Hey guys! Here's part 2!
———————
*a couple days later (A/N: for plot purposes, cause that little bit about the story really fucked everything up for me cause I don't wanna write it—so yeah)*
Unbelievable. They were unbelievable.
"Are you guys serious???" Max asked in incredulity. "You're really making out with each other now? Now?!?"
Max sighed. She'd been trying to convince them to get out of that room for ten minutes now. Evidently, her idiot brother and his annoying ass of a boyfriend did not understand the meaning of dutiful friends.
"Come on you jackasses, we have to go!!!" She exclaimed, banging on the door loudly in frustration. "You idiots are gonna make us late for greeting Dustin!"
Max knew that Dylan and Mike were obsessed with each other—but she didn't think it would stoop so low as for them to be so engrossed with one another that they'd forget the return of their own best friend.
From the other side of the door, Dylan moved away from Mike's lips to roll his eyes—something that Mike giggled at. "You do realize I've been tracking this dude from the minute he left his camp," he told her idly, leaning over to peck at Mike's neck. "He's literally five minutes away from hitting the outskirts of Hawkins—we're fine."
Max scowled. "We were supposed to meet up at his house early so that we could run through the plan again," she growled out irritably.
Dylan scoffed. "For what, thirty minutes?" He asked her in a sardonic tone.
"Relax, Max! We got time," Mike said, pulling Dylan in for another kiss. His arms were wrapped around his neck with Dylan's being loosely around his waist since Mike was sitting across his lap on the bed.
Max sighed, folding her arms above her chest. "You guys really care about kissing more than your friend??" She asked them crossly.
Dylan's eyes widened and he pulled away from Mike again to give the door an indignant look. "Of course not!"
Mike whined in annoyance. "Dylan," he protested, cupping his jaw to turn the boy's face towards him again. "Dylan, c'mon just ignore her."
"But what if she's right??" Dylan murmured, his words preventing Mike from leaning in to kiss him again. "What if we are acting like bad friends?"
Mike sighed in irritation. "She doesn't know what she's talking about," he replied assuringly. "You said it yourself, we leave now, and we still have another thirty minutes of waiting around and doing nothing when we get there."
He leaned forward again, but Dylan just ducked his head, softly pressing his face into the skin of Mike's neck. "I know but...." he sighed, looking up at him a bit, "we did promise, Mike."
Mike frowned. "We promised to be there," he said, looking a bit disgruntled, "and we will be—on time. Not thirty minutes early."
He looked at Dylan and saw the conflict within his features and sighed. "Come on, Dyl...." he mumbled, peppering small kisses on his jaw. "Don't let her get to you."
"I can still hear everything you're saying, you know," Max said pointedly from the other side of the door.
Mike rolled his eyes, looking at the door in irritation. "I don't care," he snipped back, and Dylan chuckled. Those two were always bickering—you'd think that they were the siblings instead of Dylan and her.
Dylan looked at Mike and tucked a lose strand of hair behind his ear. "Mikey," he said in a knowing tone that made Mike groan. He knew that tone. He hated it.
That was the tone of doing the right thing.
Ugh, why did Max have to ruin everything?!
Speaking of the redhead, Max was still waiting impatiently from outside the room. A few hushed whispers and slight laughs later and he door suddenly flew open, revealing a very pissed-off looking Mike who was staring at her like she'd just told him that she'd murdered a bunch of impoverished children.
Max wasn't fazed by his look though—something much more vacant to her had caught her eye.
She looked down at his torso and frowned. "Is that Dylan's shirt?" She inquired, arching an eyebrow.
Mike returned the look, looking down at the large, black band shirt he was wearing over his jeans. Surely enough, Max realized, it was Dylan's. It had to be—the band on the shirt was the 5th Dimension; a musical group that he and Lucas bonded over. Plus, Dylan was known for only owning graphic tees.
And also, it seemed three sizes too big on Mike—so there was that as well.
Mike stared down at it before looking back at Max with his eyebrow still arched. A small smirk started to grace his features. "Oh Max," he said idly, laughing a bit. He shook his head. "It's mine now."
Max just stared plainly at him. "Yeah, well if you wore one of my shirts, I wouldn't want it back either," she muttered, not missing the way Mike rolled his eyes haughtily at her words.
"I can't see why anyone would even want to borrow your clothes," he said snidely, making Max raise her eyebrows in disbelief.
"You really wanna try and talk to me about fashion, you button-up dork?" She asked saucily.
Mike frowned. "I—"
"Children, stop fighting," Dylan rolled his eyes as he came out of his room and closed his door. He took Mike's hand within his own, leading him to the front door. "Come on."
He rolled his eyes again when he sensed Mike and Max sticking their tongues it at each other in a childish manner from behind his back. Fools—probably thought he wouldn't know.
Woe is the day when people remember that they can't keep anything from the Sense.
