Charlie and Steve hurried from his car to the front door of the Wheeler's, eager to get inside and away from the cold. She hugged the borrowed jacket close to her body and stayed close to him both in attempt to stay warm. Her nose had turned bright pink in an undeniably cute way. She glanced at him while they waited for someone to answer the door and he could tell she was nervous about the party.

He offered her a smile and moved to stand closer to her. "You'll be fine." Steve told her. "You already know almost everyone who's gonna be there. And I'll stay with you the whole time."

Charlie mirrored a smaller version of his smile. "I know." She said.

Before either of them could speak again the front door swung open and Karen Wheeler stood in its place. She beckoned them inside and shut the door behind them, giving Steve a hug before turning towards Charlie. "I don't believe we've met before." She said, offering her hand. "I'm Karen."

She took her hand, almost as red as her nose. "Charlie."

Nancy appeared wearing a bright smile and dressed in a Christmas sweater. "Great, you guys made it!" she said, coming to stand next to her mother. "Mom, you've met Steve's girlfriend Charlie?"

Karen's face lit up with surprise, "Girlfriend?"

Though Steve didn't dare look at Charlie he could see her face flushing out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, um-" he began, but his voice faltered when he wasn't sure what to say.

"I'll take your jackets." Nancy said, quickly changing the conversation topic.

As they shrugged off their coats Ted called Karen from the kitchen and she quickly when down the hall. "Thanks a lot, Nance." Steve mumbled once her mom was out of ear shot.

Nancy shrugged innocently. "It was a joke." She said, though Steve knew she was full of shit. She reached for Charlie's jacket when a confused expression crossed over her face, her eyes running her over. "Steve why didn't you get her something nicer to wear?"

Charlie looked down at her outfit; a pair of jeans and long sleeve shirt she'd borrowed from him, both a couple sizes too big. "What's wrong with it?"

"I mean nothing's wrong with it." Nancy said, "But it's a special occasion so you should get dressed up." She hung their coats up on the rack next to the front door before raising an eyebrow at Charlie. "Do you wanna borrow something to wear?"

"Oh, um, I don't know." She said uncertainly, glancing up at Steve.

Before she could protest any further Nancy grabbed hold of her wrist. "Seriously, I don't mind at all. What's mine is yours. It's a special occasion."

Steve looked at Charlie who looked mildly terrified. He offered her a small, hopefully encouraging, smile. "I'll be right there in the living room when you get back, okay?" he said, pointing at the empty spot on the couch.

After a moments hesitation Charlie nodded her head and followed Nancy up the stairs and out of his sight. Steve turned and immersed himself into the party, heading over to where Dustin, Lucas, and Max were standing and joining the conversation.

xXx

Nancy dug through her closet, searching for something for Charlie to wear while the shorter girl took in her bedroom behind her. Though they had a similar body type Nancy got the impression that they didn't have the same sense of style. Most of her closet was filled with sweaters and blouses, all in light colors. And though she'd only seen Charlie in clothes she'd borrowed from Steve Nancy had yet to see her in any other color than black and grey.

After picking out a few options Nancy laid the clothes out on her bed one by one and let Charlie look them over. Her pale face was difficult to read, which Nancy thought was pretty ironic considering what she was able to do.

She ran her fingers over the hem of a red velvet skirt, her eyebrows coming together. "I've never worn a skirt before." Charlie said, so softly Nancy might not have heard her if they weren't standing right next to each other.

"Really?" Charlie shook her head. "Well why don't you try it on?"

After a moments hesitation Charlie nodded and picked the skirt up off the bed. Nancy turned around so her back was to her to give her some privacy. Even from upstairs in her room she could hear the music and chatter, both slightly muffled, from the first floor. She wondered if Charlie had ever even celebrated Christmas before but knew better than to ask her. It was the kind of thing she imagined would be a sensitive topic.

"Okay." Charlie said, interrupting Nancy's thoughts.

