#Steve Harrington Reader insert

[skittlesfics]

Steve x reader where reader is Dustin’s older sister and Steve tries to convince Dustin to set them up

lol this one was fun 658 words - she/her pronouns

- “Dustin…” Steve was already at the end of his rope, but in this situation, he couldn’t afford to lose his cool.

“NO!” Dustin shot back immediately. He was leaned against the car the way that Steve hated, one foot propped against the passenger door, arms over his chest. The stance of a boy who would not be swayed.

“Dude, I’m serious.” Steve pleaded, changing his tactic. He’d already tried everything. Good cop, bad cop, oblivious cop. Maybe he should stop trying to be a cop.

“So am I. I’m not hooking you up with my sister, Steve. That’s gross!”

Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes in the way he knew he shouldn’t if he was hoping for any help from Dustin.

“How is it gross?” He challenged, crossing his own arms to match Dustin’s defensive posture. It was Dustin’s turn to scoff.

“It just is! She’s my sister. You already dated Nancy, you can’t date all of our sisters.” Dustin winced the second he finished talking, realizing what he had said, “That was a low blow.”

“Low blow.” Steve agreed, shaking his head.

Dustin opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it again when the front door finally opened and you walked out.

“Sorry, couldn’t find the sunscreen!” You called, turning to lock the door behind you.

Dustin gave Steve a warning glance and pushed off of the car with his foot.

“We’re going to be the last ones there, and it’s Steve’s house.” Dustin complained, switching gears like the conversation with Steve hadn’t been happening in the first place, “You could’ve just borrowed someone else’s.”

You rolled your eyes and approached your brother, flicking his cap off his head to ruffle his curly hair. He made a noise of complaint, rushing to pick his hat up off the ground.

“You’re the one that needs extra protection, dusty boy. Or do you want to look like a lobster when we drive you up to camp next week?” You shot a grin at Steve, moving past both of them to slide into the front seat.

Your words quieted Dustin’s complaints, but did not silence them, especially not when he realized that you had sniped shotgun from him that easily.

-

Steve smiled fondly as he listened to the two of you bicker. The current debate was whether seniority or a longer friendship was more important in determining who was worthy of the front seat.

Most days this would drive him crazy, but today you were spread out in the front seat, denim shorts unbuttoned to reveal a hint of the red bathing suit underneath, and you were driving him crazy in a completely different way. Keeping his eyes on the road was a struggle, and it took all of his willpower to get you to his house safely.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re older, that’s my seat.” Dustin repeated, the exasperation clear in his voice. Steve was convinced that the only person who could win an argument against a Henderson was another Henderson, but the stubbornness from both of you was destined to drag this on.

“Oh yeah? I don’t see your ass in it Dusty.” You shot back, grinning like you just knew you were winding him up for no reason.  

Steve pulled into his driveway, grateful for an excuse to end this argument, but you weren’t done. Not yet.

You gathered your things quickly and turned to look at your brother in the backseat.

“Besides, Steve likes when I sit in the front seat, don’t you Stevie?” Before Steve could respond, you were turning to him, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek and then fleeing before either boy had a chance to react.

Steve watched you go, heart frozen in his chest. You looked back once to shoot him a wink and then you disappeared around the fence to the pool, leaving Steve alone to deal with Dustin’s wrath.

“HARRINGTON, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?”

read part 2 here

[fireinmoonshot]

CAN U WRITE SOMETHING STRANGER THINGS ABOUT BEING DUSTINS OLDER SISTER AND DATING STEVE ILYSM❤️❤️❤️❤️

Summary:  Steve never expected to fall in love with someone like you, Dustin’s older sister, but here he was, falling head over heels in love with you. Pairing: Reader x Steve Harrington.Fandom: Stranger Things.Warnings: None.Word Count: 1479.

It had been five months since the events that had brought you and Steve together. As Dustin’s older sister, he’d recruited you almost instantly to help him and Steve kill the demodog that had eaten your cat. You, at first, had been devastated – you loved Mews – but as the time went past, you had forgotten about the cat and been too preoccupied with the demodogs.

As you and Steve were the only two who had really had to deal with the demodogs together, other than the kids, you’d managed to stick together after everything. With Jonathan and Nancy together, there was no other viable option for the two of you other than to hang out with one another.

He’d asked you on a date two months later – just a simple date to a local diner where you ate burgers together and laughed over stupid jokes for hours. You’d started properly dating a few days later and had been pretty much inseparable ever since.

Telling Dustin about your relationship most definitely had to be one of the highlights.

You’d decided to tell him together – as his sister and with Steve as a good friend of his (and practically his father) you knew that it’d probably end up being a big deal for him. So, you sat him down one afternoon and slowly started to explain what had happened.

Dustin had picked up on it pretty easily. He’d gasped and jumped up from the chair, yelling excitedly about how his sister was dating Steve and that it was the coolest freakin’ thing ever. He had then proceeded to tell Steve that if he so much as looked at you wrong, he was dead.

And Steve completely and utterly believed him.

He promised him that he’d never hurt you though – he wasn’t that type of person. You knew he was being truthful. When Steve cared about someone, he was all in. And you knew from the second that he’d asked you out on that date that he was all in with you.

The only problem about Dustin knowing about your relationship was that he wanted to be with the two of you all the time. He’d always sit with you when you were watching movies, he’d always be where the two of you were. It actually took you locking the door to your room to get him away. He didn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space when it came to you both – you knew it stemmed from a place of love, but still.

Your mother trusted him too. He’d been over a few times before you even started dating, mostly for Dustin’s sake, so she’d been around him enough to know that he was a good guy. When you started dating him, you could have sworn she’d almost started crying out of happiness.

This was the reason why she allowed the two of you to be in your room alone.

Steve also made sure that he took you out on dates as much as possible. Whenever it wasn’t a school night, he was always suggesting things to do – movie nights, dinner, hanging out at your place. He understood that you didn’t want to go out on a school night, luckily. He was just as serious about school as you were, it seemed.

You were just getting ready to leave the diner after a Saturday night dinner together when he slipped into casual conversation that he was falling in love with you. You’d stopped still, eyes widening as you looked over at him.

“What did you just say?” You asked, slinging your jacket over your arm.

Steve looked up, eyebrows raised. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“You just– you just said you were falling in love with me.”

He nodded slowly. “Uh, yeah,” he admitted. “I am.”

You were at a loss of words. Even though you’d made a vow that you wouldn’t date anyone unless you saw a future with them, you hadn’t expected Steve to fall in love with you. In all honesty, you’d never imagined anyone to fall in love with you.

And here you were, with Steve Harrington, the King of Hawkins High School, admitting he was falling in love with you, Y/N Henderson, the somewhat geeky older sister of Dustin Henderson.

Steve led you out of the diner and over to his car, the both of you silent as you got inside and he started up the engine to drive you home. Your mind was running on overdrive about the fact that he was falling in love with you. Steve was thinking he should have held off on telling you.

When he pulled up out the front of your house, you grabbed the bouquet of flowers he’d bought you before the date from the floor where you’d left them while you ate, and turned to look at him. “I– I’m sorry.”

He frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. “What are you sorry for?”

“I just– I freaked out about you admitting that you were falling in love with me. I didn’t… I didn’t expect it at all and, quite honestly, it terrifies me,” you admitted, your voice quiet.

Steve felt his heart drop a little and sighed, looking down at his lap. “Babe,” he muttered. “I know that I should have waited to tell you– I just couldn’t wait another second. When I saw you smile in there, I just couldn’t hold it in. I had to tell you.”

You shook your head. “No, Steve, listen,” you began, reaching across the car to take one of his hands in yours. You squeezed it reassuringly. “The idea that you could be in love with me is one I never even contemplated. And now knowing that it’s true? It’s scary as hell. But– but that’s okay, Steve. Considering everything we’ve been through together, that’s okay. I’m good with scary.”

He raised his eyes to meet yours. “You really mean that?”

“I really mean that,” you assured him. You, albeit uncomfortably, leant across the console to press your lips to his. He smiled into the kiss, a hand resting on your cheek. He was practically melting at the feeling of your lips on his.

When you broke apart, you laughed softly. “Steve?” You muttered, your voice quiet.

He hummed to let you know he was listening.

“I, uh, I’m falling in love with you too.”

Steve insisted on walking you to the front door of your house, even though you’d tried to convince him that it wasn’t that long of a walk and that you’d be totally fine. He held your hand for the whole walk to the door, and both of you laughed softly as you saw the curtain at the front of the house move – Dustin had definitely been watching from the window.

The two of you stopped out the front of the house, Steve smiling sweetly at you.

You almost crumbled at the look on his face. The way he was looking at you made it impossible for your stomach not to do backflips and a similar smile to make its way to your own face.

“You’re beautiful, Y/N Henderson,” he said, his voice quiet so that it wouldn’t carry too far – even though both of you knew that Dustin was probably listening at the keyhole. “You know that?”

You blushed, your gaze moving to your feet. He chuckled, dropping your hands and moving to wrap his arms around your waist, tugging you closer to him. You smiled, wrapping your arms around his neck, the bouquet of flowers still in your hand.

“Thank you for a wonderful night,” you smiled.

Steve shrugged. “That’s what you should expect when you agree to a date with me, babe.”

You laughed, leaning in and pressing your lips to his once more, your hands moving to tangle in his hair. If anyone else touched his hair the way you did, he’d fight them, no questions asked, but when you did it? He’d let you touch his hair like that any day.

Steve never wanted to stop kissing you, but when you had to break away for breath, you regretfully put your hand on the door handle, about to move inside. You smiled over at him. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

He nodded. “I’ll be here to pick you up at 8.”

“I’ll be waiting,” you replied.

His grin was infectious upon hearing your words and you couldn’t help but smile back as he stepped closer to you, pecked your lips softly once more. “Sleep well, babe.”

He stopped before moving away again to look through the keyhole of the door. “Dustin Henderson, if you aren’t asleep in your bed by the time your sister opens that door, you’re in trouble.”

You both laughed as you heard a quiet mutter of “Shit” and a scuffle behind the door. Typical.

[whirlybirbs]

⋆    ----   CARHOP COOL.

summary: you know steve harrington, sure. are you suprised when your best friend, robin, brings him and her new friends to your place of summer employment? definitely.  pairing: steve harrington x reader, post season three word count: not enough, honestly. a/n: i’d like to thank not only god, but joe keery’s hair

                                          MASTERLIST   ⋆   NEXT   ⤍

“Dude.”

“He’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?”

“... Okay, he’s sometimes, like, the dumbest person I know but he means well --”

“Robin, he bullied the shit outta me in the fourth grade -- he called me four eyes and I didn’t even have glasses.”

You cross your arms, face immediately pulled into a look of despair as Robin slings an arm around your shoulders and snaps her gum with a sigh -- before you is the aforementioned bully, engaging in an overly complex handshake with the one and only Dustin Henderson by the back bumper of Nancy Wheeler’s station wagon.

In the blue light of the August evening, there’s a crowd gathered of familiar faces. Jonathan Byers, his brother, Nancy Wheeler, her brother, a few younger kids you recognize from the halls of Hawkins...

And Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington, illuminated by the drive-in diner’s neon sign over the back of your shoulder.

“I can’t go over there.”

You rock back and forth on your pastel pink roller-blades. Your Roll-o’s carhop uniform, comprised of a matching pink and blue collared shirt and miniskirt, is a plain old mockery and despite Robin’s insistence that it’s “cute”, you can’t help but feel like an idiot as you clutch the tray of orders for the group of kids hanging out by the new hatchback.

“He’s changed, I promise,” Robin says gently, shaking your shoulders, “I swear, he’s cool now. He... He even knows -- y’know, about me.”

You narrow your eyes on the big haired kid in question. Protectiveness flairs at the idea of him being anything but nice to Robin knowing that much. Your friend adjusts the company policy hat on your head. You’re skeptical. “...And?”

“And he’s sweet about it,” she says genuinely, voice going a little sing-song, “C’mon, it’ll be fine. If you’re with me, you’re cool. I promise. I’ve talked enough about you --”

You spare Robin a look, sigh and push your shoulders back.

“Fine.”

Steve almost doesn’t recognize you.

It’s been -- I mean... It’s been a three months since graduation but it’s been longer since he’s even looked at you. One distinct memory flies to the front of his mind from Freshmen year, when in Mrs. Cortez’s class, he launched a spitball at the back of your head during the Spanish II final while Tommy H. cried he laughed so hard.

Steve cringes.

“Guys! This is my friend,” Robin jogs up alongside you as you stop before the gathered group; her voice dips into something grandiose and charming as she sports spirit fingers, “Queen of Roll-o’s herself, a menace on wheels --”

“Sick blades,” chirps a younger girl with fire red hair, balancing on a long board, “Are those yours?”

You blink, mouth parting. “Oh. Uh, yeah, I just got new wheels --”

“They match,” Robin grins, gesturing to the whole outfit, “Like I said, Roll-o’s Queen.”

“Part-time seasonal Queen.”

Nancy grins, giving a small wave from beside Jonathan. She leans on the bumper -- she’s always been nice. Her and Barb. “How’s your summer been?”

You roll back and forth, shrugging with a polite smile. “Boring. You?”

“Oh, yeah,” Nancy laughs, hinting at something you miss, “Super boring.”

Robin seems to snicker, sharing a knowing look with the rest of the group -- she leans, muttering something about how she’ll fill you in later and leaves you with a lot more questions than answers.

“Riiiiiight, well, here’s, uh, here’s the orders -- uh, who had the Double Chunk Snickers Swirl?”

Steve freezes.

He’s been kinda busy through all this, sucker punched in the jaw by how shitty he was in high school -- and... I mean, K through 12, really. He’s busy staring at you, wondering if you’ve been this pretty all this time. You had a perm for a while which, really, wasn’t the best look, but... I mean, c’mon, did popularity really blind him for that long? Maybe Dustin had a point. And Robin. And... like, everyone.

Dustin elbows him so hard in the side that Harrington jumps six feet in the air.

“Oh!” he clears his throat, “That’s me. Hi. Sorry -- uh, hi.”

You bite back attitude, feeling Robin’s eyes on you. “Hi, Steve.”

Oh, Steve reads that ice cold look from miles away. He shrinks, sheepishly offering an apologetic grin and takes the frappe from your hands.

“I, ha, I couldn’t resist. It’s so good, right? I mean, you must know that already because you, uh, work here. You work here.”

You narrow your eyes. Steve wavers.

"Mhm.”

Robin nudges your side. You ignore it, moving on to hand out the rest of the orders. When you’re finally done, you move to tuck the tray under your arm and try your best to ignore the burning stare of Steve Harrington.

Is there something on your face?

You slip him a look as Robin speaks. Your eyes connect for a millisecond and you both shove it away.

“You should definitely come with us to the beach next week,” Robin says to you, slinging her arm around your shoulders as she sips her milkshake. She speaks with a full mouth of malt, “It’d be fun!”

“I don’t wanna intrude --” you blink around the group who all seem to be busy enjoying their ice creams.

“No, no,” Nancy says, grinning as she waves her spoon, “It’d be nice to have another girl around.”

“And someone who understands D&D.”

You gawk at Steve, the one who said it with a surprising lack of mockery, then back at Robin.

Betrayal crosses your face as you whisper, horrified, and shove Robin lightly at the exposure of the untold hobby between the both of you.

“You told them?”

“Listen,” she says, raising a finger, “That campaign was good! And Steve the Paladin over there needed some pointers --”

Your jaw drops.

Steve looks like a deer in headlights.

“You play D&D...?”

Steve’s whole face goes rosy. He digs his spoon into his flurry.

“Uh... Yea, I mean -- listen, it’s Dustin’s fault --” he stutters, jutting a thumb in the direction of the curly haired camper, “And... uh, if you came to the beach, I could tell you all about my character, y’know? If... If you want.”

You blink between him and Robin.

“... Fine.”

She cheers.

“But, I’m driving.”

[ynscrazylife]

“stay still, im trying to help you" with Steve Harrington please

Nothing a Bandaid Can’t Fix

Summary: Steve comes to the rescue when the Upside Down threatens Y/N.

Authors Note: This is set in Stranger Things 4, Vol 1 and is inspired by something that happens in Vol 2, but does not contain any spoilers for Vol 2.

Request to be on a taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

Main Masterlist | Stranger Things Masterlist

PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me firstand b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

On the walk to the Wheeler’s house, Y/N and Steve had become the “leaders” for the group, despite the fact that Nancy was the one who lived there. Y/N claimed it was because Nancy, Robin, and Eddie walked slow; but inside she knew she was itching to get there faster. The quicker they got there, the quicker they could leave this dimension and never come back.

“I can’t believe Will survived a whole week in here,” Steve murmured, glancing around.

Y/N nodded in agreement, following his gaze. “He’s a tough kid,” she said. “How are the bandages holding up, by the way? Do you feel better?” She sent a worried glance at her boyfriend, remembering the bats’ attack.

Steve let out a chuckle, patting his side where the bandages were. “I’m flattered you’re worried, hon, but they are doing their job,” he answered cockily, flashing a wink at Y/N.

Y/N rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but add a smile to it. “Sue me for caring, Harring—” she was about to remark, only to cut herself off with a shrill gasp at the feel of something quickly wrapping around her ankle. Glancing down, she had little time to react to the sight before her: a vine squeezing her ankle. Before she could say anything, more vines shot out and latched onto her, slamming her against the nearest tree.

Steve’s eyes widened as he witnessed his girlfriend be restrained against a tree, helpless to do anything about it. “ROBIN! NANCY! EDDIE!” He called out immediately, but only heard his echo in turn. He cursed under his breath, they were too far back to hear him.

“Steve!” Y/N’s croaked cry reminded him that he had to act fast, her pupils as big as a bowling ball’s with the little light the Upside Down had provided.

His first instinct was to pull at the vines with his hands to do anything, but he thought better of it and knew that it would do nothing. Instead, he took a makeshift tool he’d made after the bat attack and began clawing at the vines with it like it was some sort of an axe.

Y/N could only watch, thoughts racing through her head a million times a millisecond. It was the most horrible feeling to be in danger and not be able to do anything about it, but she knew she had to have faith in Steve. He could get her out of this. He would. But—it was becoming difficult to think when every bone in your body was practically being squeezed out of your skin. Y/N let out short gasps as she did her best to breath through it.

However — she couldn’t help but flinch every time Steve’s…whatever tool it was came near her.

“Stay still, I’m trying to help you,” Steve said urgently, grunting as he kept on wacking at the vines. He briefly wondered if the vines were cutting off her oxygen, since she was moving away from the very thing trying to help.

Y/N opened her mouth to response, but only a cough came out in return.

Steve huffed, wacking at the vines even harder. Soon, they began to fall away, and Y/N gathered the strength to try and squirm her way out of danger. Eventually, she was fully freed, and fell to the ground. Steve quickly dropped his tool and hit the ground on his knees, catching her around her waist and pulling her close to his chest.

Y/N couched and took deep breaths, squeezing her eyes shut as she wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck and allowed him to hold her. “That’s it,” he soothed, rubbing her back. “Just breath. Breath for me.”

By the time she caught her breath and was calming down, Nancy, Robin, and Eddie had caught up. “Please don’t tell me you guys were making out or anything,” Eddie whined.

Steve rolled his eyes while Y/N shook her head, rubbing her throat. “The vines got her,” he grunted, before moving to stand up and to help his girlfriend do the same. “C’mon, let’s get to Nancy’s house. We gotta get out of here.”

They continued their walk, Steve and Y/N falling to the back of the group. He had his arm wrapped around her waist, ready to support her and catch her if need be. Y/N didn’t say much, not wanting to worsen her throat, and Steve didn’t mind. He only quietly asked if she was alright from time to time and, when they got to Nancy’s, asked if she needed anything.