•••••••
"This isn't a good idea," Dylan murmured as he situated himself behind the wall of Dustin's house beside Mike.
His boyfriend looked up at him curiously. "You don't think welcoming him back is a good idea?" He asked him.
"No, I don't think surprising him is a good idea," Dylan corrected, looking at his little birthday party horn with disdain. What even was the point of these things, other than to cause morbid pain to one's eardrums—well in his case that is, and in Dustin's, most likely a heart attack.
Mike tilted his head. "Why?"
Dylan gave him a look of disbelief. "Dustin. Our friend. The hyperactive spaz of a friend," he deadpanned, "you really think this shit won't blow out of proportion?"
Seriously, he could sense how much of a disaster this was gonna be from the minute the Party had suggested the idea. He loved Dustin and had missed him a lot from his time at summer camp, but the plan was—well, awful.
Will had been able to convince Hopper to let El out of the house for once to be able to greet Dustin home. She was also a major part of their plan; she was tasked with leading the male out of his room by telekinetically controlling his weird nerd toys—collectibles, sorry; he'd gotten too much shit from the Party for the mistake of calling them 'toys' in the past, despite that being exactly what they were—to slowly lure him to the living room where they'd be able to surprise him and welcome him home, as they all knew, from who they were purposefully ignoring his calls, that he wasn't gonna be expecting them.
The plan in itself was foolproof; there was no way Dustin wouldn't follow the satanic choo-choo train of action figures—he'd be too curious to let that go.
Did that mean he'd take it well and not blow things to a whole new level of crazy? Absolutely not.
Plus, the party horns as well?
It all seemed pointless to Dylan. But unfortunately they were in too deep for him to change their minds (dismissing the fact that he'd been trying to do just that from the beginning when the plan was first concocted).
Mike looked thoughtful, but ultimately shrugged his shoulders. "It can't be that bad, can it?" He asked him idly.
Dylan wasn't known to be optimistic. "Yes. It really can be."
Max rolled her eyes. "Dylan you're over exaggerating. Everything's gonna be fine!" She hissed, slapping his shoulder a bit. "Now shut up, he's coming!"
Silencing themselves, the six of them listened in as Dustin and his mother came into the house. Dustin himself immediately stormed to his room in a haze of disappointment and annoyance. Dylan felt a tad bit bad—the boy really did believe that they'd forgotten about him.
Yet another downside to this stupid plan.
Mike turned to look at him. "What do you hear?" He asked him in a hushed tone.
Oh right. Dylan was an important part of this plan too. Well, semi-important; it was his job to determine when El could use her powers to scare the living shit out of Dustin.
He sighed and listened in, hearing Dustin talking to his turtle. He figured now should be a decent time to go for it. After all, feeling the need that a pet turtle of all things was the only sentient being you could talk to, was kind of just....well, sad.
Exhaling lightly, Dylan looked over to El and nodded. Nodding back, she slowly closed her eyes and Dylan could hear the whirring and clacking of the little plastic figures coming to life. He could also feel Dustin's extreme discomfort as he followed them down to the main room. He also seemed on edge and cautious.
Dylan sighed idly. This was not gonna go well.
Hearing Dustin's footsteps now in the living room, he turned to look at Mike who, in turn, looked at El. "Now!" He whispered sharply and the girl opened her eyes.
Suddenly the noise ceased, signalling the lack of movement of the objects. Dylan could feel Dustin's vast confusion and wariness at the matter as the six of them crept into the living room behind him.
He held tightly to Mike's hand as they inched their way towards the unbeknown boy. Max was at the side, Will and El at the far left and Dylan and Mike at the right. Lucas was in the front, holding the 'Welcome Home' sign.
Dustin was kneeling in front of them, eyeing his collectibles and Dylan eyed him with furrowed brows of confusion. Was that—was that hairspray in his hand?
His eyebrows quickly shifted from furrowed to raised. Oh—oh shit; that was why he was holding that.
Lord.....
Subtly rolling his eyes, Dylan nodded along as Max started to count down from three with her fingers. As she put up her third finger, the Party blew into the stupid birthday horns in excitement—all while Dylan yanked Mike close to his chest and stepped a few feet back.
The ravenette boy was about to eye him curiously when his attention was caught by Dustin shrieking loudly, whipping around to spray Lucas in the face, who dropped the sign and let out that ear-piercing scream that drove Dylan's hearing into suicide.
Taken by surprise, Max tried to tell Dustin to stop while Will hid El behind him in an attempt to keep her out of hairspray projectile.
Dylan gritted his teeth tightly. Between their two shrill screams, his eardrums were gonna break.
"DUSTIN!" He yelled out in a loud, booming tone that had everyone jumping and Dustin dropping his weapon of choice in surprise. The screaming had ceased, thank God, as Max tried to tend to her boyfriend who was now moaning in pain.
