#d7

"Hey, Steve. What's up?" He asks, closing his locker, smiling at the other guy. He and Steve are in a relationship limbo. They're not friends, but aren't boyfriends yet. To Jonathan, it is complicated. To Steve, they're "almost-boyfriends." And these two almost-boyfriends are yet to kiss. No worries, Steve's going to deal with that right now. It's about time he feels Jonathan's lips against his, anyway.

He smirks and leans forward, "You're up, Byers." He says in a charming tone, wiggling his eyebrows. "I have something I need to tell you."

"Oh?" Jonathan raises an eyebrow at that, having a feeling of what Steve's implying. "And what would that be, Harrington?" He leans closer to Steve to meet him halfway.

"It's a surprise—" Their lips are about to connect, when...

"YO, HARRINGTON!" Jason Carver comes crashing in like a meteor, obliterating the moment like the meteor that made the dinosaurs go extinct, slapping the back of Steve's neck, making him yelp in surprise. He turns away from Jonathan, glaring at Jason, who smirks at him. "You're late for practice. C'mon, dude! That championship's not going to win itself, y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah, gimme a minute, will ya?"

"Nope!" Jason grabs him by the strap of Steve's backpack and starts dragging him away from Jonathan, much to his dismay.

Jonathan sighs in slight disappointment, but chuckles at seeing Steve pout like a baby at being dragged away by his friend and waves at him. Steve's practice will only end by 8:00 PM, and he won't see Jonathan until tomorrow morning.

Fine, then, tomorrow he's kissing Jonathan!

***

2nd Attempt

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Steve's late, as usual. He hoped to arrive early at school and catch Jonathan before class, but forgot to change the batteries in his alarm, meaning he woke up a mere 26 minutes later. His hair is disheveled, looking like a rat's nest, his shirt wrinkled, his belt loosely buckled, and his shoes unlaced.

He sees Jonathan in the distance, ready to enter the English Classroom. He's close. He's gonna make it! "JONA—"

"Mr. Harrington!" Steve flinches when Mrs. Click materializes in front of him like a demon invoked from hell—though a creature such as her undoubtedly came from a place far worse than there. The woman stands in front of him, her classroom door open, her bat-like arms crossed, and staring at Steve like a coyote with rabies. "You're late. Get inside. Now."

Steve pouts and points down the hall, in the direction where Jonathan disappeared. "But I need to—"

"Inside, Harrington. Now!" Steve grunts under his breath, mentally cursing at the old witch, but complies, not wanting to get detention. Again.

"And you got detention!"

"WHAT?!" His eyes widen. If he gets detention, Steve won't be able to see Jonathan today! "But I did nothing wrong!"

"You're late and talking back! Now get inside!"

Steve groans and stomps inside her classroom. "This is why your husband cheated on you with that younger woman, you old bat."

"MR. HARRINGTON!"

Steve flinches. Oops. He forgot bats have good hearing.

***

3rd Attempt

After one week of detention and another week of being grounded, Steve's ready to kiss his almost-boyfriend! He's reserved a table just for him and Jonathan in the cafeteria and is waiting for his prince charming to come. Ah, speaking of him, here he comes, walking graciously like an angel, holding a tray of food. Jonathan smiles as he sees Steve waving at him and walks towards his almost-boyfriend and sits in front of him.

"Hey, Steve." He smiles, and Steve smirks charmingly, leaning forward, resting his chin in his palm.

"Hey, handsome. Missed me?"

"Definitely." Jonathan chuckles, taking a bite from his sandwich, swallowing before continuing to speak. "Everyone's talking about what you told Mrs. Click. I don't know if I should congratulate you for your courage or scold you for your stupidity."

Steve grins like a fool and steals a fry from Jonathan's plate. "How about I make up for lost time instead, hm?"

"Make up for lost time and for that fry!" Jonathan feigns irritation at having one of his fries stolen, making Steve chuckle and steal another one, winking at his almost-boyfriend.

"Deal, handsome." He smirks and winks at Jonathan, leaning forward slowly, and Jonathan does the same, their lips getting closer by the second. 30 centimeters. 20 centimeters. 15. 10. 5. 4. 3. 2—

"BYERS!" Jonathan flinches in surprise and jerks back as Robin slams her hands on the table. Steve groans again. "I NEED YOUR HELP. NOW!"

"Wha—?! Robin... H-HEY!" Robin grabs Jonathan by the arm and starts dragging him away, not giving him an explanation.

Steve bonks his head against the cold metallic surface of the table. He thought 3rd time was the charm.

Maybe the 4th time will do?

***

4th Attempt

Robin dragging Jonathan away won't stop him. Steve knows Jonathan has a free period after lunch, and he sneaked away from class to meet his almost-boyfriend—it's not that Ms. MacElroy will realize he's missing, anyway. I mean, it's been three days and she still hasn't noticed that piece of lettuce between her teeth. Yikes. Steve shakes that awful image away and focuses on the task at hand, kissing the boy who owns the key to his heart. 4rth time's the charm, Harrington!

