This Year is My Year

Don't Take the Bait

"Buckley, we aren't going to the beach." I poured her another cup of coffee and she scoffed at me.

"Why not?" She was incredulous – she had gotten to the diner half an hour earlier and spent the entire time trying to convince me that we should spend their spring break on the beach. She hadn't let me speak once through her tirade. I smiled at her.

"We don't have a beach near us – we would spend more time in the car getting to the beach than actually there," I replied. She dramatically sighed, throwing her arms and face onto the counter.

"You always ruin my plans," she whined into her arms. I patted her head, laughing at her.

"We can do so many other things, I promise."

"Like what?" she complained, her face still buried in her arms.

"Tons of stuff," I tried to think of something as I went through my tips, distracted.

"Very convincing, Y/N," she was now sitting up, shooting me a withering glare. I rolled my eyes and was about to lecture her on her moods when the diner door opened. Steve walked in, grinning at the two of us.

"Hey, Harrington – how goes it?" I asked, grabbing him a cup for coffee as well. He sat by Robin, looking puzzled at her mood.

"What's your problem?" he asked Robin, raising an eyebrow.

"Y/N won't let me go to the beach for spring break."

"Robin, it's not that I'm not letting you, it's that you want my boyfriend to drive you in his van to the beach for days on end!" I corrected. Steve snorted.

"Buckley, there's not a beach near us. You'd spend more time in the car than by the ocean."

"Thank you. Steve!" I looked to Robin, smug. She groaned, throwing herself back in her seat.

"What are we going to do then? I am not going to waste a week at home." Steve took a sip of his coffee.

"We could go camping," he offered. Robin's face lit up, her brain suddenly running with this new idea.

"We could go camping!" she exclaimed, thrilled at this new plan. I laughed at her now cheery mood. "Harrington, you're a genius."

"Are you going to invite Cristina?" Steve asked wryly, smiling at her. She flushed a dark red, looking down at her hands.

"The thought had crossed my mind," she meekly replied. We both laughed at her sudden shyness – it was sweet how much she liked Cristina. She tried not to smile and turned to Steve. "What about you, Romeo? Are you going to invite Helena?"

"Am I going to ask the girl I'm seeing if she wants to spend time in close quarters, around romantic fires, and drinking beers with me which would lower both of our inhibitions?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He took a sip of his coffee. "Abso-fucking-lutely, Buckley."

His response made me belly-laugh, and Robin rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. I leaned over the counter, setting my forearms on it. I smiled as Robin and Steve teased each other – Steve embarrassing her at even the mention of Cristina, Robin insisting that Steve had absolutely no game – and thought about how nice it was to be with my best friends. Robin turned to me.

"Do we have to invite the children?" Robin asked, spitting the last word out. I smiled, nodding my head.

"There's no way they're going to hear about this and not want to come. Especially if Steve and Eddie go – Dustin would implode."

Steve laughed and Robin groaned. He flicked her ear, eliciting a yelp from her.

"It will be fine. Dustin literally puked in the middle of the party and Cristina still made out with you at the end of the night. Just get your own tent."