Trigger Warning: Slight mention of attempted rape.
"These seats are too close!" I complained in a loud whisper.
"Dude, these seats blow!" Steve scoffed as he stuffed his face with popcorn. I reached over and grabbed a handful.
"Then don't watch the movie," Dustin sighed.
"We want to watch it," I shot back.
"Then watch it!"
"Shh!" Some guy behind us yelled. This led to the rest of us shushing him back.
"Whatever you do," Dustin said, softer this time, "don't. go. anywhere."
"Fine, Dad," Steve elongated. I giggled as I playfully punched Steve's arm. Dustin didn't think it was funny. He rolled his eyes and walked away. Steve and I calmed down and tried to watch the movie.
"I'm lost," I whispered. "What's happening?"
"I have no idea," Steve said, stuffing more popcorn into his mouth.
Ugh, Steve's mouth.
I wanted his mouth on my mouth. So badly. But, sadly, he'd never put his mouth on my mouth. He doesn't feel the same way about me as I feel about him.
I've been in love with my best friend since seventh grade after he stood up for me when Molly, Grace, and Louisa were bullying me during PE. I fell for him even more when he showed up on my doorstep after my date to the eighth-grade dance stood me up.
Sure, once we got to high school he started to pull away. He eventually came back. During sophomore year, I was staying after school to help tutor some kids.
One day, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up after a session and one of our football players tried to force himself on me. He dragged me to his car, threw me in the backseat, and tried to take advantage of me.
Steve was walking out of basketball practice and heard me screaming for help. He instantly started running toward the car. He pulled the football player off me and his anger took over. I had to pull Steve off of him before he went too far.
~•~
"Steve! Stop!" I screamed as I scrambled out of the car. My legs were shaky and I fell to my knees. Me gasping in pain made Steve stop. He got off of the football player and ran to me.
"Are you alright?" He asked gently.
I smiled when he hesitated to touch me. Instead, I tucked into his chest. He instantly wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should've left the locker room sooner. I should've. . . I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," I whispered back. I leaned out of our embrace and looked up at him. "Besides, you got him off of me. You saved me, Steve."
He shrugged, trying to act as if it wasn't a big deal. We both knew it was.
"Can I ask for one more favor?"
"Anything," Steve said instantly. He cleared his throat, trying to recover. "What is it?"
"Will you take me home?"
~•~
After that day, things changed. Steve went back to being the Steve I knew and fell in love with. He started rushing out of practice so he would be waiting on me to get out of my tutoring sessions. Once we were both done, he could give me a ride home.
A couple of weeks later, he found out that Tommy and Carol had been spreading the rumor that I had willingly gotten with that football player. As soon as Steve found out, he walked away from them.
I gasped, thrown back into the present when Steve gently put his hand on my arm, leaned over, and whispered, "You okay, Y/N?"
"I'm gonna barf."
Steve tossed the popcorn aside, grabbed my hand, and dragged me out of the theater. My stomach did multiple flips as Steve led me to the women's restroom. We burst through the door, dropping to our knees. We emptied our stomachs into the mall bathroom. When I was pretty sure my stomach was empty, I emptied it some more.
"How you feeling over there?" Steve asked between coughs.
"Probably about as good as you are," I sighed. I sat on my butt, sliding back until I hit the wall. I leaned my head against the cold bathroom wall and took a few breaths. "Do you think that crap is out of our systems?"
"I don't know," Steve sighed. "We could test it out."
"How?" I scoffed.
"Well, it was a truth serum, right? So, ask me a question."
I thought about it, knowing the question I was dying to ask him. This was my chance.
"Have you. . . ever been in love?"
"Yep," Steve said a little faster than I wish he had. "Nancy Wheeler. First semester, senior year."
My heart sank when he mimicked a gunshot. "She is such a priss," I tried to scoff like it didn't matter.
"Turns out, not really," he sighed.
"Are you still in love with Nancy?"
I felt like he hesitated but not that long. "No," he said.
"Why not?" I asked.
"I think it's because I found someone who's a little bit better for me. It's crazy. Ever since Dustin got home, he's been saying, "You know, you gotta find your Suzie. You gotta find your Suzie."
"Wait, who's Suzie?"