Well, that makes two of us then, Dylan thought bitterly as he clutched his pounding head. Turns out, the events had exceeded his poor expectations—not only did the plan fail, but he was now sticking with ringing eardrums and a splitting headache.
He grumbled irritably. Friendship at its finest calibre, he supposed.
•••••••
"I call it.....the 'Forever Clock.'"
After clearing up all confusion from back in the living room, Dustin was now showing Will, El, Dylan and Mike the inventions he'd made while being at science camp. Lucas and Max were in the kitchen, trying to fix the burning of Lucas's eyes that'd been inflicted with the toxins of hairspray.
Dylan was trying his hardest to concentrate—it had less to do with the fact that he hardly understood what Dustin was talking about (nerd references....) and more so to do with that his hearing was being a pain in the ass. After that little.....screaming fest in the living room, Dylan's 2 mile radius hearing was more susceptible than normal. He could now hear everything within that range and he was desperately trying to tune it out.
Dustin grinned proudly at them as he spun around his device. "Alright, powered by wind, very helpful in the apocalypse," he noted formally. To Dylan, it didn't really seem like much—just looked like a mini windmill, and he didn't exactly know what it had to do with the apocalypse (or why Dustin would even make it for that reason); but his friend seemed proud of it, so he tried to look interested.
Mike, on the other hand, wasn't even trying. The boy was resting his cheek on the hand that was clutching Dylan's shoulder, his other being intertwined with Dylan's. He looked positively bored, which was rude sure, but Dylan was too amused by his blatant disinterest to consider that.
Dustin passed the Forever Clock to Will, who observed it along with El, who was peeking over his shoulder in childlike wonder. It was quite cute, how El's chin was perched on his shoulder and how she'd ask him questions about terminology she wasn't sure of in a hushed whisper that only Dylan himself could hear. However, with the sounds of traffic, wildlife, and incessant neighbourhood chatter filling his ears, he couldn't really dwell on it much.
"Then, I give you....." Dustin pulled out another invention—some weird ass hammer that seemed to be pimped out in wires and machinery, "....the 'Slammer.'"
He pressed some kind of button, making the thing start to move like a jackhammer although the way it was assembled, Dylan wouldn't be shocked if the thing just crumbled to pieces—hence why he leaned himself and Mike back when the curly haired boy brought the device a little too close.
Dustin chuckled. "Pretty neat, huh?" He asked giddily.
Dylan just nodded idly, despite not finding the device neat nor useful at all (seriously—what the fuck would you even use that for?), while Mike just rolled his eyes heavily. Dylan had to bite down a snort of amusement at the pure disdain he felt emitting off his boyfriend.
Dustin's face turned prideful and confident within a matter of seconds. "But this..." he smirked, reaching to pull out a large duffel bag from behind him, "this is my masterpiece."
Dropping the thing to the floor, he got to his knees, prompting the others to crouch down along with him. "I would like you....to meet...." Dustin murmured as he opened to duffel bag to reveal....
.....A bunch of metal parts and pieces......
Dustin however, looked like he'd just shown them his newborn baby. He grinned widely as he proudly dubbed the mass of disassembled parts "Cerebro."
Dylan blinked. He'd heard of that name....yeah, that was the name of the device that telepath guy in the comics, the ones that Mike sometimes read to him, used—what was his name again? Professor X?
Dylan looked at the 'invention' and then back up to Dustin with arched eyebrows. His friend had invented a device....for telepathy?
Even Mike seemed confused. ".....What exactly are we looking at, here?" He asked him slowly, not getting the gist of why this thing was so stupendous.
Dustin beamed. "An unassembled, one-of-a-kind, battery-powered Radio Tower!" He exclaimed excitedly.
Dylan blinked. Jesus, that was a lot to take in.....
Wait, did this kid say radio tower? Dustin built a whole ass radio tower???
The others didn't seem as taken aback by this fact as Dylan was. He sighed idly to himself. Nerds....
"So it's a.....a ham radio," Will said, eyeing the boy for clarification.
"The Cadillac of ham radios," Dustin emphasized, looking smug. "This baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast distances, I'm talking North Pole, to South."
Dylan's eyes widened—he didn't sense any hint of over exaggeration in Dustin's description.
"And you..... built this??" He asked incredulously, gaping when Dustin nodded. Holy shit, he was friends with fucking Einsteins.
"Dustin, that's incredible," he breathed out, looking impressed as he felt. How the fuck was a fifteen year old able to build something that adults manufacture, only so much better and in the span of a month? That was fucking amazing if you asked him.
Dustin smiled brightly at him. "Thanks!" He said happily. "With this, I can talk to my girlfriend, whenever and wherever I choose."
Hold up.
The four in front of the boy looked at him with shocked glances. Will's eyebrows raised, both Mike and El gaped in surprise, and Dylan broke out into an open-mouthed grin.
"Girlfriend??" They asked incredulously.
Dustin grinned.
•••••••
"Wait, so her name is 'Suzie?'" Mike inquired.
