#steve harrington one shots

[itsriabby]

Ok but imagine Steve coming home late after a long day at work. He gets in and calls out for you while he takes off his jacket and hangs it up. He leaves his keys on the little table by the door and after calling you a couple more times, he gets a bit anxious when you don’t answer him. His heart picks up and he starts looking for you all over the house, feet quick and breathing quicker. He knows everything that happened with Vecna is gone now, but what if it’s not? What if they took you? What if you’re down there again? What if your hurt-

Suddenly, in the middle of his worry attack, he hears rustling of bedsheets. The bedroom. He gets to the room, and slowly opens up the ajar door.

Oh. You were just sleeping. Everything is fine. You’re fine. You’re safe.

He lets out a breath of relief and gets closer to you. He looks at you, really looks at you. At your relaxed expression, and he finally calms down. Even asleep, you’re so beautiful. Looking at you, he really forgets about all the ugliness in the world, all the horrors, all the violence, all evil. You’re everything that’s right in his life, and he really doesn’t know what he’d do without you.

And so, he doesn’t even care that he’s hungry and hasn’t eaten all day, he just takes off his uniform and slips into bed next to you. You curl up to him unconsciously, and he swears he’s the luckiest guy in the world.

Because he’s got you. And he’ll do anything to protect you, even if it means fighting democreatures in another dimension. Again.

[hornyhornyhimbos]

Happy By The Poolside

pairing: steve harrington x afab!reader

summary: while they wait for the annual pool party to start, steve knows exactly how to keep his lover happy by the poolside ☼♡

word count: 1,477

warnings: MINORS DNI (18+ CONTENT) oral f!receiving, fingering f!receiving, semi-public sex (sex by the pool), nicknames (baby, sweetheart), edancy appearance because i said so, allusions to steve jerkin it in the bathroom, no pronouns or reader descriptors used other than reader wearing a bikini, color coded speaker tags!

genre: fluffy, established relationship smut ♡

extra notes: did y'all really think i'd let fourth of july go by without slutty 'i <3 swimming' steve?

beta read by: @lcvingprentjss (love u sm)

masterlist | location smut prompts | ask box

it was hot. it was oh so hot. but it wasn't the 80° heat that had you feeling that way. no, what had you feeling that way was a certain brunette boy in big sunglasses and loose-hanging shorts.

you all but stared as steve emerged from the pool, blue swim trunks settled low on his waist, accentuating the trail of hair on his lower belly and the dips of his adonis belt. you practically drooled as he shook out his wet hair, beads of water flying about and landing in various spots on the concrete and your chaise.

he reached for the towel that he'd tossed at the end of the chair, a few loose droplets of of water falling onto your feet as he did so. you'd been happy right where you were, enjoying a magazine as the sun rays beat down on your body, fingers crossed that you'd have a tan after this, not a nasty case of sunburn. steve had been pouting half the morning, trying to get you in the pool with him, but you hadn't budged, saying you were happy by the poolside, waiting until the rest of your friends had arrived for the pool party.

still, even an hour after you'd sat down on the chaise, he wasn't letting up. "baby," he said, somehow managing to make the term sound conspiratorial, "are you sure you don't want to join me?"

you shook your head, putting this month's edition of cosmo to the side and taking off your sunglasses to meet his gaze. "everyone should be here soon. then you'll have plenty of time with me in the pool. it's not like dustin would ever let me miss the annual chicken fight."

he chuckled at your statement, but took your hand in both of his and gave you that look, the one he always gave you when he was determined to get you to do whatever he wanted. "come on, baby. please?" his bottom lip puckered out like a child in a candy store. "just for a few minutes?"

"nope," you answered, putting your sunglasses back on as the sun moved further overhead. "i only have so much time today to start on my tan. besides, they'll be here any minute."

in protest, steve pulled you up from the chair and tugged you toward the pool. "come on, at least dip your toes in."

you supposed you couldn't argue with his compromise. he walked around to the steps, slowly submerging himself in the pool once again, while you sank onto the concrete, dipping your feet into the contrastingly cool water. you chuckled as steve went limber, letting the small waves of water carry him through the pool. "you're missing out," he stated, like it was an absolute fact.

"i'm perfectly fine right here, my little fish," you teased. you kicked your feet softly in the water, watching as tiny ripples floated to join the bigger ones that carried steve. from this new angle, the sun was hidden behind his neighbors' trees, prompting you to place your sunglasses to the side and get a better look at steve: the once dark blue shorts now a beautiful cerulean, just a tad darker than the water he floated on, his normal wavy tufts now a sea of dark curls, the way his skin practically sparkled in the sliver of sunlight that wasn't hidden behind his neighbors' sugar maples. you watched as beads of water slid down his stomach, dragging along every crevice and line of his abs. you'd be lying if you said the sight didn't have you turned on.

steve must've noticed the way you'd been staring, forcing himself upright again and wading through the water toward you. unbeknownst to you, that little red bikini you had on was doing a number on him, his inner monologue and thoughts being driven by his little head at this point. he made his way over to you, placing a delicate kiss on your leg, looking up at you through water-matted eyelashes. "baby," he said, his tone teasing this time.

"hmm?" you hummed in response, afraid your voice would betray you if you said anything more.

his eyes flicked between your eyes and the place where your thighs squeezed together. you needed him, and you both knew it. "you okay?"

you managed to nod, the friction between your legs not at all aiding the want that had taken over your body. "i'm good," you said sheepishly, a blush creeping up your skin.

"are you sure? because," he paused, placing his giant palm on your knee and pulling your legs apart. he smirked at the wet spot he'd unknowingly created on your bathing suit. "you seem like you could use some help over here," he finished, his hand making its way up to your thigh.

the logical part of your brain managed to take over for a moment. "steve, people will be here any minute," you protested, despite the irrationally horny side of your brain that was currently fistfighting the logical side.

"then i'd better be quick," he said, his hands inching toward your bikini bottoms.

he left a space of availability in the air for any more protests you might have. after all, even though you were in a very established relationship, consent was always key. but you made no more argumentative comments, only approving moans and the occasional, "please," as he pulled your bathing suit down.

his lips met your clit with soft licks at first, giving you time to respond with just how hard and fast you needed it. your hands met his hair, tangling in the wet curls as you pulled him closer to you, letting out a soft moan as he suckled your bud.

he pulled your bikini bottoms all the way off, setting them aside on the concrete before meeting your pussy once again. your legs wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him closer to you again. his damp hair settled on the sides of your thighs, sending a shiver up your spine.

his tongue worked itself in heavenly figure eights around your core, while one of his hands met your entrance. he toyed at your hole with his fingertip, waiting for some kind of approval to continue.

you gave him exactly that, letting out a whine that sounded like an attempt to say, "please, stevie," but was nearly incoherent. he slipped one finger inside you, the sensation absolutely intoxicating.

he left a series of open-mouthed kisses on your clit, his digit continuing to bury itself inside you. he moaned at the taste, and the vibration had you inching closer to your release. your fingers curled into his hair while your toes curled into his back as his finger reached that sweet spot deep inside you.

the logical part of your brain took over once more as you spared a quick glance at your watch. "steve, they're gonna be here any second," you said through moans, hands pulling so hard at his hair that you were surprised you hadn't ripped it out yet.

"patience, baby, patience," he reminded you, immediately diving back into your cunt. his finger was accompanied by a second, his thrusts only becoming faster and deeper with every flex of the digits. your eyes had started to roll back and your toes had started to curl even harder. you were close, oh so close, and you both knew it.

the familiar rumble of eddie's truck trumpeted from what sounded like a few houses down. "steeeeve," you let out, ever so close to your orgasm.

his fingers drove impossibly deeper into your cunt, his mouth only parting from you to say, "cum for me, sweetheart."

as if on cue, your orgasm rippled throughout your body, pain and pleasure taking over all of your senses. a moan escaped your lips at the last possible second as the truck turned off outside the fence.

steve left one last open-mouthed kiss on your core before rushing to pull your bottoms back on. "you let them in while i go, uh, fix something in the bathroom."

you giggled, watching as steve padded toward the back door. surprisingly, you managed to compose yourself between the fifteen feet that lied between the pool and the gate, a smile making its way onto your lips as you let your friends in. "hey, guys," you greeted, moving to let the trio in.

mike entered first, while eddie and nancy stepped in behind him, eddie's arm tossed around his girl's shoulders. "you okay?" nancy asked, seemingly having noticed your wobbly legs.

"i'm fine," you answered. "just stood up a little too fast. got a little lightheaded."

steve chuckled as he closed the glass door behind him, making his way inside the house and heading toward the bathroom. if you thought that was lightheaded, just you wait until the after party…

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @rupsmorge @writer-in-theory @esoltis280 @liberhoe @wifeyreid @serenity-lattes-reads

[honeysuckleharringtons]

Mm i just think Steve has a ton of sweaters, some snug that fit him well and some that are purposely big so he can drown in the warmth and comfort. And his mind would stop as soon as he sees you wearing one of his sweaters

went a lil silly and wrote a cutie lil blurb about steve's girl wearing his sweater, hope you enjoy! 🫶🏻

Fall-ing In Love ~ S. Harrington

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 0.5K

warnings: none, just tooth-rotting, pumpkin scented fluff

extra notes: all photos in the collage are from pinterest! dividers are by @firefly-graphics!

send me steve thoughts | ask box

The air was crisp, the scent of your favorite cinnamon candle burning in the living room wafting through the air as the menu credits of St. Elmo's Fire played from the television. Freshly plated pumpkin squares sat on the coffee table next to two mugs of milk, the scent only adding to the aroma of the candle. The scene truly looked like something straight out of a romance movie, and the only thing missing was your leading man.

Just as you checked your watch, the familiar sound of the car engine turning off rumbled outside, prompting you to leave your spot on the couch and head for the door. Instinctively pulling open the door, you greeted Steve with a soft peck before moving to let him in.

The boy's jaw was just about on the floor as he took in the sight in front of him—you, all wrapped up in the sweater he'd forgotten a couple days ago, looking absolutely beautiful and perfect. It was a navy blue number, one that fit him snuggly but seemingly swallowed you whole. You had to curl the ends of the sleeves into your fists, effectively making paws out of the material, so they didn't drag or get caught in any of the snacks you'd made.

"Woohoo," you called, waving a hand in front of his widened eyes. "You good up there?"

He blinked a couple times, bringing himself out of his thoughts. "Just wondering how in the world I got so lucky enough to end up with the prettiest girl this side of the Mississippi."

A blush crept up your cheeks as you flashed a shy smile his way. "You think I'm pretty, Stevie?" you kidded, hitting his chest jokingly. "I never would've guessed."

A deep chuckle fell from his lips as he pulled you in for a hug, his lips pressing softly into your scalp. "I think you're very pretty. The prettiest girl in the whole galaxy."

You shot him a playful look, a smirk tugging at your mouth. "What made me get upgraded in the last ten seconds?"

And with that, he was back to his normal self. Not that Steve wasn't sappy or absolutely in love with you, but that was just the bonus version of Steve. The Steve you'd fallen for was sarcastic and playful and knew exactly how to create the perfect balance of charm and romance. "I take it back. Your sarcasm has you back down to 'prettiest girl this side of the Mississippi'," he joked, slapping you playfully across your denim-clad butt.

In a matter of seconds, you were back in the living room, Steve's face practically glowing as he took in the display in front of him. "Woman, you spoil me."

You brushed a delicate kiss to the sharp line of his jaw, arms wrapping around his midsection. "It's easy to spoil someone when they love you the way you love me."

"I don't know what I'd do without you," he commented, lips meeting the top of your head once more.

Your eyes met his, a knowing smile splayed across both of your mouths. "Well, for one, you'd have no one to share your sweaters with. And for two, you'd die of pumpkin deprivation."

"And that, my love, is a world in which no one deserves to live."

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-died-inside @awkotaco24 @liberhoe @princesseddie @aftermidnightwriting @manuosorioh @esoltis280

[sammy-is-not-smiley]

Steve Harrington Masterlist

Last Updated: 02/04/23

Oneshots

Fluff: ☁️

Angst: 🏵

Smut: 🍓

Curly Girl - Steve insists on doing your hair for you ☁️

✦✧✦

Part of Me - After a terrible D&D session, Steve comforts you and offers you help 🏵 ☁️

✦✧✦

Replacement, Part 1 - You assumed you would be keeping the kids safe from monsters... Not Billy Hargrove 🏵

Replacement, Part 2 -  Steve finds out what Billy had done to you at the Byers' house 🏵 ☁️

✦✧✦

Next Aisle Over -  You overhear the former 'King Steve' fail miserably at trying to pick up a girl and it leaves you coming back for more ☁️

✦✧✦

Big Wheel -  Steve takes you on the Ferris wheel. However, he doesn’t know about your greatest fear ☁️

✦✧✦

You - Nancy causes insecurities to bubble up in you, but thankfully Steve notices and helps put you at ease over your relationship with him.🏵 ☁️

✦✧✦

Ignorance Isn’t Always Bliss - A familiar person comes into Family Video and flirts with you.  Although you’re oblivious to it, Steve notices the flirting right away. When things go south, he’s quick to step in. ☁️

✦✧✦

Employee of The Year - Steve finds you in the back of Scoops Ahoy having a panic attack. 🏵 ☁️

✦✧✦

A Promise - Steve rescues you from being stuck at home and you both promise to be better parents than your own. ☁️

✦✧✦

In The Moonlight - You went into a monster hunt totally blind just because you wanted to help out a couple of friends... and Steve blames himself for scaring the shit out of you.🏵 ☁️

✦✧✦

Lost, Hit the Wall - Your guilt for leaving Eddie in the Upside Down triggers an extremely realistic nightmare... When you wake up, you're hit with a certainty that it wasn't just a nightmare. [Steve is at the end] 🏵

✦✧✦

Let It Hurt Part 1, Part 2- Steve has been your best friend for years despite his douchery in early high school. You would tell him anything... well, anything except for the fact that you've been feeling his physical pain since elementary school. The way he finds out is less than ideal. 🏵

✦✧✦

Divider Creds: @schryanz @silkholland

[dual1pa]

upside down madness

content warnings: fear, violence, swearing, kisses, y/n being protective over her bf, kisses, season 4 spoilers !!

steve harrington x gender neutral reader

have a steve request? send it here!

if dustin wasn't right on another entrance to the upside down was at the bottom of lover's lake, you could hurt him. your love for your boyfriend, steve, was much greater than your fear of water.

you've had a fear of water since you were pushed in the deep end of the pool at summer camp in '72 when you were 7 years old. you couldn't swim, but little did your friend know who playfully pushed you in. boy, were they apologetic that day. since then, you slowly but surely learned how to swim, but it's not your favorite thing as it was pretty traumatizing.

nancy, robin, eddie, steve and you hopped onto a small-ish motor boat and made your way to the middle of the lake. you leaned against steve's chest as there was barely any room to move. steve was well aware of your fear as he held you close.

"you're safe with me," he whispered every now and again.

as soon as dustin yelled in the walkie-talkie to stop, knowing that where you guys were in the lake, was the entrance. the five of you stared at each other, not wanting to dive down into the dark water. You heard Steve sigh and stand from his spot, taking off his yellow long-sleeved shirt and handing it to you. The partner in you couldn't help but look at your boyfriend's body. It was perfect.

You asked, standing up, catching your balance, "steve, what are you doing?"

"I'm just going to look if the dork was right, I'll be right back. I promise," he kissed your lips quick and looked into the water, hoping to find something on the surface rather than having to get in the water to look.

"just be careful, steve," robin warned.

he looked at her, then the other two, then back to you, "i'll be back, i promise."

just then, he dove in. in an instant, you looked over the edge of the boat, watching your boyfriend's figure disappear into the darkness of the water.

second after second, you grew anxious, worried, scared. you just wanted steve back on the boat and just ignoring all this vecna bullshit. you were done with it, as much as the others.

he startled you as he resurfaced. you let out a sigh of relief that he was okay.

"he was right!" steve exclaimed, "there's a bright red opening."

"dustin, you are a genius," robin spoke into the walkie-talkie.

eddie was helping steve back into the boat when he was yanked back into the water.

your stomach dropped, peering into the dark water. what the fuck just happened? you exclaimed your thoughts to the rest of the group as steve resurfaced once again, only this time, fear was written all over him.

"babe, what happened?" you asked.

before he could answer, he screamed help before being shoved back in the water. before you thought of anything else, you dove into the water, desperate to reach your boyfriend. you swam as fast as you could to reach for his hands but the thing that was dragging him down was faster than your swimming capabilities.

you watched in fear as he was dragged in the opening of the upside down. please please be okay.

you screamed as you made your way through the opening. your new surroundings were different, something you've never seen before. everything was red, particles of some sort floated in the air. you took a few deep breaths before spotting your boyfriend being attacked by bat-like creatures. you quickly looked around for any type of weapon. you spotted an oar and broke it in half for pointy ends and began to fight for the love of your life's life. once he was able to move, he quickly got up and helped you fight off the creatures. soon, you had more help as the rest of group found their way through the entrance.

you felt a sharp pain on your leg as one of the bats got ahold of your ankle.

"steve!!!" you screamed.

Your cry for help grabbed steve's attention quickly as he attacked the bat, ripping it apart with his mouth. you groaned in pain as you watched him spit out the blood. he helped you up and brought you into his arms and was afraid to let go.

"i'm okay, we're okay," he breathed.

you didn't care about the gross bat blood on steve's lips, you needed to kiss him.

"you dove down in water for me," he said.

"that's because I love you steve, i didn't even hesitate," you examined his wound from the creatures, he definitely needed medical attention.

"i love you too, lovebug."

"hey, I hate to break up you two love birds, but we need to keep moving because uh-," eddie pointed up to the horde of bats heading their way.

they needed to find their way out of there, stat.

[refiwrites]

Alcohol and Regrets

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem! Reader

Requested?: Yes

Summary: Steve takes you to a party wanting you to feel better, but the alcohol only makes you want to forget everything that happened as guilt consumes you.

WC: 2.1k

Warning/s: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS!!, swearing, mentions of alcohol, breakdowns, vomiting, guilt, angst, grief, sadness, hurt/comfort, lmk if i missed anything!

Note: feedbacks, likes, and reblogs are appreciated! please let me know what you think!

GIF is not mine, credits to the owner!

All you wanted to do was forget.

Forget what happened in the last month or so, you’ve lost count how long has it been. The people of Hawkins seemed to treat it like any other day, unlike your group of friends.

The kids seemed to be out of it, always making sure to visit Max in the hospital every day, or every other day. You almost can’t remember when the last time they smiled together and enjoyed each other’s company.

Staring off into the window of Steve’s car, you almost couldn’t hear him calling out to you as the lights outside someone’s house blared different colors.

Only then you felt Steve’s hand on yours that you tore your eyes away from the house to look at him. “Hey, if you don’t want to go, I’ll turn the car around and we can just spend the night at mine.”

Knowing Steve and the time he spent on convincing you to go to this party, it was no use to back out now. Besides, the smell and taste of alcohol was really enticing now. Just what you needed. To get lost, just for the night.

Shaking your head at Steve, you opened your mouth. “We’re going.”

You often wondered how Steve coped with what happened, but then again here he is inviting you to a party, maybe that’s his way of coping? Did he want to forget too?

You were already making your way out of Steve’s car and into the front lawn, Steve calling out for you to wait as he follows you.

Before you could even make your way inside, there were a lot of people already, and the instant contact of the smell of booze gave you a sense of determination to find where its at. You could also see a few couples already making out in the garden, while other people were talking and laughing, while some danced to the music.

You opened the door and low and behold, more people. You had to try and pry through the entrance while the others were drunkenly leaving. Glancing at the clock you could only note that it was almost half past 8.

Feeling yourself getting envious of the already drunk persons, you maneuvered your way into the kitchen, finding the punch bowl filled to the brim mixed with booze. There were also a few bottles of unopened beers on the table, free for taking.

Tilting your head, your eyes scanned for the red plastic cup, smiling in victory as you did so, already pulling a cup out as you head over to the punch bowl. You were about to grab the ladle when a hand grabs your wrist.

“Hey, careful.” The voiced belonged to your boyfriend, Steve, as he looks down at you.

“I can handle myself.” Was all you replied. Steve lets go of you as you filled your own cup.

Steve stared at you. He knew you weren’t doing well in the slightest. He proved that fact many nights ago when you’d get constant nightmares, going over to his at midnight to talk with him which always ends with him holding you close so you’d fall asleep peacefully.

He wanted to do anything that would help pull you away from those nightmares, and for starters, his solution was this.

Steve wanted to drink for himself, but he figured you needed it much more than he did, so his plan for tonight was to keep an eye on you and for him to not to get ahold of drinking too much beer.

Watching you take your first sip made his brows knit together, he’s seen you drunk before, but as of now, he wondered how drunk were you planning to get. Downing the rest of your cup, you reached for another cup and offered one to Steve. “Here, drink.”

Steve nods, pouring one for himself, drinking it in one go, the taste tracing down his throat in a familiar feeling. Placing down his cup, he saw you pouring yourself another one.

“Slow down, babe.”

You didn’t. In fact, you couldn’t count how many you’ve poured into your cup as the night went on. There was also one instance where you found yourself in the backyard, swaying to the beat while you held your cup, fully drunk.

“Looks like Harrington’s girl got the best of herself.” One guy said as Steve walked towards you, trying to find you for the past few minutes before spotting you in the backyard.

“Yeah dude, shut up.” Steve said, giving the guy a small glare before going over to you.

“Steve!” You chirped happily, bouncing over to meet him halfway as you danced with the loud music. Growing worried, Steve grabbed your cup to find it almost half full. “You’ve had too much to drink, (n/n).”

“No- I haven’t- I was ‘us getting started.” You slurred, throwing your head back laughing. Steve bit his lip at your state, sooner or later he’d have to take you home. “C’mere.” Steve said, wanting to pull you into the living room where there was less guys looking at you.

Catching Steve in surprise, you pulled him towards you instead, letting him stagger in front of you, bodies centimeters away as you danced, placing your palms on his chest, going up to wrap around his neck, his free hand settling on your waist instinctively.

“Why did you steal my drink?” You looked up at him. Looking at you, Steve sighs, shaking his head. “You’ve had too much, (Y/N). Come on let’s go home, okay?”

“No.” You refused.

Steve almost forgot how defiant you got when you were drunk. “That’s enough, c’mon.” Steve had to walk backward while you were wrapped around him, had to throw in a few ‘excuse me’s and ‘watch it’ in order to get to the living room.

You, however, was focused on getting your drink off Steve’s hands. “Give it to me.” You said, unwrapping your arms around him and headed for the drink. “No- (Y/N)!”

Steve didn’t mean to shout, but at the sight of the red cup spilling onto you had him facepalming mentally. Not to mention the few pairs of eyes staring at the both of you.

Flinching at the raise of Steve’s voice, you frowned at him, the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment hitting you.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). Where are you going?” Steve said as you walked past him straight to the exit. “Away from here.” You shouted back, slamming the door.

Back to the scenery of the front lawn, you stared at your shirt now stained pink. Hm. Great.

That’s not all what bothered you, the sounds of people laughing and cheering out loud did. They wouldn’t be doing this now when you didn’t help a hand in saving their asses from the Upside Down. All the loss you’ve encountered, just for people to move on with their lives, not knowing what it took from you. The friends you’ve lost.

It suddenly felt so suffocating in the open air.

You choked back a sob, bolting away from the party to wherever your feet would take you, far away from their happiness that you now doubted you deserved.

Just in time as Steve made it outside, he could see you running off in the distance, having to act quick, he sprints after you.

Stopping in your tracks, you let out a louder sob as you held your face in your hands. Your mind flashing back to Eddie. How he was wrongly framed of being a murderer, how he never got the chance to even clear his name as you and Dustin held him in your arms.

You’ve never been that close to him, but in that moment, you could see how he almost wanted to make it out of there alive, but then a few seconds later he was saying his goodbyes, accepting his fate. You wanted to scream.

Dropping to your knees you started hitting the cement in guilt, the rough surface making scratches and dirt on your knuckles. You didn’t even realize you were shouting all kinds of profanity when you heard the rush of footsteps behind you,

“Jeez, (Y/N), hey, baby, come on its me, Steve.” He said, kneeling to meet you.

You looked at him and you swore you cried more. “H-how could everyone act like everything’s o-okay? T-they don’t know w-wh—”

“Shh, here, come here.” Steve pulls you in for a hug, sitting down on the road. Well, at least he was thankful there weren’t many cars on this road, and especially at this time.

You nestled in between Steve’s legs, resting your head on his chest as he wraps his arms around you. “They didn’t even give him a chance.” You spoke. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him, if only we had been early- we could’ve- we-“ You tried to explain. If we had the chance to make it back earlier, then maybe you could’ve saved him. Saved Eddie.

Steve swallowed hard. The memory of Eddie still haunting him whenever he closed his eyes, although he didn’t have a lot in common with him, Steve had to agree that he was generally a good person, helping as best as he could even if he was just dragged into madness. “I know, I know, but there was nothing we could do.” He whispered.

 Steve could feel the guilt looming over him. If only there was another chance to save him, Steve would do it. He never wanted to leave anyone behind.

“I-I…” You tried to speak, but no words came out, only sobs and whines as you poured your heart out onto Steve.

But he knew you also needed to rest as he glanced at his wristwatch, it was almost near midnight. Carefully, he looks at you. “Can you stand for me, sweetheart?”

You only nodded, sniffling as Steve helped you up, he continued to wrap another arm around you as he slowly walked you to his car. Opening the passenger’s seat, he carefully lets you in, keeping in mind not to bump your head on the top. After doing so, he hurried over to the driver’s seat, opening, and getting in himself.

“I’m a mess.” You said, glancing down at your shirt, making Steve look as well. He shakes his head, turning the ignition. “We’ll take care of that once we get home.”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

The ride towards Steve’s was silent, Steve occasionally asking if you were okay, or if you needed anything, all you did was hum or shook your head.

As Steve parks in the garage, he makes his way over to you, opening the door.

“We’re here, baby. Oh- careful.” He reminds as you exit the car, placing his hand as a shield for your head as it almost bumped the top of the car.

Walking you inside, Steve directs you to his bedroom, but it looked like your stomach had other plans as you doubled over. “Oh, shit, okay-“

Almost memorizing Steve’s house like the back of your hand, you fuddled your way over the bathroom, bending over the toilet as you let out the contents of your stomach.

“Hang on, sweetheart. I’ll get some water and clothes.”

You wiped at the corner of your lip, leaning against the bathroom wall. You blinked slowly, still hazy from all the alcohol you had drank. That and the way your head started to hurt made you close your eyes shut.

Only opening your eyes as Steve entered the bathroom, he helps you stand up once again, drinking the water he gave you. You stumbled into his bedroom as Steve carried fresh clothes for you. “Here, (N/N).”

Taking the clothes, you started discarding the ones you were wearing to change into Steve’s shirt and sweatpants, meanwhile Steve was looking at the ground.

“Steve?” You called out to him, he perks his head up, looking at you. “Yeah? Anything you need?”

You shake your head before going over to lay down on the bed, closing your eyes as your head started to pound. “Just come here…”

Steve obeyed, picking your clothes off the floor, and placing them onto the hamper, along with his as he changed into his pajamas.

The bed dips behind you, signaling that Steve was there. He covers you both with the blanket as you turned to face him.

“Whatever happens, I’m here, okay?” Steve whispered, looking at you before pressing a kiss to your forehead. “He would want you to be happy.” Steve spoke as you nuzzled closer to his side.

You sighed, closing your eyes.

Steve looked at you, taking in the sweet moment of peace. He couldn’t help but leave another kiss on the side of your head. “I love you.”

The only response he got was a soft snore that made him chuckle, resting his chin atop your head as he pulls you closer.

[gardensflowerswarmwinds]

Pace Yourself |Steve Harrington x Reader|

Synopsis: That Halloween party with a fluffier drunker ending this go around.

Reader described as short.

For consistency's sake, Nancy is already with Johnathan.

And yes, I get ready for Halloween in September.

You wouldn't usually go to a party like this. A small house filled to the brim with your fellow (most likely inebriated) classmates wasn't really your exact definition of fun. But after the past year, you had experienced. You figured this party would be a good chance to let loose and blow off some steam.

Your boyfriend Steve seemed to share your same sentiments.

"Let's just go to Tina's stupid party… wear our stupid costumes that we've been working on for a stupid amount of time, and just pretend like we're stupid teenagers, okay?"

But, ever since you entered Tina's home. You both were seemingly trapped in a small space within the room. You couldn't exactly blow off steam if you well, couldn't even move...

"Well, at least the music's good." You practically shouted over the over-exuberant amount of voices around you two.

Steve went to say something but his sentence faltered, a faint (but growing louder by the second) chants boomed in the room. You could see Billy Hargrove one of the school's newest students pushing through the crowd carelessly. He carried himself with an outgoing arrogance, clenching a cigarette in his leather-gloved hand.

And he seemed to be heading right toward the both of you with Tommy right by his side.

"We got ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington." Tommy boasted, obviously trying to get a rise out of his former friend.

Steve seemed to begin to fall for the bait, his once lax attitude now growing tense. He took off his sunglasses looking Billy right in the eyes.

"No one cares Hagan." You interjected bluntly, hoping to put an end to the childish exchange. You didn't want it to grow into something it didn't need to be. "No one cares."

Billy took his eyes off Steve, now looking over at you with intrigue. "What'd you say?" He asked smoothly, but you could tell your little comment annoyed him just slightly.

"You heard me, I said it twice."

Billy clenched his jaw, swallowing hard to maintain his cool. It seemed to you like he didn't have the best control over his temper.

"You talking to me like that?" He asked, you didn't bother to reply.

But he wasn't going to take your silence for an answer. He stepped closer to you, looming over you in an intimidation attempt.

"You talking to me like that?" He repeated in a tenser tone.

Steve obviously, not liking Billy's actions in the slightest tried to step in between the two of you. But you stuck an arm out, stopping him.

"It's fine Steve. He's nothing to worry about, just some guy who watched Taxi Driver one too many times. " You reassured him, not taking your eyes off the taller man. "Yeah, I am talking to you. I'm looking at you aren't I?"

"You have a smart mouth don't you?" Billy inquired, gritting his teeth slightly.

"I sure do, and you need a mint, you smell like a keg." You replied.

Not bothering to stick around for Billy's response. You gently grabbed onto Steve's hand before walking away. A path finally clearing itself for you to move through. You both ended up in the kitchen which wasn't as crowded as the rest of the house surprisingly.

