Rejected Stancy Meet-Cute
The first thing Steve loved about Nancy Wheeler was how much she didn’t care who he was. While other girls fell at his feet, eager to date The Steve Harrington, The Hair, The King, Nancy very obviously cared nothing for his titles or his popularity.
She was there at his first basketball game his sophomore year. Young and wide-eyed, clutching a clipboard to her chest and making notes. She caught Steve’s eye — the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had big blue eyes and long brown curls and she was wearing some long, frumpy skirt, standing out amidst the cheerleaders in the sidelines.
Steve scored the game-winning shot, accepted a sweaty hug from Tommy and then made his way over to the pretty girl who looked so out of place here.
“Congratulations,” she told him, looking shy.
“Thanks,” he said. “This doesn’t seem like your usual crowd.”
The girl blushed. “I’m with the school newspaper.”
“Oh yeah? You have anything interesting to report?”
“That last play,” the girl said, sounding like she was testing out words that were new to her. “Where you missed the hoop but that other kid got it in.”
Steve grinned at her. “I didn’t miss. I passed the ball to Carver.”
The girl stared at him for a moment, chewing on her lip, before admitting, “I don’t understand.”
It sounded like a phrase she’d never said before in her life and Steve loved the little spark of defiance in her eyes, like she would fight him if he judged her.
“It’s called an alley-oop,” Steve said. “You pretend you’re aiming for the basket but really just let another player dunk it in.”
“But aren’t you co-captain?” the girl asked. “You must be pretty good. Why wouldn’t you just aim for the basket?”
“Aiming straight for the basket is easier for the other team to block because they’re expecting it,” Steve said, shrugging. “Plus, like you said, I’m co-captain. Carver’s a freshman. It’s good to have him get off the bench and score a basket, you know? For like, morale and shit.”
“So when you’re on the court, you’re thinking not just as a player but as a captain as well?” the girl asked.
Steve nodded.
“That’s smart of you,” the girl said.
Steve grinned, flattered. “That means a lot coming from a freshman smart enough to make the school paper. What’s your name?”
“Nancy Wheeler,” Nancy said.
“I’m Steve Harrington,” Steve said.
“I know.”
Steve’s smile got wider. “Oh, you’ve heard of me?”
Nancy looked unimpressed. “I did my research to learn player names before the game.”
“Right,” Steve said, feeling a little off-balance. Most girls didn’t look unimpressed when talking to Steve. “We’re probably going to go celebrate our win now. It’ll be mostly basketball players and cheerleaders, but I could bring you if you like.”
Most girls jumped at the chance to get an invite to an exclusive party, but Nancy just gave him a polite smile, like he’d invited her to dinner with his uptight parents instead of a party with free booze. “I’m alright, thanks.”
“C’mon,” Steve said, grinning in a way he’d heard described as charming. “You could celebrate my game-winning shot with me.”
Nancy’s smile was amused and condescending at the same time as she pretended to check her clipboard. “Don’t you mean Carver’s game-winning shot?”
“I set it up,” Steve tried.
Nancy nodded seriously. “It was a good alley-oop. But your initial shot was predictable and you never would have scored if it weren’t for Carver, so I think he gets credit for this one.”
Steve sputtered at her, this beautiful freshman nobody turning him down and teasing while she did it. Turning his own words against him like she didn’t care that he was Steve Harrington.
“Don’t worry,” Nancy said, looking at his dumbfounded expression. “I’ll be sure to mention in the article what a good job of co-captaining you did.”
She smiled, disarmingly beautiful, before walking away.
Tommy came up to Steve, throwing his arm around Steve’s shoulders and dragging him towards the showers.
“Who was that girl?” he asked.
“Nancy Wheeler,” Steve said.
“She coming to the party?” Tommy asked, waggling his eyebrows.
“No,” Steve said. “But she’s going to be my girlfriend.”
“That nerd is going on a date with you?” Tommy asked incredulously.
Steve felt his cheeks heat. “Well, she hadn’t said yes yet.”
Tommy laughed. “Dude, you can do so much better than some freshman nerd.”
“Yeah,” Steve said, glancing back over his shoulder as if he could catch another glimpse of Nancy. “I guess so.”
He didn’t get a yes that night. But Nancy came to several more games, always with a press clipboard clutched to her chest, and Steve explained the plays that she didn’t understand. He asked her out every time, but she always said no with a soft little smile that indicated she didn’t really mean it.
It was the start of the next school year before Steve shared a class with Nancy. He walked into his literature class to find her already seated in the front row and walked right up to her.
“Nancy Wheeler,” he said.
“Basketball Informant,” she said.
Steve hesitated by her desk. “Most people just call me Steve.”
Nancy laughed and gestured to the seat next to her. “Are you going to sit down?”
Steve did. “I usually sit near the back. Less of a chance of being called on.”
Nancy frowned, a cute little furrow forming between her eyebrows. “Why don’t you want to be called on?”
“I, uh, didn’t do the summer reading,” Steve admitted. Usually he could get that to come across as rebellious and charming, but Nancy just frowned.
“I don’t care how much basketball you taught me, I’m not going to be your English class informant,” she said.
“Well, shit,” Steve said. “What am I going to do? Now that I’m stuck already at the front and all?”
“Class hasn’t started,” Nancy pointed out. “You could still move to the back.”