She turned to face her and a smile broke out on her face. Even with the black hoodie she had on Charlie already looked much more like a teenager going to a party. "It looks awesome." Nancy told her, turning to face her bed and grabbing a grey sweater before handing it to her. "Try this on with it."

Nancy picked up the rest of the clothes and put them all back in their rightful place while she waited for Charlie to change. She couldn't help but smile as she imagined what Steve's reaction would be to seeing her so dressed up.

Nancy was glad that she and Steve had fully moved on from their breakup. That everything was water under the bridge. He didn't mind hanging out with her and Johnathan and she didn't mind that he very obviously had a crush on the girl standing behind her. Though she did still feel bad for the way things ended she was just relieved that there were no hard feelings. At least not that she knew of.

"How does it look?"

She turned around once again and her face exploded into a smile. For someone who usually looked so intense Charlie was absolutely adorable in the borrowed outfit. The uncertain expression she wore only added to it. "It looks great." Nancy told her, heading over to her desk and pulling the chair out. "Take a seat."

Charlie eyed her cautiously before doing as she was told and sitting in the chair in front of her desk. Her eyes fell on the items scattered across the top. "Is that makeup?"

"Yep." Nancy answered before picking up a powder compact. "Have you ever worn it before?" Charlie shook her head and Nancy hoped she couldn't read her sympathetic thoughts. "I'll only do a little bit, then."

"Okay." Charlie said, although she sounded uncertain.

Nancy picked up a powder brush and dipped it into the compact and instructed her to close her eyes before she started packing the powder across her face. Though she was a shade or two paler than Nancy was it would have to do. "Steve isn't gonna be able to keep his eyes off you." She said, smirking slightly.

With her eyes still closed Charlie pulled her eyebrows together. "Really?"

"Really. He's totally head over heels for you." Nancy set the powder down and picked up a brown eyeshadow compact. "But I bet you knew that already, being a mind reader and everything."

"I guess." Charlie said, not sounding at all convinced.

Nancy gave her a look of confusion despite the fact that her eyes were closed. "What? You haven't heard him think about you?"

"No I have. It's just…" Her voice trailed off until she was silent. Nancy leaned back, waiting for her to reply before continuing. Charlie opened her eyes, one with eyeshadow and one without. "I don't know if he means it."

She raised an eyebrow at Charlie. "You think he's lying in his thoughts?"

"Not lying." She explained. "Just… I don't know if he actually likes me or if he's just fascinated with me. Do you know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean but that's not it." Nancy assured her, gesturing for Charlie to close her eyes once more. "I know better than anyone how Steve acts when he likes a girl. He definitely likes you." She told her as she started applying eyeshadow to her other eye. "Do you like him?" The question had been on the tip of her tongue the handful of times she had hung out with Charlie and Nancy knew she would likely not get the chance to ask her again.

The question hung in the air for a few moments, the only sound coming from the party downstairs. Nancy started to get ready to backtrack and explain herself the longer the silence went on. Before she got the chance to Charlie replied, her voice barely above a whisper, "I don't know."

She quickly finished her eyeshadow and stood back up, looking over Charlie and how visibly uncomfortable she was. "Have you ever liked someone before?"

She shook her head, her black bangs falling down in her eyes slightly. "No. Never. I don't know what it feels like."

Nancy leaned on her desk, taking a break from applying the makeup and letting out a sigh. "It basically feels like having butterflies in your stomach when you're around them. And when that person says something nice to you it means more than it would if it came from someone else. And you want to spend more time with them than you would with other people. That's generally what it's like?" She looked down at Charlie. "Does that sound familiar?"

She bit down on her lower lip, her gaze falling down to the top of Nancy's desk. "A little bit." She admitted.

A satisfied smile spread on Nancy's face as she grabbed the mascara tube and leaned back down. The gears in her head started turning at lightning speed.

xXx

"Steve would you chill out." Dustin said, pointing at his shaking leg. "You're girlfriend's fine."

