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Something Steve had noticed about Chrissy Cunningham was that while she always seemed to be one of the most excited about putting something together and everyone having fun, she always seemed to be on the edge of every party and every hangout when they actually got there. If she wasn’t dead center of the cheer routine at a pep rally or game then she was nowhere near the center of attention. He kinda wondered about that because it had seemed odd at first how she could be all loud and bright when she cheered and then suddenly get all quiet off the court. Eventually he just kinda guessed it was like reverse stage fright or something, cheering had a routine she just had to follow but having a conversation didn’t and that could be a little nerve wracking.
It did still kind of make him feel bad though, when all the cheerleaders and jocks were at some party she’d help put together to see her there with a red cup in hand at the edge of the everything smiling shyly and barely talking to anyone. It just didn’t sit right with him that no one seemed to notice her there or check up on her. She was like an island off the coast of their shore and no one seemed interested in sailing over or building a bridge. He found with every party or hangout that it bothered him more and more. They were at a party at the lake this time. He saw her there sitting on a log at the edge of the fire light by herself. Steve dipped out of his conversation with the guys to change that.
“Hey there! Party’s hoppin’ huh?” He said as he sat on the log next to her and tried not to cringe. Party’s hoppin’? Seriously?
Chrissy looked up at him in surprise but smiled up at him warmly.
“Yeah! It’s going really well!”
“You having fun?” He asked.
“Totally. I’m having a great time!” She replied a bit too enthusiastically for him to call it completely natural. Called it.
“You sure? You’re not bored or lonely or anything right?”
She bit her lip. “No really I’m okay.”
“Okay, just wanted to check in. I noticed you uh— kinda seem always be hanging back so I just wanted to make sure you know?”
She smiled again and this time it was much more natural.
“That’s really sweet Steve thanks. I’m good though. I’m having fun I promise. I actually like kinda being on the outside of parties. It’s fun to watch everyone.”
He raised a brow. “Really? Seems kinda boring to me.”
“No really it’s fun! I dunno it’s nice to see people having fun or whatever.”
She looked shyly down at her drink, biting her lip again. Christ she was cute.
“Aw, that’s actually kinda sweet.”
“You really think so?”
He bumped her shoulder with his. “Yeah I do. It’s cute that you like seeing people happy and stuff.”
It was hard to tell in the dim flickering light but he was pretty sure she was blushing now. She was still smiling somehow even more shyly now (but even more happily too) as she kept her eyes on the toes of her sneakers, digging them into the soft ground of the shore. Her lashes were long and fluttery. It was the first thing he noticed followed by how she was a super gorgeous, nice girl sitting next to him. Sitting next to him and potentially blushing because he’d complimented her.
He’d be a fucking liar if he said there wasn’t an appeal in dating Chrissy Cunningham. She was honestly kind of perfect girlfriend material — pretty, sweet, nice, cheerleader, popular. It was weird thinking about it now that he’d never tried to ask her out before given all that. And sure, he was seeing all the boxes she ticked now but sitting here next to her he was pretty sure that the thing that was interesting him the most was her shyness. It was just really interesting. He was pretty sure that under that shyness was a girl even more amazing than how she presented on paper.
“Mind a little company on the people watching bench?” He asked.
“No go ahead!”
He grinned at her and she returned it readily. It took a little but he managed but after a while he managed to coax her more out of her shell and get her talking. Her laugh was so cute and bubbly it was literally intoxicating to get her to laugh. The way her eyes sparkled when she was happy was messing with his head. Honestly 5 minutes in and he was a goner already, everything after that was just digging the hole deeper. There was no way he was leaving this party without shooting his shot and asking Chrissy out.
They talked the entire rest of the party, the more he learned about her the more and more he liked her. As the night got colder he used it as an excuse to sit closer so their sides now touched. By the time people started to pack it in she was leaning into him. Her warm breath on his cheek was making him utterly fucking insane.
“We should probably get going too…” Chrissy said as she looked around, it seemed like she was finally noticing how late it was.
“Yeah seems like it. C’mon, I’ll give you a lift.” Steve said.
“Oh! You don’t have to do that!” Chrissy said.
He groaned and got up.
“Nah don’t worry about it, you’re like, two streets over.” He replied as he offered her his hand. “It’s not like it’s a big deal and I wanna make sure you get home okay.”
Chrissy bit her lip again and took his hand. He helped pull her up, still holding her hand as she smoothed her skirt with the other.Her hand was so small and cold in his. He couldn’t really tell the color because it was so dark but he was pretty sure her nails were painted pink. Finally they let go of each other hands and he mourned the contact immediately.
He went along with it when Chrissy insisted on helping with the clean up. It was more time to spend with her and a chance to get in some more points before he popped the question. He carried a cooler to her friends car and muscled it into the back for her on their way to his beamer.
The ride back was quieter but still pleasant with the top 40 station he liked adding a soft backdrop to their conversation. When they made it to her street and she helpfully pointed out which was hers he knew his opening was coming up. He was pretty sure he’d timed this all right, hopefully he actually had. He parked at the curb to her house.
“Thanks so much for the ride Steve.” She was so pretty in the dim glow of the house lights.
He was leaning on the middle dash, turned to her as much as he could be in the car.
“No problem— Hey Chrissy?” He asked.
She looked up from reorganizing the straps of her bag.
“Yeah?”
“I had a really great time talking to you tonight and I was wondering if maybe you like to do that again sometime? Like on a date?”
She tensed up immediately and if it weren’t for the smile she was trying to bite back he’d have thought he’d royally fucked this up.
“I’d really like that Steve.” Her voice was just about the softest he’d heard it all night. Shit, she really was pretty shy huh?
He grinned, excitement and triumph exploding in him.
“Cool. Is tomorrow good? We can go to the movies or something — whatever you wanna do really.”
She was clutching to her backpack like it was a teddy bear as she grinned at him bashfully, her chin tucked behind it. It was unbelievably cute. He felt like he was on the receiving end of one of those types of crushes you saw girls on TV have that he was pretty sure were not at all how girls actually were about guys. Like he was incredibly dreamy and she was trying to keep her cool around him. It was fucking awesome.
“Yeah. The movies sound great.” She said.
“Cool. I’ll uh, check the times and stuff when I get home and I’ll call you tomorrow morning to figure it out.”
She nodded. “Okay. I can’t wait.”
He didn’t want to leave. “Great. I’ll talk to you then I guess.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “See you then. Good night.”
Finally she turned to unbuckle herself and open her door. She paused just as she was starting to get out and seemed to grapple with herself for a minute before she turned back biting her lip. He was about to ask if everything was okay when she practically launched herself at him and kissed him softly on the cheek. She smelled like vanilla and flowers. Her lips were soft. Practically every nerve in his body starting in his cheek were on fire with sudden electricity.
Her courage seemed officially used up about a second after she gave him that good night kiss because she immediately got out of the car and started booking it to her house.
Steve practically fell over himself and into the passenger seat after her.
“Good night!” He called out after her. “Sweet dreams! See you tomorrow!”
She turned just enough to wave back at him as she went.
Still feeling like he’d just won the fucking lottery Steve reached over to grab the handle of the passenger door. It hadn’t quite closed completely when she made her big escape (it was kind of nice that she hadn’t slammed his baby’s door honestly). Shaking his head and still grinning so wide his face was starting to hurt he got comfortable again and headed home once he saw her actually get in her house. He waited until he was on the next street over before he let out an jubilant whoop and punched the car’s ceiling.
He’d just gotten a date and a kiss from Chrissy Fucking Cunningham. Fuck yes.