Nancy and Robin went upstairs to try and communicate to Dustin and Lucas on the other side, meanwhile Eddie roamed around the house and Steve directed Y/N to rest on the couch. He went to the kitchen in search of anything that could help, gladly rummaging through the Wheeler’s drawers.

“Tea is good,” he said triumphantly, spotting a tea bag and grabbing it. But then — Steve hesitated. “Wait, how the fuck do you make—brew?—tea?”

With a sigh, he threw the tea bag back and opted for hot coffee. After it was done, he grabbed a first aid kit from the closet and made his way back to Y/N, where Eddie was now entertaining her by playing a song.

Steve said a quick hello to Eddie before sitting down next to Y/N, handing her the coffee which she gladly sipped at. While she enjoyed her drink, he began to open up the first aid kit, sifting through the things in there.

He found some bandaids and bandages and started treating the cuts and scrapes on Y/N’s arms and legs, murmuring apologies when she winced. When he was done, he kissed her forehead. “There you go, all better,” he said.

“Nothing a bandaid can’t fix,” Y/N whispered, smiling before leaning forward to kiss Steve.

“Nothing indeed,” Eddie echoed, before gagging at said kiss. “Ugh. Happy people.”

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[tropicalsuki]

Do You Copy? - Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Summary: Y/n, Steve’s girlfriend of over a year, is gone all of summer for a camp counselor job in the middle of nowhere, meaning the only way to stay in contact is through letters. Dustin and the party are sick of seeing Steve mope around, so they decide to set up a surprise date between Y/n and Steve. 

warnings: FLUFF, some angst, language, sexual references/making out, slight season 3 spoilers if you squint

word count: 2,566

A/N: this was supposed to go up Monday but my internet went down Sunday night and we just got it back today, so sorry for the delay! I hope you all love it and enjoy! Also, I’m up for writing a part two if enough people want it.

---------------

Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will were all at Steve’s house, arguing over what movie to watch. It was their monthly movie night, and everyone was there. Well, almost everyone.

“Does anyone know when the hell Mike and El are gonna be here?” Dustin asked, annoyed with their constant flaking. 

“How are we supposed to know? They show up whenever they’re done kissing. It’s bullshit,” Lucas answered.

“Woah, language!” Steve acted offended as he walked into the room with two large bowls of popcorn. Max quickly grabbed one and sank into the couch, shoveling the snack into her mouth. “You better share!” Lucas yanked the bowl from her and the two began bickering like they usually did.

Everyone stopped talking when the doorbell rang.

 “Is it them?” Will asked as Steve went and opened the door. He came back in the room a moment later with a letter in hand. “No, not them. Just the mailman,” Steve said as he opened the letter with a slight smile. 

“Is that another letter?” Lucas asked. Max sat up, interested, “from who? Y/n?”

Steve didn’t answer their questions as he read the letter, a stupid grin on his face. 

“Ooh, let me read it!” Dustin went to grab it but Steve quickly yanked his arm away, “no, absolutely not! This is a private letter for my eyes only.”

“Aw come on! Let me see!” Dustin complained. As Steve and Dustin were arguing, Max came up behind Steve and grabbed the letter, running to the other side of the room to read it. Steve ran after her, but Lucas, Will, and Dustin tackled him as Max began reading aloud.

“’It’s only been a month since I left, but it feels like forever. I’m counting down the days until I come back to Hawkins. I miss the sound of your voice and the smell of your cologne and the way you kiss me and how you-’ ohmygod, you two are disgusting!” Max stopped reading, her face going red. 

“What? What does it say?” Lucas demanded.

“Read it for yourself! I’m not saying that out loud,” Max shook her head. 

“Will you all stop?! That’s a private letter!” Steve yelled.

Lucas and Will ran over to Max, peering over her shoulder to read the rest of the note. Dustin didn’t budge from his spot on top of Steve. As the two boys scanned the page, they went wide eyed. “That is... graphic,” Lucas finally said, trying not to laugh. 

“You two must really love each other,” Will spoke, making Steve sigh. “We do. And that’s why the letter is so important. So can you please give it back?” he asked, defeated. Dustin got off of him and Max handed over the letter. 

“Why don’t you just call her? I don’t see the problem,” Lucas said. 

“Because they don’t have phones in the middle of the woods, dipshit,” Max snipped. 

“Jesus, I forgot. No need to be so rude,” Lucas huffed as Steve got up, the doorbell ringing once more. Will ran towards the front entrance. 

“Mike and El are here!” Will called, walking back into the room a moment later with the the two teens in tow. 

“About time” “Great! We can finally start the movie now!” Max and Dustin said at once. Lucas went over to the tv, shoving the VHS into the slot. 

“What movie?” El asked, picking up the bowl of popcorn that Max left on the table. 

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail; only one of the best movies of all time,” Will stated excitedly. “Ooh, good choice,” Mike flopped down on the couch, pulling El down beside him. The others got comfy and happily chatted away as the movie began. Max shushed loudly when the opening credits were over and everyone quieted down. 

Throughout the movie, as everyone was laughing and making comments, Steve stayed quiet. Dustin took notice and waited for his chance to talk to the others. When Steve left to go to the bathroom, Dustin ran over to the tv and paused the movie.

“Dude! Why’d you stop it? This is the best part!” Mike complained. Lucas and Max chimed in with agreement.

“The movie can wait. But right now we need a plan to help Steve. He looks miserable,” Dustin answered. 

“Maybe he does not like Monty Python,” El suggested. Will sighed, “No, Dustin’s right. He’s been acting like this all summer.” 

“Why? Because of Y/n? She’s coming back in, like, three weeks,” Mike shrugged.

Max rolled her eyes, “please, Michael, if El was gone for half that long, you’d be complaining everyday.”

Mike didn’t respond, knowing she was right. 

Dustin nodded decidedly, “alright then. What’s the plan?”

-

Steve told the group he was going to the bathroom, quickly leaving and heading up to his room. He wanted to have a fun evening, he really did, but the letter stuck in his head and he couldn’t think of anything else. 

Walking over to his desk, Steve opened a drawer and set the new letter over a pile of identical ones. You and Steve sent letters back and forth at least once a week, but it still wasn’t enough. All he asked for was to hear your voice, but not even that wasn’t possible. Two months away as a camp counselor in the middle of fucking nowhere. Steve thought he would be fine without you for that long. 

He was wrong. 

Steve snapped out of his thoughts and closed the drawer, taking a deep breath before heading back downstairs. As he reentered the living room, the kids immediately stopped talking, all turning to look at him. 

“What did I miss? Did something happen?” Steve asked, looking between the six of them. 

“Nope. Nothing at all,” Lucas said casually.

“We were just waiting for you to come back. So we can keep watching,” Max added. Dustin quickly got up and started the movie again. 

Steve was too mentally exhausted to care what they were talking about, so he sat back down without question. 

-

A week passed before you got another letter in the mail. But it wasn’t from Steve. This time, it was from Dustin Henderson, claiming that Steve was in the hospital and you needed to come home immediately. 

As soon as you read the letter, you ran to your boss with tears in your eyes, begging to be sent home early. Your boss knew there was no hope in arguing, so he complied, and you sent off a letter to Dustin saying you were on your way back to Hawkins as soon as possible.

“Y/n’s coming back!” Dustin announced, waving the letter in his hand as he walked into Mike’s basement. 

“I still don’t think it was a good idea to lie to her about Steve,” Max replied. 

“She’s probably gonna have a heart attack before she gets here,” Lucas agreed. 

“Listen, I know it was messed up, but we literally haven’t seen Steve leave his house in over a week. It was necessary,” Dustin defended himself, but the others didn’t seem convinced. Dustin continued, “Y/n will be at the airport tomorrow at noon. We need to meet her there before she goes looking for Steve.”

“That’s nice and all, but how are we going to get there? None of us can drive,” Max pointed out. The others looked at each other knowingly, already having two people in mind.

-

“You told her Steve was in the hospital?!” Nancy exclaimed, looking at the six kids in front of her like they were insane before turning to her boyfriend, “Jonathan, did you know about this?”

Jonathan shook his head, “I did not. Because if I did, I would of told them it was a stupid and cruel idea.”

“That’s what I said!” Will huffed.

“Look, I fucked up. I get it. But it’s already done, so can we move forward please?” Dustin said, frustrated. 

“Yeah, whatever. It’s 11:30 so we need to go,” Nancy and Jonathan got up, leading the younger teens outside and to the car. Nancy got in the drivers seat and took them all to the airport.

When the group finally saw you coming off the flight, you were a mess. Your eyes were red from crying and your clothes and hair were all over the place. You spotted the eight of them and ran over, dropping your bags to pull Nancy into a hug, “oh god, it’s so good to see you.”

Nancy smiled, hugging you back, “I know, I missed you. We all did.”

You pulled away, looking at everyone carefully. “Is... is he okay?” you asked quietly, scared of what the answer may be. 

They all glanced at one another, silently arguing over who was going to tell you that Steve was perfectly fine. You took their silence as the exact opposite, and suddenly began crying. Jonathan pulled you into a comforting hug as Mike elbowed Dustin hard, forcing him to speak.

“No! No, don’t cry. Steve’s ok. He’s perfectly fine, and not in the hospital. He never was... I, uh, lied. to get you to come home early,” Dustin explained quickly. 

You moved away from Jonathan, your sadness and worry turning to confusion then anger, “what?”

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that,” Dustin gave you the sweetest smile he could manage. 

“You lied about my boyfriend being in the hospital?! I left my job and paid for a last minute plane ticket - and for what? What was this all for for?!” you said angrily, trying your best to keep your voice from rising. 

“Steve has been miserable all summer. But it’s gotten worse the past few weeks. We wanted him to feel better, and the only way to do that was to bring you home,” Will stepped in to explain. You sighed, having a hard time to get mad at Will; he always meant well no matter how messed up the idea. 

“Where is he? Does he know I’m here?” you questioned, wanting to see him as soon as possible. 

“No! No, he doesn’t. He can’t. We have this whole plan and we’re gonna surprise him so you can’t see him until tonight,” Lucas said quickly. 

You didn’t want to wait that long, but you doubted the kids would let you anywhere near Steve before their plan was complete. So you looked to Nancy instead, “this has all been very emotionally draining. And I need a drink.”

Nancy smiled knowingly, “I got you covered. Let’s go back to my house.” 

You nodded heavily and turned back to the kids, “you can tell me your ridiculous plan on the way there... and this doesn’t mean I’m not still beyond pissed at you all.”

The six of them nodded quickly, not wanting to push you. You followed Nancy outside, Jonathan grabbing your bags for you and hurrying after the group.

-

Dustin, El, and Mike banged on Steve’s door. He didn’t answer the first time, so they persisted. Finally the door was yanked open and Steve answered with groan, “what?!”

“We have a surprise for you,” Dustin grinned. 

“Does it involve going out?” Steve asked. Dustin nodded. “Then I’m not interested,” Steve decided. 

“Just listen to us! It’s about Y/n,” Mike said quickly.

Dustin began explaining before Steve could say anything, “we’ve been trying to find away to get into contact with Y/n, and we finally figured it out. You know my ingenious invention, Cerebral? Well, we sent a letter to Y/n and there’s a way you’ll be able to talk to each other!” 

Steve watched him, a blank expression on his face, “nice idea, but that’s not possible. If phones don’t work there, how is your stupid little radio going to?”

“It’s different. Landlines and radios work on different frequencies, and interact in different ways. There’s no phones at Y/n’s camp, but there’s radios. So it’ll work. We’ve tested it,” Dustin insisted, trying his best to be convincing. 

“It’s true,” El nodded. Mike smiled at Steve in support. 

Steve was desperate, and willing to try anything, “fine. When?”

“In an hour. So go take a shower - you smell awful,” Mike said. 

-

An hour later, Steve was hiking up to the highest point in Hawkins, while you hid a bit further down on the other side of the hill with Lucas and Max. Dustin, Mike, El, and Will lead Steve to where Cerebral was set up, talking to him about how you were waiting on the other end. 

“This better work or I’m going to beat you with your own equipment,” Steve said to Dustin, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

“It’ll work. I promise,” Dustin assured, sitting down by the main radio. Dustin pretended to work on getting a proper connection, but it seemed to be failing, and Steve was growing impatient. 

“I swear to god, Henderson, you took me all the way up here and got my hopes up and the damn radio wont even work,” he said angrily. 

Dustin didn’t reply, turning a few more knobs as you sneaked up the hill and stood behind Steve.

“Steve?”

When he heard your voice, Steve quickly moved closer to the radio, surprised that it was actually working and how clear your voice sounded, “Y/n? Y/n, is that you?”

“Steve,” you said again, a bit louder, and he froze, realizing the voice wasn’t coming from the radio. Turning around, his eyes landed on you and a grin spread across his face. 

“Hi,” you grinned back and Steve ran over, scooping you up in a tight hug and spinning you around, both of you laughing from happiness. 

He put you down and pulled you into a deep kiss as you wrapped your arms around his neck. The kids watched on, proud of their work. 

“You came home,” Steve stated, keeping you close. 

“The kids told me you were in the hospital. I came home as soon as I could. They were lying, obviously,” you explained. Steve was too happy to have you back to be mad about that right now, so instead he just pulled you closer to him.

“I missed you so much,” you breathed, running your hands down his chest and kissing him. Steve kissed you back with an almost desperation, and the six kids realized things were about to get heated. 

“Should, we uh...,” Lucas trailed, pointing down to the bottom of the hill. “Yep. Mmhm,” the others nodded and the group quickly ran off, leaving you and Steve on your own. 

You pulled Steve down so the two of you were laying on the grass, never breaking the kiss in the process. He moved you on top of him, running his hands through your hair. You pulled away slightly to catch your breath, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too. It hurts how much I love you,” Steve answered, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. 

“Did you get my last letter?” you asked as you ran a hand across his cheek. 

“I sure did,” Steve smiled slightly.

“I meant every word. And those things I promised I’d do to you when I got back...,” you started playfully, but was cut off when Steve rolled you over so he was hovering over you.

“I know you’d never break a promise. So just kiss me, idiot,” Steve said teasingly. You grinned and pulled him down to meet your lips once more. 

-

End.

[stevesharrlngtons]

hey.

steve harrington x reader

summary: he was such a staple piece in your life, that as a child and young teen, you never saw your life without him. late night promises and pinky swears were made in blanket forts that you two would be friends until the day the sun burned out in the sky. it was just a given that’d he be there, that you never worried about the two of you drifting apart or being separated. he promised he’d always be there, and you had believed him. you now corrected yourself, foolishly believed him.

word count: 4.8k

chapter i / ii / iii / iv / vi / vii / viii

                                                   chapter v

After much complaining and bargaining on Steve’s part, he eventually agreed to take you home. The drive back to your house was filled with silence, but it felt warm and comfortable. Steve’s fingers were laced with your own. Your hand rubbed delicate lines on the top of Steve’s, if your eyes hadn’t been adverted out the windshield, you would have seen the look of pure happiness on his face.

This was the best he had felt in years.

“So.” Steve said, putting his car in park, once you arrived at your house.

“So?” You replied, still firmly holding his hand.

“I don’t think you should be driving to school alone anymore. I mean it’s freezing cold and I know for a fact my car heats up ten times faster than yours.” Steve said smiling playfully at you.

“Oh, is that so?” You returned his expression.

“Yeah, and I mean, it will save you on gas, and it will also save your mom on the phone bill since we won’t have to talk as long at night if we get to recite our days to each other on the drive home.” He was counting the reasons on his hand that wasn’t occupied in yours.

A blissful feeling settled over you at the thought of Steve wanting to spend his nights on the phone with you.

“And I mean, let’s be real, rolling up to school in my car will help you socially, because my car is so much cooler than yours.”

As Steve spoke you were beaming at him.

“Those are some compelling points.” You nodded, pretending to consider the options.

“Would these car rides include you bringing my coffee?” You quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I could concede to bring you coffee once a week.” Steve said back.

“Okay,” You dramatically sighed, “With the coffee, and the copious amount of money I’m going to be saving with your services…”

Steve looked at you like he was hanging on your every word.

“Yes. I will agree to let you drive me to school.”

Steve smiled widely, but rolled his eyes.

“I like how you make it sound like you’re doing me a favor by letting me drive you.”

“Aren’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The next morning, you couldn’t deny that you put more effort into your appearance than usual. Yes, you liked to look nice for school, but today you took extra consideration into getting ready. You finished getting done at seven- sixteen. You had almost twenty minutes until Steve would be at your house and you couldn’t even remember the last time you had been ready for school so early.

You laid on the couch and flipped channels mindlessly, trying desperately to will away the nervous quiver in your stomach. It was just Steve. And he was just driving you to school. It was nothing major, it was so painfully casual. But you couldn’t help but look out the window every couple of minutes waiting for him.  

Last night, and to be perfectly honest, the entire weekend had changed everything between you two. Your mind was still in a constant tug of war over your emotions for Steve, but one things you definitely knew now was that you two were friends again. Real friends. Not just friendly acquaintance that would smile at each other in the halls. Not enemies that avoided each other at every cost. But real-life friends that drove to school and spent weekend together, reminiscing and playing in the pool.

The skeptical part of you questioned if this was all just a ploy on Steve’s part to make Nancy jealous, but you really had faith that that wasn’t the case.

People can surprise us.

And this was Steve surprising you. This was a good thing.

The honking of Steve’s car outside pulled you from your thoughts and you scrambled to your feet. You grabbed your bag from the hook by the door and smoothed your hair down and fussed with your make up. You wanted to make him wait a few minutes as to not seem to eager. You didn’t want him to know that you had quite literally been waiting by the door.

After an appropriate amount of time, you took a deep breath and walked outside. Like every morning, the cold attacked you and made you wrap your arms around yourself. It must have been in the low twenties this morning, which made you walk hastily towards Steve’s car. Once you opened the door and entered the vehicle, the warm air enveloped you.  You let out a breath you hadn’t even known you’d been holding.

“Good morning, gorgeous.” Steve greeted you.

You turned to return the gesture and saw he was holding a large coffee and a brown paper bag.

“Coffee and breakfast, a thank you for giving me the privilege of driving you to school… and y’know, the privilege of giving me a second chance at friendship.” He sheepishly smiled.

Your eyes darted around his face, taking in his shy expression. The corners of your mouth turned up slightly.

“Well, thank you. For breakfast and for friendship, I guess.” You let out a breathy laugh and took the food from Steve.

“No problem.” He returned and started towards school, Rosanna by Toto playing quietly around you.

You let your eyes wander towards Steve every once and a while, watching his fingers drum on the steering wheel to the beat of the song, watching his tongue dart out across his lips, watching him run a hand through his quaffed hair. He was a masterpiece. It frightened you how causally beautiful he was. Caught up in your thoughts of Steve, you didn’t have time to move your gaze away from him when he looked over to you.

“What?” He laughed, his eyes switching between you and the road.

“Nothing,” You hummed, “Your hair just looks really good today is all.”

You had looked away by the time Steve’s cheeks glazed pink and he bit back a smile.

Steve’s car arrived in the parking lot right as the start bell rang.  You moved to exit the car, but out of the corner of your eye, you saw Steve sitting still. You turned in your seat to look at him.

“Come on kid, we’re going to be late.” You motioned your head towards the building.

“Okay, I’m coming.” He said nodding, his hands still firmly on the steering wheel.

“Really? Because it seems like you aren’t leaving this car anytime soon?” You prompted.

“I just…” He trailed off, running a hand through his hair, “I don’t want to deal with people’s accusation and stares. I know everyone is going to be talking about Tina’s party and Nancy and just…”

“I get it.” You reassured.

“But staying in here isn’t going to help anything. You need to go in there, head high, and give a standard, basic answer to everyone about what happened.”

“A standard basic answer?” He turned to you.

“Yeah, think of it like a press release.” Steve laughed.

“Like, “Steve and Nancy enjoyed their time together but have indeed broken up over differences they shared. They plan to maintain a friendship and support each other in the future.”” You said in your most professional voice.

