Chapter Text
The party is too loud.
Eleven doesn’t like loud.
Not this kind.
Music echoing through the house, people talking over each other, laughter that feels too sharp, too bright. She stands near the wall, fingers laced together beneath her chin, watching.
Observing.
Learning.
Trying.
“Okay, so,” Dustin’s voice cuts through the noise as he steps beside her, holding two cups. “I have no idea what this is, but realistically speaking, it’s either punch or—”
She takes the cup.
Doesn’t drink it.
Just holds it.
“You don’t like it,” he says.
It’s not a question.
She glances at him.
“No.”
He nods.
“Yeah, I figured. It’s… a lot.”
A beat.
“Do you want to leave?” he asks.
She doesn’t hesitate.
“Yes.”
He grins.
“Great. I hate it here.”
--
The noise fades behind them as they walk.
It’s quieter out here.
Cooler.
Better.
Eleven walks beside him, shoulders relaxed now, like she can breathe again.
“You didn’t have to leave,” she says.
He shrugs.
“I didn’t want to stay.”
A pause.
“You wanted to go,” he adds. “So we went.”
She looks at him.
There’s no weight to it for him.
No sacrifice.
Just… simple.
--
They walk without direction.
Side by side.
Not talking much.
But it’s not uncomfortable.
It never is.
“You’re good at that,” she says after a while.
“Being incredibly charming?” he replies immediately.
She almost smiles.
“No.”
He glances at her.
“Then what?”
“Knowing.”
He slows a little.
“What do you mean?”
She stops walking.
He turns back to her.
“You know when things are too loud,” she says. “When I don’t like something. When I want to leave.”
He shrugs, like it’s obvious.
“I mean… yeah.”
“How?”
He hesitates.
Like he doesn’t know how to explain something that’s always been natural.
“I just… pay attention,” he says finally.
A beat.
“To you.”
That lands.
--
She watches him.
Really watches him.
Like she’s seeing something new.
Something she’s always known, but never noticed.
“You always stay,” she says.
He frowns.
“Of course I do.”
“Why?”
And there it is.
The question.
The one he avoids.
Always.
“Because we’re friends,” he says quickly.
Too quickly.
She tilts her head.
“You said that fast.”
“I.. no, I didn’t.”
“You did.”
He huffs.
“Okay, well, maybe a little fast, but that doesn’t..”
“Dustin.”
He stops.
The way she says his name..
It’s different.
Softer.
Not calling.
Not correcting.
Just… him.
He looks at her.
Really looks.
“Yeah?”
She steps closer.
Slow.
Like she’s not trying to scare the moment away.
“You always choose me,” she says.
His breath catches.
“I- I mean, yeah. I guess.”
“Why?”
He laughs nervously.
“Wow, we are really circling this question again, huh?”
She doesn’t smile this time.
She’s serious.
Waiting.
He exhales.
Runs a hand through his hair.
“Because you’re you,” he says. “Okay? That’s- that’s it.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is!” he insists. “It’s— it’s the answer.”
She studies him.
Then, quietly—
“I don’t think you are telling the truth.”
And that that breaks something open.
He looks away.
Just for a second.
Then back.
And this time, he doesn’t dodge it.
“Because I like you,” he says.
It comes out softer than he expects.
Real.
No joke.
No deflection.
Just there.
The air shifts.
She stills.
Like she didn’t expect that.
Or maybe like she did.
“You like me,” she repeats.
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“I have for a while.”
Longer pause.
“I just didn’t— I didn’t want to make it weird.”
Too late.
It’s already different.
Everything is.
She steps closer.
Not hesitant.
Not unsure.
Just… thinking.
Processing.
“You have always liked me?”
He laughs, a little embarrassed.
“Wow, okay, when you say it like that it sounds—”
“Yes.”
He exhales.
“Yeah.”
Silence.
She looks at him like she’s putting pieces together.
Slowly.
Carefully.
“You listen to me,” she says.
“Yeah.”
“You explain things.”
“Yeah.”
“You stay.”
“Yeah.”
A beat.
“You look at me… differently.”
He freezes.
“I—”
“You do,” she insists.
And she’s right.
She is.
He just didn’t think she’d notice.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she says, quieter now.
“That’s okay,” he says gently. “You don’t have to—”
“But I feel it,” she interrupts.
And now—
now he’s the one holding still.
She takes a breath.
Then..
“I think… I like you too.”
It’s not dramatic.
Not a big confession.
Just… honest.
And somehow that makes it bigger.
His brain short-circuits.
“Wait, like— like like like— or—”
She steps closer.
Close enough that he stops talking.
“I don’t know everything yet,” she says.
“Okay.”
“But I know this.”
A beat.
“I want to stay.”
With you.
She doesn’t say it.
But it’s there.
He nods slowly.
Like he’s afraid to mess this up.
“Okay,” he says. “Yeah. We can, we can stay.”
They stand there.
Close.
Neither moving.
Neither wanting to.
“Dustin,” she says softly.
He looks at her.
“Yeah?”
She leans in.
Not rushed.
Not dramatic.
Just… certain.
Their foreheads touch first.
Then the kiss.
She kisses his cheek,
It’s soft.
A little unsure.
But it fits.
Like something that was always supposed to happen just… later.
When she pull back, he’s smiling.
He can’t help it.
“That was—”
“Good,” she says.
He laughs.
“Yeah. Yeah, it was good.”
She smiles.
Small.
Real.
“Do we go back?” he asks after a moment.
She shakes her head.
“No.”
“Yeah,” he says. “No, that tracks.”
A beat.
“Where do we go?”
She takes his hand.
Simple.
Easy.
“Anywhere.”
And this time he lets her lead.