Heaven

I still remember the moment we met
The touch that he planted
The garden he left
I guess the rain was just half that effect
No need to imagine
'Cause I know it's true
They say "all good boys go to heaven"
But bad boys brings heaven to you

On one of Nathan Lewis' blessed days off from work, he decided he wanted to explore the town like his daughter previously had. He had yet to see what the big deal about Starcourt mall was, so after making some plans he and daughter set out to spend the afternoon watching a movie and finding a place to eat.

Dani's just tied a red and black flannel around her waist, shielding the back of her thighs to give her dad some piece of mind because her jean shorts were a little too short, when there's a knock on her bedroom door. "Yeah?"

"You almost ready, kiddo?"

"Yeah! I just need my shoes." She hurriedly opens her closet, digging out a pair of flat black boots. And after slipping her feet into them, she opens her door and beams up at her dad. "Ready."

"Good. You're driving."

After walking out and locking up their house, father and daughter make themselves comfortable in Dani's Firebird. They roll down their windows and the engine comes to life with a roar. Letting the engine idle, Dani then reaches over to the glove box to retrieve one of her favorite mix-tapes. As the engine idles, she pops the tape into the cassette player. The familiar tune of Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music starts to play through the speakers and Nathan Lewis leans forward with a grin to crank up the volume. Laughing, Dani then perches a pair of sunglasses on the bridge of her nose as her dad does the same.

As she starts to reverse out of their driveway, her dad sings. "Yeah, once I was a Funky singer. Playin' in a rock and roll band."

Dani laughs at him, shaking her head in amusement as she sees her dad dancing in his seat from the corner of her eye. She stops at the stop sign and turns on her signal light, she taking a right which will take them on their way out of the neighborhood. The music starts to become infectious and just as she hits on the gas, she can't help herself. She sings along with her dad. "Yeah they were dancin' and singin', and movin' to the groovin'. And just when it hit me, somebody turned around and shouted play that funky music, white boy!"

She ends up cracking up, letting her dad car karaoke his heart out. The entire ride to the mall is spent laughing at her dad as he ridiculously sings and dances along to every song on her mix tape.

Then once at the mall, not even fifteen minutes in and Dani starts to poke fun at her dad who's garnering plenty of looks from the female population.

"Don't encourage them," Nathan hisses at his daughter. "They're young enough to be my kid. Jesus."

But Dani doesn't listen. She catches the gaze of what appears to be a couple of teenagers ogling her dad, and waggles her eyebrows at them until they blush and look away. "But it's hilarious." Nathan shoves his daughter as they walk around the second floor of the mall, she tripping into the railing before lunging back at him. "Rude!"

Laughing, he slings his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "So what movie are we watching?"

"The Breakfast Club. And I don't want to hear any complaints!" She's quick to tell him.

"Fine. But I'm eating all the buttery popcorn I can and I don't want to hear any complaints."

"Fine."

The movie immediately becomes one of Dani's favorites even as her dad grumbles about picking the movie next time. As they head back down to ground level, they start talking about what they want to eat. They don't want to drive around looking for a diner suitable to their tastes when there's a perfectly good food court within the mall, so after grabbing a few slices of pizza each, the father/daughter duo sit down and talk about the movie over their meal.

"Hey how about some ice cream?" Nathan asks afterward.

"Sure. The ice cream is good at Scoops Ahoy."

Her dad pokes fun at all the sailor themed furniture when they enter and Dani swats at him to behave.

"Do my eyes deceive me or is an angel floating my way?"

Dani snorts, her gaze zeroing in on the one person too young to be behind the glass case of ice cream. "Dustin," she muses in greeting. Steve's eyes widen upon spotting her, he whipping off his sailor's hat and ruffling his hair. He tries to lean casually on the ice cream refrigerator with a too cool attitude, but slips, and quickly corrects himself with a muttered curse. Dani smirks at him. "Steve."

"D-Dani. Hey," he drawls. "How's it going?" Steve starts to smirk, but Nathan clearing his throat and crossing his arms over his chest has his eyes subtly widening.

