It's Hard To Explain - Ch 3/5
Or all the times Steve Flirted For Educational Purposes and The One Time He Didn't
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Summary: Steve hadn't ment for any of this to mean anything. He was just giving Dustin some pointers on how to get a girlfriend. What did it matter that it was the same girl he used over and over again for an example?
Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC
Word Count: 4606
A/N: Hi Guys! Happy New Year! Wow what an ending for the show. I'm pretty satisfied with it. I know with the show being over the fandom will be peetering out the next few months but I hope you all will stick around. I'll keep updating this fic as well as my main fic featuring Stacy. This fic also features @shenanigans-and-imagines (thank you for making sure I got Lucy's voice right) oc Lucy Henderson (you should check out her stuff! She has a lot more written then me). Like, Reblog, Comment if you enjoy!
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Steve went to school on Friday. It hadn’t been a good day. They lost another game. It was their fourth loss in a row. At this point playing just felt like getting kicked while he was already down.
Jason – a kid only a year younger than him who looked like he was going to gun for team captain next year – kept trying to make speeches to rally everyone the last quarter but there was no point. Team morale wasn’t going up anytime soon.
When he got home, he had an admission letter waiting for him from Indiana State. He hadn’t gotten in. His dad was disappointed in him. His mom kept trying to remind him that it wasn’t so bad, it was an early admission, he still had three more colleges to hear from.
He had spent the weekend mostly in his room staring at the ceiling. The end of the year was hurtling towards him at a pace he couldn’t have imagined was possible. He wished Nancy was with him. He missed her so much.
Well, no, not her. The idea of Nancy. This steady, kind, incredibly smart, capable, hot, loving, perfect woman, who liked him just as he was. Someone who could say that it didn’t matter if he won or lost a game, or if he got into college or not. A woman who didn’t exist, but in his imagination she still had Nancy’s face.
Monday came.
Then Tuesday.
Steve tapped his foot, waiting for the last bell to ring.
The decision for what band would play at the valentine’s day dance would be posted today. He was determined to be there when Stacy went to check. When she got it (and there was no scenario in his mind that she wouldn’t) he wanted to be there. He needed a win. Or to at least be there when somebody else got their win. It would be a reason to celebrate. To go out, get a burger or something, have a few laughs.
He guessed he could have called her on the weekend to see if she wanted to hang out, but waiting for her to hear about the audition felt like the only way he could talk to her. They were friendlier than they had been before yes, but they didn’t call you up at a random time on the weekend friends. At least not yet anyways.
Lucy (Dustin’s older, blonder sister, and one of the handful of mutual friends him and Stacy had) glanced at him, “What’s the matter?”
“Huh? Nothing,” he said quickly.
“It’s something,” Lucy said.
“Do you know if Stacy has heard about her audition yet?” he asked.
Lucy blinked in confusion, “What audition?”
"You know her audition for the Valentines day dance?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“You know her audition,” he insisted. She had to know about it, Stacy said her, Lucy and Nancy were all going for a big goal this semester.
“She actually auditioned. She said she wasn’t going to do it,” Lucy said totally astonished.
“Well she did, I was there,” he said.
“So, Dustin wasn’t lying,” she murmured to herself, then gave Steve an assessing look. “What were you doing there?”
‘I was using Stacy to give your little brother lessons in how to get a girlfriend’, somehow didn’t seem like a good answer, “I just carried some of her stuff.”
She eyed him suspiciously, which was hard to take seriously, most of the time Lucy looked like a cartoon lamb.
“Uh-huh. You know... Dustin was telling me about you giving him lessons on getting a girlfriend.”
Well…shit.
“I have been,” he hedged. He knew Lucy didn’t love the advice he had given Dustin on the train tracks last November. The kid needed all the help he could get.
“Is that what you did Thursday, during Stacy’s audition?” she asked.
“Uh—” the bell saved him.
Quickly he shoved his books in his bag.