"Hey, what's in this?" You asked a boy next to you as you gazed down at the foamy punch bowl.

"Pure fuel! Pure fuel!" He shouted in response.

"Cool." You muttered as he walked away.

Getting a couple of red solo cups, you stuck them into the bowl curious to see what the concoction tasted like. You couldn't help but cringe at the taste as you took a sip at of punch. It didn't taste bad per say but rather... strong, very strong.

Steve, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind its intensity at all. He practically downed the cup in seconds.

"Steve, what're you doing?" You asked skeptically as he immediately got a second cup.

Nothing." He replied innocently.

"Really? 'Cause I personally think, you're trying to chug as much alcohol as you possibly can to upstage Mr. Taxi Driver back there."

"I am not." He muttered before he began to chug his drink once again.

"Whoa, take it easy Stevie." You advised, lightly tugging on his arm so he would put the drink back down.

"I'm just having a little fun." He said with a shrug. "It was our plan remember?"

"I know it was just... pace yourself. We both know that your alcohol tolerance is on the lower side."

"I will, now come on... let's dance." He replied with an enthusiastic smile, guiding you through the house as carefully as he could.

To say that Steve didn't really listen to your advice would be an understatement. You had lost count of how many times he had gone back to that punch bowl. And as each minute passed by, you could tell the alcohol was hitting him.

His bad but mostly stable attempts at dancing became an uneasy sway, his wide smile, mimicking the character he went as began to droop lazily. And to top it all off, you were positive that if you took off the sunglasses he was wearing. His warm brown eyes would be overtaken by his pupils.

So, when he ended up practically leaning against you, swaying out of time with the music. You weren't really surprised...

"And you say you aren't clingy." You muttered into his ear.

"Imnot clingy." He argued lazily.

But he ended up contradicting his point moments later by hugging you as tightly as he manage. (Which ended up not being as tight as it could've been.)

"You aren't? Then what're you doing right now then?"

"I'm... I'm slow dancing wi-th you."

"To Girls on Flim?"

"Everyone's doing it." He replied, he was beginning to sound a bit sleepy, probably struggling to keep his eyes open too.

"They sure are babe." You said, chuckling as you watched the slightly off-beat dancing of everyone in the crowd.

You could feel Steve's hands begin to slide away from you, some of the pressure from his body leaning on you relented slightly. Suddenly, an abundance of messy kisses was peppered onto your face.

"Steve." You managed to speak between laughs. "Knock it off." You added. (Even though you secretly didn't want him to)

"Mm... why?" He mumbled against your cheek. He then gasped and shot his head up abruptly. "Are you thirsty? Yeah, that must be it I am too." He added quickly before stumbling back toward the kitchen.

"Stevie, no no no no..." You said quickly, trying to stop him.

You were sure he was going to have a killer headache in the morning. So, you wanted to stop him from unintentionally making that worse for himself.

"Aww comeon honey... just- just one more." Steve slurred out.

"You've had enough, okay?"

You tugged on his arm in an attempt to drag him out of the kitchen. But he stayed stationary, trying as hard as he could in his drunken state to stay where he was. He put his cup into the bowl once again, filling it to the brim.

"Steve I'm serious, put it back." You spoke sternly, hoping he'd listen.

"No." He argued, you grabbed onto the cup making him grip it harder.

"Stop it..."

"No!"

"Let it go." You said calmly.

Your fingers slipped away from the cup causing it to jerk back and splash Steve.

It was a good thing he was wearing black...

He looked down at his chest before lifting his head to look back up at you. He didn't seem mad luckily just a bit... disheartened.

"That was cold." He spoke up sadly. He then patted his shirt, cringing at the feeling of the wet fabric. "It's still cold!"

"I'm sorry Steve... come on." You spoke softly, guiding him to the bathroom.

"I don't wanna leave," Steve whined, lulling his head back as we into the restroom.

"We aren't." You reassured him. "Yet..." You added under your breath as you grabbed a clean washcloth.

You patted the dry cloth against his shirt, hoping to dry it the best you could. "You are so lucky you wore black, love."

"I'm... I'm lucky to have you." He gushed tiredly.

You looked up at him, smiling. "You are so cheesy, Harrington." You muttered, giving him a short kiss on the cheek.

"Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to admit something..." He mumbled, sounding as though he was in trouble.

"What?"

"I'm not cheesy." He admitted sadly.

Feeling a bit confused at how he was acting, you decided to question him further.

"You're not?" You asked, grabbing another dry washcloth since the other one was now soaked with red punch. "What are you then?"

"I'm just a little..." He raised his hand up, making a small space with his index finger and thumb. "Drunk."

You gasped in fake shock, trying not to laugh. "No..."

He nodded still looking as disheartened as ever. "And I'm sleepy too."

"It's okay." You comforted. "But maybe we should go home then, yeah?"

Steve nodded and closed his eyes, leaning his head down on your shoulder. "Okay."

Despite his acceptance to leave, he didn't really bother moving. Since he seemed so relaxed you took the chance to take his car keys. There was no way he was in any state to drive tonight.

"Stevie, you kinda have to start moving if you wanna leave."

"Idon'twannamove." He slurred making you laugh.

"The faster we leave the faster you can sleep." You persuaded.

Steve turned his head to look over at you, the sunglasses he wore were now askew. "Really?"

"Yes... now come on. We better get going before you inevitably get nauseous." You suggested, taking his glasses off before he accidently broke them.

"M-okay." He replied, lifting his head off your shoulders. "Just... just one more thing."

"What honey?" You asked patiently.

"I love you." He spoke tiredly, a fond smile making its way onto his face.

A smile came onto yours soon after. "Love you too Harrington."

You couldn't help but notice a glint of skepticism in his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I promise I do." You answered back.

"E-even if I... get drunk?"

"Even if you get drunk..."

Steve let out a little huff, seemingly relaxing at your words. "Thank you." He whispered, leaning his head onto yours gently.

You tilted your had up giving him a sweet kiss on the lips.. (which tasted strongly of spiked punch.)

"Thank you for loving me..."

A cheesy ending for a cheesy fic lol

[toomanybandstocare]

{Fascination Street, The Cure}

Program: Halloween night invites trick and treats of all kinds. Though the small town of Hawkins still celebrates, the reigning fear of the past four years of murder cannot be forgotten. Absolutely smitten by his partner, Steve hopes to spend a sweet night alone together at his house. However, the night takes a turn when things get too freaky.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Slasher, GN! Reader

Genre: Angst, Horror/Slasher

Warnings: Character death, Couple of swears, Suggestive content (Make out and Straddling, nothing else), Knives, Inflicting pain onto character

Camp Upside Down Masterlist

Length: 3120w

Counselor Note: Happy Halloween! Stay safe, campers. I got inspired by my watching of Halloween II tonight and thought why not try it. I'll edit in sometime this week.

The cool air bites against the window panes as the wind hollers outside. Wreathes of fake, festive foliage decorate the inside of the windows to celebrate autumnal spirits. Pristine pumpkins and vases of preserved flowers adore the Harrington household, providing the only seasonal homeliness as the owners attend Hawkins’ Halloween banquet. 

Curling his finger around the telephone cord, Steve gnaws on his bottom lip while turning the call dial. He shifts his weight and bounces on his feet as the static is soon replaced with the automated dial tone. Excitement kisses the back of his neck, and his hair on the back of his neck stands up when he hears a familiar click on the other end of the line.

“Hello,” your voice comes across crackly, but still causes an eruption of butterflies in his stomach.

“Hi ya, sweetheart,” Steve calls out and leans against the wall next to the receiver. “ I was wondering what you were up to this Hallow’s Eve”. A boyish grin spreads across his face when you respond with light laughter.

“Well, I was thinking of going to Tammy’s party,” you mused, “but I heard that my favorite boy wasn’t going to be there”.

Steve’s heart races at your pet name for him. It skips a beat when he pictures the faux pout on your face. Coughing over his small stutter, “Miss me that much, huh? Just couldn’t get me out of your pretty little head”.

“Steve,” you whine in protest.

The grins on his face tightens with a sting, and he feels electric hearing that you’ve missed him. “Why don’t you come over, hm?” he asks. “Kill two birds with one stone”.

Your chuckle crackles over the phone, “And, what would be the second bird then?”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Steve’s voice hushes as he leans closer into the phone, as if he were speaking to you in person. “I probably miss you more than you miss me. So hurry on over- it’s just me tonight. Parents are out with the Wheelers for some benefit banquet, so it’ll be the two of us. I’ll leave the candy bowl outside, and we can enjoy some alone time”.

His heart pounds against his ribs as anticipation hangs in the air alongside the telephone static. Fidgeting with the phone cord, he shifts his weight to his other foot and waits. The kitchen clock’s ticking hits his ears in shrill alarm.

“I’ll be there in twenty,” your giddy voice eagerly breaks the silence, “I have a little surprise for you that I need to get ready”.

As soon as the call disconnects, Steve stumbles into action and hastily grabs the candy bowl from the counter. Running into the living room, he races into the side table by the door and scrawls a candy limit note before tripping onto the front stoop to leave it. 

Just as Steve dances through his house to get ready with a skip in his step, you grab your worn knapsack and gather your supplies for tonight’s chilling evening.

Excitement shivers down your spine as you hold up your knife to make sure it’s clean from your last Halloween celebration. The ridged wood handle feels smooth to the touch as your fingers trail down the edge and trace the four carved notches on the side. Carefully placing it in the side compartment in your bag, you then reach into the nighttable’s draw to grab your polaroid camera and put it on the bottom with your leather jacket shoved on top. Your eyes scan your room looking for anything that might come in handy, but confidence tingles in your veins. Biting your lip, the bubbling glee of tonight’s festivities warms your body. You snag the carabiner of keys off its hook by the door of your room. Latching it on one of the jean’s belt loops, the lucky rabbit’s foot sways with every step you take down the stairs and past the front door.  A pair of handcuffs dangle on the opposite of your pants from your belt and reflect off your home’s porch light. 

The cool autumn air stings your cheeks as you stride to your car, but it doesn’t diminish the gleaming smile on your face. Knocks on neighborhood doors and choruses of trick or treaters fill the night in a delightful cacophony. Rumbling in ignition, your car comes to life as the headlights intrude on the groups of friends and families walking from house to house on the street. Pulling out of your driveway, you weave your way through the crowded roads of Hawkins and make your way to the Harrington household. 

You tap your fingers in anticipation against the steering wheel as you park behind Steve’s shiny, new BMW. Before you can even cut the ignition, you see the front door open out of the corner of your eye. Reigning in the sickening sneer threatening to slip over your smile, you pull your keys and grab your bag. Thrill tingles the back of your neck as you get out of the car, and your heart thumps with the shut door. Your eyes never leave Steve’s glowing face as you lurk toward him. Not a single look of concern passes his face as he watches you draw near and join him on the small stoop.

“Hi ya, lover boy,” you hum and rest your hand on his hip. Your heart melts at the soft look he gives you with the new pet name. Guilt nips at the back of your mind, but the boiling sting of excitement washes it away.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Steve mumbles and presses a cheeky, chaste kiss to your temple. Wrapping his arm around your waist, he leads you through the front door. Glowing string lights outline the living room and deep red curtains block out the streetlights. “Mind locking the door for me? I made some popcorn for us if you're interested,” he smiles sweetly back at you and turns to walk into the kitchen. With almost a disappointed look on your face, you watch his back retreat further into the house as you twist the lock with your shirt sleeve. 

Your gaze locks onto the TV program that illuminates the room as you settle into the couch. Your knapsack makes it home next to your relaxed leg leaning against the couch. Ears twitching at the sound of faint footsteps, you decide not to acknowledge his presence. The quiet thud off to the side table registers in your head. Faking concern about the new report, you don’t look away from the TV. A red headline scrolls across the screen, “ Stay alert and on guard for the Midnight Slasher”.

“Didn’t see the slasher out in the streets, did ya?” Steve jokes and lightly digs his fingers into your waist. You’re jostled around on the couch as his weight causes you to half land on his lap. A small screech breaks past your lips as you jolt with faux fright.

“Steve,” you gasp, “That’s not funny”. His chuckles put your jittering nerves at ease, but the adrenaline simmers in your veins. 

“I’m sorry,” he teases as he moves his arm up to rest against your shoulders. Pulling you in close, Steve’s eyes glow from the background light as they peer into your own. His breath tickles your lips as he leans forward to brush his lips gently against your own. Pressing into his embrace, you close the small gap between the two of you. 

Steve’s hands tug you closer to him when you pull away quickly to catch your breath. His honey eyes peer at you through a hazy gaze as you push him fully onto the couch. Watching his head softly bounce against the cushion and the blissful euphoria starts to distract him, you nudge your knapsack closer. With a knock from your foot, it falls to its side and the unbuckled top flap spills open. Ready for easy access.

“This wouldn’t happen to be the start of my surprise, would it,” Steve smirks up at you as you straddle his lap. His hisses at the friction from both your jeans cause, but a different growing frenzy sparks inside you.

Leaning into his face, you hover above his lips, “It’s going to be a night you’ll never forget, Steve. It’ll go down in history”. As he leans up to reconnect your lips and pulls your body against his, you rest one hand against his shoulder to hold him in place. Slipping your other hand to your waist, you unlatch the handcuffs from your belt and drag the open latch against his wrist bone.

The cold metal sends a jolt through his entire body as he moves just out of your intoxicating kiss. His eyes widen in a sense of clarity when he locks onto the shining cuff in your hand. Unable to move his gaze, a sense of apprehension alarms Steve. He darts his tongue against his suddenly dry lip, “Little freaky for our first time”. Steve’s eyes dart to your own gleaming look, and a sense of unease floods over his system.

“Come one, Steve,” your soft voice all too tempting to Steve’s ears. You watch with care the thoughts running past his eyes and know to tread slowly. Pressing your chest against his own, you feel the gulp Steve takes as his eyes follow your movements. The buzz of pursuit begins to prick at your skin. “It’s Halloween. Where’s your festive spirit? Look, we’ll even use a safe word to stop. Alright? We won’t do anything you don’t want to”.

Hesitation softens his expression, before Steve breaths out a sigh and nods. “Yeah, alright,” he laughs, “How about ‘killer’ for the safe word”.

“Perfect,” you breathe out and press a chaste kiss to his lips. Moving his hands away from your waist, you hook the cuffs onto his wrists and rest them on his stomach.

As you trail your lips down his neck, Steve cocks his head in confusion. His voice strains when he asks, “What about my shirt?” 

Moving up to the corner of his mouth, you place a light kiss. You feel the blooming heat from his cheeks and smile pulling at his lips. “Do you trust me?” you whisper. The hand on his shoulder grasping slightly tighter as you teeter, waiting for his response. Your other drops to the side and grips the cushion seam.

Steve’s beautiful, brown eyes meet your own with an adoring expression. His plush lips tug into a tender smile. “Whole heartedly,” he lovingly confides. 

Almost as if consumed by the building tension, all emotion snaps inside you. You swoop your head, and your lips meet in a frenzied clash. Teeth nipping at parted lips. Steve’s moans rumble from his chest as your breathing grows heavy. The air in the room sits in a thick blanket.

Moving your body to lay completely on his body, your hand reaches into your knapsack’s open pouch. Your chest burns with passion as Steve’s desperate pleas ring in your ears, and you grab the familiar ridged, knife handle. 

In a flash you pull back from Steve’s luscious whines, and with one hand you tug the hem of his shirt up just past his cuffed hands. The armed hand comes over and cuts the shirt open with ease. As the blade grows closer to Steve’s face, you watch in giddy fascination as his eyes widen in fearful realization. The knife’s tip catches on his shirt’s collar, and you feel Steve’s breath still. With one final tug it snaps free, and the knife slices a small cut across his chin.

“Color?” you rasp as your chest heaves. The burning flood of excitement begins to break your last resolve.

“Yellow,” Steve looks at you in slight fear. “What the actual fuck,” he spits out. He tries to shift you off his lap with his hands. Realization clicks when his eyes lock onto the gleaming metal secured around his wrists.

“Shame,” your drawl out in a disappointed tone, “I was hoping it was red. No worries, we’ll get there soon”. Clamping your thighs and holding yourself, you keep your balance as Steve tries to thrash you off him. 

In a painfully grip, you hold onto Steve’s shoulder and raise your other arm up. The knife gleams from the television light as you swing it down towards his chest. Your chest stings in thrill as you watch Steve’s panicked expression melt into fear. A twisted smile of delight breaks your sweet facade.

Pushing his hips up into your own, Steve can only hear the drumming of his heart. He uses one elbow to hastily support himself and tilts his hip up to throw you off him onto the floor. Steve’s body follows your own as he uses the momentum to try to escape from the couch.

With the sudden movement your body shifts as you’re jostled onto the ground with Steve falling after you. Instead of landing in his chest, the knife lodges into Steve’s shoulder as he tumbles off the couch. A wave of dizziness clouds you, but you quickly shake free of it. Moving fast, you hop up on your feet and shove your foot onto his chest as he struggles to push past the pain.

His groan falls mute against the static news report and children squealing behind the door. Bending down, you grab the knife and pull it with force.

“Fuck,” Steve cries out. Pain twists his face. His hands latch onto your ankle trying to shove your foot off.

Pressing harder onto his chest, his shouts sound like music to your ears. The symphony comes to a crescendo with a snap of his ribs. You look down at the writhing man as you move your foot off his chest and to his other side. 

Blood gushes in a frenzy from the bubbling wound. Sweat trickles down his temple. Adrenaline makes his big, brown eyes blown out. Steve Harrington has to be the most breathtaking victim you’ve set your sight on.

As you look down at him in fascination, you wet your lips as he starts to kick himself away from you. Not even concerned, you bring your foot up and slam it down on his knee. A sickening crack echoes in the room as his scream reverberates through the house. He could have looked so good on the big screen with Myers if he didn’t catch your eye first.

“No one’s going to come for you,” your voice calmly breaks past the clashing orchestra.

“There’re people outside,” Steve whimpers and pushes closer to the door to his back, “They’ll hear me. You made a mistake choosing such a popular night and crowded neighborhood. Someone will come”. Taking a desperate look behind his shoulder, Steve shoves closer to the door and reaches up for the handle.

“Oh, lover boy,” you sing.

His eyes flash to meet your electrictric gaze.

“Don’t you remember?” you ask in fascination.

At the sight of his confused look warping into panic, an amused laugh spills past your lips.

“You asked me to lock the door,” you bark out with a laugh of disbelief.

You throw yourself onto him in an outburst of adrenaline. Bringing your arm down in a flurry, the sweet smell of iron overwhelms your senses. Your eyes dart down to the wound in Steve’s torso. His hands grip onto your wrist in a whit knuckled grip as the two of you struggle against each other’s hold. Blood pools out of the shallow wound, but with every grapple it deepens. Inch by inch.

“Don’t you trust me, Steve?” you growl and push your weight harder onto his injured leg.

A howl of agony wracks Steve’s throat, and he brings his other leg over to push you off. Gulping any air he can, Steve tries to pull himself over to the stairs. Every movement sends a searing fire through his body. The carpeted floor pulls at the growing torso wound. His mother is going to be mortified at the stains he’s left behind. A hazy fog sinks into his mind as he keeps his focus on the staircase. Adrenaline seeps out of him, and a blanket of ache and pain weighs down on him. His ears twitch at the sound of your footsteps retreating. A fleeting hope of escape swells in his chest. Only to shatter when the familiar foot fall approaches close behind him.

“Oh, lover boy,” you sigh and turn him on to his back. His glossy eyes meet your doting expression. Standing over him, you bring the polaroid camera up and capture the sweet scene.

“Please,” he breathes out with a sob.

You coo softly at the crying boy. Bringing yourself down, you crouch over him and cross your arms. The tools of your trade dangle in your fingertips.

“Happy Hallow’s Eve, Steve,” you call out softly. Tears stream down his face as you move the knife to rest right above his heart. “You’ll always be my favorite boy,” you promise and push the blade with one final plunge.

Your heart pounds in your rib cage as you watch his body lurch underneath your own. Small twitches shutter through his body. Only after a few minutes, they slow down to a stop. Watching his eyes take in your face, you see the light begin to fade from those honey eyes you’ve come to adore.

Pulling the knife free, you stand up and look at your latest masterpiece. A small tinge of sadness seeps into you knowing that your work is complete. You bring the camera up one more time and frame it to get his whole body in the view. The camera clicks and whirligig gears ring in reality.

As you head over to the couch, you hear the chatter of disappointed children as they realize the candy bowl is empty. The news still plays in the background while you tuck away your knife and pull on your jacket. Even though blood clothes are a pretty common costume, the difference between real and fake blood is apparent enough. Void of any emotion, you pull your knapsack onto your shoulder and head towards the front door.

“Though we haven’t gotten any reports of the Midnight Slasher tonight, do not let your guard down. We hope that the four year streak of terror has come to a close, but until we know for certain- keep your doors locked and a form of protection near by,” the static news broadcast plays in the background.

Stepping over your victim’s legs, you unlock the front door with your jacket sleeves and step onto the front stoop. Without sparing a look, you close the door to the Harrington household.

Taglist:

@my-my-only-angel @hellfiresangel @staygoldwriting @soph69420world @gathered-moss @once-upon-an-imagine

[whydoyouwantmyname]

Imagine life after the Star Court mall (Part 5)

Part one

Part two

Part three

Part four

1986 (3 months after the events of the Star court)

-The bell on the door softly rang as the hinges pulled the glass door shut behind you, one hand on the straps of your purse as the other hung to your side, your feet carried you towards the front desk as your eyes scanned all the covers around you. As you reached the empty desk however, you leaned over the display case and rang a small bell, one which was clearly supposed to be hidden. A familiar groan sounded from the back as you heard a girl's voice chuckle, "It's your turn to see what the brats want."

"It was my turn last time." He whined as you smiled, opening your purse to withdraw two sandwiches as the girl replied, "Um do you want me to tell the mother of your weird children's group that you are slacking off again, just like you did at Scoops?"

"And what does that mean you are doing, since you are sitting in the back with me too, debating if Leslie Easterbrooks is hot or not?"

"My job, unlike you who is eating all the twirlers."

"I am not." He replied, before exiting the back room, "Welcome to Family Videos, how may I... oh, hey Babe."

"Is that how you greet all your female customers?" You raised an eyebrow, before hearing Robin, "Do my ears deceive me, or is that Miss Hopper I hear."

"Your ears do not lie Miss Buckley, and I come bearing peanut butter and honey sandwiches, of course home made by our favorite little sister."

-As Robin emerged you extended your hands to both of them holding El's creations as you continued, "I also am here to see if you have Howard the Duck on VHS yet, and 9 1/2 weeks."

"I can check for both, if I may ask however why we will be needing those?" Steve asked as you smiled, "The kids are going to have a sleep over tonight, meaning they get to watch Howard the Duck, and Robin and I will be watching 9 1/2 weeks."

"What about me?" He pouted as you smiled, "I figured you would watch Howard with Dustin and the kids."

"Don't they have school soon?" Robin asked as you looked at Steve with a smile, "This is the last hurrah before school."

"Ahhh yes, the brats are going to school next week." Robin asked as she leaned next to Steve, "Soon we will be child free!"

"Robin, when they are at school we all are working." Steve corrected as she sighed, "A woman can dream."

"You love them." You replied as she stood up, and looked to you both, before walking away, "Yeah, I love them so much, I'm going to go check that the movies are here."

-When she walked away you looked at Steve, "If you don't want to watch Howard the Duck it's fine."

"I know, but I don't want to crash yours and Robin's plan, besides, I think she likes actually having a female friend."

"And besides, the kids like you wayyyyyy more than me."

"Bullshit," He smiled before gently grabbing your chin, and running his thumb along your jawbone, "How was work?"

"The new sheriff is an idiot." You answered as he whispered, "Well that's a bias opinion."

"Clearly." You whispered as Steve leaned forward and kissed you tenderly, before whispering, "You are probably right though."

"I always am." You replied, before leaning forward more to kiss him again, this time for longer. However it was soon interrupted by Robin clearing her throat, "You're scaring all the customers away."

"Robin, I am your only customer."

"Yeah, because they know you are fucking the customer service staff. They see you enter and run."

"Ha ha very funny." You answered as you took the movies from her and put them in your purse, "Steve is gonna pay for them."

"Why me?" He asked as you smiled, "Because you love me."

-As you left Robin smiled, "You two are sickening."

"Shut up, you know you love us." He joked before the two of them retreated to the back room again.

-You went to Billy’s grave, just like you did everyday before you went home, you sat there for a while every time and just talked to him, telling him every little detail of your day, and how much you missed him.

-When you got back to the trailer, you smiled at the bikes littering the front lawn, all but one was there. As you exited the car you could hear them loudly laughing from inside, a smile lighting up your face as you thought about how good it was to hear them all laugh after everything that had happened to them just six months prior. Your feet stopping for a moment as you thought back to the night at the Starcourt, your eyes slightly watering as you remembered the feeling of your heart being ripped from your chest. However you couldn't cry, not right before entering the kid's favorite hangout.

-You opened the door to see all the kids playing DND, the boys were convinced they were going to have Max and El dungeon masters before school started, Dustin was screaming in victory as he rolled a D20, clearly getting a 20.

"Take that, I slayed the dragon all by myself!"

"You cheated." Mike whined as El looked at him, "No he didn't."

"He totally did, everyone saw it."

"I didn't." You answered as you placed your bag down onto your couch, and looked over the layout, "Ah I see you chose a dark meadow with a mysterious cave full of riches, good choice."

"Max and I picked it." El replied as you walked over and kissed the top of her head.

"So did you get the movies?" Lucas asked as you smirked, "Yeah, thankfully they had them. I forgot to tell Steve though to grab snacks."

"Knowing Steve, he has a stash somewhere in the trailer, honestly probably under your bed." Mike replied, reaching into the Cheetos as you shook your head, "Also, we are having spaghetti for dinner, and I expect you all to eat it, or no pancakes in the morning."

"Yes mom." They all said in unison, before you instructed, "Now finish your game, and when I am done with dinner we can eat."

"What about Robin and Steve?" El asked as you shrugged, "I dropped them off the two sandwiches you made them, so they should be okay."

-When Steve and Robin got home that night, the kids were already all piled into Hopper's old room, the movie was half way through, and all the snacks in the stash were ransacked. Your back to the door as you washed the dishes, and hummed to the radio. As your hips swayed Steve got lost in the movement of your body as Robin whispered, "Gag me."

"Shut up, I'm sure if you ever fall in love that you will act the same way." He whispered before starting towards you, and wrapping his arms around your waist, his head resting on your shoulder as you whispered, "Welcome home Mr. Harrington."

"Glad to be home Miss Hopper." He replied before Robin called, "Where's my welcome home?"

"Welcome home my lovely Robin, how was work?" You dramatically asked as the duo cracked a smile.

-At the sound of your dramatic welcome home to Robin, Dustin called out, "Hurry up Steve, you are about to miss the best part."

"Go." You whispered before he kissed your cheek and ran off.

"Have I told you lately you two are..."

"Sickening." You cut her off as she flopped on the couch, and kicked her feet up onto the coffee table.

"I was going to say meant for each other, but that too." She answered as you put the last dish on the drying rack and made your way to the other movie case on the table, "Living room, my room, or yours?"

"Yours, Miss I need a memory foam mattress."

"That's what happens when you need absolute comfort." You smiled before you both retreated to the room, not without you saying though, "I promise the sheets are clean."

-You and Robin fell asleep half way through the movie, and when you awoke that morning, you felt a weight over your torso, and a firm body pressed against your back, Steve's soft snores filling your ears as you slowly opened your eyes to see Robin fast asleep, facing you.

-You were thankful that Steve and Robin had the weekend before the kids went back to school off, the owner was smart enough to know that the duo couldn't have separate schedules, so he always gave them the same shift.

-You also had a surprise planned for the kids, but you hadn't told anyone about it, not even Steve.

-When you were done making the kids pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, diced fruit and toast, you all went to play kickball in the backyard. All the kids fighting over whose team you would be on as you loudly announced, "Robin and Steve are team captains!"

-As the two stood in-front of the small group, and looked over you all, you loudly asked, "Whoever can answer this question right gets to go first. What infamous ship was discovered last year, that sunk in 1912?"

"The Titanic!" Steve screamed, as Robin just looked at him, shocked that he knew anything about History.

"That's correct." You beamed as Steve looked at Robin, "She wouldn't shut up about it, that's the only reason I remembered."

"Steve you get to pick..."

"I want Dustin." He cut you off as Dustin jogged over and high fived Steve, as Robin chuckled, "I want [Y\N] then."

"We get Lucas."

"Then we get Max"

"I want Mike."

"El, get your ass over here."

"So guys vs girls?" You smirked as you heard the car door shut, the others oblivious to it, as you continued, "Fine, but we get Will."

"What are you..." Mike started as Joyce rounded the corner, Will and Johnathon not far behind.

-When the kids saw him they all took off to tackle him, as you patiently waited your turn. Joyce and Johnathon smiling as Steve looked at you, "Did you invite her?"

"Yeah, I figured it had been 2 month since the kids saw them, and besides, Joyce needed to come home." You whispered as he wrapped an arm around you and kissed your temple, "You really are a great mom."

"Hey, no kissing the enemy." Robin teased as you softly pushed away, and made your way to Joyce, and wrapped her in a hug

"Thank you for coming." You whispered softly as she squeezed, "Thank you for inviting me."

"Well I know the kids missed him, and I am sure Nancy will appreciate seeing Jonathan."

"And you know I will just be grateful to see my boys happy." She smiled as you pulled back slightly, and raised an eyebrow, "And to think, I thought you would be happy to see me."

-You looked to Jonathan and reached in your pocket, extracting the keys to your car, and tossing them to him, "Two rules: don't crash my car, and don't have sex in my car."

"I am sure you and the king already do." Jonathan replied as you snapped back, "It's too cramped actually, so we do it in the bed of the truck."

"Gross." He grumbled before turning away towards the car, as you looked to Joyce, "You are welcome to join the game if you like, you can be on Steve's team."

"I think I am just going to go inside, maybe make some tea."

"Okay, it's in the second cabinet, bottom shelve. All the coffee cups are in the first one."

-When she walked into the trailer she wandered around slightly, smiling at the photograph from your graduation of you and El that was framed. She looked at every picture that decorated the living room, and even picked up the one that Robin had given you of you, Steve, and El, that looked like a regular family photo, El stood in front of you and Steve as you both put your hands on her shoulder.

