#also dont tell me patrick swayze and steve harrington dont look like they could be related

[myriadof-fandoms]

harringrove week day 3 - the summer of 1963

prompt: dirty dancing

ao3 link

Steve hates Patrick Swayze’s stupid face. He’s over it. They’ve watched Dirty Dancing approximately a thousand times and he’s had it. He knows the songs, and he knows the dances, and if anybody asked he could probably recite the entire thing by heart. 

And yet, shockingly, upsettingly, frustratingly, Billy is still not done. He’s still just as obsessed.

Steve curses the day he thought it would be a good idea to force Billy to watch a romantic drama with him. He should’ve known better, in fact he does, he fucking knows Billy is a sap. He’s caught him reading romance dime novels intently more than once. 

But no, some part of him had thought it’d be funny to watch Billy deny liking the movie. Except, it has backfired in so many ways. 

It was funny, adorable even, at first. In the cinema, right at the back where they always sit, when Billy shushed him and leaned away when Steve tried to kiss him. 

“Stevie, go away, didn’t you hear that Penny’s pregnant?”

And it was still adorable when Billy forced him into the cinema again the week after. Steve wasn’t about to argue that the film wasn’t entertaining, and after all he could definitely appreciate seeing both Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze once more. 

There was also something about seeing Billy so invested. Even if it wasn’t the badly acted denial of interest he was originally hoping for.

They only saw the movie in the theater once more a couple days later when they took Max and Eleven to see it and that was it. The calm before the storm settled in. 

The storm that arrived when Billy came home smiling like the cat that got the cream holding a VHS.

Ever since, Steve’s life has been hell. 

Patrick Swayze is on their TV, all the time. They want to spend time alone on a Saturday night? Dirty Dancing. Max is over to visit Billy and they need something for background noise? Dirty Dancing. Billy feels shitty? Dirty Dancing. Robin and Eddie come for movie night and it’s Billy’s pick? Dirty Dancing. Billy’s feeling good? Dirty Dancing. 

So Steve finds himself once again, on his sofa, just trying to read a paper for his class and there is Patrick Swayze once again. 

“This is my dance space. This is your dance space.”

And Steve is about to scream, he really is, but then his eyes catch Billy in their kitchen. Their tiny space that barely deserves to be called a kitchen and is directly connected to the living room. Not too tiny to not be used as a dance floor apparently. 

Billy’s moving to the song playing in the background of the film, really just swaying a little back and forth, but still, dancing.

And Steve, well, he might be annoyed as hell but he’s even more in love. And if he goes and joins Billy, hugging him from behind and moving along with him and then soaking up the smile he gets in response, then really nobody will ever know.

Maybe he should draw the line two weeks later. They’re high as hell and obviously the movie playing in the background is Dirty Dancing. It’s during the scene in which Johnny takes Baby to learn the lift in the water when Billy turns to him, “Let’s try that.”

“Are you insane?”

“C’mon, Harrington, you can pick me up any other way too.” Billy is grinning like he’s already won.

“You are insane.” Obviously, Billy has already won. 

It does lead to them having to call Robin at 1am because as anyone could’ve expected they could not do the lift successfully and now Steve has a broken nose thanks to Billy's knee and Billy has a laceration on his forehead thanks to their coffee table. 

Eddie has the courage, or maybe just the audacity, to call Billy out one day, “You have a fucking crush on him.”

“What?” Billy doesn’t even look away from the screen where Johnny and Baby are saying goodbye by his car. 

"I guess we surprised everybody."

“You have a fucking crush on the dancing guy and that’s why you want to watch this goddamn film all the time,” Eddie’s laughing now. 

“Shut up, Munson.” There’s a slight flush to Billy’s cheeks but he’s so focused on the movie itself that it barely even registers.

“Hey Steve,” Chrissy calls out to the kitchen from where she’s leaning against Eddie’s chest. “Do me a favor and stand next to the TV.”

Like most other people Steve would do almost anything if Chrissy Cunningham asked, so despite some confusion he does.

Both Chrissy and Eddie start laughing menacingly when the next shot of Patrick Swayze comes around.

Billy blushes some more and Steve remains clueless.

Sometimes, Billy cries when Baby’s father is so quick to dismiss Johnny, his judgement easy and harsh. Billy’ll hide his face against Steve’s chest and sniffle into the fabric of his shirt. He cries harder when Johnny talks about his prospects in life or the women who used him. The worst is when Baby goes to her father and tells him that he has to love all of her even if she isn’t exactly how he expected her to be. 

Most times, Billy will kiss Steve with intent when Johnny gets fired after Baby stood up for him. Strong and secure kisses that say much more than words could. Kisses that make Steve think of the time he punched Neil Hargrove in the face after he had to drive Billy to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.  

“Nobody has ever done anything like that for me before.”

And Steve can’t really hate the film much in those moments. 

He can hate it again easily when he wakes up to hearing Billy wail along to Hungry Eyes or Hey Baby though.

Steve is not having the time of his life and if he has to hear that goddamn song one more time-

He buys the vinyl of the soundtrack for Billy’s birthday.

-----

i did ignore one very specific fact for this so: enjoy joe keery doing the lift bye