Within a few minutes, the five of them had the whole ham radio packed up and ready for transport. Turns out, there was more than just was in that one bag and Dustin wanted them to meet his girlfriend that he claimed to have.
Or did have, actually—Dylan knew he was telling the truth, obviously, but he could feel the slight skepticism coming off of everyone else. It wasn't his job to try and convince them though, because hey knew they'd still be skeptical despite him being a living lie detector or not. Heathens would be heathens.
"Suzie with a 'z.' She's from Utah," Dustin informed them as they all piled out of the room, varying different bags filled with radio parts.
"Girls go to science camp?" Will asked in innocent confusion. He might've sounded ignorant to anyone else, but really, he was just confused—he'd never met a singular girl, other than Max, that had the slightest amount of interest in science.
"Suzie does, she's a genius," Dustin said, and Dylan smiled at the pride in his tone. Damn, Dustin was enamoured with this chick. He didn't even hold any bitterness when he resonated on the fact that his own girlfriend was smarter than him.
"Is she cute?" Mike asked and Dylan rolled his eyes. Of course he'd care about that.
No, not jealousy—just amusement.
Dustin grinned. "Think Phoebe Cates—only hotter," he said, his voice sounding smug. While Will and Mike seemed impressed, El and Dylan were completely lost—El, cause she didn't know who the hell that was, and Dylan, because he didn't know what exactly that was supposed to mean to him
"Is....Phoebe Cates hot?" He inquired curiously and Dustin stopped in his tracks, giving the teen a gobsmacked look.
"Is Phoebe Cates—" he breathed incredulously, looking at him with boggled eyes. "Are you out of your mind?! She's smokin!!"
Dylan raised his hands up in defence. "Hey, I wouldn't know!" He protested innocuously. "I've only ever been attracted to one person in my entire life!"
Mike beamed at him, looking at him with adoration. "Aww, babe," he cooed, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Will fake-gagged, making El giggle, while Dylan just rolled his eyes playfully at Mike.
"You already knew this," he told the boy, who shrugged with a simple grin.
"I know—it's still cute," he claimed, smiling at him in a way that made Dylan want to kiss him.
Actually....everything Mike did made Dylan want to kiss him, to be honest...
Dustin looked between the two of them with disdain. "Unbelievable," he muttered, shaking his head in disappointment that made both boys laugh at him quietly.
Max and Lucas looked up, confused at the fill sight of the five of them holding varying miscellaneous objects. "What's going on?" Max questioned curiously.
"We're gonna go talk to Dustin's girlfriend," Will smiled, before walking out the door along with everyone else.
Max and Lucas exchanged looks of pure disbelief. "Girlfriend??!" They exclaimed in unified shock. Glancing at each other again, the two raced out the door behind the. This was something they could not miss.
•••••••
Steve sighed in resignation as the girls walked off, giggling and murmuring to themselves, probably in ridicule of him.
Great, Harrington, he thought irritably. Another group of girls scared away; another—
"—one bites the dust."
...And now this.....
His tongue poked his cheek as he reluctantly turned around to face his coworker, who was showcasing that stupid fucking tally board again with that stupid fucking smirk on her face.
"You are '0 for 6' Popeye," Robin tainted as she put down yet another tally in the 'You Suck' section.
Steve rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah I can count," he spoke sardonically.
"You know that means 'you suck'," Robin pointed out unnecessarily.
Steve bristled in annoyance. "Yeah, I can read too."
Robin smiled wryly. "Since when?" She joked patronizingly.
Steve grumbled as he made his way over to her. "It's this stupid hat," he growled frustratedly, "I'm telling you, it is totally blowing my best feature!"
"Yeah," Robin sighed sympathetically, "company policy is a real drag."
Steve frowned. She couldn't pretend that she didn't hate these stupid uniforms either.
"Hey, it's a crazy idea but...." Robin leaned towards him, cocking her head to the side. "Have you ever considered....y'know.....telling the truth?" Her eyes glinted with something more meaningful. "Or..." she drawled, raising her eyebrows knowingly.
Steve looked up at her and shook his head fiercely. "No," he said firmly and Robin sighed.
"Steve," she groaned, but Steve just continued to shake his head. "Absolutely not." There was no way he could do what she was insinuating. He was he whole reason why he was flirting his ass off with these girls in the first place!
Robin rolled her eyes. "What are you so afraid of?" She asked, tapping on his hat, "it's so clear that he likes you back!"
Steve shook his head again. "Never happening," he said sharply, sighing loudly when she looked ready to protest again.
"Look. Rob," he spoke solemnly, causing her to give him her full attention. When Steve sounded serious, you bet your ass it was worth listening too—because Serious Steve didn't appear very often.
"Even if there's the slightest, tiniest chance that he does like me like that—"
"He does," Robin cut him off plainly.
