A/N - Hi all! Happy Holidays! Sadly, I couldn't find any fun Christmas-themed inspiration this year, so we've got a bog standard Taylor Swift vibe again! So, this chapter was inspired by Opalite, and the reader is Dustin's older sister (I'm thinking that she's in Nancy's grade at school). The timing doesn't actually work in this chapter, but I'm too lazy to fix it, so we're going to pretend that the initial scene is set during season 4 (but where everyone is in Hawkins) and the rest is during the weird Hawkins lockdown that happens between seasons. I hope you all enjoy it.
Just a reminder that we're still staying spoiler-free in the comments for a little longer, because some people won't have had the chance to catch up on the newest episodes just yet. So, please be considerate of your fellow readers.
"What's got you so mopey?" Robin uttered, turning to face you as soon as there was a break in the conversation, drawing the attention of everyone in the room to you.
You glared for a moment, opening your mouth to speak, only to be cut off.
"Pete got a new girlfriend," Dustin answered for you, watching as your brows shot up in shock.
"That is not-"
"Which is crazy because he's a total asshole," Dustin pressed. "And Y/N knows better than to go eating out of the trash like that again, so I don't know why she's letting it bother her."
He was grinning when he looked over at you, finding you scowling in his direction. "Thanks for your input," you muttered.
"You're welcome," he answered, his smile growing when you rolled your eyes at him.
"Really, Y/N, Pete?" Nancy started. "He treated you so badly."
"I'm not being mopey-"
"He never even took you on a proper date," Robin added.
"It's not about-"
"Didn't he tell everyone that he broke up with you because you weren't putting out? He's an ass-" Jonathan's words trailed off when you slammed your hands down on the table.
"I'm not upset about Pete's new girlfriend. I'm not being mopey. And I think we have more important things to focus on right now than my shitty relationship with my ex, so can we please stop talking about it and talk about something that might actually help us?" you bit out, a proper frown now fixed on your face as you sat back in your seat, arms crossed over your chest.
"Heard," Robin hummed, holding up her hands in surrender as the rest of the team stayed quiet, trying their hardest to avoid looking like they were watching you, studying you, when they clearly were.
A moment later, you'd shoved your chair away from the table, the legs scraping across the floor, and gone marching out of the room to the kitchen. You'd still been standing there a couple of minutes later, smacking the side of the coffee machine as if it had personally offended you by refusing to make you a drink in that exact moment.
"Are you good?" Steve hummed softly, watching as you froze, your hand already reared back to give the machine another smack.
"I don't want to talk about Pete-"
"Neither do I," he uttered. "When we were on the team together, he used to be a total ass. Couldn't believe that you'd actually said 'yes' when he told me he'd asked you out," he confessed. "But we aren't going to talk about him right now."
You swallowed down the lump in your throat. "Thank you."
"That machine is always playing me up. D'you want a hand?" he pressed on, nodding towards the coffee pot in front of you.
