Platonic with a capital "P" - part 2
part 1 | read on Ao3
“Robin? How comfortable are you with nudity?”
“Very uncomfortable,” she responded just like he expected, without missing a beat.
“Okay, okay.” Steve walked around the room, the phone pressed to his ear. He inhaled and exhaled loudly. “I think I have a second mark, so maybe you have one too,” he blurted out quickly.
The line became silent for a suffocating couple of seconds.
“...what?”
“If I have a second mark, then there’s a real possibility you do too.”
“Okay, hold on.”
Steve couldn’t hold on, he was almost walking on the walls. He was soul bonded to Eddie fucking Munson. He wanted to scream.
“What does that have to do with nudity?”
“I wanna help you look.”
“Excuse me?!” Robin shrieked, forcing him to pull the phone away from his ear.
“Stop fucking screaming, you’re basically my sister. What if it’s like, on your back?”
“Steve-”
“Robin.”
There was a tense silence over the line, and Steve was walking a hole into his rug.
“Fine,” his friend sighed eventually. “You can look at my back, you weirdo.”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up in ten.”
“What-?!”
He hung up before he could hear the rest of her protests. He needed her, his platonic soulmate, right now.
Robin seemed annoyed with him when she slipped into the passenger seat. But he was used to that, it was almost her default state at this point.
“So how did you find out?”
Steve left her driveway and made a turn. Then another. He bit down on his lip and the silence kept stretching.
“Steve-”
“Eddie showed me his.”
Robin frowned at first, but as she eyed the tense line of his lips, the implication of his words sunk in. She started vibrating out of her seat.
“No.”
“Yes. They match. I’m like 99% sure.”
“No!” If he wasn’t driving, she probably would be shaking him like a rag doll right now.
“Yes! I know!”
“Holy fuck.”
“Holy fuck,” he agreed.
Moments later, they entered his house and Robin’s fingernails were digging into his hand, shaking it with the excitement she couldn’t contain.
“It’s like, five moles, here on his nape,” he motioned at the spot. “And I have a lot of moles, right? So I never think about them much. But there are a few of them on my thigh, they’re weirdly symmetrical. And I connected them. And they made a pentagram. And Eddie’s made a pentagram too.”
“I wanna see.”
“I thought you didn’t want me to undress?” he quirked his eyebrow.
“I still don’t, but I’m too fucking curious at his point,” she rolled her eyes as if he was the one being ridiculous right now. Honestly, their whole situation was. Steve thought it suited them, in a way.
They grabbed a couple of beers and ran up the stairs to his room. She motioned him to go on, and he slid down his pants without much thought, showing off his thigh.
“Ok, wow, this is- I would never think that’s a soul mark.” Her eyes widened as she leaned in.
“Right?!”
“You have so many of them already.”
“I know!” He pulled up his jeans and popped open his beer. Robin sat down on his bed, but he couldn’t settle. His adrenaline was still buzzing from the revelation.
“How do you feel about that?” Robin frowned at him, scrunching her nose.
“Honestly, I feel…” he stopped to find the words, looking out the window, at the setting sun. “Light-headed a bit. I have another soulmate.”
“And it’s Eddie.”
Steve glanced at her, blinking like it had just now dawned on him.
“It’s Eddie.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Steve deflated. He looked at his soulmate’s big, sympathetic eyes and sat down next to her.
“I think I’m okay with that,” a smile tugged at his lips as he said it. “Very okay with that.”
Which brought another unfortunate thought into his brain. He groaned, slumping against his best friend.
“How do I tell him I’m his soulmate now?”
B Side: Romantic
Because, about a month ago, Eddie had confessed.
“Hey, so,” he started one night after they had dropped kids from Hellfire. “We almost died, several times.”
“We did, yeah,” Steve mused, leading his Beamer down the road to the trailer park. They were alone in the car by then. He picked up Eddie along with Max, but she decided to have a sleepover with El.
“Shit kinda reminds you to live life to the fullest. Be yourself and all that jazz.”
“You wanna go bungee jumping or something?” Steve quirked his eyebrow, pulling into the space in front of Eddie’s trailer.
Eddie snorted.
“Nah, dude, I have enough near-death experiences for a lifetime.” He shook his head. “No, it’s kinda more complicated.”
