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Dustin Henderson was many things, he was smart, he was funny, he had cool friends, and above all he was blessed with the gift of having the audacity to always say what he thinks– or at least most of the time. However, he had never exactly been Mr. Popular, the closest he was to that was his best friend being co-chief editor of the school paper. Jane Hopper was praised by many and adored by all, she had, along with Nancy Wheeler, the previous chief editor, made The Weekly Streak cool; she was fierce and borderline obsessed with always telling the truth and with writing about what matters. And she made things matter, she was smart, she was beautiful, she was popular and she didn’t even care about it; she was the kindest girl to ever set foot in Hawkins High. And she was his best friend in the world.
If it sounds like Dustin is a little too passionate about Jane, that’s because he is, though it seems like he himself hasn’t exactly had this realisation yet. In his mind, his best friend has been in love with the same guy for years: Mike Wheeler, her co-chief editor. Jane had told him this one time that she thought Mike was nice and Dustin panicked and immediately assumed she was in love with him. Why did he panic, you ask? He had never actually stopped to think about it.
Mike Wheeler was tall, with long dark hair, usually tied up in a ponytail, and a face full of freckles; he was what girls would call mysterious looking, but Dustin knew him better than that, and he could confirm he was actually just moody and didn’t give a single flying shit about girls. But for some reason, he seemed to really enjoy Jane’s company, they worked well together, both in the paper and outside of it. So, naturally, Dustin assumed that whatever Jane’s feelings were, Mike probably reciprocated them. Which would be correct if Dustin didn’t think Jane was in love with Mike, so, needless to say, he was very wrong, and he is just about to find out just how wrong.
***
Dustin is standing by Jane’s locker, waiting for her and Will Byers, her brother, to arrive. It’s their last week of high school and there’s not a lot to do classes wise, but there’s still prom to finish planning, and they are on the organising committee. He knows Jane will want to get on with it as soon as possible, so it strikes him as weird that she’s late. Not that she’s always on time, but usually when it comes to things like the paper or some event, she’s always first on the scene. Not today, though. Suddenly, from down the hall a voice wakes him up.
“Hey Henderson, waiting for your girlfriend?” some idiot in a varsity jacket screams, sarcastically.
“He is actually, do you have a problem with that, Andy?” Jane answers sweetly, coming up behind him, not even giving Dustin the chance to come up with the perfect comeback. She intertwines her fingers in his, making Dustin’s face burn and his mouth hang open in confusion.
“Whatever.” Andy grunts, looking pissed off but mainly disappointed. Everyone knows he’s had the biggest crush on Jane since middle school, and probably had been saving a ticket for the prom in hopes that she would go with him, not that she’d ever given him any indication that that’d be something she’d want. Anyone who knew Jane knew that she hated bullies, so there was no chance in hell of that ever happening. He disappears into a classroom and Dustin turns to Jane.
“What the hell was that?” he looks up at her, genuinely confused, but very amused.
“He was pissing me off,” she shrugs, “it’s none of his business if you’re waiting for me or if we’re dating or anything like that.”
Dustin laughs and looks down, turning bright red at the mention of them dating, and immediately choking on air as he notices that they’re still holding hands. Jane seems to not even notice, and if she does, it doesn’t really bother her. Not that it bothers him… It’s nice. But they should let go. It could give people the wrong idea. And what if Mike sees it and thinks Jane doesn’t like him anymore? He could screw it all up for her. He starts to let go casually when suddenly she pulls him by the hand.
“Come, I want to show you something.”
“Is it the reason why you were late? I have your muffin here, by the way.” He extends her a paper bag he’s been holding in the other hand.
“Oh, thank god, what would I do without you, Dustin?”
“Well, probably eat a lot less muffins, I guess.”
She giggles.
“You’re an idiot!” she says, and her voice felt like honey to Dustin. If she keeps this up, holding his hand, talking to him as if he is the only boy in the world, he might combust. What the hell was happening?
“So, what do you want to show me?” he asks, clearing his throat.
“Shh, we’re almost there! Patience, young Padawan.”
“Are you quoting Star Wars at me, Jane Hopper?” he laughs.
“Paraphrasing, actually, Dustin Henderson. Do you want me to give you the full quote?” she looks back at him, smugly.
“No need for–” he starts, but she interrupts him.