Steve smiled and shook his head, “That’s actually pretty good.”

“I know.” You shrugged and finally opened your car door to exit.

Once you were standing you leaned down to look at Steve who was still sitting.

“Come on, today is the worst of it. Give your press release then every day will get a little easier.”

This statement is what finally got Steve out of the car.

The two of you walked closely to the entrance, your arms occasionally brushing together. Once at the doors you stopped Steve and faced him, your hands on each of his shoulders.

“You got this, okay? It’s just words, nothing anyone says is going to kill you.” He nodded.

“It might feel awful but just know, in five years, none of this teenage gossip bullshit will mean anything.” You gave him a gentle squeeze.

“None of it will mean anything.” He repeated, talking more to himself than to you.

“Right.” You smiled at him and let his shoulders go. You didn’t catch the disappointed look flash across Steve’s expression when your hands dropped.

“I’ll see you at lunch.”

Steve nodded and watched you walk away in the other direction, as you didn’t have your first periods in the same building. He had to admit he had been dreading today, but with you in his corner, it all felt okay.

Unsurprisingly, Steve and Nancy were the talk of the student body. In your second period you eavesdropped on two girls saying that she had cheated on him, while some boy chimed in and said that Steve had been seeing Carol behind Nancy’s back the whole time. You honestly wondered how these ridiculous rumors even got started. During your fourth period, right before your lunch break, you heard the worst rumor of all. Somehow, you guessed, because you mostly kept to yourself in that class, the two girls gossiping around you hadn’t even noticed you were in room.

“Well I saw (Y/N) (Y/L/N) get out of his car this morning.” One girl said presumptuously.

“No shit!” The other girl replied.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the reason he broke up with Nancy.”

“I thought (Y/N) was dating that weird Byers kid?”

“No, but I heard that Nancy may have been fucking weird Byers while she was with Steve!”

“Man, this situation is messed up. I always thought they were so clean cut, but I guess you never know what happens behind closed doors.”

“Right? Totally freaky.”

You gripped your pencil tight in your hand as you listened. You didn’t even know where to begin in examining their conversation. You felt so utterly uncomfortable, that when the bell rang, you raced out of the classroom faster than you ever had. You made your way towards the lunch room, in search of Jonathan. You two needed to catch up now on what happened this weekend. So at least the two of you knew the whole truth. But searching the hallways and your usually hangouts around school, there wasn’t a trace of him. You had seen his car in the parking lot that morning, so you knew he was somewhere. As you walked towards the library, you heard your name being called. It was Steve.

“Hey, I’ve been looking all over for you.” He said, a little out of breath.

“Have you seen Jonathan?” You asked out right.

“What?”

“I saw his car in the parking lot, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere. I need to talk to him.” Your face held a worried expression.

“Hey,” Steve said concerned reaching to rub his hands up and down your arms comfortingly, “What’s wrong? Did he do something?”

“No, it’s just,” You sighed, “I just need to talk to him as soon as possible.”

You didn’t want to tell Steve about why you needed to talk to him. If he hadn’t already heard about the possible Nancy and Jonathan relationship, you didn’t want to be the one to tell him. And by the fact that you couldn’t find Jonathan and hadn’t heard from him since Friday, that didn’t bode well for your case about him not swooping in on Nancy so soon after her and Steve’s break up.

“Okay, well how about you call him when you get home? Or drop by to see Joyce and ask her where he’s been?” His voice was so soft it made your knees weak.

You nodded, “Okay.”

“Now let’s eat, I know your starving.”

You both opted to sit in Steve’s car to eat, wanting to avoid the feeling of people’s eyes boring into you anytime you both walked the halls. You chatted about your classes and the essay you got back in English, and Steve talked about playing basketball in gym and some of the rumors people had told him about his and Nancy’s break up. To your dismay, he had heard the Jonathan rumor.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” He sadly shrugged after he told you, “I mean they’re really close and have a lot in common and stuff… that shit last year really brought them together.”

“Yeah, but I know Jonathan. I know he wouldn’t ever be okay with Nancy cheating with him. Plus, that boy can’t keep a secret from me to save his life, he would have accidently spilled if he was doing anything with her by now.” You reassured him.

“Yeah, you’re probably right… I mean you know him better than anyone.” You nodded.

“Man, if I would have known Nancy that well, maybe I could’ve seen all this shit coming.” He looked despondent.

“Don’t beat yourself up. There’s no point in it. What happened, happened. You can’t change that. All you can do is make adjustments for the future.” You said this casually, taking a bite from you sandwich.

Steve looked at you and nodded. Every time you gave such sound advice he forgot the two of you were the same age. You always carried yourself so much older.

“I know you’re right, I just-“ Steve began, until he felt your hand grip his arm and tear him down below the view of the windshield.

“Get down!” You said in a loud whisper.

“What?” Steve asked, his eyes bulging.

You slowly crept up, your eyes peeking through the windshield and towards the school.

“Speak of the fucking devil.” You muttered, still looking forward.

“What is it?” Steve asked, popping his head up to your level.

In front of the two of you was Jonathan and Nancy, both clad in big winter coats, walking towards a bench nearby.

“Oh, my fucking god. That bitch in my science class was right.” You voice dripped with anger, but you were still whispering.

“Yeah, well we can’t change what happened, right?” Steve quoted you, his eyes following the couple.

“Yeah, I know. But I can’t believe he wouldn’t tell me. That little shit.” You hushed out.

“It’s fine.” Steve shrugged.

“No, it’s not! How are you not as upset as me?” You turned your head towards Steve with a wild questioning look on your face.

“I don’t know,” Steve was still watching Jonathan and Nancy, “I guess I’m working on keeping the past in the past and moving on.”

“But so soon? You guys broke up like four days ago!” Your eyebrows knitted together. You were so confused on why he wasn’t fuming with anger.

“Yeah, but we emotionally broke up months ago. It’s actually weird how calm I am right now.” Steve cocked his head to look at you.

“Uh, yeah it is!”

“Why are you still whispering?”

“I don’t know, it feels like what you do when you’re spying on people.”

Steve broke out in laughter at your response, and you couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

For the rest of the school day and for the rest of the night, you couldn’t let go what you saw at lunch. Jonathan was your best friend. He was your one constant through every rocky part of the last four years and had kept this huge life altering secret from you. Maybe he hadn’t been with Nancy while she was still dating Steve, but he still was now. And maybe you were over reacting, maybe they were just reconnecting like you and Steve were, but his suspicious radio silence and avid avoidance of you made it all more fishy. Since Friday you’d called him four times. Three times there was no answer and the fourth Bob had answered, telling you Jonathan was out again. He was dodging you left and right and that really wasn’t like him at all. You wanted to talk about what was happening with Steve, what was happening with him and Nancy, what was happening just with Jonathan in general, but nothing. It was all a little to reminiscent of what Steve had done to you and that made your stomach ache. You wanted to be optimistic and believe that he was just busy and wasn’t even trying to avoid you at all, but life had made you cynical and you had an itching feeling that that wasn’t the case.

You tossed and turned in bed that night, your thoughts keeping you from sleep. They kept getting darker and darker. It was like falling into an abyss without anyway of stopping it. They ranged from Steve leaving you again, to Steve using you to Jonathan leaving you and Jonathan using you.

Eventually you stopped attempting sleep and just laid, starring at the ceiling as your thoughts ate away at you. Soon after, a small sound thankfully broke you away from your toxic trance. Small taps hit your window sporadically and you curiously got up to inspect the sound. You opened your curtains to see Steve standing in your yard looking up at you. You fought off a smile and lifted the window open.

“It’s two in the morning, you know?” You said down to him.

“So?” He flashed you a toothy grin.

“You know my mom is still out of town until tomorrow, right? You didn’t have to do this whole rocks at the window thing.” You crossed your arms on the windowsill as you spoke.

“Yeah, well I forgot about that.” Steve scratched the back of his neck and you laughed.

“Can we pretend I was doing this for nostalgia’s sake, then? Which isn’t even a complete lie.” Steve called up to you.

“Yeah we can.” You bit your lip as you smiled.

“Well, are you coming with me or what?” Steve held out his arms like he was going to catch you.

You rolled your eyes playfully and stood up, leaning down briefly to say, “I’ll meet you out front.”

You both found yourselves at a gas station about a mile outside of Hawkins. Steve was just driving aimlessly before he pulled over quickly, causing you to place your hands on the window and his arm, bracing yourself for impact. He claimed he was starving and hopped out of the car like he hadn’t just almost killed the both of you.

You walked in behind Steve, the florescent lights beaming down on you. Steve broke off from you to head towards the drink aisle, and you poked around the selection of hats and sunglasses this gas station had to offer. You moved the rotating racks around with your finger, in search of the tackiest hats you could find. Your eyes fell on two and you instantly knew they were the perfect ones. You picked them both up and rushed to find Steve. You found him in one of the aisles, arms full of food. When you approached him, he turned to look at you.

“I got up both drinks, some chips and a bag of gummy worms.” He said looking down at the contents in his arms.

“A well-rounded meal.” You smirked.

“I know right?” Steve shrugged, and just now noticing that your arms were behind your back.

“Whatcha got there?”

“I got us hats.” You grinned.

“Lemme see!” Steve said excitedly.

“Okay,” You brought both hats around from behind your back, but hid the sayings for dramatic suspense.

“Do you want,” You turned the hat around, “I’m Not As Think As You Drunk I Am,” Steve laughed as you turned around the second hat, “Or FBI: Female Body Inspector?”

“FBI, definitely.” Steve said moving his head towards that hat.

“Are you sure?” You asked, moving the other hat towards him, “Because I’m pretty sure you want this one.” You said leadingly.

Steve shook his head and laughed, “So, you want FBI?”

“No! Not at all!’ You said in faux shock, “I just think you, Steve Harrington, reaalllyyy want this one.”

“Fine.” Steve smiled.

“Yes!” You pumped your arm in victory and placed the hats on both of your heads.

You both walked up to the counter and Steve placed all his food there.

“This and the hats.” Steve told the man.

The old man stared at you and Steve, both wearing giddy smiles and giggling about something or other. He sighed and pushed himself up from his seat and rang up all of the purchases. Steve payed for everything and the two of you were back on your way. But instead of driving like you had planned to do, you ended up just sitting in his car in the parking lot. The blue and pink neon advertising signs illuminating you faces in the darkness.

The chips were placed on the center consul, the gummy worms on the dashboard, and your drinks in their respective cup holders. You both sat facing each other, knees bent up on the seats. You dove your hand into the gummy worms, placing a few in your palm for easy access and popping one in your mouth.

Steve watched you with a quiet adoration. He could tell by your relaxed demeanor and smile on your face that you were comfortable with him, happy even. His fingers twitched at the place they lay on his knee. They were itching to hold you again, your hand, your body, anything. His skin had already become accustomed to the feeling of yours against it and now there was no going back. You were encased in the softest silk he’d ever felt, and it was a tragedy no one had ever treated it with the care he knew it needed. He watched your mouth chew the candy and the edges of your lips quirk up. As they moved he couldn’t help but wonder how they’d feel pressed against his own. Your eyes shown with a tinge of blue and pink. The lights didn’t dilute their beauty, only made more exquisite to look at. His repressed love for you erupted up more in him every time he looked at you.

“Turn some music on, Harrington. Too quiet in here.” You said threw your gummy worms, completely oblivious to Steve’s loving admiration.

“Aye aye.” Steve said straightening his posture and making you laugh.

Your laugh. Something, since you were children, Steve would do absolutely anything to hear.

He went to flipping channels on the radio until he found a song he enjoyed, and he was pretty sure by the shirt you had worn to school once, you did too.

You hummed out happily at Steve’s selection and you gripped your chest dramatically, “Uh, I love song.”

“Thought you might.” Steve said with a smile, settling back in his seat.

You sang silently along with International Lover by Prince, Steve being a very enthusiastic and receptive audience.

“I saw Prince last year in Indianapolis with my mom.” You said in between your performance.

“Yeah, I saw you in the tour shirt a few months ago.” Steve said, tipping the rim of his can towards you.

“Keeping tabs on me, huh?” You quirked an eyebrow playfully at the boy across from you.

“Always.” Steve said meeting your gaze.

You both looked at each other in a moment that was almost transcendent. You cursed yourself for how fast your heart was beating and how much you wanted to pull him to you. Steve’s eyes searched your face like he did that night in the pool, and you thought maybe he wanted to kiss you, too. But you wouldn’t let that happen. Not now. You two were just rebuilding your friendship and he was still trying to cope with losing Nancy. Sure, earlier that day he had talked about moving on, but that didn’t mean he was officially moved on from her. No. This couldn’t happen. At least not tonight.

“How’s my hat looking?” You asked, breaking eye contact with Steve.

A flash of hurt came over him before he repaired his expression. He put on a wide smile and said, “Not looking half bad. Did you get that hat when you were in the FBI?”

“Yes, actually. But Raegan kicked me out for talking about aliens and shit too much. And for being too good at inspecting female bodies… They gave me this hat as severance.” You pointed up to your hat.

“Well, on behalf of our nations female bodies that now remain un-inspected, we deplore the government’s decision to let you go!” Steve said saluting you.

You burst into laughter at Steve’s words. You loved just having silly conversations with him. No hang ups or awkward pauses. Just laughter and smiles.

“Thank you.” You said bowing in front of him.

You continued to chuckle to yourself and eat another gummy worm, again not aware of Steve’s expression while he looked at you. You were about to open your mouth and continue the bit you to had just started when Steve cut you off.

“Do you know there is a rumor you and me are dating?” Steve said.

You looked up from your lap at Steve in astonishment. You had heard the rumor but would have never brought it up to Steve. It made it seem like you were trying to feel out if his feelings for you were platonic or not.

Oh shit, is that what Steve was doing?

The look from the pool and now this? You felt the familiar feeling you had felt on Saturday morning raise in you again. You wished there was an escape route or a robbery, anything so you could get out of having to have this conversation.

Shit, shit, shit, (Y/N)! You’ve been quiet for way to long, your mind screamed at you, Say anything!

“Uh, yeah. I think I heard something about it.” Your words tumbled out.

“But, my favorite rumor I heard was that you were fucking Carol the whole time you were with Nancy! Like imagine you and Carol having sex! Ugh, it gives me the chills just thinking about it.” You shivered and laughed louder than intended. You were desperate to change the subject.

“It wouldn’t be so crazy, though? Right? Like, you and me or whatever.” Steve said looking at his hands.

Again, you were taken by surprise. You couldn’t even come up with a coherent response. You mind was just screaming for you to abort.

“I didn’t think I could date someone who spends more time on his hair than I do.” You said sarcastically and gave another awkward laugh.

Steve chuckled a little, but it was clear to both of you that wasn’t the response he wanted. But as of right then, it was the only response you could bring yourself to say.

After that the radio and every other noise just became static to you. You were in a full-on panic and trying desperately not to show Steve that. He couldn’t like you. He was just sad without Nancy and ready to fall into something else. He missed having someone to fawn over and kiss and look at lovingly. If any other girl was in the car with Steve right now, he would have been making the same moves on her, too. You were sure of it. You nibbled on your thumb nail anxiously but then Steve spoke again.

“With your mom gone so much,” He started, neither of you looking at the other, “do you ever get lonely? Like, does it ever feel like it’s eating you up?”

You nodded, secretly happy that the subject had changed from you two dating, “Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes it’s nice being alone. But other times, I am just so hyperaware that I’m all alone in this huge house with no one to talk to.”

“I know the feeling…” Steve sighed.

You looked up at him confused.

“What do you mean?” From what you remembered Steve’s parents were always around, bordering on helicopter parents.

“My dad is always being flown out for meeting or conferences or whatever else. And my mom… I don’t know, she either tags along or just goes on a Staycation in Indianapolis.” Steve spoke sadly.

“That’s fucked up.” You said bluntly.

Steve let out a sad chuckle, “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

“Well,” you said perking up in your seat, “Now that we have the band back together, we never have to be alone again.”

Steve finally looked at you. Your heart broke at the sight of his glossy eyes.

“Just like old times, okay? When our parents are gone, I’ll come over and we’ll watch movies and swim. Or you’ll come over and we’ll watch movies and I don’t know… get drunk? Build forts?” You smiled as you spoke.

Steve offered you a watery smile and nodded.

“I’d like that.”

You repositioned yourself, so your cheek was now resting on Steve’s knees. You grabbed his ankle and ran your thumb comfortingly over his skin.

“Me too.”

[rax-writes]

Title: Hard to Handle Fandom: Stranger Things Characters: Steve Harrington x Reader Word Count: 3,425 Warnings: None Notes: Can y’all tell that I’m on a massive “best friends turned lovers” kick? // Request from anon for “4. “I think i’m in love with you, and that terrifies me.” 75. “I want you to fight for me!” and 76. “Please don’t go.” from the prompt list for steve harrington with a side of extra large angst please 💗💗 (and if u only do a certain # of prompts then u can choose from those three :))” – (I couldn’t find a way to include number 75, so that’s why it got left out.) ♥

gif made by @v-writings

The first semester of college is always the most difficult, for an innumerable amount of reasons. Not only is it nerve-wracking to be thrust into an entirely unfamiliar situation such as college, but it is a momentous change in one’s personal life. They’re away from their family, they’ve now got to balance difficult coursework with attempting to have a social life, they’ve got to attempt to develop a social life in this new environment – there are a thousand and one things that change in someone’s life when they go to college. And any fragment of familiarity is held onto as if it were the most valuable thing in the world. Whether it be the blanket they brought that still smells like home, or a photo of their family setting on the nightstand, any sense of home is cherished.

For Steve, it wasn’t some treasured memento from home – it was you.

Thankfully, the basic courses that every college student must take allowed you to share almost all of your classes with Steve. He was more than grateful for it as well. Despite being the former King of Hawkins, he was now essentially insignificant – and he didn’t quite know how to handle it. He had grown accustomed to everyone in his school knowing his name, to recognizing him as arguably the most popular person at Hawkins High. But here, no one – save yourself – knew him at all. He felt insignificant, and that constant, sinking feeling pushed him even closer to you, made him even more desperate to be with you always.

If he had to guess, that would likely be the primary factor in why he fell in love with you.

Steve had always cared deeply about you. You had been his friend since elementary school, when you’d punched a kid in the throat for stealing his crayons. (You’d gotten in loads of trouble, of course, but it was certainly a fun memory to look back on.) Even when you’d both gained attractiveness with the onset of puberty, neither of you felt any different about one another. You were still just best friends, and absolutely nothing more.

This was what made it even more perplexing to Steve when he found himself staring at you much longer than usual, eyeing the way you held the end of your pen between your lips when you were deep in thought, or the way you’d rock up to class with messy hair and a coffee after a long night of studying. He found himself positively enamored by you – and it was absolutely mortifying.

The situation with Nancy had hurt Steve far more than he’d ever admitted to anyone. Sure, you knew all about how much he’d cried over it, how long he’d been heartbroken and downtrodden from it – but you didn’t know how irreparably it had damaged him. You didn’t know that he often lied awake at night, staring up at the ceiling as he wondered if she’d ever actually loved him? And if she hadn’t – if she’d never loved him in all the time they’d been together – how could he possibly tell if anyone else was feigning their love for him? Was he doomed to spend the rest of his life clueless as to whether or not he was a burden, an obstacle for the people in his life to overcome? How many people were only in his life because they felt obligated to be? You, Dustin – hell, even his own mother? Were you all only there because you felt trapped, spending every day working yourself up to leaving him? Were any of you there simply because you wanted to be, because you really did care about him?

These were but a few of the thoughts that constantly plagued Steve’s mind. Regardless of how many times he attempted to assure himself that you were his friend because you wanted to be, that you would never have stayed friends with him for this long if you didn’t actually care about him – he couldn’t shake the paranoia that you secretly despised him, and you were only still sticking around because you didn’t know anyone else here. The second you made some new friends, Steve would never hear from you again. You’d just toss him away, and the next time he’d see you would be at your high school reunion, on the arm of some douchebag who didn’t love you half as much as Steve did.