“Okay? Well, we’re gonna support you, whatever insane ideas are going in that metalhead of yours,” he reassured lightly but surely. Not like Dustin didn’t have a new ridiculous plan of his own every week. Their little apocalypse group was just a bit unhinged like that.
Eddie smiled at his words, but then slumped in the car seat, drumming on his thighs nervously.
“I like you,” he said softly, looking away.
Steve turned towards him, confused.
“Okay... I like you too.”
But Eddie was shaking his head, his hair following the motion and shielding his face.
“No, dude,” he sighed. “I’m bisexual. I mean it in a… crush kinda way.”
“Oh.”
Steve’s eyes widened in surprise, but Eddie had turned to an anxious mop of dark hair by that point. His grip on the steering wheel tightened, and he didn’t know what to say. Is this how Robin felt when he confessed?
“Yeah, so like, I don’t expect anything? Honestly, not getting beaten up is enough for me,” Eddie laughed dryly and Steve winced. “I just want you to know because I don’t wanna hide and lie anymore. I’ll get over it eventually, and I hope we can still be friends.”
There was a hopeful question there, though Eddie still wasn’t looking at him.
“Dude, it’s fine,” he assured, even though it didn’t feel completely fine. “I’m still friends with Nancy,” he reminded, hoping Eddie won’t remind him about the complexities of that relationship. “We’re gonna be okay,” he finished like it was an obvious fact, one of the unbreakable rules of nature. He hoped it was.
“Okay, yeah.” Eddie managed a thin smile and finally, finally, looked at him. “Thanks, dude,” he said, pulling on the door handle. With his confession out, he was vibrating out of his seat, eager to leave.
“Hey, Eddie!” Steve stopped him before he could slam the door and leave Steve alone with his thoughts.
“Yeah?” Eddie leaned back in, visibly nervous. He was biting his lip and his eyes kept darting towards his trailer. Like he was measuring the distance between, and the time it would take to cross it.
“I’m flattered, by the way,” Steve grinned.
Eddie rolled his eyes, but his body sagged with relief.
“Maybe you are the one who should get his ego in check,” he raised his eyebrow, joking back. Everything was okay.
“Who do you think Dustin got it from?” Steve’s grin turned into a cocky smirk.
Eddie shook his head and slammed the door shut and stepped away, the familiar buzzing energy back in his step. Steve chuckled to himself as his friend waved goodbye, disappearing quickly in his trailer.
*
“Listen, I know that you care about me, but your romanticism sometimes freaks me the fuck out. Like, the lengths you can go to,” Robin whined while tying her hair up as per her friend’s request.
They had just finished a way-too-long debate about the possibility of soul marks hiding on someone’s scalp. It ended with Robin stating loudly she was not shaving for no soulmate.
“Suck it up, Buckley. Like you’re not curious yourself.”
She was. It was the only reason she was humouring him. Maybe there was another mark she should have been hiding all along.
They agreed to do it gradually. Only taking off as many layers as was necessary. So at first Steve closely scrutinized her nape and her arms, inch by inch, while she drank her beer to dampen the embarrassment of the bizarre situation.
“Nothing suspicious,” he decided after checking behind her ears. “So, um…”
Robin let out a long sigh, putting into it all the annoyance and anxiety she felt.
“I’m gonna take off my socks and roll up my pants,” she offered.
Steve nodded eagerly, making her roll her eyes, her lip twitching. He reminded her of a little puppy whenever he acted like that.
She finished off the beer, crumpling the can and throwing it into the trashcan before pulling her foot up, taking off the sock and exposing her calf as far as the jeans would allow. Then she threw her leg into her friend's lap while she worked on the other.
“If you tickle me, I am breaking your nose,” she warned, pressing her heel into the meat of his thigh in a silent threat.
“Noted,” he nodded, already inspecting her ankle with a delicate touch. She threw the other leg over his thigh and slumped back, resting on her arms and watching.
It felt weird to be touched like that, where nobody ever touched her before. What a travesty it was her best friend and platonic soulmate and not a cute girl. At least it wasn’t just some guy, and she wasn’t being forced into an unpleasant situation.
A sudden loud intake of breath startled her from her thoughts. Steve’s thumb pressed softly into the sole of her left foot, and she instinctively jerked it away, eyes narrowing.
“What did I say about tickling,” she hissed, but his hands were grabbing her foot back and pulling it closer to him, eyes wide like saucers.
