"I love it," Steve said, standing up from the couch in Nancy's basement. He walked over to Jonathan and peered at his laptop, but the software that he produces their songs on was just a jumble of lines to him. "You're magic, Johnny," he said with a sloppy kiss on his cheek. Jonathan flinched away with a noise of protest, wiping at his cheek with his sleeve.
"Are you mackin' on my boyfriend, Harrington?" Steve turned with his hands still on Jonathan's shoulders, smiling at Argyle as he walked over with a box of pizza.
"I can't help it, he's a musical genius," Steve shrugged. "Where are Nance and Rob? Did you leave them at the pizza shop?" He asked as he walked back to the couch.
"Nah, Mrs. Wheeler called and asked if Nance could drop Mike off at the movies. They'll be back," he explained as he flipped open the pizza box. Steve leaned forward and grabbed a slice, groaning at the cheese that stretched out when he pulled it toward himself.
"God, I would marry this pizza if I could," he said, blindly accepting the paper plate Argyle held out for him.
"Sorry, but as soon as they allow it, this pizza and I are getting hitched," Argyle said, taking a hefty bite of his slice.
"Holy shit." Steve looked up, slowly lowering his pizza as Jonathan shoved himself up from his chair.
"What's wrong, sugar?" Argyle asked.
"We made it," Jonathan turned to them with wide eyes, a smile slowly crawling up on his lips. Steve stopped chewing, his heart jumping up into his throat.
"What?" He asked with a mouthful of pizza.
"We made it!" Jonathan shouted. He picked up his laptop with shaking fingers and carried it over to the coffee table.
Congratulations Midnight Suburbia for advancing to the next phase of The Dream Project...
"We made it!" Steve jumped up, throwing himself at Jonathan with a scream. Argyle joined their hug, squeezing them both tightly. Everything smelled like pizza, but the excitement thrumming through them was visceral and infectious. Steve's smile hurt his cheeks and he could barely stand with how weak his knees were, but there was a rush of pride and excitement that was making him feel a million feet tall. He fell back down to the couch, pulling the laptop onto his knees. He scrolled through the email twice before clicking on the link to the website. He clicked on the winners for Indiana and screamed a little more at the picture of their band.
"The Hellions and Corroded Coffin both made it," he said, but the fact that Ethan made it couldn't possibly lessen his excitement.
"Then we'll beat them in California," Jonathan said confidently.
"Or New York," argyle added. "You're way better than that asshole in any state." Steve nodded, trying his best to believe that.
"God, I can't wait to tell the girls," he said, setting the laptop back on the coffee table.
The girls reacted the same way that Steve did. They jumped on their toes and screamed so loud that Mrs. Wheeler came rushing to see what was wrong. Then, she too was jumping and screaming. She cried when she realized what this competition meant. Months and months away from home in a state that none of them were familiar with.
In the bylines of the competition rules is the fact that they would have to pay for their travel to California if they advanced into Phase 1. They started working summer jobs in their freshman year of high school and every single penny earned went into a piggy bank until they could afford the plane tickets. Four one-way tickets and one hotel room close to the venue.
None of them had ever been outside of Indiana. Steve's parents traveled all over the country for work and vacation, but Steve always stayed home, with babysitters or the Wheelers, or the Buckleys, or the Byers. Touching down in California was surreal and a little overwhelming. Jonathan always took over when the pressure started to turn up and that was no different at LAX. Robin teased him a little about being the group dad, but she was thankful for it when the crowd started to build and Jonathan grabbed her hand to keep her close.
YOU ARE READING
The Dream Project / Steddie
Fanfiction"I don't care if we win, I just want to make it further than that asshole and his stupid band," he said once he caught his breath. "Are you kidding?" Jonathan poked his head into the stall, a grin on his face. "They couldn't beat us on our worse day...
