𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 ~ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Really?" Steve rose his eyebrows, "Because I think he's thinking more clearly than usual."

"I hope he is." Ramona whispered, pulling her knees up to her chest. 

Robin nodded slowly, thoughts swirling in her head as she took in a shaky breath. Steve's eyes lit up as an idea popped into his head, "And-and this girl, she has a friend. Her friend is really cool, and she deserves as much love as the girl I like will get."

Ramona nodded in agreement, forcing down the blush coating her cheeks. "She's the coolest. Her fashion sense... shocks me. In a good way. And I didn't think I could be as close with another person as I am with her. I want her to have a good ass boyfriend."

"They don't even know this friend." Robin disagreed, shaking her head. "Not really. And if they did know her, like-like really know her, I don't even think they'd wanna be her friend."

"That is incorrect." Ramona whispered, carefully nudging Robin. "So incorrect."

"Yeah, that's not true. No way is that true." Steve straightened his back, leaning on his knees as his eyes scanned Robin's face.

"Listen to me, Steve." Robin said, looking over at Ramona as an acknowledgment. "It shocked me to my core, but I like you. I like you both."

A flash of guilt hit Ramona as she awkwardly looked down at her feet, listening to Robin continue. "But I'm not like your other friends."

"Robin, that's exactly why we like you." Steve countered.

"Do you remember what I said about Mrs. Click's class?" Robin asked, looking over at Ramona. "About me being jealous? And, like... obsessed?"

"Mhm." Ramona hummed. 

"Yeah." Steve answered. 

"It wasn't because I had a crush on you." Robin admitted. "It's because she wouldn't stop staring at you."

"Mrs. Click?" Steve asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

"Tammy Thompson." Robin corrected as Ramona straightened her back, glancing over at Steve to see if he'd caught it. "I wanted her to look at me. But she couldn't pull her eyes from you, and your... stupid hair. And I didn't understand because you would get bagel crumbs all over the floor and you asked dumb questions. And-and you were a douchebag! And you didn't even like her. And I would go home and just... scream into my pillow."

"But.." Steve trailed off, looking over at Ramona in confusion. "Tammy Thompson's a girl."

Robin swallowed thickly, blinking away the tears forming in her eyes. "Steve."

"Yeah?" Steve knitted his eyebrows together, his confused smile falling as the realization hit him. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." 

"Holy shit." Steve muttered, shaking his head as his back hit the stall. 

"Holy shit." Robin repeated, shifting under the uncomfortable silence. "You, uh, you guys OD?"

"No. I just, uh, just thinking." Steve answered. Robin nodded, looking over at Ramona as she anxiously waited for her reaction. "Ram-"

"I love you, Robin." Ramona said quietly, sliding an arm around the girl's shoulders and resting her head on her shoulder. "Liking girls isn't gonna change that."

Robin cracked a small grin, leaning into Ramona's touch as relief flooded her body. "I love you."

"Tammy Thompson." Steve repeated, blinking in shock as he processed Robin's confession. "I mean, she's cute and all, but.. I mean, she's a total dud!"

Robin gasped, shaking her head. "She is not!"

Ramona snickered, patting her on the shoulder. "I'd disagree."

"She is." Steve nodded, "I mean.. she wants to be a singer. She wants to move to Nashville and shit."

"She has dreams!" Robin defended.

"She needs practice." Ramona shrugged.

"She can't even hold a tune." Steve argued as Ramona giggled, shamelessly nodding her head. "She's practically tone deaf! Have you heard her? All the time, you see me now tonight, you see me more than ev-"

"Shut up." Robin cut him off with a laugh, "She does not sound like that."

Steve rose his eyebrows, "She sounds exactly like that, that's a great impression of her."

"She does not!" Robin shook her head quickly, "You sound like a Muppet."

"She sounds like a Muppet! She sounds like a Muppet giving birth."

Ramona covered her mouth with her free hand to hold in the laugh as Steve mimicked Kermit. "And if you can hold me tight, we'll be holding on forever!"

"Exactly." Steve laughed.

"I know." Robin finally agreed as laughs spilled from her lips. "I know."

Ramona jumped at the sound of a bathroom door being thrown open. She looked over, her laugh silencing at the sight of Dustin. "Okay, what the hell?"

~~

"This has to hurt." Steve whispered, his fingers delicately brushing against the bruises on her neck, being extra careful not to hurt her, his other hand cupping her cheek as his eyes trailed over her face. "Ramona.."

Ramona nodded weakly, shrugging as she looked up at him. "A little bit."

Steve's eyes softened as he traced the bruises, thoughts running rampant through his head as he delicately brushed his thumb along her bottom lip, still coated in dried blood. "What did they do to you?"

"Just a surface cut." Ramona waved him off as he pulled his hands away, glancing over at Erica, Dustin, and Robin who patiently waited for the movie to end in the corner of the bathroom. Ramona watched him curiously as he pulled a napkin from the dispenser, turning on the sink and wetting it carefully before walking back over to her. 

Ramona cracked a smile as he slowly raised the napkin to her lips, gently wiping away the dried blood. "You know I can do this myself, right?"

Steve nodded, "I know."

A silence fell over them as Ramona's eyes trailed over his face. He stuck his tongue out in concentration, glancing up at her eyes to make sure he wasn't hurting her ever-so often.

"What's on your mind, Harrington?" Ramona asked quietly, glancing down at his hand as he gently wiped the blood from her face. 

Steve stayed silent as he flipped over the napkin, a flurry of unreadable emotions swirling around his eyes. His hand dropped as he looked from her lips up to her eyes. Inhaling shakily, he finally spoke. "You." 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ A/n: stamona rights }

{ Edited: No }