“Patience you must have, my young padawan.” she tells him, in her best Yoda impersonation. The grin on her face is beautiful and suddenly Dustin feels like he is looking directly at the sun and he can’t look away; and looking directly at it was forcing him to consider some things, like how he finds his best friend the most beautiful person to ever exist. He is marvelled. He manages a slight chuckle.
“My my, Miss Jane, are you… Could you possibly be…” then he whispers, getting closer to her, “a big fucking nerd?”
She laughs melodically, a rose tint adorning her cheeks.
“That depends, would a big fucking nerd know that that isn’t an actual quote from the movies? If so, guilty as charged!” she grins. Then, as they turn the corner, she stops slightly, turning to him with a shy smile, “there is however, a somewhat similar quote, if you would prefer that I use that one.”
“Please, enlighten me.” Dustin says, automatically, with a proud smile. He loved to witness Jane in her geek mode and the way she could actually just quote from memory so many lines from her favourite movies and books.
She looks at him lovingly, resting the palm of her free hand on his cheek, and says sweetly, “patience, my handsome Jedi.”
Dustin enters a trance; looking at her, noticing her blush, noticing her big hazel eyes, and how she does look a little like Padme, and how lovely her hair is today, and every day, and her lips, pink and full and kind and with a tiny bit of some kind of lip balm or lip gloss, and he wasn’t an expert but maybe if he could have a closer look he could figure it out so he inches closer and her breath catches and he looks at her eyes again but they seem to be locked on his mouth and was he imagining all of this?
Then suddenly Lucas Sinclair’s voice snaps them out of the moment and they jump apart.
“What are you guys doing standing there? Come on, quickly!” he waves at them, impatiently.
Jane holds his hand again, it seems more careful this time, and pulls him towards where Max and Lucas are standing, looking through the small window on the gym door.
“Hey guys, are they still going?” Jane asks, slightly out of breath.
“Yeah,” Max sighs, “like we had to leave because they just wouldn’t stop and it was becoming unbearable!”
“Maxine, you need to surrender yourself to love.” he says, in a very wise tone.
“Lucas, I swear to god if you say that one more time–” Max grunts in frustration. He laughs, and Dustin can tell that he’s probably repeated that a hundred or so times to Max, like some kind of ongoing private joke that had. “it’s not about love; it’s about me not wanting to see or hear Mike Wheeler’s spit!”
What? What was even happening?
“Mike’s spit? What do you mean?” Dustin asks confused. Was it possible that he and Jane had kissed? Had he finally asked her to prom? How could that be after the moment they just had? Had he imagined it? And why the hell did all this bother him? What kind of friend was he? He should be happy for his friend, his best friend. He was spiralling. Suddenly, like a lighthouse in the dark sea, Jane’s voice snapped him out if it.
“Just look!” she whispers in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine and letting go of his hand to push him forward to the little window in the door to the gym.
Inside it is Mike Wheeler, sitting on the bleachers, making out with someone. He immediately looks over at Jane, worried that she might be heartbroken, but she was positively beaming. He looks through the window again and finally notices it – sitting on Mike’s lap, kissing him frantically while driving his fingers through his loose and long dark hair, is Will Byers.
“Holy shit!” Dustin says, chuckling in disbelief.
“Yeah, holy shit!” Jane echoes, amused.
“It was about time, too.” Lucas sighs, “it was becoming unbearable to have to watch them pining over each other constantly.”
“That I can agree with, the longing looks in second period were honestly nauseating. How many times can you look back at the guy behind you, Michael?” Jane laughs at Max’s remarks, so she continues, now laughing a little too, “and like do you need to caress his hand to accept a pencil?”
“They were becoming a bit too much, yeah. And none of you live with Will, you have no idea how much overthinking goes on in that head!” Jane adds with a sigh, “I love my brother, I do. But damn…”
“I know what you mean, try working with Mike! He literally has two modes: talking about Will and moping.” Max jokes, but her face indicates a little worry – everyone knows that Mike is her best friend, not in the same way Jane is Dustin’s, more like in the way that she is the only one allowed to complain about him. Kind of like how Robin is with Steve, they loved each other, but would kiss a trash can before kissing the other on the lips.
“Anyway, something had to be done!”, Jane declares, proudly.
Dustin, who’d been attentively watching all this unfold with a dumbfounded expression, finally spoke again.
“You mean you’re the one that brought them together?”, he can hear his own tone of surprise in the question.
“Of course, silly, who else would be able to pull it off without them running off or something? Why are you so surprised?”