"You raised her right Hopper." Joyce whispered to no one as she put it down and started down the hall, where she saw the photographs lining the wall, and stopped at the one outside your bedroom.

-Hopper's eyes looked back at her as he was looking towards the camera in his sheriff's uniform, the familiar photograph once hung in the police station, meaning you must have taken it. Her finger slid down the sleek glass as her eyes watered slightly.

-A bit further down the hall was a group picture, that hung beside the door to Hopper's old room, which you had moved El into. Her smile raising as she looked at all of them lined up, dressed for what had been a sad event, and yet still they had all managed to make Max smile.

- After about 10 rounds you all decided to call it quits, the score was 30- 31 meaning your team won. The girls were quick to rub it in the guy's face, as Will just chuckled, your arm going around him as you whispered, "Was this a good surprise for them?"

"The best."

-Once inside you noticed Joyce was in Hopper's Lazy boy, your heart dropped because at first you thought it was him.

-Everyone in the group knew not to sit there.

-After the Starcourt mall incident, you had come home from the station and Steve was in it. Your head was down so as you slowly had started to lift it all you saw was his feet, and you quickly went, "Dad, I knew you weren't..."

When you saw it was Steve though you started crying, he was quick to jump up and wrap you in a hug as you sobbed, and after that he told everyone no one but Hopper was allowed to sit there.

-The group all ran into El's room as you started lunch, Steve reaching in the fridge to grab anything that could be grilled, as you started making the salads.

"Steve can grill?" Joyce asked as Robin looked at her, "Yeah, [Y/N] spent a month teaching him, he even learned how to season shit."

-As Steve cooked outside you, and Robin joked in the kitchen, as Joyce watched from the living room, Robin was seated on the counter eating the cherry tomatoes as you stirred the pots, Joyce smiling at the idea of Hopper seeing this, and how he would have felt about it.

-When Steve came in, he looked to you as though to silently ask if it was okay to call the kids in, you just mobbed as he placed the platter down on the counter and loudly hollered, "Grubs up!"

-All the kids raced out of the room and lined up single fill as Robin slid off the counter and grabbed the plate stack, and handed each kid a plate, telling everyone, "Silverware and cups are your responsibility."

"And all of you need to eat the green salad, at least a small pile." You added as Dustin groaned, "Really mom?"

"Non negotiable." Steve added as Lucas added, "Damn you two really are like the parents."

"Shut up." El replied, "They hate when we reveal their secret."

-After lunch all the kids wanted to go for a bike ride, which made Will look at the ground, before you leaned over and whispered, "I have an extra bike in the garage for you."

"Really?" He looked at you with a smile as you whispered, "Of course, brand spanking new. I figured you could use it when you came to visit."

"Thanks." He replied as he hugged you quickly

-Before they all ran out of the house, you hollered, “Be back by 7 for dinner, got it?"

"Yes mom." They all joked, the unison reply earning a sigh from you as El ran over and hugged you, "I'll make sure they come back."

-While they were out Joyce looked at you cleaning the kid's plates as Steve started the dishes, and Robin was putting the food away, "Do you need any help with anything?"

"No we got it Ms. Byers." Steve answered

-Once you were done, you looked at Steve and Robin, "Think you two can go to the store and get me a list of stuff?"

"Can I get the new Cool Ranch Doritos?" Steve asked

"As long as you get the Pepperridge Farm Star Wars cookies, and the pizza rolls, I don't care." You smiled as he leaned forward and kissed you, "And don't forget the Eegos."

"Never." He whispered, before grabbing the list off the fridge, and racing out the door, Robin not far behind.

-While they were gone you and Joyce sat in silence, that was until Joyce asked, "So did you.."

"He is buried next to Sarah, I know there was no body, but I buried one of his shirts in front of his stone." She replied as Joyce sighed, knowing she was unable to see his grave.

-When Robin and Steve returned you were sitting in the lawn chair out back, your sunglasses shielding your eyes as you laid there, Steve  caught a glimpse of you relaxed and smiled before Robin asked, "Lover boy, you gonna help me with these or are you just gonna stare at her all evening?"

-The kids came back around 6 and El ran straight to the backyard, the rest of the kids filing inside as Steve smiled, "So we were thinking pizza."

-When El saw you, she wiggled her way into the chair and followed your eyes to the clouds, "That one looks like a shaggy dog."

"I could see it." You replied, "And that one is the cat he is chasing."

-This went on for a while, until Steve emerged and hollered, "Hey, do my two best girls want to go pick up the pizza with me?"

"Yes!" El exclaimed racing to the car, already fully aware that this meant she was going to get candy as well.

As you followed, you stopped beside Steve and leaned over, "You know that if we get her candy, we also have to get everyone candy?"

"I know, I already figured out what they want, I just know however that your sister is picky, and would rather pick out her own candy."

"She isn't picky, she just doesn't trust you after you convinced her that you bought her black licorice instead of M&M's."

-In the car El was insistent on singing American Pie, which made Steve smile as you both screamed the lyrics A cappella.

- When you returned, each of you were carrying 3 pizzas each, along with carrying bags filled with soda, candy, and chips. Each member of the party jumping up to assist as you opened the trailer door.

-With most of the pizza and all the bags the kids disappeared into El's room, leaving the adults in the living room. Joyce smiled as she looked to you, "So are they always like this?"

"Yeah, basically." Robin answered as you leaned over Steve to grab a cup, "At least they saved us a pizza though."

"It's mushroom, that's why." You smiled as Steve made a face, causing you to chuckle, "Oh you'll be fine, just pick them off."

-When Jonathan came back to your trailer you joked, "The car is still in one piece right?"

"Yeah, the car is fine." He replied before retreating to your room.

-That night you and Steve went to sleep on the couch, you and Steve had offered Joyce and Jonathan your room, however Steve groaned at first, "I'm never gonna be able to sleep with you snoring in my ear."

"Oh shut up, you love my snoring." You joked.

-However you didn't love Steve's snoring, your eyes wide open as your boyfriend slept beneath you. As you laid there staring at the wall, you heard a door open, and heard the light pitter patter of feet, figuring one of the kids were using the bathroom. However soon El stopped in front of you, and leaned over, "Come on."

"What?"

"All of us have made room for you, He's snoring too loudly."

-You chuckled as you gently rolled off Steve, and followed El. As you entered you saw that the party had moved to the floor, allowing you to sleep in the king side bed.

"Sleep." She instructed as she shut off the light, the tv screen illuminated the room as the kids debated which movie to watch, Aliens, or Howard the Duck.

-When you woke up, you tip toed over all the kids and made your way to the kitchen to start making them waffles, Steve however had already started them.

"So I see you left me?" He joked as you smiled and kissed him, "Yeah, El claimed you were snoring too loud, so she came to get me."

-As you both cooked breakfast, Steve grabbed you at random moments and started dancing around the kitchen with you, twirling you around the cramped kitchen as you giggled with glee.

-At one point he dipped you, your leg going off the floor as he leaned over your face, a giant smile on your face as he leaned closer and locked his lips to yours.

"What a gentleman." You whispered as he slowly brought you back to a standing position.

-Max was the first to wake up, and she immediately started to help you and Steve set the table for the party to eat breakfast together. Once she had the table set she walked over to you, "Can I help with anything else?"

"Want to cut the fruit?" You offered, gesturing to the knife block, as she grabbed one of the smaller knives

-While you both cut the strawberries she whispered, "Do you ever miss him?"

"Yeah." You replied, "Sometimes I feel like it's a bad dream, and I'm gonna wake up to him calling the landline asking Steve if he can talk to Sugar Mama."

"He really did like you, I mean I never saw him interact with anyone like that before." Max whispered as Steve overheard.

-While Max went and woke the others up Steve whispered in your ear, "So I was thinking, maybe during a break we can send El over to Joyce's, and we can go on a mini vacation, just the two of us?"

"Are you trying to smooth talk me Harrington?" You joked as he blushed, "Well after these past couple months I think we deserve it, and besides, we have been dating for almost 2 years now, and we have never taken a vacation together."

"Because we were saving the world." You replied as Steve laughed, "Come on, I'm being serious."

"I'll think about it." You answered as all the kids ran into the dining area. Each sitting in front of a plate as you nudged Steve, who grabbed the plate of waffles, and the bowl of strawberries you and Max had cut. If your hands were the bowl of scrambled eggs, topped with the plate of bacon, while your other hand held the plate of sausage. Dustin smiled as he announced, " Thank you to whomever is above for blessing us with Hopper's cooking."

"And thank Max for being the one to set the table, and cut strawberries while your bum ass slept." You teased before turning around to grab the toast, ketchup and syrup.

"You can't blame us, we have to start school tomorrow." Mike replied as Steve laughed, "Wanna switch, Robin and I have to open the store."

"Which did any of you wake up Robin?" You asked as Lucas leaned back, "Robin! Get your ass up!"

"Hey, you might have just woken up Will's mom." El replied as you smiled and kissed her head, "I'm sure he didn't."

-As you all started to eat, Robin wandered to the table and sat beside you, as you popped a strawberry into your mouth, "Sorry for the wake up call."

"For your's and Harrington's cooking... it's worth it."

-After you all cleaned up breakfast, cause of course you made the party help, you and Steve decided to take the kids to the park. Each of you taking half the party, you took all the girls, and Steve took the boys.

-When you got there, they all took off down the walking trail, pretending to be on a quest for the lost elven kingdom, as you and Steve wandered behind them, linked arm in arm, smiling as they all ran amongst each other, Will and El smiling the widest as they adventured.

"The party suddenly heard a light snapping of a branch and turned to see the huntress Elven Princess was being kidnapped by a horribly ugly troll, whose hair had way too much product in it, the party must save her to advance to the kingdom!" Dustin hollered as the Dungeon Master, as they all turned to Steve, and started yelling out magical and tactile attacks, before you screamed, "With the princess's lossened bonds she is able to free a hand, and withdraw her small dagger, and aims for the jugular!"

"Roll over a 15 to succeed." Dustin instructed as he tossed you a small D20, which you rolled onto the path.

"And with that 20, the princess successfully stabs the troll, and then pit pockets him to find 20 gold pieces." Dustin shouts as Steve dramatically falls to the ground dramatically.

"Which she gives to the mage, as a reward for the party." You speak, as you offer Steve a hand up.

"Way to kill me babe." He whispered as you leaned forward and kissed him

"No problem." You whispered as Dustin looked over the newly huddled crowd, "Fair princess, do you and the phantom troll now enslaved to you want to join our quest to find your home?"

"Of course fair army, I only wish to help you in your quest." You announced as you and Steve advanced to them.

-While you all quested a woman who definitely was not from Hawkins looked to you, and asked in an accent, "Hey, you're Sheriff Hopper's daughter, aren't you?"

"Yes?" You answered as she sighed, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thanks." You sighed as she walked away, leaving you to look after her confused, a small ping of sadness in your chest as you watched her leave.

-Once you were finished with the quest you and Steve sat on the park bench, watching the kids on the playground acting as though it was the lost elven kingdom. Your head leaning on his shoulder as you whispered, "I think I want that vacation."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I am not sending El to California alone. Robin can watch her.” You sighed as he looked down at you, and kissed your forehead, "I miss him too."

"How did you know I was missing my dad?" You asked as he smiled, "You have the same look on your face you did the day I met you, and I criticized your sister's necklace."

-You all stayed at the park for 5 hours, Robin coming to join you after she woke up a bit more, "Joyce and Jonathan went to the Wheeler's, said they wanted Will to go home with Mike when they are done."

-You finally told them that they all needed to go home to prepare for school, however you also told them that you were going to take them to Pizza Hut, which made them all race to the cars.

-When you got home you triple checked El's school bag, and made sure "Jane" had everything she needed.

-While you did, Steve looked at El, "Your sister is such a nerd."

"Yeah, but she is your nerd." El whispered back as Steve smiled, then she asked, "So when are you going to ask her to marry you?"

"What?" He reacted loudly, causing you to peek out of her room, "What did you do?"

"Nothing honey, I just can't believe this epic adventure that El wants to present at DND night."

-When you were gone, Steve replied, "Not yet, I mean we are..."

"Basically married already." She smiled as you exited, "So everything is ready, so how about you pick a movie, and we can watch it."

-While you were on the couch, you feel asleep on Steve's chest sitting up, his arm draped over you as he played with your hair. As you softly snored he looked down at you, and whispered, "Someday I'll marry you."

-El smiled when she heard Steve say that.

-The next morning you woke up early and rolled out of the bed carefully to avoid waking Steve, who was laying flat on his stomach, arm extended as he snored.

Once out of the shared bedroom you snuck to the kitchen and quietly started making breakfast for El, and packing her lunch. As you worked you hummed a song that your father always sang to you as a child, however as your back was turned to the island El's voice joined in, "Bye Bye miss American pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry."

"Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye Singing, 'This'll be the day that I die, This will be the day that I die'" you smiled as she chuckled, "He loved that song."

"He did, when Sarah and I would go on car rides with him after work she would always ask to sing that song when it first came out. She was so obsessed with it, we knew the words by the end of the week it was released. After her funeral, when we were driving home, I looked into the rearview mirror and started singing it. My dad's face lit up for the first time since it had happened that day, my mother.... Well she started crying, and locked herself in her room as soon as we got home. After that...."

"He still sings it in the car you know." She told you, "When you were making out with Steve one day, he took me for ice cream, and he started singing it. He said it reminds him of his girls."

"And after that you had me teach you the lyrics." You smiled as you placed the plate in front of her, as your eyes watered.

"I miss him." She whispered as you looked at the counter, "Excuse me."

-You went to the bathroom and cried, your hand over your mouth muffling the sob as you sank to the floor.

-You dropped her off at school before work, all the party running over to say Hi as you hugged El goodbye, "Now be good Jane."

"Yes sis."

"Don't worry Mom," Mike said, taking her hand as he looked to you with a smile, "We'll keep her in check."

"Why do I feel like you and I define in check very differently?" You teased as they smiled, "Cause we do."

-When you were at work Florence walked over to your desk, “Hopper, you have a visitor.”

Lifting your head you smiled at Steve who was holding a bouquet of roses, his own smile lighting up the office as he advanced to you, pulling out a vase as he did.

“I figured I would come see you before I went home.” Steve smiled as you poured some water into the vase, as he continued, “I ummm I wanted to get you something special, to celebrate a month without you having any nightmares.”

“Hmmm.” You responded before you were aware of what he said, “Oh yeah, time has just been flying by.”

-You didn’t have the heart to tell Steve you were still having nightmares of El screaming in the star court mall, and of Billy dying, and of your father dying in front of you over and over. Those are the ones that hurt you the most.

“I love you.” He said, pulling you back to reality and away from the flashes of the nightmares

“I love you too Steve.”

-After he left, you took a deep breath and looked at the framed picture Florence had given you when you got the job, it was the photographer that Hopper had kept on his own desk. It was a photograph of you dressed for the Snowball dance, standing with Hopper in full uniform. Your dress matched Steve’s tie, which was a navy blue.

“I know, family doesn’t lie.” You whispered to it, “But you saw how happy he was.”

-When you got home, you wandered into El’s room, since you could hear the soft snores of Steve from your rooms. She was sitting on her bed, looking at a can of freshly drank sprite, her hand extended towards it as she focused. Your eyes watched with sadness as she tried so hard to crush it.

“Hey kiddo.” You whispered as she looked up and sighed

“No luck.” She whispered as you sat besides her, and whispered, “It’s okay, they will come back, sometimes stuff like this just takes time.”

“What if they don’t though?”

“Well, if they don’t I am just going to have to give you up, I am sure some other family would love to have you.” You joked as she laughed, your arm nudging her before running your hand through her hair, “If they don’t, nothing changes, you are still my amazing, talented, intelligent, beautiful, extraordinary sister, who has all of her friends over for game night, and eats way too much candy. You are still the person who is my biggest supporter, and I am always going to love you, powers or no powers, understand?”

“Yes.” She replied as you pulled her head towards you and kissed her temple.

“Now, since Steve is out like a light, how about you and I go out to dinner, and perhaps we can go to the movies.”

“I’d like that.” She whispered as you hopped up, “Shoes on, jacket on, and I want to hear all about your first day over dinner.”

Part Six

[luveline]

(𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞) 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 | 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Steve hears you wrong, thinks he’s your boyfriend, and begins to act accordingly. You try your best to go along with it until you can’t anymore. 3k, fem. requested here ♡ 

cw shy(ish)!reader, misunderstandings, steve being a huge sweetheart, fluff, hurt/comfort, bonus fluff scene 

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

The arcade is loud and brisk this evening, doors thrown open to allow for the constant ebb and flow of younglings, the machine music turned up to account for so many voices. You’re lost in a sea of rainbow flashing lights and the ticklish smell of sugar. Without Steve’s hand behind your shoulder, you’re pretty sure you would’ve gotten lost and trampled half an hour ago. 

A candy necklace pinwheels past your heads like a torpedo, forcing you closer together, your shoulders tight with a flinch. 

“We can leave,” Steve says immediately. He’s weirdly thoughtful. Before he asked you out you had no idea he thought so much about other people, but he’s always thinking about other people. You could argue he thinks a little too much, like you. 

“I wanna see Max.” 

“She has to be here somewhere.” 

That theory proves less and less likely. Steve’s hand falls away from you, tugging through his hair in a marker of stress as you circle the Palace Arcade for the tenth time. “Maybe she quit?” you suggest. 

Steve’s eyebrows pinch together as he gives the arcade another sweep. Max’s rough patch freaked him out, as it freaked you out, because ‘rough patch’ is a kind way to describe it. She could’ve got a whole lot worse; she was suffering, capital S. It’s nice to see her returning to society, but not if she isn’t actually settling in. That’s the whole reason you’re here. 

Steve frowns at you worriedly. 

“Who died?” asks a new voice.

You breathe out a sigh of relief. “Max!” Steve cheers. 

“That’s me,” Max says, looking at you both sceptically. Her ginger hair is pulled into two tight braids either side of her face, her cheeks flushed red. Mascara paints her usually pale lashes a darker brown, and a rosy tinted chapstick shines on her lips. 

“Hey, the uniform looks good on you,” he says affectionately. “You look like a valued member of society.”

“A society in need of better labour laws. I’m pretty sure this is child abuse.” She rolls her eyes. 

“Is it awful?” you ask. 

“It’s fine. Better when your stupid friends aren’t here making themselves sick on candy like they’re nine years old,” she says pointedly to Steve. “Are you going to throw up too? You look–” she grimaces in place of insult. 

“Who’s throwing up?” you ask. 

“Dustin. He’s outside.” 

Steve sighs and gives your shoulder a kind squeeze. “I’ll be right back,” he says, squaring his expression. “Goddamn kids.” 

He sounds like an old man, you think to yourself with a small smile. Disgruntled, he still goes to make sure everyone’s alright. He’s nice, even when that nice is begrudging and tiresome and plain gross sometimes. 

“Why are you smiling at him like that?” Max asks.

You school your impression. “Like what?” 

“Like you like him.” 

You shake your head. “Tell me about work, Max. What’s it like here? Are they giving you your breaks?” 

She drags you over to the counter to sit in the seat waiting behind. She glares at any kid who approaches, but besides that she seems in good spirits. The job isn’t hard, it’s just a job. She’d much rather be at home reading, but wouldn’t everyone? “And I get this sweet uniform,” she says, pointing at the embroidered icon on her shirt pocket. “What’s with you and Steve?” 

“Nothing,” you say, though it’s something. You’re mortified to have been caught having feelings. 

“Looks like something. Are you dating?” 

“I mean, this is a date,” you say, almost whispering as heat floods your face. “But we’re not together.” 

“He was touching you a lot.” 

“Max, he’s really nice. He’s a really nice guy,” you say gently, “and we’re not together, but if he does ask me out eventually, maybe I’ll say yes.” You realise what you’re saying and attempt to backtrack —you do like Steve, but Max doesn’t need to know that. “It’s not like he’s my boyfriend,” you say strangely. 

“Ew,” Max says with a laugh. 

“Not ew,” you correct. You hadn’t meant it in a bad way, it’s— 

“Not ew,” Steve says from behind you, his arm a heavy weight across your shoulder. 

You look wide-eyed up at his face, surprised by his huge beaming smile, an intense loveliness about him as he gives you a half hug. 

“What’s ew about that?” he asks you softly. 

Oh, boy, you think. 

As it turns out, being Steve’s girlfriend is kind of nice, but you aren’t ready.

From that afternoon at the Palace Arcade onward, he treats you like you’re made of gold. And it’s great, he’s so kind, he brings you flowers and takes you out for breakfast, where he pays the tab without any flourishes and talks to you as casually as always. You almost hope he hasn’t got it wrong at all, and that his soft tone a few days ago had been down to a brief overwhelming fondness. You’d get that. You have your moments with him, you’re falling for him, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re desperately in love, you’re sure, but then the waitress asks if you need anything else and he says, “Just a water for my girl,” and you realise you’re not getting off easy. 

Dating is sort of like being good friends; you’d planned to spend the day together anyways. You enjoy his company. It’s clear he’s eager, optioning off the day’s agenda as you return to the car, the bottom of your face hidden in your bouquet. 

“We could go to the movies,” he says, opening the passenger door, his smile seemingly permanent as you climb inside. “No science fiction, I promise.” 

“I kind of like sci-fi.” Petals press fragrant to your top lip.

“Well, we don’t have to go to the Hawk. We could go into the city. I bet they’re playing any movie you wanna see.” He checks that your leg is properly inside the car before he closes the door, jogging around to the driver’s side and practically throwing himself inside. He’s giggling like a kid. “Shit, I’ll see anything you want to.” 

“Steve.” 

“Or we can go do nothing? Until dinner.” 

“Steve,” you say again, thinking you’ll tell him. Nothing good ever comes from dishonesty. 

“What?” he asks. 

His eyes are so brown. Billions of people with brown eyes and you swear you’ve never seen anything like it before, their centres like hot honey, the sweetheart shape to them when he smiles 

You sigh. His smile is contagious, even while your stomach hurts. “Nothing. Let’s go see a movie.” 

“Are you okay?” 

“What?” 

“What do you mean, what? You sounded weird.” 

“I sounded weird?” 

“No!” He winces. “I mean, yeah, you sounded weird for you, like you… I don’t know. Sorry.” 

You feel bad, then. His apology is earnest, his hand resting open on the console for you to take if you could manage the flustering heat of it. 

“I wanna go to the movies,” you say, ‘cos you really do. 

“Alright, good. It’s just, I think my last relationship, I– I didn’t pay enough attention, and I want to do that better this time around. So yeah. Sorry.” 

Oh, Steve, you think. How are you supposed to tell him now? You’re gonna have to pretend to be ready for a relationship with him until you really are, it seems. He doesn’t deserve to have his heart played with twice. 

“Don’t be sorry,” you say gently. “Let’s go watch a movie, okay? I want to go, with you, we’ll watch a shitty daytime flick and then get dinner after. It’ll be fun.” 

You aren’t lying to him about what you want. It’s clear to everybody, Steve and his friends and especially you, that you like him, that you want to be around him and make him laugh. Maybe being his girlfriend won’t even be that different to being his something. 

After all, what’s romantic about seeing a movie? 

“You good?” he asks, half an hour later, your agony prolonged. 

You’re at the back of the movies where the seats have the most leg room, more popcorn and candy than you could ever eat at your feet and a litre cup stuffed into the armrest between you. Steve is tucking his shirt back into his jeans, his head parting the light of the projector and leaving a silhouette in the previews. 

“Steve,” you advise, gesturing for him to lean down out of the way. 

He leans down, further and further, face to face with you with his hands on his hips. A flirtatious teasing makes its way onto his lips. “What?” he asks, amused. 

“You were in the way of the light.” 

“That what it was?”

“Seriously!” you whisper-shout, laughing despite yourself. 

“You’re so cute,” he whispers back. “Want to take your jacket off?” 

Your lips part at his good suggestion. You hold your arm out and start to peel from your jacket, but he takes your sleeve and helps you out of it before folding it and sitting in the seat next to you, your jacket on his thigh. “How’s that, babe?” he asks. 

“It’s good.” 

“Okay, perfect.” He beams at you. He’s always smiling when he’s with you, like you’re the best thing since sliced bread. Like he loves you. “Tell me if you need something, yeah? I know you’re kinda shy.” 

He settles back in his seat with your jacket still in his lap and no indication that he might want to move it. Your knees touch as he relaxes, your knuckles as he puts his arm on the rest between you, a picture of contentedness as the movie begins and the opening credits play. “That’s us,” he says without looking at you. 

Two people walk down the street holding hands as the title of the movie blazes in yellow font with thick red outlines. A Day In Paradise! 

You bite down on a slither of the inside of your lip until it stings. You try to fight it off but the longer you sit there, the more your eyes burn, thinking about Steve and what he deserves and how unfortunate this whole thing is, and yeah, you’re overwhelmed, too. You aren’t ready for so much sweetness all at once. You don’t deserve it, he doesn’t deserve this. 

You force the tears away. The movie goes on and on, the lights low, the chatter of moviegoers and the occasional popcorn crush not nearly loud enough to cover the sound of Steve’s breathing. 

He pushes his hair out of his face. Somebody on screen makes a joke, his hand brushes against yours, and then takes it gently as he laughs. 

You pull your hand away and tip your head down, a frantic tear flicking from your lashes. 

“You okay?” he whispers. 

You try to answer. You whimper instead, a terrible, sorry sound stuck to your throat —you can’t hold it in anymore. It’s too much. 

“I’m sorry,” you mumble tearily, looking up, a tear rolling fast down the bump of your cheek. 

Steve sits still in moderate horror. “Why are you crying?” he whispers.

The thing about Steve that people tend to forget is that, while he takes care of people the best that he can, he’s really young. He doesn’t always know what to do. He stares at you now like you’re a foreign object, hand tucked back into his abdomen. 

A tear drips onto your lip. It tastes salty. “Sorry,” you say. 

“Why?” he asks, dumbfounded.

“I really like you, Steve.” 

He stares at you. “…But?”

“But I–” His frown hurts your heart. “I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this, I never– never had someone like me like this, I don’t know why I’m crying.” You say that last part to yourself rather than him, scrubbing your cheeks with your hands roughly before hiding your face completely. “It’s not you.” 

“I thought…” And of course he did. 

“I know,” you say. “I’m sorry, Steve. I thought it wouldn’t matter but everything’s going so fast.” 

He touches your arm gently. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I thought you wanted this. You– you said I was your boyfriend, to Max? I thought you liked me.” 

“I do like you,” you insist, meeting his eyes. 

“Can I wipe your tears away? They’re everywhere,” he says. You struggle to read his expression, but there’s no resentment or anger there for you. He looks quite serious. 

“Yeah.” 

Steve bends in his seat to wipe your tears off of your face gently. They really are everywhere, on your cheeks, your top lip, your chin, even down the arc of your neck. “I don’t understand,” he says, going back to your cheek for a missed streak, “but you don’t have to be upset. Please. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, I promise.” 

“Steve, when I was talking to Max, I said,” —you wince— “that it’s not like you’re my boyfriend. She was asking me about you, and I got all panicky because I like you, but I’m too weird about this stuff, I’m panicking now–”

“Don’t.” His hand lingers on your face, before a sorry flash of dejection passes over him, and he drops your face altogether. 

“I didn’t mean for this to happen. Please believe me.” 

“Of course I believe you.” He grimaces at you, and the heartbreak turns to something more manageable, like he’s brushing himself off. “I’m sorry. For getting the wrong idea.” 

“I like you,” you whisper. Your voice is nearly lost to the rustle of popcorn and drinks. 

“I like you too!” he says loudly. 

A few seats down, somebody turns, an angry whirl of hair and clicky nails. “Can you guys shut up?” 

You and Steve leave your mountain of snacks behind to stand in the theatre hallway, where the winter air is cool on your flushed skin, and the silence is stifling. You lean against a wood feature wall and try to calm down, because he’s the one who should be upset (or maybe he’s not that fussed about you). He stands a half foot away with his arms crossed, looking down at his shoes, though occasionally he glances at you for a split-second and looks away again. 

“You okay?” he asks tightly. 

“I’m sorry.”

He pokes his cheek with his tongue. “So you don’t want to be together?” 

You don’t know. He deserves the truth, even if you barely understand it yourself, and it stings to say. “I do, I like you, but I… I want to take things slowly.” 

He stands there without talking for a while. When he does talk again, he’s laughing, that achy awful sadness he’d worn a far off memory. “You’re this upset because you want us to take things slow?” 

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” 

“You haven’t,” he promises. “That would never hurt my feelings. I knew when I heard it that it was too good to be true.” He scratches the back of his neck. “I guess I gotta earn the title like everybody else does. Is that… cool?” 

You nod vehemently. 

Steve blows a relieved breath of air up his face, his hair ruffling off of his forehead. “I thought I was gonna lose you completely,” he says, smiling. “This is fine. I can work with slow. Slow’s my middle name.”

—♡—

The sun is a blistering heat today. “Can’t believe it’s only spring,” you murmur, eyes covered by the back of your arm. 

A weight sits down on the blanket beside you, the sound of dry grass crushed underfoot. He brings the fresh scent of lemon slices with him, the zest sticking to his hands.

“I think I might melt.” 

“I’d never let that happen,” Steve says, laying down beside you. 

“You can be my parasol.” 

“Your what?” 

“It’s a sun umbrella.” 

“Like this?” he asks, gently laying himself across your front, his face on the slip of your stomach that’s bare, his arms sneaking behind your thighs to hug them as you bring them up. 

You reach down to stroke his hair, taking your fingers through the silky lengths of it, fingernails scratching ever so slightly at his scalp. “Thanks,” you say.

He kisses your naked leg. “You’re welcome, honey.” 

If he’d done that at the beginning of your relationship, you’d have frozen up; not because he would’ve done it differently, not because he wasn't always your handsome sweetheart, but because being comfortable with someone this intimately takes time, and that’s okay. 

“Your face is digging into my hip,” you murmur. 

He shifts back, his ear above your belly button. “Is that better?” 

“That’s perfect.” 

“Are you falling asleep?” he asks softly. 

“No… I’m thinking.” 

“Nothing good ever comes of that.” 

“I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“I love talking to you,” he says. He sounds as though he might fall asleep himself, his tongue heavy in his mouth. 

You stroke his hair away from his face by touch alone. Long, warm minutes pass without conversation. You aren’t scared to tell him how you’re feeling. He’s proved to you over time that he’s someone you’ll always be able to trust, and that whatever you have to say will hold weight. 

