The next morning everything felt surreal to Clara, especially since she had another regular day of school ahead of her. She and Viv sat on her front porch per their normal routine as they waited for Viv's boyfriend, Alex, to pick them up. Clara was recounting everything that had happened the night before to her friend.

"Are you serious?" Viv cried out. "He kissed you?"

"I know," Clara gushed. "I still can't believe it!"

"What happened after that?" Viv pressed.

"Well, when the song ended we kind of came back down to earth," Clara laughed. "And then we just kind of focused on the concert, but kept holding hands."

"But he didn't kiss you again after that, or anything?"

"No, but he seemed more relaxed on the drive back. I fell asleep though."

"You didn't!" Viv exclaimed. "What happened when you guys got back into town?"

"He woke me up after he'd pulled up here," Clara explained. "He was so sweet, I just wanted to stay in the car with him. But he ended up walking me to the door and I gave him a kiss on the cheek before I went inside."

"Wow," Viv sighed. "But then…what's going on between you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you dating, or not?"

"Oh…" Clara's eyes widened in realisation. "I don't know! How do you know? Do you have to confirm it, or do you just know?"

"I don't know either," Viv admitted. "When things between Alex and I first started, he got really jealous if I even looked at other guys, but then he relentlessly flirted with Katie Jones at that party…"

Clara nodded, remembering.

"Then we had a talk and it just sort of came up," Viv continued. "I asked him what we were and he eventually said he wanted me to be his girlfriend."

Clara sighed, wondering where that left her and Jonathan. She wanted to talk to Viv more about it, but saw Alex pull up in his distinguishable red Firebird.

"I'm sure you'll work it out," Viv tried to reassure her as they stood up.

"Yeah…" Clara agreed half-heartedly, following her friend to the car.

"And one and two and three and four," Miss Grant counted as she watched over her dance class like a hawk.

However, no matter how much effort her students put in, the teacher was not pleased with the result.

"Okay everybody, stop," she said, shaking her head in frustration. "Stop."

Her students paused, catching their breath as they waited for her instructions. Miss Grant walked over to the stereo, switching off the music.

"What is this?" The woman demanded to know. "Y'all are dancing like you've got bricks for feet!"

"More like we've got a dictator instead of a teacher," Leroy mumbled to Clara.

"What was that Mr Coleman?" Miss Grant asked, as sharp as ever.

"I'm saying that even dancers are allowed to have their feet touch the ground every once in a while!" Leroy snapped.

Miss Grant let her eyes roam over the class before she sighed in acquiesce.

"Okay, everybody take five," she relented. "And then we're gonna go over it again."

Clara watched as Leroy walked over to his bag and grabbed his water bottle. She knew him well enough to know that he was agitated. Approaching him cautiously, Clara handed him a hand towel to use.

"Thanks," he mumbled, wiping his brow with it.

"You're doing really well, Leroy," she said quietly, hoping to brighten his mood.

It worked, as she saw his face light up and his lips stretch into a wide grin.

"I know," he laughed, bumping her lightly with his shoulder.

Clara laughed as well, nudging him back.

"Don't say it," he warned her.

"Say what?" She asked, pretending she didn't know.

"That I need to control my temper,"

"Well you do," she argued half-heartedly. "Your mouth is always getting you into trouble."

"That's why I've got you," he retorted. "To keep me in check."

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes with a smile. "Keep yourself in check, Coleman,"

Leroy just grinned, knowing that in actuality she would always be there for him, just as he'd always be there for her. The two of them resumed their positions as Miss Grant informed them that their break was over and the class got back to work.

Clara jumped when she felt someone sling their arm around her shoulder. She looked to her right to see Alex watching her with his eyebrows raised and a knowing smirk on his lips. It was his arm that was now draped around her, and so she turned to Viv on her left to see that she was looking at her expectantly too.

"What?" Clara asked, turning back to Alex.

"I asked you the same question five times," Alex informed her. "But you were too busy searching the cafeteria for Jonathan Byers to notice."

"Shut up," Clara grumbled, attempting to shrug off his arm.

