A/N: I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and meeting Tiffany. Also I had always pictured Tyler being the dad and Steve being the mom of the group. I'm so glad that I could fit that in the last chapter :)

It was hard for me to get to sleep as what happened earlier was still bothering me. I sighed before I got up so I could go sleep with Steve. Being in his arms always made me feel better when I was feeling down. As I started to crawl into bed next to him he started to stir,
"Ty, what about your dad?" He asked me, half asleep,
"I'll handle it." I paused, "I just want you to hold me." I told him as I felt like I was going to start crying again. Steve had pulled me close just as I finished my sentence,
"If they even think about coming near you again, I'll kick their asses." He told me before he kissed my forehead, "I'll always have your back, no matter what." He reminded me. I looked up at him as I was so lucky to be with Steve
"I love you." I told him,
"I love you too." He smiled before I shut my eyes as I felt at ease.

I had woken up before Steve and I sat up to check if my dad or Tiffany was still asleep. At the moment we were safe so I laid back down next to Steve and started to play with his hair. He let out a content sigh, "Good morning." He spoke as he turned to look to me,
"Morning." I cupped his face
"How are you feeling?" He asked,
"Better." I smiled. Just as Steve started to speak, we were caught off guard by Tiffany's voice,
"Rise and shine!" Tiffany exclaimed causing Steve and I to both sit up. Tiffany was wearing a satin light blue nightgown and had a matching robe (that was open). As soon as she saw me, she closed her robe. I could tell she was bothered.
"I thought your father told you to sleep in the room with Max?" She questioned
"I was. I woke up to get a glass of water, saw that Steve was up and I wanted to finish our conversation from last night." I explained. I watched her as she looked between the both of us, it looked like she wasn't going to buy the lie I was telling.

"Did you guys have a fight or something?" She asked,
"No." I shook my head as I watched her walk into the kitchen
"Well, you both should be thinking of what you want to take to the beach." She stated as I heard her shuffling around in the kitchen. Steve and I shared a look as we both weren't sure if she was going to tell my dad but we were sure about the reason why Tiffany had picked to wear that. Steve and I got up to close the pullout so my dad wouldn't see the both of us sitting on it. "Good morning Max, I hope you slept well." Tiffany greeted my sister. I looked up to see Max's face as she passed the kitchen archway,
"I did." She answered her. I bit my lip so I wouldn't laugh at her reaction.
"What the hell?" She whispered,
"I know." I whispered back
"You both never told me when you knew that you liked each other." Tiffany commented as she was talking about Steve and I,
"I figured you wouldn't want to hear those details." I said,

"Have you at least told each other?" She asked
"Yes." I smiled at Steve.
"Well?" She asked as she came to the archway, "Who liked who first?" She raised her eyebrows. Another thing I didn't like about Tiffany was how nosey she seemed to be. My own mother never asked me that question. I could only think of the reason why was an excuse to talk to Steve without being too obvious that she was flirting with him.
"Tyler did." Steve nudged me, "Dawn and Max even knew before you figured it out the night of the snow ball." He spoke,
"Snow ball?" Tiffany questioned,
"We hung out the night that Max's school had a dance and that's when I found out." I looked into Steve's eyes as I was getting butterflies just thinking about that night.
"And what about Steve?" Tiffany asked,

"The night of our prom. I didn't even talk to him until it was the end of the dance." I smiled,
"But I made that up by asking you for the last slow dance." Steve spoke as I touched his face.
"I remember Dawn seeing us and she wouldn't stop talking about how you felt the same way." I laughed, "I didn't believe her." I shook my head,
"But if it wasn't for us being in that locked room, and you making the first move…" Steve trailed off as we were getting lost in each others eyes
"They still would have been avoiding their feelings for each other." Max finished Steve's sentence, I turned away to look at Max and then Tiffany's face,
"That's so sweet." She scrunched her nose, "You two are so lucky to have each other." She gave us a fake smile before my dad emerged from the bedroom,
"What do you guys want for breakfast?" Tiffany asked,
"Whatever." Max told her before Tiffany disappeared into the kitchen.

As Tiffany was making us chocolate chip pancakes, Steve called his mom to give her an update before he handed over the phone to me because she wanted to talk to me. Jessica had told me that she would tell my mom that Steve had called and that I would try to call her later. The three of us got ready to go to the beach while my dad and Tiffany were getting the other stuff together. My dad had packed an umbrella and some chairs for us to sit on. I had figured it was going to be busy as it was the weekend and nice out.