“It’s a question.” 

He turns in your hold to face you. You raise your arm, greeted by the image of him sun-kissed and lazing, laid out across you without a care in the world. 

“Don’t tell me then,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Jesus, you’re terrifying.” 

“Would you wanna be my boyfriend?”

He narrows his eyes at you. A myriad of emotions pass between you both, until he’s smiling, and you know he’s sitting up for a kiss seconds before he actually does. He presses his lips to yours carefully. “Baby,” he says as he pulls away, voice as mild as his soft kiss, “I think we’ve passed that point.” 

“I realised I’d never asked you, is all.” 

His hair falls down into his eyes. You tuck it behind his ear. It’s pretty clear now you’re together, even after such a bumpy start. 

“Can I get it in writing this time?” he asks, rubbing the tip of his nose against yours, your eyes fluttering closed in tandem. 

“Give you anything you want if you kiss me,” you murmur. 

His laugh fans over your lips. He cups your cheek, your heart a hummingbird drilling at your ribs as Steve moves in to kiss you properly. Your lips part under the pressure, your head tilting a touch to one side to accommodate him as he searches down for you, melty hot pleasure and nerves that never seem to fade arising as his thumb moves up your cheek, a semi-circle of touch. It promises undulating care whenever you want it. 

You tip your head aside to catch your breath.

“Better late than never,” you joke. 

Steve talks into the soft skin beside your mouth. “You weren’t late, babe. I was early, and I didn’t mind waiting.” 

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

thank u for reading!! pretty please like/reblog or comment if you enjoyed cos it means so much to me and inspires me to write even more!!! but either way i hope u enjoyed❤️❤️❤️

[munsonsreputation]

I SHOULD HATE YOU

steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: [22.3k]

warnings: warnings: no use of y/n, enemies to lovers, reader and steve use foul language towards each other (bitch, asshole, ect). blood (one of them gets hurt...but not bcs of each other), eventual smut (oral: both m and f receiving, fingering, piv, multiple o's,) minors gtfo before i superkick you!!!

summary: You and Steve Harrington hate each other’s guts…or at least you should, that is until a camp outing reveals everything that you both have been trying to hide.

You desperately wanted to see what everyone else saw in Steve Harrington that you didn’t. All those words of how he changed so much and had this entire redemption arc when he decided to finally stop giving shit about stupid high school social orders and commit his life to be the esteemed and reliable babysitter.

Hell, even Robin Buckley, the one girl who really couldn’t stand him a few years ago, was now his best friend, and Nancy Wheeler, his ex-girlfriend, could actually stand to be in his presence without wanting to cringe and vomit because she actually dated him. 

You just couldn’t see it in him no matter how hard you tried, not even the kids could convince you that Steve wasn’t all that bad anymore. If anything they gushed about how much they admired him. How he was the cool older brother figure that they all wanted and had wrapped around their fingers ready at their beck and call.

Everyone loved Steve, but to you it was just bullshit.

“Why the sad face, doll?”

Steve pouted feignedly, causing you to roll your eyes, slapping the flies away from your skin as you watched him pitch his stupid tent.

“I’m not sad. I’m more so annoyed.” You grunted out with a glare. 

“I told you to bring bug spray.” He reminded shaking his head, clearly amused seeing you get angry at the innocent flies.

“I did, but it doesn’t fucking work and for your information, I’m annoyed because you’re here.” You said through gritted teeth, slapping your neck as another one landed but flew away before you could kill it.

Steve snapped the poles into place, engrossed with his task.

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” he chimed in, standing with a straight smirk across his face, “I’m not particularly happy with your presence either seeing as though you’re not doing shit besides standing there being a bitch.”

Your eyes widened, arms crossing over your chest as you stared at him in disbelief. But by this point it shouldn’t have been so surprising granted that you and Steve never stopped bickering, even when you both should have known to ignore each other. 

“Oh, go fuck yourself, Harrington!” You shouted, turning on your heel and flipping him the bird as you walked away.

“Tell that to my right hand, sweet cheeks!” He called out with a whistle, reveling in the art of getting under your skin.

Nance and Jonathan exchanged amused glances, painfully familiar with how much you and Steve despised each other yet somehow got here alive without slitting each other's throats. But that didn’t seem like it was going to be lasting long seeing as though this was now the beginning to a very long night.

You plopped down onto the foldable chair, still wearing a scowl that didn’t seem to want to cease even with the distance you created between you and him.

“We barely got here and you’re already at each other's throats.”

Nancy shook her head not understanding why you both couldn’t be adults about this whole thing.

“He started it!” You insisted, pointing your finger in his direction.

Jonathan couldn’t help but jump in with a chuckle, feeling as if this was payback for all those times he and his brother Will gave his mom a hard time. Seriously, dealing with you both was identical to watching two toddlers tattle tale on each other for every little thing before toys and fists were thrown. 

“So now you’re playing the blame game?” He suspected.

You clicked your tongue, sitting up straighter, shoulders pulled back as you crossed your legs and placed your hands on top of your knees, ready to mock Steve and his privileged life that he just had to leave behind for the day. 

“Why couldn’t he just have stayed home in his stupid mansion, driving around in his stupid Beemer, where he could be stupid all by himself and leave us out of his stupid stupidity.” 

You seriously looked like you could end him with your bare hands — and if they didn’t know better they’d let you have a go at it just to see how far you would get. Surely Steve would put up a good fight too, probably make it quick and easy so he didn’t have to hear your voice anymore, but you would definitely be taking your time with him. 

“He’s the only one who’s ever been camping and if something happens then he’ll know what to do.”

Nancy attempted to reason with you, hoping you could see it through just this once, for just a couple hours.

You shrugged your shoulders, watching him in your peripheral vision.

“Whatever, as long as he stays away from me then I can make it through the next 24 hours.” You waved off. 

But Jonathan lugged up a box, plopping it before your feet with a loud clatter coming from inside of it, staring at you with a smile. 

“If you want to make it to at least tonight, I’d suggest you start getting to work.”

Cursing under your breath, you were beginning to rethink your choices of saying ‘yes’ to trip when you had not one outdoorsy bone in your body and surely no bone, not even a cell that could stand Steve Harrington.

But getting it pitched up yourself wasn’t all that bad considering the fact that the instructions were self explanatory and had images to make it easy to follow. It was that nagging, infuriating voice that belonged to Steve that was getting on your last nerve. Like a mosquito in your ear, he kept buzzing and buzzing and—

“Try again, you’re holding the pole backwards, smarty pants!” He called out, smirking to himself when you tried to ignore him by shutting him out and doing it at your own pace.

But ignoring him only fueled his determination to keep going, poking and prodding at your patience that was withering away by the second. Every snarky smartass remark was like nails on a chalkboard, causing your eye to twitch, teeth to grind, and self-restraint to grow weaker. 

“Your tent is gonna fly away in the middle of the night if you don’t make use of those stakes!”

“You shoulda listened to me, I told you that pole was in the wrong slot!”

“How about you put a little elbow grease into it and stop trying to put it together like you’re the goddamn princess of the camp ground!”

Your blood was damn nearly boiling, knuckles going white as you shoved the stupid pole into the other side, trying to get the frame to stay together. But your anger and rushing only made it worse, the wobbling frame threatening to give out on itself if you tried to force it in anymore than you already had. His whiny voice and every taunt that came with it just made you want to take the pole and use it for something else — silencing him.

Nancy and Robin had scolded Steve multiple times, knowing that your fuse with him was ridiculously short. Eddie and Jonathan, well-acquainted with your dynamic, kept their distance, observing from the sidelines not wanting to be caught in the impending storm between you two.

Eddie watched you carefully,  your jaw clenching, air pushing out of your nostrils and he was sure that if it was humanly possible there would be a hot steam coming from the top of your head. 

“Knock it off, man, she’s getting pissed.” He warned his friend, taking a swig of his beer, while he darted between you both.

Steve however, wasn’t threatened in the slightest, continuing to provoke you with another snide comment. 

“She won’t be pissed for long if a bear comes and mauls her in the middle of the night because she doesn’t know how to pitch a damn—”

That was the last straw.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” You screamed, ripping off the pole and storming towards Steve not caring how insane you looked.

Eddie quickly got on his feet, dropping his beverage and intervening just in time. 

“Not so fast!” He lifted you off the ground holding you back as Jonathan managed to wrangle the pole out of your hands.

Steve was having a fit of laughter, hunching over himself and grabbing at his midsection.

“You’re so easy to piss off.” He cackled, shaking his head at you and giving himself an imaginary point for already getting under your skin in the first hour of being there.

“You’re such an asshole!” You fumed, continuing to struggle in Eddie's grasp.

He kept his hold tight knowing if there was any room left for you to get away, it would most likely end with warfare. And while he and your friends never liked to come in between your tumultuous relationship, they knew letting you both rip each other apart wouldn't do anyone good – even if it gave them some peace.  

Nancy had had enough — the trip was supposed to be peaceful, getting to be one with nature and finally getting away from the kids for once, but of course, that wouldn’t happen seeing as though you and Steve acted like children possessed.

“Enough!” She shouted, bringing temporary silence as you both could feel the seriousness in her voice.

“You’re right, Steve is an asshole and because he feels so sorry, what he’s gonna do is finish pitching up your tent while we go to the lake to cool off. Got it?”

She turned towards him, her eyes widening, signaling Steve to comply for the sake of peace just this once.

But instead, he protested, standing up defiantly, “Hell no! I wouldn’t even pitch her tent if—”

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.” Nancy interrupted, not leaving any room for negotiation because at this point it was futile.

Robin gestured to the partially completed frame with a small shrug.

“It’s the least you can do, half of it is already done.” She said, hoping to lighten his mood about it. 

Reluctantly Steve huffed, glaring as he made his way over to you, faces only inches apart as everyone began to sigh, seeing as though you’d both be starting again. Eddie gripped you tight, not even giving you any wiggle room to try anything.

“You’re lucky Robin’s staying in your tent because if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t even think about finishing it.” Steve rasped begrudgingly smirking because you were a prisoner in shackles.

But you jutted your neck forward as if you were about to headbutt him which caused him to flinch back, holding his arm out front of his body. That alone made you cackle, just a taste of what you could have done to get him to shut up.

“Get to work, boy scout.” You sneered. 

Throwing Eddie’s arms off your midsection, you brushed right past him going towards your bag to get out a bikini to change into while the rest of them whispered their scoldings, particularly punctuating the importance of Steve not messing with you anymore because they couldn’t stand it.

Jonathan nudged Steve’s shoulder, a pleading expression on his face.

“Would it kill you to not be such a dickhead to her for one whole day?”

Steve dramatically gasped, wrapping his arms around his own neck pretending to suffocate, “Y-yes… I-I can’t breathe, no oxygen!”

His best friend rolled her eyes, unimpressed with his childish behavior “You’re such a dweeb, I swear.” she said, smacking the top of his head as she walked past him and followed you to the bathrooms.

“You heard her, get to work.”

Nance snapped her fingers, pointing sharply at the tent hoping that for once he’d listen.

Jonathan and Eddie decided to serve as watch guards knowing that if no one was here to watch him and make sure he did what he was told, he would probably let you sleep with a half assed tent while Robin stayed with him and Eddie. 

Maybe all you needed was to get as far away as possible from him… for as long as you could.

Stepping into the lake, the water felt nice against your skin, cooling down the sizzling blood still rushing in your veins and easing your body to a state of relaxation. If you closed your eyes hard enough and let the sun bask down on your face, you could pretend as if he wasn’t just a few feet away from you, grumbling like a whiny child forced into time out to write a hundred sentences.

You honestly should’ve known better than to agree to come along the trip knowing Steve was going to infect it with his existence, but your friends had convinced you otherwise, selling it as an opportunity to get out of Hawkins for a weekend and just enjoy each other’s company.

If you had known that Steve was going to be even more of a pain in the ass than usual, you would have never even thought about getting into Eddie van and driving all the way here with no other means to leave.

“I just don’t understand how he’s nice to everyone but you.” Robin pondered aloud, trying to understand the mystery between your relationship.

“It’s because he wants me dead, Robin, simple as that.” You deadpanned, seeing no other explanation to it other than pure hatred.

“Don’t be ridiculous, he doesn’t want you dead.” Nancy laughed, brushing off your comment knowing that Steve didn’t hate you that much.

“Oh my bad, I meant that he wants me to suffer a long excruciating death by letting his ego take up all the space in the room.”

Your voice leaked of sarcasm, eliciting laughs from the girls who found humor in what you saw as the truth.

Robin and Nancy knew there was no way the both of you could really hate each other as much as you both liked to think you did. If you really did hate each other for real, then you wouldn’t even dare to tolerate each other's presence but you both did — and while sure most times it was for the sake of your friends, by now one of you should’ve been fed up enough to leave.

Their laughter faded, Robin staring at you with a mischievous smirk as you waded in the water, enjoying the temporary peace. Perhaps she could be out of line with the thoughts brewing up in her head, but it was just a theory — a possible reasoning for you and Steve’s differences.

“Did you ever stop and think that maybe you two might get along better if you liked each other in a different way?” She wiggled her brows before biting her lip. 

And like that, the peace was gone.

“Absolutely fucking not!” You shouted, rejecting it with clear disgust as you began splashing her in retaliation.

She giggled some more, trying to shield herself from the large splashes as Nancy swam off to the side, happy that at least you were having some fun now, even if the conversation still revolved around Steve. Robin swam through the splashes, wrapping her hands around yours to make them stop before you both began laughing, letting her hug you as an apology for her words.

“You’re so lucky I love you.” You grumbled, leaning closer to her to rest your cheek against her shoulder.

“Opposites attract, you know.” She continued to tease and you poked at her side, glaring half jokingly.

“Not him and I.” You declared sternly, gaze moving back up to the shore where the men still gathered near your tent.

It was nice not having to watch you stick your nose up and complain about the flies as if it was the end of the world. Without you in his ear and sights, he could finally enjoy just a smidge of the day, even if it was pitching his mortal enemy’s tent. If he didn’t think about it too much, he’d forget that it would be keeping you safe and you’d wake up the next morning, living another day to make his life miserable.

Tugging the tarp into place, he zipped it up and down making sure it slid smoothly before dusting off his hands and taking a step back to examine your his work. He tilted his head, shrugging his shoulders not in the mood to fix the lousy frame.

“Besides the crooked roof, it’s not that bad.” He announced, more so glad that his punishment was over.

Jonathan grinned, patting him on the back with a hopeful look as if this was the turning point.

“Well you should tell her she didn’t do a bad job then! Say something nice to her for once.”

Steive chortled looking over to him in disbelief before wagging his finger mockingly.

“Over my dead body.”

Jonathan sighed, sliding away from him and going to grab another beer for himself. Slowly but surely he was giving up on the idea of trying to get you and Steve to get along for the weekend. At this point, he and Nance’s plan was failing terribly, seeing as though neither of you said one good thing to each other all day and it probably would never happen.

Eddie rolled his eyes, resting his back against the tree as he watched you and the girls spinning in the water enjoying yourselves.

“Why can’t you both just put your differences aside and get along?” He wondered, seeing as though you were both capable of being happy, just why not with each other.

Steve darted his eyes up to his obviously, “She’s had it out for me since day one. Never liked me and never even tried to.”

Walking over to your bags, he picked them up along with Robin’s placing them in the tent, but he more so threw yours in, not giving a damn if the tent shook with it.

Eddie sighed, going over to fix it nicely into a corner when Steve turned away.

“To be fair, you haven’t tried to like her either so the odds were never going to be in your favor to begin with.” Jonathan pointed out truthfully.

How were the both of you ever going to get along if you held so much against each other without trying to see it through?

“You sure you don’t have a thing for her deep down? They always say that people who hate each other really just have to settle their differences in bed so they can see eye to eye.” Eddie snickered, patting his back stiffly. 

The thought alone made Steve sick. Kissing you? Hugging you? Actually enjoying your existence? That sounded like a nightmare from hell if he’d ever dreamt one. Eddie and Jonathan found it a bit comical, even taking notice of their friends silence, his mind thinking up all the dirty and—

A hard smack landed on Eddie’s arm.

“I don’t know where the hell you heard that from, but I wouldn’t even sleep with her if we were the last two people on Earth.” Steve sneered, nose sticking up with disgust.

Edide rubbed at the skin, he and Jonathan watched as Steve walked away, tugging his shirt off and beginning to make his way into the lake without another word. They knew it was inevitable, the hatred that was brewing in his bones for you, was just a ploy for something else — something you and him didn’t see quite but everyone else did.

“Twenty they finally kiss?” Jonathan challenged, turning to him with an open hand.

Eddie cackled, smirking smugly.

“Twenty-five they end up hooking up tonight,” he added to the wager and to the lines that you and him would cross.

“Deal.”

You rolled your eyes, detaching yourself from Robin catching the sight of Steve inching his way into the lake. Soon after Jonathan and Eddie followed suit, running in like chickens with their heads cut off and splashing all of you with their boy-ness.

It frustrated you more than the way it should have made you angry — the way all your friends could seamlessly get along with him as if he wasn't the worst person you ever met. He even embraced Jonathan in a bromance hug as if at one point in their lives they didn’t despise each other for the girl they both liked.

It was so… confusing?

You let them bask in the presence of Steve, knowing that while you didn’t enjoy time with him, you would never try to rob the rest of your friends from it. Instead you went off on your own, going in just a bit deeper for some privacy as they lingered a few feet behind you.

“Don’t go too far out!” Nancy called out to you knowing you weren’t the best swimmer.

“I know, mom!” You singsonged, looking up at the sky and taking it all in — random cloud shapes and the birds that flocked above.

The camp ground was two hours out from Hawkins, tucked away in a nicer part of town, of course, Steve was the one who suggested the place. Nevertheless it was actually breathtaking, a nice contrast to the small town that you all came from which didn’t have a lake that compared to this, just good ole’ Lover’s Lake and Sattler Quarry.

This would probably be your first and last time camping, so you were trying to make the most of it, not letting the little scuffle totally ruin your experience. You had wished you brought your polaroid along, wanting to snap photos of the view to remember it by but in hindsight it was better to live in the moment.

“Let’s play sharks and minnows!” Robin announced cheerfully, wanting to seize the moment and do something fun she remembered from childhood.

You didn’t pay them any mind, your silence serving as an answer that you’d be sitting that game out and enjoying watching them instead.

Steve cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting loudly, “I call shark!”

They erupted in shrieks, splashing their way farthest from Steve, getting a head start since he was a skilled swimmer. 

Eddie, who was a distance away yelled out, “Ready, set, go!”

Steve didn’t even bother mapping out everyone else, they weren’t his prey, you were.

“Better get moving, princess!”

Steve wore an irritatingly smug look, catching your eyes before he dove under the water and made his way towards you.

Your eyes widened, flaring your arms back as you attempted to doggy paddle away from him but it was obvious that he had the upper hand with his skill set. The tips of your toes started to slip from the ground, water pushed up to your collarbones as you still tried to get away from him without drowning.

It was futile trying to lose him, you didn’t even dare to inch further back knowing by then the water would submerge you fully. Instead you opted to sweep the water against him the closer he got to you, though he was unaffected by it still swimming with ease.

“Steve, stop! Go away!” You shouted, kicking your legs trying to get him back.

“Gotcha!” He grinned, popping his head out of the water to stand up straight and wrap his arms around your midsection

You pushed at his chest, trying to get away. “You dickwad! I wasn’t even playing!”

“Too bad!” He stuck his tongue out at you, gripping your skin just a tad tighter and hoisting your legs around his hips.

“Steve put me down, I swear to fucking…oh my god!” You exclaimed, quickly moving your arms around his neck when you felt the woosh of water against your back when he moved you both deeper into the water.

You watched your friends over his shoulder become smaller and smaller, until they were little specks on the shore waving with shit eating grins on their faces knowing that Steve wouldn’t actually do anything to hurt you.

Despite how disgusted you were being so close to him, you had no choice but to hang on for dear life. Steve gave you a bit of height with you over his hips, and had it not been for that, you’d be drowning by now.

“S-Steve, please I can’t swim!” You begged, eyes finally daring to meet him and for once you weren’t looking at him with such disgust but with desperation.

His face contorted with surprise, eyebrows raised and mouth held wide open before tugging up into a lopsided smirk.

“Never thought I’d ever hear that word come out of your mouth… let me hear it one more time?”

His grip barely went slack as you whimpered, using your legs to jerk him back to you before you slapped his chest, fingers gripping his biceps under the water and letting your nails dig painfully into his skin.

“Get me back to the shallow! Right now!” You growled, watching as he winced a bit hissing in a sharp breath feeling the sting.

Seriously, if you were a better swimmer, you’d be out of his grasp by now and holding his head underwater until he floated like dead weight. He had the advantage over you, but you’d be damned if you didn’t at least put up a fight.

“What’s the magic word?” He teased, exhaling as your nails eased out of his skin yet somehow you still held on to him not wanting to take a risk no matter how revolting he was.

“I. hate. you!” You screamed, starting to thrash around in his arms hoping that your struggle would annoy him so much that he’d bring you back to the shallow just so he wouldn’t have to deal with you.

But instead, he loosened his grip again, using it against you because just as he suspected, you seized your movements immediately, looped your hands around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.

“Still waiting on that magic word.” He singsoned, not being too cruel this time around, wrapping his arms securely around your frame, not actually thinking he’d ever let you go.

You hoped your friends couldn’t read your lips from there or else you wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Please.” You gave in, whispering it against his neck.

The hair on the back of his neck stood tall, shivers creeping up his spine feeling a twinge of sympathy for you, but not too much to spare, when you cursed his name right after the fact. Satisfied, he spun around, guiding the two of you back to the bank where you were more comfortable.

Letting out a breath of relief, you relaxed your arms and slightly loosened your legs from around his waist, a little surprised at yourself for being able to stand his skin sticking to yours for so long. This was the most contact you and Steve had ever endured with each other. All of the previous encounters consisted of you smacking him and him chasing you with something gross like a dead roach.

“You didn’t think I’d actually let you drown, did you?” Steve asked, looking down at you.

You rolled your eyes, staring up at him past your lashes. “I don’t know, you’re quite the asshole so I thought so.”

He ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek, tsking disapprovingly.

“Such a shame you think so lowly of me,” he said acting hurt as rolled your eyes yet again, “here’s payback for earlier.”

His arms abruptly left your body, letting you actually slip out of his hold watching as you went down with a screech that quickly died. You shut your eyes tightly, arms pushing yourself up to the surface where you coughed roughly, his stupid laughter filling your ears when you came to.

“I still hate you!”

You huffed, splashing him once more before trudging towards your friends who watched with glee, thankful for the five minutes of free entertainment that didn’t involve them.

Steve stood where he was, arms crossed, face dripping with lake water, but still wearing a wide smile, more than happy with his little stunt and the fact that he got your blood pressure rising. Something about riling you up, filled him up with a sort of satisfaction, yet he wouldn’t ever admit that you were the only person who could get under his skin the same way he did you.

Surprisingly enough, he stayed away from you during the rest of the time in the lake. Instead, he bothered Eddie and Robin with his stupid ideas to race across the lake and find the biggest pebble to see who could skip it the farthest.

Thankfully for you, you got the bathe in the sunlight, enjoying conversation with Jonathan and Nancy who at first bothered you about the whole you in his arms thing, but eventually gave up when you gave them the death stare. You obviously were holding back something considering you never missed a beat to berate Steve, but this time around, you didn’t even want to get into it — they wondered why?

As the sun slowly began to tumble, casting oranges and pinks in the sky, you felt your fingertips becoming overly pruney, cueing your desire to get out and get freshened up for the evening.

“I’m gonna go wash up.” You announced raising a hand over your forehead to block the light as you stared out at them in the water.

“We’ll be out in a bit!” Robin called through her laughter, continuing her fun in chasing Eddie and Jonathan around in the water with a stick she had found.

You carefully tiptoed through the rocks, making your way up to the camp ground. The tent wasn’t half bad, and to your surprise Steve had actually followed through on his task of finishing it. You’d guess that if he wasn’t so intimidated by Nancy and her threats, he wouldn’t even think about doing it, nevertheless at least now you could say Steve did something useful for you for once, even if it was against his will.

Your bag was already conveniently placed in your tent, so you grabbed your toiletries, a clean towel, and your change of clothes before you walked over to the communal bathrooms where the showers were also located. Thankfully it was just you and your friends on the grounds, so it was fairly clean and had more privacy than usual which was always nice.

You pulled the curtains to one of the stalls back, assessing the area before putting your things down on the shelf and hanging your towel on the railing, stepping in and pulling the curtains closed. Stripping off your swimwear, you wringed out the excess water and hung them on the adjacent wall letting them air dry for the time being.

Cranking the lever, the shower head spritzed alive, letting semi-warm water sprinkle across your skin, rinsing you free of the lake water. You hummed to yourself, raking your fingers through the knots and tangles of your hair, doing your best to get them out before rubbing the skin over your neck and chest.

“You really should have picked the stall away from the sunlight.”

Steve’s voice echoed, halting his footsteps in the doorway as he stared at the figure behind the curtain, the only other person in here was you and he could definitely tell by your pedicured toes peeking under the gap of the shower.

Clenching your jaw, your hands stopped its movements over your body, turning your head over your shoulder as you were met with Steve’s shadow staring right on the other side. If you squinted hard enough you could make out the smirking features on his face, but to your obvious surprise all you could do was shriek.

“Oh my god!” You shielded yourself with your arms as if that would help, seeing as though the curtain alone wasn’t doing its job of saving you your dignity.

He held his hands up, gesturing his arm up and down at the curtain.

“Relax, I can only see your shadow because of the sun.” He explained nonchalantly, walking into the stall beside yours and switching the water on.

You swallowed, still not trusting him completely as you stepped forward, peeling back the curtain a bit to see if anyone else was coming that way.

“Are the rest of them coming? I need to save myself the embarrassment and move to another stall if they are.” You asked rapidly, really hoping that neither of your friends or any visitors would be greeted with your naked silhouette the second they stepped in there.

“They’re playing chicken in the lake so no, they won’t be coming any time soon.” He responded, sounding actually sincere for once, because while he enjoyed messing with you, he still respected your privacy enough to know setting you up like that wasn’t cool.

See… there were boundaries between your hatred, probably ones so low the bar was on the floor...but they were boundaries.

“Thank god.” You sighed, tugging the portion of the curtain closed and walking back into the stream of the water, squeezing some shampoo into your hands as you began lathering it through your scalp.

“By the way, are your tits pierced or were you just excited to see me?”

Your eyes widened, a gasp leaving your mouth while your fingers stopped. His incessant laughter bounced off the walls and rang in your ears like the worst kind of pain, wishing you had taken your chances earlier and at least tried to drown him.

“You’re such a pig!” You said, banging your hands on his side of the wall until his laughter died down scoffing.

He grunted, tapping your wall back harder. “Learn how to take a joke and stop getting your panties in a twist.”

“What’s a joke is that rumor about you being so largely endowed.” You began pretending to gag.

“I heard Stacy Burnham asked you if it was even in and when you said yes she was so disappointed.” You sassed sharply, hoping it would embarrass him enough to shut up.

“I didn’t even hook up with Stacy Burnham!” He retorted ridiculously, knowing that rumor was so absurd and untrue.

You rolled your eyes and wished he could see you, “Not surprised, it probably didn’t feel like much for you either when you’re packing less than three inches.”

Steve scoffed loudly, knowing that was definitely not true and it wasn’t just his ego talking. 

“Oh trust me, you wouldn’t even be able to take half of what I’m packing.”

“A half inch? Yeah, cause I’d be too busy crying with disappointment.” You faked sobbed, flipping him off though he couldn’t even see you. 

He didn’t have a comeback, clearly not in the mood to argue about what he was packing because truly you’d only believe him if you saw it for yourself. And trust him, he’d burn himself alive before ever thinking about seeing you naked or letting you see him naked.

That was just totally out of the question… and like he told Eddie, it would never happen even if you both were the last people on Earth.

“Let me borrow some soap.” Steve muttered knocking on your wall, hand dangling above your stall waiting for you to pass it over.

“No.” You chuckled, smacking his hand before you grabbed your body wash and rubbed it against your palms to create bubbles.

“Why not?” He coaxed, not putting his hand back down into his stall as you sighed and went on about washing your body.

“You tried to kill me earlier and let me drown.” You reminded him.

“And what would you call that little stunt back there when you tried to stab me to death?” He retorted.

You were quiet, rolling your eyes knowing that he wouldn’t let this go any time soon, so in order to save both of your energies, you simply picked up the bottle of shampoo, thrusting it up into his hand as he chuckled to himself and grabbed it.

“See! Sharing is caring, now, if you need to borrow some brains you know where to find me.”

“Shut the fuck up.” You snapped, trying to enjoy the rest of your shower despite knowing that the only thing that separated you both was a wall.

You showered in complete silence, only Steve knocking on your wall to give you back the products, fingers tapping against his palm to silently ask you for the next. After a few minutes you had finished, finally shutting the water off as you dried down.

You slipped your legs through a fresh pair of underwear, letting it snap against your skin as you worked the fitted cami over your torso and then slipped on the shorts that you rolled over your hips to stop them from falling.

Whipping the curtain back, you didn’t wait for Steve to finish, simply leaving him as you went back towards the tents to hang your still wet swimsuit over a tree branch and stuffing your things back into your bag.

After a few minutes he came out, walking over with his towel around his neck, sporting a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. 

“Well you’re definitely getting eaten alive by mosquitoes tonight.” He shook his head at your rookie mistake, laughing along with it. 

You looked down at yourself, much of your skin left exposed for the same flies that badgered you earlier to feast upon.

“Give me a break, I didn’t know there would be so many flies.”

He walked over to his stuff, plucking out the aerosol can and tossing it over to you, “Here.” 

You caught it, looking over the bottle label as he spoke, “It’s the only brand of bug spray that actually works.” 

“Thanks.” You mumbled, twisting the bottle open and misting it over your arms and legs, letting the product coat every inch with a light sheen.

You tossed it back, working it into your skin as Steve took his turn to spray it on his exposed arms and neck knowing from experience that waking up to a hundred fly bites was the most uncomfortable itchy pain to be in.

“How were the showers?” Eddie huffed, water dripped off his body as he made his way up to you both, the rest of them following behind.

“Fine, just don’t pick the stall directly at the entrance. Wouldn’t want anyone getting an eye full.”