"—there's still one huge problem," he stated, pointedly ignoring her interjection. "My parents; his dad; if they ever found out, my parents would send me away, and Billy's dad would literally kill him. Kill him, Robin!"
Robin exhaled, wiping her head with her hand. "If Dylan and Mike can hide it so well, why can't you?" She asked pressingly.
Steve raised a finger. "Which leads me to my next point," he said regally, causing the woman to roll her eyes. "My parents will always, always be on my ass—and Billy will always live in fear of his dad, even if he doesn't say it."
Robin's eyes turned somber as Steve continued. "Besides," he said in a forlorn tone, "it wouldn't work out—Billy's probably gonna go off to school somewhere else, you know how much he hates Hawkins; and me?" He let out a sore laugh. "I'll be stuck here attending some kind of community college, if not working in this place for the rest of my damned life."
Robin blinked, looking at Steve with a thoughtful expression. "You really do underestimate how much he likes you, don't you?" She said with a twinkle in her eye.
Steve frowned at her. "Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?!" He asked irritably, completely missing the point she was trying to dish out. "And like I said, this is all theoretical; the probable fact of the matter is that he doesn't like me, and you people are delusional," he spoke certainly, finding himself annoyed by the amused smile on Robin's face. "Why are you looking at me like that?!"
Robin just chuckled, shaking her head. "You're such a dingus, Dingus," she said teasingly, shoving his shoulder. "Fine, continue to deny your feelings and flirt with poor souls you really have no interest in; but—"
"Hey!" Steve said indignantly, crossing his arms, "I have interest!"
Robin arched an eyebrow.
Steve looked away and grunted. "I'm trying to have interest," he mumbled stiffly, glaring when she only laughed again. The bell dinged and he turned around, seeing another group of girls around his age. Or in other words, another try.
He looked back to Robin and smirked. "Watch me do my thing," he said confidently, moving forwards, only to backtrack and give her a pointed look.
"With interest," he stated resolutely, before greeting the girls with the same stupid "ahoy ladies!" saying.
Robin shook her head tiredly and struck yet another tally in the 'You Suck' category. She checked the clock; 30 minutes until Billy was planning on showing up.
Hopefully then the dorks could knock some sense into each other.
•••••••
"Y'know, I'm pretty sure most people in Utah have phones," Max snarked icily. She couldn't help it; she was in the sun, hiking through the grasses for god knows how long, and was sweating from both the heat and the exertion of walking up this stupid hill—yes, she was gonna be snarky.
Dustin didn't seem bothered by her tone. "Yeah, well, Suzie's Mormon," he explained casually.
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh shit—she doesn't have electricity?"
"Oh, that's the Amish," Max corrected, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.
"What are Mormons?" Will inquired curiously, as he helped El steady on her feet when she tripped a little bit.
"Super religious white people," Dustin told him and then proceeded to explain the reason as to why Cerebro was mandatory in his relationship with Suzie. At the same time, Mike and Dylan were walking with their fingers intertwined, whispering and laughing to each other.
"Are you sure this girl is even real??" Mike inquired as they trekked behind their friends, a fair distance away.
Dylan gave Mike a blank look. "Would I be walking in this heat if she wasn't?" He asked in a deadpan tone. Seriously; it was so hot that Dylan has to relinquish his Sense a bit in order for him to experience the heat at a general other than to the extreme.
Mike got a sly look on his face. "Well....we don't have to be," he said suggestively and Dylan caught on instantly.
He bit his lip. "Mike, they'll be pissed," he whispered, gesturing his head to their friends whom Mike wanted to ditch. He wasn't gonna lie, the idea of being back at his home and just making out with Mike was seriously tempting; but Cerebro did seem pretty cool—and he didn't want to upset Dustin.
Mike gave him a pleading look. "Come on Dylan, would you seriously rather be walking around just to put up this dumb radio?" He asked knowingly.
"Of course I wouldn't," Dylan told him with a sigh, "and don't call it dumb, you dummy," he chided, poking his boyfriend's head. "Dustin's really proud of it—and I happen to think it's pretty cool."
Mike blinked dubiously. "It's just a ham radio."
"It's a whole radio tower!" Dylan fought back, emphasizing with his arms. "Do you know how sick that is that Dustin managed to make that within a month?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "It's not that extraordinary," he muttered, crossing his arms above his chest. Dylan smirked. He knew that look.
"No need to be jealous, babe," he teased, wrapping his arms around him.
Mike scowled. "M'not jealous," he mumbled, mostly to himself than Dylan. He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.
"Whatever you say, Mikey," he said, pressing a small kiss to his temple. He moved to keep walking, but Mike held him back by grabbing his wrist. Dylan turned to ask him what was up, but no words came out of his open mouth when Mike pressed a kiss to his collarbone.
He hissed sharply, hands twitching at his sides. "Mike," he murmured sternly, only to shut his eyes tightly when Mike kissed his chin.
He suppressed a groan; both of exasperation and—you know....
