Work Text:
1.
You and Steve had been dating for a little over a month when he decided tonight was the night he was going to kiss you. After you agree, of course. He never wanted to pressure you into doing things you weren’t ready for. He would wait a year, longer even, to kiss you if you so much as asked. But, he knew that tonight was the night.
He had taken you to the movie theaters that night to watch “Pretty in Pink,” and everything had gone perfectly. The theater was practically empty, he got to have his arm around your shoulder the entire night, and your hands brushed as you both reached for popcorn at the same time. Repeatedly. In his mind, nothing could have made the night better. That is until he drove you home later that night.
After the movie had ended, he parked in your driveway, and the two of you got to talking. He noticed the slight nervous stutter you let out when he brushed a strand of hair out of your face and couldn’t help but smile.
“Can I kiss you?” He whispered as you whispered back a “yes.” And as he held your chin and leaned forward, the porch light in front of your house turned on. He sighed, almost immediately letting go of your chin, putting some space between the two of you as you both let out a nervous laugh.
“Guess you should head inside, huh?” He asked, nodding his head to your house.
“Guess so,” you replied with a sheepish smile, quickly kissing his cheek before exiting the car. “Goodnight, Steve,” you whispered as you walked to your front door. Though, Steve was too giddy to notice. A stupid smile plastered on his face from the kiss on his cheek. It may not be what he was aiming for, but hey, he’ll take what he can get.
***
2.
The following day, you had paid Steve a visit during his lunch break at his job at Family Video, as you usually did.
“Why do you never let me pay for the rentals?” You asked with a smile as he scanned a VHS copy of "Top Gun," the first one to come in stock since it arrived at the Video Store.
“Because you’re my girlfriend, and it’s only fair that you get to use my discount too,” he replies, smiling back at you as he snuck a few of your favorite chocolates into a bag for you. “You’re welcome, by the way,” he says with a wink.
“Whatever can I do to make it up to you?” You ask, rolling your eyes at him with a smile.
A kiss. If you want, he thinks. “Well, your company’s a great start,” he says while leaning over the counter, face nowcloser to yours. “I love it when you visit me, even if you end up putting me to work cause of your movie requests,” he says in faux annoyance, smiling at your laughter.
And just as he was about to ask if he could kiss you, Robin came running out of the break room.
“Steve, there’s a really gross bug in the break room, and I’d really appreciate it if you killed it,” she says, eyes wide with a sheepish smile.
“Yeah, yeah,” Steve replies, dropping his head and walking off to the break room. But not before giving your shoulder a quick squeeze and an apologetic smile.
“Thanks a lot, Robin,” he says after killing the bug the girl was too scared to do herself.
“You’re gonna see her later anyways,” she replies, laughing at his huff of annoyance.
“I was this close to kissing her,” he replies, leaning on the wall and raising his hand to show a small gap between his thumb and index finger.
“Isn’t this the second time?” Robin asks with a laugh as Steve huffs again, already moving to leave the break room.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he replies with a small smile. "Third times the charm though, right?"
***
3.
It was one of the few times Steve’s parents were home. And, though he wanted nothing more than to be out of the house, whether at your place, the movies, hell, he’d even go to work today if it meant he didn’t have to be here, his parents wanted him to spend the day at home. In order to “spend some time together.” Even though they've barely spoken to him the whole day.
So, you had come over to spend some time with him, which he had greatly appreciated. Though the two of you hadn’texactly been doing anything too exciting, you were on his bed reading a book and he was flipping through a Batman comic Dustin had forced him to read, on the other side of the bed, he was still glad to be in your company.
“You know, I really don’t get why the kids are so obsessed with a bunch of guys in spandex,” Steve said, breaking the comfortable silence between you two as he tossed the comic to the floor.
“I think that Spider-Man's pretty neat,” you reply, setting your book on his nightstand as he moved to lie next to you.
“I’m way better than some spider guy,” Steve said, smiling at the way your face lit up when you laughed. He couldn’thelp but brush a strand of hair away from your face, his fingers lingering on your cheek.
“Would it be alright if-“ he whispered before being interrupted by an over-exaggerated scream.
“My eyes!” Dustin yells, covering his eyes with his hands as Steve lets out a long groan.
“How did you get in my house, Henderson?” Steve asks, reluctantly letting go of your face, turning his attention to Dustin to fix him with an annoyed glare.
“Your mom let me in. Is it safe to look?” Dustin asked, still covering his eyes.
“We weren’t doing anything,” you reply at the same time Steve mumbles “kid needs his ego checked. Can't even knock on a fucking door.”
“Hey, why’s my comic on the floor?” Dustin asks, finally removing his hands from his eyes, moving to pick up the discarded comic.
“It was boring,” Steve replies with a shrug. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted a ride to the arcade,” the younger boy simply replied.
“How’d you get here?” Steve asks with a sigh, glancing at you to see if you would be okay with the two of you making a trip to the arcade.
“I biked.”
“You couldn’t bike over there?”
“Your house is closer.” Steve pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh as you squeeze his shoulder.
