A/N - This chapter was entirely just a self-serving reference to the scene in New Girl when Winston and Jess call Cece to tell her that Schmitt and Fawn had broken up. I couldn't help but imagine this moment with Dustin and Robin. I also used I Want You To Want Me by Cheap Trick for a little bit of inspiration. This is a few years after the end of Stranger Things, and the reader and Steve are in their mid-twenties. I hope you all enjoy it.
You sighed as your phone started ringing, lifting your head to glare over the back of the couch at it. There wasn't a soul you really wanted to talk to right now. In fact, you wanted nothing more than to ignore the call altogether, so you pressed your eyes shut and slumped back down onto the couch, letting the call ring out. You'd let out another sigh, relaxing ever so slightly, before the phone started crying out for your attention again, causing you to shoot up into a seated position rather suddenly, looking in its direction with far more anger than was probably normal.
You dragged yourself off of the couch, padding over to the phone and picking it up a little too roughly, holding it up to your ear. "Hello?"
"Hey Y/N," Robin's voice started softly, only to immediately be interrupted by Dustin clearing his throat.
"Hey Y/N, it's Dustin," he started, his voice far louder than Robin's had been. "AKA, Dusty-Bun. AKA, Your Favourite Little Guy," he pressed on, drawing a startled snort of laughter out of you. "Steve Dropped Penny like a bad habit and there ain't nobody riding shotgun. So, you better get on while the getting is good, you got me?" He added, and your laughter immediately halted.
Dustin knew better than anyone that your feelings for Steve were far more than you ever wanted to admit. Hell, he'd seen you when Steve had brought Penny around for the first time and the way you'd plastered that fake, watery-eyed smile onto your lips had killed him a little bit. He definitely knew better than to joke around with this sort of thing.
"What does that even mean?" you murmured.
"I told you it makes no sense," Robin muttered, and you could picture her rolling her eyes as she took the phone receiver back. "Steve broke up with Penny. Wouldn't tell us why, either-"
"I thought he really liked her," you started softly, biting down on your bottom lip. Sure, you'd wanted them to break up, but for Steve to be keeping his reasoning secret, there had to be something pretty big going on.
Robin sighed. "Yeah, so did we, but clearly, something wasn't clicking," she told you, her voice softening slightly. "We just wanted to let you know, in case you wanted to try and make a move."
"It's too soon, right?"
"If you keep wasting time, he'll end up in another relationship with some other girl that none of us like, when he could be with you," Dustin interjected, and you couldn't help but picture the two of them huddled together around the phone, passing on their information.
You swallowed down the lump in his throat. "What if he says no? What if he thinks it's too soon and I jump the gun and ruin any chance of ever being with him?"
"Why would he say no?" Dustin muttered.
"He's never asked me out before. I've been right here for all this time and he's never even mentioned the idea of us dating-" your words trailed off when there was a knock at your door. "I have to go-"
"Just call him," Robin rushed out. "Give yourself a little more credit and see where it gets you, okay?"
You hesitated for a moment, your tongue darting out to wet your bottom lip. "No promises," you uttered. "I've got to go," you added when the knock at the door repeated itself.
When you hung up, you took a deep breath. Sure, you had practically been in love with Steve from day one, but that didn't mean you were willing to rush into a relationship just to tie him down before he could move on to some other girl.
You made your way over to the front door, forcing a smile onto your lips before unlocking it and pulling it open, only to find Steve standing on the other side.
"Hi," you murmured, brow furrowing slightly as you watched him shuffle on the spot, looking far more nervous than you had ever seen him before.
"Hi," he repeated back to you, his tongue running slowly over his bottom lip as he stared at you. "I'm sorry for just showing up unannounced," he added softly, causing you to immediately launch into action, stepping out of the way to usher him into the house. "I just needed to see you and I thought this would be a little crappy over the phone-"
Your brow furrowed as you turned to look at him, only to find him far closer than you had been expecting. "What's up?"
"I left Penny," he uttered, eyes fixed on yours. "I realised that the reason things were getting so tough was that she wasn't supposed to be my girlfriend."
"Oh," you murmured softly, trying your hardest to look surprised by the information as if you hadn't already heard it from his best friends.
"Yeah," he pressed on. "She was a great girl, but she wasn't-" he hesitated for a moment, swallowing around the lump in his throat. "She wasn't right for me. She wasn't you."
Your eyes widened, real shock spreading across your features. "What?"
"Shit," he breathed out. "I knew this would be too much. I knew I was reading it wrong-"
"No," you interrupted quickly catching his hand and gripping it tightly. "You aren't. I just wasn't expecting you to-" you paused clearing your throat. "Robin and Dustin told me I should ask you out. They told me about you and Penny."
Steve's brow furrowed. "They move fast. I only told Robin at work this morning-"
"She called me," you explained. "Turns out, She and Dustin really want us to get together. Told me that I should just get over myself and make a move."
He let out a soft snort of laughter. "I mean, do you want to make a move?"
You bit down on your bottom lip, nodding. "More than anything."
"Then make your move."
You hesitated for just a second before leaning in, connecting your lips to his in a rushed kiss, only for him to catch your hips, steadying you against him.
"Slow down, Baby," he hummed softly. "You're gonna knock my teeth out rushing at me like that," he teased, lifting one of his hands to brush your hair back out of your face before leaning in to kiss you again, this time, slow and sweet. "There we go," he breathed against your lips, making you smile as you pulled back. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long," he told you, nudging your nose with his. "I promise I won't make you wait anymore," he added softly.
"You'd better not," you murmured, your arms draping lazily around his shoulders. "Don't think Dusty Bun would ever forgive you."
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