"Mike, chill—" he tried but was yet again cut off by a kiss planted on his neck; then his jaw; then his cheekbone; and then the corner of his lips.
Dylan sighed loudly. Jesus, this boy had incredibly convincing powers of persuasion, didn't he?
His shoulders dropped in defeat. "Ugh, fine!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. Mike grinned victoriously as he grabbed his hand. Dylan shook his head idly. Little cheat...
"Hey guys!"
The group of five turned back to glance at them as Mike tapped his watch. "This has been fun n'all, but...."
"I have to go home," Dylan said, feeling slightly bad at the disappointment emitting from Dustin.
Max looked at him suspiciously. "Do you now?" She asked dubiously, crossing her arms. "Because I don't."
Dylan fought back a smirk when he felt a large wave of irritation come from his boyfriend at the sound of Max's voice. Swallowing his chuckles, he looked at her and said, "you don't; I do. Dad asked me to come home early today."
Max arched an eyebrow, looking a little less stern yet not appeased. "Why?"
Dylan sighed idly, shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows," he said in an airy tone. "He probably thought I did something wrong when I didn't."
He sounded convincing enough but he could still feel the skepticism coming off of all his friends, minus Dustin—in fact, the boy seemed to disappointed to really feel anything else.
"Come on, we're almost there!" He claimed, gesturing to the top of the hill.
Mike didn't seem to feel as guilty as Dylan did—in fact, he didn't seem guilty at all. He just shrugged simply in dismissal.
"Sorry man," he stated, turning around to walk away, "papa's orders. Let's go!" He told Dylan, grabbing his hand with his other as he moved to walk away.
Dylan looked up at an appalled Dustin and smiled wryly. "Good luck, Dusty!" He called, waving as Mike dragged him away. "Say hi to Suzie for me!"
Dustin blinked at their giggling, retreating figures, glancing at his watch. "It's literally only 4:00," he murmured, looking at Mike and Dylan again.
Lucas shook his head, rolling his eyes. "They're lying, obviously," he noted bitterly.
Will sighed wistfully. "It's been like this all summer!" He complained. Not like he hated the fact that his two friends were together and happy, but their relationship did seem a bit....extreme. Dylan and Mike spent so much time together that they often forgot the rest of their friends even existed.
Max twisted her lips and shrugged. "It's romantic," she tried, wishing to be happy for them—yet she could definitely see where the others were coming from.
"It's gross," Will grumbled.
"It's bullshit!" Dustin exclaimed, Lucas nodding in agreement with them. "I just got home...."
He looked on at the couple, face frowning in displeasure, but he quickly shoved it away. "Well, who needs em, right?" He asked, smiling at the remaining crew. He walked up the hill, beckoning them to follow. "Come on guys; onwards, and upwards! Suzie awaits!"
Max and Lucas groaned as they reluctantly followed the boy, but El stayed behind with Will. She frowned, concerned when the boy seemed.....off. He slowly let out a shuddered breath, reaching to touch the back of his neck.
El's eyebrows furrowed. What was that all about?
"Will?" She inquired, grabbing the boys hand, and he jumped suddenly. She purses her lips in worry. "Everything okay?"
Will bit his lip. He debated on telling Eleven what he really felt—what he thought he felt....and most of all, what he feared to have felt.
He looked the girl in her pretty brown eyes and his heart dropped a bit. He couldn't tell her—he didn't want her having to stress or worry. He just wanted El to have a normal life; a good life.
Slowly, he shook his head. "I'm fine," he murmured, squeezing her hand a bit.
El looked at him solemnly. "You sure?" She asked thoughtfully.
Will forced a smile. "All good El," he said, moving up the hill. "Come on, they're waiting for us."
El looked at him curiously but ultimately let it go and followed him up the hill, still holding his hand. She trusted Will—if he said there was nothing to worry about, then she was sure there was nothing to worry about.
•••••••
"I.....I know this is a difficult conversation to have...." Billy murmured, his eyebrows furrowing more and more with each word, "But I want you to know that.....I—care about you...very much."
He was currently sitting in the break room of Scoops Ahoy with Steve, who was helping him with the little speech. Billy had been able to get off of work early; or, in Steve's words, a break from being ogled at by various females, including mothers—Billy knew he was jealous but was too much of an oblivious fuck to realize that the jealousy was not of him but towards the mothers. They get to sit at the pool and admire Billy's toned bod all while Steve himself serves people ice cream at minimum wage and in a stupid outfit. So not fair...
Anyways, they were going over what Billy and him have been working on and configured during the past few days. The deadline for the 'heart-to-heart' was today, so Steve was helping Billy memorize and perfect what he was going to say. He thought it was coming along well, but Billy, as always, remained ever the pessimist.
Billy rubbed his eyes blearily. "And I know—"
"Eye contact," Steve pressed, making the gesture with his hand.