All of this only made Steve more apprehensive about his blossoming feelings for you.

And all of this only made him a thousand times more distraught when you started dating someone – someone who wasn’t him.

The guy’s name was Chad, and he was a bit of a prick, but he seemed to treat you pretty well. Chad himself wasn’t necessarily Steve’s problem – it was how you felt about Chad. It was how your entire face would light up when Chad would come up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and kissing the top of your head. It was the smile that would spread across your face when he’d bring you take-out on a night he knew you were cramming for an exam. It was the way you’d laugh at his jokes, and the way he’d just smile at you as you laughed, as if you were the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

But since Steve couldn’t possibly bring himself to be upset with you, he generally took his frustration out on Chad.

Steve felt his entire body cringe when someone clapped his shoulder and sat down next to him at the picnic table outside the library. Chad gave him a friendly grin, as you took a seat across the table.

“How’s it going, man? Studying hard or hardly studying?” Chad questioned lightheartedly, and Steve managed to force out a brief laugh.

“Bit of both, I guess.”

“We’re going to the game tonight, do you wanna come?” you asked, and Steve felt almost embarrassed by how delighted he was by your offer. You’d both been extremely busy with homework lately, being that the end of the semester was fast approaching, so you hadn’t spent much time together. He was more than happy for any excuse to hang out with you – until he realized that that meant Chad would be there.

Oh well, Steve would just have to take what he could get.

“Yeah, sounds… sounds fun,” he said, and the smile that lit up your face made his mouth go dry.

“Great! I’ll swing by your dorm around six and we can walk to the game from there,” you said, and Steve just nodded, returning your vibrant smile.

That night, for the first time in a long time, Steve actually got ready. Not just the “do his hair and throw on some clothes” type of getting ready. No, Steve changed his outfit three times, spent twice as long on his hair than usual, sprayed on some of his seldom-used expensive cologne, and admired himself in the mirror for ten minutes, before he felt pleased with his appearance.

Truthfully, Steve didn’t even know why he was putting so much time and effort in tonight. The fact remained that you were still with Chad. No matter how nicely he dressed, no matter how fantastic his hair looked – you were still with Chad. That put a bitter taste in Steve’s mouth, and he immediately pushed it to the back of his mind. It’d been awhile since he’d gotten to spend time with you, and dammit, he was going to enjoy himself tonight. He wasn’t going to worry about who you were with, how long you’d end up being with them, or any of that other shit. He was just going to have fun, and enjoy hanging out with you.

Until you showed up at his door with slightly blotchy, red cheeks and puffy eyes.

“Woah, what the hell happened? You alright?” Steve questioned immediately, frowning as he bent down to look at you and brush some hair out from your face.

“Yeah, I’m fine, let’s go,” you said softly, turning to walk away. Steve gently grabbed your arm, and stopped you.

“Hey… what happened?” he repeated, this time with a much gentler tone. You let out a heavy sigh before turning around to face Steve again.

“I… I decided to go by Chad’s dorm early tonight, because I needed to use his computer to send an email to my professor. And when I went in there… he was with someone.”

“What exactly do you mean, ‘with someone’?”

“They… they looked like maybe they’d been kissing, but stopped when they heard the door opening. I don’t know, I… I just left and came here. He was yelling after me, but… I just left,” you explained, sniffling a bit before shaking your head. “Doesn’t matter right now. Can we just… go to the game, and focus on a bunch of people screaming at some guys chasing after a ball, rather than my currently fucked up love life?”

“Okay,” Steve said, nodding and brushing some more hair away from your face, before offering you a kind smile. “Yeah, let’s go.”

The game was pretty much exactly what you’d said earlier: a bunch of people screaming at some guys chasing after a ball. You got into the game much more than you usually did, and it was clear to Steve that that was intentional; you were choosing to focus on the game rather than your own thoughts. So, he did it, too. You both quickly joined those hollering and swearing at the game, occasionally screaming at the ref or cheering at the top of your lungs. Steve felt himself actually enjoying it – this weird, hyperfixated, energetic comradery between the two of you.

Until he felt that unfortunately familiar hand clap his shoulder.

“Oh my god, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Chad said, panting a bit and looking relieved. “Baby, I’m so sorry, it’s totally not what you think –”

“Then what the fuck is it, Chad?”

Anyone who has experienced the uniquely awkward feeling of standing next to an arguing couple would understand why Steve decided to sneak away. He waded through the sea of people until he was down a few rows, ready to return to you when you inevitably dumped Chad for good. Despite the fact that it made him feel a bit ashamed, he couldn’t deny that he felt a little hint of excitement rise up in him. You were finally going to be rid of Chad, and maybe – just maybe – Steve could be with you.

Every couple of minutes, Steve would look back at you and Chad, to see if the argument was over yet. It was mostly you looking furious and upset, and Chad doing his best to placate you, and to come up with excuses for why he was snuggled up in bed with someone else. The argument eventually seemed to be winding down, and Steve assumed that you had reached the point where you were telling Chad to get lost. The team scored, and Steve returned his attention to the game for a few moments. And when he looked back, he saw Chad leaning down to kiss you.

Something in Steve’s heart snapped. He instantly wanted to be as far away from there as possible. He felt as if he were in a bit of a haze, his legs guiding the rest of his shell-shocked body down the bleachers, and towards his dorm. He walked like a zombie, and he felt like one. When he reached his room, he managed to close the door behind him and kick off his shoes, before falling face-first onto his mattress, burying his face in his pillow. Tears that he didn’t know where there began to wet his face, and before he knew it, he was sobbing.

It was a myriad of factors that ultimately caused Steve’s little meltdown. There were some external factors, such as the pressure of the multitude of homework he was dealt resting upon his shoulders and weighing him down. But primarily, of course, he was crying about you. He was crying because he’d been so stressed about his feelings for you, that he’d never taken the time to actually deal with them. Now he was being forced to deal with them. And he was being forced to deal with the fact that you didn’t want him; you wanted some cheating piece of hair-gel slathered garbage named Chad, and you may never want him. All of these intense, burdensome feelings that Steve now felt for you were likely all for naught; you’d probably never want him. Why? Because he didn’t feel that he was worth wanting.

Steve couldn’t be sure of how long he’d cried, but when he was through, he just felt empty. He felt empty, and then mad. And for the first time, he felt mad at you.

It was another hour before you showed up to his room, knocking softly before letting yourself in. You found him lying on his bed, his hands folded over his stomach as he stared up at the ceiling. After you dropped your coat on the ground, he didn’t acknowledge at your presence, so for a second, you thought he was asleep, until he spoke.

“What’re you doing here?”

His voice was hollow and hoarse, and you frowned at his question.

“I’m here because you disappeared. You ditched me at the game, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. You actually worried me a little, I thought maybe you got sick or something. I wanted to see if you were here, and check to see if you’re alright.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Now go ahead, run back to Chad, like always. I’m sure he’s got some more bullshit excuses to give you.”

“What the hell is your problem, Steve?”

He sat up then, and in the dim light of his bedroom, you couldn’t see the tears that still stained his cheeks.

“What’s it matter what my problem is? Just go suck Chad’s face some more, and continue to not give a shit about me, just like you have been for the past several months.”

“You think I don’t give a shit about you?”

“Sure as hell seems like it,” Steve scoffed.

“You’re my best friend, and not having the time to see you makes me feel like a horrible person. You know just as well as I do that they’ve been piling on the homework for the past month or more, and I’ve just been too swamped to have the time to hang out. And it’s not like you’ve been coming to see me, either. But I know that it’s because you’re busy, and I don’t hold it against you. You need to untie the knot in your panties, and understand that I’m not doing this because I don’t give a shit about you. It’s because I just don’t have any fucking time, Steve.”

“Alright, and what about Chad? What about you being too blind to see that he’s obviously cheating on you, but you’re too thoughtless to just dump him and move on? Look, I get that you’re in love with him, but you’re being stupid.”

“I did dump him, you moron,” you snapped.

“Yeah right, I saw him kiss you.”

“Well, you must’ve left before you saw me slap the hair gel off him, and tell him to go to hell,” you retorted, and that visibly took Steve aback. “I told him that his excuses were bullshit, that I know he was cheating on me, and to never speak to me again. You clearly don’t know me at all if you think I’m ‘stupid’ enough to take him back, so I’ll just stake my ‘stupid’ ass home. Goodnight, Harrington.”

You snatched your coat up off the floor, and you were just about to walk out the door, when Steve jumped up to grab your arm, effectively stopping you in your tracks.

“Please don’t go.”

“Why should I stay?” you inquired bitterly. “To listen to you insult me some more?”

“No, I…” Steve trailed off before exhaling slowly and running a hand through his hair. “You’re not stupid at all. God, you’ve never been stupid, and you’ll never be stupid. I’m the stupid one. I got upset with you for no good reason, and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m so sorry.”

“But why did you get that upset over thinking I got back with Chad? I would’ve thought you’d just… tell me that I’m not making a good decision, and talk with me about it – not yell at me and call me stupid.”

“I know, I know. I should never have acted like that. I feel like such a jerk. I’ve just… got a lot going on, and I took all of it out on the first thing that made me mad – which was thinking that this prick cheated on you, but you were taking him back. God, I’m so sorry,” Steve said miserably, leaning his back against the wall and running his hands over his face.

“Steve…” you said gently, and he looked at you. “What’s going on? What all do you have ‘going on’ that’s making you this upset?”

“Just… just homework, and shit like that,” he quickly lied, then shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about it, I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, Steve. I know you,” you said, frowning at him with a pitying look in your eyes. “What’s going on? Talk to me, please.”

“I… I think I’m in love with you,” Steve blurted out, before he could even think to stop himself. “And that terrifies me. And I don’t know how to deal with it.”

You just stared at him in silence for what felt like ages. The inevitable shock was clear on your face, from your raised eyebrows to your slightly agape lips – but beyond that, Steve couldn’t read you. He’d always been great about that, knowing what you were thinking without you saying a word. But now, you were stunned silent, and he didn’t have a clue what was running through your mind.

“You’re in love with me?” you finally asked, and Steve nodded. His mouth was too dry to choke out a response. You repeated, “You’re in love with me,” but this time, it felt more like a disbelieving statement. Again, Steve nodded.

He could feel his hands begin to grow clammy with fear, and he began wringing them together. He was on the verge of begging you to say something, anything at all to break the silence. Eventually, you looked up at him. Your eyes seemed to be scanning him critically, attempting to determine your next course of action. Then, all in one swift movement, you put your hand behind his neck and pulled him down to your level, crashing your lips against his.

It took him a moment or two to regain his composure enough to return the kiss, delicately placing his hands your waist, as your free hand moved to grip his bicep. Every single thought in Steve’s mind escaped him, besides the thought that you were kissing him – and it was the single best moment of his entire life.

When your hand drifted upwards into his hair, he managed to maintain his equanimity. But that went straight out the window when you tangled your fingers in his soft curls. As if on instinct, Steve pushed you back against the nearby door – which, mere minutes ago, you were getting ready to storm out of.

It was a very welcomed change of pace.

Steve’s hands moved from behind you to grip your hips, allowing your back to be pressed firmly against the door’s cold, hard wood. He pulled your hips closer, pressing your body against his, and both of you felt dizzy. By the time you broke the kiss, both of you were out of breath. Steve rested his forehead on your shoulder, and wrapped his arms around your waist, almost as if he were pulling you into a languid hug.

“I love you,” he heard you whisper softly, as if you were scared of saying it. “I’ve always loved you.”

“I’m pretty new to it,” Steve admitted, chuckling breathlessly. He absentmindedly turned his head a kiss to your neck, then added softly, “I love you, too.”

There were a few moments of content, comfortable silence, and you were the first to interrupt it. Steve could hear the smile in your voice when you spoke again.

“Now kiss me again.”

@v-writings @emmcfrxst @shirostellations @keithstellations @kendrasauhders @whoarumancek @willsomeoneholdmyhand @queen-of-the-pineapples @pansexual-and-a-geek @bisexualillis

[hinge]

Hinge presents an anthology of love stories almost never told. Read more on https://no-ordinary-love.co

[harringtonheartache]

Daybreak | Part One

Part Two 

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Lab Escapee! Reader?

Summary: A number for a name & a supernatural ability. A subject escaped from Hawkins Lab, and Steve Harrington finds her in the darkness of night.

Word Count: 2,600+

Warning(s): Cussing, mentions of mild injury/blood.

A/N: This is part one of my series :-). I’m not really sure if this is a pure reader insert since the character is without a true name (Hawkins lab style), but I left physical descriptions that may isolate some readers out so self-insertion can still ensue! This would probably be considered a slow-burn, so enjoy! More chapters to come. Oh & leave me some feedback! (;

The pattering of a girl’s bare feet against rough pavement; a sound covered by the intense rainstorm the evening participated in. Perhaps this was to work to her advantage, the chaos of a storm much smaller than her own raging circumstance still enough to provide a helping hand in a getaway unplanned for. She carried herself quickly. Her medical gown was inadequate against the weather, now sticking to her body thick with rainwater. Despite its insufficient aid in covering her body, if she were given a different article of clothing in this moment, she would choose shoes. Her foot came in contact with something unpleasant - an item unidentifiable, perhaps a jagged rock - and she stumbled in one abrupt motion to the ground. Her hands were met with dirt, wet and stubborn to leave her palms. She did not let herself stay down long. A minute unmoving is a minute closer to danger.

Removing herself from the floor, she took a few strides forward, not fully finding her balance until step number four or five. The woods ahead of her began to thin, but she continued ahead, not taking time to consider where she might redirect herself when the concealment of the trees was taken away from her. Back out of the treeline now, her feet met pavement again on another road. She stopped momentarily at this sensation, realizing she had to select a direction to continue with her breakout. She squinted to her right, eyes traveling a ways down the road before turning her head to consider her left. She was but a second into her visual examination of her second option before realizing how little time she was truly given to make a choice. Headlights made her inspection of her left side much less bearable, causing great pain to her eyes in the dark of night.

A sound now loud enough to be heard over the storm: the screeching of car tires. The vehicle identifiable by its relentless headlights. Her eyes had closed instinctively at the sight of the yellow glare, but opened to find the car stopped a mere four or so feet in front of herself. Panic that had been drilled into her state of mind the second she began her escape only heightened. Momentarily she believed the vehicle to belong to those she was running from, but soon realized it was much shorter in height. It was not a towering van, but a car simple in size. Still blinking in a struggle against the lights, her eyes snapped to the owner of the automobile who stepped out from inside the car with a swift swinging of the door.

“Hey, are you okay? What are you doing?” the figure questioned her, shouting loudly over the aggression of the rain.

She did not answer him, unable to move but only wishing she could do so.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, taking one step forward. This subtraction of space between them only had the alarms in her head blaring louder. She took a step backwards to compensate for his advancement. “I- I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he told her. Maybe it was delusion, or just pure exhaustion and desire for her runaway to end, but she did not move this time when he took another step in her direction. Taking this as a good sign, and perhaps becoming a little too confident, he walked a few more paces to meet the girl. She flinched, but still could not bring herself to run. “Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. Are you hurt? What are you doing out here?”

He was met with no response, only the frightened stare of the person he had almost flattened into the concrete.

“Do you need help?”. He was finally awarded a reply. Subtle and shaky, she nodded a ‘yes’ to him.

---

She plopped down in the passenger seat of his car, almost as heavily as she had fallen earlier. Wanting not to block the road any longer, he began driving again, giving her quick glances every few seconds as she worked on regaining her breath. “Where are you coming from? Is- is that a hospital dress? Do you need me to take you back to the hospital?” He spewed out questions, his own head spinning with thoughts of uncertainty and hysteria. She stopped him with his last one. “No.”.

He breathed out heavily. “O-okay,” He stopped, unsure of how to continue with the conversation. “So why the hell are you in the middle of the road during a thunderstorm and why do you look like you just escaped hell and roped me into giving you a ride back home?” He was panicked, but not angry. His loud tone, despite this lack of rage behind it, still frightened her. Flinching again, she eyed him for a silent moment. Her lack of a reply gave him time to realize his overwhelming approach to communication. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to scare you. I just have no idea who you are or where I’m supposed to take you,” he told her with a volume indicating more composure. “I don’t have a home,” she responded to his earlier comment.

“What- what does that mean? You don’t have a home? Where are you coming from?” This question was too invasive for her. She didn’t answer. “Look, my parents aren’t home. I can take you back to my place, but I have zero idea what I am supposed to do in this situation,” he said, stuttering over a few of his words. “Okay,” she spoke.

---

By the hour they arrived back at his house and the rain had lightened up a small amount. He walked her to the front door, fumbling with his keys while shaking away water that dripped from his hair into his eyes. The lock finally permitted entry, and he forcibly pushed the door open with his shoulder. She followed him inside, dripping rain all over the hardwood floor. The entry rug provided little protection to the flooring, and he didn’t bother with wiping his shoes before stepping off of it. He tossed his keys, and they met the dining table with a loud clack. A few drops of blood followed the same path as the dripping water, landing on the floor as they slowly exited a cut on her leg, most likely from her tumble in the woods. “Okay do you-” he turned to face her again. “Do you want a towel? I can uh, get you some real clothes too.” She nodded her head, abandoning speech again. “Okay, yeah,” he said with a little more confidence. “Uh, you just stay here for a minute, okay?” Another nod.

He returned within three minutes, two of which were used to dig through his own clothing for the smallest size he had. He handed her a t-shirt with the words Hawkins High School on it, a P.E. shirt he still had from his freshman year. Also given to her was a pair of shorts, sure to wear baggy on her but the best he was able to do. “You can change in the bathroom,” he told her. “There are clean towels in there too.”. He pointed to a small room with the door slightly ajar. She held eye contact with him for a moment, unsure of herself with every action, but took his direction and walked to the bathroom to rid herself of the battered medical gown.

She emerged a few minutes later, dressed in clothing too large yet still more suitable than before. He stood in the kitchen, and she made her way over to him from her place in the bathroom doorway. “Thank you,” she spoke to him for the first time in the past thirty minutes. He looked up to meet her eye. “Uh, yeah. Are you hungry? We don’t have much but I can make you a sandwich or something,” he said. She took a few more steps in his direction, still inherently hesitant but wanting to be trusting. “Sure,” she said.

He took out a loaf of bread and began rummaging through the pantry in search of something to put on the slices of wheat. His hand grabbed for a jar of peanut butter and he started building a sandwich for the girl who sat at the counter, watching him. He presented her with the finished meal, sliding a glass of water to her hands as well. “Thank you,” she said again. “No problem”.

The sandwich had been cut in two, straight down the middle as a mother would do for a child's lunch. It was a moment of strange consideration on his part. She tore it with her hands, eating the food slowly in between heavy gulps of water. “I’m Steve,” he said. She looked up at him as he sat across from her, giving him a look hinting of slight puzzlement. “That’s- that’s my name,” he stuttered when he realized she looked unsure of what to make of his conversation. “What’s your name?” he asked.

She set down the glass once filled with water, now only containing a few ice cubes. “I don’t know,” she said. Another answer that characterized her bizarre to newly named Steve. “You don’t know? What do you mean?” he said. She turned over her arm rather than trying to communicate through words. She decided she was not good at speech. A marking caught his eye, and he read the numbers ‘009’ that laid vertically along her wrist. “Nine? The number nine? What, is that supposed to be your name? That’s a number.” He spoke as if it were common sense, which understandably it was. “It’s the only thing I’ve been called,” she told him.

“Okay, I really need to know where the hell you came from because I am very confused,” he admitted. Her eyebrows slid closer to one another as a look of perplexity, slight displeasure, and wavering sadness displayed across her expression. A few moments of silence fell with great weight between them. “I escaped the lab,” she told him, leaving him without explanation as to what or where that was. “The lab? Like a science lab?”

