Steve laughs happily as she pushes away from him, dunking himself and tossing his hair back before swimming more towards the center of the lagoon, where his feet can’t touch the bottom. It makes him the slightest bit uneasy in a way that it wouldn’t have before the Upside Down, or Darrow. There are monsters lurking everywhere, and he just has to try not to think about it.

“Think about how good the fire will feel after we’re done,” Steve tells her, turning his thoughts away from monsters to smile at his gorgeous girlfriend instead. “Or I could always warm you up.”

He gives her a playful wink and then takes a deep inhale so he can float on his back, watching as the purple-gray sky starts to give way to a blanket of stars.

Sometimes, he would do the same thing in his pool back home. When his parents were fighting or when he was anxious, he’d go out there and float, letting the water cover his ears and block out all other sound.

“This was a good idea,” he tells Maeve, spreading his arms out to the side. “Even if it is cold.”