Word Count: 1.9k 😳
Warnings: brief descriptions of poor mental health, swearing, sadness, alcohol consumption. If I missed any please let me know!!
A/n: this was gonna be a blurb and then I got carried away lol. Inspired by Champagne Problems by T.Swift. I hope you guys like it.
He had the ring in his pocket, it was his grandmother's. He fiddled with it in his pocket as you drove to Hawkins High to chaperone the winter formal. It was perfect, the winter formal you guys' first date, the ring had been adjusted to fit your left ring finger, the kids would be there, they knew his plan, everything would be perfect. He had you drive because he was so nervous. Robin was in your backseat giving Steve encouraging pats on the back.
You walked into the gym, hand in hand. Steve had Dustin request your favorite song, Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper, and he slowly swayed to the music with your head resting against his chest.
That's when you felt it. Steve was either really excited to dance with you or there was something in his pocket. You pulled your head away from his chest and it was like he knew that you knew. You let go of his hand and he pulled out a ring box, he looked at you with watery eyes and he started to pull your left hand to his lips. You pulled your hand away and walked out of the gym.
Steve's face fell, his eyes were watery for a whole different reason now. He put the ring back in his pocket and ran after you. Before he could even say your name, he heard your car leave the parking lot. He slumped to the ground, he was sat on the curb, his head was in his hands. He was kinda speechless over what just happened, he couldn't get any type of sound to leave his body. He heard the sound of running feet coming towards his direction. It was probably Robin, he didn't know, he didn't check but, whoever it was placed a hand on his back and rubbing circles on his back in an attempt to soothe him.
You just kept driving. You didn't have a specific place you wanted to go, you just couldn't be here. You ended up driving to a city 30 minutes away from Hawkins. You pulled over to a random gas station and parked. You took deep breaths, tears were spilling down your cheeks, you felt hot and your throat was dry.
Honestly you couldn't believe what just happened, what was about to happen or what you just did. You should've known this was coming, Robin asked you for your ring size and even took you to the mall to try on rings so that you could figure it out, Max told you about her mom's wedding to Mr. Hargrove, El asked you what it meant to propose. It was all so obvious but, you were so oblivious. How could you have missed all of these signs?
You thought you were ready for something like this but, as soon as you saw that box in his hand, you felt panicked. Steve's heart was a bouquet of roses and you left them there to die.
The realization of the kids finding out, is what made you drive even further away from Hawkins. You knew you couldn't just ignore this but, right now you needed to figure out why you just left him there with no explanation.
Back in Hawkins, Steve was walking home with Robyn in the dark. He hadn't said anything. He couldn't, it was starting to worry Robin and even though it was pitch black outside, he could still see the worried expressions that she threw his way.
"I didn't even get to say anything. She just left." Robin felt somewhat relieved that he was finally talking.
"What did she say?"
"That's the thing, Rob, she didn't say anything. She saw the box, dropped my hand and walked out. It was like I was in shock! I didn't move for a second and then I ran outside and heard her driving away!" Steve's voice began to falter, his eyes were overflowing with tears. Robin tired to rub his back while they were walking and give him some kind of comfort.
"Maybe she's just not ready. That's probably it. You guys will talk this through and you'll be back to normal before you even know it. For now though, I'd give her some space." Steve tried to think positively but would everything be okay after just talking about it? Like how could you both go back to normal after this?
"You know what? If you've got that champagne at your apartment let's drink it all tonight and sleep all day tomorrow." Robin hoped her cheery attitude would reach him and he'd return that same energy. He just shrugged and they continued walking to his apartment.
The kids walked into Steve's apartment to see a drunk Robin laying on the couch and Steve sprawled out on his kitchen floor, half-asleep. They looked around the apartment looking for you. To them, this looked like a celebration but, they couldn't find you so they were confused.
Dustin poked Robin's cheek, this startled her and she jolted upright. She rubbed her eyes to see who poked her face. The faces of 6 children staring back at her, started her again.
"Steve! The children are here!" Steve groaned in response. Dustin sat next to her on the couch.
"Hey, Robin, where's Y/n at?" Dustin spoke slowly and softly which caused Robin to roll her eyes.