Steve felt his cheeks turn red and he sunk down slightly on the couch he sat on in between Dustin and Max. Mike and Eleven, who stood leaning on the wall only a few feet away, chuckled at his reaction along with the two kids sitting next to him. He was glad the music and chatter was loud enough for the rest of the room to hear the conversation.

"First of all dickhead; she's not my girlfriend." Steve said, turning towards Dustin. "Second of all; she's been up there for fifteen minutes. You have no idea how many ideas Nancy can plant in her mind in fifteen minutes."

"Nancy's annoying but she's not some mastermind." Mike chimed in. "You're giving her too much credit. They're probably just talking about girl things."

"I don't think Charlie's the type to talk about girl things." Steve pointed out.

Dustin rolled his eyes and let out a dramatic sigh. "Look, we know you're all protective of her and shit but what's the worst that can happen? She'll be down soon."

What's the worst that can happen? Off the top of his head Steve could think of a number of things. Nancy could tell Charlie something totally and completely embarrassing about him. Charlie could admit to secretly hating him. Nancy could tell her about his feelings for her that were apparently painfully obvious to everyone but Charlie. But of course Steve didn't want to voice these worries out loud, not wanting to take the chance of jinxing anything.

He was going to attempt to shift the conversation topic but before he could get the chance Max, who was facing the staircase upstairs, perked up slightly and said "speak of the devil."

Steve followed her gaze until his heart practically jumped up his throat and out his mouth. He spotted Nancy and Charlie walking down the stair case just before they reached the bottom. For a split second he didn't recognize her. Steve was so used to seeing her exclusively in clothes she had borrowed from him, with the exception of the night they'd met. Seeing her wearing something so different was a shock to the system. And though a skirt and sweater didn't seem much like her style it definitely looked great on her. Steve sat frozen in place, unable to do anything but look at her, and watched as she shared a nervous glance with Nancy before her gaze moved across the room and locked with his own.

Dustin's elbow in his side brought him back to reality and Steve managed to push himself to his feet. His palms felt sweaty as he crossed the room towards her. Before he reached her he saw Nancy pat Charlie's shoulder and dart down the hallway. She looked back at him again and only a moment later a small drop of blood appeared under her nose and her cheeks flushed red. Steve hardly cared that she heard how amazing he thought she looked since he planned on telling her.

"You look great." He said, sliding his sleeve over his hand and offering it to her.

Charlie managed a small smile, using his sleeve to wipe away the small amount of blood. "Thanks." She said, not only for the compliment. "I'm not used to looking so… different."

Steve could tell she was uncertain about the borrowed clothes. "It looks good, but does it feel good?"

"I think I like jeans and boots better." She admitted. "But this is okay for tonight."

He didn't even bother trying to hold back the ear to ear grin that took over his face. "It's definitely okay." Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in bright red paper. "I was gonna give this to you later on when we did presents but I think I'll just give it to you now."

Charlie's eyes landed on the box in his hand before meeting his once more. "I… I didn't get you anything. I'm sorry."

Steve shook his head and grabbed her wrist, setting the box in her hand. "Don't be, just take it."

Her expression turned uncertain for a moment before she started tearing off the small amount of paper, which he took and crumbled into a ball. She lifted off the top of the box to reveal a small pocket knife. Her blue eyes lit up slightly as she took it out and opened the blade, finding her name carved into it in a loopy script.

"I know you're not planning on staying forever so I wanted you to be able to protect yourself when you do leave." Steve explained. "Not that I want you to leave soon. I don't."

She looked at the blade for a moment longer before her eyes met his again and her smile started slowly creeping up into a smile. "I know." Charlie said, setting the knife in the box again and putting the lid back on before closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Her head rested comfortably on his chest as he hugged her back, the smell of a perfume Nancy must have sprayed on her filling his lungs. "Thank you Steve."

Either his ears were playing tricks on him or she was on the verge of tears. She wondered when the last time someone had gotten her a thoughtful gift was. He held her tighter against him, "You're welcome."