He approaches the table where Jonathan sat, a confident smirk on his face.

"Hey, hands—"

"Shhhh!"

"'Shhhh!' You, Benson!" He snaps at the guy, sending him a glare. He turns to Jonathan, smirking again. "Y'know, you forgot something in the cafet—"

"Shhhhhh!"

"Benson!" Steve snaps again, glaring at the boy. "I'm going to shove those glasses of yours in a place you're not going to like!"

Jonathan pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, shaking his head. He can't believe Steve's about to cause trouble in the library of all places... Actually, no, that's totally plausible. Still. "Can't it wait?"

"Wait?!" Steve's been waiting for this for millennia (only a few weeks, but let him be dramatic)! "No, it can't wait, Jon! I have something I need to do—" He starts leaning forward towards Jonathan again.

"SHHHHHHHH!"

"BENSON—!"

"MR. HARRINGTON!" Uh-oh. The librarian, Ms. Hutchins, stomps towards him, grabbing Steve by the shoulder and pulling him away. "OUT. NOW!"

"But—"

"DETENTION! NOW!"

Ah, shit, not again.

***

5th Attempt

Okay, fifth time is the charm. Definitely! Do it right this time, Steven Harrington! No more getting detention. No more letting a good chance pass up. You are going to kiss Jonathan Byers, or the world might as well end here and now. His mission? Kiss the boy. Step 1: Approach the house. Step 2: Knock on the door. Step 3: Kiss Jonathan the second he opens the door. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Jonathan rarely leaves his house, which means there's a 99.99% of him being inside those four walls. Alright, it's Harrington time!

Steve turns off the engine of his car, stepping outside to the cool afternoon weather of Hawkins. He zips on his jacket and walks to the front porch, knocking on the door three times and waiting for someone to answer. He's sure as hell it's going to be Jonathan and he's sure as hell is going to kiss him—

The door opens, and Steve immediately lunges forward.

"Oh, hey, Steve—!"

ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! DO NOT KISS MRS. BYERS!

Steve jerks back, his cheeks blushing like crazy at his almost horrifying mistake. "U-uh... H-hey, Mrs. B.!" He scratches the back of his neck, looking around, finding the dry branches of the trees more interesting to look at than Joyce. "I-is Jonathan there? I need to... Y'know, speak to him."

Joyce shakes his head, a small apologetic smile on her face. "Jonathan left for work, honey."

"Work? But I thought he got the day off?"

"He did, but the theater said they needed extra help. Someone was absent from work, and he had to cover for them."

What. The. Actual. Hell?! The odds of Jonathan NOT being home were 0.01%!

"Okay, thanks! Bye, Mrs. B.!" Steve leaves in a hurry, bolting towards his car and slamming the door shut. He leans his forehead against the steering wheel, letting out a groan. "The Universe hates me."

***

6th Attempt

Okay, someone should have told Steve that Jonathan was a major fan of horror movies, because what the hell, man?! Who picks up horror movies to watch on a movie night?! Steve's clutching on his bucket of popcorn like a lifeline. And Jonathan? He looks so unamused, like he's watching the Golden Girls, and not a movie where an interdimensional demon haunts a family for seven days and seven nights.

Well, on the bright side... They're together in a dark room, and everyone says movie theater rooms are the most romantic place in the world. Or is it Paris? Meh, it's the same thing. What matters is that he has the perfect chance to kiss his almost-boyfriend. And better do it now that the movie's not in scary time.

"Hey, Jonathan."

"Hm?" The other boy hums back, turning to face Steve, their faces illuminated by the giant screen. Okay, time to be suave, Harrington.

"You have... something in here." He gestures to his own cheek. Jonathan runs his fingers through his cheek, where Steve pointed, but doesn't find anything.

"Did I get it?"

Steve smirks to himself. Oh, Jonathan's so gullible. He shakes his head and leans forward. "Nope. It's still there. Lemme get it off for you..." He puts his hand over Jonathan's cheek, fingers brushing against the other boy's soft skin. So smooth, like a baby's. Steve smiles, his eyes locked on Jonathan's, leaning even closer, their lips almost touching.

"Steve..." Jonathan leans closer, closing his eyes, feeling Steve's fingers touching his cheek and Steve's breath against him. The tips of their noses are now touching. Finally, Steve's going to make it. He's going to kiss his prince! He's going to kiss Jonathan Byers—

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"JESUS CHRIST!" Steve jerks back, jumping two feet off his seat. Accursed horror movie and its jumpscare moments! He was so close. So close, he even felt Jonathan's mint-scented breath.

"Oh, come on!" Jonathan groans in annoyance and grabs Steve's collar, yanking him forward.

"H-hey! What—" Steve gets cut off as Jonathan's lips crash against his, effectively silencing him for good. His brain melts like ice cream on a summer day and oozes through his ear. His heart was beating fast like a cheetah when hunting a gazelle.

Okay, this wasn't how he intended things to work out, but Steve's definitely not complaining.