He had tried not to think about him and Stacy. He was really good at not thinking. It was actually one of his better skills. Don’t think, just go on instinct. Right now, his instincts were telling him he needed to get out of this conversation. Which was going to be difficult since he was Lucy and Dustin’s ride home.
Between the two of them they would try and force a thought into his brain about him and Stacy if they had to shove it in through his ear. Which, given how much they talked, is exactly how they would do it.
Lucy followed him out, quickly catching up to his long strides, “Hey! Answer my question, Steven!”
“I don’t know what you want to know,” Steve said, “I carried her stuff to tell Dustin how to introduce himself to a girl at camp, and I told him that he should hang out with a girl doing something she likes.”
“Well, that’s… not terrible advice actually.” She said clearly losing some steam, but she clearly found some coal in the back of her mind and got fired right back up, “But what about the lean?”
“He told you about that?”
“He tells me everything,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It really was incredible how much she could sound like Dustin sometimes.
They turned the corner to the bulletin board where the results would be posted.
Stacy was already there. Her mouth was set into a grim line.
She saw him first, she gave him a nod, then her eyes went to Lucy. He caught a flash of a guilty expression on her face, but she quickly covered it.
“You auditioned and you didn’t tell me?” Lucy asked, her hazel eyes, wide with hurt.
“You were sick,” Stacy hedged.
“Did you tell Nancy?”
Stacy was silent.
“Did you tell Jonathan?”
More silence.
“Damn it, Stacy! You need to us about these things! We want to support you!”
“Steve knew,” Stacy said.
Lucy looked at him, “And when did you find out?”
“Day of,” he said, hoping this wasn’t a trap, and that if it was it wouldn’t be sprung on him.
“See! That’s my point!” Lucy said.
“Look it doesn’t matter anyways,” Stacy said, “I didn’t get the gig.”
Lucy’s expression fell, “Oh Stacy, I’m sorry.”
“What? You’re kidding,” Steve looked her over, hoping to see some clue that this was one of Stacy’s weird jokes, but she just nodded to the board. He stepped forward to read the board, “You’re kidding.”
“Who got it?” Lucy asked trying to peak over his shoulder.
“Tammy Thompson!” Steve almost shouted. He had to read the name five times still didn’t believe it, “She wasn’t even in the good band!”
Stacy shrugged, “At least she’s in a band.”
“This is total bullshit,” he said smacking the paper with the back of his hand.
“It’s not a big deal,” she said, and started to walk away.
She could say that all she wanted but he could tell she was disappointed. She had tried something new and failed. It was always a shitty feeling.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy repeated, following after her.
He grimaced. This was such bullshit, “It’s just a popularity contest. You were better than everyone there.”
Except maybe Martin Whatever-His-Name-Nas, he was in a good band. But she hadn’t lost the to Martin What’s-His-Name she had lost to Tammy Thompson.
“Tammy is a senior,” Lucy added. “Seniors always get the lead rolls in the plays. Maybe they just let her have it because it’s her last chance.”
Steve tried not to wince, he was a senior after all.
“Yeah maybe,” Stacy said. She kept her expression neutral, her tone flat.
“Do you want to shoot something?” Lucy asked sincerely, “Nancy’s probably not that busy, I know it always makes you feel better.”
“She’s got the paper, Goose.”
“Oh right,” Lucy said, looking down at the ground.
“I’ve got a lot of homework,” Stacy said, twisting the strap of her book bag.
“Yeah, me too,” Lucy said reluctantly.
“How about we get something to eat?” Steve asked.
Stacy tilted her head.
“Just go to Melville’s, get a big plate of fries, something, hog a booth until the manager starts glaring at us,” he said.
“Oh yeah!” Lucy said brightening, “That could be fun! Dustin is taking calculous, I know he could use your help.”
“He’d never ask for my help,” Stacy said, then added, “Yeah sure, that would be nice.”
