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Jane had cried during the ceremony. Which wasn't that surprising. Will had cried too. So had Jonathan. And their parents had cried too.
It had been good crying.
Dustin had explained the difference between good crying and bad crying to her. She found that she liked good crying. She was just so happy for them. They were really made for each other. It had taken Joyce and Hop a long time, but if anyone deserved a second chance at life, it was them.
Will had grabbed Janes hand when his mother had said her vows and Jane had leaned into him when she had heard Hops. Jonathan had been the best man and Jane had carried the rings for them and while Joyce had already cried at Hops speech, Hop had cried when he had put the gold band on his wife's finger.
Joyce was really pretty in her white dress. Or maybe it was just because she smiled so much. Her and Hop practically couldn't be stolen from the dance floor. Jane had slow danced with Hop and her brothers a bit earlier but right now she was happily watching Hop and Joyce from her place at the table the Party had gotten to themselves. The food was really good too. Jane was full and happy.
She should have been satisfied.
But to be honest, she wasn't. Of course. Not when Dustin was sitting next to her in that suit with his hair all done and not dancing with her. Lucas and Max had joined her parents on the dance floor not long ago and she didn't want to know where Will and Mike had gone and what they were doing, leaving Dustin and her alone at the table.
Jane smoothed over her purple dress. Her and Joyce had bought it together, just for the wedding. She felt really pretty tonight. She had also been told by multiple people that she looked really pretty. Dustin hadn't said anything to her. She asked herself if he didn't think she was pretty.
She looked over at Max who was wearing a green sparkly dress that complemented her red hair and tan skin. They were both really pretty tonight. But Max got to dance with her boyfriend. Not that she was jealous of Max in particular, more of the situation in general. She just wanted to have Dustin look at her the way Lucas was looking at Max right now. The way Will was looking at Mike earlier when Mike had hugged him after he and Jonathan had given their mother away. Or the way Hop had been looking at Joyce when he first saw her walking down the aisle.
She didn't remember when this stupid crush had started. All she knew was, that one day in senior year she had seen Dustin stumble into class too late, curly hair wet from the rain and clearly still sleepy and she had thought, wait, had he always been this cute? She didn't think about anything else the whole 90 minutes of English class.
In her mind she had combed through moments and realised that yeah, Dustin had looked really good when he turned up to their hangout wearing eyeliner last week, and yeah, Dustin had been really sweet when he had explained that math problem to her during lunch break a month ago.
She had been more surprised that she had only realised it now.
"Sucks how they're all disgustingly in love, right?", Dustin commented next to her.
She looked up at him, unsure what to answer. "It would probably suck less if we joined them." Was that smooth? Jane hoped she would drop a hint with this. Dustin just smiled back at her, his snake bite piercings digging into his lip. "Too bad that you are stuck with me", she added. She just hoped that he would finally take the bait. Her flirting had gotten a bit obvious and he couldn't be that oblivious.
"Being stuck with you isn't so bad", he returned. Janes heart jumped. Maybe this was finally going somewhere. She smiled back at him.
"Yeah. I do not think being stuck with you is bad either."
Dustins eyes seemed to sparkle and- was she dreaming or did his gaze fall to her lips for a second? She looked to the ground between them, taking a deep breath to calm her heartbeat.
Dustin turned his head around to Robin who was doing the music tonight, trying to get her attention. When the DJ looked over at him, he did some kind of hand signal and she replied with a thumbs up.
"What was that about?", Jane asked. Dustin freed himself of his jacket, leaving him in his black button up and dress pants. "You'll see", he replied with a small smile and took another sip of his drink. Jane raised an eyebrow at him. Apparently he had planned something with Robin beforehand. Before she could think about it any more, the song ended and Robin spoke into the mic.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next song is a special request from a friend of mine and it comes with a dedication. Jane Hopper, this one's for you."
if you change your mind / I'm the first in line / honey, I'm still free / take a chance on me
"Wanna dance?"
Her eyes must've been really big when she looked up at Dustin who was standing before her now, hand extended. He had planned this, she realised again. For her. For them.
She took his hand and stood up, hearing someone whoop. She looked around and saw that it had been Mike who made the sound. Will was standing next to him, arm around his waist. Now that she looked for it, all her friends were staring at them. "Go get her, Henderson", Steve yelled and Jane felt herself blush. Dustin tugged her onto the dance floor.