“No. A place with dangerous people,” she said.

She watched as his face evolved, circling through many emotions before latching onto one that left her with a strong sense of dread. He started with a look of confusion, but swapped it for a face that wore a smile. She furrowed her eyebrows again, unpleased with his reaction. A disoriented chuckle acted as his response to her. “Okay, no. No, no no no no,” he said. He had reached his limit of strange happenings for the night. “Okay, what the fuck. I’m done. Who put you up to this? Was it one of my friends?”. He spoke to her in a way he hadn’t done until now, and his lack of sincerity left the girl feeling bitter. “Shit, you were good. Are you like, an actress?” He paused momentarily, expecting an answer but not hesitant to continue on when she didn’t give him one. If she had been acting all night, it was his time to perform. “This was an insane prank, you got me. I will give you that.” He now stood from his place in the chair across from her, backing up to lean against the counter behind him. He still wore that same stupid smile, one ignorant of the situation he was really in. It wasn’t suitable, and the longer it stayed on his face the more anger the girl in front of him felt.

“Why are you mad?” he asked, picking up on her very readable non-verbal cues. “You can stop now. I figured it out. Yeah sure it took me a while, but I get it,” he said with an unknowing laugh. He was moving with exaggerated motions, waving his arms as if he were trying to signal for a taxi. To her, he looked like an idiot. It was his next action that was his biggest mistake. He reached his arm out in front of him, fingers moving towards a cut on her forehead. It had been added to her injuries at some point during her flee, and a small smear of blood was left on her skin from recent bleeding. “Did you really get fake blood-” he started as he moved to touch her face.

A swift tilt of her head in an upward motion, only moving her chin higher one inch than it had been previously. His fingertips did not make it to her skin, as his body was thrown with abandon until his back came in contact with the wall behind him. This movement, movement initiated without telling his body to do so, scared Steve greatly. The loud thud of his body hitting the wall sounded more damaging than it actually was, as he was left in panic rather than pain. He stuttered over his words for the second time that night. “Wha- woah whah what the fuck. What the fuck was that?! What did you just do to me?”.

With this outburst on his part, a feeling arose in 009. It was a feeling she did not take comfort in, one that told her she was a monster. Everyone who bore witness to her ability thus far has reacted the same way initially: Horror. Animosity. Revulsion. She did not like to utilize this power she had obtained in someway unknown. It made her eligible to be weaponized. She did not take pride in this gift she had been told that she should.

“Don’t touch me,” she said sternly.

“Okay, okay,” he said, throwing two hands up above his head in a sign of compliance. She did not like this movement either, it was a common sight presented to her. A signal that oftentimes followed fear. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she repeated back to him the sentence he had used with her earlier. He eyed her apprehensively. “I don’t want to,” she said. He looked at her, his eyes drifting between her two, reading her face to the best of his ability. Returning to where he was, he repositioned his chair from where it had been knocked backwards with his sudden, careless movements. “It’s not a… ‘prank’”. The last word of her sentence spit unfamiliar to her, but she knew from his behavior that it’s meaning did not fit her circumstance. “Okay,” he told her, “I’m sorry”.

His apology was genuine, but left them with silence neither of them knew how to break. “So,” Steve started, lightly dragging out the single word. “You.. escaped. This lab was what, holding you hostage?” She paused, never having thought to define what her position there was. Hostage sounded fitting. “I lived there, against my will. The people, they were trying to use me,” she told him. “Use you because of your throwing-people-against-the-wall powers?” he asked, clearly referencing what had happened to him maybe a minute ago. She nodded once more, a small amount of relief soothing her at his evolved understanding. “Jesus Christ, so I am now harboring a fugitive with telekinetic abilities, cool.” The tone used with his speech erupted further feelings of dejection within 009. Now she was the one scared of the person in front of her. “I can’t go back,” she piped up, her voice evidently unsettled. He drew his eyes back to her from elsewhere, “No, no, I won’t take you back. You can uh, you can stay here for now. My parents will be home tomorrow, so we have to stay upstairs. I’m not sure they’d be too thrilled with the situation we have going for us here so it’s probably best I don’t introduce you to them,” he finished his proposal. For the first time since they met, she offered him a small smile.   

[alloftheimaginess]

I know someone

Word count: 1062

Warnings: none

"We're never going to solve this alone" Dustin says giving up and throwing the translation book on the table.

"You can't give up we're so close" Robin says running her hands over her face trying to keep herself awake.

"How are we close? We haven't even figured out a single word" Steve says running his hand through his hair frustrated that they've been at it all day and haven't gotten anywhere.

"I know someone, she's fluent in like 7 languages but you aren't going to like it" Dustin says sitting straight up.

"Who is it?" Steve asks propping his feet up on the table.

"It's (Y/n)" Dustin says trying to avoid eye contact with Steve.

"(Y/n)?" Robin asks and they both nod before looking to Robin.

"Steve's ex fling and my best friends older sister" Dustin tells Robin.

"And she speaks russian?" She asks and once again they both nod.

"Well what are we waiting for? Call her" Robin says and Dustin jumps up grabbing his walkie.

"(Y/n) do you copy, come through. Over" I hear Dustin say through Lucas' walkie.

"(Y/n/n). This. Is. A. Code. Red" he says pausing after every word and I go into lucas' room grabbing his walkie talkie and I press the button down.

"Dusty this is (y/n/n). Over" I say waiting for a response.

"(Y/n/n), I need you to meet me at scoops, I really need your help. Over" he says.

"I have to pick up Erica so I'll be there in 10. Over" I say turning it off and throwing it on his bed before walking out.

I walk into the mall and I see Erica and she starts to get up "stay put, I have to go help Dustin so you can stay here and hang out" I say and she nods sitting back down. I walk into scoops and Steve is standing at the front and he turns around opening the window.

"She's here" he says and the door opens and it's Dustin.

"Come back here" he says and I nod following him and I look around at the room and notice the board on the wall with the alphabet on it.

"What am I here for?" I ask super confused.

"We need your help translating" Steve says coming inside the back room.

"Translating what?" I ask looking between the three of them.

"Russian" the girl says.

"I'm sorry I didn't get your name" I say.

"Oh yeah it's Robin" she says smiling at me.

"(Y/n)" I say.

"I know" she says and I look back at the board.

"Is that what that is?" I ask pointing to it and Steve nods and I start laughing and he groans rolling his eyes.

"She's going to do this thing where she makes us feel stupid because we all can't graduate with the highest gpa or figure out some stupid language" he says.

"I was just going to say that Russian doesn't use the same alphabet as us" I say holding my hands up ignoring how much that actually hurt but I push it down.

"It's not my fault that you didn't know that" I shoot back while fixing it.

"Now what am I translating?" I ask sitting down at the table with Dustin and he presses play. I listen a few times.

"It says the week is long" I say listening to it again.

"The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west" I say.

"What else?" Dustin asks jumping up and writing it down.

"A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly" I say and I pause.

"What's this for?" I ask and no one answers me.

"Seriously after I just decoded this for you" I say and Dustin sighs.

"I was trying to talk to suzie and I picked up a Russian code and we had to see what it was because I think I picked up a secret code and we could be heroes" he says and I start laughing.

"Seriously" I say and I see Robin and Steve with straight faces so I stop laughing.

"Wait. Is this for real?" I ask and they all nod.

"Dusty just be careful, you're like a little brother to me and I would hate for anything to happen to you" I say and he nods and I turn to Steve.

"If anything happens to him, I promise on everything I will never let you live it down" I say standing up and I kiss Dustin's head and I nod at Steve and Robin before walking out.

I round the corner and I hear footsteps behind me and I stop and get knocked over by Steve and he tries to help me up but he trips, landing on top of me.

I look up at him "excuse me" I say nodding at him and he gets up.

"I just wanted to see if we could talk" he says.

"Why so you can just insult me for knowing something you don't or maybe shoot me down when I try to tell you that I'm in love with you" I say.

"(Y/n) I wanted to apologize" he says and I shake my head.

"It's fine" I say not wanting to talk to him.

"I'm in love with you and I have been for 7 fucking years and if you can't see that then I don't know what else to do. I was scared when you told me that you loved me because you are better than me and it couldn't have been real because why would you love me, I was just a dick" he says all in one breathe before taking a deep breath.

"I didn't want to hurt you but I didn't know what else to do so I ran and for that I am so sorry because you-" I quickly cut him off by kissing him just to shut him up.

"Get a room" I hear Erica say behind me and I laugh pulling away.

"You can make it up to me by taking me to dinner, I'm always hungry" I say and he quickly nods.

"And some flowers" Erica adds looping her arm through mine before pulling me off and I turn around smiling at him and he smiles at me before running back to work.

[1980s-robin]

Pinkie Promise

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: Reader and Steve are inseparable, even through dangerous times. But despite nearly dying, there’s just three unspoken little words that burden their minds. 

Word Count: 8.5k

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Stab wounds, mentions of blood, cussing, basically just canon-typical stuff, pretty sure I clarified the reader as a girl at least once 

Notes: So, I’ve been rewatching Stranger Things because… ya know… October. And I’m in my Steve feelings and decided ‘hey! let’s write a giant fanfic about him’ so here it is. And kids? It’s a big one. Enjoy! I’ve been working on it for weeks.

It was meant to be a calm summer, perhaps your last ever calm summer - the plan after graduation having been to spend a year working to pay for your college tuition, or at least as much of it as you possibly could. It was a good plan, but of course, you didn’t factor in a Russian conspiracy theory underneath the mall.

You waved a goodbye to your supervisor at The Gap, watching her finish locking up from behind you as you pretended you were walking to the exit of the mall like you had done every other day. “If you need to get back in, you have your key right?” She questioned, you nodding as you pulled it out of your ‘hiding place’ - which happened to just be your bra. 

Once you had seen her take her leave, you quickly turned back around and knocked four times on the locked entrance of the Scoops Ahoy, being greeted by the face of your new friend Robin.

“Hey! Is everyone gone?” She questioned, peeking her head out as she opened up the store enough to let you in but not make too much noise - just in case there was still someone out there. 

“I think so, my store is usually the last to finish closing.” You responded as you looked around the inside of the store and followed Robin back into the break room, pulling a chair over to the table. Typically, when you came here during your lunch break, you would take a seat across from Steve but the inclusion of Dustin put you directly in the middle of the table.

“Well, Y/N, you joined a little late.” You heard from beside you, turning your head to watch Dustin sitting dramatically, his finger pointing accusingly at you.

“The hell is he on about?” You questioned as you glanced over at Steve, who turned to look at you and coughed awkwardly. 

“Robin already figured out what the code said but uh…. I don’t really believe it’s right.” He said with an almost disappointed look on his face as Robin and Dustin moved to the exit so everyone could leave. The code was figured out as far as they were concerned.

You glanced at the board and read what it said, your eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as you read the word but you shrugged and turned to face Steve. “If it is some sort of Russian code, I don’t see why they would say whatever it is they wanted directly.” You said as you moved over to the counter  climbing on top of it with the help of Steve.

As you slid onto the floor, your feet meeting the ground as gently as possible as to not hurt yourself, you watched Dustin nod in agreement with your statement. “She’s right, a top-secret Russian code wouldn’t be that obvious - it’s obviously coded.” He said.

“And I know my translation was right.” Robin added on, your head turning back to look at Steve for just a moment before you turned ahead again. 

As you listened absentmindedly to their conversation you sighed, almost relieved that you most likely didn’t have to deal with this anymore. “Well, whatever it is thankfully it’s far away from here.” 

Almost like a curse, the minute you turned back around Steve was kneeling in front of the mini-carousel ride and demanding a quarter. You had no idea why, you were just assuming he wanted to get on it or something - odd since he wasn’t five but… you weren’t one to judge him. 

As he finally got his quarter you watched with confusion written all over your face before you heard it, the song that you’d been hearing for the past few weeks but… then you realized why he was playing it. It seemed Dustin had the same thought as he pulled the recorder out, playing it for you all to hear the same song playing in both places.

You felt chills run down your spine, but as Robin reasoned that maybe they had the same type of horse in Russia you agreed - maybe because you wanted to believe it. 

But, Steve pointed out the name of the horse. Indiana Flyer. Why would they have an Indiana Flyer in Russia? The recording must’ve been coming from within the mall, and the thought of that horrified you. 

As you all walked out of the mall, you wanted to get away as quickly as possible, you followed Steve to his car since you lived close together - he typically drove you home. 

“Y/N?” You heard from beside you once you’d gotten in the passenger seat, everything seeming to go by in a blur since you hadn’t even noticed that he’d left the parking lot. “Are you okay?” Steve asked, watching as you finally turned to look at him.

“You want to go after the Russians, don’t you?” You asked, your head seemingly spinning from all the information that was being presented to you in that moment - it was a lot for you to process. 

“Well yeah, we can’t tell the police about it, they’ll think we’re pulling some kind of prank.” replied, as though it was common sense that he wanted to go after them - whoever they were.

“But Hopper he- he knows about all of the weird stuff going on, I’m sure he’d be understanding.” You reasoned, still not wanted to go through with this.

“Y/N… do YOU want to go after the Russians?” Steve finally asked, turning into the area of town with more houses, leaving behind the gas station that you both usually stopped at for drinks after a long day of work. 

“No I- It’s dangerous.” You said, but that excuse with nothing and you knew it.

“We’ve fought monsters before, I’m sure humans are a step down from that-” 

“Steve I- last time you almost died and I can’t-” You internally cringed at the memory of seeing him bloody and bruised, remembering him going out with nothing but a baseball bat and the terror on your face as you did everything you could to help. “I don’t want you to die.” you commented, glancing back down at your lap.

“That won’t happen again and… is me living really more important than like- maybe everyone in our town?” Steve questioned you as he glanced at you for a moment, mostly keeping his eyes on the road, though.

“They’re not you.” You mumbled, looking out of the window of the car, almost embarrassed at the clinginess you felt toward your best friend. All those years of watching Steve grow and change, feeling more than friendly things toward him and nearly crying every time he told you about a new girl and you’re just just attached at the hip as you always had been.

There wasn’t much time to think about this, though, as you felt Steve slide his hand into your own comfortingly, his other hand firmly on the steering wheel. “You can stay back if you want to, you know, I’d rather you not be in danger an-”

“No!” You rushed out, eyes wide as your head snapped to look at Steve. “If you’re going I’m going, you’re not getting yourself killed and leaving me behind.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, “So you’re implying we should die together?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation somewhat light-hearted as he pulled into the parking lot of his own home - about three down from yours. 

“I’m not implying anything, I’m saying that if this goes wrong and something happens I’m gonna be there.” You finally said, unbuckling your seatbelt before motioning ahead. “You want a sleepover or something? I’d love to braid your hair, Stevie.” You teased as you got out of the car, but even teasing felt wrong. You were absolutely terrified. 

“I want to walk you back, but since you’re so worried for me maybe you don’t want me walking back alone.” He retorted playfully, meeting you on the other side of the car.

You smacked his arm, “This is serious.” You said, walking toward your house with the boy practically at your heels. 

“I know, Y/N I know I just-” He stopped, not knowing exactly what it was that he wanted to say. “I’m scared too, you know, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” He said as you finally reluctantly turned back to look at him. “But we have to do this, someone has to, you know people are just going to think we’re being crazy because of Vietnam or something.” 

With a sigh, you nodded. “I know that, I just hate seeing you hurt. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You’re my best friend… I need you.” You said, feeling Steve link his arm with yours as you walked closer to your house, almost wishing you didn’t have to go in without Steve - just incase you never got to see him again.

You had noticed something stall in him at your words, maybe it was saying that you needed him - not that it was the only thing you wanted to say. But whatever it was that had given him pause wore off rather quickly as he composed himself. “I need you too, and I’m… I’m sorry to put you in this situation… again.” He said as you finally reached your door and turned to look at him - your worried expression instantly softening at his apologetic features.

“You shouldn’t have to apologize for wanting to help people Steve, I’m just being paranoid.” You brushed it off, moving your hand to fix a strand of his hair that was sticking up. 

Steve sighed and shook his head, “I understand that,”  He said, catching your wrist to keep some sort of contact - something that caused your stomach to flutter slightly. “But we will make it out of this, and everyone else will too. I promise.” He said, sticking out his pinkie for a pinkie promise - one of dozens you’d made with him.

You tried to fight back the smile on your face as you twisted your pinkie with his, “I trust you.” You finally responded, letting yourself smile. 

“Good, good, because you also just agreed to a sleepover when this is all over - I wanna see what you can do with my hair.” He teased, causing you to laugh. 

“Ok, ok, but if you hate it don’t cry.” You said with a smile. “Goodnight, Steve.” You finally said, rather softly, as you opened the door to your home. 

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He responded, walking down the sidewalk back to his house. There was a part of you that wanted to follow after him, ask him to stay with you or kiss him or something - it was almost always in the back of your head when he said goodnight. But you knew you couldn’t do that, so you just shut your front door and ran to the living room. Contrary to mocking annoyment at the idea of you not trusting him to walk down the sidewalk, you’d feel bad if you didn’t watch to make sure someone didn’t get him. 

Once you knew he had made it back home, you sighed and walked  to your bedroom, changing into what you typically slept in and slipped into bed. On a normal day, you might take a shower and watch a movie or something. But tonight you just wanted to go to bed, everything you had learned about the mall that day had just been too much.

The sound of your alarm clock startled you awake as you got out of bed, changing what you usually wore to work and turning to go outside. You were met, as you usually were, by the sight of Steve sitting in his car waiting for you to finish getting ready. 

“So, what are we doing today?” You asked him, sliding into the passenger seat and wrapping the seatbelt around you as you clicked it in place.

“I’m not sure, I’ll let you know if something happens but… I’ll just let you know.” Steve seemed to trail off, doing a U-Turn to turn back the way he had driven the previous night. For a moment it almost seemed like he didn’t want you involved, similar to how you didn’t particularly want him involved, but there you both were - directly in the middle of the Russian conspiracy theory. 

As you arrived at the mall, you left your bag in the car - again, as you usually did. Normally, you would be talking to Steve on the way in, but both of you seemed rather tense.

“It feels wrong going in here… I feel like we’re gonna be like-” You cut off, glancing around to make sure there was nobody that looked suspicious. “It feels like we might be… killed or something.” You finally said as you glanced over at Steve, walking into the mall with him, but a part of you wanted to turn around and never come back.

“It’ll be okay, they could have killed us last night probably if they thought we were on to them. I’m sure this is going to be fine.” He said, but he didn’t seem too assured. 

You nodded, though, because he really was right. The mall had your addresses from the checks being mailed home, if the Russians suspected that you knew something they could have had you killed already - and it made no sense to do something like that in a giant mall, especially when you lived so close together. 

“I’ll see you during our lunch break?” You questioned as you had reached Scoops Ahoy, Steve nodding in response. 

“Or earlier, if we find something and I have time to get you.” he responded, your heart almost dropping. 

“If you find something you need to get me, okay, or at least try- I don’t want you to get hurt I-” You were getting frantic again, keeping your voice down to not draw-awareness. 

“I will, but if something happens and you don’t see me during lunch promise you’ll come looking.” He said, watching as you nodded in response. You had to be realistic, something might happen and you might not be able to go together. “And you can’t pretend to be sick.” He said, as if reading a thought that may have crossed your mind.

“Alright.” You agreed reluctantly, waving a hello to Robin who you saw behind the counter and turning around, but for a moment something clicked in your brain. You might not see either of them for a while, if worse comes to worse. “Please stay safe, both of you.” You finally said as you turned back around, both of your close friends nodding before you walked to your job at The Gap.

The rest of the day you had basically spent most of the day folding clothes and answering customers questions, but your mind couldn’t help but wander. You were completely distant from everything that was going on, you couldn’t focus on anything. More than once you’d wanted to tell a customer to leave the mall, to never come back, because you felt like everyone was in danger at that moment. But you couldn’t. 