“Robin.” Her name was like a reprimand, a call and a prayer all stirred into one sound. She frowned, now concerned and curious. They were looking for a soul mark, after all. “What is this?” His thumb brushed against the spot again, and she wrenched it from his hands to look for herself.
She frowned at the pale mark on her foot.
“It’s just a scar. I stepped on a clam when I was little.”
Steve sat up on his knees, excitement sparkling in his eyes.
“It looks like a moon.”
Steve was pulling at straws, and it was starting to annoy her.
“It’s a coincidence. It’s just a scar,” she tried to wave him off.
“Do you remember getting it?” he pressed on, not letting her dismiss the idea.
“Of course,” she scoffed, but under his hard gaze, she huffed and looked away. “I think,” she admitted with a frown.
“You think?”
“It’s what my mom has been telling me. I was too young to remember.”
“What did she tell you?”
Robin scrunched her eyebrows, searching for a long-forgotten tale from her childhood.
“She said it was the during the summer we spent at my aunt’s place,” she recollected. “That I got it from walking barefoot in the river all the time.”
“So she doesn’t have a concrete incident in mind?”
“Guess not.”
They stared at each other for a long time. To Robin’s horror, a wide smile crept on Steve’s face. She scowled.
“Stop that. At least I won’t have to-”
“I’ve seen it before.”
Robin closed her eyes. There was an unpleasant pressure building in her temples as she fought against the hope Steve was trying to instill in her.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’ve seen girls naked, I’ve seen a lot of soul marks.”
“To the point, Casanova,” Robin growled, opening her eyes only to glare at him, but his smile was unwavering.
“One of them had a little moon near her armpit.”
“Since when do you like suspense so much? Am I getting a name or what?” The rollercoaster of emotions and Steve’s giddiness were getting to her, and she could feel her anger spiking.
“I’m not sure if you’re ready for her.”
“You know what, I’m not sure if you even remember her name, and now you just don’t wanna admit it.”
“Well, maybe I’m not gonna tell you, if you’re gonna treat me like a slut,” he scoffed, albeit playfully.
“Steve-”
“It’s Nancy. Nancy Wheeler has a moon-shaped soul mark.”
*
“I’m gonna puke.”
“Is this how coming out feels like? I hate this.”
Robin and Steve had been spiralling for the whole week, brainstorming how they should come out to their soulmates. It was Friday afternoon, and they just hung up from confirming the hour of their double date at the local diner. The problem was, the other two didn’t know it was a date. To them, it was just a casual hang-out between the older Upside Down survivors.
“Pretty much,” Robin nodded awkwardly with her head on a pillow next to Steve. They were laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
“Maybe we should invite them over? This isn’t-”
“We’ve been through this,” Robin cut him off wearily. She wasn’t even annoyed by this point because they had gone through it a million times, and both of them were okay with repeating it however many more times needed to calm their nerves. “We start it in a public location to hang out and chill. Then we move somewhere more private to talk. Nowhere Upside-Down related, and not inside, so we don’t feel cooped up, and we’re on common turf,” she recited what they’d agreed on.
“I know.”
They sighed in unison.
“What are you gonna order?” Robin decided to find something harmless to discuss, to take their minds off worrying.
“A chocolate milkshake,” Steve answered without a thought, because what was the point of going to a diner and not getting a milkshake? Robin agreed with him. “And some fries, maybe nachos. If I get anything more than that, I might puke. Wouldn’t be very seductive of me.”
Robin snorted at that. That was another one of the bullet points in their debates. Since Steve knew about Eddie’s crush on him, he was going to shoot his shot. He’s been subconsciously seducing him for the past month already anyway.
Robin’s objective was to come out and not lose a friend. She didn’t let herself be hopeful, even if Steve and his belief in soul marks were trying to fight her on that.
“You?” he threw the question back at her.
“Man, I don’t know if I can even handle the milkshake. Maybe I’ll just get water.”
“Dude.”
“Sparkling? With lime?”
“We could share the milkshake. And fries too,” Steve offered. It’s been like that for the past few days - finding solutions and stopping each other from spiralling.
“That wouldn’t be very double-datey, you know?”
“So?” Steve shrugged, turning his head towards her. Feeling the shift of his pillow, she turned as well. “We’re soulmates, we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
She nodded slowly, considering his offer.