Steve smirked as you turned beet red, tucking your face into your chest and walking to your bag to pretend to search for something.

Nancy wrapped her arms around herself, biting back the cool air that was coming in from the day winding down.

“Why don’t you guys get started on the fire so that way we can have dinner soon.”

Sunset was just nearly finishing up, only about a half hour of sunlight left before darkness would set in. Steve knew from experience that keeping the fire overnight would be the best bet at having means to some light and warmth.

He nodded, looking around for the items to get it going, “Yeah, sure, where’s the charcoal?”

“Charcoal?” Jonthan asked, confused, scratching the temple of his head, not remembering seeing it when you were all loading Eddie’s van that morning.

Steve nodded his head obviously, looking around at the group. “For the fire? I told you guys to pick it up.”

You sighed, standing up to face them with your hands on your hips. “Don’t tell me you guys forgot it.” 

“Are we doomed if we say we did?” Eddie spoke, a guilty inflection in his voice, because he was totally in charge of that but it had slipped his mind.

Steve shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just means that now we have to find some sticks and leaves. Do it the old fashioned way.”

Robin the ever so considerate one, starting snapping her fingers, pointing between you and Steve biting back her sneaky smile.

“So stop standing around and start searching! We don’t want to lose daylight before then.”

Taking a deep breath in you held back your comments of how you didn’t want to go anywhere alone with Steve since he obviously had a death wish for you. However it was obvious that this was going to be a group effort, and if you wanted to make it out of here alive, you would just have to suck it up and follow Steve’s lead.

He stared down at your bare feet, pointing at your tent.

“Put some shoes on and let’s go.” He said, before the others smiled contently, running off to the showers and leaving you both alone again.

“This is the last time I’m ever camping.” You grumbled sliding on a fresh pair of socks and slipping your shoes on, bending to tie them up.

Steve tapped his foot against the grass, shaking his head at you and your ability to nit-pick every little thing.

“You know, it would be more enjoyable if you’d stop making every minor inconvenience a big deal.”

You finished off the ties with a tug, walking over to him and glaring at his hypocrisy with an instance you were all too familiar with.

“Are you really one to be talking Mr. I got mad at Dustin Henderson for using up all my hairspray even when my date flaked on me?”

He hated that you remembered that even when it had been months ago since it happened. Neither you nor Dustin let him live it down because it was the first time he let a girl get in between his extraordinary ability to be the charming babysitter he made himself out to be. Dustin, so annoyed with his attitude, didn’t ask Steve for any rides to the arcade nor did he visit him at Scoops for a whole two weeks.

Instead, you took on the babysitting role, driving him to the arcade, dropping him off to school, and even picking the kid up at Star Court when all his friends caught a ride with Steve to be dropped off back at their place. Steve thought Dustin was being ridiculous about the whole thing until you pulled up in your car, wearing the biggest smile as you rolled down your window and sent him a cold smirk.

“Not such a great babysitter anymore, huh?” You laughed, watching as his face fell and Dustin got into the passenger of your car, waving goodbye to his friends while you sped off.

Safe to say, Steve apologized to the kid, terribly sorry and embarrassed by his behavior and even throwing in a bottle of hairspray and a free banana split every time he came into Scoops as an apology gift.

The two of you followed the trail a few feet out from the campground, trucking through an uneven rocky path and outgrown bushes. He was clearly more familiar with the area given his experience, knowing exactly where to go, taking a shortcut that passed cut through the bumpy trail and led you to a small area of dirt and trees.

“We’re looking for sticks about this size, but really any twig or stick will do.” He spoke, reaching down to pick up a large stick and show it to you.

You looked around, eyes peeled out for the sticks that were scattered in the area.

“And what about leaves?” you asked.

“Those too, but they’ve gotta be dry, almost crumbly.” He specified, walking off to start the collection process.

“Got it.”

You and Steve worked the best when there was no talking involved, perhaps that's why your friends always suggested going out to see a movie at the theaters instead of at each other's homes where you both would clearly not give a damn about causing a disturbance. But despite that, right then you both were going a whole ten minutes without insulting one another or making threats to see the other dead.

When you picked up the wrong stick of a leaf that wasn’t crumbly enough, he just grunted, shaking his head until you dropped it and found another that would suffice. That system was working well so far, so maybe that was the key: limited talking.

“Go drop that pile off and come back for more, we’re gonna need a whole bunch to last until morning.” Steve instructed, noticing that you had already gathered quite a bit in your arms.

You peered into his arms, his pile about the same size as yours, maybe a little smaller.

“Want me to take some of yours?” You suggested, wanting to save you both a few more trips up there.

He nodded, carefully stacking them on top of what you already had, steadying the pile and removing the bigger ones to ensure it didn’t tumble over while you were walking down. When you got all that you could carry, Steve gave you a cautious look.

“Be careful and walk slowly, the path gets rocky when you get closer to the camp. If you fall, just scream and I’ll hear you.” He was so serious about it, like a true camp counselor, or as you liked to call him...

“Heard you loud and clear, boy scout.” You hummed, turning around and making your way carefully down the trail.

For once you actually listened to what he said, taking your time and not rushing your way down knowing it wouldn’t do you or him any good if you ended up taking a spill and losing all the fire starter then scratching yourself up in the process. You remembered the shortcut he took, a right turn that he conveniently marked with a X in the dirt. Just a little more walking before the campsite came back into view and still no signs of your friends being done yet.

You dumped the sticks and leaves near the outside of the fire pit that was in the center of the camp. Dusting your hands off and taking a deep breath, you looked back up the hilly trail where Steve was somewhere up there waiting for you to come back.

“C’mon, princess.” You muttered to yourself, feet taking you back there with fast steps trying to beat the sunlight.

Clearly the outdoors just wasn’t your thing, easily becoming winded despite the fact that the trail wasn’t that steep. But you were trying to cut yourself some slack because for a rookie, you kinda got the hang of keeping your balance and not getting lost through the unknown woods.

“H-how many more piles do we need? I can’t do this five more times.” You huffed, hands on your hips as you caught your breath watching Steve dump a few more sticks in a pile on the ground.

He peered over at you, wiping the sweat that beaded on his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Probably one more, will do.” He answered, strolling further up, just to grab a bit more in case.

You honestly didn’t know how a small town city boy like him was so good at things like this — usually he was only good at picking up girls and making a doofus out of himself when he didn’t know how to talk about anything else beside him. 

Maybe it was those annual Harrington trips he took when he was a little boy or maybe he really was secretly a boy scout and been hiding it all along, either way, thank god it was him doing most of the dirty work and not you.

“Should I bring these down or do you want me to wait?” You shouted loud enough for him to hear glancing over at the piles he made while you picked a few more sticks up.

“You can— fuck!” He winced, clutching his palm in his other hand, starting to feel a sharp pain shoot in around the area. 

Hastily you dropped the sticks, abandoning the pile and racing to where he was while trying not to fall so that you could see what exactly was going on. There was a pained look on his face, teeth biting into his bottom lip as he turned away and tried to shake it off. But alas you reached for his wrist, bringing his hand towards you to access.

“Shit, you’re bleeding.” You whispered, bringing the injured hand closer to see if the gash was deep or not, but you couldn’t quite tell with the small pooling of blood in the way.

Steve jutted his chin downwards, showing you the jagged stone responsible.

“I didn’t see it when I went for the stick.” He explained. 

You nodded, releasing his wrist gently. “C’mon, we need to get it cleaned and bandaged before it gets infected.”

“I gotta grab the—”

“No!” You yelped, pulling him up by the collar of his shirt when he attempted to bend down for more sticks despite his injury.

He stopped, visibly stunned at your sudden attentiveness that was usually never present when it came to him.

“I’ll carry those, but you don’t pick up or hold anything else. If a splinter gets in there I’ll be the one needing to dig it out and it'll only hurt more.” You said sternly, shaking your head at him like he should have known better. 

“I thought you liked seeing me in pain.” Steve smirked somehow still able to be a little shit even with a fucked up hand. 

“I do,” You tilted your head, but sighed, “But I really don’t need the one person who actually knows what they’re doing to be the first one dead.”

“Fine by me.” Steve shrugged, forced to watch you pick up all the sticks and leaves by yourself, he followed behind you as you occasionally looked behind your shoulder to see if he was okay.

When you both finally made it back to the tents, you dropped the pile, pointing at the foldable chairs a few feet from the pit.

“Go over there.” You instructed, brushing past him with vigor as you went to your tent to retrieve the first aid kit you packed for emergencies like this, though you were really hoping you didn’t have to use it.

You flipped the case open, taking a look at all the materials it contained while you walked over to him, kneeling in front of him and deciding what you were going to do. Grabbing an alcohol wipe, you disinfected your hands before you tapped his knee.

“Show me.” You demanded, holding your hand out, until he reluctantly placed it in yours giving you a closer look at the gash.

The blood had stopped so you knew it wasn’t that deep of a cut that would require stitches or staples, but it most definitely needed to be wrapped up to prevent an infection and trip to the emergency room.

You reached into the kit for a fresh alcohol pad, ripping it open with your teeth as you steadied his hand in yours.

“Just get it over with already.” He muttered, head turning away anticipating the sting that was going to be worse than your nails digging into him.

“Don’t be a wimp.” You joked, swiping it gently over the area to get it clear from the drying blood and any outside contaminants. He didn’t pull back, only sucking in a deep breath from the mild burn but after a few seconds the worst part was done.

“See, not so bad, right, big boy?” You laughed, patting his knee again before throwing aside the bloodied napkin as he swallowed thickly, waiting for your next steps.

He watched you carefully, grabbing some sort of ointment, squeezing a small dollop onto your finger before you dabbed it over the cut making sure to coat it evenly. Then you placed two pieces of gauze over the top to keep it extra clean and enclosed. 

You repositioned his arm, letting his elbow rest upright on his knee.

“I’m gonna tape you up now, so try not to get it wet, but if you do I can always rewrap it.” You told him, getting the tape ready.

Steve was surprised by your skill, expertly maneuvering the tape through his fingers, across his palm and over his wrist, repeating it a few times to ensure that the gauze wouldn’t budge and would keep the cut sealed tight.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” He asked curiously, watching as you smoothed out the creases as you went.

You shrugged, doing one last wrap around for good measure, “I had a phase where I thought I wanted to be a nurse.” You grinned, teeth wrapping around the excess tape to rip it off before you flattened the remainder over his wrist.

He nodded slowly, stammering out,“T-thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” You brushed it off, cleaning up the bloody wipes and putting the first aid kit back in your bag after disinfecting your hands once more. 

The sun was nearly covered by the clouds, painting the sky a darker orange shade as nightfall threatened to spill over soon. At this point, the fire needed to be started, now — no more distractions and no more arguing.

“So?” You shot Steve a look, then back down at the fire pit, “Wanna tell me what I need to do to get this thing started or what?”

Steve was more than capable of getting it done himself with one good hand, but seeing as though you were pretty stern in his efforts to not carry a single stick, not even a paper light leaf, he knew this would be no different. Instead he moved to stay beside you, acting as supervisor just so he could make sure you were doing the right thing.

“You’re gonna wanna start by making a bed with the leaves.” He instructed, watching as you dropped down on your hands and knees to get low enough into the pit as you threw them in, trying your best to make it as leveled as possible.

“It looks good,” He praised, giving you a tight smile when you looked up at him waiting for the next steps.

“You want to do it the old fashioned way or do you want to use Eddie’s lighter?” He chuckled, knowing he’d pick the easy way just like you were going to.

“Fuck that, I’m not a cave woman, where the hell is the lighter?” You strided towards his and Eddie’s tent, rummaging through the metal heads duffle bag until you felt the familiar body of the lighter.

You went back into place, flicked it on and looked at Steve cautiously until he nodded, granting you permission to set the bed of leaves on fire. Blindlessly you passed the lighter up to him, watching as the flames slowly engulfed the leaves and began to crackle.

“Now start adding a few sticks. We’re gonna need to add more throughout the night to feed the fire.” He said watching as you carefully threw some in, doing your best to cover the bed beneath it until only a little of the fire was exposed.

“Alright, that’s good enough.” He bent down patting your shoulder and feeling the warmth of the fire starting to get hotter.

“Well that wasn’t so hard.” You grinned to yourself dusting off your hands and knees, happy with your outdoor accomplishments thus far.

“Technically the lighter made the fire.” He shot back, flicking it between you both as you rolled your eyes and blew the flame out.

“Oh shut it.” You muttered, going to busy yourself with something else while Steve put the lighter back where it came from.

You propped open the rest of the chairs, randomly placing them around everyones tents and two extra ones right in front of the fire pit. Steve was watching the fire, making sure it didn’t get too big or burned too slowly — so far the bed of leaves you built were holding up and it didn’t seem like it’d be going out until morning tomorrow.

After a few minutes the voices of your friends came tumbling out of the bathrooms, seeing them all dressed in their PJ’s that somehow showed they were more prepared than you. All of them decked out in long sleeves, hoodies, and sweatpants — god, you wished you got the memo.

“Damn this is cool! I’ve only ever seen a campfire in movies!” Eddie enthusiastically ran closer, peering into the bright orange pit.

You looked over at all of them, dramatically holding your arms wide open.

“Were you guys having a foursome or something?! Steve and I did all the work and he even got banged up in the process.” You said, walking over to him to lift and show them his injured hand.

Robin gasped, running up to his side to check up on him, obviously worried for her best friend, “What the heck happened.”

Steve shrugged looking over at you with a somewhat grateful look, “Grazed a sharp rock, but it’s fine. She wrapped it up and we’re all good to go now.”

“Well shit, sorry we took so long,” Jonathan apologized half-heartedly, while his mind was celebrating that you both actually seemed to work well together when it was needed. 

“Eddie and Robin thought they saw a spider in the showers so we all had to take turns using one stall.” Nancy rolled her eyes, giving you an apologetic look, the both of you knowing Robin and Eddie were a tad bit dramatic at times.

“It’s fine, but you can make it up to us by cooking.” You grinned, you and Steve giving each other a sly look before you pointed at the icebox of food waiting to be cooked.

So you and Steve finally got to kick back… in silence of course.

You both sat in the foldable chairs, watching as the four worked diligently over the fire — Nancy holding skewers of hot dogs over the flame, Robin prodding at the potatoes wrapped in foil with a pair of tongs, Jonathan toasting the hot dog buns one by one, and Eddie feeding the fire with a few more smaller sticks.

He peered over at your silent figure, watching the way you zoned off into your own world, somehow right beside him yet a world away. You were probably thinking about something else, either all the remarks you wanted to snap his way yet were held back or maybe you were making a list of new ones to call him tomorrow. 

But he cleared his throat, attempting to get you back here with him, “Do you uhh, want a drink?” Steve asked, breaking the silence.

You blinked, turning to watch him flip open the cooler to grab himself a beer while he looked back at you waiting for your request. 

“Water, please.” You said, watching as he dug his non injured hand into the ice box to pull you out an ice cold water bottle, shutting the box closed.

“Thank you.” You said softly twisting it open to take a sip.

While doing so, you furrowed your brows, noticing the way that Steve struggled with the twist off since he was using his non-dominant hand. He almost went to put the bottle in his mouth to use his pearly whites as an opener before you quickly capped off your drink and stepped in.

“Give it here.” You said, taking the glass from his hand, and tucking the lid under your shirt to stop it from pinching your skin as you effortlessly twisted it open.

“Thank you.” Steve nodded with a small smile, taking it from you as you shook your head with a grin and went back to watching your friends.

Steve couldn’t wrap his head around how you could be so selfless but at the same time so selfish. You’d do anything your friends asked of you at the drop of a hat, maybe even without them asking to begin with — you’d just jump in and do it. But when it came to him, half the time you didn’t give a damn, ignoring every warning or piece of unwarranted advice he’d thrown your way.

It was utterly confusing, considering that you were the most selfless person to him today than you’d ever been before. You could’ve left him to deal with the cut by himself seeing as though he still had one good hand left, and honestly you could’ve left him to do the stick and leaf collecting all by himself… but you didn’t.

On a regular day if he even dared to ask for your help, the answer would be “no,” with no explanation other than the fact that you just didn’t want to have anything to do with him. So it struck a chord in his mind, wondering why now? It couldn’t just be because you both were in the middle of nowhere, he knew that much. 

Why all of a sudden was there this shift, the one where you helped him without receiving anything back?

“How is the food coming along?” You whistled towards your friends.

Nancy smiled widely, holding one of the skewers up, “It’s almost done! Maybe two more minutes!”

Robin pouted, snapping the metal tongs to get your attention, “The potatoes need a bit more time, they’re still hard as rocks.” she huffed, resting her chin on her knees.

“Did you poke them with holes?” You wondered as she frowned and shook her head.

“Was I supposed to? I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” She apologized ridiculously for something that wasn’t a big deal.

You shook your head shooting her a reassuring smile.

“S’okay! They’re gonna cook through, but sometimes poking holes just speeds it up a bit… It's okay! If anything, we can have them for breakfast.”

“Okie dokie!” She smiled, happy that she didn’t entirely sit there for nothing. 

He hated himself for watching you so carefully, taking notice of the bright smile you flashed against the moonlight and how your voice was so syrupy sweet. He never took notice of it before, but you had a radiance about you, something that everyone seemed to catch except him.

Maybe it was because half the time you were shooting daggers through him and screaming your lungs off, but now, for the first time, he felt like he was seeing a different side of you — the one he tried to fight off knowing for so long.

“Are you okay?” You furrowed your brows, waving your hand in front of Steve’s face.

He shook his head, snapping out of it and nodding awkwardly, “Y-yeah, I’m fine… you?”

“I’m okay.” You told him,  turning your attention back to your friends. 

Maybe it was your tiredness that was preventing you from being the bitch that you usually were to him or maybe you felt a little bad for him because of his injuries, but whatever it was filled the air with some sort of calmness that usually wasn’t around when he was in your vicinity.

Really, on most days, if you’d caught Steve staring at you, which most times he wasn’t unless it was full of revulsion, you would have snapped and told him to take a lap, but it was almost as if you could feel what his eyes were doing.

His gaze drinking you in slowly like the beer in his hands and trying to understand your craft. He didn’t stare through you, nor at you, but to you… trying to get under your skin in a way he hadn’t done before.

It felt…weird, so awkwardly weird. On a regular day the both of you could barely go two minutes without cursing each other out the second either of you spoke a word to each other. Now all of a sudden you both had your P’s and Q’s ready for each other along with genuine concerns about the other’s wellbeing?

God, you both couldn’t wait for it to go back to normal.

“Food’s ready!” Eddie called out, slicing through the unspoken tension.

You and Steve stood up, heading towards the food knowing you were both dying to have something in your systems after a long day. Beating him to it, you plated him a hot dog swiftly moving on as if the little gesture meant nothing.

“Condiments?” You asked, picking up the ketchup bottle, giving it a good shake before squeezing a dollop on your plate.

“Huh?” He asked confused, too wound up about your niceness.

“Do you want any condiments on your hot dog?” You clarified once more, raising your brow up at him.

He needed to stop reading into things so much.

“Oh, y-yeah” He nodded, watching as you squeezed some for him, “and mustard please,” he said, and you nodded, reaching for the yellow bottle and doing the same before you capped it off and left him in the dust when you went to sit with the girls.

Eddie snuck up from behind him, just nearly whispering into his ear lowly, “Aren’t you two being friendly for once?”

He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows when Steve looked back at him a bit startled. He rolled his eyes, walking over to the chairs near their tent and plopping down.

“She’s pitying me because of my hand.”

“Or she just genuinely wants to help you out?” Jonathan chimed in taking a seat beside him.

Steve shook his head, picking up his food, “I doubt that. She’s probably gonna use this against me for the rest of eternity.” He replied before taking a bite.

“I don’t think so man, I think she actually cares, and I think you like that she cares.” Eddie waved his finger in the air before poking at his cheek.

Steve snapped his teeth, pretending to bite the finger that Eddie quickly pulled away. Jonathan laughed at the banter because of course Eddie had to be the one to stir the pot when things were staring to cool and settle.

“She doesn’t give a damn about me….”

Steve started, trailing his eyes to where you were, watching you share whispers to the girls before you met his eyes for a split second.

“She still hates my guts.” He said as you snapped your eyes back to Nancy and Robin.

“Did we miss something while you guys were gone?” Nancy raised her brows, glancing back at Steve and the boys who were engrossed in their own conversations whilst they ate.

You shook your head towards her, swallowing your food before speaking.

“Nope, why do you say that?” You buzzed, wondering why all of a sudden she thought something had happened.

Robin chimed in swiftly, nudging your arm with a weak punch, shooting you a more than obvious look.

“Cause you guys haven’t tried to kill each other for the past hour and a half and you actually could stand to sit beside him without arguing.”

You tilted your head at her incredulously.

“I thought you guys wanted us to get along?”

“Oh, we do…” Nancy nodded enthusiastically, “we’re just wondering what made it happen considering you both tried to kill each other a few hours ago.”

Letting out a deep breath, you tried to give your best irritated look under your tiredness.

“We’re just tired that’s all. We’ve run out of insults and to be quite honest, I need to recharge my battery with some sleep before attempting to murder him tomorrow. Before you know it we’ll be at each other’s throats again.” You explained hoping they would drop it.

But of course they didn’t.

“Would it kill you to, I don’t know, be a little more positive on the outlook of you and Steve’s relationship.” Robin beamed hopefully.

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you glanced over at Steve’s figure.

“He still hates me,” you said, meeting his orbs split, “I know it,” you muttered, tearing your eyes away.

Neither Nancy, nor Eddie, or Jonathan, and Robin didn’t believe a goddamn word that came out of your mouths when it came to each other. Clearly things were starting to unfold and whatever it was that happened when they weren’t around to see it was obviously just the catalyst.

So many things that went unspoken for way too long were lingering in the air and they all knew you needed the space to confront it.After a while of eating, Nancy dramatically yawned, gesturing her boyfriend over to her with wide eyes silently telling him to go along with what she was doing, without you or Steve taking notice.

“We’re gonna head to bed now.” She announced, tiredly clinging to her boyfriend's side.

Jonathan nodded, wrapping his arms over her shoulders.

“Yeah, we’ll see you guys in the morning.” He said, the two of them beginning to get into their tents while calling out their goodnights to you all.

“Wake us up if you need anything.” You called out as they both hummed and zipped up their tarp for the night.

You were going to turn in too, really you were more than tired, just needing a good night's rest so that you’d be ready to go in the morning. Throwing out your plate, you walked over to your tent to grab your toothbrush and other nighttime necessities.

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth.” You said, walking towards the bathrooms.

“Wait up,” Steve called out, grabbing his own brush and jogging towards where you waited so you guys could go together.

Robin tilted her head towards your tent, as Eddie nodded, swiftly grabbing his lighter and pre rolls from his duffle bag and joining Robin inside the structure. That honestly wasn’t a part of the plan, seeing as though he was going to keep the blunt to himself, but now it was just convenient and would make the perfect excuse.

Steve didn’t bother to settle to the empty sink beside yours, instead he switched the water on letting you run your brush under the faucet first before he did his. You squeezed a strip of toothpaste over your bristles before doing the same to his guessing he forgot to pack his own which he totally did.

The both of you stood in front of the mirror, brushing in silence with the water trickling weakly. Your eyes drifted from his face to his hand that rested at his side stiffly. You knew it was probably still a little sore, but by tomorrow morning the pain should subside enough for him to move it a little more freely. 

“Do you want me to rewrap your hand?” You offered, mouth still full of toothpaste as you spoke mumbly. 

He met your eyes in the mirror, lifting his hand towards you, trusting your opinion rather than his own. 

“What do you think?”

You stopped your brushing for just a second, leaving the brush between your cheek and teeth as you picked up his hand and gave it a good look to see if there was any oozing blood or loose tape — which there was neither.

Putting his arm down gently, you shook your head. “Looks fine, I’ll just clean it and change the gauze in the morning.”

“Okay.” He mumbled, smiling softly.

Steve let you rinse first, leaning up against the wall as he watched you spit out the residue and wipe your mouth clean. You stepped away, letting him have his go while you reached into your small toiletry bag, placing your brush back inside and twisting open your lip balm to smooth over your lips.

“Want some?” You raised your brow, seeing him watch you while he swigged some water in his mouth.

He spat, turning off the water and looking at the tube, “Birthday cake?” He questioned the flavor on the label.

“Tastes like vanilla and strawberries.” You said as he shrugged, puckering his lips towards you as you applied a thin layer before capping it off and throwing it back into your bag.

He smacked his lips together, a bit of his tongue coming out to lick at it, “I can’t taste it?”

“You’re not actually supposed to eat it, Steve.” You chided, shaking your head as you both walked to the tents.

“Then why would they advertise it as birthday cake if I can’t taste the cake?” He retorted, still trying to lick at his slimy lips to taste it.

You didn’t want to get into with him over some stupid lip balm flavor so instead you held back, listening to his lips smacking, persistent on getting to try the artificial taste while you tried not to laugh. As you got closer to the tents, a different smell lingered in the air along with the smokey aroma of the fire.

“Do you smell that?” You sniffed the air, turning to Steve seeing him do the same.

He sniffled in a few times, deciphering the smell and after a few seconds, he knew exactly what it was, an unmistakable likeness to the back of Eddie’s van.

“It’s weed.”

You looked around, realizing the absence of Eddie and Robin who were just sitting near the campfire before you went to the bathroom. Now, you noticed your tent that was half unzipped was completely sealed and if you listened close enough you could hear the whispers being spoken from inside.

You stomped over to them, unzipping the tarp, pulling it roughly.

“Are you guys insane?” You hissed, tossing in your toiletry bag while staring at them in annoyance.

“Insanely hiiiigh.” Robin hiccuped with a giggle joined by Eddie’s snorts while he took another hit.

Steve peered in from behind you, his expression stern. 

“You’re not even supposed to bring that stuff onto the camp ground, you’re gonna get us kicked out, dumbass.” Steve scolded, ripping the joint from Eddie and putting it out against the ground.

“Hey! That was a special strain!” Eddie argued, attempting to reach for it but Steve pulled it behind his back, not letting up.

“I don’t care.” You said dryly, “you need to get out and go to your tent so I can sleep.”

You attempted to pull him out by the arm but he didn’t budge as easily as you thought he would.

“No, wait! Ten more minutes!” Robin whined, smacking your arm away from her friend, “You guys are letting all the good stuff out!” 

Zipping up the tent, you and Steve backed away defeatedly. You ran your hands through your hair, closing your eyes briefly trying not to let their little antics tick you off despite your exhaustion. 

“Ten minutes and I’m counting!” You warned, thumping the top of the tent before you flopped down onto the chairs hoping time would fly faster.

Steve looked at you apologetically, holding back his joking comment about how it didn’t matter that he built your tent, seeing as though you were locked out, but he didn’t want to make you more irritated than you already were… surprising right?

“Night?” He said, shooting you a remorseful smile when he stopped in front of your chair. 

“Goodnight, Steve.” You yawned, waving him off as you hugged yourself to bear the cold clad in nothing but your tank and shorts.

He nodded walking to his tent a few feet away, toeing off his shoes before giving you one last look until he zipped his tent closed. He reached for the small flashlight he packed, putting it on its lowest setting so that Eddie could see when he came in. Giving his pillow a pat, he laid back pulling his blanket over himself and attempting to close his eyes and rest.

Sleep should have come easy seeing as though he had been up since seven in the morning, yet he still couldn’t fall into slumber no matter how hard he tried. He knew it wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t in his bedroom because he’d been camping times before and sleep naturally came easy but tonight it just wasn’t budging.

He shifted uncomfortably, aware of the passing minutes that stretched beyond ten, and Eddie still hadn't joined him. He was totally sure he didn’t even hear you give them another warning from the outside, meaning that you were definitely asleep on that chair.

Sitting up to peek through the small gap he left open, there you were — head tilted back, eyes closed, arms hugging your body, seemingly oblivious to the bitter cold that was going to leave you with hypothermia. If he was really feeling like being an asshole to you, he would’ve left you out there to suffer the consequences of your actions, but he couldn’t.

Quietly stepping outside, Steve approached, bending down to gently nudge you awake.

“Psttt, wake up," he whispered, cautious not to disturb Nancy and Jonathan nearby who were dead asleep by now.

You responded with a sleepy mumble, lips curling up as you somehow shifted deeper into the chair that was not designed to sleep in like that no matter how tired someone could be.

He tried again, this time more rigid in his efforts by grabbing your hand and squeezing it, “Wake up.”

Feeling his toasty hand in yours, you groggily opened your eyes, dazed orbs looking into his.

“What?” You grumbled, eyes opening to be met with Steve’s filled with confusion.

Without much explaining, he squeezed your hand again, pulling you up, “You’re crashing in my tent tonight.” 

You had no choice but to let him pull you along, stumbling behind him as sleep still clouded your senses. 

“Why?” You groaned, rubbing at your eyes while he guided you to his tent where he widened the tarp, gesturing for you to enter.

“Because that special strain Eddie was talking about was for sleep. Neither of them are gonna budge till morning.” He informed you, resting a gentle hand on the small of your back to keep you up right as you lazily toed your shoes off.

“Well fuck me.” You muttered under your breath crouching when you stepped into the small space.

He snorted behind you, “In your dreams.” He said before zipping it up.

“Shut up,” you groaned, crawling towards the empty space beside him.

Now it was starting to feel like things were going back to normal.

You settled into what would have been Eddie’s side, a half fluffed pillow under your head and nothing else. Though their overall set up was way more comfortable than what you and Robin had going on in yours. Steve had layered a sleeping mat beneath the comforter, making the surface a little more plush that way no rocks or gravel could be felt under the tarp — plus it added an extra layer of warmth, something you desperately needed right now.

Laying on your back, you left a good distance between you both, wrapping your arms around yourself once again hoping that now you’d be able to sleep comfortably even if it was beside Steve. Closing your eyes, you focused on breathing trying to not think so hard about the shivers in your bones knowing you wouldn’t be able to feel them once you fell asleep.

“I can hear your teeth clattering.” Steve sighed, casting a glance towards you where you laid beside him, starting to rub your hands up and down your arms in an attempt to generate warmth.

“I obviously wasn’t prepared for this, and my blanket is in my tent.” You muttered, eyes still closed and tucking your knees into yourself to find some semblance of comfort.

He made a thoughtful noise, lifting up his blanket and turning his body towards you. You could feel the space tighten, the fuzzy material of his blanket skimming your bare skin.

“Get under here.” He whispered, nodding his head when you finally opened your eyes looking at him with uncertainty and confusion.