A while later, your lunch break started - as you walked over to Scoops Ahoy you noticed that neither Steve nor Robin were there, and you started to fear for the worst. 

It was a frantic scramble for the next few moments before you ran into someone, someone who grabbed your arms and pulled you in front of them.

“Hey-” 

“Steve? I th-”

“I know, I can explain, just come with me.” He said as he started guiding you over to a table. When you sat down, you noticed the people you were used to, at this point. Robin and Dustin, but you also noticed the inclusion of another new face. She looked familiar for a moment, before you placed that it was Erica Sinclair. 

“Why is-” You motioned to Erica, “Is she going to help us? What’s-” You were practically choking on your words, completely confused by what was going on as you felt Steve slide into the seat beside you. 

“We need someone to go through the vents to open the loading dock for us to get in, Dustin couldn’t fit and he thought he knew someone who could.” Robin explained, “And, she agreed in exchange for ice cream.” She added on.

You nodded along to what she said, wondering if it was a good idea to have her tagging along but knowing that if there was no other option there was no reason why the rest of you couldn’t just watch after her. 

The rest of the day was finished somewhat normally, with the looming knowledge that you would be getting into Russian equipment as soon as the mall closed. 

Ironically, you finished work early for the first time in a while. Your co-workers had been a little too diligent in making sure everything was stocked for the next day, granted, your supervisors had told you to be extra diligent for the next few days since it was the week of the holiday. While it meant that everything was going to be done sooner than it would have been otherwise, it also meant that you needed to break into Russian information sooner.

You quietly walked to where Scoops Ahoy was, you shouldn’t have been as paranoid as you were about going to see your friend who drove you home anyway - but with the given circumstances you felt like everything that you were doing was completely out of the ordinary. 

“You’re here early.” Robin commented from behind the counter as she jumped on top of the stand, sliding across it. 

“We finished early, I don’t think anyone else is still here though.” You said as you glanced around the empty mall. “Even if they are, I don’t think anyone’s going to notice us climbing on the roof.” 

It was only a few minutes later before Dustin, Robin, Steve and yourself departed for the rooftop outside of the loading deck - Erica moving for the vents that would allow you all to enter from that part of the building. 

As you laid on the rooftop, making sure to be as close to the roof as possible as to not draw any attention if there were to be someone who could be paying attention to any of you, you couldn’t help but feel like you shouldn’t be doing what you were doing.

There was just this feeling in your brain, this feeling that maybe this was wrong and that none of you should be involved. But, before you could allow your mind to wander too far with that idea the dock was open, and you were all climbing down the latter and walking quickly and quietly into the building before shutting the door behind you. 

It was eerie being inside of this part of the mall, surrounded by these boxes that you’d seen being walked through the mall and thought nothing of. Seeing them knowing that they were something else, something that could pose a threat to yourself and everyone else that you happened to know. 

You kneeled next to the boxes, watching as Steve opened one of them with a box cutter. You nearly jumped as you told Dustin to get back, but you did not expect him to tell you to get back. 

“If you die I die.” Dustin responded to Steve’s criticism, his firm tone seeming to surprise everyone - including you. 

“I agree with Dustin, if you die I die too.” You commented, high fiving Dustin above Steve’s head.

Steve seemed to blink for a moment, “Okay then.” He finally said, glancing between the both of you before twisting one of the tubes inside of the box and pulling it out.

You all stared in awe of the green, shining liquid-type thing inside of the jar that Steve was holding, having no clue what it could possibly be that he was holding.

Before you had the chance to tell him to put it down you all felt the room begin to move, only for a moment, before everyone started rushing to get the door opened. But the door didn’t seem to want to open. 

You let out a yell as you saw the walls begin to close in, and felt the room start shooting downwards. You fell over on top of one of the boxes, hitting your hip and most likely leaving a bruise. 

As soon as the room stopped, you slowly stood up. Of course, you quickly pieced together that what you were in wasn’t a room at all - but rather an elevator where the Russian’s happened to be keeping their things. Now, not only were you deep below the ground, but the doors to the elevator were completely covered over by a metal wall. 

As soon as you stood up, moving to stand with everyone else, you felt the need to collapse back onto the ground in some sort of defeat. “I didn’t think this was how we were going to die, of all the ways.” 

Steve kneeled in front of you, “We’re not gonna die, we just have to find a way out of here.” he tried to reassure you as he stood back up and started looking around for something. You assumed he was looking for some kind of emergency switch or exit, or maybe a way to get above the elevator in order to get out. 

But that kind of idea was quickly shot down, realizing that this might as well have been a metal box that you were all stuck in. There didn’t seem to be a way out.

“Maybe someone will come back in the morning, we could just…” You trailed off, making the motion of running your finger over your throat. 

“We are not going to kill whoever comes in here, Y/N.” Robin replied, a nearly disappointed look on her face at the way that your mind had instantly gone to that. 

“My point still stands, someone is probably going to come in here for whatever that green shit is tomorrow, if we hide I’m sure there will be a way to hold the door open. Better yet, maybe it’ll just go back up.” You said, feeling as if your brain was finally clicking into place. Most likely because this wasn’t the first time you were in a life or death situation, and truthfully it wasn’t the scariest either. 

“But what if they don’t come back for like… a week or something for another delivery.” Dustin added on, but you shook your head.

“That thing can’t just be sitting here, they’ve gotta do something with it I’m sure.” You said confidently. Maybe you weren’t too confident that someone was going to come back tomorrow, maybe someone wouldn’t be back for a few days, but you didn’t want to think about that. 

“In the meantime, though, we should try to find a way out in case whoever comes back tomorrow knows that we’re here.” Robin said, something that you couldn’t help but agree with.

It was about two hours before you had just given up, deciding that you most likely weren’t going to find a way out as everyone has scoured every inch of the elevator that you were stuck in. You gave the ‘Open Door’ button one last press before sliding back against the wall, a yawn escaping your lips as you leaned your head back. 

You felt someone beside you, and turned to find Steve sitting next to you, a defeated look on his face. “We’re not gonna die here,” You said. But you weren’t sure if you were saying it in an attempt to reassure yourself or to reassure Steve.

“Even if we do get out…” He trailed off, seemingly not wanting to think about what could happen next. “We were just supposed to come in here and leave. Not… get stuck down here.” He seemed frustrated and somewhat exhausted.

“We came down here to stop bad people from doing bad things, it just went a little wrong.” You said, wanting to bring some kind of hope into the discussion. But even before you didn’t have much hope that just the few of you could do much of anything, and now you’d all gotten stuck in an elevator.

“I didn’t want you down here with all the Russians, you know that right?” Steve asked, turning to look at you as you finally met his eyes. “I know you didn’t even want to be involved with this and if you get killed ‘cause of me-” 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to be involved, it’s that I didn’t want you to get hurt. It was never about me.” You said rather softly, watching his expression seemingly change for a moment as he got ready to do or say something - which one, you weren’t sure - but he seemed to stop himself when you let out another yawn.

“You can sleep, Y/N, I won’t let anything happen to you - I promise.” He said, sort of comfortingly as he wrapped an arm around you and let you rest your head gently on his shoulder.

“Goodnight Stevie.” You mumbled as you quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion from working and the stress of the day and the current situation being enough to effectively knock you out. 

It was only another few hours before you woke up at the feeling of movement, not really doing anything about it until you eventually heard the sound of a door opening. You were concealed by a box, and thankfully whoever had come in wouldn’t be able to see you. As you came to a bit more, you noticed Steve slide a box in between the doors that had opened to stop them from closing again. 

You followed everyone out of the room, “Nothing happened while you were asleep.” Dustin said from in front of you, your eyes moving over as you realized he was speaking to you. 

“Well, I figured, we were locked in a room - but I guess you never know.” You responded, quietly, as you walked down the hallway - your eyes practically running around the room as you made sure that there was nobody in there with you. 

It was a little while longer, everyone walking down corridors and you mostly being quiet out of fear that someone was going to hear you, that you would speak at the wrong time.

Eventually you reached what seemed to be some sort of communication room, but as you walked in you were face to face with a Russian Soldier. You froze for a minute, before searching for some sort of blunt object that you could use - for a moment considering throwing your shoes at the man. But Robin distracted him by reiterating the Russian code to him, and Steve seemed to think quick enough to knock the man out. 

“Good thinking,” You said as you turned to Robin - before your eyes began scanning the room. Finally, they found a door, and you walked with Robin to it, assuming that the others were following.

“Thanks,” She trailed off, seemingly distracted as she pushed open a door. You stood in shock of what you were staring at, the other three following you both into the room as Robin motions them in.

“Shit…” You trailed off, your brain connecting what you were looking at. Of course this had to be the reason that they were in a small town like Hawkins, seeing it before you made everything make perfect sense. Or, as much sense as a situation like this could possibly make to someone with a limited understanding of any of it. 

Quickly, you all made your way out of the room, looking for an escape before Erica noticed that the Russian soldier was no longer with Steve. By the time you’d all realized, though, it was too late. 

The only thing that you could do was run as fast as your feet could carry you, following after the other four. But you couldn’t be shocked that you were outnumbered, and try as you might to look for any type of exit it was obvious to you that there wasn’t going to be a safe exit - at least not for everyone.

You watched as Dustin and Erica quickly walked over to a vent, Steve pushing you toward them. “Go! It’ll be safer-”

“I can handle myself, Steve.” You replied back, urgently trying to get back over to the door with Robin. 

“It’s not about that, just go I don’t need you to di-”

“No! Not without you!” You finally yelled back, Steve seeming to stop for a moment before accepting that there wasn’t enough time to convince you to go with Dustin and Erica. You watched as they got away, knowing at that moment that your choice had been completely solidified. 

The next thing you knew, there was a swift punch to your face - the world going black, and all of the commotion surrounding you seeming to just fade away. 

You weren’t sure how long it was before you woke up again, but you seemed to come to your senses rather quickly. The room you were shoved into was rather small, almost like a mop closet but it was completely empty - a flickering fluorescent being your only form of light. There was no one with you, for a couple seconds, that is. 

Within a few moments of waking up a man walked into the room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him as you turned to you with a smug expression.

“You put up quite a fight, you know.” the man commented, much to your dismay.

“I can’t… I don’t remember that.” You responded, which, again to your dismay, made him seem to laugh for just a moment as your confusion.

“No, you wouldn’t, we’ve already injected you with the serum we’re about to give your friends.” He said, glancing down at you for a moment, seemingly at your body. “Have you looked at yourself?” The commented, again, with a smug expression on his face.

It was then that you glanced down, multiple knife wounds on your body, blood covering the front of your shirt. “Wh-”

“The serum will stop the pain for a little while, but if you don’t start telling the truth soon…” He trailed off, moving closer to you and pressing down on the wound that you could only assume was a stab, though it felt as if it was covered by a bandage, “You’re going to regret it.” 

You watched as blood pooled around where he was pressing, but the serum was strong enough to make it only feel like an intense pressure, almost like getting a root canal at the dentist's office - you know something terrible is happening, but can only kind of feel it. 

At that moment you could only realize: he had mentioned your friends. “Where are they, where did you take them.” You grunted out, almost instinctively reaching for the man’s neck as he moved back.

“It wouldn’t matter if I told you, the way things are going - they’re not going to make it out of the day.” he responded, his thick Russian accent making his words harder to understand - but you understand perfectly clear what he was trying to say.

“If you don’t fucking tell me where they are I swear to God I will fucking bite you- I will bite your Adam’s Apple out you son of a-” That was enough to make the man swiftly slap you across the face, standing up and waling to the door. 

“If you don’t want the easy way… I guess I’ll just send in the doctor.” He said, walking out of the room and leaving you alone.

As you stood up to look for some way out, assuming there had to be a way, you narrowly dodged a vent falling from above you. “Dustin?!” You whisper-yelled, watching as he dropped from the vent and onto the ground.

“What the hell happened to you?” He asked, taking in your bloodied form. 

“I don’t remember- Where’s Steve?” You asked him, watching as he moved toward the door with what appeared to be a couple bobby pins he had gotten from Erica. 

“We’re going to get him right now,” He started as the door unlocked. “How is it that you got stabbed and your first question is ‘where’s Steve’?” Dustin questioned as he peeked his head out of the door way before motioning for you to follow him out. 

You followed Dustin out, feeling the familiar pressure of the stab wound on your waistline - now that you were standing, it was clear that it was somewhere on the far left part of your hip - thankfully far away from any important organs. 

As you walked through the long corridors, making sure to avoid any hubs of people, you found yourself passing by the very room that you last remembered being in - before being brought to another interrogation room. Dustin prodded a man in a lab coat with a large, electrified metal rod before you both made quick work of untying Steve and Robin.

Despite your current bloodied and wounded state, you still found yourself getting a lump in your throat seeing the injuries that Steve had sustained. 

“You’re going to be okay, we’re all going to be okay.” You said once you had finally gotten the ties done on his hands - resting a hand on the side of his cheek for a moment before turning to Dustin. “You know how to get out of here?” You questioned, watching as he nodded in response. “Alright then, good.” 

You ran after Dustin, making sure Robin and Steve were behind you both as you got into the cart, leaning your head against the wall as you sat across from Steve and Robin.

You tilted your head at their current state, before remembering the mention of a serum - one you were supposed to have had, but you just assumed it was why you couldn’t remember anything that happened to you; that and the fact that it was probably working overtime to numb the pain of your wound. 

For the first time, you pulled your shirt up slightly. Your suspicion was correct, they had put a bandage over the wound. But it was flimsy at best, leaving a large patch of blood on your hip where you had been bleeding through. 

You dropped your shirt quickly, shifting uncomfortably as you followed everyone into the elevator. Maybe it was how quickly it was moving, or maybe it was just the natural span of the drugs, but you felt your head begin to pound, and with it you felt the stab wound for the first time; a sharp pain coming through as you let out a groan.

“You’re not looking too good,” Dustin commented as you looked over toward him with a slight glare. 

“I’ll meet you back at the movie theater, just let me run and get a first aid kit.” You responded, once you’d finally gotten out of the elevator. It felt odd being in the movie theater, having just escaped from a Russian lab directly under where you were at the moment. 

As soon as you stepped out you quickly made your way to The Gap, knowing that there was a first aid kit kept in the back. You reached your hand into the side of your bra, pulling out the store key that you kept in there and sliding it into the lock - twisting it and making a painful bolt for the back of the store.

Letting out another loud groan, you grabbed the first aid kit and basically dropped onto the ground, leaning against the wall for support as you hiked your shirt up and removed the bandage.

It was a painful process, trying to clean up the blood and tightly wrap a bandage on in a timely manner - but you managed, with perhaps less than a dozen cuss words uttered. 

As soon as you were finished, you reached into the kit and pulled out a few advil’s, doing your best to swallow them without water before locking the kit back up and making your way back out of the store - but as you looked down at your clothing you sighed and grabbed a shirt and jacket, changing quickly before walking back out. Stealing was wrong, but in this case you knew you would raise some sort of suspicion if you ran out covered in blood. You locked the store back up and left  to go to the movie theater. 

You didn’t end up making it all the way back as you found the scoops troop gathered outside of the bathroom. “Wh-”

“Long story,” Dustin cut you off as you all noticed people beginning to pour out of the movie theater. “Let’s go.” He said, and you followed after him.

“What happened to you, Dustin mentioned something about getting stabbed?” Steve questioned, watching as you turned to look over at him.

“Well… I got stabbed.” You said, almost teasingly as you walked out of the movie theater area with them. “I can’t believe this worked.” You said, a small grin of relief covering your face as you made your way to the door of the mall - but before you did, your hopes were immediately dashed by the men checking identifications at the door. 

You ran quickly through the crowd of people, running anywhere that you could possibly run to hide from the people following after you - as you finally jumped behind the scoops ahoy counter you hugged your knees to your chest, slowing your breathing as best as you could as you scooted in next to Steve.

It felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest as you heard the last voice exit the movie theater, your head quickly turning to face Steve. He slowly moved his hand to slide into yours, you weren’t sure if he was attempting to calm your fears or his own but you didn’t care because in that moment it helped you. 

There was so much you needed to say, so much you knew you were never going to say as you heard the men’s footsteps draw closer to the countertop. But then the car started going off, and after the loud noise of an automobile crash you popped your head up to see the men having been crushed by a car. 

As you glanced up, you saw the rest of the party on the ledge above, your face breaking out into a grin as you stood up. “We’re alive!” You said, rather enthusiastically as you turned to look at Steve. He didn’t seem to have much time to respond as you quickly pulled him into a tight hug, the grin never leaving your face as you pulled back to look at him. “I really thought we were gonna die for like… the second time tonight and I-”

You were cut off as you felt him lean in to quickly press his lips against yours in an urgent kiss. It didn’t take more than a couple seconds for you to pull him closer - even if it just lasted for a few moments.

“I’m sorry, I just realized I had some unfinished business while we were about to die.” He said as he finally pulled back, a small smile covering your lips as you looked at him. 

“That’s crazy, because I felt the exact same way.” You said in a rather playful manner, your conversation cut short as you hear someone clear their throat.

“If you two are finished making out, we have a situation at hand.” Dustin commented, watching as you both begrudgingly got out from behind the counter and joined the rest of the group. You seemed to tune out the conversation though, your eyes settling on El. She seemed uncomfortable, you assumed at first she must just be hurting from the wound you noticed on her leg, but it seemed to be much worse than you had suspected. 

As soon as El collapsed to the ground you followed after her, before you noticed that something in her leg was moving. You were all going to have to act fast to figure out how you could help her, and Jonathan seemed to be the one that had figured out how. 

You did your best to calm the poor girl down, but you knew that it wasn’t going to end up working.because there was no way that she was going to end up feeling better with the amount of pain that she was clearly in at the moment. 

It was difficult for you to watch when Jonathan brought back the knife, even more difficult when you watched as the poor girl got her leg sliced into, his hand going in to dig out the intruder in her leg. You leaned back a bit when she decided to do it herself, moments away from asking if there was anything you could do before she ended up getting the thing out of her leg and throwing it to the side.

When you looked up, you noted that there was three more people in the room with you all - maybe this would be easier with them here. Maybe.

As you stood up from your place on the floor, you made your way over to sit beside Robin. “Are you okay?” You questioned as you turned to look at her, but she didn’t seem to have a solid answer. 

There was so much going on, and part of you didn’t even know how to comprehend it even though this wasn’t the first time that something like this had happened. You did your best to listen to the plans that were being made, but you figured it would be easier to just wait and see what you were going to end up doing.

You found out much sooner than expected as you left in a car with Robin, Steve, Dustin and Erica only moments later to go find a way for Dustin to guide Hopper, Murray and Joyce through the mall. 

You quickly walked out of the mall, your eyes widening as you turned to look at Steve. “I accepted King Steve, not too sure I’m down with Daddy Steve.” You teased as you got into the car. 

As you did Steve sent you a playful glare, “You know you love it, who wouldn’t.” He responded back with a grin and a teasing kiss on your cheek as he started up the car.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Dustin seemed vehemently opposed to just giving Steve some normal directions to where he was being expected to drive you all, but maybe it was easier this way in some sense. Not that you were sure what sense that was, but perhaps it was easier for Dustin. Or, perhaps he just wanted to be difficult. 

You were rather calm, feeling the breeze in your hair despite the situation as you drove down the country roads. But what you weren’t expecting at all was the drive up a literal grassy hill. 

You let out a shocked yelp at the feeling of the grass under the car, and the feeling like the car was about to roll off of the hill. Thankfully it didn’t, but as the car cut out and you sat in shock you slowly realized that the car wasn’t going to work any further. 

You all got out of the car, walking up the hill and sitting down next to Dustin’s communication machine, watching as he attempted to get into contact with Suzie. 

“You know, maybe Suzie is asleep-” You started, but held your hands up defensively as Dustin sent a cold glare your way. 

