The glass door to Scoops Ahoy chimed from a small golden bell as they walked through it. They were hit by the chill from the AC. Blue and white checkered tiles were illuminated by blinding bright florescent. Some people chattering as they ate their ice creams.
Steve was behind the register in his usual navy blue sailor uniform. He seemed bored while he leaned over the register with his chin in his hand.
They walked towards the register. Will smiled and waved at him to get his attention and he stood up and smiled back. "Hey Steve."
"What's up little Byers? What are you guys up to?" Steve adjusted the paper sailor hat before it fell off.
"Oh, nothing much. Just spending some quality time with Mike." Will glanced at Mike, sporting a slight blush and small smile in his direction.
"Ignore me you have. Hmmm?"
"So, what will it be guys?" Steve gestured to the ice cream freezer holding buckets of different flavors.
There were the normal ones like chocolate and vanilla. Also, mint chocolate, bubblegum, sherbet, rocky road, neapolitan, butter pecan, and strawberry cheesecake.
Will bit his lip trying to decide on a flavor and then saw they had strawberry cheesecake. He loved cheesecake, so it wasn't too hard to decide. "Could I get two scoops of strawberry cheesecake, please?"
Steve dipped the metal scooper into a trough of water to clean it before scooping the ice cream into a ship shaped bowl. He took a small plastic spoon from an unused ship bowl and stabbed the cheesecake ice cream. He passed it over the glass to Will.
Will grinned from ear to ear and closed his eyes after he took his first bite of it. The cheesecake flavor melted on his tongue and it even had pieces of real cheese cake bites too, "Mmmm… That's yummy." He licked his lips after chewing the small pieces of cake.
"Oh? It's that good?" Mike asked.
"Yeah, I love cheesecake. Here, try some." He scrapped a generous amount on the spoon. He hovered a hand under it as he guided it to Mike's awaiting mouth.
"Mmmm.. that is pretty good, but I'd rather have good ol' fashioned rocky road." Mike got some ice cream on the side of his lips.
Will pointed at his face, "You got some on your face."
Mike's tongue shot out over his lips trying to get the ice cream smudge, but missed completely.
"Hold still. I'll get it." Will swiped a thumb over his lips to wipe off the melted ice cream and sucked it off his thumb.
Mike's pale face turned scarlet from the neck up and then he mentally slapped himself when realized what he did. Mike had done the same thing to Will in front of his mom. Mike was rubbing off on him. He didn't mind it one bit when Mike rubbed off on him. He pulled his head out the gutter and he turned his head towards Steve.
Will expected him to sneer at them with a disgusted look, but instead he was greeted with an amused smirk. "Oh, I see now." Steve said with his arms crossed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mike said while avoiding eye contact with him, face still beet red.
"Now I know why little Byers was so happy coming in."
"What do you mean?" Will asked, a familiar prickle of heat on his cheeks.
"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes your smile doesn't quite reach your eyes. If you know what I mean." Steve paused to smile, "But I'm glad that Mike makes you happy. After all you've been through, you deserve it."
Will smiled warmly at Mike, "I've never been happier."
"The two of you are gonna give me cavities before the ice cream would." Dustin said.
Mike piped up, "Oh yeah, could I get two scoops of rocky road, dude?"
"Sure, coming up." He handed Mike his own ship bowl of ice cream.
Will pulled out his wallet about to pay, when Steve gestured to put it away.
Steve leaned over the register to whisper, "Don't worry, it's on me." He opened the register and closed it to right away.
"If that's the case, three scoops of your finest mint chocolate chip, my good sir." Dustin said.
"That'll be 6.50$" Steve said with his hand out.
"Ha ha very funny."
"Come on, cough it up." His hand still out for the cash.
"Damn it," Dustin reluctantly pulled out his wallet and paid.
They sat down on a round white table with their ice cream bowls. Free ice cream did seem to taste sweeter than normal. He just finished his first scoop when the door chimed, "Hey guys, enjoying a break from the hell hole that is high school?"
Will twisted around in his seat with a smile to the familiar female voice, "Hey, Robin. I didn't know you were working today."
She straightened out her own sailor uniform and smoothed out her dirty blonde hair, "Yep, I was on lunch break. Ice cream isn't my ideal lunch."
She pointed a thumb in Steve's general direction, "Gotta go help out this dingus here." She whirled and strutted behind the ice cream freezer to join Steve who was now serving some teenagers.
"I should let you two enjoy your date. The party should get together for a movie night or something. I'm gonna start heading home. Call me later so we could set something up."
"Yeah, a movie night sounds great. We could watch one at my place. Also, it'll be a good opportunity to tell the others about Will and I."
He turned to Will, "If that's cool with you, of course."
Will just smiled and nodded.
"Then it's settled. We'll call you when we get back to my place."
Dustin got up to wave to Steve and Robin and then Mike and Will gave a small wave back, "See ya guys later." He announced, then pushed the glass door and it chimed as he walked out the Scoops Ahoy
Mike was enjoying his rocky road and Will wanted to try some of it, "Mikey, could I try some of your rocky road?"
Mike scraped some in his spoon, "Sure, try some."
Will opened his mouth for the delicious sweet treat. It was chocolaty with pieces of soft marshmallows and crunchy chopped up almonds. It was yummy, but he just hated when bits of almonds got stuck in his teeth.
