A/N:Sorry this took so long! I'm probably going to add a chapter every weekend but try my best to get the next one out before that or at least try to finish it. Also I'm the type of person that likes to have exact lines unless y'all don't care then I can summarize but I do have to go through the episodes again and watch them. That definitely takes some times lol.

Working at the mall had its perks, I got a discount if I bought clothes at the Gap and I got to see Steve almost every single day that I worked. He had gotten the job at Scoops Ahoy and my friend, Robin, worked with him. I had to laugh when the two of them went back and forth (Steve didn't understand why I was friends with her). Robin had figured out that I had a thing for Steve when I would come in constantly and Dawn also let it slip. I wasn't totally mad because I trusted Robin but I had asked her not to make it so obvious when I visited.

The kids took advantage of the fact that Steve worked at Scoops and used him to sneak into the movie theatre. They didn't dare try it with me because they knew I would put my foot down. I was guilty of sneaking into the movies with Max once or twice but that was it. The uniform he had to wear was ridiculous but cute at the same time.

On our days off if the weather was hot enough we would lounge by Steve's pool as Billy got a job as a lifeguard at the local pool and I wanted to stay far away from that. I wanted to make the most of my time with Steve before I had to move to college. Speaking of college, Dawn and Jake made things official when he got a place in Hawkins with her brother. When Dawn came with me to Scoops, she sometimes would suggest that Steve come with her, Jake and I to the movies (she tried to make it a double date). When he did, I made sure it didn't seem like a double date.

It was my day off and I came to the mall to do some shopping and visit Dawn for a little bit. I was supposed to spend the day with Max but she wasn't home when I woke up. She may have gone skateboarding or something but I could maybe take her to see a movie later.

I had planned on stopping at Scoops as I knew Steve was working and I wanted ice cream before I went home.
"Have you at least-" I heard the familiar voice of Dustin,
"Dustin!" I exclaimed as I saw him eating ice cream. He got up to give me a hug, "Max had mentioned that you were coming back but she didn't say when." I told him. Dustin looked to Steve and then back to me.
"What were you guys talking about?" I asked Dustin,
"About his girlfriend." Steve cut Dustin off. I looked to Steve and then to Dustin,
"No way!" I exclaimed,
"You owe me a pizza." Steve stated,
"Quiet." I looked to Steve as I gestured for him to move over so I could sit down, "I want to know everything." I beamed as Dustin sat down.

Dustin started to tell me everything about Suzie and how everyone ditched him. I felt bad for Dustin but I'm sure there had to be a good reason. Then came the real kicker, Dustin had told Steve and I that he intercepted a message from the Russians and he wanted our help translating. Steve had sent Dustin in the back while he got me ice cream, though I didn't know why I couldn't go into the back with Dustin at first. He seemed nervous about something.

Currently we were in the back listening to the russian recording and we were getting nowhere. I yawned as Steve was pacing
"So what do you think?" Dustin looked to the both of us

"It sounded familiar." Steve said. I looked to him as I had no idea what he was talking about,
"What?" I asked him

"The music." Steve looked to the both of us "The music right there at the end." He added

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve? Listen to the Russian!" Dustin exclaimed frustrated "We're translating Russian!" He exclaimed once more

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's music." Steve stated
"All right, babysitting time is over." Robin barged in the back, "You need to get in there." She looked to Steve before turning and looking to the white board, "Hey, my board." She looked to the two, "That was important data, shitbirds." She crossed her arms. Steve looked to me for a little help and I held my hand up, as I didn't wipe off whatever was on the board.
"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin told her

"Yeah?" Robin asked
"Yeah and how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?" Robin smirked "How does she know about the Russians?" Steve whispered
"I don't know." Dustin shook his head

"You told her about"

"It wasn't me."

"Hello, I can hear you." Robin got their attention, "Actually, I can hear everything. You are both extremely think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet than you do. Sound about right?" Robin explained. I sat back as she tried to go for the tape recorder before Steve snatched it. Robin was just bored and wanted to help. I figured she would be a good help as she was fluent in four languages and totally tricked the boys into thinking she knew Russian.
"Let her help." I looked to Steve,
"I still don't get why you are friends with her." Steve gestured to her,
"Because she's awesome." I shrugged,
"I could say the same thing about you, dingus." Robin crossed her arms before Steve went to work the counter.
"I still don't get what you see in him." Robin muttered so I can only hear. I glared at her as Steve was totally different from the Steve in High School. I never knew Steve the total jerk, so I couldn't really say how much he's changed but from what I've been told...it seemed like a lot.

So Robin kept playing the tape back and asked Dustin to look through the russian translation book. I was the scribe and tried to help the best I could but it all sounded the same. I had faith in Robin that she was going to crack this code faster than Steve, Dustin and I could. When we had our first sentence I looked to Robin as she nodded towards the window, letting me tell Steve the good news.
"Hey Stevie." I said as I opened the window,
"Really?" He asked as he came over "We got our first sentence. The week is long." I did in my best Russian accent,
"That's thrilling." He said flatly, before I heard a familiar voice,
"Tyler what are you doing here?" Max asked. I looked past Steve to see her,
"Helping Robin with her summer reading." I lied. I watched her look from Steve and then to me,
"Okay." She nodded as if she didn't believe the lie maybe she would think I was here to spend time with Steve or whatever, "Can you bring some clothes for me to El's cabin later?" She asked,
"Yeah. It may be after the mall closes but either way I'll be there." I smiled before I realized I hadn't known where El lived. "Where do you live again?" I asked El before she explained to me how to get there. Steve gave them their ice cream and they left giggling.
"That was the best excuse you could come up with?" Steve turned and asked me,
"She bought it didn't she, Captain?" I raised my eyebrows before closing the sliding door.

