Stranger Things Imagines

Saving Dustin

Tonight is the 1984 Snow Ball. Nancy and I are helping out, serving drinks and stuff like that. If I'm honest, I only agreed to help because she didn't want to be alone surrounded by kids all night. I wouldn't either. It feels weird to say that I'm friends with some of the kids - it's just Nancy's brother and his friends.

At least I can gain a tiny bit of joy from seeing them have a good time. Is that even possible? I mean this isn't really their thing. We had to get here early to set up, so we didn't get to see them all dressed up before we left. Of course we greet them when they arrive.

"Hey, guys. Looking good." Nancy smiles as we hand them some drinks.

"Thanks!" They all give scattered replies of appreciation.

"Where's Dustin?" I ask the group.

"Steve's bringing him." Max informs me. I nod and echo Nancy's previous comment before they walk away.

A few minutes go by and all we've done so far is stand around talk to mainly each other and hand out drinks to the kids. This is gonna be a long night - I just hope the music is good. After another couple more minutes one of the teachers asks me to take door duty whilst he deals with an issue with people who are already here. Almost immediately after taking over, the missing heart of the group arrives.

"Hey, Y/N!" He beams.

"Hey, look at you! You look great!" I hype him up as he's the last one through the door.

"Really? Thank you! You look beautiful!" He shouts over the music.

"Thanks, Dusty." I scoff. "You're gonna have all the ladies running after you tonight." I pat him on the back. "The others are over there." I point to them.

Right as Dustin heads over to the group, the teacher comes back and thanks me for stepping in for him briefly. With his return, I go back to my original station and talk to Nance. The cycle repeats several times as the music changes. Suddenly, Nancy changes the topic.

"Look, El came." She nudges me and points at the young girl.

"She looks really pretty." We both wave at her and she gives us a small smile in return.

"She does."

"I refuse to believe Hopper helped her get ready." I state making us both chuckle.

"Yeah, she probably went to Joyce for that." That makes more sense.

As the night goes on, Nancy and I find ourselves stuck in a loop. However, there are a few moments where there's almost a silent agreement amongst all the students to not get drinks. Since I know some of the kids, I glance around the room plenty of times to see how they're doing.

By now El and Mike are dancing together - even sharing a kiss. The same goes for Max and Lucas, though the look of shock on his face is enough to make me laugh to myself as Nancy continues watching her brother. Even Will has a dance partner. However, when I look over at the bleachers, my heart shatters into a million pieces. Poor Dustin looks miserable sat there all alone as his friends have fun. I've been in his place many times - I never have been popular. I refuse to let him have a shitty night that he'll think about for a while.

"Hey, Nance? Can you take over? I have to do something real quick." I don't take my eyes off of him.

"Yeah, sure."

With her confirmation, I make my way over to Dustin - weaving through the other students to reach him. After that tricky journey, I finally get to him. However, he doesn't notice until I start talking.

"Hey."

"Hey." He looks up at me like a lost puppy.

"How you doing?" I ask with sympathetic eyes.

"Okay, I guess." He mutters glumly as he looks down at his hands.

"I guess I was wrong about the ladies, huh?" I sigh as I sit beside him.

"What am I doing wrong? Is there a stain somewhere? Do I have something in my teeth? Does my breath stink?" He frantically questions - desperate to find the answer.

"Oh, Dustin..." I sigh again as I put an arm around him to comfort him. "None of that. There's nothing wrong with you. You look great, you really do."

"Really?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then you know I mean it." He gives me a soft smile. "Did I tell you how much I love what you've done with your hair?"

"Uh, no. No, you haven't." He stutters slightly as he looks at me, making me chuckle a little bit.

"Well, it's quite spectacular. Did Steve help you out?"

"Yeah, he told me his process."

"Wow, you should be honoured. That's like his deepest darkest secret. I can 100% guarantee that he will never tell anyone other than you." We both grin as he starts to feel special about having Steve's trust and realises that he's loved.

"Still, would've been nice to dance with a girl like I thought I would." He looks at his friends and shrugs after a quiet moment.

"There's still time. You wanna dance with me?" I offer.

"What? I-I don't know what I'm doing. It's probably for the best that nobody wanted to." He panics.

"Hey, nobody does." I reassure him. "We can figure it out together."

"Really?" He has a hopeful glint in his eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sure Nance can survive without me for one song."

"Okay." He laughs in disbelief.

I stand up and extend out a hand for him. As we walk onto the dance floor, Nancy gives me a smile and winks - she would've done it if I hadn't. As we get to grips with it, Dustin starts getting a bit goofy. At one point, he tries to spin me - but the height difference prevents that. Instead, I spin him. Somehow, we manage to move through the crowd and playfully bump into the other couples in the group. For the rest of the night, nothing else matters to Dustin as he rejoins his friends and they dance as a group.

2 days later

Life has gone back to normal since the dance. Why wouldn't it? I'm back at my fairly new job at the record store with no co-workers available. It's a good thing there's no customers. As I switch the music that plays over the store speakers, I hear my name.

"Y/N!"

"Oh, hey, Steve." I greet him and head back the the front of the counter.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Sorry, Steve, I'm up to my ears with customers." I sarcastically apologise making him roll his eyes. "What's up?"

"I just came to say thank you." He leans against the counter.

"For what?"

"Henderson told me what you did at the dance. He was super nervous in the car, so you made his night a lot better." I smile at the memory - proud that I could cheer him up and that he was so eager to tell Steve.

"Yeah, well, I've been there. I hated seeing him so sad. Plus I didn't want him to look back on that night with spite for the rest of his life." I explain.

"He's never gonna forget how you saved the day."

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." We both smile at each other for a moment with a shared love for Dustin.

"So... Do I get a dance with the hero?"

"Ha." I scoff. "You're not in the same position he was. If you were him, you'd have all the girls throwing themselves at you."

"True. What is gonna take to get that dance?" He's nothing if not persistent.

"Take me on a date and I'll think about it." I smirk.

"Deal. You free this Friday?"

"Should be."

"Then I'll pick you up at 7 and take you to a movie and dinner."

"Deal."

Steve then rushes out the door like a lunatic - probably to tell Dustin.