Alex relented, letting go of his hold of her, but his smirk remained.

"Have you seen him yet today?" Viv asked.

Clara turned back towards her best friend and smiled sadly.

"No. We don't have any classes together on Thursday's, but I was hoping to talk to him at lunch. I wonder where he is."

Viv just shrugged, while Clara tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Why don't you just talk to him after school?" Viv suggested.

"Yeah, I guess I don't have a choice," Clara agreed.

"What are you going to talk to him about?" Viv enquired.

Clara turned back to Alex, not wanting him to hear, but he'd already started up a conversation with his best friend Danny. Apparently he'd grown bored of their conversation.

"I don't know how to approach it," Clara admitted, turning back to Viv. "But I want to know what yesterday meant to him. Does that make sense?"

"Sure," Viv shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. Then you can see if you guys are on the same page."

"Yeah," Clara agreed. "Do you think we are? I mean, do you think we want the same thing?"

"I don't know," Viv sighed. "The only one who can tell you that is him."

"Yeah," she relented, knowing that her friend was right.

The rest of the school day went by slowly for Clara. When it was finally over, she searched for Jonathan in the parking lot but couldn't see him anywhere. Eventually she gave up, getting her usual lift home from Alex with Viv. The two girls lived only a few houses down from one another, so Alex always offered her a ride as well. When she entered her house her mother was there to greet her.

"Hey sweetie," her mom, Gina said.

"Hi mom," she smiled, setting down her bag and grabbing an apple to eat.

"How was school?"

"It was okay. Miss Grant is already pushing us hard, but I guess it's good with the auditions coming up."

"What show are you doing this year?"

"Othello," Clara told her, lighting up at the topic. "I'm auditioning for Desdemona and Leroy's auditioning for Othello!"

"Wow," Gina grinned. "That's fantastic! I bet you're really excited."

"Yeah," Clara smiled in return. "We still have to work on it a bit before the auditions though,"

"Right," her mom nodded in understanding. "Well, if you need any help from me when I'm home, you know I'm always happy to."

"Thanks mom," Clara said quietly.

Gina worked as a doctor at Hawkins General, and regularly worked night shifts. Therefore, Clara spent more nights alone than the average teenager. She and her mother were close anyway, so whenever they were together they usually made the most of it.

She and her mother had lived on their own together ever since her parents had gotten divorced. Clara had been only 7-years-old at the time and her mom had moved the two of them from New York City and back to Gina's hometown, Hawkins. Clara's father, Lars still lived in New York and she usually visited him in the holidays.

"Mom, I'm going to go around to the Byers' house, is that okay?" She asked, taking a bite of her apple.

"Sure honey," Gina agreed. "Are you and Jonathan going to work on your project?"

"Uh, yeah," Clara nodded, getting up to leave.

"By the way," her mom called out after her. "You have to tell me how last night went later on, okay?"

"Sure mom, bye!"

Given how close she and her mother were, Gina knew all about Clara's crush on Jonathan. However, she wasn't sure how much she wanted to share with her mom just yet. Shaking off those thoughts, Clara went to grab her bike so she could ride over to Jonathan's.

When Clara arrived at the Byers house, Will was the one to greet her at the door. She'd gotten to know both Will and Joyce reasonably well as she'd come over to the house a few times to study with Jonathan.

"Hi Clara," Will said, smiling up at her.

"Hey Will, is Jonathan home?"

"Yeah, he's in his room," he stepped aside so she could enter the house.

"Thanks," she said, walking down the hall and knocking on Jonathan's door.

"Jonathan? It's Clara, can I come in?"

She waited a few moments but didn't hear a response. She looked down the hall but Will had already disappeared to some other part of the house. Shrugging her shoulders, Clara turned the knob and opened the door. Her eyes quickly fell upon Jonathan who was sitting on his bed with his headphones on, sorting through some photographs. He looked up when she entered the room and seemed surprised by her presence. He hurriedly sat up straighter and took off his headphones.