You didn’t know what to make of it, if this was some kind of cruel joke he was playing on you, where he was actually going to hog it for himself and let you spend the rest of the night with your teeth clattering. 

But deep down he wasn’t all that bad, sure he poked fun at you and made your blood boil like no other, but when it came down to morals, he had some saved for you… at least for now it seemed like. 

Steve raised his brow at your hesitance, lifting the blanket up higher.

“What’re you waiting for? Do you want to freeze to death because by all means let me know.” He challenged pretending as if he wouldn’t care. 

You swallowed thickly, turning your back towards him as you cautiously scooted under the blanket, feeling its comforting weight draped over your body. His fingers funneled you over more of the material, letting you have most of it as you quietly thanked him, tucking the throw under your neck where your fingers held it tight.

This was totally out of character coming from Steve knowing it would’ve hurt his ego a lot less if he’d just given you the blanket for yourself and spent the night with no covering. But for some reason you couldn’t place the gesture, not knowing why he would go out of his way for you or if this was some ulterior motive to hold against you in the future.

“I thought you wouldn’t mind me dead.” You said, trying to find a way to ease the awkwardness that you felt in your mind when he was just inches behind you. 

“I don’t,” he laughed, his breath grazing the back of your neck. “But I don’t want to haul your frozen body in the back of Eddie’s van.” He added with a playful glint.

There was your old Steve, back.

“C-can we just go to bed?” You stuttered, clearing your throat as you rested your head deeper into the pillow just wanting to dream off somewhere, anywhere but right there in reality. 

“Sure.” He agreed, shifting slightly before settling down and closing his eyes.

Silence enveloped you both, just the sounds of crickets from the outside and gentle crackling of the fire that burned slow in the air.

Part of you wished he maybe would have left you out there to fend for yourself or maybe just threw his blanket over you for good measure, but somehow, being in here with him, tucked away from the rest of the world made you feel even more awake than before. It was obvious, neither of you were going to be falling asleep so easily, the tension so thick you could barely breathe through it.

Steve at least tried to fall asleep, focusing on something to dream about but you were overwhelming his senses making his nerves go into overdrive. Sure he already reeked of all of your products that he had borrowed in the shower, but now it was a combination of their scents attached to your skin and hair that was filling his nostrils. It didn’t help that you unconsciously let out those soft noises, as your body shook, not fully taking in the warmth just yet.

Shifting slightly, your back unintentionally met his forearms that rested behind you. His eyes snapped open, feeling the coolness against his skin, shifting up slightly just enough to see your face.

“How are you still freezing?” Steve yelped, pulling his arm back from your frosty skin. 

You sighed heavily, repositioning your body to face him with a grunt, throwing all caution to the wind and not caring about how intimate this was. Both of you had already crossed so many lines that defined your hate fueled relationship… one more thing couldn’t hurt.

“I’m a-always cold.” You whispered, jaw wobbling through the shivers taking deep breaths to try to relax yourself. 

Steve raised his eyebrows and stared at you worriedly, “So you dying is just inevitable tonight, that’s what you’re saying?”

It came out a bit too sarcastic than he meant it to be since he was just genuinely curious to know if you were going to make it out alive tonight or if you needed to get into Eddie’s van and crank up the heater. 

You rolled your eyes, whispering in frustration.

“I can’t help it alright! Had I been in my tent, I’d be fine!”

Steve brushed your irritation off, instead moving his arms under the blanket, hovering his hands over your waist.

“Well you’re not, so I’m gonna swallow my pride and do something about it alright?” He said slowly letting his hands slide over your cold skin, watching as your face twisted with confusion. 

“What are you… oh god.” You groaned realizing exactly where this was going – a mirror to earlier in the lake, but this time you weren’t so disgusted. 

He was practically a human furnace, pulling you closer into him barely leaving inches while the warmth from his body cascaded onto yours. You tried not to tense or move abruptly, aware that his bad hand was weakly grasping your back and the last thing you wanted was to make it worse.

Instead you froze, breathing stopped for a second as you searched his face trying to see how he was feeling about this whole thing. He didn’t look displeased or annoyed that he was doing this for you, instead he was calm, cool, and collected as if he wasn’t holding the girl who tried to stab him a few hours ago.

“Do you have a better idea?” Steve suggested, looking down at you awaiting to see your next moves: either telling him to fuck off or staying silent for the rest of the night.

To his surprise, you eased into his hold, hooking your own arms under his and closing the rest of the space between you. Your chest was pressed up against his, one of your legs fastened over his hip, while the other knocked against his thigh. It was a definite contrast to the hours earlier where he practically lugged you through the lake, if only you knew things would be so different now.

“We are not to speak about this after tonight. Not even a peep.” You warned, squirming impossibly closer to him before shooting him a  serious look.

He nodded, eyes shutting tightly like he was trying to dream it away.

“I’m erasing this from my memory as we speak.”

“Goodnight.” You whispered, closing your eyes, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Night.” He muttered back.

Third times a charm… or maybe not.

In this position you could feel everything and there was no way to escape it.

His warm breath fanning over your face, his chest rising and falling against yours, the soft thumpthump of his heart echoing beneath your ear, and the hair on his arms delicately brushing against your exposed skin — everything was him wrapped up in your arms. Literally.

Steve could feel it, the way you tried to control your breathing by taking a breath in when he breathed out. But you were trying too hard to time it perfectly, overthinking and making sure he didn’t notice when it’s all he could really do, your back heaving against his hands was all it took for him to speak up.

“Relax,” Steve murmured gingerly digging his fingertips into your skin with his eyes still closed

“H-huh?” You opened your eyes watching his serene features that showed he wasn’t as edgy as you.

“I can feel you…” He started, voice low and silky as he spoke, “you’re nervous.”

You shook your head as if he could see you, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“I…I’m not nervous, it’s just—this is different, we don’t do this.” You explained only partially truthfully considering you were more than just nervous.

“It’s just for tonight.” He said trying to iron out your worries the best that he could.

“No, I know, it’s just that—”

“I can feel your eyes on me, you know?”

Steve chuckled, peeking one of his eyes open, catching you in the act of trying to pinch them closed before he noticed.

You crumbled, letting out a weak laugh as you just opened them, finding him doing the same. The two of you staring at each other, the only sliver of light from the small beam in the corner of the tent, accompanied with the moonlight seeping weakly past the tarp.

Steve lifted his head just a bit, gesturing back to his bag just a few feet away from where you both were in the middle of the area. 

“Do you just want to take the blanket? I have a hoodie I can use in my—” His arms ever so slightly loosed and you stopped him.

Your fingertips squeezed tenderly into back, your leg pushing down on his hip to stop him from moving any further.

“No, its fine, this is fine. I don’t mind sharing.”

“You sure?” He laughed quietly, resting his head back down on the pillow.

“Cause you don’t have to pretend you want to share? We hate each other so I’m very familiar with our dislike when we’re forced to be around one another.” He reminded you, his tone light hearted not exuding any malice this time around.

You swallowed, nodding your head reassuringly as you let up your tense hold on him.

“I know…I-I still hate you, but I can deal with this for one night.”

“And you’re okay with this? Us… cuddling?” He asked, just wanting to be extra sure because cuddling didn’t have to be a part of it if you didn’t want it. 

“Positive.” You hummed, giving him one last look before you fluttered your eyes closed.

“Okay… good, good.” He hushed, nodding more so to himself content that you seemed to relax a bit more.

He should’ve closed eyes and went off to sleep, but now it seemed like all he wanted to do was watch you. Make sure that you were comfortable enough in his arms and warm enough to brave the night until morning and then you’d never have to be this close to him again.

He never took his eyes off your face, taking all of you in at once — long lashes kissing the skin under your eyes, cheek cozily pressed into the fluff of the pillow, lips relaxing in a straight smile and under his touch your breathing was stable, synchronized with his. He couldn’t believe he was holding you right now, getting the chance to see you like this — it was his biggest privilege.

You could feel his eyes, he obviously sucked at taking his own advice and he was clearly proving your point that he was a hypocrite… but you already knew that. 

You knew a lot of things about Steve, mostly all of the bad and annoying parts about him, but you also knew the good parts. The ones you blocked off and stored way back in your head because you never wanted to associate them with him. 

The fact that he wasn’t all that bad under those preppy button ups and head of hair.

He loved your friends, just as much as you did, treated them with kindness and savored every moment he spent with them. He knew how to take care of six rascals all by himself while also being the one they ran to when it came to all their teenage problems. He never showed up empty handed to any hangouts, always doing his best to bring anything whether it was a plain bag of chips or the camping equipment he had hidden in his garage.

Steve knew how to push your buttons, and perhaps that was the very thing that frustrated you the most — the realization that he had an undeniable effect on you. And at the same time, it was the very thing you were terrified of knowing — that if things would have been different, maybe the irritation you both had felt for each other could have just been affection from the get go.

The thick and imposing walls of animosity you’d built up for each other, was just a defensive mechanism. A weak hollow barrier that tried to disguise what you really felt, something so strong that only now broke through the bounds and unleashed a flood of emotions.

What was one more line crossed, when you both already jumped bridges?

“Steve?” You called out to him, hoping he wasn’t pretending to be asleep.

“Yeah?” His reply came swiftly, and his eyes flickered to watch your lips form the next set of words.

“You still hate me right?” You suspected, running your tongue over the bottom of your lip as you waited.

He nodded his head obviously though you couldn’t see him.

“Y-yeah. Why?” He furrowed his brows puzzled by the sudden question.

“What do you hate about me?” You pressed on.

A deep breath fanned across your face, followed by the tsking of his tongue, “I don’t think we should—”

“Tell me, Steve… please?” Your hands pressed firmly against his back, a silent plea echoing through the touch, not because you wanted to hear the words coming from him, but because you needed them.

He swallowed thickly, watching as you waited with your brows raised up yet eyes still closed. He didn’t understand why you wanted this from him all of the sudden. Why now when all his mind could do was fill up with the parts of you that he wanted to forget? The parts of you he silently spent hyperfixating on because you thought more about the people around you rather than yourself and he wished he could be half the person you were.

He liked to joke that you were his competition, his rival of sorts, but in actuality, he could never measure up to your level of compassion and he was more than fine with that. Settling for watching on the sidelines with a convincing snarkiness on his face, while on the inside his bones weakened and his brain went haywire wondering how you could ever exist in the same lifetime as him.

There was nothing he truly hated about you, he didn’t think there ever could be.

Mindlessly his fingers moved along your back, rubbing small circles and sweeping across your soft skin before he cleared his throat from the roughness and finally spoke into the millimeters between you.

“I umm, I hate the way you never forget about something I did.” He started, mind wandering to the afternoon where you reminded him of such instances with Dustin. 

“Hmmm.” You hummed, nodding your head along and relaxing your features now that he was working with you.

“I hate the way you always remind me to slow down when I’m driving around with the kids.” He admitted, guiltily confessing to his occasional speeding when they were running late and so was he.

You grunted, snickering weakly, “I need them all in one piece.” 

He agreed, a faint smile tugging at his lips, acknowledging your concern.

His fingers stalled against your back, taking a sharp breath in, letting the words rest on the tip of his tongue whilst he gave himself a moment. A moment to take you in, to see you as such, to give himself a little longer with the mystery hanging in the air wondering if you could feel what he felt and understand what he was about to say.

“And I hate the way you look at everyone except me.” He said it so quietly that if you weren’t listening close enough you would have missed it.

But how could you ever let something like that float away so easily?

You flickered your eyes open, looking up at him past your lashes, staring into his orbs for all he was worth. Like he was the only thing to ever exist before your eyes and all you wanted to do was memorize him. 

“Like what?” You whispered, never breaking eye contact.

“Like this…” He proclaimed, pulling his injured hand away from your back and bringing it forward to cradle your face ever so gently.

His thumb traced your cheek, your breath catching in your throat, letting him gaze at you in a way he never had before. It was concerning how quickly you established that from this moment on, Steve was the only person who would ever have the privilege of seeing like this. Stripped down in the confines of a stupid tent, that somehow felt like its own little oasis away from the rest of the scary world right outside.

It was just you and him and your own world.

“You look at everyone with these eyes, so eager and happy.” He said, trailing down to the corner of your lips, brushing his thumb across delicate skin.

“You smile at them like they’re everything to you.” he said, nearly letting his hand slip away as if he was unworthy of such a feeling.

But before he could, you brought your hands up, wrapping gently around his wrists to keep him there like your life depended on it. Wanting nothing more than to show him that he could — he was willing and able, and had all the permission from you to stay here, as long as you could get him to.

“I hate that you don’t look at me like that.” He swallowed, shaking his head more so himself, because all he ever wanted was this and for so long he pushed it away.

“I am right now.” You finally spoke, almost breathlessly, trying to reassure his anxieties about the past, the same ones you were feeling. 

“Hate that it took this long.” He confessed with a weak laugh.

You smiled half apologetically. “Me too.”

It was all the confirmation you both needed.

No more lines.

No more bridges burnt.

Nothing keeping you both from the truth.

He had bit the bullet and you had jumped into the deep end and there was no going back from here. Time wasn’t stopping for either of you despite the intensity of the moment. There was clearly a beginning, you and him having a rough one, but that didn’t mean that your ending had to be so treacherous. 

The gentle gesture of him pushing the strands of hair that fell over your face, sent shivers down your spine, a sort of electric touch that should have had you running away but all you felt was the need for more. He didn’t miss the way your eyes shot down to his lips, staring at them wondering his next moves before you met his again. 

“I’m gonna kiss you now, if that’s okay.” He whispered the words ever so quietly, leaving them to linger in the space as a delicate invitation hoping it was one you’d accept. 

“More than okay.” You nodded, closing your eyes, feeling his face inch closer to yours.

The first touch of his lips upon yours felt like sparks flying, holy ground beneath you both as you took your time, exploring everything in between — what you imagined it would be like and the unexpected that had you both going down the twists and turns just trying to familiarize yourself with each other.  

His lips moved against yours unhurried, gentle but deliberate, not daring to miss even an inch of you. You felt as if he was taking your breath away, leaving you to succumb to a sort of poise that usually never came this easily. With every press and swipe across your lips, you were jumping and falling into somewhere you never wanted to leave. 

You nearly wanted to cry when he pulled away, leaving you only to catch your breath, his chest moving up and down deeply, while you were ready to go again and again and–

“W-was that okay?” He asked, fighting the urge to kiss you again and make you go dizzy. 

You smiled like an idiot, lips blushing with a pink as bright as your cheeks.

“Perfect. Can we do it again.”

“Yeah.” He beamed, moving to hover up on his elbows with his face above yours, giving you the access to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into you. 

The second kiss was filled with hunger, the both of you trying to make up for the lost time you had spent at each other's throats when you could've been glued to each other's mouths. But you were positive you would both be able to make up for it eventually, and tonight felt like it was going to be the first of many. 

His teeth barely grazed over your bottom lip, prompting a moan to rip through your throat before you pulled away breathlessly. 

“I—I want you.” You spoke, voice full teetering between desperation and confidence. 

Steve wasn’t expecting it at all despite the circumstances that just took place with the kiss. He’d be fine if all you wanted to do was spend the rest of the night making out like depraved teenagers or if you wanted to cuddle until you fell asleep. 

He swallowed, looking into your eyes searching for any hesitancy on your features but you were positive that there wasn’t anything you wanted more than Steve.

“Are you sure?” He implored, desperately wanting to hear the words fall from your lips. 

“With everything inside of me.” You nodded with a smile bringing your lips back to his once more, not being able to help yourself. 

You could feel his grin against yours, a self indulgent one that still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he was kissing you with every fiber of his being hoping that with each press and slide it would compensate for how much of an asshole he’d been to you. 

He moved his lips, creating a trail of kisses over your jaw and down your neck, gently sucking the skin to pepper you in love bites. 

“P-please, Steve,” You moaned, moving your head to give him more access to the sweet spot on your neck, “Need more.” 

He licked over the hickey, pressing a quick kiss to the developing bruise before he unwrapped your arms from his neck, placing them on your sides. Nudging your shoulder a bit, you laid fully on your back while he moved onto his knees, staring at you with a look so promising and true.  

“You don’t have to beg, at least not for tonight. I swear.”

His fingers smoothed over your sides feeling the warmth coming to you quicker now. 

“I want you…so so bad.” You pouted, reaching for his hands to intertwine in yours. 

“You have me.”

He brought yours up, placing a chaste kiss on the back of your hand before he let go and hovered above the waistband of your shorts.

“Can I?”

You nodded, lifting your hips slightly as he glided them off your legs, stripping away one layer of clothing yet revealing another — a black, lacy, number that definitely wasn’t planned for tonight, but he wasn’t complaining, in fact he found it a little humorous taking into the account the occasion. 

“You packed a thong for camping?”

Steve snorted lightly, kissing the inside of your thigh as you blushed, tucking your cheek into your shoulder.

“I…I was rushing and packed it accidentally.” You told him, silently thanking the universe and your horrible planning that somehow got this perfectly. 

“Lucky me.” He rasped, toying with the lace around your hip bone, peppering kisses across your thighs, not making any move to strip you free of them yet as he wanted to worship all of you first. 

You sat up slightly, running your hand over his covered shoulder blade.

“C-could you take your shirt off?”

 “Course I can.” He nodded quickly, sitting up just enough to work his arms through the shirt.

The garment was quickly pulled off his body, thrown off the side wherever he had flung your shorts. 

“I can take mine off, too—” You started, moving up a bit more as you pulled at the bottom of your cami but before you could get any farther, he stopped you, squeezing your wrist gently.

“Only if you want to, s’okay if you don’t.” He assured you, wanting to know this was all about you being comfortable.

You smiled warmly and shook your head at his politeness, still trying to take all of him in, not just for the body before you, but for how attentive he had been towards you. 

“No, I do… I just—just wanted to feel more of you, that’s why I asked.” You explained with a light laugh. 

“You’re cute.” He chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down your thighs as you pulled the material over your head discarding it.

Absentmindedly your arms wrapped around yourself, bashfully trying to hide away as if that would make Steve forget that you were topless in front of him. Finally he got to see what the slivers of skin that was hidden away beneath clothing or in this case, made an appearance just hours ago.

“Don’t hide. You’re so beautiful.” Steve spoke softly, reassuring you of whatever nervousness you were feeling, slowly lowering your arms down letting him see you completely. 

You could see and hear it in the way his breath hitched in his throat, eyes stuck on your chest before a smirk played on his features and he finally trailed them back up to your eyes. 

“So you’re always excited to see me, then?” He teased, reaching up to run his hands along your ribcage, feeling your laughter rumble beneath his skin.

“Shut up.” You chided, pushing playfully at his shoulder. 

“You got just the thing for me to do just that.” He tilted his head down and you nodded, giving him the green light to do what he pleased.

His lips wrapped around your sensitive skin, peak hardening in this mouth while the other was met with the flick and roll of his fingers. You were sure by the end of it, your chest would be littered with love bites of all shapes and sizes. Steve made the extra effort to glide across your chest, showing both breasts the attention they so rightfully deserved with his mark left behind. 

“Mmm, S-steve.” You moaned, arching up into him and nails grazing at the nape of his neck. 

“Gotta make up for lost time.” He mumbled against your, sucking another hickey but this time right above your sternum, completing the other half to make a lopsided heart that you’d see in the morning. 

“I want more.” You begged, finally getting the courage to pull him away, eyes peering down at him. 

He smacked his lips, nodding as he leaned up and pecked your lips, murmuring against them.

“I got you, princess.”

His kisses trailed down your body, taking his sweet time leaving your skin with a plethora of hickies, some small and subtle, and others that would settle darker by morning. Something about it, the possessiveness of it all added to the longing, knowing he was marking you as his — and he was the only person you wanted to belong to right now… forever even. 

Placing a final kiss above the waistband of your intimates, he looked up at you, toying with the fabric. 

“Let me get these off you, yeah?”

You hummed, letting your feet sit flat on the comforter, slightly lifting your hips up to help him. His fingers slipped under the lace, tugging them away from your core and off your legs, putting them off to the side. 

“So fucking pretty.” He murmured, gently pulling your knees wider apart enough for him to slot himself between them and lay on his stomach. 

His eyes were fixated on your core, taking you in with such hunger but at the same time awe, as if he was admiring the most beautiful work of art just before he would dig his claws into it. No ones had ever looked at you like that, taking their time and drinking you in, it almost made you want to shoo him away with all the attention he was giving you. 

“Steveeee.” You whined, laughing behind your hands that covered your face. 

“Why’re you hiding?” He puffed out a short laugh, splaying his hands over your stomach rubbing gently. 

You pulled fingers apart, staring at him timidly. “I—I don’t know, I just never thought that we’d… you know.”

Stop pretending like we hated each other and confessed our feeling then deciding to fuck in a dingy tent in the middle of nowhere? Yeah he totally knew what you meant. 

“I know what you mean,” He placed a reassuring kiss on the inside of your knee.

“We can stop whenever you want okay? No questions asked, you say the word and I’ll stop and we’ll put our clothes back on and—”

“I don’t want to stop. Promise, just a little nervous.” You assured him, sitting up slightly to bring your hand to his cheek, thumbing the freckles peppering his skin. 

“Don’t be, I’m gonna make you feel so good. I promise.” He smiled, leaning into your touch and kissing the pulse point on your wrist. 

Steve nodded, silently telling you to lie back and let him fulfill his promise which you were sure he was going to over deliver on. And god were you right. 

His tongue swiped between your folds, shuddering beneath him you couldn’t help pinch your eyes closed trying to bottle up the feeling and keep it in your memory forever. 

“F-fuck,” You moaned, relished in the feeling of each pass and kiss, “Feels so good, Steve.”

His thumb swiped over your clit, breath fanning over your skin as he watched your back arch with a smirk on his face.

“Told you so, princess.”

He dove back in, tongue flicking over your sensitive button while he worked two fingers into you slowly. The stretch of his thick digits and the mixture of his warm tongue sent your hands flying, in search of something to grab and immediately you went for Steve’s hand. 

Somehow through the pleasure you didn’t feel the tape on his hand, that is until you squeezed and felt the layer blocking the contact of skin on his. The tape slightly crumpled in your hold causing your eyes to fly open, staring down at him. 

“S-shit, I’m so sorry!” You whispered, quickly letting go of his hand nearly backing away from Steve thinking that you hurt him.

His fingers abruptly left your core, quickly slinging his arm over your hips stopping you from moving away from him. The bad hand immediately reached out for yours, intertwining your fingers together despite your uncertainty that didn’t want to immediately hook between his. 

“S’okay, I’m okay, promise.” He assured you, kissing your mound before shooting you a wink as he squeezed yours.

“You can grab my hand, squeeze as tight as you want. The nurse who wrapped it up did a hell of a job, thing isn’t gonna hurt me.”

It made you giggle, kissing his knuckles, murmuring against them,  “Hmm, still, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, lips brushing against your center as he got back to work.

“Shhh it’s okay.”

Steve was always more of a giver, something he usually bragged about and you thought was absolute bullshit, but now you understood seeing as though he was definitely giving you something to come back for, in more ways than one. 

His tongue dipped lower, dragged up from your aching hole to your sensitive clit.

“You like that?” his voice vibrated across your sensitive skin, sending your body into squirms. 

“Yes…p-please, right there,” You moaned, gripping his hand tightly as he repeated the action. “Just like that, baby.”

“Say it again.” He demanded though it more so came out as a desperate plea. 

“Baby?” 

He let out a groan, nipping at the inside of your thigh, “I love hearing it from you…c’mon, let me get you there, baby.”

It was the end of the beginning from then on out with one goal in his head. Feasting on you like you were his last meal trying to savor your sweetness and all at once engrain the image of your blissful face in his mind and those addicting moans that dared to get louder with every second that passed. 

“I’m so close.” You whispered, trying to keep your voice down,  “I—I, Steve, baby, please.” 

Your thighs began shaking around his head, stomach heaving in deeper and twisting tightly, teeth digging into your lip trying to muffle the sounds of pleasure that wanted to escape, and your hand clutching onto his for dear life – the only thing grounding you while his mouth sent you into ecstasy. 

“Cum for me.” He vibrated against you, lips wrapped around your bud as he sucked and watched you explode. 

“Baby, f-fuck.” You gasped, looking down to meet his eyes before it was too much for you to handle. 

Euphoria washed over you, similarly to the colors of the sunset. Bright oranges and pinks flashed across your vision, painting your skin with the feverish warmth before it fizzled out into darkness, specks of white making their appearance as your body buzzed.

Steve didn’t pull away until you stopped moving your hips into and away from him, trying to chase and escape the pleasure all at once until you came down. Even then he didn’t dare to leave you just yet, taking his time to wait until you came down from your high. He pressed gentle kisses over your inner thighs, making his way up to your midsection, resting his chin there, your chest moving beneath him as you caught your breath. 

“Hey pretty.” He murmured, your eyes peeking open to see him — lips and chin coated with a sheen of you in the best way possible. 

You swallowed, giving his hand three squeezes and you cleared your throat from the hoarseness, “H-hi Stevie.”

Stevie. It was a stupid nickname you used against him all the time because he hated it, but right now it seemed to have the same effect on him as you calling him baby just a little while ago. 

Using his elbows as leverage, he scooted up to you chuckling as you pulled him down bringing his lips to yours as you tasted your essences on him. Your legs hiked up around his hips, bringing his clothed crotch down to your core, just a piece of fabric separating you both, but even then the tent in his pants wasn’t hard to pick up on. 

“Lay down for me, please.” You mumbled against his lips, poorly attempting to roll him on his back despite his sheer strength. 

He pulled away only slightly, furrowing his brows at you. “Baby, baby, we don’t have to if you—”

“I want to, so bad,” You pressed your hips up into him, inducing a moan to rip from his mouth, though still he didn’t roll over just yet. 

You frowned, loosening your legs, hoping you didn’t cross the line,  “Do you not want to?”

Quickly he shook his head, moving to hold your face in his hands. “I do, sweetheart, you don’t know how badly I want to have you. But I kinda feel horrible here,” He grimaced, face twisting with embarrassment. 

“W-was hoping to have our first time together in a bed, preferably mine but yours could work too, but–”

“Wait!” You cut him off with surprise, lips curling up.

“You thought about this?” You suspected with a grin, teasing him with a poke on the cheek.

He tried to play it off with an unconvincing scoff that didn’t cover the croak in his voice, “M-maybe?” 

You beamed, running your thumb along his bottom lip, batting your eyes up at him. “Well if you’re okay with it, we can totally use your bed the next time, and the next, and then the—”

“Of course.” He agreed quickly, making you laugh as you pushed his chest away

“Lay down for me, baby.”

He did as you said, taking your spot as you sat up on your knees pulling at the waistband of his sweats, working them off his ankles. His cock sprung up, the tip blushing with a bright read, aching and throbbing to be inside of you. 

“Commando? And you want to call me naughty?” You teased, licking the palm of your hand and wrapping it around his length, pumping slowly. 

He let out a shaky laugh, cursing at himself, “Kinda was regretting it earlier.” 

“Why’s that?” You began shifting to lay flat on your stomach. 

“Was worried you’d notice.” He mumbled. 

His hands reach out to run up and down your back, soothing your skin desperately wanting to touch you despite the closeness already. 

“Notice what?” You hummed gazing up at him. 

“How hard I got when y-you wrapped me up.” He admitted, shuddering when you licked a stripe from the base to his glistening tip. 

“Me serving you do it for you?” You half-joked, pepping kisses back down. 

“Fuck no, that wasn’t it…” He shook his head, sitting up slightly to watch you. 

“You just—f-fuck, you knew what you were doing and you took control and you…you fucking called me big boy and t-the way you bit the tape off.”

Clearly you wounded him up so much, something you never thought was capable, but alas the hate you both supposedly shared for each other had no bounds when it came to this sort of tension. 

“Make a mess for me big boy, and I’ll clean it up, yeah?” You winked, finally giving him what he wanted, wrapping your mouth around him. 

“S-shit, baby.” He hissed moving your hair towards one side to see you clearly. 

“Making me feel so good, princess.” His hips resisted the want to thrust up into your mouth, controlling himself knowing that good things always took time and you were already making him feel great. 

“So big.” You murmured, messily kissing the tip of his cock, giggling at the way his hips stuttered up knocking closer to your lips. 

“Just right for you though right? Only yours baby.” He groaned, throwing his head back onto the pillows. 

“Mhmm,” you hummed, wrapping your lips around the tip, sending vibrations up his sensitive length.

“Pretty too.” You whispered, pulling away teasingly. 

He let out a hoarse laugh, shaking his head ridiculously. “Can’t be when I’ve got the prettiest sight right here.”

The compliment went straight to your core, the need to make him feel good was the motivation in your movements. Your wrist moved over the part that you couldn’t quite fit in your mouth. 

“That's it baby, taking me so well,” He praised lowly trying to keep his voice quiet enough for just you to hear. 

His fingers threaded through the roots of your hair, neither pulling or pushing, just holding you there and letting you go at your own pace. 

“Shit, babe, y’gotta stop.” He hissed, tugging you off his length as you moaned, pouting up at him.

“Want to taste you…please Stevie?” You begged, mouth trailing down to his heavy sack, taking one of them in your mouth, before popping off only to mumble against them, “Let me taste you, please baby.” 

How was he going to deny you, then?

“F-fucking shit, yeah, okay doll, I’ll give it to you.” He moaned, nodding more so at himself, trying to starve off the orgasm as long as he could knowing he was going to burst any second now. 

You grinned, releasing his balls with a pop, quickly taking him into your mouth again. 

“I’m c-cumming, fuck—” 

He let the rest die in his throat, knowing that if he went any longer he’d wake up your friends and cause an even bigger mess that he nor you wanted to clean up right now. 

“How was that?” You grinned, swiping your thumbs over the inner corners of your mouth, sucking off the remnants of him. 

The act alone made his cock twitch, somehow springing back up ready for you. 

“C’mere, you minx.” He whispered with a smirk, threading his hands towards the back of your head to gently tug you up to his face. 

“Hmmm, Steve.” You giggled, letting it get cut short with his lips pressing deeply onto yours.

“You’re making it very hard for me to hate you.” He accused, pulling away from you with a playful smirk. 

“You or your dick?” You wiggled your brows, eyes lowering between the both of you where his hardness rested against his thigh. 

“I’m kidding… about the me hating you thing, not you making me hard.” He clarified, holding your chin between his forefingers. 

It was clear that the both of you couldn’t really hate each other. 