Dustin was so confused that he couldn’t even speak, he just stammers, opening and closing his mouth trying to find something to say.
“How did you pull it off, though?” Lucas asks, arching his eyebrow as if it still seemed impossible that Mike Wheeler and Will Byers were finally openly making out on the bleachers. Dustin can relate.
“Oh, it wasn’t that hard, really. I told Mike to come over because I needed him to review some photos for the Streak. You know how picky he gets about the photos.”, everyone nods in agreement, “anyway, I told him that Will had picked up the hobby of taking photos from Jonathan because it helped him with his paintings, so the photos were his and he wanted his input. He obviously came over in like 10 minutes, you should’ve seen him! Hair still wet, smelling of too much deodorant,” she chuckles, “it was funny to see him so riled up when he realised there were no photos. Then I opened Will’s door and threw him inside. Will wasn’t even really paying attention until Mike was inside and he was like “Jane what’s going on?” and I was like “This has been going on for too long, you guys clearly like each other and everyone can see it, so just get your shit together!” and half an hour later they came out, lips all swollen and left holding hands. Said they were going to take a walk.” she giggles, clearly proud of herself.
“Fucking hell, if I’d known it was that easy, I would’ve closed them in the same room alone months ago!” Max sighs. Lucas nods solemnly in agreement. Dustin still looks like he’s been hit over the head with a brick.
“Dusty, you okay?” Jane asks, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. He looks up at her.
“I’m fine” his voice comes out like a mix between a squeaky toy and a demonic chuckle. He clears his throat, “I gotta go. Bye.”
And just like that, he’s running off down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria, leaving his friends standing there, worried looks on their faces.
“Do you think he had a crush on Will?” Lucas asks.
Max smiles knowingly and looks over at Jane, who’s still looking at where Dustin’s silhouette had just been a few seconds before, “Oh Lucas, you’re so close.”
***
Dustin is still running when he notices he’s outside. He stops himself and looks around.
“Fuck.” he whispers to himself. Then louder, a scream to whoever is around to hear, “fuck!”
“Henderson, language!”
A familiar voice coming from above actually manages to make him sigh with relief. Steve Harrington is on the roof of the school having lunch by himself, but the chair next to him indicates he’s not alone.
“What are you doing here? When did you get back?” Dustin asks, his mood improving significantly.
“You know, tradition!” Steve says as if it’s obvious. Dustin looks at him confused. Steve rolls his eyes.
“You know, Robin and I always have lunch up here once a month and catch up.”
“I know, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here on a Wednesday and why you’re in Hawkins and haven’t even texted me, you asshole!”
“Yeah, I know we usually do it on weekends, but that’s because that’s when she manages to come home from New York. Since the semester is over, we decided to do it today and see if we’d catch some of you dorks. I got here late last night. We’re renting an apartment downtown for the summer and I had to be here today to go get the keys.”
Of course they were renting an apartment, Steve hates being at his parents’ house and Robin would do anything to help him. Plus, since she came out, she’s been trying to keep some distance from his family – not all of them were understanding.
“It’s good to have you back.” Dustin says, earnestly, “even if you didn’t even let your best friend know that you were back!”
“What do you mean? Robin was totally aware.” Steve retorts, jokingly.
“Ha-ha, very funny, you!”
“Thank you!”, a pause as Steve lays back, “are you okay, though? Or is screaming profanities something you usually do on Wednesdays?”
“I’m alright, just a lot of revelations at the same time.”
“Oh…”, Steve nods, knowingly, as he takes another bite, “Mike and Will, you mean!”
“You know about that?”
Why does everyone seem to know about this but him?
“Well, of course! It’s been kind of obvious for a few years, now. And then yesterday apparently something happened, and then Jonathan told Nancy, Nancy told Robin and Robin told me and suddenly we were all on a call discussing the fact that they were finally dating. It was about time, don’t you think?”
“So everyone keeps saying.”
“Are you sure you’re okay, man?”
“Yeah yeah, don’t worry, I– Jane– I don’t know, man, I just needed some air. I’m cool.”
“Hmm” Steve looks him up and down, doubtfully, “I know you’re lying, Henderson. But I’ll let it slide because you seem to be on the brink of something and I really don’t want to ruin it. If it’s what I think it is, it’s long overdue as well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Not much, really. Nothing you can’t figure out yourself.” Steve smiles and looks at him with a knowing glance, almost as if a godlike figure is bestowing some kind of forbidden knowledge upon him, and Dustin feels it; he feels braver.
