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“Oh! Okay, what about this one?” Nat held up a lacy, red dress.
Sighing, Stephanie put her head in her hands, “What part of understated are you not understanding here, Nat? That’s too fancy!”
“You’re going to prom with an insanely hot guy on each arm! You can’t just go in any old dress. Besides, Tony’s paying for it anyhow, right? And he said not to skimp on anything. We have to find you a dress that’s a knockout. I am not leaving you until that happens.”
“I second the motion!” Sharon was wading through another rack of dresses, while Maria was scrolling through Instagram.
Giving up, Steph got up to look through the dresses herself, “I just don’t want to draw unnecessary attention, you know? Like, it’s enough that I’m going with the guys that I’m head over heels for, the rest is just icing on the cake. And I don’t have to remind you that I don’t like icing.” She pulled out yet another unspectacular black dress.
Maria just gave a frown and a thumbs down, “Steph, you can’t just wear any dress. Why are you you so set against getting a completely gorgeous gown?”
“I just, well, I uh-”
Sharon stopped looking and guided Steph to sit over by Maria, “What’s the matter, girl? We usually have fun when we go shopping, despite the fact that this one just sits on her phone!” She playfully shoved Maria who scoffed and gasped as if she was offended.
“Yeah, Steph. What’s really going on here?” Nat had stopped prowling about the store.
“It’s just that, well, I’m not the girliest girl out there, you know? Like, I play football and the most dressed up I’ve ever gotten is for my first date with Tony and Bucky. And I wasn’t even dressed up, it was that dress that’s been sitting in the back of my closet since we thought we were gonna graduate early.” Steph stopped to dab at her eyes, “What if they don’t like me all dressed up? What if it’s too much and I scare them off? I really want this to work out, because I love them, I really do. But I’m just so scared that I’ll screw up the whole thing!”
“Oh hon, those boys love you to the moon and back, you know that right?” Sharon wrapped an arm around Stephanie while she sniffled.
“Well, I mean they do now, but what if something happens? Like, what if they don’t like the fact that I play football and they don’t realize it until I show up in a dress that’s never gonna fit right because I don’t have curves? What if they leave because I don’t wanna dress up! Guys, I don’t think I can do this! I’ll just have to cancel! I-I’ll just say that there’s a family thing I can’t get out of that night. Yeah, that sounds like a much better plan.” The football player was already gathering up her things, getting ready to go.
Nat mouthed to the others to keep Steph occupied. They nodded consent and immediately started talking. The redhead snuck further into the store to text the only people who could conceivably calm down Steph at this moment.
N: You guys need to get here ASAP.
T: Why, what’s wrong? Did you guys get hurt or something?
N: No, you guys just need to get here ASAP. Preferably together.
B: Nat, just tell us what we’re getting into here.
N: Steph’s freaking out. You both needed to be here 10 mins ago.
When she came back to their little section, Maria was the only one there, still on her phone.
“Where’d they go?”
Maria waved a hand vaguely toward the bathroom. Nat huffed but went that direction. She fired off one more text.
N: Text me when you guys get here.
*
Ten minutes later, Tony and Bucky sprinted in, looking around frantically. When their eyes landed on Maria, they hurried over.
“Where is she?”
“Is she okay?”
Maria looked up, clearly exasperated with the both of them, “If the she you’re both referring to is Steph, then she’s in the bathroom with Nat and Sharon. And if you are in fact referring to Steph, then yes, she is fine. Just a little freaked and insecure, but otherwise, fine.”
The both of them looked relieved, but Bucky just rolled his eyes at Maria’s sass. She wasn’t paying any attention to them anymore though, whatever was on her phone was much more interesting.
Sharon, Nat, and Steph came out of the bathroom. Sharon tugged Maria off the couch and the three went to look around the store; leaving Steph and her boyfriends alone for the moment.
“Doll, what’s wrong?”
Steph was sandwiched between the two of them, seemingly trying to make herself as small as possible. She simply shook her head at the comment, making both of her boyfriends sigh. Their girl had a habit of bottling her emotions that the two were slowly trying to break her out of.
“What can we do sweetheart?” Tony rubbed circles on her back, whispering in her ear.
Steph wiped her eyes, “I just- Do you guys love me?”
“Well- yeah, of course we do, Steph.” Bucky looked like he was personally affronted by the question.
Tony was trying his best to quell whatever fear Steph was having, “There’s not much we wouldn’t do for you baby. You know we love you, to the moon and back.”
“I-I just, you guys could do so much better than me, you know that right? I mean, I wasn’t always the healthiest kid growing up and now that I am healthy, I play football. That’s not exactly normal. And because I play football, I don’t fit into girl clothes the way most girls do and I just always feel self conscious in girly stuff, but I really want to look good. I mean, I kind of have to, going with you guys. A-and-”
“Babe? I’m going to stop you right there.” Tony had a look of genuine concern, but also hurt on his face, “Bucky and I? We’re gonna love you no matter what. It doesn’t matter to us what you wear, or what you look like, we love you. No matter what you’re wearing or what you look like.”
Bucky spoke up, “And if you don’t want to go to prom? We don’t have to. The three of us can stay in and binge on ice cream if you really want to. Whatever is gonna make you the most comfortable, sweetheart. You just let us know, mkay?”
Steph sighed before settling comfortably in their arms, “I mean, I want to go to prom, I really do! But I just- there’s so many things that could go wrong or I could look funny or people might look at us funny because we’re all going together or- oh I don’t know. Would it just be easier to binge on Friends and Stranger Things and junk food?”
“Whatever you want, sweetheart. Bucky and I are happy doing what makes you happy. Right, Buck?” Tony looked up from where he had been resting his forehead on Steph’s.
Bucky just nodded a placed a kiss on top of Steph’s head. And then kissed Tony when he whined that he wanted love too. That made Steph giggle.
*
The three did go to prom together. Once Steph’s fears had been quelled, she went back to looking for a dress. There were some compromises made between her and her girls, but they eventually found a dress that everyone agreed on.
The blue made Steph’s eyes pop. It was fancy enough to satisfy her friends, but also understated enough for her. Besides, she had abs, why not show them off a little?
She, Bucky, and Tony all walked into prom together. They turned heads, sure, but not in the way Steph thought they would. Everyone was looking because together? The threesome looked like they could take on the world and win. The boys’ ties matched her dress and they both wore matching black suits.
They danced the night away, each silently thanking God for this fairytale of a night.