"I dunno. She left Steve and I at the dance. Then we.. uh, what did we do? Oh! Oh! We came here to get fucked up!" This made the kids even more confused. Why would you leave Steve at the dance? Max went to the kitchen, stepping around Steve and made 2 cups of coffee for both Robin and Steve. She placed the warm cup into Robin's hands and forced Steve to sit up and gave him his cup.
"Why did Y/n leave? I thought Steve was proposing tonight?" Robin's eyes lit up, these were the only questions she knew the answers to.
"Oh okay so listen to this! Steve didn't even get to propose! He said that Y/n saw the ring, and left! She just left! He didn't even get down on one knee or anything! He went to chase after her, ya know cause he loves her! But then he saw her car peel out of the parking lot so we walked here." She let out a huff of air like she ran out of breath while talking.
The kids all looked at each other, their faces were a mix of shocked and confused. Why would you have just left? And without an explanation? It didn't make sense to them.
As you drove back to your mind was racing. You needed to explain this to Steve, you weren't sure how you going to explain this to him. How do you explain something that you don't have an explanation for? How do you tell him that you were planning on breaking up with him? That you didn't want to be in a relationship anymore, that you mentally couldn't take it anymore? That you were battling the thoughts in your head everyday and that's why you've been so tired lately? That for that same reason is why you were going to break up with him, not because of anything he did but because you were currently losing the battle and being in a relationship was making it hard to focus on winning. That the thought of spending "forever" with someone made you nauseous? How could you explain all of that to him? You wanted to make sure that he knew it wasn't his fault, you were the only one to blame. You drove home, you didn't think he'd want to see you. You wanted to give him some space, you'd call him tomorrow and if he was ready to talk then you'd go over to his house but for now you both needed sleep.
Steve woke up with his back against his fridge. He saw a cup of water and some aspirin next to him and mentally thanked Max. After drinking the water and swallowing the aspirin he made his way to the living room. He helped Robin get up and led her to his spare bedroom where she fell back asleep. He heard his phone ring and hoped it was you. When he picked up and heard you gentle voice mutter his name, his heart began to ache, the memories of last night came rushing to the front of his mind.
You asked him if you could come over to talk about what happened. He said yes, he was kinda hoping that this talk meant that you'd tell him yes but for some reason he knew that wouldn't be the case.
You walked into his apartment, you noticed the 2 empty champagne bottles on his counter. You also saw Robin's shoes lined up next to his. You sat in the couch and he sat across from you, he didn't dare inch closer.
"Steve, I'm really sorry about last night. I've been thinking about everything and I do not think it'd be fair to you if I said yes." You fidgeted with your hands and found it very hard to make eye contact with him.
"What do you mean 'not fair to me'? Do you know what's not fair to me? Fucking leaving me before I even got a chance to say anything!" Steve had started crying again.
"I know and I'm so, so sorry for just leaving there. That was so fucked up. Honestly, I was going to break up with you last week and then we got called in to be chaperones and I didn't want to do it last night so I was gonna wait until next Monday to do it. Sorry for rambling but, I can't be in a relationship right now is what I'm trying to say. So when I felt that ring and then when I saw it in your hand, I.. I panicked." You were pacing around his living room, one hand was running through your hair.
"I know that's not a good excuse for just leaving you but, I couldn't say yes, I couldn't and I won't do that to you." Tears were flowing down your cheeks.
"I know that our friends are evergreen but, as soon as I leave, I risk losing them. Losing them and you is the hardest part of this." You wiped your eyes. You stepped towards Steve but, he stepped further away from you, that hurt.
"And I know that, whoever you date next is going to make you so happy. You're going to propose, with your grandmas ring and she won't run, she will cry happy tears and say yes. Then you'll have some kids running around, and when I come home for the holidays, I'll run into your cute family at the store and you'll show me Steve Jr, who looks just like you but with your wife's eyes. And everything will have worked out in the end. You'll be happy, it's what you deserve." Steve stepped towards you and enveloped you in a hug for the last time. He watched you walk out of his apartment and he heard Robin leave the bedroom she was. She told him that she heard everything and he sat on the couch and cried as Robin held her best friend and hoped that you were okay and that you knew that you could never lose her.