Dustin trundled his way across the still ice slick parking lot. Steve drove Dustin and Stacy drove Lucy. Soon enough they were all packed into a booth together, books out with a large plate of fries, curly fries, sweet potato fries, loaded fries and onion rings (for a little diversity), two cokes, a root beer float, and a chocolate milkshake.
“God, I love ice-cream,” Lucy said scooping a spoonful of her chocolate shake (she had given up using a straw.
“Me too,” Dustin said taking a stab at his root beer float. “If I could have ice cream with every meal I would.”
“Including desert?” Stacy asked, picking up an onion ring.
“No for dessert I would just have a bowl of nougat.”
“Gross,” she said.
“It’s the best part of a candy bar!” Dustin said.
“No, the best part of the candy bar is peanut butter,” Steve said, while stretching out his arms behind the booth.
Stacy’s head rested back against his arm as she turned to him, “Reese’s?”
“No, Boppers.”
“Boppers are not candy!”
“They are chocolate covered peanut butter,” he said.
“With granola,” she said with a tone of disgust.
“You’re telling me that if you were a kid and went trick or’ treating you wouldn’t be happy with a bopper?”
“You would?” she asked, with a laugh.
“Oh yeah what’s your favorite?” he asked.
“Skittles. Best sugar to substance ratio,” she said.
“It’s all sugar!”
“That’s why it’s the best! It doesn’t waste time being anything else! You know exactly what you’re getting into with a skittle.”
Steve laughed and squeezed her arm, pulling her a little tighter to him. She just gave him a pleased smile under her eyelashes and bumped his shoulder with her head.
A giddy sort of pleasure quivered through him, and it all stemmed from one spot. Where Stacy was resting her head on his shoulder.
“Wow, that looked so natural,” Dustin said.
“Huh?” Steve was totally lost with what he was talking about.
“The arm wrap thing you just did,” Dustin said. Then flinched, turning to Lucy “Ow! What did you do that for?”
“Uh…” Steve looked at Stacy who shifted away. He pulled his arm back from where it had been resting around her shoulders. He honestly hadn’t been thinking about it at all. Stacy was there sitting next to him, and he had stretched out his arms. She had leaned back on him. It was natural. Felt, natural anyways.
Dustin was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
Lucy was wide eyed, her gaze darting between him and Stacy. Who was staring directly down at the table.
He had to say something, “Yeah, well you know. That’s the thing about the arm reach is that it has to be natural.”
He glanced at Stacy; her brows contracted for a millisecond then her face dropped back into the neutral mask. He hated that mask she put on. He never realized it until just now, but he really hated it. He’d rather see her angry or upset than hiding when she was so close to him. To her friends.
If he knew exactly where Dustin’s leg was, he would have followed Lucy’s example and kicked him in the shins. Then he would have kicked himself. He hadn’t meant anything by putting his arm around her. He liked Stacy, he liked the way she talked. He liked the way she joked. He liked having her near.
Unfortunately, his mouth kept making sounds, before his brain really caught up with him, “See, the thing is, you can’t be aggressive with it. Ya know?”
“You said some girls like a lion,” Dustin said.
“Which is total bullshit,” Lucy piped in.
“Yeah, I like tigers more. But I’m sure Stevie here is a cougar fan,” Stacy said, giving him an exaggerated wink.
Internally he breathed a sigh of relief. They were okay. Right? Stacy didn’t think anything of it either.
He rolled his eyes, “Every time I try to teach you two always have something to say.”
“Oh, please do go on,” Stacy said.
“As I was saying, you really need to watch for your timing. Don’t be aggressive,” this was bullshit. He was pulling this out of his ass. This was total bullshit.
“For instance,” he continued having no idea what he was doing, “If we had just scooched into the booth and before anything, I just put my arm around Stacy like this—” he dropped his arm around Stacy’s shoulders. She gave him an unimpressed look, “It would be weird.”
“It’s not weird now?” Lucy asked.