"Clara?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

Jonathan was surprised (to say the least) by the fact that Clara had showed up at his house like that. He hastily shoved some of the photographs he'd been sorting through underneath his pillow, behind him, leaving the rest spread out in front of him.

"I um…I wanted to talk to you," Clara answered his earlier question. "Are you busy?"

"Oh, um, no…I'm not busy," he replied awkwardly.

"Can I sit?" She asked tentatively, gesturing to his bed.

"Uh, sure," he agreed, watching as she sat down close to him.

Her eyes roved around his room, taking it all in. Of all the times they had studied at his house together, she'd never been in his room.

"I didn't see you at lunch today," she commented, returning her gaze to him.

"Oh, yeah, I was in the darkroom," he revealed. "I had some photos I wanted to develop."

"So I see," she smiled knowingly, gesturing to the photos scattered in front of him. "Can I look at them?"

"If you want," he murmured, unsure of himself.

He handed her the photos he hadn't hidden and observed her as she looked through them. They were mostly of scenery around Hawkins, with a couple of Will and his friends thrown in there too. Slowly a grin formed on her face and her eyes shone with admiration.

"These are so good," she complimented. "You're so talented!"

"Thanks," he said, smiling at her praise.

She looked back up at him, causing his breath to catch in his throat.

"Can I see the others?" She enquired.

Jonathan's eyes widened in shock as he quickly began to panic.

"What others?" He asked, attempting to play it cool but failed miserably.

"The ones you hid under your pillow," she said with a raised brow. "Don't think I didn't notice! You don't have to be shy, Jonathan. You're really talented."

"I don't think you'd like them…" he tried to discourage her.

"I'm not going to judge you," she disputed.

Jonathan battled internally with himself. On one hand he wanted to refuse to let her look at the pictures, but that would almost definitely cause a misunderstanding and he didn't want to upset her. On the other hand, he knew he would die of embarrassment and risk her never talking to him again anyway if he did show her.

In the end, he decided to give in, knowing how persistent she could be when she really wanted to be. Sighing, he pulled the photographs back out, face down, but didn't hand them over just yet.

"Just…before you get mad, at least let me explain why I took them, okay?"

She nodded with a happy smile and held her hand out expectantly. Reluctantly, he handed them over. He watched her intently as she turned the pile over and saw the first picture, her expression morphing into one of complete shock.

"Oh my God," she breathed out.

"Please let me explain!" He hurriedly said.

She continued to look down at the photographs, flipping through them with a thoughtful expression on her face. Jonathan watched her in anticipation, unable to do anything else. They were all photos he had taken of her without her knowledge, capturing specific moments that he wanted to remember.

"These are really good," she said, looking back up at him.

"W-what?" He stammered, unsure if he'd heard her right.

"I mean, it's weird," she conceded. "And I want to know why you took them. But they are really good. Can you teach me how to do photographs like these?"

"What?" He was thoroughly confused by her reaction.

"Okay, like I said, it's weird that you took pictures of me like this," Clara continued. "But I'm not mad or anything. My dad does this for a living, and I want to follow in his footsteps."

"Uh, what exactly does your dad do?" Jonathan asked cautiously.

"Oh," Clara said, realising she'd never told him. "He's a private investigator."

Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Jonathan knew that Clara wasn't very good or knowledgeable when it came to photography, but she was taking the class because it was necessary for her chosen career. He'd never known what career she wanted, but now it all made sense. Clandestine photography was a big part of private investigation.

"But, Jonathan?" Clara asked, gaining his attention once again.

"Yeah?" He responded, still bewildered by the situation.

"Why did you take these pictures?" She questioned, looking down at the photographs still in her hands.

"I don't know if you'll really understand…"

"Try me," she smiled at him.

"I don't know… I guess that when I see a moment worth capturing, I photograph it."

Clara nodded, showing that she understood where he was going.

"That makes sense," she mused. "Plus, these photos feel more genuine than ones that are posed for."

"Yeah, exactly," he said, perking up when he saw that she understood.

"I mean, in essence that's the main reason why a P.I exists. If people knew someone was there, watching them, waiting to catch them in the act, they'd never do the wrong thing in the first place and the truth would never be uncovered."