“Sure, I guess. I don’t want chocolate, though.”
“Strawberry?”
“Strawberry,” she agreed.
They looked back at the ceiling before asking each other what they were gonna wear and reciting to each other their painstakingly picked outfits. The clothes had already been laid out, waiting on the back of Steve’s chair.
The sun was still setting when they went about their evening routines and forced themselves into an uneasy sleep.
*
At the diner, everything was going smoothly for a while. Except Robin was sickly pale like she was going to run into the bathroom and make good on her vomit threat at any second. She hadn’t even eaten breakfast.
“You still want that milkshake?” Steve leaned closer to her, eyeing her with worry. She nodded stiffly.
Nancy was sitting across from her, her eyebrows scrunched in concern as well. She hesitantly reached across the table to get Robin’s attention.
“Do you want some candy? Or chewing gum?” she offered. Robin looked up at her and after a moment of hesitation nodded feverishly.
“Yeah,” she croaked, and it was the only thing she managed out so far other than a greeting.
Nancy reached into her purse and held out a bag of lemon candy and a small pack of mint gum, raising an eyebrow. Robin pointed at the candy, so Nancy popped the bag open and held it out to her to grab one.
“Thanks,” she mumbled around the candy, sucking on it greedily. Steve squeezed her knee under the table.
“No problem.” Nancy smiled reassuringly.
Eddie simply watched them in silence, an uncommon occurrence for him that stirred Steve’s insides with worry.
When their waitress arrived, Nancy and Eddie ordered normal meals, while Steve got the agreed-on fries and milkshake. Robin got enough grip on her vocal cords to ask for a glass of water.
Eddie raised an eyebrow when he heard Steve’s order.
“Not chocolate?” he asked.
It was an innocent question, and it wasn’t hard to notice Steve liked chocolate stuff and always ordered them when given the choice. It still made his skin warm to know Eddie remembered. He shrugged, pretending not to be affected by the attention.
“Robin said she wanted to share.”
“Chocolate’s too sweet,” she stuck out her tongue to make a point at which the tension finally loosened, breaking out an argument about milkshake flavors instead. Eddie sided with Steve, at which she commented boys were just children with a sweet tooth, but everyone agreed to boo Nancy when she said she liked vanilla.
“There’s not even real vanilla in there, it’s just like, sweet cream,” Robin scrunched her nose.
Nancy only shrugged.
“It goes nice with a shot of espresso or two,” she defended, at which everyone perked up in interest.
When their orders arrived, Nancy ordered an espresso because now everyone wanted to try her concoction, and Eddie slid his milkshake towards Steve.
“Have some,” he offered, almost shyly. “Wouldn’t want your sugar levels to drop.”
Steve grinned at him, seeing his opportunity.
“You saying I’m not sweet enough for you?” he raised an eyebrow, his tongue flicking against the straw before he wrapped his lips around it, knowing full well Eddie was about to use it.
The boy’s eyes widened, but he quickly composed himself.
“Just hoping everyone else faints from the amount of sugar.”
And I get you all to myself, went unspoken.
Steve snickered, passing the milkshake back to him. Eddie eyed the straw, his cheeks reddening, before he took it into his mouth. As Steve watched him, he felt Robin kick him under the table. He kicked back.
Nancy sipped some of her plain, boring milkshake to make room for the espresso when it arrived. She poured it in and used the straw to mix it before pushing it towards Robin, who took a cautious sip.
“Holy shit,” she said, eyes widening in surprise. “This is actually good,” she admitted, pushing the glass back. “They could make this a regular.”
Nancy smiled happily at the approval. She pushed it towards Eddie next but held her glass before he could reach for it.
“Use your own straw. I don’t want your nicotine breath on it,” she said, scrunching her nose.
Eddie shrugged, unfazed, and reached for the straw poking from his shake.
“Fair enough,” he agreed. He took a sip and smacked his lips loudly, humming. “Good. But I’d add even more coffee,” he made his verdict.
Before he could pull out his straw, Steve reached for the coffee shake and used it for himself.
He hummed in approval, eyeing Eddie’s reddening cheeks.
“I’d add some chocolate, and it would be perfect,” he decided, pushing it back to Eddie, who finally pulled out his straw to dump it back into his shake.
“What if you just added espresso into the chocolate shake?” wondered Eddie, making Steve gasp.