"Steve, I don't think you've met my dad," she grins. "Dad, this is Steve. Only met him once before, but the kids apparently adore him. And you know Dustin, of course."

"Hey, Mr. Lewis. How's it going?"

"Dustin, I was wondering where you got off to," Nathan says. "My refrigerator's been oddly full these passed two days."

"Aw, you missed me. No worries. I'll be back soon. Your refrigerator has the best food out of everyone's household."

Dani and Nathan chuckle at Dustin's easy going attitude, and Steve's stammering catches them momentarily off guard. "H-Hi, Mr. Lewis. It's nice to meet you. I'm Steve."

Nathan looks at Steve, then at Dani, then back at Steve and sizes him up. "Hey, kid." He pauses rather dramatically as he holds Steve's gaze, he then looking at the ice cream selection. "So what do you recommend?"

Steve blinks owlishly at Nathan Lewis, and Dani and Dustin share amused glances. A sigh from behind Dani has her stepping aside, only to reveal an annoyed looking Max and an awed looking Eleven.

"Will you hurry it up, moron? El and I need our fix of sugar!"

Nathan chuckles. "Oh Max. I missed you, kid." Dani's dad ruffles Max's red hair, she swatting at his hand while sheepishly smiling. "And just for that comment, ice cream's on me." Then turning back to his daughter, Nathan tells her, "Get the girl's ice cream on us. I'll just be sitting out by the fountain, so bring me my cone when Mr. Steve stops ogling you."

"What?! I'm not- I wouldn't-" Max and Eleven watch Mr. Lewis take his leave after handing over his wallet to Dani, both girls simultaneously turning back to face Steve and crossing their arms over their chest with smug smiles. "Why are you looking at me like that? And how do you even know the new girl? What have I been missing?"

"Steve-O, Steve-O, Steve-O," Dustin muses. "This is one of things that not must be spoken of in public. We'll tell you later."

"What? Not even a little hint?" Dustin looks to Dani who looks to Eleven. The girls shrug and Eleven makes the first move, she holding her arm out for Steve's inspection. The 011 is bold against her pale skin. Steve huffs, raising an eyebrow at the tattoo he's seen more than once. "Yeah. And?"

Dani steps forward then, removing her bracelet and holding her arm out for inspection. 009.

Steve's brow furrows and then his eyes widen, mouth dropping open in surprise. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

The window at Steve's back slides open and the two boys whirl around with a yelp. "Hey, dingus, get to work! And you, kid I don't even know, out from behind the counter. You don't work here."

Dustin rolls his eyes but does as he's told and then Dani is letting the girls give Steve their order before her own.

"What are you guys even doing here?" He asks Max as he's scooping strawberry ice cream into a cone. Handing it off to her, he then starts working on the vanilla for Eleven. "Are you even allowed to be here?" Max and Eleven simultaneously snort, look at one another before breaking off into giggles, and then rush out of the parlour with their newly acquired treats.

"Those dumb shits are going to get in so much trouble," Dustin muses, shaking his head in disappointment. "I'm definitely telling Hop when I see him." Then facing Steve once more, Dustin orders a butterscotch flavored ice cream. Once it's safe in his hand, he starts walking towards the door. "Just put it on the Lewis' tab. Later, Harrington. See you around, sweet cheeks."

Dani can't help but laugh at Dustin's antics. When Steve sighs, she faces him once more with a smile of her own. "Those kids are something else."

"Tell me about it." He flips his scoop in hand and Dani does her best to keep from laughing at his poor attempts of showing off. "So if you're like Eleven, do you have any.. abilities?" He asks, lowering his voice at the end and glancing suspiciously from side to side.

"Oh. Um. Yeah. I can walk in and out of shadows."

His eyes widen. "No way."

"Way." Chuckling softly, Dani then averts her gaze to the ice cream. "So do you guys have peppermint?"

"Of course. Waffle cone or regular?"

"Waffle." Steve makes quick work of serving up the two cones and Dani takes out enough money from her dad's wallet to cover the tab. He thanks her, as per Scoops Ahoy guidelines, and Dani waves as best as she can with ice cream in her hands. "See you around, Harrington."