“Sorry,” he whispers to you with a smile, before returning his gaze to Dustin. “Alright, alright, I’ll take you to the stupid arcade.” Dustin was already walking out of Steve’s room before Steve could even finish his sentence.
***
4.
You had decided to join Steve and Dustin as they made their way to the arcade, as you had nothing else to do for the day. And what better way to spend it than with your boyfriend?
“I’m sorry we had to spend our day here,” Steve told you, leaning against one of the games as you played Pac-Man.
“It’s fine,” you shrug with a smile. “I haven’t been here in forever, so I guess it’s nice to come and revisit it.”
“I’m gonna try and win you something from that claw machine,” Steve suddenly announces as you lose your last life in the game.
“You don’t have to-“ you start before he wraps an arm around your shoulder, already pulling you to the machine.
“Oh, but I want to, baby,” he says, nodding his head to the stuffed animals. “Which is your favorite?” He asks, smiling as you choose your pick.
About $4 later, he had finally won you a teddy bear, squeezing your shoulder as he asked “what are you gonna name it?”
“Mr. Snuffles, obviously,” you reply in a faux serious tone, smile as bright as can be.
“Hey, Mr. Snuffles,” he replies, putting a hand out to shake the bear’s paw.
“You’re an idiot,” you tease with a smile.
“I’m your idiot,” he replies, lightly poking your cheek. And just as he was about to make his move and ask if he could kiss you, a toddler a few feet away from the two of you threw up, effectively killing the mood.
“Great,” Steve muttered under his breath, putting an arm around your waist and pulling you away from the crying toddler and his mom. “Let’s look for Dustin so we can take him home,” he says.
Two failed kiss attempts in one day? That had to be some sort of world record. And of course, Steve had to be the one to break it.
***
5.
Steve had decided to pay you a visit at your job at the record store during his break. He had brought you some popcorn from Family Video, which, conveniently enough, was just a block away from your job. Which meant the two of you frequently visited each other on your breaks.
As “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper played through the speakers, Steve glanced around the empty store before an idea hit him. He quickly took your hands in his, raising them to be wrapped around his neck, then settling his own hands on your waist.
“What are you doing?” You asked with a laugh as he began to sway the two of you.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m dancing with you.” He replied.
“Okay, well, why?” You ask, smiling at him. He just shrugs, continuing to dance with you.
“Because I can,” he teases, smiling back at you.
“This is nice,” you whisper after a few moments of silence as he moves one hand to cup your face.
“Can I-“ he whispers, before being interrupted by the bell above the door ringing, indicating someone has entered the store. Reluctantly, you both let go, moving away from each other so you wouldn’t get written up for PDA on company time.
Maybe another day, he thought.
***
+1
Steve was starting to believe he may never get to kiss you. After so many interruptions, he was beginning to believe the world was playing some kind of cruel trick on him. One that resulted in him losing his goddamn mind because he couldn’tkiss his pretty girlfriend.
But tonight, he had a plan. One that would ensure he wouldn’t get interrupted before he got to kiss you. No parents, no friends, no customers, and no throwing-up toddlers to interrupt.
“Wow, you’re really taking me to your old hook-up spot?” You ask teasingly as Steve rolls his eyes. Yes, he was taking you to Lover’s Lake, but not with the intention of hooking up.
“I’m taking you to see the stars,” he replies, smiling at your brief look of shock. “I heard you telling Robin how much you love the stars, so I thought, why not take my beautiful girlfriend to go look at them?”
“That’s really sweet,” you whisper as he puts the car in park.
“That’s my middle name,” he replies with a wink. “Steve Sweet Harrington.”
“I thought it was Joseph,” you reply, smiling as he rolls his eyes. He walks around the car, opening the passenger side door and putting a hand out for yours to help you out of the car.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he replies, closing the door, and retrieving blankets from the back seat to lay on the grass. “Just make yourself comfortable, babe.”
“I read a book,” he starts, arm around your shoulder as you both sit on the grass, looking up at the starry night sky. “And that right there,” he points to a cluster of stars, “is called Orion.”
“You read a book about stars?” You ask, looking at him with a smile.
“Wanted to seem smart in front of you,” he replied with a shrug, as if reading a book to impress you was no big deal.
“That’s so sweet,” you quietly reply, repeating your earlier sentiment.
“I told you it was my middle name,” he teases, lightly nudging your shoulder with his.
“I’m starting to think it actually might be,” you reply, still smiling at him. You looked so pretty under the stars.
“Can I kiss you?” He quietly asks, as your smile somehow grows even more
“Yeah,” you whisper back as he cups the side of your face, before leaning in to finally kiss you.
“I’ve been waiting forever to do that,” he half-jokes, smiling at your laughter.
“I kind of figured,” you reply with a shrug as he rolls his eyes with a smile.
“I’m not that obvious,” he says with a faux scowl that quickly melts away when you move to kiss him again.
Steve couldn’t help but punch a fist in the air at the fact that he finally got to kiss you. And he couldn’t wait to do it over and over again.