“Genius!”
They talked about possible flavor combinations for far longer than appropriate, their fries diminishing in size visibly.
“So uh,” Nancy dipped a fry into the puddle of ketchup, not looking up from it. “You guys wanted to talk about something?”
Eddie straightened up next to her, eyeing them.
“Yeah,” Robin winced. “But not here,” she took an involuntary look around, at the other patrons.
Nancy nodded, her forehead wrinkling slightly with worry.
“It’s just a short drive to the park if you guys don’t mind,” Steve spoke up, offering a location they’d discussed with Robin beforehand.
The other two looked at each other shortly before nodding in agreement.
The tense atmosphere from the beginning came back tenfold from then on. The conversation attempts didn’t lead anywhere, as Steve and Nancy seemed to be the only ones trying to force something out. Their friends seemed lost in their thoughts, only grunting half-assed responses.
They finished their food quickly and split the bill evenly in four, with Steve paying for himself and Robin. Eddie stood up from the booth like it burned him and stepped out first to have a smoke before they take off. Robin excused herself to the bathroom, and Steve and Nancy stacked up their plates for an easy pickup.
They were loading into Steve’s Beamer before any of them were ready for what was to come. Nobody fought for shotgun. Robin was green in the face again and gravitated to the back seat, so Eddie sat down in the front instead. And nobody said a word when he chose the radio station and turned up the volume. Whatever niche genre he chose seemed to be better than any attempts at conversation.
The sun was still up, the heat of midday was slowly dying down, and the park was mostly visited by young parents with strollers and dog owners. The picnic tables were mostly empty, and the four settled around one of them, the nervous energy radiating off them keeping any intrusive ears at bay.
“What is it?” Nancy was the first one to break the uncomfortable tension, her eyes darting between Steve and Robin. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you guys make it seem.” She frowned, her mind already running through the worst-case scenarios, which were pretty imaginative considering their history with an alternate dimension. So she dampened her predictions to more down-to-earth ones.
“Are you guys dating?”
Steve winced and Robin let out a strangled snort, though it didn’t make her face any less pale.
Eddie frowned at the both of them, the concern on his face visibly growing.
“Are you pregnant?”
“What the fuck, Eddie?!” Steve’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets while the guy innocently raised his hands.
“Hey, I’m just-”
Robin shot up and ran away, hand over her mouth. All of them rose in alarm, but she simply disappeared behind a nearby bush, retching into the nearest trash can.
Eddie and Nancy exchanged a confused and concerned look, while Steve seemed to be on the verge of tears. He rubbed at his eyes, exhaling loudly. He low-key expected his best friend to abandon him, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with on his own.
“We’re not dating, and Robin is not pregnant,” he stated simply, levelling both of his friends with a hard look. “But,” he raised a finger. “We are soulmates. But!” he cut in quickly before anyone could interrupt. “Each of us has another one. And it’s you guys.”
The table was silent for a long bit before Nancy waved her hands.
“But we checked our marks. They are different,” she protested.
Steve was shaking his head ready to correct her, when Robin reached the table, now steadier on her legs and ready for action.
“No, you’re my soulmate. Eddie is Steve’s,” she clarified.
The looks she got were straight from a bad soap opera. Steve kept eyeing Eddie, the way his expressive face went from delight to disbelief to hope to wariness. He reached out his hand, and the metalhead watched it hesitantly before reaching back to squeeze his fingers.
“You’ve all seen my mark,” he lifted the sleeve of his shirt with his free hand.
Robin recognized her clue and lifted her shirt to uncover hers, matching her best friend’s.
“And this is mine.”
Their friends, soulmates, watched in stunned silence,
“But I also have a moon-shaped mark on my foot,” she admitted, eyes fixed on the graffiti littering the table.
“And the moles on my thigh make a pentagram.”
The hand holding Steve’s palm tightened, nearly to the point of pain.
“For real?” Eddie asked breathily, his eyes huge like saucers. Steve nodded.
“When you showed me yours, I had a weird feeling I've seen it before. I went home and found a similar cluster on my thigh, tried connecting them and…” he trailed off, shrugging.
Eddie licked his suddenly dry lip, looking at their joined hands.
“Do you- How do you feel about it?”
Steve slumped forward, elbows relaxing against the wooden table top. He’s been through this. With himself, with Robin.
