onto the couch before slipping off onto the carpet next to it. Tessa started to laugh as she rolled off of him and laid beside him. Steve didn't laugh, his eyes were focused. Tessa had never seen Steve look so determined. He crawled on top of her and with hands that seemed to be everywhere at once, he kissed her again.

His hands pulled her vest top up and they sat up to remove his jumper.

What seemed like forever ended with the two of them falling back onto the carpet with panting breaths.

Steve shot her a glance before relaxing back. He pulled down a blanket from couch to cover them. Tessa tried to focus on the ceiling. She had just slept with the king of Hawkins High. What was her life. She couldn't shake the idea that this was the start of a bad idea. She pushed it to the back of her mind and rolled in to rest her head on Steve's chest. His hand came to her head and squeezed slightly.

"What are you doing?" Tessa nearly laughed.

"I don't know, just like enjoying the moment," Steve mumbled.

They laid there for a couple of minutes entwined. They both got dressed and tidied up.

On the drive back, they didn't speak but Steve's hand reached across to take Tessa's. They held hands all the way back to Tessa's house.

The car pulled into the driveway with a slight creak. Steve didn't let go of Tessa's hand.

"Tessa," Steve's voice was low. Tessa only looked at him because she couldn't remember when he'd said her first name so seriously before. "Tessa, I like- I really like you and I don't want you to think that-"

"You goin' soft on me, Harrington?" Tessa teased.

"I'm serious," Steve smiled. "I really like you okay? And I don't want this to be a one-time thing. I wanna see you again, like this I mean…"

Tessa sighed and leaned over to give him a kiss. This time she took her time to enjoy it. She pulled back and used her free hand to fix his hair with a smile. "Steve I like you but let's just stay calm and see what happens."

"Okay," Steve nodded as if agreeing but then his head switched back around. "This date with Billy – You will keep it to the minimum? Just go out and come back."

Tessa's face soured. "Are you serious?"

"Hargrove is a handsome guy, I'm not ashamed to admit it," Steve scrambled to defend his statement, but Tessa had already recoiled and pulled on her jacket.

"Yeah Hargrove is so attractive and I'm just going to roll over for him… did your high school bros tell you that?" Tessa sighed and opened the car door. "That's fine Steve. Start things by not trusting me. Great plan. Really makes a girl feel special." She jumped out of the car as Steve protested behind her.

"Tessa? Tess! I didn't mean it like that, C'mon Henderson!" Steve shouted from the car, but Tessa kept walking and blocked him out. As soon

The tears stung Tessa's eyes as she stormed through the house past a questioning Dustin and Mom. As soon as her bedroom door shut behind her, she felt herself break down.