“And miss a chance to sit next to The Nancy Wheeler, Reporter Extraordinaire?” Steve asked. He shook his head sadly. “Absolutely not. I guess I’m going to have to read the stupid book.”
“You’re going to do the summer reading for me?” Nancy asked, looking shocked.
“If that’s what it takes,” Steve said. He gave her a sheepish smile. “What was the summer reading book, by the way?”
Nancy gasped. She tried to look shocked, but Steve could see the smile peeking around the edges of the faux-outrages. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”
“And you are beautiful, Nancy Wheeler,” Steve said. He dug a pencil out of his backpack and poised it over his notebook. “So, tell me. What book am I reading for you?”
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Hey loved the thenamesh lifeguard au! Would you write some cute fluff stuff like for example thena putting sunscreen on Gil’s back?
Thena looked down as she felt Kingo pat the side of the tower chair. "You are not supposed to climb this thing. We tell people not to all day."
He gave her a grin and a shrug, "just thought you'd wanna know that your break is in five--if you wanted to go early I'll cover for you."
Thena raised a brow at him, "and why would you do that?"
Kingo tipped his sunglasses down, "because I'm a good friend, Thena."
No dice.
Kingo chuckled, pushing them up again and climbing even higher, all but pushing Thena out of his way, "because your boyfriend keeps looking over here to see if you're done yet."
"He's not-"
"He is," Kingo rolled his eyes. It wasn't as if it was any secret at all. "Now, go!"
Thena huffed, on her way over to Gil while looking around her at the rest of the beach goers. It was easier than looking right at Gil on her way over to him.
"Hey."
"Hey," she smiled marginally, ending up beside him under the shade of his umbrella.
"How was your morning?" he asked genially, folding up his legs out of the sun as she curled up next to him.
"Uneventful, I suppose," she answered while staring out at the water. "I mostly had to watch the early morning kids and make sure they weren't being hooligans."
Gil chuckled at her word choice, pulling out a bottle of water for the both of them.
"Thanks," Thena murmured, accepting it and definitely not thinking about the very simple brush of their fingers as she did. "What have you been up to?"
"Mm," Gil hummed between sips. "Haven't been here long. But I did get in a quick dip before it got too crowded."
Oh, she had seen. It was impossible to miss a wall of muscle, after all. And in the binoculars, soaking wet...
"I just have to reapply my sunscreen."
Thena blinked, suddenly feeling as if she was being caught up in something. She looked over at him.
"I got most of me already," he promised, as if anticipating her concern. "It's, uh, just my back, really."
Thena could see why he might have trouble reaching it, with those arms, those shoulders, even just the muscles in his back...
"I don't suppose you'd, um," Gil trailed off, blushing cutely as he struggled to suggest the cliche.
Thena smiled at his shyness, "did you wait for me to go on break in hopes that I could help you?"
"Well," he semi-admitted, shifting on his towel. "If you didn't want to, I just wouldn't go swimming again. Or I'd put on a shirt, I guess."
And they couldn't have that.
Thena rolled her eyes, taking the squeeze tube from him, "turn."
Gil acquiesced, not making a big deal out of it, because he was sweet like that. In fact, he was the one with the tips of his ears gone red.
Thena inhaled, rubbing the cream in her palms and staring down the broad expanse of his back. She was hesitant, reaching out slowly before pressing her palms to his back.
The longer she took, the more flustered she felt. Thena blushed as she moved her hands over every bend and curve of his muscles, both strong and wiry but also with a pleasant layer of softness over them. She was a lifeguard, it wasn't like she was a stranger to the average human body.
But Gil was far from average, and she was starting to wonder if he was human.
Gil shivered as she reached the center of his back, along his spine. She withdrew her hand, letting out a soft sound of surprise (some might call it a squeak, which she would deny). "Sorry."
Thena didn't trust herself to get out proper words, instead just resuming her work of making sure Gilgamesh didn't get a sunburn. She moved her hand over his spine, from the base of his neck down, down...down as far as she could dare.
Gil blushed from the neck up as she swiped her palms around the plump over his hip bones. "D-Done?"
"Hm," Thena replied, handing the tube of sunscreen back to him.
"Th-Thanks," he smiled sheepishly at his...at Thena. He wasn't entirely sure what they were or where exactly they stood. But so long as it was beside her, he didn't have any complaints.
"Don't mention it," Thena muttered, fidgeting with the sleeves of her track jacket she threw on over her uniform suit.
Gil cleared his throat. "What, uh, what're you doing after your shift?"
"Today?" she asked, and he nodded. "Well, I'm off by 1 today. Kingo and Ikaris have the afternoon shift."
"So," Gil smiled, "you could, maybe, have lunch with me?--if you want?"
Thena smiled at the very sweet man beside her. She was so used to being hit on by absolute pigs, but Gilgamesh was so completely different from all the meatheads she had to deal with on a daily basis. "That'd be nice."
"Okay!" he brightened, and Thena looked away again. "I'll, uh, I'll just be here, I guess."
"I'll come find you," Thena murmured, standing up to go back to the lifeguard tower.
"Oh, hey," Gil shot to his feet. He pressed the tube of sunscreen into her palm.
Thena tilted her head at him; she had plenty at the guard station.
"You look like you're getting a little too much sun already," he shrugged with a gentle smile. He tapped his own cheek, "just a little."
Thena turned around, eager to escape as she felt her cheeks become even more flushed (which Gil had taken as signs of sunburn). "Thanks--see you later!"
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