"Yeah. Same to you, Lewis." He ruffles his hair and Dani can't help but find his nervous tick oddly adorable.

When Dani finds her dad, she finds him surrounded by Max and Eleven chattering his ear off. Nathan's laughing and Dani takes a moment to just watch him. For so long it's been just him and her, but ever since Chief Hopper dropped a bombshell on them it's like they can breathe and be normal people for once.

Stepping forward before their ice cream can melt, Dani quickly hands one cone off to her dad. "Here you go." He takes it with a mumbled thanks and Dani glances between the girls. "So what brings you here against Hopper's wishes?"

"Mike was being a total d-bag," Max says. "Boyfriends do nothing but lie."

Eleven nods. "Stupid boys."

"And that's my cue to go exploring on my own," Nathan says. "Behave. All three of you. And, Dani, I'll meet you in hour."

"Sure thing, dad." A moment after Nathan Lewis takes his leave, Dani raises an eyebrow at the girls. "What else are you guys up to?"

"Max brought me to find my style," Eleven sheepishly admits. "Not Hop's. Not Mike's, but mine."

"Good on you, kid." Dani glances at her black romper with various shapes and squiggles in various colors. "I like it. It looks good on you."

Eleven blushes and Max chuckles happily. A bathroom break is soon needed, but only Eleven is the one to enter one of the stalls. Max and Dani hang out by the sinks as Dani fluffs her loose hair to her liking, and Max hops up on the counter.

"So I heard something interesting," the red head slowly states. "Care to tell me if it's true?"

"Hit me with it."

"Did you really spend time with Billy down at the pool?" Whatever Dani had been expecting, it wasn't that. She tenses and stares at Max, and the redhead rolls her eyes. "It's just.. he's been teasing me about it. Telling me he's going to take you out and.. do stuff. He's an asshole."

"Yeah. I kind of realized that early on, Max."

"Then why? There are so many other better people to make friends with."

"I.. don't know. Honestly," Dani admits. Eleven exits the stall and goes about washing her hands, glancing at Dani and offering her a small smile. "He's crude and mean, and well.. we just get along if you can believe it."

"He's not a good person," Max then tells her. "He's.. been doing a bit better, but he's still not good." This time Eleven nods along and Dani sighs.

"Thanks for looking out, but really, girls, it's fine. I'm fine. If Billy crosses the line with me or with anyone I care about in my presence, then we'll have a problem. But until then-"

"You're going to keep talking to him." Max realizes and rolls her eyes as she hops off the counter. "Fine. But if he hurts you, I'm busting his balls."

Dani laughs and slings an arm around Max's shoulders, then Eleven's, and leads them out of the bathroom. "You'd have to get in line, kid. After I'm done with him, then my dad is up to bat. I'm not sure there'd be anything left of Billy Hargrove for anyone else to mess up."


Another warm day while the kids are out doing God knows what, Dani decides a visit to the pool is in order. But today she's feeling rather playful, and after finding out Billy's working a shift, she hides her black one piece bathing suit underneath a white crop top and some jean shorts. Normally a one piece wouldn't be too provocative, but Dani found one where the neckline scooped low to show off a generous amount of cleavage and the bottom half was cut high on her hips. And since it was cut high, the bottom back of her bikini was practically a thong and Dani couldn't wait to scandalize a few individuals.

So after packing a couple of sandwiches and chips, alongside her phone and towel, Dani hops into her Firebird and drives down to the pool. The cougars seemed to have already went on the prowl and Dani's genuinely pleased to see Mrs. Wheeler among them.

"Hey, Mrs. Wheeler, this chair taken?" She asks.

"Dani, hi! And no, please take a seat." Mrs. Wheeler beams. As Dani places her bag on the chair and kicks off her flip-flops, the elder woman then makes introductions to her lady friends who are all kind in return. "And didn't I tell you to call me Karen when we first met?"

"Probably. I'm pretty stubborn though."

