Chapter Text
Dustin had planned a long time for this.
Being in love with all your friends is hard work. And with the help of Steve and all his boyfriends and girlfriends, and their boyfriends and girlfriends, Dustin thinks he has planned a very spectacular way to ask all of them out. Dates with all of them, where he will be able to explain everything and, at least hopefully, score a whopping five partners by the end of the week on top of the one he already scored before freshman year. Summer break started twelve days ago! What better way to christen their months-long holiday than with way too much romance for small-town Hawkins, Indiana to handle?
So here Dustin is, standing on Lucas’ front porch, all dressed up, ‘thinking cap’ gone and replaced with the fancy girl hairspray he’s used since Steve confided in him during 8th grade. He kind of wants to throw up. If every single teenager-slash-adult he knew didn’t know he was here, he might throw his bouquet of flowers behind the Sinclair’s house and run for the hills. But Dustin knows if he backs out now , he will never live it down. Eddie might tell the rest of the party himself if he has to put up with more of Dustin’s lovesick rambling. So, instead of burning rubber back to his bedroom, he takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door.
The door starts to open, and he’s greeted by a worst case scenario. He did not consider the possibility that Erica might be the one to open the door. And she wastes no time in ragging on him for everything she possibly can.
“It’s you? What are you doing here? And why do you look so fancy?”
She glances down at the roses and raises an eyebrow.
“You do know I’m too young for you, right?”
Dustin cannot help the ew that shows on his face.
“I’d rather french kiss Jason. I’m here for Lucas.”
It’s Erica’s turn to ew .
“You like my brother?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I do, so can you please get him?”
Erica rolls her eyes, but yells her brother’s name with a ferocity that, well, honestly he’s not very surprised by. Erica is replaced by Lucas, and Dustin suddenly feels a lot more light headed.
“Dustin? Woah, Erica was right, you are dressed up!”
Now or never. If only 4th-grade Dustin could see this.
“Would you go out to dinner with me? Tonight?”
Dustin gulps, a little harder than he meant to, but it’s okay, because Lucas starts smiling, and maybe this wasn’t a terrible idea after all, and, “Oh!” he rushes to get the bouquet out of his arms, holding it out to his best friend. “These are for you.”
“Not that you have to say yes just because I got you flowers though!! You can say no. And we could still be friends and all that, so really-”
Lucas rolls his eyes.
“Oh my god, Dustin!”
He closes his mouth, and Lucas smiles, and Dustin wishes their dinner date was over and done with so he could kiss him already. If it goes well, that is.
“I would love to go out to dinner with you. Now take a chill pill, I need to get ready. Is the place we’re going really that fancy?”
“No, I just dressed up because it’s romantic. You could honestly go like that, it’s not very … high class.”
“No, fuck you, I’m dressing up.”
And then Lucas was gone, and he was left to deal with Erica again.
“Your hair looks stupid.”
And Dustin wishes he had waited in the car.
“Hold on, you’re taking me to McDonalds ?”
Dustin parks the car.
“I told you it wasn’t anywhere classy!”
Lucas laughs at him, and the two of them get out of the car. As they’re walking for the door, Dustin wants to hold his hand, but decides maybe he should hold off on that. He did clean up really nice though. Dark green tie and everything. Dustin is in love with him.
They order, and get their food, and sit down, and the floors are sticky under their dress shoes, and neither of them care, and it is nice. And Lucas thinks about the roses in a vase on his bedside table, and he looks at the boy across the table from him.
“Dustin… did you ask me here as a joke?”
Dustin almost spits out his coke.
“What!? No, I wouldn’t- listen, Lucas, I… I really like you.”
Lucas raises his eyebrows and starts fiddling with his fingers.
“Like, I’ve liked you for ages! But uh, I also like the rest of the party. So, Steve and all them helped me set up this plan thing where I could take all of you on dates and explain everything to you then. Suzie’s been begging me to confess to you guys for years.”
Lucas doesn’t answer.
“Basically uh, I really like you, and would love to date you for real, but only if you’re okay with the fact that I like the rest of them, and I might end up dating some of them, too. And of course, if you don’t feel the same that’s fine too! Then we can just be two friends dressed really nice in McDonalds!”
Lucas starts smiling, and Dustin thinks he could die from relief.
“Am I the first one who’s gone out with you?”
Dustin nods.
“Well then, only because I’m first, which obviously means I’m most important, I would love to date you for real.”
Lucas does not say he’s found Dustin cute since sixth grade, or that he’s had a crush on him for a year and a half. And he thinks about leaving it at that, and enjoying his first date with his best friend (now boyfriend?), but Dustin beams , and Lucas can’t leave it at that, not when he’s so cute.
“Can we kiss?” Lucas blurts, before he can choose not to.
“Right,” Dustin is very pink, “Right now?”
“Uhh… Yeah. Right now. If you want?”
And of
course
Dustin wants. So for a minute it’s like they really are at a fancy restaurant, with tiny circular tables, and expensive appetizers, and they’re on a romantic date, like
Lady and the Tramp
. But in reality it’s just them, in an empty McDonalds, dressed to the nines, sitting across each other in a sticky booth, leaning across the table, and kissing. And it is a
very
good first kiss, they both think. And it is a very good first date. And part one of Dustin’s week-long plan has gone better than he could’ve hoped.