“What if I’m reading it all wrong?” he asks, looking away.
The previous aura vanishes as Steve snorts, answering with his mouth full of food.
“More wrong than you’ve been so far? Doesn’t seem possible to me.”
“And when did you become so wise?”, Dustin questions, almost sarcastically.
“Maybe I’ve always been wise, maybe you were just too busy noticing my faults.”
Dustin sighs.
“Why does everyone seem to be talking in film quotes today?” he whispers through clenched teeth.
Steve takes another bite of his sandwich and then clears his throat.
“Hey Henderson… Have– have you seen him around? How is he?”
“You mean Eddie? He’s good. Working at the library, now. He’s got a real old librarian mean streak about him, always shushing the kids. I think he just enjoys the look on their faces when they see him instead of an old lady.” Dustin chuckles, “he also plays occasionally at some parties. Corroded Coffin going strong.”
“Will he be at playing any soon? Is he seeing anyone?”
“Steve, are you sure you want to go down that road again? You guys made a really big mess, last time.”
“I know. But I just… I can’t turn it off. I always gravitate towards him, even when I’m out of this goddamn town.”
Dustin nods. He understands what he means, he understands it perfectly. He’s been gravitating towards the same girl since he was eight, and he genuinely can’t believe how he’s been able to lie to himself for so long.
“He misses you. He’s playing at the prom. We convinced him, though I still don’t know how Jane did it! Do with that information what you need to do, but please whatever you do, warn Robin first, okay?”
“Warn Robin of what? What are you guys up to?” Robin shows up from behind Steve, hands on her hips and a quizzical look on her face. Steve’s face turns bright red. No doubt this conversation has been had before.
“I’ll leave you two to discuss the details of the inevitable reunion. I really need to go sort this shit out.”
“Good luck, Henderson!” Steve says, then he looks at Robin and smiles, raising his eyebrows up and down.
“Oh! Oh, is it happening?” she whispers at her best friend. Steve shrugs but his smile indicates a positive answer. Robin squeaks. “Oh Dustin, believe me, you don’t need luck at all!”
But Dustin is already gone back inside the school, not staying to hear Robin’s excited comment.
***
His phone pings and he grabs it. There are a few texts from Jane asking him if he’s alright, asking him to join her for lunch at the gym, she’d brought sandwiches for them to share, and other stuff like that. The knot in his throat is so big he can barely breathe. The latest text, thought, is from Erica Sinclair, and it just reads “What the hell is happening?”. And how could he even answer that? Where would he even start?
His friendship with Erica was a funny one, she’s Lucas’s younger sister and she wasn’t really part of the group, but the summer Robin came out as a lesbian, she started coming along to their hangouts, and even though Lucas seemed bothered by it at first, he eventually started enjoying it, especially when she confessed to be very much into D&D. Nowadays, every time they’d get together to play, she’d also join in, even if Robin wasn’t there. This is how they got close.
When Erica came out as a lesbian last fall, Dustin was the first she told. He helped her through it and listened to her vent about her crush on her best friend, feeling weirdly protective; he helped her when she was scared to come out to her brother because she didn’t want him to worry too much about her or see her differently; he was there beside her when she decided to come to school wearing a lesbian pride flag pin on her lapel, what seemed like such a small detail being such a great act of defiance for her. And when she first tried to kiss Tina and Tina freaked out, he was the one she came to, crying and screaming and scared, absolutely spiralling and putting God’s fear into him of something like that ever happening to him – all of that just for Tina to come bang on his door two hours later trying to apologise. He’s pretty sure his room was the first place they had made out. Which was very funny, considering he himself had never kissed anyone, let alone made out in his room.
Dustin was just so proud of her. For embracing who she is, for being brave about her feelings, for everything; more often than not he wished he was more like her.
He starts writing a text to send back:
“I’m alright, don’t worry, just a little freaked out because apparently everything I thought was reality isn’t and Mike isn’t in love with Jane and I don’t think Jane is in love with Mike either but you probably know that because everybody but me seems to know, and I think might be in love with her, apparently, which is really fucking scary.”
He stops himself. Reads the text.
“Fuck. This cannot be happening.” he considers deleting everything, but hits send instead, a as he does a small voice comes up behind him.
“Dustin? Are you okay?”