"All teenagers are, sweetie." Dani takes off her shirt and tosses it aside, she turning and giving her back to the lifeguard chair that's currently occupied. Mrs. Wheeler glances at it, her smile widening. "You missed the show, by the way."

Dani smirks. "On the contrary. The show's only beginning."

Mrs. Wheeler's friends seem to be paying attention as Dani unbuttons her shorts, their own grins blossoming as Dani seductively shimmies the shorts off her hips and down her legs. Their gazes quickly dart between Dani and Billy, and the women all start to giggle.

"What did you do?" Mrs. Wheeler wonders. "He lowered his sunglasses almost immediately and now keeps shifting in his chair."

Chuckling, Dani feigns innocence. "Me? I didn't do anything. It's not my fault Mr. Hargrove can't handle a little skin." At that Dani turns and the women all cackle at the sight of her suit riding up her ass, and Dani amusingly meets Billy's intense gaze from across the pool. "I'm totally going to regret this later," she says to the ladies.

"Oh to be young and have a body worthy of wearing that suit," one of Mrs. Wheeler's friend says.

As Dani gives her back to Billy once more, she sets out to spreading her towel over the chair before taking a seat and reclining in it. Then setting her sunglasses on her face to shield just exactly where it is she's looking, Dani takes joy in witnessing Billy have a hard time paying attention to watching those in the pool. He looks tense and keeps grabbing at his shorts, adjusting himself, and Dani has to bite her lip to keep from laughing outright.

"You know what? I'm going for a swim. Do any of you ladies wish to join me?"

Mrs. Wheeler is the only one to join as the others start giving their excuses and calling it a day. Dani waves them off, and then she and Mrs. Wheeler walk into the pool over by the stairs. Dani takes her time in fully immersing herself in the water and then the two of them start swimming laps.

Dani makes sure to swim right in front of Billy's perch and Mrs. Wheeler is right there by her side laughing as they do so. Eventually, though, teasing Billy loses the thrill and the two finally swim over to the ladder to climb on out.

"Looking good out there, Mrs. Wheeler," a familiar voice drawls. Billy saunters up with two towels, handing them out as Mrs. Wheeler bashfully thanks him. "Perfect form."

Beaming, Mrs. Wheeler says, "Well your forms is amazing." Billy smugly chuckles and Dani snorts as Mrs. Wheeler realizes how the words came out of her mouth. "I'm sorry. I mean, I've seen you teaching.. lessons. Swimming lessons."

"You know I could teach you if you'd like."

Dani thinks he's speaking to Mrs. Wheeler, so she doesn't have a problem placing the towel over her face to dab it dry as Billy ridiculously flirts. But when Mrs. Wheeler's elbow sharply jabs her, she looks up to see Billy staring directly at her. "Uhh.. what?"

His eyes practically gleam. "I can give you lessons. I know all the styles," he smirks. "Freestyle. Butterfly," he muses, taking a step closer to Dani and looking at her through his lashes as he momentarily pauses. "Breaststroke."

Somehow he makes placing a strip of gum into his mouth look rather seductively and Dani's brain short circuits. Her towel falls from her hands and Billy chuckles as Dani curses, both of them bending down to pick the towel up at the same time.

"You okay?" He muses as they stand back up.

"Goddammit," Dani hisses. "You win this round, Hargrove."

"Think about it, Lewis." He winks. "Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure there's a good pool over at Motel 6 on Cornwallis. It's very quiet. Very private." Dani gulps and his trademark smirks reemerges. "Shall we say tonight?"

Stepping up close, Dani pats Billy on the chest. Her expression momentarily falters at the feel of his toned chest and she leaves her hand there, splaying her fingers before trailing them downward and tugging on his whistle. "Keep dreaming."

"Always." Dani glances over her shoulder at Mrs. Wheeler, she gesturing for the woman to follow. As the two try to move passed, Dani shouldering Billy in the process, the palm of a hand connects to her right butt cheek with a resounding slap. She yelps, Mrs. Wheeler snickers, and Billy blows her a kiss as she glares at him. "Stick around, Lewis. I got a double shift today and you being here makes work suck less."

