february 14, 1985
penny's lips pull into a small smile as she side eyes her boyfriend, who was fixing his hair in the mirror next to her. she looks back at herself, continuing to apply her favorite red lipstick when he notices her staring.
"stop looking at me." steve says, running a hand through his hair. he wanted to look perfect for the day ahead of them.
"i'm not." she mutters, her grin growing larger. she finishes the last bit of lipstick on her plump lips, pops her mouth a few times and smiles wide to ensure there's no staining on her teeth. she nods in approval at her appearance then looks back over at steve who was still fiddling with his hair.
"you're still looking." he points out, leaning his hands on the counter.
"i am, and you look great. now will you tell me where you're taking me?" she asks the question she's been bugging him about since he brought up their valentine's day plans.
"no, stop asking me."
penny pouts at his answer. "you're being awfully rude to your girlfriend on valentine's day and her birthday."
"i want it to be a surprise."
"you know i don't take surprises well."
"i know, you always have to know what's going on."
"exactly."
"well, you don't get to today."
penny huffs, but eventually agrees to drop her persisting.
"i find it ironic, your birthday is on valentine's day. what did you usually do before you moved to hawkins?" steve asks, grabbing his farah fawcett spray from his cabinet.
penny giggles as he pops the brown lid from the can and sprays his hair, the smell wafting in the bathroom.
"i usually spent it with kimmy, but billy would always take me to this 24 hour diner by our house at the end of the day." penny smiles fondly at the memories. "before billy had a job, he would steal money from my dad's wallet, he was never the wiser. we would always order a large red velvet slice of cake and share it. it was a tradition my mom started, really."
"your mom?" steve questions, placing the lid back onto the spray can. that was something steve hardly heard from the girl. penny's mom was basically an anomaly to him, all he knew was that she was no longer apart of her life by choice. she never expressed any hatred or love for her mother, it's as if she simply had no thoughts on her. but steve wasn't stupid, he knew she felt hurt by her mother's actions, she was just very good at suppressing those feelings.
"yeah." penny laughs, "she would always ask the waitress' to sing happy birthday to me, though that stopped after she left, billy was never too fond of the singing, especially after her leaving."
steve frowns as he stares at his girlfriend who was looking down at her nails, she had a slight smile on her face, but it looked pained and full of hurt. penny was never one to express her feelings, she usually masked her misery with a grin and kept it moving. it was hard to get her to open up, but when she did, it became a whole show of emotions.
he didn't want that to be the case for today, as much as he loved when she felt comfortable enough to open up to him, he wanted to only see real smiles on her face.
so, he changes the subject, "well, are you ready to see where we're going?"
penny perks up, all thoughts of her mom or her past fading away. "yes! i'm so excited."
he takes her hand, both of them exiting the bathroom and makes a beeline for the stairs. on the way they pass a painting penny created for steve as part of his valentine's day present. it was an abstract painting of a couple hugging. she described it as how she felt when she was with him.
steve loved her art work.
he stops in the living room and grabs a vase filled with white roses from behind the curtains and penny can't help but laugh at the scene. "for you."
"was this your way of hiding them, steve?" penny giggles as he takes one out and hands it to her. she had seen the flowers in the window when she arrived, but she doesn't let him know that.
she lifts the pretty rose to her nose, smiling at the fresh scent. "did you just pick them up?"
steve nods, grabbing the flower back before snapping it's stem in half, causing penny's mouth to drop. he places the flower behind her and nods, "there, you look beautiful. let's go." penny thinks back to the day in the flower shop when steve asked her to be his wingwoman.
steve shrugs on the other half of his valentine's gift (a leather jacket penny knew would look amazing on him) over a sweatshirt, grabs her hand, picks up his keys, and drags her out the house.
-
"steve, no offense, but when are we getting to the surprise?" penny looks out the window. they had left hawkins over 30 minutes ago and she was beginning to wonder what the hell they could possibly be doing.
"glad, you asked because we're here." he answers just as they pull into a sketchy parking lot in front of a large building.