“Jane…” he turns to her and just stands there, looking at her, and she’s so beautiful. And she looks hurt. Did he hurt her? An almost uncontrollable itch comes over him, and he can no longer run from it. He wants to kiss her. He needs to kiss her. He wants and needs to kiss his best friend, Jane Hopper.
“Is something wrong?”
“I– I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” he exhales.
“What do you mean?” she asks, earnestly.
“I… Oh god, I guess I’m really doing this. Look. I thought you were in love with Mike. All this time, I thought you liked him. And today it kind of felt like maybe you weren’t, like maybe I was wrong. Which isn’t really something I’m accustomed to. And then Mike and Will were kissing and I was so confused. And–”
“Dustin, I–”
“No, let me finish, or I swear I’ll never gather the courage again.” he pleads.
“You really want to do this in the halls of this school? We could at least go sit down somewhere.” Jane shrugs and looks even more sad. Probably because she thinks he’s about to ruin everything and make her have to reject him. But his chest is burning, and now that he’s facing the truth, he can’t really hold it back. He nods.
“Sit. Yes. Sitting is good. Let’s go somewhere quiet.”
“Quiet? Dustin, once again, this is Hawkins High.”
He thinks for a second.
“Let’s go to the AV Club Room, that’s always empty.”
She nods, “okay.”
They walk side by side in silence, and it feels uncomfortable like it never did before. There’s something hanging between them that is making the tension so palpable that you’d probably be able to cut it with a knife, and Dustin just wishes he knew what she was thinking. As if reading his mind, Jane starts in a low voice.
“I was never in love with Mike, by the way. I get why you’d think that, but I think he just needed someone to talk to. He was scared to come out for a while, and Max and I were helping him with it.”
“You said you thought he was handsome.”
“And that’s enough for you to think I’m in love with him?”
Dustin doesn’t answer immediately.
“We’re here.” he says, opening the door to the AV Club. They sit side by side with their back turned to an old computer the club had been picking apart. She turns to him.
“Do you seriously think I’m that shallow?”
“It’s not about being shallow, Jane, it’s just… It’s Mike Wheeler. He’s all mysterious and shit, with his long hair and freckles, always moody and unapproachable to everyone except a selected few.”
“It sounds like you’re the one in love with him.” she scoffs.
“Don’t mock me, you know damn well that’s not the case.”
“Do I, Dustin? You don’t really talk to me about these things, like ever.”
He turns to her again, and notices she’s tearing up. His hand immediately reaches in her direction, caressing her face and wiping up her tears. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, as if trying to recompose herself.
“So, you’re mad at me because I don’t like Mike Wheeler, is that it? Look, if you’re going to tell me there’s no chance of this happening, that you don’t like me, just do it. Please.” she looks away, his hand remains on her face. Was this why she looked so sad?
“Reject you? What? Are you crazy, Jane Hopper?” he sighs, face like a wounded puppy, “I’m not mad at you for not liking Mike. I’m mad at myself because I didn’t notice you didn’t. And I didn’t notice you; because I was scared of what I’d realise about myself if I did. And I am scared shitless because of how much I like you.” her breathe catches and she looks at him again, her expression softens and she seems different, almost hopeful. He cups her face, “you’re my best friend in the world, J, I am scared of losing you, but I don’t think I can hold all this in much longer…”
A heartbeat. She reaches for his hands on her face and squeezes it.
“Then don’t.” she whispers.
“Are you sure? Are you sure that’s what you want me to do?”
She nods.
“But– you do know I’m what most people would consider weird, right? And maybe even unattractive. And I don’t even know how to kiss, I’ve–” he gets a little shy now, “hell J, we’re going to college in a few months and I have never kissed anyone in my life. And every time I think about it, all I can picture is you.”
He looks at her, scared of her reaction. She closes her eyes and smiles.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this to happen.”
“For me to admit that I’m a loser that’s never kissed anyone?”
“For you to say you want to kiss me. That you think about it.” she takes a deep breath and inches closer to him, “that you also think about it, maybe as much as I do.”
“I am scared of ruining everything, Jane. I don’t want to fucking lose you. To lose this, to lose us. Our friendship.”
“Dustin Henderson, you can be so thick sometimes. Do you really think you could ever lose me? And honestly, isn’t it worth it, though? To risk it all for the chance of finally stop running away from this? I have been in love with you ever since we were 11 and you gifted me a heart-shaped rock on the playground. I don’t think you’re weird, or unattractive. Honestly, I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re kind. And I think you’re hot.”