“No, see it’s not just timing, it’s context and where your arm lands,” he said feeling like he was finally gaining some footing. Granted it was footing on an almost eighty-nine degrees of loose gravel, but it was something. “Lets say you meet a girl things are going well, you like each other, you go on a group hang, but you haven’t asked her out yet. Right? Okay so you’re out with friends and this girl. You want to make sure you’re on the same side of the booth with her.”
“I didn’t realize you were so calculated Steve,” Stacy said, “Otherwise I would have switched with Lucy.”
“We can still switch,” Lucy said.
“No, no, I want to see where this goes,” Stacy said waving her off.
She had a slightly amused expression. He couldn’t tell if she was covering something else at this moment, but at least she seemed entertained.
“Once you’re in the booth,” he continued, “Just relax. You’re halfway there, proximity is everything, and if she likes you, she’ll sit with you, and you just got to feel it.”
“Again, the feeling it thing, you have got to be more specific!” Dustin said.
“I can’t explain it,” he said.
“If you can’t explain it, how am I supposed to know what it is?”
“You’ll know,” Steve said. “Once you do, here is where the technique comes in.”
He reset himself, leaning back in a relaxed posture in the booth, “Stacy say something funny.”
“I can’t think of anything besides you. The scent of Farra Fawcet hairspray mingled Irish spring sends my mind into a fever,” she said a tone so flat you could drive a semi-truck over it while looking him dead in the eyes.
“Good enough,” he said, “You laugh, then casually, you stretch you arm over the back of the seat, not on her, on the seat.”
“Well that’s interesting,” said Lucy, her eyes darted between him and Stacy.
“I’m swooning already,” Stacy said, taking no notice of Lucy keeping all her focus on him.
“What if she doesn’t say anything funny?” Dustin asked.
“Come on man you’re looking for a girlfriend, at least pick one with a little personality,” Steve said with a huff.
“That is the first sensible thing you’ve said all afternoon,” Stacy said still looking up at him.
“Didn’t I compliment you on your audition?” he asked.
“No, but, you insulted Tammy, which I guess is the next closest thing,” she said.
“Guys!” Dustin interrupted, “Can we please refocus on the advice you’re supposed to be giving me.”
“Well, next, the ball is kind of in her court,” he shrugged.
“Seriously?”
“What else do you want me to say man? It’s a conversation, you can’t be making the moves the whole time, she’s got to make a move back.”
“Well, what should I look for?” Dustin asked.
Before Steve could answer Stacy jumped in, “Look at her body language, if she does this,” Stacy gave Steve a look that could only be described as gross said in a tone of a particularly mean cheerleader from California (no he did not know how she communicated that one word so succinctly on her face), and she shifted a little away from him. Which instantly made him feel slimy and he pulled his arm back to his side. “Then yeah move your arm back, but if – Bambi you can move your arm around me again.”
He did.
“Now if a girl likes you too and wants you there she’ll give you a sign.”
“What sign?”
“Well, something like this,” Stacy leaned back against him, just as she had did before.
“Or something like this,” she turned a little towards him and nestled her head right on his shoulder, and fluttered her eyes up at him, in a very un-Stacy-like doe-eyed way, letting out an affected sigh. Before he even had time to process that particular expression, she said “Or maybe even this.”
And she threw her arms around his neck and said in that silly falsetto vaguely southern-belle voice she used whenever she was making fun of him, “Oh Bambi, I didn’t know you cared so much about little ol’ me. Say you’ll keep your arms around me forever!”
Steve didn’t miss a beat, and said “If she does that then you can always do this.”
Then he hoisted her on to his lap. She let out a little squeak, (a sound he had never heard come out of her before), but he wasn’t done with her yet. Her arms were still around his neck. He held her by the small of her back and dipped her bellow the table, so her head was hanging out in the aisle.
She let out a half-surprised half-panicked squeal of laughter.
“No! No! Don’t do that!” she laughed.
“Don’t worry I’ll keep my arms around you forever,” he teased in a mimicking southern gentleman’s voice (or as close as he could get to it, he kind of sounded like Foghorn Leghorn to his own ears).
