A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Finally by Cece Peniston. It also has a couple of references to songs by the Electric Light Orchestra, who I will always recommend with my whole heart. I hope you all enjoy it.
Steve's house was always the go-to hang-out spot during the summer. I mean, his parents were never around to eavesdrop or interfere and the place was a Goddamn mansion. Not to mention, the real selling point. The built-in pool was definitely the main attraction. Especially when the sun was baring down on Hawkins like it had been this week.
Hell, you'd spent almost every day sitting around Steve's pool like this for the past few weeks of summer vacation. Sometimes, everyone else would join you. Robin tended to stay in the water until she turned all pruney. Nancy would lay out with a book. And Steve had the tendency to swim lengths of the pool, back and forth again and again until he wore himself out enough to just lean at the edge and chat for a while.
This afternoon, you were the only person to show. Robin was off at band practice and you could only imagine how much she was suffering from the heat in her uniform. Nancy had decided to head to the mall to run errands and take advantage of the air conditioning.
So, when Steve had grown bored of his swimming, he'd shifted to watching you. You always looked really pretty laying out in the sun, basically glistening in the heat. And when you had your walkman fit snuggly to your head, he knew he had free range to actually look without you catching him.
Hell, he was almost certain that the crush he'd had on you from your first meeting had grown into something a little deeper by now, but in spite of that, he'd always kept it hidden. You were pretty private when it came to your dating life, and even though Steve knew you better than anyone else, he knew better than to pry in an attempt to figure out whether you liked him back.
"Why are you staring at me?" you hummed, not even having to open your eyes to catch him.
Steve stuttered as you lifted your headphones from your ears to listen to his answer. "I'm not-"
"Am I getting sunburnt?" you murmured.
Steve hesitated for a moment. "No-"
"Is there a bug on me or something?"
"No-"
You finally sat up, lifting your sunglasses up onto your head to look at him, one eyebrow lifted. "Then what are you looking at?"
Steve watched you for a moment, elbows still propping him up at the edge of the pool. "You just looked really peaceful," he finally breathed out. "It was nice."
"Oh," you murmured, clearing your throat and glancing away from him.
I mean, Steve was always a little cheesy, but whenever he turned that on you, it sent you into a spiral. It was obvious that Steve was gorgeous, you'd known that from the very first time you'd set eyes on him, but recently, you'd started to wonder whether there was more to it than basic attraction.
Of course, you loved him. He was one of your closest friends. But in the last couple of months, it had started to feel different and you were surprised to find that you might be in love with him too.
"Right," you breathed out, forcing a small smile for him. "I was just listening to a good song," you pressed on as he hauled himself out of the pool, moving to sit on the lounger next to yours, stretching his body out on his towel.
You kept your eyes focused on anything but him, the temptation to sneak a peek eating away at the lining of your stomach. This was ridiculous. You'd never felt this way about anyone before. You'd never had the butterflies and nerves that had suddenly started whenever you were around him.
"What were you listening to?"
Your head swivelled to look at him, blinking stupidly at the question until you realised what he was asking. "ELO," you murmured, watching his smile grow slightly.
"Electric Light Orchestra? Let me guess," he hummed. "Mr Blue Sky?" You shook your head. "Livin' Thing?"
"Nope-"
"Evil Woman?"
"Third time lucky," you teased, rolling your eyes slightly as he did a mini celebration beside you. "You're a genius," you snarked again, the teasing falling out of you the second he fell still, his arm resting along the back of your sun lounger, so close to the skin of your bare shoulder that your breath got caught in your throat.
His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. "I just know you so well," he told you. "You're pretty predictable."
You shuffled in your seat, letting out a stunted laugh at his comments. "You got lucky. You can only name three of their songs anyway and I just happened to be listening to one of them-
"Can't we just pretend I got it right because I'm smart?" he interrupted, pouting softly at you when you risked a glance in his direction. Your heart skipped a beat, and you had to bite back a waterfall of awkward laughter at just how flustered he could get you so effortlessly.
"Fine," you hummed, plastering a tight-lipped smile onto your lips. "You're very smart-"
"And so handsome," he pressed on. "And like, the most incredible guy around," he added, the teasing clear in his voice.
"You're pushing your luck."
Steve grinned at you. "What, are you feeling left out?" he hummed at you, head tilting to the side as he leaned a little closer to you, a sudden burst of confidence flowing through him from out of nowhere. "I wasn't just staring at you because you looked peaceful, Sweetheart," he confessed.
"What?"
"You have no idea how distracting you are when you look so pretty sitting here," he pressed on, his hand dipping ever so slightly, his fingertips brushing the skin of your shoulder before retreating as if he'd thought better of the action. "So damn pretty," he added softly.
"You think so?"
Steve's lips pulled into a smirk, his eyes holding you hostage as he continued staring at you. "I know so."
"Oh," you murmured softly, swallowing down the lump forming in your throat. "Well, that's nice."
"Yeah?"
You nodded, your mouth opening and closing as you searched for something to say. And then, you were shaking your head. "Fuck it," you uttered, leaning in to press your lips to his, feeling his hands immediately shift to catch your face, keeping you close as he kissed back.
"Jesus Christ," he hummed against your lips, his breath fanning over your face as his hands kept you from moving away from him. "Do that again."
You chuckled as you pressed forward again, kissing him as if your life depended on it.
It wasn't until you were pulling away that the words had finally come to you, a little smirk playing at the corner of your mouth. "I know you're pretty too, Steve."
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