𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 ~ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Chapter Forty-Four

chapter forty-four:
freaky angel

Ramona paced back and forth behind the counter, phone pressed to her ear and shoulder, while her hand held the notebook paper with messily scribbled numbers down.

She bit her lip, eyebrows furrowing in concentration as the phone's ringing came to a stop, followed by a short answering machine message.

Ramona grumbled to herself, slamming the phone down, earning a few annoyed glances from customers, glances that she ignored.

She gently pushed Dustin to the side, plucking the marker from his hand and crossing off another name. At his glance, she muttered no luck and handed him the marker back.

Dustin huffed, glancing over at Max. Ramona followed his gaze. Though it drifted from Max to Steve rather quickly. Being busy with a customer, Ramona assumed her stare would go unnoticed. Steve, oblivious as ever, proved her right.

Her dark eyes trailed over him, unashamedly lingering on the way his uniform shirt clung to his arms.

Ramona loved his arms, she'd put them in her top five favorite things about him. While swearing up and down that she was anything but a sap, the opposite was true. Ramona was a sap, through and through, proving it when she sheepishly admitted to Robin that (as cliché as it was) her top favorite was his smile.

When Steve smiled, each and every time he did, Ramona felt something inside her burst, rushing through her like water out of a broken dam. Something that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but something she felt was intoxicating.

Sometimes, while he was sound asleep and Ramona was wide awake, her mind wandering to the sound of his heart beat (which was her second favorite thing). She'd find herself wondering how she could have ever hated him in the first place.

The answer was clear, he used to be a jackass.

But Steve now? Her Steve? Was anything but, and it was hard to imagine that just a short time ago, Ramona wanted to rip the head off of his ego inflated shoulders.

She couldn't imagine it. Seeing how gentle and tender he was with her now, more than willing to kiss the very ground she walked on. (Secretly, she would kiss the ground he walked on, too.)

"Ramona." Dustin's voice snapped her out of her daze, turning to the younger boy who held an annoyed look on his face. "Stop drooling over Steve!"

"Wha- Hey!" Ramona raised her hand, knocking the hat off of his head. "I am so not drooling!"

Dustin gasped in horror, reaching down and picking his hat up from he ground. "Keep your hands off! I'm sorry, she's inconsiderate."

"Stop talking to the hat, Dusty." Ramona rolled her eyes, "You look insane."

"I'll stop talking to my hat when you stop drooling over Steve in front of me!" Dustin accused

"I will smack you." Ramona threatened, "I wasn't drooling. I was... simply watching.. him work.."

"You so are drooling!" Robin agreed, smiling cheekily at her. "It's gross! You're eye fucking him!"

"Ew!" Dustin scrunched his face up, "Gross! I don't wanna think about that!"

"Nuh uh!"  Ramona directed her comment to Robin.

"Yes huh!" Robin crossed her arms, a sly smirk curving onto her lips.

"Hey, guys." Max's voice trickled with nerves, pulling them out of their argument and putting their attention onto her. "I think I have a lead."

Ramona perked up, mouth twitching up in a smile, "A lead? A good one?"