The group was sleeping at the Harrington house. It had started as just the kids and Robin, but Robin invited Nancy and Jonathon. Steve wasn't sure who invited Billy but the other man was currently sitting on the couch with El.

It had been slow, but the awkwardness between Steve and Billy had started to fade. Between watching Officer Callahan die for them and killing demodogs the two had moved past their high school rivalry. The mall fire had brought Billy closer to everyone in their little group too. It helped that everyone was still affected by what had happened.

For everyone else in Hawkins, the mall fire had ended with the clean-up. Once the evidence was gone, the mall fire was barely a memory, unless you knew what really happened. The only good thing that came out of the mall fire was that Joyce and Hopper finally stopped dancing around each other. They went on a date and ever since then, they'd been together.

El and Hopper had moved in with the Byers a month after that first date. Steve wasn't surprised when Hopper and Joyce admitted they were soulmates. Apparently, they had known in high school but she was with Lonnie and she had been happy. There was something in the way that she told the story that reminded Steve of when his parents told the story of their perfect marriage. He could tell that by happy, Joyce meant pregnant.

Steve watched the kids go down to his basement for their latest D and D game. El and Mike were holding hands as they walked. It seemed like, Lucas and Max had gotten over their latest fight because she was laughing at something he said. Those two were almost as bad as Carol and Tommy, with all of the breakups and getting back together. As annoying as they were, Steve thought they were a pretty good couple.

Behind him, he knew Billy was digging through his fridge.

"Beer?"

"Yeah."

Billy was walking toward him with a cold can in hand.

"Y'know everyone else might not be able to see it but I can."

Steve looked at him confused, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Billy breathed, "Look, Steve, it's obvious you still aren't sleeping. Cut the bullshit. I'm sick of

watching you sit there with that stupid look on your face."

"I don't sit anywhere with a stupid look on my face," Billy stared at Steve, "Okay maybe not everything is perfect but this isn't anything we haven't done before. I'm fine."

Billy laughed at Steve, "You're fine are ya? Think I can't tell you haven't been sleeping. Think I'm dumb enough that you can lie to me."

"I'm not lying," Steve said.

Billy grabbed his arm before he could leave. He didn't do anything but look at Steve for a second before letting him go.

Steve went outside to see Robin sitting in the pool. Jonathan and Nancy were standing to the side. It was always weird for Steve to see them together. He was happy for them, but he couldn't completely get rid of the jealousy that came up. Steve knew that he and Nancy were a bad match. They were uneven. Nancy was smart and beautiful, she was a good person. Steve was just a dumb jock who bullied people.

Water splashed onto Steve from the pool. He looked at Robin who was obviously bored with the couple talking in the corner.

"Get in the water!"

Steve shook his head at Robin, holding up his beer to show her he was busy. Luckily, she found a new victim.

"Billy, get in. Everyone else is lame."

"Alright bird move over."

Billy cannonballed in, spraying Nancy in the process. She grabbed Jonathon, dragging him into the water with her. After that, an all-out war started. Robin and Billy on one team, Nancy and Jonathon on the other.

Eventually, they got out and made their way into the house. When they got inside they found the kids eating all of Steve's food. They even found the chips he hid from them. One day Steve was going to see a hiding place they couldn't sniff out. The little brats.

"Alright movie time. C'mon."

They were all sitting down to watch the movie when Steve felt something familiar tracing the inside of his arm.

The endless hours of heartache. Waiting for you. My summer love has turned to rain, all the pain. The silent emptiness of one sided love. My life means nothing now you're gone. Steve stared at his arm. He hadn't thought about how it must've felt for his soulmate. They'd been reaching out to no one this whole time. Steve decided he had to respond. His soulmate may be disappointed but Steve wasn't going to let them think they were alone any longer. He got up to look for a marker when he felt something else.

He looked at his arm to see something new. A drawing, it was beautiful. The drawing was simple. A rose but Steve could tell that each line had been thought out. He couldn't stop staring at it. His soulmate had never drawn anything to him before. Of course, they couldn't just write the most beautiful words Steve had ever seen, they had to be an artist too.

Then, before he could think about it more, he saw more words appear, Holy shit.

Hey. That was new handwriting.

Happy birthday?

Ha. You're the first to say that

Steve finally understood what was going on. He was a mistake. These two people were meant to be together and for some reason, Steve got grouped with them. They were going to be happy together one day, Steve could tell. He wasn't a disappointment because he wasn't supposed to be there at all. Whoever these two people were, Steve hoped they would make each other happy.

Before he rejoined the group he grabbed a long sleeve T-shirt. When he went to rejoin the group he almost ran into Billy who was coming back from the bathroom in a sweatshirt.