“I’ve been bonded to a lesbian and a bisexual guy. I know where I have better chances.”
Eddie let out an amused breath against himself.
“But, Steve-”
“I know, but… Whoever bonded me to you must know me better than myself. Because this doesn’t feel wrong. I like the idea of being bonded to you. I feel kind of relieved if it makes sense?” he finished hesitantly.
Eddie shook his head, but a smile tugged on his lips.
“It doesn’t, to be completely honest, but if you’re okay with it, who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?” He smiled before cocking his head playfully. “So what? When I say I like you, it’s not enough, but when the universe tells you I'm okay, you’re on board?”
Steve tightened his grip on Eddie.
“You’re so enough, Eddie, but I didn’t want to strip you of a potential soulmate who has a better grip on his sexuality, likes the same nerd stuff, I don’t know.” He huffed, frustrated. “I felt like I would be imposing. But since we are actually bonded, I felt like maybe I could be enough for you. If you’ll have me,” he added shyly, uncertain. There were people distrustful of soul marks to the point where they’d reject their soulmates.
Eddie raised his eyebrows.
“You’re okay with being bonded to a guy, but you wouldn't be okay with dating me, knowing somewhere out there was someone better for me?”
Steve frowned. Was that a wrong way of thinking?
“Kind of?” he offered, unsure. But Eddie was still holding his hand. “I didn’t want to lead you on while I wasn’t sure if I was into guys, but since someone up there thinks I am, then I guess it’s okay?” He shook his head, correcting himself immediately. “It is okay.”
Eddie burst out laughing. Steve instinctively tightened his grip on his hand, but Eddie wasn’t pulling away.
“You’re a dumbass, Harrington,” he summed up and, to Steve’s delight, leaned in and pulled up their joined hands to lay a kiss on his knuckles. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
As the pleasant silence stretched, they became aware of two heavy pairs of eyes on them.
Nancy looked at them with exasperation and relief. Steve wondered if it was the same relief he felt, looking at her now. Like the last particles of their old relationship just evaporated into nothingness.
Robin’s gaze held a heavy wistfulness, almost making Steve feel guilty about finding a soulmate other than her.
It seemed like looking at their friends was easier for them than looking at each other.
"Ugh, you're gonna be insufferable together," Robin groaned wetly, her eyes on the verge of spilling over.
"Yeah. I'm so happy for you,' agreed Nancy with a small smile. Her eyes were trained on Steve, and he reciprocated the gesture, an unspoken understanding passing between them. The relief of finding someone else, the reassurance that their hearts were now safe in different hands, that they could just breathe and be friends.
With that out of the way and Eddie's hand in his, Steve needed to check on his first soulmate. His side pressed into Robin, eyes searching. She wouldn't meet his gaze, her eyes trained on the boys’ tangled palms, tears still threatening to spill over. He tried reaching out, his free hand gently squeezing her elbow. This seemed to bring oxygen back to her lungs as she breathed in and looked up for a fleeting second at her friend, before turning to Nancy.
"Uh,” she winced, looking elsewhere immediately. “It's okay if you don't feel comfortable with it. It's not like you have to do anything about having a soulmate, there is no pressure, no obligation-"
"Robin." Nancy knew already that the fastest way to stop Robin's spiral was to interrupt it. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"
Robin gaped at her.
"Really?"
Nancy shrugged, a shy smile on her lips.
"I've never considered dating a woman before, but I'm not against the idea," she explained. "Besides, Steve got on point soulmates, why wouldn't we work out too? I'd like to give it a shot."
Robin bit her lip, her whole body buzzing in place.
"People aren't gonna like it."
Nancy snorted, her cute face twisting with distaste.
"Honestly, I'm used to it by this point. And it's not gonna be as bad in a bigger city."
Robin gawked at her, eyes huge, like two ponds pulled in by the moon. The implication of Nancy's statement was stuck in her throat.
She seemed to realize it too but only shrugged bashfully.
"I'm aiming high, I'm not gonna stay in this shithole forever."
Watching his best friend freeze up, Steve swooped in, his arm gathering her closer to his side.
"Calm down, Casanova, go on a date first, okay? Step by step," he reminded her quietly with a shit-eating grin.
She pushed him away, cheeks pink. But he was right. Why worry about the future when there was still a first date to plan?
"Okay, so," she gulped. "Where do you wanna go?"
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