A/N: This has been sitting in my google docs as I've been in and out of writer's block. I'm worried that Steve is too OOC in this chapter and the next. I do hope you guys enjoy it! :)

It was finally the day that Steve, Max and I would be traveling back home. I was counting down the days and already knew what I wanted to wear. My mother had instructed us to call her once we got to dad's because the plan was for him to pick us up. Steve's mom offered to drive all of us to the airport but my other had the idea of going with Steve's mom to see us off (hopefully Jessica wouldn't tell my mom about me sleeping over). The car ride was embarrassing as they were sharing embarrassing stories from our childhood.

"Be safe, okay?" My mom looked to Max and I before giving us a tight hug,
"We will, mom." Max sighed.
"If there are any problems don't hesitate to call me." She added before Jessica came over to give me a hug,
"Both of you have a good time, and take some pictures." She gave me a huge hug,
"I will." I looked at her before we parted and went to our gate.

"So what happens if your dad forgets to pick us up?" Steve asked,
"We get a taxi and go to his house." I shrugged, "Or we get a hotel room and enjoy our mini-vacation." I smirked,
"Let's hope he remembers." Max rolled her eyes.

We had boarded the plane and the trip was long. The three of us came up with a basic story of how Steve and I met and how we got together since we couldn't tell my dad of the events that had happened. Shortly after we came up with a plan, Max and I ended up taking a nap. When we had finally landed I was excited to be back in the California sun. Steve offered to go get our luggage while we went to go look for our dad. Our father was nowhere in sight, there was just a taxi driver holding a sign with our last name on it. Of course he couldn't be bothered to pick up his own children. When Steve came back he could tell that our father wasn't here.

"At least he called a taxi." I sighed trying to be optimistic as I knew Max was disappointed.
"Mayfield?" The taxi driver asked as we approached,
"Yes." I nodded before he motioned for us to follow him.

As the taxi pulled up this woman (who looked not much older than Steve and I) opened the door and called into the house,
"Sammy, they're here!" I could hear her Valley girl accent...what the fuck dad. Max looked up at me quickly as she wasn't sure what to make of her. Soon after my dad came out with a smile on his face. I helped Steve with the luggage as I didn't want my dad to see the look on my face.
"There are my girls!" My dad beamed, "This is my girlfriend, Tiffany." He introduced

"Hi." Max forced a smile,
"Tiff, my daughters, Maxine and Tyler." He gestured to the both of us.
"And who is this handsome guy?" She asked as she gestured to Steve,
"Steve Harrington, I'm Ty's boyfriend." Steve held out his hand for my dad to shake.
"Why don't you guys come inside and get comfortable." He looked at us, "We almost finished cooking dinner so you guys can unpack." My dad led us inside. As we started to go, my dad stopped us, "Steve is going to be sleeping on the pull out couch while you two sleep in Max's old room." He gave me a stern look,
"What happened to my old room?" I asked him
"We turned it into a mini gym." Tiffany smiled as I saw out of the corner of my eye Steve going to put his bag by the couch,
"Can he at least keep his bag in there and help us unpack?" I asked him as I don't remember him being so strict when I was dating my ex
"With the door open." He looked over to Steve.
"I can't wait to hear about the two of you." Tiffany pointed and scrunched her nose trying to look cute.

"I'm going to call mom real quick." I told the two before I went over to the phone. My mother picked up on the first ring and I guessed that she was looking forward to me calling her,

"Did you guys get there safe?" She asked immediately,
"Yes, mom. No need to worry." I looked over to my dad and Tiffany cooking,
"He remembered to pick you guys up?"
"Sort of." I kept my voice low so they couldn't hear me,

"What do you mean?" She asked,

"He had a taxi driver pick us up. Don't make a big deal about it, please." I pleaded,
"Okay." She sighed, "Just give me a call and keep me updated, okay?" She asked,
"I will mom, love you." I smiled,
"Love you too, sweetie. Tell Max I love her." My mom said before I hung up. I walked over to Max's room to see that Steve was looking over one of the comic's Max had packed,
"Mom sends her love." I smiled, "Do you want to call, Jessica?" I asked Steve,
"I can call her tomorrow. Your mom is probably going to tell my mom." Steve stated, I nodded as he was probably right. It seemed that they were going to become friends fast.
"Like seriously? How old is she?" Max changed the subject
"Probably not much older than us." I gestured to Steve and I, "At least mom married someone who was old enough to be our step-dad." I added

"So did you guys want to go out after dinner and show me some of the sights?" Steve changed the subject,
"Wanna go to the mall and then walk around town?" I asked him before my eyes lit up, "We can go get milkshakes at our favorite spot." I looked over to Max
"I'll do anything as long as I don't have to be around her." Max spoke, talking about Tiffany

"Dinner's ready!" I heard Tiffany call, speak of the devil.