Billy sighed poignantly. He couldn't help but look away; this was too awkward, even if it were Steve's peridot eyes he was looking at. Everything he was saying felt wrong and unauthentic, despite the words more or less coming straight from his mind (in a very, very censored way).
Billy stared at Steve helplessly, who nodded in encouragement. He took a deep breath and tried again, this time keeping his eyes trained on Steve's.
"And I know that you....both care about each other very much—this does not sound like me at all," Billy deadpanned, shaking his head.
Steve chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Keep going man, c'mon, you're doing great!" He spurred on, giving a motivating grin.
Billy rolled his eyes but did as he was told. "Which is why I think it's important to establish some boundaries....." he trailed off, squinting in confusion. "Moving forwards...?" Shit, what came after that?
He glanced at the paper in his hands for a moment, only to have it snatched away by the male in front of him.
"Ay! Harrington, come on!" He complained, making grabby hands at the paper, but Steve just chuckled, shaking his head as he brought the paper farther away from his reach.
Billy dropped his hands and groaned. "Steve!"
"Nuh-uh," Steve teased, a large grin on his face. "You know that's cheating."
Billy grumbled irritably and he laughed. "You know this, Billy," he said confidently. "Just keep going. Trust yourself."
Billy glared at him, heaving a big sigh. ".....so we can build an....environment?" He became a little less tense as Steve nodded exuberantly. "So that.....we can all feel....comfortable?" More nodding. "and trusted......and open......?" He blanked out again, so Steve helped him out.
"'To share our feelings.....'" He mumbled in a very light tone.
Billy repeated the words. "To share our feelings—nope, this isn't gonna work," he said firmly, running a hand through his hair as he got up out of his seat. "This isn't gonna work for shit."
Steve laughed in amusement. "Yes it will!" he claimed, nudging Billy's shoulder with his own as the man came to sit up beside him on the table. "Aw, come on, you were doing so well too!"
Billy huffed, looking considerate. "I don't see why I have to go to all this shit," he grumbled, "when killing Mike would be so much easier."
Steve snickered and shook his head. "We both know thats not an option dude," he told him with a grin. "Dylan would skin you alive."
Billy looked adorably petulant. It was all Steve could do to keep from openly cooing at him.
He gave the man a small smile, grabbing his hand. "Hey, you got this; okay?" he said, looking Billy deep in the eye. "I promise you—everything's gonna be just fine."
Billy looked at their hands before back at Steve. The latter's smile faltered a bit at the intensity of Billy's olive green staring at him and he get his cheeks heat up despite himself.
What're you doing, you dumbass? He internally hissed at himself. Let go of his hand!
But despite how much his brain stressed this, he seemed to have lost the ability to move is hand; because it just wouldn't budge.
Steve mentally cursed himself do loudly that he damn near missed the next words that came out of Billy's mouth (and thank God he didn't):
"You free tonight?"
Steve openly gaped at him like a fish out of water. His cheeks suddenly flushed profusely and he swore his heart just combusted in shock.
Was Billy Hargrove asking him out??
"Y-you....we....." he stammered, sounding as taken aback as he probably looked. Billy didn't say anything—heck he didn't even tease him. He just waited calmly for a reply, that endearing look still on his face.
After opening and closing his mouth numerous times, Steve managed to find the ability to be less moronic again. "Uh," he cleared his throat, looking everywhere but at Billy, "I mean.... I am working here, so...."
He honestly could've slapped himself—lord knew how much he wanted to. What the motherfuck was he doing?! This was what he'd wanted, wasn't it? Hell, it was what he even dreamed of—why was he cockblocking himself, for fucks sake?!!??
Fix this, fix this... He internally urged himself; instead, his dumbass just made it worse.
"P-plus...." he stuttered, "You have that heart-to-heart to deliver right?" And just to put the icing on the cake of stupidity, he gave him a friendly punch in the arm.
You disgust me, his own mind sneered at him.
Steve sighed inwardly. Couldn't blame it.
But even Steve's vast idiocy couldn't throw this man off his game. Billy just chuckled, a deep, sultry chuckle, that made Steve suppress a sigh. God! See how desperate he was?! So again, WHY THE FUCK WAS HE COCKBLOCKING HIMSELF!??!!
"I meant after your shift ends, Stevie," Billy explained, Steve's hear jumping it the use of his nickname, "and after I talk to the twerps." He ran a hand through is hair, clearly not seeing the drastic affect it had on Steve. "I have this cool little spot that I usually go to, to clear my head and shit." He looked towards Steve and smirked. "And I wanna bring you there."
Steve pretended that his heart wasn't jumping up and down in his chest like it was on a trampoline. Forcing himself to maintain eye contact with the other male, he steely inquired, "this a place you've taken all your little pick-me-ups to?" Sounded harsh sure, but he needed to know; he refused to just be another number. He couldn't take another heartbreak. One was more than enough in his life.
