You and Steve had a complicated relationship, to say the least.

You’re Tommy Hagan’s little sister. Tommy Hagan, known around Hawkins as Tommy H, was good friends with Steve for years. From the time Tommy and Steve were in freshman year and you were in seventh grade, to Steve and Tommy’s junior year.

When all the hectic shit went down.

Will Byers went missing. And shortly after that, Nancy Wheeler’s best friend — Barbara Holland, also went missing. At a party hosted by none other than Steve. And who was in attendance? Tommy.

Naturally, you were suspicious of your brother. Barb wasn’t the type of person to run away from home. It wasn’t a secret that Tommy and his girlfriend, Carol, didn’t like Nancy or Barb. Nor did they like Johnathan. In turn, Will was guilty by association.

Plus, Tommy’s an asshole. Was it really that much of a stretch to assume he had something to do with it?

You ended up joining up with Nancy and Johnathan in their efforts to find Will and Barb. That was how you got linked into the Upside Down dilemmas.

Now that a year had gone by, things were still weird. You’d found some friends in Nancy and Johnathan, and even grew to tolerate Steve. He’d actually earned a lot of respect from you.

It wasn’t exactly a secret that Nancy and Steve’s relationship was on the rocks. Nancy was pulling away, and Steve wasn’t completely checked into their relationship either. And then you add Johnathan into the equation… it was a weird ass love triangle.

That triangle certainly was sloped now, though, considering Nancy and Johnathan had gone AWOL for two days — coincidentally after Nancy drunkenly told Steve she didn’t love him, and Johnathan drove her home.

To add to the weird adaptations of life as of late, there was the addition of Billy Hargrove to Hawkins High. The senior immediately climbed to the top of the social ladder, which meant he was friends with your brother.

Billy was even more of a scumbag than Tommy, which you didn’t think was possible at first. But he made sure to keep it very clear.

Steve was already not on Hargrove’s good side. Due to him and Tommy’s falling out the year prior, anyone in Tommy’s friend group was expected to dislike him.

And Billy? He got off on intimidation. Which is probably why he was taking the opposite approach with you.

Instead of trying to piss you off, make you hate him — he was trying to make you uncomfortable. And boy, was it working.

It started off small. Things like very obvious ogling, the occasional muttered innuendo pointed in your direction.

Somehow, in the few days he’d been there, it escalated to this.

You were in the school’s parking lot. The final bell had just rung, and you were waiting for Tommy to meet you at his car.

He had basketball practice that day. So did Billy, and so did Steve. So when Tommy and Billy finally emerged from the locker room, Steve wasn’t too far behind them.

Cigarette between your lips, you remained leant up against the passenger side door of Tommy’s car.

You could hear Tommy and Billy laughing about something as they approached the vehicle, leading you to sigh.

Once you were within earshot, Billy made it a point to speak up.

“Y’know, Hagan… maybe I should just bone your sister.” Billy chided, running his tongue along his lower lip. You just rolled your eyes.

“Nice try.” Was all Tommy said in return.

Billy, who was parked right beside Tommy, stalked his way over to you without a halt in his step.

“You think I’m joking, but I’m not. The quiet girls? They’re not so quiet when I get ‘em alone. And I betcha princess over here isn’t any different.”

Another voice spoke up this time.

“Don’t talk about her like that.”

When you looked up, you were met with brown eyes — wet brown hair, sharp jaw clenched with irritation.

Steve.

He was in a t-shirt and jeans, having changed out of his basketball uniform. Judging by the scent of shampoo and his wet hair, he probably showered in the locker room.

It was certainly a sight to see. One Nancy wasn’t treasuring enough.