During dinner we filled in our dad of what had happened while we were in Hawkins and we told him about our friends. My dad had asked Steve and I about what colleges we were going to attend. When he found out that Steve didn't get into any colleges and I was taking the year off, he was not happy. I quickly explained that I was staying home for Max and not to spend time with my boyfriend. Max had changed the subject at that point to ask how old Tiffany was. She was 25. Twenty-fucking-five, I couldn't get over how she was only a few years older than Steve and I. During dinner I noticed that Tiffany would touch Steve's arm from time to time and I could swear she was flirting with him,
"So how did you two meet?" Tiffany asked Steve and I,
"I was walking home from a friend's house one night and Steve offered me a ride home. We kinda became friends ever since." I shrugged

"So you just got into a random guy's car?" My dad asked as he had a stern look on his face,
"Steve and I shared a class together so I knew him but we weren't really friends yet." I rolled my eyes,
"Is that how you two started dating?" Tiffany questioned,
"My friends and I locked them in a room so they would finally tell each other how they felt. It was so annoying to see Mom and Dad avoiding the topic." Max rolled her eyes,
"Mom and Dad?" I questioned,

"It's our nickname for you and Steve. Steve's mom and you're dad." Max explained. I started laughing as I didn't know that's what the kids called us. Steve almost choked on his food when he heard that the kids called him mom.
"How?" Steve asked Max
"Remember the time the both of you were watching us that night last year." Max looked over to Steve, talking about the night Max kicked Billy's ass.

"What does that have to do with it." He asked,

"Well, you had the dish towel over your shoulder and you were lecturing us. Tyler just stayed out of it and agreed at the end, so Mom and Dad." She gestured to Steve and I,
"That's so sweet." Tiffany touched Steve's arm, "It's so nice that you care about Max and her friends." She added. Max and I shared a look before I grabbed Steve's hand,
"Could I borrow the car so we could go to the mall and go to that milkshake shop in town?" I asked my dad quickly changing the subject,
"I hope you're taking Max and not just going with your boyfriend." My dad looked between Steve and I,
"Dad, when the three of us hang out, Steve's usually the third wheel." Max informed him,
"I would never want Tyler to ditch Max for me." Steve reassured my dad
"Sammy, isn't that so sweet? I think he's perfect for Tyler." Tiffany praised, my dad looked over to her and then back to Steve and I,
"Be back before nine thirty." He looked at us before handing me his keys. As soon as we finished our dinner we had left and I was thankful for getting out of the house.

I had turned up the radio and was smiling as I was driving to the mall. I could tell that Steve was in awe to actually be here and not just look at pictures.
"Was it just me or was Tiffany flirting with you?" I looked over to Steve as I parked the car,
"It wasn't just you." Max spoke,
"It's gross, she's sle-"

"I don't need to picture that." I cut him off as I got out of the car, "How about we be all over each other when she's around?" I sent a devilish smirk Steve's way
"That's not a bad idea." Max agreed as I looked over to Steve,
"What about your dad?" Steve asked,

"Don't worry about him." I grabbed his hand, "I can handle him." I smiled as I looked at the mall that I had some fond memories of hanging out at.

The three of us headed inside, I didn't plan on buying anything but I wouldn't hesitate if I found something I liked. I figured the mall would be busy as this was the place to be other than the beach or the boardwalk. This mall was way better than any of the malls around Hawkins, but I was biased because I used to come here a lot. I looked at Steve as he was looking at some of the stores that we didn't have in Hawkins. Max had nudged me before she motioned for me to look ahead. I almost stopped dead in my tracks as I saw the people who I was dreading to see. I sighed before leading Steve and Max into the crowd of people hoping they wouldn't see us (if they didn't already). Steve had noticed how I became uncomfortable and put his arm around my waist. I continued looking forward trying not to draw attention to myself as we had to go by the group if we wanted to look at any of the stores or go to a different floor. There were enough people so hopefully they wouldn't notice Max or I as we walked by.

