Dr. Pepper Girl

Chapter 7 At the Drive-In

It's Saturday and you spent the portion of the afternoon getting ready. You want to wear makeup but not too much. Want to look nice but also effortless.

You have been on group dates in your last school. But never have been on a one on one date.

You also decided that you'll make the first move. You thought about what Eddie said to you and realized that Gareth is too shy. But now that you know his feelings, your not so scared anymore.

You listen to Heart and think about how their lead singer Ann Wilson would make the first move. You want to channel that badass rock chick energy into you. After all, you told yourself when you moved to Hawkins you were going to become more confident. You put on mascara and your Dr. Pepper lipgloss.

You descend from your bedroom. While walking down the stairs you hear your mom and Mark talking to Gareth in the living room.

"Hey, I know you! Aren't you in that band that plays at The Hideout? I'm not a fan of heavy metal but I love when you guys play Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and John Mellencamp. You need to play more of that!"

Oh shit Mark is one of the drunks at The Hideout! I should have known it was too good to be true. Maybe Gareth will understand why I can't see him play.

"Hey y/n you didn't tell me your tutor is also the best drummer in Hawkins!"

Surprisingly Gareth seems to be enjoying his conversation with Mark.

You both head out and start driving to the restaurant.

"Your stepdad is an awesome guy"

You couldn't believe your ears.

"You think so?" Y/n asks with surprise in her tone.

"Yeah. Mark and the other regulars are always telling us we're doing a good job. Sometimes they sneak in a couple beers for us too. Sure the owner told us we need to play some Petty and Mellencamp before playing the harder stuff like Judas Priest and Metallica but it's worth it. My own dad doesn't even come to see me play."

Once you arrive to the restaurant, Gareth as always opens the car door and restaurant door for you. Now that you know this is a date you make sure to tell him how much of a gentleman  he is.

"Haha thanks. I try."

You love seeing him get embarrassed when you give him compliments. You know that he really appreciates them.

You and Gareth are looking at your menus when you look over at the window and see two kids staring right at both of you waving.

"Who are those guys?"

"Dustin and Mike. They are two of the three newest Hellfire members. Eddie debated about letting them join but they know their stuff."

Before you could say anything they came in and sat with you at the booth. Once the waiter arrived they started ordering food for themselves.

This was not supposed to happen.

During the whole dinner and the drive to the drive-in the conversation was solely Dungeon's and Dragons. Even though the game sounds interesting, you wanted to spend quality time with Gareth. But you couldn't be too mad. You are his friend and so are they. In fact, you turned him down a couple of times to watch his band practice because you had plans with Ashley and Mary.

Once you arrive at the drive-in you find out they are playing The Breakfast Club and Witness. When you watch The Breakfast Club you realize Gareth dresses a lot like the rebel John Bender. Matching ripped flannel and pins. You point it out to him and everybody is laughing and agreeing.

"Hey Gareth, your a trend setter." Dustin said in between giggles.

At one point y/n leaves to go to the bathroom. Dustin then asks Gareth if y/n is his girlfriend.

"No. We became friends after I started tutoring her."

"Oh really, could have fooled me. Hey it's kind of funny how Mike and I have girlfriends and you don't."

"Why is that funny?"

"Well it's funny because we're freshman and your a junior. If you ever want pointers we can help. We're experts!"

Gareth rolled his eyes and pretended he didn't get humbled by a kid who wears Weird Al t-shirts.

After The Breakfast Club was over Witness started playing. It definitely was not a movie that kept anybodies attention. In fact, you can hear Mike and Dustin sleeping soundly in the back seat.

"Hey, I'm sorry today didn't go as planned" Gareth said quietly.

"It's okay. Actually it was nice getting to know Dustin and Mike. I think it's cool your taking them under your wing like that."

You both try to watch the movie and you notice Gareth is still wearing those rings. You start to feel butterflies in your stomach.

Earlier that day Gareth had a heart to heart with Eddie. Eddie told him about y/n's stepdad being a regular at The Hideout. So when he met him at the house he was prepared to see a familiar face.

Eddie also tried to give him some advise on being intimate. Although Eddie isn't very experienced as most would think, he believed the couple flings he did have taught him enough. A big part was letting the girl guide the way. Asking permission when unsure. And taking your time.

Y/n slowly grazed her fingers over Gareth's rings on his right hand. Feeling them one by one.

Gareth notices her admiring his rings. He slowly starts to entwine his fingers with hers to hold hands. He looks up and sees she's leaning towards him.

Y/n starts to give soft kisses to his neck. She continues to kiss his jawline and lets out a deep breath that warms him. He could feel the goosebumps rise on his skin. His whole body got hyper aware. He felt like a live wire. Then y/n runs her fingers through his hair with her other hand while continuing to kiss his jaw and started to move to his cheek. He felt like he could melt into the seat. He remembers how she touched his hair the other day before falling asleep. Although he didn't remember much he did like having his hair played with. Then he turns his head to look directly at y/n to finally feel her beautiful lips against his. It's finally going to happen.

A sudden wet cough comes from the back causing y/n and Gareth to jolt up. They both turn around to hear where the noise was coming from.

"Hey guys what's up? Sorry I fell asleep."Dustin says gingerly while yawning and stretching his arms.

"Hey Mike, wake up! We both fell asleep!" Dustin says while he nudged his shoulder.

"Sorry we didn't mean to fall asleep. Guess the movie sucked." Dustin shrugged

You look over at Gareth and he is looking down at his lap breathing heavily. It is obvious he's trying to calm down from the physical contact he just had with you.

He then looks into the rear view mirror.

"Do you want to stay and finish the movie or want to head home?"

"Yeah I want to head home. We all should do this again sometime. It was a a lot of fun. Y/n your lucky to have such a cool tutor." Mike says while buckling his seat belt.

Gareth felt like a man in a desert that got to a fountain but was only allowed a single drop of water.

Dustin wanted Gareth to come to his house to quickly look at his character sheet that he spent weeks developing for his first campaign in Hellfire.

You get dropped off first and wave to the guys before going into the house.

Once you go inside you see your mom sitting on the couch watching a movie. Afghan draped over her lap.

"How was your date?"

"It wasn't a date. We just hung out as friends."

"You might think it was just hanging out with your tutor friend but I saw the way he was looking at you. He is smitten. You might not see it but I did."