You sat rather calmly in the grass for a little while, your eyes moving up to watch the stars before you turned to glance again at Steve. “You know, I did mean what I said earlier.” Steve said as he scooted over to sit closer to you.

“That you think I love calling you Daddy Steve?” You questioned with a tone of bewilderment in your voice as you stared at him. 

“What? No, I mean… when I thought that we were going to die I just- I realized that I um… I had some unfinished business because i uh-” He seemed to cut himself off, not really knowing what to say without being awkward. 

“I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to say but I’m pretty sure I feel the same way I mean I was literally stabbed and I was all like ‘oh god- but what about Steve’.” You said, more awkward than you intended.

“It’s true, she was asking about you when I rescued her.” Dustin said, you motioning to him.

“See? I just-” You cut yourself off as you glanced down, your eyes finding that of the mall. “You see that too, right?” You questioned. Steve turned where you were looking and his eyes widened. 

“Uh… guys?” He said, pointing to the mall. 

Dustin began to frantically try to contact the people in Starcourt, but when he did all that you heard was the sound of a monstrous roar that was absolutely not Mike Wheeler, or anyone else in that mall. 

You and Steve seemed to have the same idea as you shared a glance and stood from your place on the ground, running down the hill without saying anything before Dustin questioned where you were going. You didn’t know what you were going to be able to do, just you Steve and Robin weren’t going to be able to save everyone. But you would be damned if you didn’t try, at the very least. There had to be something you could do, even if it was the move of a martyr. 

You quickly got into the car, watching as Steve struggled to get it started before backing up down the hill. You were surprised that it ended up working, but glad that you would be able to have something that would, hopefully, get you all to the mall quicker than you would have been able to get there on foot. 

As Steve sped to the mall, you found yourself fruitlessly trying to find a way to look at it and see something, anything, that was going on there - maybe even someone from the mall having escaped. But you found nothing, no matter how hard you looked. 

“Are there any weapons or something in here?” 

“No! No there’s nothing here I checked on the way.” Robin responded, seemingly as stressed out about this as you were. 

Once you made it to the parking lot you saw a car trying to crash into your friends, trying to escape from the mall. You recognized the car to be Billy’s, which was odd since you had no idea why he could possibly be there. 

You hopped out of the now destroyed car you were in, looking around for somewhere to go before you heard someone yell to get in. You quickly got into the back of the van with everyone else, listening to the communication channels as you finally heard the voice you had been waiting to hear; honestly thinking that it was probably not real.

“Suzie is real…” You trailed off, letting out a laugh at the sound of her singing with Dustin on the communication channel. While it hardly seemed to be the right time or place, you were absolutely not going to let Dustin live that down the next time that you saw him.

You all made your way back to the mall when the commotion stopped, when it seemed like everything was over, to make sure that everyone was okay. But when you got there, you quickly learned that both Billy and Hopper didn’t survive the attack. 

You covered your mouth with your hand, feeling tears well in your eyes - maybe it was the stress, maybe it was because Hopper who you’d known was dead, or because of how El was going to feel after losing him. But you felt absolutely distraught at the news. Steve pulled you into his side, pressing a light kiss to the top of your head before an EMT stopped in front of you. 

“Ma’am… you’re bleeding.” She said lightly, pointing to the wound on your hip. 

“Oh- Yeah I… um… long night would you-” 

She cut you off with an immediate nod, bringing you back to stitch up your wound. You insisted that you would be okay without going back to the hospital, and she very begrudgingly let you go so long as you weren’t going to be alone.

It was a rather short, and mainly silent, walk back home with Steve. As you stopped in front of your door, you turned to look at him. “Would you… um… come in?” You questioned, Steve nodding lightly as he followed you into your house and to your bedroom. 

Neither of you really had any interest in changing, the stress of the day being enough to make you not feel the need to change - you just wanted to lay down with Steve. 

As Steve laid down, pulling you under the covers as you rested your head in the crook of his neck, you felt him mumble something against your hair.

“What was that?” You questioned, your head moving up to look into his eyes.

“Earlier, I was trying to tell you that I love you and… thinking I was going to die without saying it… I was so scared.” he said, his eyes soft and genuine.

Your lips formed a smile, light, but all you could manage after the long day. “I love you too, Steve, I- I think I always have.” You said lightly, feeling him learn down slightly as you met him in the middle for a soft kiss. 

As you both pulled back you let out a sigh, “Does this count as our sleepover?” You asked playfully, Steve letting out a laugh as he shook his head.

“No, expect me over for dinner tomorrow night.” He said matter-of-factly as he looked at you.

“Fair… I don’t think I want to be alone for a little while anyway.” You said, a certain vulnerability showing that seemed to make Steve’s eyes soften.

“You never have to be alone, you know that right?” He asked, to which you nodded and pressed another soft kiss to his lips before resting your head once more. 

“Pinkie promise?” You asked softly, to which he held out his pinkie, your two fingers intertwining - a moment later just shifting to tangle your hands together. 

There were a lot of obvious reasons to fear staying in Hawkins, to resent the things that you were exposed to through the life that you had - nothing about it was normal. But you wouldn’t trade it for the world, because Steve was the only normalcy that you needed. You knew he would never leave, because for you both a pinkie promise meant forever.

[thesestrangeimagines]

Those Three Little Words (Steve Harringon)

Steve Harrington x Reader

I wrote this because I don’t have any requests to fill and I thought I was maybe a good concept, so idk enjoy!!!

It was six months after the gate was closed, it was six months after Bob Newby got eaten by demodogs, it was six months after Steve almost got killed at the hands of Billy and the nightmares still hadn’t gotten any better. Through the whole world saving adventure you fell in love with Steve Harrington, though he really didn’t know that yet. Yes, you had gotten together at some points after closing the gate, but you had never said those three little words. You knew that it would be hard for Steve, so you never pushed. You were always content with the unspoken agreement of love that had existed between you two.

One weekend you had the unfortunate job of watching your little brother, Dustin, while your mom was out of town on a business trip. Well watch wasn’t the right word, since your mom wasn’t exactly in on the whole upside down thing she wanted to make sure that Dustin didn’t go missing the way his friend Will did all that time ago. One of the only positives of this job was that Steve and Dustin were close, like brotherly bond close. It was really adorable, it was seeing this sort of thing that made you think about the future a lot. How if you and Steve were together forever there would be no unhappiness in your family as your mother loved Steve because of how happy he made you and how he gave Steve a male role model.

Dustin was sat on the floor of the living room when the doorbell rang, even though he was less than 10 feet from the door he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Y/N! Could you get the door?”

“Yes, anything else sir,” you replied in a sarcastic tone as you made your way over to the door.

“An orange soda would be divine,” He replied, not detecting the sarcasm as he was engrossed in his game.

“You do have legs you know,” You said just as you opened the door to uncover Steve, “Steveie!!” You shouted, jumping to hug him.

As Steve spun you around you heard a quiet “Barf” come from behind you.

“Shut up Dustin” You said.

“Hey babe,” Steve said flashing an adorable grin, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” You replied.

“You saw each other 3 hours ago.” Dustin interjected. “Shit shit shit shit shit, I lost, your couplely grossness made me lose. Thanks a lot.”

“You say that now,” Steve stated, walking in an settling on the floor next to Dustin, “but once you get Jessica, you’ll change your mind.”

“Who’s Jessica?” You questioned in a teasing tone.

“No one.” Dustin replied curtly, shooting a dangerous look a Steve. Steve just laughed.

———

As the night went on many movies were watched and many rounds of monopoly were played. You won of course, but not without argument from Steve. It was nearing midnight and Dustin was practically asleep on the couch.

“Alight come on Dusty get up,” He made a small noise of protest, but eventually stood. You lead him to his room, “Night Dustin”

You shut the door and heard a groan that could be deciphered as “Night Y/N”.

You walked back out to the living room to see Steve sitting on the couch, you walked over and sat down next to him. His arm wrapping around your shoulders. “He’s a good kid,” He said as you leaned against his shoulder, closing your eyes.

“Yeah, He’s something” you mumbled, honestly too tired to muster a full response.

“Ooh looks like someone’s tired, come on, let’s go” Steve urged, trying to stand. You only wrapped your arms around his neck and said, “nooooooooo”

“Come on I’ll see you tomorrow, the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner I get to see you again,” Steve said, standing up, dragging you with him.

He walked you to your room, dislike your protests, you climbed into your bed and Steve began,”Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” you answered, falling into the clutches of sleep. Steve nodded and began to walk away from your bed slowly. You grabbed his hand and said, “stay.”

The boy smilies and said, “Anything for you princess.”

————-

You were cold, Steve had just been knocked out, the demodogs we’re coming. There was no chance of survival. You had to leave Steve behind or risk everyone’s lives. You tried to get him up. He wasn’t knocked out he was dead. You were sobbing and screaming. “Please don’t leave me, I need you” you cried. “I love you, I’ll love you so much, please!” You screams turned to whispers as you were awoken from your slumber.

When you opened your eyes, you could feel tears trailing down your face, and felt a pair of arms wrapped around you. “Shhhhhhhh, it’s okay, I’m here it’s okay” you heard, coming from the figure next to you. “Shhhhhh, we’re okay, everything’s fine” the voice continued.

You looked at Steve and just hugged him, so tight. “I thought you were dead, I thought you left me, and there wasn’t anything I could do.” You explained, your sobs retiring at the thought of the dream.

Steve pushed back and looked you straight in your eyes, “I would never leave you.”

Involuntarily your blurted, “I love you.” You we’re immediacy hit with a pang of fear. What if he didn’t love you back, what if you’d scared him off. What if you had just made a huge mistake.

Moments later he placed a hand on the side of your face and kissed you. You returned the kiss, pushing your hands back into his perfect hair. It was quick, but it left you breathless. When you pulled away he said, “I love you too.”

———-

The rest of the night, if you could even call it that, consisted of cuddling and little naps that were interrupted by stolen kisses.

When you both walked out of your room to go to the kitchen, Dustin was carrying a bowl of cereal to the table. When he saw you both walk out and almost spilled milk all over the floor.

You gasped and looked back at Steve, who was no help, as he was laughing his ass off. “Please don’t tell mom, I can explain” you rushed to say.

“Nope, I won’t, I don’t wanna know,” he said cringing, “leave my presence.”

“Thanks Dusty, but if you say a word I’ll tell mom about Jessica!” You threatened and you grabbed Steve’s hand and dragged him to the living room, in the best mood you’d been in in a while.

check out my masterlist and don’t forget to request something !!!!! (Links in my bio/description thing)

[strangerstuffandthingsimagines]

Lover, Not A Fighter (Steve Harrington x Mayfield!Reader)

Summary: The reader says something to Steve he hadn’t expected to hear.

A/N: Another drabble I came up with after listening to “Silence” by Marshmellow and Khalid (sent in from anon). Sorry, it’s so short, not going to lie but I kind of love this pairing...I feel like their story isn’t finished yet.

The soft touches that caressed the warmth of his back as your hands crept up underneath the hem of his sweater, left goosebumps on his skin. You were never ashamed to be held in his arms as you shared small moments between classes. It was something Nancy was never keen on, a stiffness in her embraces was a stark contrast to your eagerness to wrap your arms around him.

“How long do you think they’ll be?” you murmured as your lips trailed down his neck. “Stevie? You purred when he wasn’t responsive to your words.

His hair tousled as his head snapped upward, getting lost in your kisses, only now paying attention to what you were saying. “Hmm? What was that?”

Combing your fingers through the lush brunette locks that only your hands were allowed to run through, you smiled up at him, leaning against the back of the driver's seat as you sat up from his lap. “The Snowball. When’s the snowball finished? I don’t want them coming out here and catching us in the back seat.” you admitted shyly.

“Oh!” he said, straightening up as his hands rested on your thighs. “Right. Maybe around nine?”

“So an hour then.” You breathed, clocking out how much time the two of you had left for the evening. Your features softened as you took notice of the small scar above his eyebrow, frowning into your words. “Stevie.”

“What?” he asked, knitting his brows together as you ghosted a finger over his forehead.

“You’ve got a little scar, right here.” You said, tracing the pale line. “I should’ve gone to look for Max that night, this would’ve never happened if I found her first.”

“Stop.” He warned with a tender voice. “Don’t blame yourself for that, okay? I’m the one who can’t fight for shit.” Steve laughed, tucking a strange of hair behind your ear.

“That’s not a bad thing.” You whispered, pressing your forehead against his. “I like that about you. You’re gentle and-and you’re so kind. That’s why I love you.”

For a moment his world seemed to erupt into a symphony of music he had never heard before. “You love me?” he asked with a bewildered look in his eyes.

Retracting your touch from him, you shook your head vigorously as you climbed off his lap. “I’m sorry, that was stupid. Pretend I didn’t even say that, I’m such an idiot.” you rambled, looking around for the jacket that you had thrown somewhere in the car.

“Hey, Woah Woah, stop that.” Steve pleaded, trying to grab hold of you before you could get out. “Come here.”

Slowly you stopped your frantic search, unable to meet his eyes as he pulled you back onto his lap. “I shouldn’t have said it.” you apologized as tears clouded your eyes. “Please, please just forget it.”

His lips met yours, ceasing your quiet sobs as his thumbs wiped away the warm tears that ran down your cheeks. “Why are you crying? Hmm?

Your weepy eyes struggled to meet his, but the moment they did a sense of relief washed over your face. “Say it back?”

“I love you too.” He smiled. “I was just a little caught off guard because I’m not used to hearing it...that's all.”

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to make it a point to tell you every chance I get.” You beamed, bringing your lips to his yet again. “Because I love you Steve Harrington, and I’ll tell the whole town if I have too.”

Looking away with a grin pulling on the corners of his lips, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by how happy he felt. “We have an hour to kill you know?”

“Then I guess you’ll have to make it count, Harrington.” you murmured into his lips as his hands clutched the back of your neck, feeling the happiest he had in months.

[fireinmoonshot]

Can you do a Steve Harrington imagine where him and his girlfriend (the Reader) are at a party and she gets drunk and he’s afraid it’s gonna be like what happened with Nancy at the party when she got wasted, but instead she’s a happy drunk and just clings to him and drunkenly tells him how much she loves him ?❤️

Summary: Steve tends not to get drunk at parties after what happened with Nancy, but you’re not afraid of getting absolutely trashed. Steve worries you’ll say something like Nancy said, but in reality, it’s the complete opposite.Pairing: Reader x Steve Harrington.Fandom: Stranger Things.Warnings: Swearing.Word Count: 964

Steve Harrington has avoided parties ever since his break up with Nancy. He’s also avoided alcohol as much as possible, simply because it reminds him of the night that she broke up with him and broke his heart in two.

It’s different now – he has you and he’s happier than he feels he’s ever been in his entire life, but he still gets nervous when you suggest attending a party. He doesn’t want to disappoint you, but he’s also worried as hell that you’re going to get drunk and repeat what Nancy did to him a year ago. Which is why, when you suggest attending a Halloween party, he initially says no.

You frown and cross your arms at him. “Really? Why don’t you want to go?”

Steve shrugs at you, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. “I don’t like the host.”

This tips you off right away and a smile comes to your face. “Steve, you’ve liked Sally ever since the seventh grade when she was your lab partner! You’re lying. Why don’t you want to go?”

He refuses to give you an answer and you, instead, decide to just go to the party alone.

Steve shows up on your door on the night of the party. He’s wearing a black cape, he’s got fake blood dripping down his chin and he’s got a pair of fake teeth in. He’s pretending to be a vampire. A smile comes to your face almost instantly.

“So, you decided to come along after all?”

He shrugs and walks further into your house as you continue to apply the makeup for the costume you’ve chosen – a vampire, just like Steve. You were going to be the damned cutest couple at this Halloween party, no doubt about it.

Steve tries to put on a brave face for you as he pulls up to the house where the party is taking place. It’s a house a few blocks away from where he and Nancy broke up and his heart feels like it’s beating a million times a minute as he walks up to the front door, his hand in yours.

You’re grinning like mad because of how excited you are, and Steve thinks that’s utterly adorable even though on the inside he’s freaking the fuck out. He’s worried. He’s very, very worried.

You run straight to the alcohol when you’re inside, dragging Steve along with you. You’re not a frequent party goer – something Steve loves about you – but when you do attend them, you go all out.

Steve holds back a shudder as you down a cup of alcohol and take on another one straight after.

He doesn’t have a drink all night. He prefers to just drink the water from the bottles that Sally has stocked in the fridge and watch you. He hasn’t been drunk in almost a year, and even though that’s the most unlike Steve Harrington thing ever, he doesn’t care.

You don’t let go of his hand for the whole night, even when you’re dancing. Steve takes this as a good thing, but then he remembers that Nancy was just as sweet with him before she got too drunk and– he tries not to think about what happened and instead twirls you around the dance floor.

You’re laughing and having the most wonderful night of your life and Steve can’t take his eyes off of you. He thinks you’re so beautiful and he’s so in love with you he can’t quite believe it.

“Steve,” you mutter, dragging him off to the side of the dance floor. “I gotta tell you something.”

He feels his heart stop in his chest as you look at him, completely serious. All of the playfulness is gone from your eyes and missing from your tone and he knows, he just knows that you’re going to break up with him like Nancy did.

You step closer to him and rest a hand on his chest. “I looove you,” you grin, leaning up and pecking his lips softly. “I love, love, love you, Steve Harrington!”

Steve almost forgets to breathe again as he hears your words. He can’t help but laugh softly and shake his head, amused, as he wraps an arm around your waist to keep you tight to his side. You’re drunk, just as drunk as Nancy was when it happened, but he’s relieved this time. Relieved that you didn’t break up with him like he thought you would.

You told him you loved him.

He can’t get rid of the smile on his face as he leads you over to get a drink of water. He figures he should start helping you ween off the alcohol before it’s too late and you really regret it.

“Steeeeve,” you call again, clenching your fist around the cloak he’s wearing and pulling him closer to you. He has a cheeky smile on his face as he looks down at you and you melt.

He hums and nods slowly. “What’s up, babe?”

You grin again and bump your nose against his softly. “I love you more than vampires love garlic– no, wait… more than they love coffins and bats and moats!”

You’re clearly very proud of your words as you grin up at Steve again and he chuckles softly and leans down to capture your lips with his. You smile into the kiss, glad that he’d removed those god-awful fake vampire teeth hours ago, and run your fingers through his hair.

“I love you, too,” he mumbles when he pulls away, breathless.

He can’t believe he thought you’d ever break up with him. When you told him weeks ago that the Halloween party would be the best night of his life, he’d never imagined that you’d end up being right.

[dameronology]

'' you're the only one who's ever going to see me this way. '' '' this way what? '' '' this happy. '' [beat] '' not counting our wedding day. '' + steve? :) maybe the end of s3 when it’s all over. or when he and robin are on drugs, you pick

i loveeee this

The night after the fire at Starcourt Mall was the first time in weeks that Steve Harrington had slept properly.

It wasn't all over. Not yet. There was still the question of how the hell anyone was going to cover up the last few weeks; how they were going to cover up the deaths; how anyone in this sleepy little town would truly take anything other than the truth as an explanation. The best part, though? It wasn't his fucking problem. He could relax now, knowing that the Upside Down - at least for the foreseeable future - was dealt with.

The morning after, ironically enough, was bright and warm. The sun beat down on Hawkins, streaming through the windows of Steve's bedroom and causing him to rouse. You were still passed out beside him, curled up in a ball with your arms desperately wound around one of his. Because yes, things were fine now, but this wasn't your first rodeo with the Upside Down. You'd been clinging onto him at night since the first time you'd seen a Demogorgon. It was second nature now; you attached to Steve, with his entire body wrapped around you. It was all in an attempt to protect you - from what exactly, he didn't know.

He rolled onto his side, letting your sleeping form flop with him. Steve couldn't help but let out a smile - honestly, he was just glad you were still here. There had been times where you had either a) run head first into danger and he thought he'd truly never see you again or b) he missed a date one too many times due to alternative dimension commitments and he was convinced you were going to dump his ass. There were moments where you had come close to both.