"uh, is this the part where you murder me?" penny smiles a bit. there were a few cars in the lot, but other than that there wasn't much around the building. it was surrounded by trees and in the distance you could see a few shops and other business.
"how dare you think so little of me?" steve scoffs, switching the engine off and jumping out the car. he goes around to open her door and penny hugs her jacket closer to her, stepping out with a thank you.
she shivers as the cold indiana air hits her face, the purple scarf keeping her cheeks warm. "alright, close your eyes."
she rolls her eyes, but obliges and steve leads her to the entrance of the building.
"don't let me trip on a pebble."
steve laughs, "never."
penny notes that the temperature never changes when they get inside the building. "it's still cold..." she mutters. penny didn't hate the cold, she actually embraced it after living in hot weather her entire life.
"okay open your eyes." she excitedly opens her eyes and gasps at the sight, something she'd never seen before. she gazes in amazement at the freshly smoothed ice skating rink in front of her.
the ice looked so sparkly and clean, just begging to be scrapped up by a pair of skates. "i remember you saying a list of things you would do regularly if not for your asthma, and ice skating was your favorite." steve looks down at her with a smile.
penny grins widely, extremely excited to step onto the ice. "i booked out two hours for us, so no one else will be here except the staff." steve informs her as they head to the front desk to check in and get their skates.
penny can't help but stare at her boyfriend with adoration as he tied up the laces on the heavy boots. "thank you, steve."
he looks up at her with a smile, pats her leg then comes up to kiss her on the forehead. "happy birthday, penny."
steve takes her hand to help her stand and she wobbles a bit on the blades. "i'm kinda scared." she admits, biting her red stained lip.
"i'll catch you."
"can you even skate?" penny asks, noticing his struggle on the blades.
"i've been skating, once or twice."
"we're doomed." she says, just as they reach the entrance to the rink. she looks down at the slippery synthetic ice and steps one foot out, yelping when her foot slides out.
steve follows her and they hold onto the wall for support as they get both skates on the ice.
penny raises her hands for balance and giggles when she leans forward. "it's not so bad." she glides one foot out, then the other and soon she's skating on the ice, slowly but surely.
"how are you doing that?" steve asks from the wall. she marches to turn around but ends up falling on her ass when she leans back too much.
steve instantly steps from the wall and skates over to her, falling next to her. he checks her for any signs of pain, but she only laughs.
"hey, you did it." penny points out, taking his hand in hers. "see you're just over thinking it." they stand, still holding each other's hands.
as time went on they slowly got the hang of it. penny seemed to have a natural gift in skating, but she could never do too much or her heart rate would pick up. they learned this when they decided to have a race from one side of the large rink to the other. the staff was actually impressed with penny's ability despite her condition. they taught the couple a few tricks on the ice and penny became obsessed with the way the employee spun fast on one blade.
overall, penny and steve thoroughly enjoyed each other's company, never wanting the two hours to end.
-
on the way back, soothing music played from the radio, lulling penny to sleep as steve happily drove the girl back home. she was tired after today's activity, but still had a lot of fun.
as he parked in front of her home, he sighed in relief to see billy's car in the lot. steve never liked when she was home without billy, knowing he was her only protector from their father, so whenever steve didn't see his car he would make a u-turn back to his house.
steve shakes the blonde awake and she instantly shoots up, never being a hard sleeper. "oh, you're taking me home?" she asks disappointed when she sees her house. penny didn't want their night to be over, and definitely didn't want her birthday ruined by her father's constant anger issues.
"there is a diner on main street that serves red velvet cake."
penny blinks at him, before realizing what he meant. a soft grin forms on her face and she places a couple kisses on his lips.
"thank you." she sighs, resting her forehead on his. steve kisses her once more, a hand lacing through her blonde locks. "today was amazing."
"anything for you." he mumbles when they separate. steve caresses her cheek and gives her one last peck.
god, he adored her.
-
lmao, i'm so bad at writing cheesy lovey doveyness, but i hope y'all enjoyed this little special! lemme know what you think in the comments, pleaseee <3
its the calm before ANGST, because it's coming! :)