"Taste good?"
"Yeah, but not as great as mine though." Will stuck out his tongue at Mike.
"Yours does taste amazing." Mike licked his lips after another bite of rocky road.
"Here, have some more?" Will scooped a sizable portion with his spoon and Mike leaned over table to warp his soft lips around the creamy treat. He slowly pulled back, eyes closed while the spoon was sucked clean as he pulled away.
"Oh shit! Look at these faggots!" Mike and Will pulled away, startled at the outburst.
It was a guy about their age, dressed in an extra large black hoodie with greasy hair and chubby faced. He pointed towards them with a sneer plastered on his ugly face. The people around them looked between them and the bully.
Mike scrunched up his face in anger and a scowl replaced the usually bright smile. He slammed his palm on the table and was about to pull himself up.
"Get out!" Robin stomped over to the guy and pointed towards the door.
"I'm a customer, you can't kick me out!" The guy stood his ground, arms crossed in defiance.
"We have the right to refuse service to anyone and I'm using that right to tell you to get the hell out." Robin now stood in front of the brute with an index finger pointed right at his face. She gestured her finger from his face to the door, "Now get out." She said though clenched teeth.
The tension in the room was thick as everyone watched the altercation, including them. The guy spun around as if to leave, but pulled his arm back preparing to strike Robin.
But when he swung his arm forward, it stopped mid punch. Arm frozen and fist about half a foot from hitting Robin's face. She closed her eyes preparing for the hit that never came.
Shock and confusion flashed on the asshole's face, then suddenly his legs shot out behind him like they were tied and yanked by an invisible rope. He didn't react fast enough to brace his fall, so he landed face first on the blue and white tiles. He struggled to push himself up and blood was running down his nose as he clutched at it.
"What the fuck was that?! Did you push me?!" He said while blood seeped through his fingers. Then there was a chime as the door opened.
"What the hell? I didn't even touch you. You slipped when you tried to hit me."
There was a stern gruff voice, "I don't believe she did, but you were about to assault her. She could even decide to press charges." It was Jim Hopper in a loose Hawaiian shirt with palm trees on it.
Jane popped up beside her adoptive dad and police chief of Hawkins. She swiped her nose with the back of her hand and smirked knowingly at them. She had on black skinny jeans, white shirt with a worn denim jacket. Her hair was pulled back in a lose pony tail by a yellow scrunchie.
The asshole ran out the Scoops Ahoy, clutching his possibly broken bloody nose and muttering obscenities. The spectators in the shop started clapping like it was the end of a great movie. They probably thought that he slipped and fell on his face. Robin audibly signed in relief that it wasn't her nose that was smashed.
"Jerks getting what they deserve, really gives me a sweet tooth. I'm craving some chocolate ice cream right now."
Robin chuckled, "Alright, how many scoops?
"Two should be fine. What about you, Jane?"
"I'll have sherbet if you have it. Thank you."
"Two scoops of chocolate and two scoops of sherbet, coming right up. By the way, nice jacket. It looks good on you." Jane blushed and gave a small smile.
Will waved her to sit with them, so she sat down where Dustin sat earlier. "I'm glad you showed up when you did."
"Yeah, that was awesome. That asshole needed to get knocked down a peg or two." Mike added.
"I was shopping for clothes with dad and I saw Dustin before he left the mall. He told me that you guys were here. Just in time too. What was that all about?"
Robin came over to set down two bowls, one sherbet and the other chocolate, "Sherbet for the beautiful young lady and chocolate for the chief."
Jim Hopper pulled out his wallet and took out a single bill, "Here's a 20$. Keep the change." He held it out for her to take.
"I can't take that. If you guys hadn't shown up. My face would've defiantly ended up like that asshole's." She quickly covered her mouth, "Sorry, Mr. Hopper."
"Don't sweat it. Just take it." He grabbed her hand and put the money in it.
"Alright, I will. Thank you." She smiled and went back over to a shocked Steve at the register.
Hopper dragged an empty chair from another table to theirs and sat with them, "Alright you guys. What was that altercation all about?" His arms crossed on the table.
"Well...He yelled and called us names." Mike said vaguely.
"What kind of things did he say to you?" Hopper took a few bites of ice cream.
"Uh..ya know things." Will added.
"Come on, I can't help if I don't know what started it."
Luckily, the room was somewhat chilly so his ice cream was just slightly melted. Will scooped the melted cheesecake ice cream and ate some before saying, "He pointed at us and yelled 'look at these faggots'."
He felt his back being rubbed in a soothing motion. He looked up to see Mike with a sad smile and eye brimming with unshed tears.
"When I first met Joyce, she had told me your dad used to call you that. Bullies will tell you lies to put you down, so you don't feel good about your self. It's usually because they don't feel good about themselves."
Will chewed his bottom lip, "What if it's not a lie?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why does it bother others that we love each other?" He couldn't help but look in Mike's warm eyes as he said this.
Hopper glanced between them and smiled, "Some people just don't understand love. Even though I'm not biologically Jane's father." He put his arm around her shoulders and smiled at her. "I don't care what others think. I still love her as if she were my own flesh and blood. Love doesn't make us weak, it makes us stronger. Don't forget that, Ok?"