"Yeah…" Jonathan said gently.

"But you never told me why all of these pictures are of me," she said, nudging him softly with her shoulder.

He looked away from her, suddenly self-conscious.

"I guess I just find you fascinating," he admitted softly.

"Really?" She asked, and he looked up at her again to find her grinning at him.

He nodded and her smile softened.

"Well, if we're being honest here, you've intrigued me for a long time too," she admitted.

"You don't have to say that just to be nice," he told her, still uncertain that this could all be real.

"I'm not," she argued. "I told you, I'm being honest."

He looked at her – really looked at her – and didn't see anything but honesty in her eyes. She shifted slightly closer and reached out to grab his hands. He let her, too stunned to move and felt as her fingers lightly ran over his.

"Jonathan," she let out in a whisper. "Last night…was that a spur of the moment thing, or…?"

He frowned, not really sure what she was asking. She seemed to realise his confusion and decided to elaborate for him.

"I mean, was it genuine on your part?"

He paused, thinking over her words. He considered lying, telling her it didn't actually mean anything, but the way she was looking at him told him that being honest would work in his favour at that moment.

"It was genuine," he confirmed shyly.

She smiled coyly, looking down at their hands. He felt cold when she pulled her hands away but it was only for a fleeting moment, because the next thing he knew she was cupping his face in her hands. She looked at him like he was the only thing she could see.

Jonathan felt his face heat up, not accustomed to the close proximity. His mind filled with thoughts of the past 24 hours, and how she had proved to him that she returned his feelings at least on some level. Before he could talk himself out of it, he decided to throw caution to the wind and closed the space between the two of them until his lips were pressed firmly against hers.

Their kiss was more passionate than the previous night, and more confident. She moved her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. Jonathan squeezed her waist, loving the feeling of her against him. As the kiss deepened, their lips began to move in sync against each other and he felt drunk on her. Her mouth opened slightly wider and he slid his tongue into her mouth, eliciting a small moan from her that sent shivers down his spine.

Jonathan never wanted the moment to end, but eventually they had to part and catch their breath. He continued to hold Clara close to him and felt her rest her head on his shoulder, small arms wrapped just as tightly around him. He savoured the moment, relishing in the feeling of being able to hold her so close. He couldn't believe that he'd just kissed her again. They stayed like that for what felt like eternity, but ultimately he felt Clara softly pull away, though not too far.

"Jonathan?" Clara asked softly.

"Mmm?"

"What are we?"

He was stunned, completely unsure of what she meant or where the question had come from. He voiced his confusion and she took a moment to answer him.

"Well…I mean…" she seemed unable to get the words out, and he grabbed a hold of her hand to try and soothe her.

"It's just, I've liked you for a really long time," she admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she looked down at their entwined hands.

Jonathan suddenly realised what was making her so nervous and squeezed her hand gently to get her attention.

"I've felt the same way for a long time too," he told her.

"Really?" She asked, repeating his earlier question.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

"So…"

"So…?"

"Can I be your girlfriend, then?"

He pulled away from her slightly, shocked by her question. He couldn't believe that she'd just straight out asked him like that, but then again she was the bolder out of the two of them…

"Are you serious?" He asked breathlessly.

"Yes," she replied, giving him a wide smile.

Not able to form words, Jonathan simply nodded, still in a bit of a daze at the whole situation. Defying what he deemed possible, Clara smiled even wider before leaning forward to kiss him again. It was a soft, gentle, loving kiss, portraying her sincere feelings and Jonathan couldn't believe that he was not in a dream.

When she pulled away from him she moved her arms to rest on his shoulders and looked at him bashfully. He wrapped his arms back around her waist, squeezing her gently.

"So, I'm your girlfriend then?" She asked, looking as though she was in disbelief.

"Yeah," he confirmed, not quite believing it himself.

Jonathan's gaze softened as he looked at her, seeing how happy she was at the idea. He didn't know what he'd done for her to return his feelings, but all he cared about was the fact that she wanted to be his, and he was going to make sure that she never regretted it.