“You what?” he half screams, surprised at her directness.
“Is that so hard to believe?” she chuckles, he shrugs. “Dustin, I have been in love with you for years, of course I think you’re all of that. And much more! And I’ve never kissed anyone either.”
She takes a dee breath, “because all I want is to kiss you. Can’t you see it?”
“In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve ever let myself think about it enough to notice it, not until today. Not until you held my hand.”
“I’ve held your hand so many times, you idiot.”
“I know, but you’ve never done it while calling yourself my girlfriend. It felt like unlocking a hidden room in my brain. Like all the alarms were sounding loud and I completely spiralled.”
“So… You’re not in love with me, is that what you’re saying?” she asks, inching away. He immediately reaches for her.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is… What I’m saying… Oh, this is ridiculous.”
And as he says that, he dives towards her and kisses her, soft and light at first. As if he’s expecting her to dissolve or the world to implode. But nothing happens. The world doesn’t end. Everything is still there. They’re still there.
He pulls away, just enough for their noses to touch and their eyes to meet. She looks up at him, the ghost of their kiss hanging between them, their breaths shaking and their hearts beating fast in unison. Her eyebrows furrow at him yearningly, her mouth half opened in surprise; and then it’s her turn to dive in for a way longer and more passionate kiss. She cups his face and pulls him into her, connecting their lips as a million fireworks seem to explode inside him. The kiss is more urgent, her mouth searches for his ferociously; their teeth clash and collide and they laugh into the kiss; she bites his bottom lip a little, playfully, and Dustin is utterly convinced that he’s about to faint as a little unvoluntary sound leaves his mouth. She pulls away from him just enough to smile and look at him, all flushed cheeks and swollen lips; they’re both out of breath. He caresses her cheek and with his other hand lifts her chin up to him, and between small kisses says:
“What I was trying to say was… There hasn’t been a day… Since I met you… That I haven’t loved you. And I am not sure… If I’ve ever… Not been… In love with you… Jane Hopper.”
She laughs.
“Took you long enough!”
“So everyone keeps telling me.”
“What do you mean?”
“J, I was so sure that you and Mike were an item that I didn’t even notice that he’s been in love with Will since that summer that we spent two weeks camping on Lovers Lake. Everyone kept telling me, “it was about time”, about them today and I was so confused!” they both laugh, “and now that everyone has been saying how obvious it was, I am pretty sure I remember them holding hands that summer! They hadn’t even come out yet, and they already knew! And I was so focused on ignoring the fact that you and I could be… Something!, that I actually just dismissed that as something friends do. Especially because we did it all the time. And then today… You almost kissed me. You crazy person!”
She laughs, “I’m glad I didn’t.”
“Ouch!” he says playfully. She laughs.
“Don’t get me wrong, this was the best kiss of my life even if it was the only one. But I really didn’t want to do it in the middle of the school halls with Max and Lucas just behind us! I think they would’ve imploded, too much kissing going on around them all of a sudden.”
“That’s true.” Dustin chuckles.
“Plus, I wanted you to kiss me first…” she admits, a shy smile on her face.
His cheeks feel like fire, but he’s smiling.
“I can’t believe I really get to kiss you, what even is my life?”
“Just think of how much tension we just avoided!”
“What do you mean?”
“Dustin, we are going to be sharing an apartment for months in college. I am going to walk around all sleepy and cute, and you’re going to go around looking all cuddly, and we were just supposed to live like a couple and like, not kiss? Ever? It just seems hard.”
“It seems downright impossible, now. I’m never not going to want to kiss you. In fact, I might just do it again!”
She smiles at him and stands up, holding out her hand for him to hold it. He does and she pushes him up.
“C’mon! There’s still a Prom to finish planning, silly. Let’s go.”
“But we can kiss, right?” he asks, pulling her by the hand and placing his hands on her hips, hugging her close. She places her hands on his chest and looks up.
“Oh yeah, let’s go make out in front of our friends and make them all confused. It’s only fitting!”
He kisses her, and it feels like flying.
“Do you think they’ll throw us a party?”
“Pfft, I hope so, goodness knows how hard it was for us to get here!” she says.
He reaches for the door, still holding her hand, opening it to the halls of Hawkins High where he now walks holding hands with Jane Hopper. He looks behind him and smiles.
“But we got there, in the end.”
“Yeah, we got there in the end.” she agrees.