"Ty, is that you?" I heard Kayla exclaim as I could see her coming closer with the rest of them
"Fuck." I cursed as I stopped and turned to look at the group. I saw that Bella and Nick were walking over to us hand in hand (I wish I could say I was surprised that the two of them were dating) with some of Kayla's ass-kissers.
"I wasn't expecting you to come home." Kayla smiled before she looked over to Steve and then back to me, "Or to have a boyfriend." She emphasized the last word,
"Yeah, well I'd figured it would be fun to come home for a weekend." I shrugged,
"I cheated on you for the last few months of our relationship. Glad to say that I found someone who could keep up with me." Nick flashed a smile before looking at Bella. Honestly I didn't know that Nick was cheating on me.
"I'm glad." I swallowed, "Because I found someone who appreciates me and doesn't put me down all the time." I told Nick, "I hope you enjoy my sloppy seconds." I said to Bella. I noticed how she became embarrassed. Kayla and Nick started to laugh,
"That's cute Ty." Kayla said sweetly before looking over to Steve, "So, how much is she paying you? Because you're way out of her league." She told him. My mouth dropped, Kayla was always mean to me in high school but I don't ever remember her commenting on my relationship with Nick or asked him if I was paying him. I felt like I was going to cry, "I could show you a better time than she could ever-"

"Tyler is one of the most amazing girls that I have ever known. I would never leave her for anyone. You could be one of the biggest celebrities and I'd still choose to be with her." Steve defended me, I turned to look at him. When I looked back over to Kayla she looked bothered that she was just rejected (one thing I remember from high school, no one ever rejected Kayla). She scoffed,
"Fine be with a loser." She made a face at us before walking away. I took a deep breath in to stop myself from crying because there was no way I was going to cry in the middle of the mall.

"You okay, Ty?" Steve asked me
"I don't want to talk about it right now." I shook my head as talking about it, would make it worse,
"Do you just want to get some milkshakes?" Max asked
"If that's what you want." I looked down at her and smiled
"Yeah, this mall is lame anyway." She shrugged. I knew she was trying to make me feel better. Steve had taken my hand as we made our way out of the mall.

On the way over to the milkshake shop Max was telling Steve about some of the memories we had when we passed certain locations. The Hollywood walk of Fame wasn't too far from the shop so I figured we could take Steve there to see for himself. I loved watching Steve's reactions as we walked around because this was the first time he was somewhere that wasn't Hawkins, Indiana. As it started to get dark, I had suggested that we get back to the house

"How was the mall and getting milkshakes?" Tiffany asked as we came in the door,
"Fun." I lied,
"What's the plan for tomorrow?" She asked as we all made ourselves comfortable on the couch. Steve had grabbed my legs to have them rest on his lap. I scooted closer to him as this was part of the plan. As Steve looked at me he started to rub my legs to comfort me since he knew that I was still upset about earlier. I could tell out of the corner of my eye that Tiffany was staring at us,
"Maybe the beach." I sighed as I wanted her to just go to another part of the house.
"We should all go to the beach!" She exclaimed, "Wouldn't that be fun, Sammy?" She called
"If that's what you girls want to do." He called back,
"This is going to be great! I can get to know you guys a little more and we can have some girl time." She smiled before disappearing to my dad's room. I grimaced as I didn't want her to come (or to have any sort of girl time with her) but the whole reason for coming back home was to see our dad. The three of us had settled on watching a movie before Max went to bed. I stayed to help Steve get the pullout set up.
"Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?" Steve asked as we sat down on the bed. As soon as he had asked me, I started to cry from not being able to hold the tears in any longer. Steve had wrapped his arms around me,

"Maybe coming back home was a bad idea." I cried into his chest as I didn't know seeing them was going to affect me this much,
"Don't say that, Ty." Steve started to rub my back, "Don't let a bunch of stuck up Califorians ruin your weekend because they can't see how amazing you are." He reassured me. I pulled away to look him in the eyes,
"What did I do to deserve you, Harrington?" I asked him,
"You never doubted me." He smiled as he wiped away my tears,
"Tyler, remember what I said." My father interrupted us,
"I know." I looked over to my dad, "I wanted to help Steve with the couch and we started talking." I told him. I watched him as he looked between the both of us,
"We can talk more in the morning, get some rest." Steve told me. I looked back and nodded at him,
"Goodnight Stevie." I kissed his cheek as I could feel my father's eyes still on us,
"Goodnight, Ty." He smiled before I got up and walked to Max's room.