Tiffany had chosen the spot that we would be sitting at, because she was a 'pro' at picking the best beach spot. My dad and Tiffany had decided to go in the water while the three of us hung back to people watch and put sunblock on,
"Are you feeling better?" Max asked me,
"Yeah. Sorry we couldn't be at the mall longer." I apologized,
"It's fine." She shook her head, "It was funny to see the look on their faces. Especially Nick's." Max commented,

"What do you mean?" I asked her,
"He was jealous of you and Steve." She told us. I whipped my head to look at her as I couldn't believe what she had just said,
"Really?" Steve asked,
"Yeah, why do you think he was being an ass and Kayla was being a bitch?" Max shrugged. I looked out at the beach as I couldn't believe it, the people who tormented me through highschool were jealous of me.
"I can't wait to tell Dawn and Robin." I smiled before I wondered how they were doing. I then frowned as I would only have a couple of weeks left before she was going off to college. Even though she was going to be two and a half hours away, I knew neither of us would want to make that trip all the time.
"The water's great! You guys should come in!" Tiffany called, breaking me from my thoughts. Max and I shared a look before we started to make our way to the beach. Our father was coming out of the water,
"I'd like to talk to you, Steve." He said to Steve. I looked between the two of them and I hoped Tiffany didn't tell my father about this morning, "Alone." My dad added as he noticed I had stopped walking.
"I'll be fine, Ty." Steve reassured me even though I could tell he was a little nervous. I nodded before I started walking towards the water with Max again,
"You think she told him?" I whispered to Max. She shook her head,
"No." She shook her head, "I think she knows that we would say something, if she ever did." She rolled her eyes
"Like dad would believe us." I scoffed as Tiffany was beaming at us.

"Just us girls." She smiled, "So do you have a boyfriend, Max?" Tiffany asked as she had been asking more questions about Steve and I than she was Max. Max raised her eyebrows as I knew she didn't want to tell her, "I won't tell if you do. It would be just between us girls." She winked.
"Yeah." Max had answered Tiffany,
"Tell me all about him!" She exclaimed.

The rest of the afternoon was fun as Steve, Max and I were out where the waves were. I hadn't gotten a chance to ask Steve about what my dad had said as Tiffany was always nearby. We had planned on watching a horror movie when we got back as it was something that Max and I used to do with our dad. My dad had picked out Nightmare on Elm street as we haven't seen it. During the entire movie Tiffany was going back and forth between covering her eyes and watching the move. Steve had his arm around my shoulder and was drawing small circles on my shoulder with his thumb. After the movie ended, Max, Steve and I stayed up to watch some tv.
"Do you want to do this again next year?" I asked Max as we were going back home tomorrow afternoon,
"If it was just us, yes." She answered. I laughed,
"It is nice to see that he has his life together." I looked down the hallway at the closed door.
"Still doesn't change the fact that his girlfriend is annoying." Max stated, "What about you, Steve?" Max asked,
"If Tyler wanted to, I would." He placed a kiss on my cheek,
"We could plan a trip with Dawn, Robin, and Jake." I looked over to him as that would be so much fun,
"If Dawn goes, I want to come and see her kick Kayla's ass." Max laughed as Dawn would be the type to hurt anyone who gave me shit.
"That would be entertaining." I laughed as I watched her get up,
"I'll make sure it looks like you slept in your bed. Goodnight" Max told me before she disappeared into her room. Steve and I set up the pullout and I figured that it would be a good time to ask him about the conversation he had with my dad.
"So how did that talk go with my dad?" I asked Steve as I got under the covers,
"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be." He sighed,
"What did you guys talk about?" I propped myself on my elbow,
"He wanted to know why you were crying last night." He spoke as he got into bed next to me, "I told him about what happened and he told me to be there for you and not to break your heart." He explained
"He likes you." I cupped his cheek. Steve placed his hand on mine,
"Would you have stayed if you had the chance?" He asked me,
"No." I shook my head, "I was being bullied by most of the school. My friends never treated me the way that Dawn does. Looking back, they were always kind of shitty." I sighed, "Besides I wouldn't leave Max alone with Billy." I added. Steve brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. "Why?" I asked him,
"I was just wondering." He started, "If you stayed you wouldn't have had to go through any of that shit." Steve told me.
"I would choose to go through that shit a million times rather than staying here. For once in my life, I have real friends and the most amazing boyfriend ever." I leaned in to kiss him. I pulled away and looked at him, "Even though he's the mom of the group." I teased.
"I'm going to talk to them when we get back." He told me. I started laughing, "What?" he asked,
"You're totally the mom." I tried to suppress my laughter.
"I'm not." He denied,
"Mhm." I hummed as I ran my fingers through his hair before I kissed him again. I pulled away and rested my head on his chest, as I didn't want to get too worked up. If we were in my room and not in the living room, I wouldn't have pulled away.
"Do you think that Dawn and I are going to grow apart when she leaves?" I asked Steve,
"I can't think of anything that would bring you two apart." He reassured me, "She's going to come back any chance she gets." He laughed. I laughed as well as he was right.

The next morning had gone by so quickly before it was time for us to board the plane. I was relieved that I was going back home to Hawkins. As much as I loved California growing up, Hawkins was my home as I had people who cared about me. Being back home reminded me how shitty high school was, and my dad's girlfriend didn't help. Max seemed to enjoy the weekend for the most part and I was happy that it seemed that my dad's life was together but I wouldn't trade going back home to live there for anything in the world.