Billy furrowed his eyebrows at him before hooting out a loud laugh. When he noticed Steve's glare, he just laughed some more.
"Oh, Harrington," he chuckled, flicking some hair out of his face. "You really do crack me up some times."
Steve stared blankly at him. "Yeah, I'm a regular comedian," he drawled, voice drained of any mirth whatsoever.
That just seemed to make Billy even more amused. "Maybe you should know," he noted, grinning at him, "that I've never taken anybody to this place before."
The wrinkle between Steve's brows eased up and he blinked curiously at the man. "Not even Dylan?" He asked timidly.
Billy shook his head, still grinning. "You'd be the first if you come tonight," he informed him casually.
To Steve however, there was absolutely nothing casual about what was being told to him. This meant that Billy, who'd never shared this place with anybody before, was really willing to share it with him? It awed him as much as it flattered him.
"Why me though?" he asked, still confused as to why Billy was even offering.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Think of it as a 'thanks' for putting up with me and helping me out with this god awful shit," he said, nodding his head to the piece of paper laying beside Steve's hip. When Steve still looked thoughtful, he added, in a much quieter voice, "and also, a nice place for us to hang out." he looked Steve dead in the eye. "Just the two of us."
Steve stared back, his mouth parting in his stupor. He wasn't gonna lie; what Billy just said made is mouth run dry.
......Maybe Robin was right.
Maybe Billy did really like him....maybe it was worth taking the chance.
In this very moment, it definitely seemed worth it.
Steve bit his lip and looked down. ".....Where is it?" He asked the man quietly.
Billy's entire demeanour brightened, but of course, he kept that hidden. "Why Harrington, I can't just disclose that information to everyone," he grinned, tone teasing and playful, "after all, it is supposed to be my secret spot."
Steve rolled his eyes in amusement. "How am I supposed to get there, dipshit?" he asked but there was no bite to his tone.
Billy heaved an exaggerated sigh. "For confidentiality purposes, I'll have to pick you up," he said, the smirk never leaving his face.
Steve found himself smiling, despite himself. "Do you even know my address?' he asked, nudging Billy playfully.
"Course I do," Billy scoffed, nudging him back. "I've dropped off the weasels there enough to be able to remember."
The two of them laughed each basking in the sound of the other's chuckles. Billy eyed him with raised brows. "How's 10 sound for ya, Stevie?"
Steve smiled shyly. "Perfect," he murmured, before his eyes popped out of his skull when he realized what he'd just said. Cheeks burning heavily, he quickly tried to correct himself. "I-I mean good! It sounds good!" He blurted, giving a lame thumbs-up.
Billy sniggered in amusement. "I'll see you then," he stated a penchant voice—and it was only when his hand started to feel cold that Steve realized that Billy had removed his own from beneath his; that they'd been holding hands the whole time.
Man, that blush definitely wasn't letting up now.
"Oh, and Harrington," Billy called out as he approached the door, piece of paper clutched in hand.
Steve looked up at him questioningly. "Yeah?"
Billy smiled slyly. "Wear something pretty, Pretty boy," he murmured, winking as he left the room.
As he left Steve a gaping, blushing mess.
Great, now his entire face was red.
He looked at his watch; his break was almost over which was not good. He couldn't serve customers like this!
Thinking quickly, Steve made a beeline for the freezer and practically threw himself in it, sighing in relief when the heat in his cheeks started to dwell.
"Steve? Dingus, where are you?" Robin's voice called for him.
Sighing, Steve patted his cheeks once more before exiting the freezer. A little ways away stood Robin, who was now staring at him weirdly.
".....What were you doing in the freezer, dingus?" She asked him plainly.
"Uh... I was um, getting more ice cream," Steve lied quickly.
Robin blinked at him. "You don't have any ice cream," she noted dryly.
Steve looked down at his empty hands. Shit.
"Um, well, I was getting ice cream until I figured we didn't need any more, so I just didn't get it...." he explained rather lamely.
It was clear Robin didn't buy his bullshit excuse but she ddi nothing more than roll her eyes to show it. "Whatever, it's my turn for break, get out there," she said, jabbing her fingers towards the door.
Steve sighed and nodded, regaling himself with the fact that there were only three hours left of his shift before he could go home.
Before he could go home and get ready to meet Billy....
A smile crept onto his face as he made his way to the door. It didn't go unnoticed by Robin.
The woman raised her eyebrows. "What's got you all smiley?" She asked before smirking knowingly. "This have anything to do with our certain curly haired mullet friend that drops by from time to time?"
Steve looked at her idly. His only response was going over to the 'you rule, you suck' board leaning on the ledge and ticking a mark in the 'you rule' category. Then he left to the front.
Robin stared at the board with wide eyes. The smirk on her face grew.
So the Dingus had finally evolved; who knew.
Heyo! Buckle up for pain cause it's dead ahead! Love y'all!
-Someonewhoisnthere.