“You wanna be on top? I think it’ll be easier for you to control it at your pace.” He suggested, giving your hips a squeeze before letting his hands roam across your bottom. 

“Okay.” You whispered, forehead resting against his as he snuck a hand between you both, pumping his length one, two, three times before slowly lowering yourself on him. 

Taking in a deep breath, your eyes pinched closed, a gasp leaving your mouth feeling his breach your walls. 

“S’okay, baby, take your time.” He murmured, kissing the tip of your noses while his hands rubbed comforting circles over your hip. 

“Y-you’re so deep already.” You whined, chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath, overwhelmed by the stretch. 

His bottom lip jutted out, pouting at you with his eyes so soft, though his mouth spoke a tune so condescending and downright filthy.

“Aww baby, I know, but you’re taking it so well right?” He went a step further, resting his palm over your cheek, prompting you to look him in the eyes as you nodded quickly, wanting nothing more than to feel all of him.

Your fingers wrapped around his wrist, pulling it away from your cheek, “Touch me, please? I-I just need a little—” 

He understood immediately, dropping the cocky facade for just a moment to make you feel the most comfortable knowing the first time was always the most intense. 

“Shhh, I got you, I’m right here.” He swiped his tongue over two digits, working them between your bodies until he found your clit, rubbing gentle circles over the bud, just enough to help distract you from the initial stretch. 

“O-oh, fuck, Steve.” You keened, focusing on the pleasure and stretch jumbled all in one. 

“That’s a good girl.” He praised lowly. 

You tightened around his girth, eyes shutting blissfully at the overwhelming feeling and the praise that spilled past his lips. He noticed it right away, chuckling more so at himself because all of the times he had called you pet names for fun, perhaps you liked it more than you let on. 

“You like being called a good girl?” He challenged, his free hand tightening around your hips to stop you from rocking against him. 

You whined through a nod, opening your eyes and pleading for him to let you keep up the movements. 

“Words.” He urged, still not giving into you until he heard what he needed to hear. 

You swallowed thickly, lips parting as you whispered softly. “Y–yeah, like when you call me that.” 

He smirked, leaning up just enough to peck your lips, mumbling against them as his arm loosened from your hips and he settled comfortably on his back. Slowly but surely your hips proceeded where they left off, moving experimentally taking the time to adjust to his sheer size. 

“Atta girl, gotta tell me what you like so I can make you feel good baby.” 

“L-like it when you talk to me.” 

“You do?’ 

You hummed quickly, nodding your head, “So much.” 

Growing needier you lifted your hips up slightly before fucking yourself back down onto him. Your lips parted with a pleasurable moan while he growled, throwing his head back against the pillows. 

“Oh, there you go sweet girl. Fuck, already taking me so good.” He said, digging his fingertips into your hip bone. 

“F-full, m’so full of you.” You sighed, slowly repeating your movements trying to make it last as long as you could. 

“But you love it right?” He murmured, words soothing and arousing at the same time. 

You nodded admittingly, “Please don’t stop…S-steve please,” 

The shake of your thighs and the uneven grinding told him all he needed to know, and he was more than happy to let you sit back and give you your second fix of the night. 

He pressed himself off his back, arms wrapping around your body and hugging you close. Your limbs enveloping his neck while you rested your forehead against his, breathy moans leaving your lips as the new position pushed him deeper within you if that was even possible. 

Steve’s lips brushed yours, an oath tumbling past them, “I won’t baby, promise. Just wanna make you feel good okay? Be a good girl.” 

It was all you needed to hear before the waves of pleasure came crashing down with no breaks. You were practically putty in his hands, your hips moving against him the way he wanted you to. He set the pace and found the rhythm that had you nearly slumping against him. 

“So fucking tight, your pussy’s squeezing me baby,” He muttered, lifting your hips higher as his own thrusted deeper from below.

“Making me feel so good, princess. Does it feel good for you too? Just what you need right?” 

If you weren’t so blissed out with pleasure, perhaps you would have the ability to actually give him the words he wanted to hear, but you felt an entire universe away, so caught up in Steve and everything he was making you feel. His words were only taking you higher, adding to pleasure and bringing you closer to the end. 

You managed to take a sharp breath in, jaw shaking as your teary eyes blinked at him, “J-just need you now…only want you.” 

He moaned darkly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he tried to starve off his own orgasm that was teetering the edge. The only thing keeping him from letting go was making sure that you got there first, just so he could watch you unravel and hear the sweet sounds that could never be erased from his memory. 

“C’mere, sweetheart,” 

His thrusts slowed just enough for one of his hands to snake up towards the back of your neck, pulling you in for a kiss before guiding your head into the juncture of his neck. 

“It’ll go deeper this way,” He murmured, placing a quick peck to your cheek before continuing the onslaught of ecstasy. 

“Oh God…Steve….” You whimpered, nails digging into his skin. 

“You’re mine now.” He said through gritted teeth, fingertips practically bruising your back, “no one’s gonna get you like this except me, got that?” 

All you could do was nod against him, humming out an agreement as you tried to keep your voice down, finally aware that your friends would be able to hear you both if you didn’t try to get a semblance of control. 

“Fuck, shit babe, so perfect, just taking all of me inside you huh? You’re the only one who ever made me feel this— shit, so good.” 

He was just making it harder for you to keep quiet at that point. 

“O–only want you…I–I only want you like this.” You murmured, pulling your face away from his neck just enough for his eyes to catch yours. 

Steve couldn’t help himself, thrusting up into you with a slow yet deep vigor, bringing his lips to yours and stealing your breath away. He never quite imagined that this was the way you both would be confessing your feelings and begging to finally be each others’ but he wasn’t complaining — he just wanted to seal the deal and show you how real it was to him. 

“Cum for me, baby. Be a good girl and do it for me…just me.” He mumbled against you, feeling the tightening around his shaft, the convulsing of your walls signaling your release. 

“F-fuck! Oh my god, Steve.” 

Your body shook, eyes shutting tightly as your hips rutted against his stilled ones letting you ride out your orgasm as he held your tight and shushed your moans soothingly. 

You slowly opened your eyes, staring at him dazingly, “Wanna feel you cum, give it to me, please.” 

He nodded, letting your face untuck itself from his neck and instead grabbing his cheeks to keep his eyes on yours. Eyes silently begging for his release while your lips parted with shallow moans still feeling the aftershocks of your orgasm followed by a small ripple of pleasure that came again. 

His thrusts became frantic, nose flaring with a deep breath taken, pushing his hips as far as they could go forcing you to collapse against him as he filled you.

“That’s it, baby…hmm, so deep.” You smiled lazily into his chest, nails raking down gently across his shoulders and down his arms as he came down. 

His heartbeat rang through your ears along with the uneven breathing the both of you were sharing, letting the 

“Well,” He huffed, staring down at you, smoothing your tousled hair down, “That’s one way to warm up.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully, smacking his cheek with a soft pat, “Hypothermia wasn’t gonna kill me. You almost did.” 

“Did I really fuck you that good?” He smirked smugly. 

“Don’t make me start hating you, again.” You threatened with a yawn, eyes fluttering shut and relaxing into him. 

“Kidding babe,” He said, kissing the top of your head before patting the small of your back, “Let me get some clothes on you.” 

He pulled out of you, quietly apologizing for the emptiness before cleaning you and himself up. His t-shirt covered your body and he managed to slip your underwear back over your legs. Steve settled for his sweatpants, no shirt, just letting the blanket and your body heat keep him warm throughout the night. 

“We’ll talk about this more…in the morning? O–or when we get back home?” You proposed sleepily, snuggling deeper into his body, weakly throwing one of your legs over his hips. 

His big hands came down under the blanket, caressing your skin with soft passes as he hummed pulling you closer, “Yeah baby, we’ll talk about it, then.” 

There you and Steve Harrington were, spending your first night together but not as mortal enemies — you guys had practically fucked the hatred out of each other, but really... it never existed in the first place. 

BONUS SCENE: 

You did a one over at the trunk of the van, mentally ticking off every item and looking back at the campsite to make sure you all didn’t leave anything behind. Steve was busy checking the tires making sure they all had enough air for the drive back that way there would be no issues. You shut the trunk closed, making your way over to the passenger door that was kicked open with Eddie smoking a cigarette. 

“You’re in my seat.” You cross your arms over your chest, foot tapping against the asphalt as Eddie stared at you confused.  

“You’re mistaken…this is my seat.” He retorted with a chuckle, gesturing to himself before blowing out a puff of smoke into the air.

“Not anymore.” 

“It’s literally my van.” 

You rolled your eyes, lamely gesturing back to the site where the tents were once set up, “And you literally kicked me out of my tent to almost freeze to death, therefore you owe me. Now get out of my seat.” 

“I’m not moving.” He said, standing his ground. 

“Move.” You commanded, reaching to tug him by the arm though he didn’t budge. 

“Nope.” 

“Fine,” You huffed, dropping his arm before calling out, “Steve!” 

He came around the front of the van, dusting his hands off and jutting his chin towards the both of you.

“What’s going on?”

You pouted deeply, eyes sulking towards your friend who tsked and rolled his eyes at your feigned innocence. “Eddie won’t let me sit in the passenger seat.” 

“My van, my rules.” Eddie smirked, tapping the hood of the car. 

Steve stared at you both, shaking his head in amusement before turning to his friend, “Dude, c’mon, just let her sit up front this once.” 

Eddie’s face twisted in betrayal, obviously Steve was already wrapped around your pinky and he just couldn’t believe he was this easy. “You’re shitting me right? I thought I was your right hand man Harrington?” 

You snorted, eyes glancing up at Steve with a blush coating your cheeks, “Oh trust me he doesn’t need a right hand anything when he has me—” 

Eddie faked a gag, finally relenting and stepping out of the seat. He stubbed out his cigarette on the gravel and waved his hands in surrender. 

“Take it for all I care! Just keep your goddamn hands to yourself, and I mean it Steve, both hands on the wheel!” He shouted, whipping the back door open and cramming himself between the rest of your friends who laughed at him for thinking that Steve was going to save his ass. 

“You must be proud of yourself, huh?” Steve chuckled, giving you a hand as you stepped up the siding and slid into the seat comfortably. 

“Very.” You responded, bending out an inch to peck his lips not caring that your friends saw the act.

Steve smiled against your lips, hands coming to rest over your waist, practically lurching himself across your body as you whispered quietly for only him to hear. 

“Now come on… you promised we would use your bed the next right, remember.” 

His eyes widened, cheeks turning red as he swallowed and finally pulled himself away from you, “Oh I remember.” He smiled, tapping your knee before he shut your door, “Buckle up, princess.”

💌 reblogs, tags, comments, + likes are greatly appreciated! leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!! 💌

a/n: so this is my very first enemies to lover fics...(at least i think it is????), this was actutally supposed to be very short and brief, almost a one shot/blurb kinda thing but it turned into a feature length fic...is anyone surprised hahaha. anyways, i hope you guys like this!!! i don't usually write smut because I feel like i suck at writing it and describing it but i hope i was able to do this fic justice -- let me know what you guys think and thank you so much for sticking around &lt;;3

taglist: @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world @givemeth @steveharringtonswife @the-alchemys @loving-and-dreaming @awkotaco24 @engenelxver @elfiaaaa @pbs-theundeadmaggot @johnricharddeacy @gaysludge @keerysfolklore @micheledawn1975 @ihatepeanutss @bakugouswh0r3

[hornyhornyhimbos]

"Happy Campers" ~ S. Harrington

Summary: When Steve and Reader are having a hard time picking out Halloween costumes, they find their old Girl/Boy Scouts uniforms in the back of the closet, hoping to use them for the party. However, the outfits just a little shorter than they remembered.

Pairing: Husband!Steve Harrington x AFAB!Wife!Reader

Word Count: 1,721

Content Warning: MINORS DNI (18+ content) unprotected piv sex, cowgirl activities, nicknames (princess), explicit language, this will taint how you see the Girl Scouts

Extra Notes: thank you to @dungeons-are-too-cold for this idea! i love you 🫶🏻

Originally Written: 10/23/2023 through 10/25/2023

stranger things masterlist can be found here!

halloweek masterlist can be found here!

It was a week to Halloween and still, you and Steve just couldn't decide on your costumes.

Every idea you threw at him, he hated, and every idea he tossed your way just wasn't good enough in your eyes. It was your first costume party as a married couple after all, and you were determined to make it the most memorable one yet.

Steve continued holding out random pieces of clothing from your closet, spewing out random ideas that each article reminded him of. "What about the Smurfs?" he asked, holding up one of your white sweaters.

You simply cocked an eyebrow at him, as if to reply, Seriously?

"Okay, maybe that one is a bad idea," he grumbled as he placed it back in the closet. Steve swiped through a few more items, landing again on a skirt this time. "Ooh, what about Ken and Barbie?"

Your head shook in disapproval. "Everyone always goes as Ken and Barbie. Besides, you'd look very silly with blond hair." You giggled at the thought of his gorgeous tufts painted blond for a night.

He grumbled again, under his breath this time, hanging up the umpteenth article of clothing. He sifted through a couple more hangers, getting inevitably closer to the back of your wardrobe. However, you didn't realize just how far back into your wardrobe he'd gone until he held up the next item.

"A-ha," he said, a teasing tone in the word. "You don't suppose you have a box of thin mints lying around, do you?"

A strange sense of nostalgia came over you as he lifted the old Girl Scouts uniform, the familiar shade of green bringing back a whole wave of memories. "I forgot I even had this!" you exclaimed, taking it from him. "I wonder if it still fits."

Steve couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Curious minds think alike."

Your raised brow from earlier returned, a look of sarcasm taking over all your features.

"Hey, you know what? I think my Boy Scouts uniform is the storage closet. Why don't we try these bad boys on and see if they could work for our costumes this year?"

You snickered, holding the ensemble up in front of you. "I doubt this fits suitably enough to be seen by the general public, but hey, you'll never know if you don't try."

And with that, he was heading down the hall for his own uniform, leaving you to squeeze into the fabric you hadn't touched since you were about fourteen.

You must've hit a growth spurt, you reckoned, because looking yourself over in the mirror, you realized that the outfit did its worst to decently cover you up. The skirt that used to hit just above your knees now barely covered your ass and the button-up that previously hid what little curves you had in middle school now had your tits all but spilling out of it.

"Damn, give a guy a warning next time," Steve chuckled behind you from the doorway.

You turned to face him, met with the sight of his uniform fitting just right. Sure, his shorts were tighter around his thighs than they would've been a few years ago, and the socks were closer to crew length than knee length. But for the most part, he looked okay. It was you who was left looking like a badge-covered slut. "How come you look normal?"

"You forget that Beverly kept me in that shit until they practically kicked me out," he chuckled, walking closer to you. "Enough about me and my mom. We should be talking about you." His lips inched closer to your ear, hot breath fanning around you. "How goddamn pretty you look in that skirt."

The words sent a shiver up your spine, despite how many times Steve reminded you that you were the prettiest girl on the planet. Still, you found a way to joke, "Are you sure that's appropriate talk for a Scout?"

He snickered, the sound warming you from the inside out. "You would've hated to have known me in my Scouts days," he laughed. Steve's hands moved to grip your waist, pulling you flush against him. His growing erection was evident as your bodies met, nearly bringing a blush to your cheeks. "God, I bet you had the best cookies in your whole troop."

"No, but…" the word lingered as one of your hands inched between your bodies. His mouth fell open in some mix of shock and pleasure as you grabbed his cock through the shorts, a teasing smile on your lips. "I was the first to get my camping badge because of how fast I could pitch a tent."

Steve leaned forward, leaving a ghost of a kiss where your shoulder and neck met, eliciting a desperate breath from you. "Why don't you show me then, princess?"

In an instant, your lips were on his, both of you fighting with the buttons of his shirt. You finally finished with his buttons as his knees hit the bed, prompting him to sit as you ripped the material off of him.

"By the way," he said in between kisses, "I don't want you to remove anything except those pretty panties of yours."

"Just between us," you started, moving away from him. You bent down in front of him, showing off your bare ass, before turning back to face him and pulling up your skirt. Sliding a hand down the front of your body, you slipped a finger between your folds, teasing both yourself and Steve. "I wasn't wearing any panties," you finished your statement from before, your finger dipping inside your aching hole.

Steve's hand jutted out to grab your wrist, stopping your ministrations. "Hey, no one gets badges without teamwork," he reminded you, pulling you back toward him.

His lips were back on you, trailing open-mouthed kisses down the expanse of your neck while you worked at the fastening of his shorts. He lifted his hips just long enough to help you shove his shorts and underwear off, the fabric hitting the floor with a soft noise that was barely heard over your heavy breaths.

Whines and moans floated out of your mouth and into Steve's as he lifted you onto the bed with him. One of his hands moved between your bodies, wrapping it around his cock and sliding the tip through your folds.

"Steve," you sighed, winding your hips against him, "please."

"Please what?" he asked, his dick still barely touching you, "I need to hear the words, princess."

"Need your cock, please," you practically begged, hips rutting once again.

Without another word, he was slipping inside your dripping core, already throbbing inside you. He let out a string of expletives as you slowly rocked up and down, beginning to create that perfect pace you both loved so much.

Desperate moans filled the air as you started to ride him, his hands roaming every inch of you. "God, you look so fucking pretty right now," he said, eyes raking up and down your form.

"You're not so bad yourself, camper," you managed to laugh. The sentence was cut off by a needy mewl as his cock hit that sweet spot inside you, your veins burning with pleasure as he hit it again.

Absolutely filthy noises filled the air of the bedroom as your bodies rocked together. The smell of sweat and sex was prominent, skin slapping against skin as you both searched for any form of reprieve.

A hand slipped under the material of your fanned-out skirt, the pad of his thumb quickly finding your clit. "Fuck, you feel so good," he groaned, pistoning his hips hard enough to have you thinking about the bruises he was most likely leaving.

Your walls clenched around him, pulling him impossibly further into you, the stretch of him a feeling you couldn't get enough of. Steve's opposite hand gripped the supple skin of your hip, guiding you in the rhythm he craved.

Lips were on lips as you both searched for release, your hands gripping his shoulders as yours inched closer. Crescent moon shapes were surely being left in your wake, holding on to Steve for dear life as your climax approached.

"Is now a- oh, fuck, princess- a bad time to make a milk and cookies joke?" The words came out as grunts as you bounced up and down on him, pre-cum surely coating your walls.

Somehow, you giggled through your own string of expletives as you sought out your high, his balls slapping you with every movement. He twitched inside you, and the movement had you on the brink of cumming. "Steve, I'm gonna- oh."

The digit between your legs teased and rubbed your clit at the perfect speed, and it was just enough to send you over the edge. His name was falling from your tongue like a prayer, reminding him of just who made you feel that good.

A few more pumps of his hips and his seed was spilling inside you, both of you desperate and whiny as you rode out your highs. His fingers held tight to your waist as he helped you slow your erratic rhythm, purple spots surely forming under his fingertips.

Hot breaths fanned across his chest as you fell limp on top of him, deep breaths filling your ears as he came down from his wave of euphoria. A soft kiss met your sweat-sticky hair, his previous grip on you being replaced by the gentle touch of his fingertips grazing nonsensical shapes down your spine.

You were the first to break the silence, the words coming out puffy. "Well, Stevie, you have made me a very happy camper."

He chuckled, slapping your ass with what little strength he had left. "Well, in case I haven't made it clear, you aren't wearing this to the party."

Your mouth flew open in fake surprise. "No! Everyone deserves to see us in these outfits."

"The only tent I want you pitching is mine," he all but demanded, pulling you up for a long kiss, lips still swollen from your previous activities.

"As long as you promise not to buy any other girl's cookies," you smirked.

He snickered, your heart flipping at the sound. "I think I'll take you up on that offer, princess."

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @rupsmorge @writer-in-theory @esoltis280 @liberhoe @wifeyreid @serenity-lattes-reads

[honeysuckleharringtons]

"Love and Pumpkin War" ~ S. Harrington

Summary: Steve and Reader have themselves a little pumpkin carving competition and it takes a much different turn than expected. All's fair in love and pumpkin carving, right?

Pairing: Steve Harrington x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1,102

Content Warning: mild sexual humor, mild swearing, food talk sorta (lots of pumpkin references), pumpkin guts are mentioned approximately 145294629452946 times, lmk if i missed anything!

Extra Notes: i also hate the summary yay! 😀

Originally Written: 10/26/2023

honeysuckleharringtons masterlist can be found here!

halloweek masterlist can be found here!

"Okay, how'd I do?" Steve asked, showing off his newly carved pumpkin.

You nearly dropped your knife in exasperation. "How are you already finished?" you grumbled, a sense of defeat coming over you.

He started to say something, then snickered at himself. You raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask, What's so funny?

"I almost said, 'When I do something, I do it hard and fast,' but I don't think that's exactly how I should say it," he laughed, resulting in you tossing a couple of pumpkin seeds at his head.

"Never mind how fast you are," you said sarcastically, "How are you already finished when I've barely scraped all the insides out of mine?"

"Dunno. But seriously, how'd I do?" he asked, holding up his pumpkin.

The pumpkin was supposed to be a regular Jack-O-Lantern, save for heart shaped eyes instead of triangles. Steve claimed the heart eyes would send off the right signal to any 'hot chicks' passing by his house, which gained him a sarcastic laugh from you. However, the hearts came out closer to ovals, the smile was almost perfectly horizontal, and he'd forgotten to give it a nose.

Still, in the spirit of wanting to win, you told him, "It looks pretty good, Steve."

"Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me?" he asked, hands on his hips. Of course, you were lying, but he didn't have to know that.

Soon enough, you were finished with your own carving, showing off your creation to the brunette across from you. Yours was a perfectly carved moon, surrounded by dainty little stars. Sure, you'd used a stencil while Steve was busy at work on his own pumpkin, but he didn't have to know that either.

"How the hell did yours come out perfect and mine looks like a five-year-old did it?" Steve complained.

A smug smile tugged at the corners of your lips. "I'll take my five dollars now."

His mouth flew open in shock. In one swift motion, he was tossing a handful of pumpkin guts, as he'd been calling them, directly at you. "I know you cheated somehow!"

In rebuttal, you were tossing pumpkin goo in his direction, a loud smack! sounding through the room as it hit his hard chest. You knew his mother would kill you both when she came home to see her kitchen covered in orange gunk, but neither of you seemed to care.

Seeds and slime flew back and forth like bullets on a battlefield, squeals and laughs filling the air as the two of you chased each other around the kitchen. At one point, you'd pretended to go one way just so you could sneak around him and dump a handful of pumpkin seeds and goo right into his hair, earning you a loud noise of aggravation from the man.

You'd gotten a bit carried away, almost forgetting about the gunk that now covered the floor. In an instant, your foot was slipping in a small pile of pumpkin, and you braced yourself for contact with the floor. But a loud smack against the floor never came, and instead, Steve's hand was wrapping around your wrist and pulling you back up.

You swore a jolt of electricity shot through you at his touch, his fingertips wrapped almost too tightly around your skin as he held you up. Laughter ceased from both of you, being replaced instead by heavy breaths and deep eye contact. It never really occurred to you just how pretty his eyes were. Sure, he was your best friend and you'd looked into his eyes countless times. But you'd never stopped to admire the tiny swirls of green mixed in with the deep brown that colored Steve's irises.

Butterflies floated around in your tummy as he still held your wrist, a look of concern prominent in his features. Steve might as well have been staring a hole straight through you, his eyes filled with worry from your slipping.

As if he could hear your thoughts, Steve was stuttering some form of inquiry about your current state as he looked over you. "A-Are you okay?" he managed, still not having released your arm from his grip.

You nodded, though between the seriousness swirling in his eyes and his electric touch on your skin, you were feeling quite the opposite of okay.

You'd never really thought about Steve like this. Having a crush on him was strictly off the table, considering you definitely weren't his type. And you certainly didn't want to cross any boundaries and ruin your nearly lifelong friendship with him. But when you stopped to consider all the little glances he'd shot your way in high school, all the little acts of kindness he'd done for you over the years, it was hard not to consider the idea of having crushes on each other.

As if once again reading your thoughts, he was finally removing his hand from your wrist, his finger moving up to a lock of loose hair and sliding it behind your ear. His look of worry had changed to one you couldn't quite recognize. But when his lips landed on yours, you recognized the look as one of want, a craving for you.

His kiss sent little jolts shooting through your veins, the scent of pumpkin and cologne filling your senses as you kissed him back. The butterflies from before had returned, dancing and floating around in your belly at the way he tasted, the way he felt.

Embarrassment heated up his cheeks as he pulled away, his face turning cherry red as he realized what he'd done. "I'm sorry," he apologized, suddenly looking anywhere but at you.

This time, your fingers shot out and wrapped around his wrist, catching him before he had the chance to run away. "Don't be. I didn't mind it."

His brows furrowed at your words. "You didn't?"

You shook your head, leaning up to place a soft kiss on his cheek. "Between you and me, I kinda liked it."

A smirk came to his lips as he glanced around the room, taking in the sight of the mess you both had made. "Just between you and me," he paused, lips coming close to your mouth, though never making contact. Unbeknownst to you, he'd reached around you and grabbed a certain piece of paper, before holding it up in front of you. "I knew about the stencil."

This time, his lips were met with a big scoop of pumpkin guts. And so the battle continued on, the Harrington kitchen being filled with kisses and slime.

-> taglist: @dungeons-are-too-cold @ducky-died-inside @awkotaco24 @liberhoe @princesseddie @aftermidnightwriting @manuosorioh @esoltis280

[appocalipse]

that guy ⊹ steve harrington

summary: After he's been to yet another failed date with yet another random pretty girl, Steve Harrington, your best friend, stops by at the diner your family owns for a late-night chat, same as he'd done a thousand times before. Steve is totally unaware of how much he's hurting you with his endless parade of dates, because after all — the two of you are only friends and nothing more, right? It's not like you have any secret feelings for him… | 2.6k words

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ──

The moment Steve steps through the glass doors of the diner, you wonder, for about the millionth time that month alone, what is it that you've done so wrong to deserve this kind of punishment.

It's Friday night, and on Friday nights, Steve Harrington goes on dates. It's just like clockwork, really: he meets a pretty girl, thinks she's the one, takes her out on a date, realizes quickly enough that she isn't quite what he was looking for, then comes here after having dropped her back home to sulk with you, in the diner that your family runs, still clad in the outfit he'd chosen especially for his failed date.

To be honest, he never looks sad, per se — more like disappointed. Frustrated, maybe.

You watch as he weaves around tables occupied by laughing friends, past booths filled with couples sharing desserts, then slides into a seat in front of you at the bar. Steve sits down with an exhausted sigh, ruffling up his hair before shooting you a tired smile.

"Hi."

You don't look up from where you're polishing the counter. "Bad date again?"

"Not even close. She talked about horses non-stop."

A quiet laugh slips past your lips despite yourself, and finally, you tear your gaze off the dark wooden surface of the counter to look up at him; he's got this pleased little smile on his face, the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly in the way they always do whenever he succeeds at making you laugh, even if just a little.

How are you supposed to keep acting like nothing's wrong when he looks at you like that?

You clear your throat awkwardly and make yourself busy stacking clean glasses next to the coffee machine.

"So...not the one, I take it?"

Steve leans forward against the counter and props his head up with his hand, sighing deeply.

"I'm starting to think she won't ever show up," he says quietly, running his other hand through his hair. You chance another glance at him and note how genuinely worried he looks. It breaks your heart almost as much as it annoys you. "What is it that's wrong with me, huh? I just don't get it."

"Nothing is wrong with you."

"You don't need to be nice to me. We've been friends since forever, remember?"

The word 'friends' makes you wince a little bit inside, but you hide the reaction behind a neutral frown. "Do you think there's something wrong with me? Because I haven't found the one yet either, you know."

Steve's expression softens as he looks at you, and once again you feel that horrible twinge in your stomach that you wish would just stop already.

"It's different. I mean—you're not actively trying to find someone." He reaches out to pull one of the half-melted mints out from the glass bowl on the counter and pops it into his mouth with a shrug. "I go out looking for her and she just doesn't come. If she even exists, that is."

"She does."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I wouldn't hold my breath. God, why am I such an idiot, y'know?" Steve slumps over the counter with a groan, burying his face into his crossed arms. "My love life is a trainwreck."

"At least you have one."

He glances up at you curiously and lifts an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Do you want some pie?"

You're not about to tell him what you've only admitted to yourself mere months ago — that you're actually hopelessly, madly, stupidly in love with him, and that you have been ever since the two of you were just dumb kids racing around your parents' diner.

What makes it even worse is that you had no idea your feelings went that deep until Steve started going on these dates of his again. Before then, everything was normal — you met up every weekend and binged on candy, watched bad movies on your couch, drove around town together blasting The Clash on his BMW's speakers...it was good.

Until it wasn't.

"Wait, c'mon, you can't just leave me hanging like that," Steve presses. He shifts a little on his stool to better face you, then gestures at you with his hands. "You've clearly got something you wanna say, so, like—hit me. Lay it on me."

"Nothing. I'm just saying...at least you're trying, you know," you say carefully, measuring each word before speaking them. "And at least you're the one doing the rejecting. Could be worse."

Steve's eyebrows rise high up on his forehead and he looks at you incredulously. "Whoa, wait—are you trying to tell me you've been rejected?"

You busy yourself by filling two tall glasses with soda, then slide one to his side of the counter and keep the other for yourself. "Uh...kind of, yeah. But it's fine."

"But who the hell would even do that?" he blurts out. There's anger in his voice all of a sudden, a defensive fire in his eyes that makes you feel as if someone has punched you in the gut. "To you? You're like, the nicest person on the planet, and super pretty to boot. That's just—that's crazy!"

Your heart gives a violent little jump in your chest. He thinks you're pretty. Steve Harrington thinks you're pretty.

Pretty as a friend, you correct yourself immediately, and sigh as you sip your drink. Of course, it's nothing more than that — just meaningless words spoken in a moment of unthinking kindness.

"Seriously, who?" he presses on. "Give me a name. I'll fight him."

"You mean like you fought Jonathan Byers?" you smile behind your glass, looking at him from over its rim.

Steve looks embarrassed at the memory and drops his gaze for a second or two before meeting your eyes again with a playful little smile of his own. "Different situation, okay, but that's not the point. So? Who's the guy?"

"You...don't know him," you hedge.

"It's Hawkins. I know the stray cats here by name."

"Fine, well, even if you did know him, it doesn't matter. He didn't reject me, exactly...not really."

Steve frowns a little. "Okay, you're gonna have to start making sense now. This is hurting my head."