Jane felt her mind wander back to when they danced together for the first time.
The party always celebrated their birthdays together, and it was mostly just the six of them. The person whose birthday it was decided on what they would do together and that meant that they mostly just ended up in the Wheelers basement watching a movie or playing games or something.
On one memorable occasion though, Max had wanted to have a real party. Well, it was still the six of them in Mikes basement but they had gotten a bit of alcohol and snacks and Lucas had brought his boom box. They had played stupid party games and at one point Max had pulled Lucas up to dance.
In the end, Jane and Dustin had danced to some old Beatles songs (Will had brought that record) and they'd had a lot of fun. That had been only about a month after she first realised she might have feelings for him. After that there weren't many occasions where they had the chance to dance and Jane had been waiting for an opportunity to do it again.
we can go dancing / we can go walking / as long as we're together / listen to some music / maybe just talking / get to know you better
Dustin twirled her around and she giggled when he took her hands afterwards and they started their dance. The last time they had danced together, both Will and Joyce had told her they were adorable though and Hop had grumbled in agreement. Jane remembered how she had blushed and how Dustin had averted his eyes. Jane let Dustin lead their dancing since he had asked her. She laughed joyously when he started to sing too.
'Cause you know I've got / so much that I wanna do / when I dream I'm alone with you it's magic / you want me to leave it there / afraid of a love affair
"But I think you know, that I can't let go", she sang back at him and his smile only grew.
His voice was great. Jane loved Dustin's singing. The others had made fun of it after his duett with Suzie but she thought that he was a great singer. She wanted to sing with him like he did with Suzie back then.
when you're all alone / when the pretty birds have flown / honey, I'm still free / take a chance on me / gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie / if you put me to the test / if you let me try
The rest of the song went by really quickly.
The others had stopped staring at them and joined them on the dance floor again, she could see Will and Max singing along too. Nancy had grabbed Jonathan and they were swaying. Erica and Holly were dancing too. Those two were another unexpected friendship that happened after everything with Vecna went down. Erica got Holly into 'My Little Pony' and in return, Holly had asked Erica to join her DnD party. Holly looked like a princess tonight and Erica was twirling her around.
The song ended before Jane knew it and suddenly her and Dustin were just standing in front of each other, panting slightly from their wild dancing. In the background, another song started playing. Dustin pulled her closer by her hands that he was still holding.
"Take a chance on me?", he asked, smiling.
Jane took a deep breath and nodded, trying to hold in her happy giggeling. "Yeah." Then she gathered all the courage she had, leaned in and pecked him right on the lips. All their friends screamed around them and when she leaned back, Dustins cheeks were slightly pink. But before she could say anything his hands let go of hers, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in again, connecting their lips.
Her hands grabbed his hair nearly automatically, she tilted her head and closed her eyes. It was a bit clumsy at first, it was their first kiss together after all, but then Jane slowed the pace down a bit and it became soft and sweet. They broke the kiss when they both started to giggle. Dustin leaned his forehead against hers and she opened her eyes, letting her hands fall onto his shoulders.
"You okay?", he asked quietly. She giggled again. "Yes. I am really happy." Dustin reciprocated with a smile. "That's good because I'm really happy too." He brought a bit of space between them to look her in the eyes.
"I wanna take you out. On a date." The butterflies in her stomach had never felt so intense. "I would like that. I am free tomorrow." He nodded excitedly. "Okay. Great. 6 pm, I'll pick you up." Jane smiled and gave him another short peck. He just stared into her eyes, smiling back at her.
"You better treat my sister well, man." Will had appeared next to them. "I think you should say that the other way around. Jane is the one with superpowers after all", Max contradicted him. Then she turned to Dustin. "But like, honestly, if you hurt her, you're toast." Dustin nodded.
"You have my permission. Should I ever hurt Jane, you may punish me in whatever way you see fit", he answered in dramatic fashion, which made Jane giggle again. Max nodded satisfied. Then she turned around to Jane and pulled her into a hug, both of them laughing. "See, I told you he liked you too", she whispered which made Jane laugh even louder.
When they let go again, Lucas pulled Max back to the dancefloor to slow dance and Will and Mike did the same. Jane turned to Dustin again, who was already looking at her.
"Do you wanna be disgustingly in love?", she asked, teasing. She extended her hand, ready for the next dance. "Definitely", Dustin replied and grabbed it.