“No! No! Put me back!” She kept laughing and gave him a light smack on the chest.
The manager and one of the waitresses had turned their heads towards them. He flashed them what he hoped was a charming smile and pulled her back up.
She slid off his lap into her seat next to him, still giggling, “You are such a—”
He put his arm back around her and cut her off, “—a gentleman?”
Her eyes went to the hand he had on her shoulder.
“Then there is always this,” Stacy grabbed his hand, stuck out her tongue and licked his palm.
He jerked his hand away, “Woah! Hey!”
Stacy cackled at his expense, “Oh course if a girl tries to bite you that is all up to interpretation.”
“You are such a freak,” he said.
She popped a French fry into her mouth, still grinning at him, “Yeah I know.”
“I don’t think I can use any of that,” Dustin said.
The four of them kept talking and laughing too loudly in the booth for the rest of the afternoon.
Eventually Lucy looked at her watch and reminded Dustin that they had to be home for dinner. Steve had sort of forgotten being home for dinner was something people did, apparently Stacy had too. If either of them had their way they probably would have stayed until the restaurant closed, but they had already been getting some dirty looks from their waitress.
They split the bill four ways, though Lucy ended up paying Dustin’s tab. Steve tried to pay Stacy’s portion of the bill since she was the one who got the bad news about not getting the gig and this was his idea. However, she insisted that she had an actual job so she could pay her own way, thank you.
Steve told Dustin this was why you paid the bill whenever your date slips off to the bathroom or something.
They made their way out, Lucy and Dustin went ahead of them, waiting by his car.
“Thanks for suggesting this, by the way,” Stacy said.
“No problem, I’m just glad we could hang out.”
“I guess we don’t do that much,” she said.
“No, I guess not. I can’t imagine why we never did before.”
“Maybe it had something to do with me fighting you in an alley,” she said giving him a little nudge with her elbow.
Steve breathed in, God, that fight felt like a million years ago. It was funny you don’t think that you’ll be that different at eighteen when you’re sixteen, but then you get to eighteen and look back at your sixteen-year-old self and think God, was I that stupid? Which of course begs the question if you’re thinking that now, what the hell are you going to think of yourself five years from now?
He shook his head, “Jonathan was there too. Maybe it was that time you tried to hit me with your car?”
“I was just trying to scare Billy. You were in the way,” she said, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world.
“Ah yes, glad that’s cleared up… can’t think of a reason why we shouldn’t spend more time together now.”
“I guess not. Dustin could probably use some more girlfriend getting lessons.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have to hang out just with Dustin,” he said.
“No?”
“No, we could just hang out,” he said. He suddenly felt nervous. Like he was asking her out. Only he wasn’t asking her out, he was asking her to hang out. Because that’s what friends do.
“Well maybe you could call me up on the weekend or something,” she said, with a little shrug of her shoulders.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, if you want. I can’t promise you I’ll be doing anything interesting, but if you want a friend to hang out with sometimes, you got my number.”
“Cool, you’re a cool person Stacy,” he said.
She turned her head away, he caught the faintest bit of pink in her cheeks, “Thanks.”
“You ready to go?” Lucy asked. She was waiting at shotgun by his car.
“Ready,” he said.
“Oh wait! Stacy!” Dustin said.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I was thinking about your Linn-Drum thing,” he said.
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, I said I could make it better, and I think I can, but I’m going to need some recordings, also some equipment,” he said.
“BooBoo, you don’t have to do that,” she said.
“No, I want to! It’s a fun project for me. And I won’t do it for free.”
“What will it cost me?” she asked, folding her arms.
“I want you to give me guitar lessons,” he said.
She blinked, “Really?”
“I can’t believe I am going to say this, but Steve is right. Girls love a musician. I can’t sing with no accompaniment.”
She worked her jaw, her eyes went from Dustin to Steve, who held up his hands. He didn’t prompt Dustin with this.
“I am going to give you homework,” she said after a minute.