"It's some girl from camp," he sighed, "I guess his girlfriend. To be honest with you, I'm not 100% sure she's even real. But that's not–that's not really the point. That doesn't matter. The point is, this girl, you know, the one that I like, it's somebody that I. . . never would have expected. And I don't even know why. Maybe cause Tommy H. would've made fun of me or. . . I wouldn't be. . . prom king. It's stupid. I mean, Dustin's right, it's all just a bunch of bullshit anyways. Because, when I think about it, I should've been hanging out with this girl the whole time. First of all, she's hilarious. She's so funny. I feel like, this summer, I have laughed harder than I have laughed in a really long time. And she's smart. Way smarter than me. You know, she can crack, like, top secret Russian codes and. . . You know? She's honestly unlike anyone I've ever even met before."
I took a shaky breath as the tears streamed down my face.
"Y/N?" Steve spoke up. I sucked in a breath when he knocked on the stall between us.
I could hear the nervousness in his voice when he said, "Y/N, did you just OD in there?"
"No," I said shakily, "I am still alive."
My breath got caught in my throat when Steve suddenly started sliding under the stall. "The floor's disgusting," I tried to warn him.
"I don't care," he said as he sat up, leaning against the stall. He wiped his hands on his pants, before reaching over and gently draping his arm around my leg.
"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" He asked, squeezing my calf.
"Nothing," I said under my breath, looking away from him.
"Come on," he whispered. "Talk to me, Y/N."
"That girl you were talking about," I whispered, still not looking at him, "she's lucky a guy like you is into her."
"Yeah, she is," he sighed.
I took a shaky breath before asking, "Does she know how you feel?"
"I don't think so," he said. "I keep trying to tell her, but I can barely get the courage. As soon as I get it, she walks in with her beautiful smile and her angelic voice. The minute she walks into the room, I forget what I was going to say and my courage turns into butterflies."
"Sounds like you're really in love with her," I whispered. Steve let go of my leg and wrapped his arms around his knees. He leaned forward and smiled at me.
"I am," he whispered. "I am extremely, desperately, stupidly in love with this girl."
I copied his position and leaned my chin on my knees. I tried to stop the tears but it was useless.
"She is a really lucky girl, Steve," I said, my voice breaking. "You should tell her so she knows."
"I just did."
I snapped my head up and looked at him with wide eyes. I studied him, trying to figure out what he meant. He just smiled as he watched my wheels turn. He slowly scooted closer to me as he whispered.
"How did you not know?" He teased. "I thought I made it obvious when I protected you from Grace, Molly, and Louisa. Or when I took you to our eighth-grade dance after Mikey stood you up. Or how I left Tommy and Carol to start hanging out with you more. Or when I pulled Eric off of you and beat him until I broke every bone in both of my hands. Or how every day I do whatever it takes to protect you."
I held my breath as Steve was now inches from me. He dropped his voice even lower, "How did you not know?"
Steve leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I was too shocked to respond. I snapped out of it and instantly started kissing him back. Our lips moved in sync as we got as close to each other as we could.
Steve reached up and gently cupped my cheek in his hand as our lips moved messily in sync. I broke the kiss and leaned my forehead against his.
"I love you too, Steve," I whispered. "I am extremely, desperately, stupidly in love with you."
He let out a small chuckle as he pressed his lips back to mine. As our lips started moving faster than our first kiss, Steve grabbed my hips and brought me over to him. I straddled his lap, reached up, and began running my fingers through his hair.
Steve broke the kiss and smiled up at me. He reached over and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering. He gently rubbed my cheek with his thumb.
"I don't want to forget this," I whispered.
"You won't," Steve said instantly. "And if you do, I'll remind you."
I got off his lap and sat next to him. I sighed as I leaned my head on his shoulder. I felt my stomach flip when he leaned his head on mine.
Neither one of us spoke as we sat in silence, listening to each other's breathing. We looked over when the door was roughly pushed open.
"Okay," Dustin sighed angrily. "What the hell?"
"Dustin!" I giggled.
"Henderson!" Steve yelled.
"You found us! Now you hide and we'll count. 1. . . . 2. . . 3. . . Hey! You're not hiding! That's cheating."
"Wait, what?" Dustin stuttered. "What's wrong with you guys?"
"When I say 'Dustin', you say 'Henderson'!" Steve laughed loudly.
"Can we go?!" Erica yelled. Dustin and Erica turned around and left the bathroom. I sighed as I stood up and brushed off my disgusting uniform.
"Hey," Steve grabbed my hand before we could leave the bathroom.
"Everything okay?" I asked as he pulled me into his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips softly to mine. Before I could kiss him back, he broke away.
"It doesn't matter how much drugs those Russians gave us," Steve whispered, "I don't think I will ever forget our bathroom confessions."