"Buy me a Coke and I'll think about it."

- X -

Call it boredom, but whatever had possess Dani to tease Billy also has her sticking around long after Mrs. Wheeler has left. She had made a quick trip to the showers to wash the pool water from her hair, she then laying out in her chair to dry off just enough in order to pull her shorts back on. It was amusing at first to make Billy squirm, but then every other person started to take notice of her swimsuit and the stares weren't so amusing then.

She's munching on the snacks she had packed, sitting in the shade of an umbrella when Billy drops a cold can of Coke in her lap and dropping into the seat next to her. Dani curses, quickly grabbing the cold can and placing it on the small table next to her chair as Billy laughs.

"Dick."

"Aw don't be like that." He looks at her bag and after a terse nod from Dani he picks it up to rummage through it for the other sandwich and chips.

After cracking her can of Coke open, Dani takes a sip before leaning back in her chair. Staring at Billy's profile, she asks, "So why are you working a double? Wasting precious time watching the tiny terrors doesn't seem up your alley."

Billy snorts and busies himself eating for a moment. "One of the lifeguards has taken it upon herself to come and go as she pleases. I just think Heather's being a bitch because I forgot to pick her up for our date last night."

"Don't know why she's being bitchy. She totally dodged a bullet." Billy tenses and glares at her, and Dani blows him a kiss. "Kidding. Chill out, Hargrove."

"Whatever." He finishes his sandwich within a couple more bites, moving onto the chips and his own soda. "So what brought today on?" He asks. "Not gonna lie, I liked it. A lot."

His too smug grin makes Dani roll her eyes. "I was bored. Thought it'd funny to make you squirm."

"Hmm. You're lucky I'm working or else I'd have made you squirm back in the showers."

"Of course you would have." She chuckles at him.

After leaning back in his seat and getting as comfortable as he can, and staring a moment too long which makes Dani actually squirm, Billy chuckles. "You know for all the lines and innuendo I throw at you, I don't actually know what your type is. What is your type, Lewis? What makes that heart of yours race and your thighs.. clench?"

"I don't necessarily have a type." She shrugs. "It varies."

"Yeah? Anyone in Hawkins caught your interest?"

She doesn't know how to feel about Billy digging for her personal information, but she finds herself telling him anyhow. "Two, actually. One more so than the other."

"Do tell."

"Well.. they're the complete opposite of one another. One guy has really great hair and is kind of dorky. Totally the soft and gentle type," she muses. "And the other," she slowly smirks now, "the other is a total douchebag with a great ass, pretty eyes, and a knack for hitting on the cougars while he's at work."

Billy laughs and the genuineness of it surprises Dani. She hasn't known him for long, but she's seen enough- the mocking laughs, the cruel remarks, the too tight grips on the arms of those that annoy him- and it surprisingly hasn't made her run for the hills. Everyone knows Billy Hargrove is the definition of a bad boy and someone to steer clear of, but Dani finds herself being drawn to him instead.

Several people start to stare which prompts her to toss a chip at him. "Shut up." But he only picks the chip up off his lap, tosses it into his mouth, and meets Dani's gaze before she rolls her eyes at him. "Fair enough. Now who's my competition?"

"I don't know if I should tell you. I don't think I can trust you to not seek him out and subtly threaten him even though he has no idea I might have a slight crush on him."

"Come on, Lewis, tell me. I promise to leave the lesser man alone."

Momentarily thinking on it, Dani finally caves. "Name's Steve. Apparently Max and her friends all know him." Billy's back to laughing again and those who personally know the teen are now staring with wide eyes. "Jesus Christ," she hisses, "will you shut up!"

"Harrington?" Billy wonders. "You're crushing on Steve "The Hair" Harrington?"

Dani slides down in her chair with a frown. "Of course you know him. You better not tell him shit, Hargrove. It's just a little crush that will go away. He looks like clingy type which is why I didn't pursue him. If he ever finds out-"

"He won't. Not from me." Finally getting control of his amusement, Billy's eyes sparkle as he stares at her. "Well aren't you just full of surprises today."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it."