SATELLITE [STEVE HARRINGTON]

muppet

SPENDING HER FIRST DAY BACK IN HAWKINS WITH HER EX-BOYFRIEND WAS NOT WHAT GINNY IMAGINED FOR HER SPRING BREAK. After they dropped Robin off at school, he asked if she wanted to hang out at the video store until Robin took the bus there, so they could all hang out and catch up.

It wasn't like she had anything else to do that day until Lucas' basketball game that night, so she agreed. Hanging out with him was not near as painful as she thought it would be; it was actually pretty normal and not awkward.

They acted like they used to with each other, before the break up and even before they got together, just like friends, which Ginny was glad for. She had never wanted to lose him altogether.

Steve and Ginny were back to normal, like they truly went back to being just friends.

Just friends who were secretly still in love with each other, but friends nonetheless.

Ginny lounged around at the counter while Steve opened up the store. "So," he said, "How's college? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

She smiled. "It's cool. A lot better than high school, to be honest," she chuckled. "It was weird making new friends but my roommate, Abbie, helped me out."

"Oh, really? Sounds great," Steve said. "Any other friends?"

Was it his sly way of asking if she had a boyfriend now? Yes. Was it actually sly? No.

"Well, there's Abbie, like I said. She's a nursing major, too," she told him. "Then, Sarah and I work together at the campus bookstore. She's really nice, she likes Black Sabbath. Then there's Ian, we met at a party—"

"Ian?" Steve asked, leaning against the counter opposite of her. "What kind of name is that? Is he Polish or something?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes, trying to hide her smile. Steve was never good at hiding his jealousy in the past, and maybe... maybe she wanted to see him a little jealous.

She shrugged. "Ian is sweet. He's as gay as the day is long and doesn't care who knows it either. He's really cool."

When Steve visibly relaxed, Ginny smiled to herself. "Oh," he said simply. "Oh, he sounds cool, yeah."

"What about you?" she asked, leaning forward. "I know Dustin and Robin are a handfull as it is, but... Anyone else in the picture?"

Was it her sly way of asking if he had a girlfriend now? Yes. Was it actually sly? No.

Steve shook his head. "Ah... No, not really."

"You haven't replaced me yet?" she asked, raising a brow as he started stacking up movies on the rolling cart.

"There's no one out there like you, Ginny," he said, smiling softly.

That sent a pang through her chest and she smiled sadly at the counter. Being back in Hawkins also made her realize how much she still loved him, even almost four months after their break up.

But as much as she did, it was just too damn hard. It was perfect and everything she dreamed of when they were here in Hawkins, together, but it was so hard leaving him.

Ginny helped him around the store all day. They weren't super busy, so she didn't mind, helping him shelf turn ins, until eventually they resorted to watching Nightmare on Elm Street.

Halfway through, the phone rang and by the way Steve talked to the person on the line, Ginny knew it was Dustin.

"No, man! I don't want to join your club tonight," he said, playing with a slinky behind the phone.

"Please!" Dustin cried.

"What, so I can hang out with you and Eddie 'the freak' Munson?" Steve muttered sarcastically. "Uh, yeah, I'll pass."