"The fuck you wriggling for, Harrington?"

His chest rumbled with a chuckle, shaking you awake. "You're making my arm go dead, babe."

"The world nearly ended yesterday," you grumbled, returning your head back to its rightful spot in the crook of his neck. "I needed your shoulder for emotional support."

"The world did nearly end yesterday," he nodded. His dark eyes moved from you to the ceiling, just pondering for a moment. The trauma of it all was definitely there - had been since the fall of 1983.

You peeled open one eye, raising your head again to analyse your boyfriend. His face was still littered with red marks and scratches, but his eyes wasn't as swollen anymore. Despite everything - the injuries, the kidnapping, the fucking torture - he had a big ol' smile on his dingus features. Tilting your head to the side, you propped yourself on your elbows and thinned your eyes at him.

"You're real smiley all things considered."

He peered over at you, grin widening. "You're the only one who's ever going to see me this way."

"What way?" you frowned.

Steve reached his arm back out towards you, wrapping it around your shoulders. You hit his chest with an oof! - you couldn't get annoyed though. He was too much of a fucking goofball.

"This happy," he said with a content sigh. He paused for a moment, then pressed a kiss to your temple. "Not counting our wedding day."

"I just threw up in my mouth a little-"

"- you're such an asshole!" he cut you off, squeezing you even tighter. "C'mon, admit it!"

"Admit what?! That you're about to SQUEEZE the life out of me-"

"- that you luuuurve me!"

"I do not luuuurve anything, because I am not a fifteen year old girl in a John Hughes movie-"

"- okay then."

Steve grabbed you again, flipping you on your back. He pinned your arms above your head as he did, positioning himself above you. His hair dangled over his face, catching it in the morning light. He was fucking perfect.

"Admit that you love me," he said. "Just love - plain ol' love, with the right amount of o's and u's and e's."

You smiled. "I love you."

He leant down and pressed a kiss to your lips. "I love you more."

[robinskey]

99, 72, 56 please. Your character choice.

Dustin’s Surprise Party

Prompts: “How could you forget your son’s birthday?” (99), “Just smile, I really need to see you smile right now” (72), and “I’m late” (56)

A/N: I did it for Steve (bc OF COURSE I did). Also, we have a Henderson! reader (bc OF COURSE we do. As I have previously stated, I am trash for Steve x Henderson! Reader.) Thanks for the request!!

Warnings: Swearing

Steve’s in the middle of leisurely closing up shop on a weeknight. Bohemian Rhapsody’s playing on the radio, and Steve hums along as he sweeps the floor. When the phone rings, he takes his sweet time sauntering across the store to pick it up.

“Hawkins Family Video. How may I help you?”

“Where are you, dingus?”

If it hadn’t been for the nickname, Steve might not have recognized the voice on the other end of the line. However, his best friend refers to him almost exclusively with that name. Steve sighs before inquiring what she’s talking about.

“Don’t you remember what today is?”

Steve wracks his brain but still comes up short. “Um...Tuesday?”

“Oh my god. Your girlfriend’s here freaking out, trying to get everything ready before the boys get home from AV club, and you can’t even remember what day it is.”

That’s when the lightbulb finally clicks in Steve’s head.

“Shit. Dustin’s surprise party is tonight, isn’t it?”

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a...I would say ‘winner,’ but you’re really more of a ‘wiener.’ How could you forget your son’s birthday?”

“Okay, first of all, don’t call him my son. I’m dating his sister, so that’s weird as hell,” Steve says. “Second of all-“

Robin, being Robin, interrupts. “Mrs. Henderson just left to pick the kids up from school, so they’ll be arriving any minute. Just get here, okay? Preferably before Y/N loses it.”

There’s a screech as Robin slams the phone onto the receiver-a clear sign that Steve needs to get moving ASAP, unless he wants Robin to give him crap about it for the rest of his life.

***

Steve drives almost twice the speed limit the entire way there. However, it’s not fast enough to outpace Mrs. Henderson. Her station wagon is already parked in the driveway by the time Steve pulls up. He hops out of his car and sprints to the front door, trying to avoid missing another minute of the party he’s supposed to be co-hosting.

When he steps onto the front porch, the door automatically swings open. Robin stands there, eyebrows raised so high that they blend into her hairline.

“So you finally decided to show up, huh?” she chuckles. “Come on. Everyone’s in here.”

Steve follows Robin into the kitchen. The entire party is gathered around the table, along with Mrs. Henderson, Nancy, and Jonathan. (I don’t know why I felt the need to include Jancy, but I wanted Robin to be there, and I only felt it was fair for them to be invited, too.) There’s a homemade sheet cake in the center of the table, decorated with fifteen unlit candles and the words “Happy Birthday Dustin” written in your looping cursive. The guest of honor sits at the head of the table, practically salivating at the sight of his cake. But when his eyes fall on Steve, they light up even more.

“Hey, dude! You made it.” Dustin walks up to Steve and performs their handshake, which ends in a bro hug.

“Yeah, I did. Happy birthday, man. Sorry I’m late.”

Dustin laughs. “Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, but Y/N was making us wait to cut the cake until you got here.”

“Really?” Steve’s cheeks heat up. You’re so considerate, always thinking of others. Meanwhile, he can’t even make it to a party he helped plan on time.

“Yeah. I think she wanted you to see how much of a domestic goddess she is or some shit.”

“Dusty!”

“Sorry, Mom,” Dustin says.

Steve scratches the back of his neck. “Hey, um-where is Y/N?”

“Right here.” You appear around the corner, waving the box of matches you’ve spent the last ten minutes searching for. Then, you glare at your little brother. “By the way, I heard what you said about me, Dustin. You’re lucky it’s your birthday. Otherwise, I’d kick your ass.”

“Y/N!”

“Sorry, Mom,” you echo your brother’s words from earlier before nodding to your boyfriend. “Glad to see you finally decided to turn up.”

Steve stands there awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. He watches as you scrape a match against the side of the box, then migrates toward you to help light the candles. When his hand twitches in the direction of the matches, you subtly scoot them out of his reach.

The flush rises back up to his face when he catches El whisper something in Max’s ear, and the two of them giggle. Nonetheless, he still tries to help you serve up the cake. He continuously gets in your way, so you finally allow him to take charge of scooping the ice cream.

It isn’t until fifteen minutes later that you actually get a chance to sample the cake you baked from scratch. Steve’s barely eaten all day, so he’s famished, but he makes sure you get the bigger slice of cake and a generous helping of ice cream. There’s not enough room at the table, so the two of you head into the living room.

The spot you choose reveals how angry you are with him. You’re not pissed enough to sit on a different piece of furniture, even though there are other chairs available. However, judging by the fact that you create as much distance as possible by nestling into the corner of the loveseat, Steve knows you’re still not pleased with him.

“You did a really nice job with the cake. It looks beautiful.” When he’s met with silence, Steve digs his fork into the dessert, shovels it into his mouth, and lets out an exaggerated moan. “Oh, my god. It tastes even better than it looks.”

You still don’t respond-just swirl your spoon through your bowl of ice cream. However, the corners of your lips quirk slightly upward. He nudges your foot with his.

“Look, babe, I’m really sorry about tonight. I just-lost track of time.” You give him a pointed look. “Okay, okay. I also lost track of the day. But I’ll make it up to you, baby. I promise. Let me make it up to you.”

Steve places a kiss on your neck-a bold move, considering all your family and friends are in the next room. It sends a shiver down your spine, but you still shove him away. He’s not getting off the hook that easily.

Besides, it’s your brother’s birthday party. Someone’s probably going to catch you if you just start making out on the couch. The options for that “someone” include your mom, little brother, one of your brother’s friends, Steve’s ex-girlfriend, Steve’s ex-girlfriend’s current boyfriend, and/or Steve’s best friend. (On paper, the last seems like the best option, but Robin would probably actually be the worst, considering she’d never let you live it down.)

So, yeah. Not happening.

“Come on, Y/N. I know I screwed up. But surely, there’s something-“

“Just smile. I really need to see you smile right now.”

The words tumble off your lips as you think of them. You’re not really sure why you make this request, but you do. And Steve doesn’t question it; he just breaks out into the cheesiest grin you’ve ever seen. It melts your heart like the long-forgotten ice cream turning into a puddle on your paper plate. You set it on the coffee table, and Steve follows suit-still flashing his pearly whites.

“Okay, you can stop now. It’s starting to get creepy.”

“Creepy, eh? You’re the one who requested this. And now you’re insulting me for it? That’s a little hypocritical of you, don’t you think?” When you respond with a giggle, Steve adds, “Don’t you laugh at me! Or I’ll give you something to laugh about.”

His hands travel to your waist, and as soon as you realize what he’s doing, you playfully swat at them. “Steve Harrington, don’t you dare.”

“Or what?” he asks, pausing for a moment to tilt his head slightly to the side.

“Or...else.”

Of course, that vague threat is not enough to stop him from tackling you with tickles. You giggle uncontrollably as he pins you to the couch. His fingers graze your sides, leaving fluttering butterflies in their wake. You’re not sure if it’s his close proximity making you dizzy or the fact that you’re taking in an inadequate amount of oxygen. You haven’t gotten an actual breath of air in several minutes; even between fits of laughter, you don’t get a chance to breathe, since Steve’s constantly stealing kisses. You get lost in the taste of sugar on his lips and the musky smell of his cologne

You get so lost, in fact, that you don’t hear the approaching footsteps until it’s already too late.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Steve pulls himself off you so quickly that he almost tumbles off the sofa. You both recoil into your separate corners of the couch and run fingers through your hair, trying (and failing) to smooth it back down.

Robin stands in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. Steve’s face flushes for the third time tonight. This time, however, he doesn’t just turn a little pink; his skin burns fire-truck red. He stumbles over his words.

“It wasn’t-I don’t know how it looked, but we weren’t-“

“Yeah, yeah, sure you weren’t, dingus. You’re lucky it was just me and not, like, Dustin. You would’ve scarred the kid for life,” she says. “Anyway, I was just looking for the restroom, so...”

Unlike Steve, you’re too shell-shocked to be embarrassed. You raise a single finger to point down the hall.

“Thanks. Carry on...with whatever you definitely weren’t doing,” Robin says with a wink.

At this point, Steve’s skin is so hot that it’s just a matter of time before he bursts into flames.

Meanwhile, Robin’s already planning how she’s going to incorporate this story into the future toast for her favorite couple’s wedding.

Taglist: @novaddictx @anabundance0ffand0ms @rexorangecouny @broadwayandnetflix @explode-a-pult @whormotional @readinthegarden12 @lacunaclouds

If you want to be added to the tag list for a specific character/my writing in general, leave a reply or send me a message! Thanks again for reading. <3

If you want to check out more of my writing, here’s my masterlist. :)

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

valentine

pairing: steve harrington x reader

WC: 1.9K

warnings: cursing, some suggestive stuff, a little nightmare sequence that involves punching and blood mentions. should be it!

summary: you blinked and suddenly, you had a valentine. ❤️

A/N: a late v-day post, i guess. inspired by the lovely Laufey song. much love to @alecmores for proofreading 💗💗💗

it cut off some of the ending when read on mobile 😒 but it’s looking completely fine on computer. just an fyi

masterlist

I’ve rejected affection for years and years. Now I have it and damn it, it’s kind of weird.

Out of your twenty-one years of living on this planet, this is the first year you have a relationship and it’s simultaneously the greatest feeling in the world while also making you want to run away. But you can’t find it in yourself to run, not from him.

Steve. Steve Harrington is your boyfriend. 

You feel like you need to pinch yourself every time he looks your way and throws a smile meant for you, or feel the furnace heat of his fingers grasping your hips before pulling you into a kiss, sweet or searing.

He tells me I’m pretty.

The two of you are just laying in his bed on a lazy saturday morning, with no hurry to be anywhere, facing each other as you practically share his pillow causing your noses to bump with a simple shift. The blanket covers both of you from the waist down, your top half open to the slight chill dancing through the room.

Steve's shirtless and you're wearing an oversized shirt you found at a garage sale, one that goes to rest at the top of your thighs, but right now it’s bunched up high, allowing Steve to toy with the elastic of your underwear and drag his knuckles over your exposed waist. Legs tangled together, your cold feet pushing into Steve’s calf causing a gasp of shock from the boy which pulled a heartfelt giggle from your lips.

“You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on.” A hand instantly moves to tuck loose strands behind your ear.

You don’t say anything, you can’t. Not when he’s looking at you like that. Soft eyes that twinkle, an easy smile that displays his stunning smile lines, his freckles, and moles that mark his face and body that you smother with thousands of kisses when given the opportunity. How his bed head of hair is curled and twisted this way and that, the ends tucking and touching his ear lobe and neck or even his jaw.

You don’t know how to respond to the sudden compliment, you haven’t received much in your years. So as you memorize him, you instantly say the words back to him, in your own way, of course.

“You’re quite pretty yourself, Steve Harrington. Very nice on the eyes.” A finger trailed his nose and down to his jaw.

A deep rumble from his chest filled you with a warmth that pushed away the February chill. You weren’t sure if you should’ve called him that. Most guys don’t like the word "pretty" being used when complimenting them, most like strong or handsome, pretty to them seems weak when it isn’t towards a girl. But when you looked at Steve he was all those to you, but pretty will be the one to always come to mind when you look at him, especially in moments like these. Intimate and away from prying eyes.

With every passing moment, I surprise myself.

You’re usually scared of guys, whether it be in a general sense or a relationship kinda sense. You’ve been on dates, didn’t like the guy and stopped talking with him or you liked him and went on a few dates but those ended up fizzling out as well.

But Steve Harrington made you feel scared, but the good kind of scared. The roller coaster adrenaline scare, where you’re whooping and hollering at the top of your lungs. Clinging to the metal bars for dear life worried you’ll fly away, but they're holding you securely in their grasp.

Steve constantly made you smile and laugh, scream out of slight fear or extreme pleasure. He held you in firm hugs, his chin digging into your scalp as he slowly swayed your bodies. He made you feel safe and loved.

Loved. You’ve fallen in love with him after just a year. Now you were scared.

What if he’s the last one I kiss? What if he’s the only one I’ll ever miss? Maybe I should run, I’m only twenty-one.

You began to panic. There was no real reason to panic, but you're an overthinker, constantly making useless scenarios in your fast-paced mind, thinking the worst of peaceful times. It’s a terrible flaw, but one you can’t push away no matter how much you try.

‘What if he gets bored of me? What if he thinks I’m clingy? What would he do if I told him I love him?’

Evil thoughts that would creep up in the time of silence.

You stared at nothing while you sat behind the counter at Family Video, body unconsciously swiveling the rolling chair from side to side. Steve and Robin are out on the floor putting away new releases and returning stock, their friendly banter becoming white noise to your ears as more corruptive thoughts came to mind and cramp every single space in your brain.

Your fingers pick at your nail beds, you don’t even feel the pricks of pain or feel the little trickles of blood pooling to the top. Only when you feel someone else’s hands pulling yours apart into their hold do you snap from your trance.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Steve's melodic voice rings in your ears.

“Huh?” Not too sure what he means.

His eyes are focused on your hands, pulling each finger in his eye line and then bringing a kiss to each nail. It made you flush at the sudden display of affection.

“I was calling for you,” another kiss, “and you didn’t answer so I came here,” kiss, “and your eyes were just wide and you were picking at your nails. I thought you stopped that.”

‘Great now you disappointed him’ ‘Probably thinks you’re a liar’

You bit your bottom lip, “got lost in my thoughts. That’s all.” A shrug of your shoulders.

He still held your hands, fingers laced together and his thumb ran atop your knuckles. He was warm and comfortable, it pushed the negative thoughts away just a bit.

Then he crouched down, hands placed on your knees and head tilted to look up at you with your small bit of height. His head tilted and swayed, trying to find your eyes that you wanted to hide away from him, he could always find what was wrong in the end.

“Sweetheart,” he sighed, “I’m not gonna make you tell me what’s wrong, or I won’t act like a mind reader, cause I’m not-“ “Beg to differ on certain days.” You interrupted.

He breathed a laugh, “if you believe so. But I just want you to know you can talk to me if something is bothering you, especially if it’s about me. Cause I don’t want you to think the wrong thing.” He squeezed your knees.

You looked at Steve, held his eye contact, and said, “I really like you, Steve Harrington.” The closest thing to I love you right now.

He smiled wide, “I really like you too, sweetheart.”

I’ve lost all control of my heartbeat now.

He said the words. He said the words.

“I love you, (Y/n).”

It felt like all the air left your lungs and now you probably looked like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing. Trying to process everything that just happened while also trying to find the words for a proper response.

“(Y/n)? You okay?” He has a firm hold on your biceps.

Your own hands are also holding his biceps, eyes dancing across his face. You wanted to memorize this moment, the way he looked in the overhead lighting of the grocery store where you were buying snacks for a night in.

He just had to say the words that rocked your heart in the freaking grocery store!

“Sweetheart, say something, please. You’re scaring me a bit,” a chuckle but you knew he was concerned.

“Uh,” you blinked a few times, “really caught me off guard with that.”

The both of you chuckled, you from the absurdity of the moment and Steve from your comment. But it felt so perfect, a special moment to remember for the future.

When I hear I love you, now I’ve got someone to lose.

You tried fighting back, you desperately tried with all the strength you could muster into your bones. You yanked hard against the metal cuffs, the skin on your wrist starting to sting from the breakage. You tried kicking with your legs, but it was no use, you weren’t close enough to hit anything or anyone.

You could only stare and scream as you thrash. Watching helplessly as the soldier beats Steve down with his knuckles. How his skin breaks and bleeds, the loud cracks of his nose breaking causing blood to spill from his nostrils.

“Stop! Stop! Please! We’re telling the truth!” You tried to plead with them.

They just laughed and continued the harassment. Steve always being the hero, making sure they don’t lay a finger on you, causing him to be the center of their attention and attacks.

When the soldier got tired from throwing punches, he gripped Steve’s neck tight. You could slowly see the blood leaving his face, the air not making its way to his brain. His feet scrambled against the floor to find some purchase.

In what seemed to be his final moments, he looks at you.

“Steve!” You cried as you blotted upward from the bed.

Your chest heaved with heavy breaths and sweat formed at your temple while your back and chest were sticky with perspiration. A hand touched your chest to feel your heart as you pushed sticky strands from your face.

‘Just a nightmare’ ‘It was just a terrible nightmare’

“(Y/n)?” A scratchy voice was heard through the darkness of the bedroom.

“Steve, sorry.”

You felt him sit up, his hand rubbing circles to your back along your sleep shirt. He laid his head on your shoulder and placed his free appendage on your thigh.

“Was it a nightmare? Cause usually if it's dreams, there’s a different way we go about things.” He tried for a laugh and you gave him one. “There we go,” he sighed.

“Can you just hold me?” You whispered. An unspoken ‘I love you’

“Always, sweetheart.” ‘I love you too’

The first one to ever like me back. I’m seconds away from a heart attack.

“You know you are my first boyfriend, like ever.” You randomly blurt one day in Steve’s kitchen.

“No way, I find that hard to believe.” He called over his shoulder as he worked on breakfast.

“Oh!” You hop onto his counters, “and what makes you think that? Do enlighten me.”

He didn’t say anything quickly, so just as you were about to say something, he spoke up, “because you’re… you. Anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

He said the words so easily like they were the most obvious answer to your question. He was trying to give you a heart attack with how sugary sweet he is.

“Like I can’t believe I get to call you mine. Every day I wake up and remember I’m dating you and it makes my day one hundred percent better already. And knowing I get to call you or see you throughout the day, it keeps me from going insane during the boring or terrible moments.”

You were speechless. Steve caused every word and thought to leave your mouth and brain, all you could say was, “I love you.”

I blinked and suddenly, I had a valentine.