“Okay,” Dustin nodded.
“You’ve got to respect the music,” she said.
“Got it,” he said.
“Rock n Roll isn’t about getting wasted and scoring chicks.”
“Understood.”
She gave him a last assessing glare, then held out her hand, “Alright.”
“Alright,” he said, with a huge grin.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Stacy said and waved goodbye.
They all said goodbye and piled into Steve’s car.
“You seriously want to get lessons?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, and Stacy is the best guitar player I know,” he said.
“Not that you know that many,” Lucy said, then quickly added, “But Stacy can play well. So can Eddie.”
“Oh my god, will you stop talking about your boyfriend,” Dustin groaned.
“He’s not my boyfriend!” Lucy snapped back, “And you would like him if you got to know him.”
Steve had some thoughts on Eddie, but decided it was best to keep them to himself. Lucy did like Eddie a lot after all.
“Besides,” Lucy said turning her attention on him, “How long has this thing been going on between you and Stacy hmm?”
“There is nothing between me and Stacy,” Steve said.
“You were flirting with her all afternoon,” she said.
“And last Thursday,” Dustin added.
“He really did keep you hostage for an hour, huh?” Lucy said sympathetically to Dustin, “I thought you were exaggerating.”
“I was not flirting with her,” Steve said. “I was giving Dustin lessons on getting a girlfriend.”
“You could have used me,” she said.
“You were on the other side of the booth; besides it would be weird.”
“How?”
“You’re his sister,” he said.
“That just sounds like an excuse, you did it because you two have chemistry.”
“I have chemistry with everyone.”
“You don’t have chemistry with me,” she said.
“Almost everyone.”
He pulled up in front of the Henderson house. Dustin got out of the car first with barely a ‘Thanks Steve,’ before hurrying up the steps. Why was the kid always hurrying? He never seemed to slow down.
“I’ll see you inside!” Lucy called after him and stayed right where she was.
“Lucy?” Steve asked.
“I’m mad at you,” she said staring right out the front windshield.
“What about the chemistry thing? It wasn’t anything against you—”
“I’m mad about how you treated Stacy.”
“What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath in through her nose like she was trying to keep herself calm, “You don’t know Stacy that well. But she has a lot of feelings she doesn’t show. You know the rumors, you know how guys have treated her before.”
His brows furrowed together, “What does that have to do with anything?”
What does that have to do with me? He really wanted to ask.
“Stacy is… she needs someone who takes her seriously. Who will stick around. Not someone who just wants a good time.”
“I’m going to stick around, we’re friends.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t make Stacy your rebound from Nancy!” Lucy almost shouted.
“Hey!” Steve said matching her tone, “I don’t think of her as a rebound. She’s just my friend.”
“Does she know that?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said, but even as he said it, he was unsure. She did pull away the first time he put his arm around her and Dustin had said something. But after she had played along, hadn’t she? She teased him, she made fun of him. They were having fun. Weren’t they?
Lucy gave him a hard look (which was impressive for Lucy).
Oh, this was ridiculous. Lucy had it all wrong. Stacy put up with him teaching Dustin because he was a dancing monkey and she thought he was amusing from time to time. It wasn’t anything serious. Lucy was making a mountain out of a mole hill.
“She knows we’re just friends. I think I’ve just barely gotten her to like me.”
“Just be more considerate going forward,” Lucy said and got out of the car, “I’ll see you tomorrow."
Steve made sure she made it inside and drove home.
Lucy was being crazy that’s all there was to it. Stacy could make her own decisions.
He could admit that he and Stacy had chemistry. And, okay, maybe there was some attraction there on his part. He hadn’t had a girlfriend in a while. It was natural.
Lucy was wrong, Stacy wasn’t his rebound.
Just to show her he called Stacy when he got home.
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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed! Like, Comments, and Reblogs are all appreciated. If you want to know more about Stacy send me an ask! In the mean time I'll be working on the next chapter for this fic, hopefully it will be up by next week.
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