"The week is long", the silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west." We all said in unison as the code was finally broken. I had no idea what it meant but hopefully we would figure it out.
"I mean it just isn't right," Steve said as he closed the gate,
"It's right." Robin reassured him,
"It's good news." I shrugged

"How is this great news?" Steve chuckled "I mean, so much for being American heroes." He spoke. I rolled my eyes as I walked beside him as Dustin and Robin were discussing the code. I stopped as soon as I noticed Steve wasn't walking besides me. I turned and looked to see him kneeling besides the Indiana flyer. I walked over to him as Robin noticed he wasn't behind her and Dustin,
"Anyone got a quarter?" He asked. I fumbled in my pockets to try and find one to give to him. Dustin gave Steve a quarter and he put it in the ride. I looked to him as he was listening to the tune. I started to listen and I recognized the tune,
"Holy shit." I gasped as I looked to Steve and then to Dustin and Robin.
"The music." Dustin said as he realized what Steve was getting at. Dustin frantically got out the tape recorder and started to play it. Robin still hadn't gotten what we were getting at by the music in the background being the same as the Indiana flyer.

"It's the exact same song on the recording." Dustin spoke

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia." Robin brushed off Dustin's comment

"Indiana Flyer"? I don't I don't think so."

"This code, it didn't come from Russia. It came from here." Steve looked to us.

Now I was really concerned that there were Russians in Hawkins, doing god knows what. We had formed a plan to try to figure out the code and what it had to do with the mall. This was something I definitely needed to keep from Max and Dawn. How was I supposed to avoid her questions? Tell her a lie about Steve and I? It had to be something good for her to not press on any further.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Steve asked,
"Yeah, I'm working tomorrow. I'll stop by on my break and after work to see if you guys have anything new." I smirked, "Now I get to go to a sleepover and I don't want to miss that." I chuckled. I made my way to my car and drove home before driving to where El's cabin was. It was pretty remote and I could see why Hopper chose to live with El here. I walked up to the cabin porch and knocked on the door. I waited a second before walking inside. It was my first time coming here and it looked kind of cute. My attention was brought to laughing behind a closed door.

"Hey." I spoke as I opened the closed door to see the girls, laughing on the floor. Max got up and grabbed my hand as I shut the door,
"El broke up with Mike and it was so awesome." Max told me. I was surprised that she did that. Max had told me what had happened after they got their ice cream and El looked to me,
"Well, there is more to life than stupid boys." I told El,
"Max had said that." El told me, I looked to her and smiled. Max had seen me go through my series of heartbreak as most of the boys I was interested in, never ended in liking me back.

Then Max came up with the idea of spying on Steve to see what he was up to. Apparently El could spy on our friends with a black cloth around her eyes and some kind of static in the background. I sat down on the floor in front of her as Max sat on the bed. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to know what Steve was up to.

Max leaned forward before she spoke, "What is he doing?" Max asked
"He's talking in front of a mirror." El spoke,
"What is he saying?" Max asked
"You look pretty today." El paused, "Not right….she would never see me that way." El spoke. I sighed as I knew that he wasn't talking about me, El took off the blindfold and looked to Max and then I.
"He has to be talking about you." Max nudged me,
"No, it's probably about some other girl." I dismissed it. Max groaned,
"It's totally about you. You need to just go for it." I could tell Max was rolling her eyes,
"Mike has said that they need to just get together." El told Max,
"Yes! It's getting so annoying." Max went to sit on the floor next to me, "Maybe we should lock them in a room." She smiled,
"Uhm...hello." I waved to get their attention, "I'm right here." I looked to the both of them, "It's not like that with Steve, so don't try to come up with some plan or whatever." I looked between the two.

"Hey...Hey!" I heard yells from outside the door, Max grabbed magazines for her and El to read. They were both laying down on the floor before Hopper barged in and he looked shocked.
"Max wanted to have a sleepover. Is that okay?" El asked Hopper,
"Yeah..yeah. Do your parents know about this?" He asked as his tone changed,

"Yeah." Max said before Hopper looked to me,

"I came by to drop off clothes. I'm gonna be leaving soon anyway." I smiled as I stood up, "Night, and don't come up with any plans." I looked to Max before seeing myself out.

My drive home I thought about what El had said Steve was doing. I wondered who the girl could be as I knew it wasn't about me, and I did see groups of girls get ice cream. It could have been anyone really, but at least I was going to be spending time with him. Even though we were trying to stop Russians and possibly turn out to be heroes. I bit my lip as there probably was a chance we could die and if that was the case, maybe I should tell Steve how I feel. If anything happened to either of us, I knew I would regret it but I also didn't want to lose my best friend.