The funny thing is, he actually looks confused, as if he can't possibly fathom the idea of someone rejecting you. It's sweet, really — way too sweet for your liking, especially when you know fully well he doesn't see you in the way you'd want him to.

You lower your gaze to avoid his and instead focus on drawing random shapes on the counter with your index finger, where tiny droplets of condensation from your glass have pooled up on the dark wood. "I mean, I never really told him how I felt. Not directly. It just…never happened."

"Oh. Well, then how do you even know if he feels the same way?" he asks you, looking rather doubtful.

You steal another glance at him and almost regret it instantly. His eyes are trained on your face, patient and attentive like you're the only thing worth watching in the world. It makes you feel horribly small and selfish and guilty, because after all, what right do you have to want him when he so clearly wants someone else?

You feel like you could cry. You might, if you don't distract yourself with something fast enough.

"I just know. Do you want some pie? I'll go get you some pie."

Without waiting for a response, you rush off to the kitchen even though there's plenty of pies sitting on the display counter at the bar, and you make a beeline straight for the back exit.

The alley behind the diner is blissfully empty as usual, just a lonely dumpster and a handful of sad-looking shrubs and weeds peeking out from under the concrete.

No, you aren't going to cry.

This is stupid.

You press your back against the rough brick wall of the diner and breathe in deep the warm night air, then exhale slowly as you count to ten in your head.

When the door opens behind you and the diner's familiar chatter and clatter of cutlery spill into the alley, you wince, mentally cursing yourself for being so goddamn weak. You should have known better.

You don't have to look up to know that it's him.

"Are you hiding from me?" Steve's voice comes, quiet and curious and maybe just a little bit hurt, even.

"I got...suddenly nauseous," you explain weakly, still refusing to look up and meet his eyes.

There's a long stretch of silence, and you feel Steve move closer to you until he's leaning against the wall by your side. You finally look up and find him smiling, this gentle, amused little thing that makes your traitorous heart skip a beat.

"You look just fine to me."

You stare up at the sky, head against the wall. "I thought I was gonna throw up."

He's still watching you, you can tell; you're keenly aware of his eyes on you, so much so that your skin prickles at the attention. "No, you didn't."

"No, I didn't," you admit with a sigh, and turn your head to finally look at him. He's got this little half-smile on his lips, the very same one you fell for years ago, and you curse yourself silently for never learning how to let him go. Really let him go.

"Hey. Listen. You don't have to tell me, okay?" Steve says gently, pushing himself off the wall to step closer to you. He brings his hand up to your face and tucks a loose lock of hair behind your ear, letting his fingertips linger on the edge of your jaw for the briefest of moments, just long enough for you to wonder whether he knows what he's doing to you.

You don't dare to move. You're afraid of breaking whatever spell has seemingly come over him.

"I should've never asked. That was selfish."

"Forget it," you say.

He's standing close now, close enough that you have to tilt your chin up to be able to look up at him properly. There's a strange kind of tension in his eyes, something dark and unsure and tentative, and his gaze darts down to your lips just the slightest bit.

You're fairly sure you're just seeing what you want to see, your foolish heart playing tricks on you. But you panic nonetheless, feeling a sudden, irrational fear that if he moves any closer, he'll realize the truth — that you're a liar and a coward, that you've been harboring these feelings of yours for him for years.

"I should—I should go. Back inside," you mutter, pointing vaguely at the door with your thumb. "In there."

"Sure, yeah. Okay. In there," he echoes, not making a single move to leave. "Not out here."

"Yup. Exactly. In there."

"So you said."

"Yep."

The wall of the diner is digging into your spine uncomfortably, and your mouth is dry, and your knees feel weak, and your stomach is doing somersaults, and the longer he stares at you with those eyes of his the more you feel like you're burning from the inside out and—

He's not moving. All he does is look at you, really look at you, as if it's the first time he's really looked, as if he's seeing something that wasn't there before.

"Okay, so—"

You try to push past him towards the door, but Steve grabs your arm, making you stop dead in your tracks. He lets go as soon as you look up at him, lifting his hand in front of him in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he says. He swallows hard and rubs his palm on the front of his jeans, a nervous little habit you think he's always had. He runs his hand through his hair, mussing up the carefully gelled strands, and it's probably the first time you've ever seen him look so flustered.

He laughs nervously and gestures at the ground with his hands as he speaks. "Look, this is just—this is just crazy, okay, but I think I, uh, maybe sort of realized something."

You blink at him, not quite certain you're hearing him correctly.

"Realized what?" you ask, the words barely more than a whisper.

Steve clears his throat and nods at you, seemingly pleased that you've finally spoken. "Yeah, well, this is stupid, but you know how you're always telling me to listen to my gut?"

"You're not making a whole lot of sense right now, Steve."

"Just bear with me for a sec, okay? This is like, totally new to me." He holds his palms up, and you notice his hands are shaking a little. "I just need a minute, alright?"

He breathes in deep and exhales slowly, then shoots you an apologetic look.

"Sorry, this is just...really weird," he confesses. "Weirdly real."

"You're freaking me out," you tell him, but Steve only smiles at you.

"Maybe I should just show you. Because, I mean, what if I'm wrong? That'd be terrible, obviously."

"Steve."

"Yeah, I know, but hear me out, okay?" he says quickly, and takes another step closer. You stand your ground this time, if only because you don't trust yourself to actually move without your legs giving out. "So, look. Here's the thing. You're, like—you're one of the most important people in my life. You've been there for me when nobody else was, and I...you mean a lot to me."

"Steve—"

"Shut up, you're ruining the moment."

He takes another step forward until he's crowding you against the wall, hand coming to rest next to your head on the brick. He's close, so close that you can smell the scent of his cologne and shampoo and laundry detergent, and if you were to lean in even the slightest bit, your faces would bump.

Steve is a little out of breath, his lips parted ever so slightly. And he's still looking at you with that strange, searching expression of his.

"Is this okay?" he whispers.

"I don't—what?"

Your voice catches in your throat. There's no room for doubt in his eyes now, not even the tiniest, slightest sliver of uncertainty left.

"This," Steve murmurs.

He tilts his head to the side a little and leans in until you're sure your noses are touching, and you feel your eyes slip closed in anticipation.

"Is this okay?" he repeats in a whisper. "Please tell me I'm not crazy."

"I think I am."

His lips brush yours. It feels like an accident, doesn't last long enough to be anything but a dream. You can still taste the faint, sweet trace of sugar and mint on your tongue when he pulls away, though.

"Just to be clear," Steve whispers, his fingers brushing lightly over the skin of your neck, tracing invisible lines that make you shiver, "am I the guy from earlier? The one you like?"

You don't have it in you to deny it anymore.

"Yes. It's you."

A wide grin breaks out across his face, and suddenly he's everywhere; he cups your face in his hands, pressing eager, fervent kisses along the line of your jaw, trailing hot and open-mouthed down the side of your neck.

You giggle helplessly, grabbing Steve by his collar to pull him away from you and up to your eye level. He's breathing just as heavily as you are, his hair messy and his eyes bright.

"How do you do this to me, huh?" he pants, kissing your forehead, the tip of your nose, the corner of your mouth. "You just—you just completely knock me out."

A pleasant little thrill rushes up your spine at that.

"Oh yeah?"

"Completely."

You kiss him this time.

[buckysbarnes]

WHY I WATCH STRANGER THINGS: THE “PLOT” - PART THREE

[hellfire--cult]

Harrington!reader who struck up a friendship with Billy after finding him crying. It wasn’t long until she developed a crush on the older boy. But she knew she was the least attractive girl in school, and on the cheerleading squad. Every girl was all over him, she never thought he’d see her that way.

Movie Night

I'm so sorry, I got carried away, and I made it super long, SO I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND I HOPE EVERYONE ELSE DOES this has: fluff, angst, mean brother persona on Steve's behalf, OOC Billy Hargrove, soft side.

wc: 8k (i got a lil inspired, no one requests Billy and I love to write him 😭)

Stupid Steve. Stupid school. Stupid fucking stereotypes.

You understand, you get it, the fucking sister of Steve Harrington should be the perfect girl, perfect as her idiotic brother. If only they knew that being in every single sport isn’t what Steve wants, it isn’t what he desires, it isn’t what he always dreamed about. 

But it’s not that perfection they want from you, oh no. It’s not your fault you have bad eye sight so you have to wear glasses, and for some reason that made you fucking undesirable. Just because you are wearing glasses, and you’ve been wearing them ever since middle school, where there were minimum problems with it, and now in high school when you just want to be able to date someone, or even kiss, it’s almost impossible because of them.

So yes, you knew people didn’t want to be with you, and you knew that it was all because of the idealization of the Harrington girl not meeting their expectations. Jokes on them, every single fucking guy in school looks like stepped on shit.

When you finally got into freshmen year, you already knew Steve was the most popular guy in school, always boosting about it at the dinner table, father always saying how proud he is for Steve being the captain of almost every fucking imaginable sport. You looked up to Steve, you really did look up to your brother… Until you crossed those forsaken high school doors, and the only face your brother sent you was that of disgust and turned his back on you.

And that sets your fate.

Now as a Junior, your brother finally graduates this year. Ever since he started dating Nancy who is in the same year as you, he has relatively changed. At home, he now tries to invite you to hang with him at the mall, or tell you to have dinner together when your parents aren’t home… You declined his invitation every time. You prefer to eat dinner in your bed, alone, while he drives away to be with Nancy. Just you, your books, and some good music. You are fine. 

It doesn’t help the fact that you have just one friend at school, and she’s not even always with you because she is Nancy’s Best Friend. Barb was always nice to you, and it’s the only one you talked to in class, because then in cheerleading practice, which you had to enter because you needed extracurricular credit because your parents said so, you were given the cold shoulder by every teammate there. You didn’t participate in the cheers really, you just wear the uniform every now and then and pass them bottles of water.

You just have to survive one year, just one more year and you can go to college, probably start anew, meet people, meet someone. You fixed your glasses on the bridge of your nose as you took notes while sitting at the bleachers, hearing the squeak of the tennis shoes of all the boys in the basketball team just going around. You hear a thump, making your eyes look up to see your brother laying on the floor, making you frown.

Then it made sense, as Billy Hargrove smirked, helping your brother stand up again. 

You knew that he wanted to take Steve’s position as the most popular guy at school, getting prom king and all that shit. You have heard your brother complaining about him on the phone sometimes, maybe to Nancy or to one of his friends. From what you’ve seen, Billy looked like a tough and irritating guy, and there is no need for you to get close to him at all, and you really could care less about what he does to your brother.

And that is basically your everyday life. Invisible, and you’re fine with that.

You’re fine. 

“Hey, can you believe that guy?” Your head snapped up to see your brother at your door, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. You raised your eyebrow at him, looking back down at your book. “If he takes away my captainship in the team, I will– Dad will fucking cut my head off.” 

“That’s what you get for following his dreams from day one.” You mumble in a low tone, but he caught onto it, frowning at you.

“I have my own dreams. I don’t follow his.” You nodded at that while still not looking at him. You really could care two shits about all of this. 

“Maybe Nancy can help you with this kinda stuff. I'm busy.” You heard shuffling at the door and then a sigh. You heard steps and you raised your head to hear him slam his door shut, and you knew he was probably getting ready to go to a party or something because of the music he started playing on his radio. Not once you were invited to one of those, not even by your own brother. He had hosted parties before, and you were commanded to stay in your room all night. The only time you came out of your room was to the bathroom to pee, and even then you had to wait because people were always making out inside. 

You got up from bed, closed the biology book to then set it on your desk, looking over to your library of VHS’s tilting your head to check what to watch tonight. You picked Terms of Endearment and Sixteen Candles. Your collection was full of romance and dramatic movies because it’s just your favorite genre to watch. Same with your books, your favorite being Sense & Sensibility. 

Steve left after a few minutes, and you made your way down to start your Friday movie night, and tomorrow will be the same, next weekend too. You should get more movies, you are on a roll of rewatching stuff by now. But it was at this moment, when you put the cassette into your player, and you finally sat down and started watching Sixteen Candles that it all simply fell apart.

Your rough facade crumbles down as you see the romance of the characters on screen, the friendship that is displayed in these movies, late calls with friends, kicking your feet because the guy you liked kissed you, or even called you to spend time with you. You stare absentmindedly at the screen as you see the kissing scene finally happening and your fingertips brush over your lips, just softly, tracing the shape of them.

After a few hours Steve finally returns home, completely sober and cursing under his breath. He sees the light of the living room turned on and some blue light shining on. He walked inside to find you asleep on the couch with the TV still on. He sighed, walking over to turn it off but then his eyes looked at your form, making his face completely fall down.

He bent over your figure to see the dried tears on your cheeks, falling down onto the couch. He looked over to the coffee table to look at what you were watching, getting hold of the case. You watch the same movie every Friday night… And every Saturday night. He rubbed his mouth with a frown to his face as he looked back at your frame. And he always repeats the same action every Friday night and every Saturday night.

He stands up to grab the blanket that’s over the couch to put it over your body, and with tears in his eyes he bends over to press a soft kiss at the top of your head with a quiet whisper that he always repeats and that you never hear, not that you would believe him anyway.

“I’m sorry.”

Monday came way faster than you expected, and the morning was even quicker. Your parents were still away on their business trip, but Steve and you knew they were just out on vacation by themselves. Why have children when you just push them aside? 

You take out the lunch bag with your sandwiches in it, and you walk out of the school doors and into the football field which was deserted because it was lunch time, so it always gave you the best opportunity to head behind the bleachers to have some peaceful time for yourself, and that was until you almost dropped your bag as you screamed and flinched when you saw someone already there who snapped his head back at you.

Billy Hargrove.

Your breathing was heavy and your eyes were still trying to focus from the scare but as soon as they did you realized that Billy’s eyes were filled with tears, one or two might have escaped because you could see the glistening trail that they left behind on his cheeks. You were trying to talk to him, but then his eyebrows furrowed together, a tight angry look on his face.

“The fuck you looking at Harrington?” You flinched back at that, annoyance switching inside of you instead of fear. This guy was crying and has the audacity to sound threatening?

“Oh, right, sorry, it’s just seeing Billy Hargrove actually having feelings is a sight.” His eyes snapped wide at your response, surprise crossing his features while he stared at you this time. “Who’s staring now?”

“Oh, right, sorry, it’s just that hearing you fucking talk for once is a sight.” You were taken aback by his response, mimicking yours. You sucked on your right cheek in annoyance as he wiped his cheeks away.

“Well, off you go.” He snaps his head at you, a frown on his features to then letting a smirk spread on his lips.

“I came here first. You go.” You scoff at that, shaking your head at him.

“No, I always come here at lunchtime, it’s my place.” 

“Well, that’s lonely as fuck.” You know that. You fucking know that, he doesn’t need to say it to your face, not the heartthrob of the school. Before your heart could turn in pain you nod at him.

“Fine, take it for today.” You turn to finally walk away. Maybe you can eat at the picnic table in the forest? But sometimes the stoner would go there to deal, and you weren’t judging Munson really, you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. 

“Wait.” You stopped on your tracks and slowly turned around to see Billy slumping down on the ground, his back resting against a column of the bleachers while he rested his forearms on his bent knees. “You can stay here if you don’t tell anyone you saw me like this.” 

Who would you even tell this to? He might be scared that you would tell Steve about it, but Billy seems to not know you don’t actually have a good relationship with your brother, and you have just one casual friend in this school. You look in between the bleachers and towards the woods and then you look back at Billy, giving a sigh and finally sitting down with your legs crossed. 

It was silent between you two, almost uncomfortable but not quite. You were eating your sandwich and you took out a bottle of water out of your bag too. You glanced once at him, and he was looking at the distance, just breathing slowly. You wanted to know what happened to him, because he didn’t seem like the guy that would cry easily. He looked at you, raising an eyebrow up at you.

“Why do you eat here?” He asks and you clear your throat, taking a sip of your water.

“Why were you crying?” 

“Touché.” You gave a nod in understanding. You weren’t going to talk to him if he wasn’t going to talk to you. You looked inside your bag to grab onto the other sandwich, and you handed it to him. He looked at it with a frown and then back at you.

“If you’re here it means you didn’t eat. Basketball players need food.” You calmly say to him and he looks down at the sandwich, taking it from your hands, and then taking a bite out of it, grimacing in disgust.

“What the fuck is in this?” He looks down into it and you smirk at him, finishing off your own.

“Mustard and pickle sandwich.”

He ate the sandwich anyway. It was nice to eat lunch with someone for once, even if that person was Billy Hargrove and it would be a one time thing in your life… Though, it wasn’t. Billy was back behind the bleachers almost everyday after that. He wasn’t at all that persona that he was with everyone else with you. The cocky insufferable bastard you knew was all a mask, and you could see it when he told you about how Tammy Thompson tried to hide a fart with her cough in class.

“You’re fucking kidding…” You were giggling, covering your mouth as you both sat in front of one another, and the closeness slowly shrinking as two weeks went by of eating lunch with him.

“I am not, she actually thought it was discreet, but I heard it. Not that I said anything about it, but it was a total boner killer.” You raised an eyebrow at that, swallowing your apple that you were having as dessert.

“What, girls can’t fart Hargrove?” He rolls his eyes at you and then raises his hand to flick your forehead, making you wince and rub the skin he left in a red state.

“I didn’t say that. When you trust someone enough to do it in their face, sure. Not in the middle of class, and much less when you are a chair in front of mine.” At that you let out a laugh, throwing your head back. He chuckled and took a swig of his cigarette, blowing the smoke to the side so it wouldn’t hit your face.

“God, I really don’t pay attention to shit like that.” You took another bite of your apple and Billy was still looking at you, clearing his throat, making you look up at him.

“What do you do on Friday nights? I mean, your brother is at every single party but you are nowhere to be found.” He asks you and you feel your cheeks flush slightly at that. You look down at your apple and swallow your bite.

“I often watch movies. Have my own movie nights, sometimes with popcorn, and if I am feeling fancy, S’mores.” You gave him a small smile as you took another sip of water but Billy was still looking at you with a frown to his eyebrows.

“By yourself?” And you suddenly felt embarrassment washing over you. How pathetic were you? He is a guy that has every student in this school eating at the palm of his hand, plans of going out somewhere almost everyday, a date every single night, and you just watched movies and read books for company.

“I– I have to go.” You suddenly blurt out, standing up abruptly to then wipe your jeans from the dirt of the floor. Billy was following suit, doing the same thing, and about to stop you, but you were already walking away. You didn’t need the reminder of how stupid all of your life sounded. You didn’t need it from him. You were always reminded of it by your father, saying that you should be more like his son. Your mother says that at her age she already dated someone and had tons of friends. Steve showing off his new relationship and friends to you, keeping you in the shadows from everyone.

You didn’t need more reminders.

So when you got home, and realized Steve was already out of sight, probably at Heather’s party, you took your time to shower, put on some comfy sweatpants, a white t-shirt and a gray hoodie, and you grabbed your movies and went downstairs. Maybe they will cheer you up from all the stuff that has happened with Billy today. It’s stupid, you both don’t talk to each other all day, yet at lunch you just talk non-stop.

Sweet popcorn was today’s choice and you were already salivating at the smell of it all. Once it was done you put it in a bowl and headed over to the living room, turning the TV on, and putting Pretty in Pink in your VHS. Steve must be getting drunk with his friends by now, dancing to Roxette or something like that. You popped a single popcorn in your mouth and you were about to press play but you were interrupted when glass knocking was heard from the sliding door to the garden.

You jumped up in fear, eyes widened as you quickly turned your head and saw Billy fucking Hargrove outside the doors. You blinked once, twice, three times. Wasn’t he at Heather’s party too? You stood up from your seat, blushing at your attire but he already saw you in it, no time to actually go change. You fixed your glasses at the bridge of your nose as you walked towards the doors to finally unlock them and open a side for him.

“What the fuck are you doing here Billy!” You almost screamed at him, but he raised his hands up in a surrender mode and chuckled at you.

“By that yelling I am assuming your parents are still gone. Let me in, I’m fucking freezing.” He walks past you and you scoff at the nerve of this man. You close the door and you see him looking around with his hands inside his black leather jacket. Your eyes trailed downwards for a second, taking in how tight his pants were, but you snapped out of it, walking around him so that you were facing him.

“What are you doing here?” You ask again and he simply shrugs, still looking all around your house. 

“Party was lame as shit, and you said there was a movie night here tonight. That seemed far more interesting than Tommy trying to do a keg stand and falling onto it, breaking his nose.” He walks to the couch, sitting down on it and he immediately grabs the bowl of popcorn from the coffee table. Your mouth hangs open again at this, going to the couch and sitting down next to him.

“You– I don’t need your pity.” You say to him, looking down at your hands as you played with the hem of the sleeves of your hoodie. He chuckles at that and shakes his head.

“Sweetheart, I don’t pity anyone. The party was really fucking boring.” He takes a popcorn in his mouth and he hums at the sweetness. You raise an eyebrow to look at him. You never thought Billy Hargrove would be on the sweet side of stuff. “So, what are we watching?”

A smirk formed on your lips. He was gonna fucking hate it, that’s what he gets for barging in your house.

Yet–

“I fucking hated Duckie.” You were wide eyed at him. He had paid complete attention to the movie, even giving small commentary that he really liked the fact that the girl stood up for herself. He turns to look at you, a frown coming to his eyebrows. “What?” 

“I just… I didn’t think you like this genre of movies.” You reply to him, a little bit nervous for some reason and he smiles at you and then looks back at the screen.

“I never watched one of these. They have a lot of plot, and they’re interesting.” Your eyes sparkled in excitement and you grabbed his shoulder, which made him look at you alarmingly.

“You’re in for a ride.”

Billy came back again the next day, taking the chance that Steve was out at Nancy’s for the night. He then sneaked into your room while Steve slept and you played Grease on your small TV and VHS that were on top of your dresser. He actually enjoyed it, but despised it because it was a musical. The next time, he actually came through the front door, and you both finally watched Sixteen Candles together. Now, Saturday Night, Steve was at Nancy’s for a family dinner and Billy was taking out two beers from the six pack he came with.

“I don’t drink…” You say to him and he raises an eyebrow up at you. 

“Daily or weekly, but you have tried alcohol. One beer is not going to kill you Sweetheart.” You nodded at that and you grabbed onto the can, sitting back down on the couch. You opened it as Billy walked towards you and plopped down with a huff, already taking a swig out of his can. You grimaced at yours and you took a tentative sip, lowering the can to look at him, completely disgusted by the taste and he simply threw his head back in laughter.

“Disgusting.” You say to him and he shrugs at you, sending a smile your way.

“It’s an acquired taste baby, you just keep drinking it, if you feel fuzzy you can leave it.” You felt your heart accelerate at him, feeling the butterflies exploding in your stomach. You didn’t know when your relationship with Billy took a turn for the better, but he actually sends a smile your way this time when walking down the halls, he sometimes greets you when you pass by him in the hallways, like he is not making it seem like he doesn’t know you.

So it was hard not to fall for him. It was undeniable at this point, and even if he was strong and mean, and an ultimate bully to everyone else, he comes here to your house, watches romantic comedies with you, eats popcorn with you, and you two talk about nonsense all evening. Nobody knows about this, and you’re happy to have this secret between the two of you. You can live in the fantasy a little bit longer.

“What did you bring?” You look at the cassette he got and you look at the front of it. You grimaced again and showed it to him. “The terminator?” 

“Classic sweetheart, it’s an action movie, you gotta expand your movie knowledge a bit.” You didn’t want to complain, it was the first time Billy suggested to watch something he likes, and in reality you were interested in knowing it, and hopefully like it the way he does.

News flash, you didn’t like it.

“Why are there so many guns?! It's unnecessary!” You complain, your beer gone and you do feel a little fuzzy but not too much. You just felt giddy. He laughed at your side and shook his head as he drank his second can.

“That’s what action movies are, baby, they are irrational, little to nothing of plot, and shooting everywhere.” He says and you sigh at that, shaking your head. The room filled with silence as Billy looked forward, his smile slowly disappearing. “You know why I come here often?”

You straightened at that, blinked with confusion as you turned to look at him. You frowned when you saw how serious he got, just out of nowhere, and your belly turned for him, not in a romantic way, but more of a worry kind of nervousness. 

“Because parties now bore you?” You ask him and he gives you one chuckle and then shakes his head, resting it on the backrest of the couch, looking at the ceiling.

“You help me distract myself.” He took a deep breath in as you kept looking at him and you knew it was something he was having a hard time talking about. “The day you saw me crying… I was actually afraid.” 

“What?”

“My father… Let’s just say he has– a rough hand. Any slip up I make, I just get a punch out of it… I’m just so angry all the time, so unlike my fucking self and who I actually am when I am at school. I just let out my anger towards people, because I cannot take it out on my own father.” You could see his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and you knew he was trying to choke back tears as he talked. Your heart just knotted at seeing him like this, feeling helpless, not knowing what to actually tell him.

“Billy–”

“And you… I tried to be mean to you… And you actually had the guts that no one had at this school yet. Talk back to me.” His head turned to finally look at you again and your eyes burned at his confession. “I couldn’t be mean to you… With you I can— I can be calm, watch a movie, talk about how creepy that Creel house is and how we should sabotage it– I mean, the only thing I talk with the people from school? Chicks, sex, cars, alcohol.” 

You couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on your lips, turning your whole body to face him, your legs coming to rest on top of the couch too, bending them and resting your side on the backrest. 

“Well, I am glad I could help in some way… My house is always open for you Billy.” His eyes were just staring into yours now, the only thing being heard in the room were your breaths, until he finally talked.

“Can I kiss you?” 

What?

There is no possible way you heard that from him. This is a dream, it has to be a dream. There is no way Billy Hargrove, your now friend, your crush, the guy you like has asked to actually kiss you. This only happens in movies, in books, and it never happens in real life, at least, not to you. 

“W-Why would you want to kiss me?” And Billy’s features turned into saddened ones at your words. Don’t you realize how beautiful you are? He straightened up on the couch, his body turning to face you as well as both of your hearts jumped out of your chest.

“Why wouldn’t I want to kiss you?” was his short answer. Your belly turned in pure nervousness now as your body grew a cold sweat. You never kissed anyone, and Billy seemed to know how to do it, and you were just too inexperienced. A flush came over all of your body as you fixed the glasses on the bridge of your nose and you looked down to avoid his gaze.

“I– I never–” You gulped, not being able to finish the phrase from how stupid it sounded. A warm hand was pressed on your cheek, making you lift your head up to look at him again, and you didn’t realize how close he got to you, his blue eyes staring into yours.

“I ask you again… Can I kiss you?” And you finally give him a nod. You weren’t going to miss this chance, not for one second. He still wants to kiss you despite you not knowing what you were getting yourself into. He smiled at you and grabbed onto your glasses, pulling them off your face and setting them on the coffee table. “They were just going to get in the way.” 

You took a shaky breath in, his hand still on your cheek as he slowly leaned down towards you. You closed your eyes and his remained open to remember your features as he finally does what he has been wanting to do for the past weeks. At first it was a simple attraction of course, but he knew it was more than that, and he was scared as shit about it… But he never wanted someone as much as he’s been wanting you.

His lips connected with yours in a soft peck, brief, and you let a breath go out of your lips, only for another peck to land. Then another, then another that lingered there a bit more, and then the next one he just stayed there, and suddenly started moving his lips, guiding you as your heartbeat made you deaf in your ears. How do people do this and not faint at the spot?

The lip smacking was heard in the room as your hands finally were brave enough to travel, one scanning his bicep, the other one moving towards the back of his neck, feeling his skin under your fingertips. His free hand landed on your waist, not pressing too hard so that you know that he is being mindful of you. At this point, Billy would already be inside someone, satisfying his needs, but with you… He wasn’t going to do that, at least not now, not yet, and that is if you let him. 

He wants to take care of you.

He pulled away for a second, his lips touching yours still as your breathing mixed with one another’s in soft pants. You were feeling as if you were burning all over, not knowing what was happening with you. You never felt like this before, and maybe it has to do with the fact that not only was Billy good looking, but you also feel more than just friendship for him.

“You okay?” You nod frantically at him, wanting more, giving him a peck on the lips making him chuckle in a low tone. “Sorry baby, but I need more.” 

He suddenly pushed you back on the couch, crawling over you and you didn’t even think, you just wrapped your arms around his shoulders, and he kept his bottom half away from yours, even if it pained him on his thighs from the strength he was doing to keep himself up. His lips connected with yours again, rougher this time, more desperate, the kiss suddenly turning into a very heated one as he suddenly licks your bottom lip a few times.

The butterflies in your belly explode as you open your mouth and his tongue finally slides in. You gasp at the feeling, your hands finding his biceps through his blouse, and you felt his chain hitting your neck at every movement. One hand was still gripping on your waist, while the other remained at your nape, pulling you deeper into the kiss. 

You really can’t believe this is happening, not to you, not with Billy, it doesn’t make sense that he looked your way, it doesn’t make sense that he actually wants to kiss you, not when he has Heather on his tail all the time, or Carol even if she is dating Tommy. Or Janet. You always hear them talking about him in the bathroom, always planning their move on him, and this feels you with a sense of power, with a sense of accomplishment and pride in yourself. 

Your hands ran through his hair and he groaned into the kiss, and that ignited so many things inside of you that you never felt in your life, and you wanted to hear more of it. Billy was trying his best to keep himself in a hovering position with you, but he was finding it harder and harder to do so. He can’t go on, at least not today when it was your first kiss. He didn’t want to scare you, even if your urges were the same as his, because he could feel your need to pull him even closer.

The door suddenly clicked and both of your eyes snapped wide open, pulling away, looking at one another, panting heavily. Best scenario, it's your parents, and they would be thrilled that you actually, and finally, have someone over at your house… Now, worst case scenario–

“What the ACTUAL FUCK?!” You both sat up on the couch to look over at Steve, who was standing there in the living room, wide eyed, and his face reddened bit by bit. Shit.

“Steve–” You started talking but he raised his hand at you, to then point a finger at Billy.

“Get the fuck off my sister.” You wanted to roll your eyes at this, because why is he acting all protective now? You finally got some action in your fucking life and he wants to take it away from you.

“I don’t think she wants me to leave.” Billy dares to say, glaring at your brother who took a look at the coffee table, seeing the cans of beer. His mind started racing, and Billy followed his gaze, his mouth opening to talk but Steve was running up the stairs already. Your eyes widened and you pushed Billy off, standing up quickly and urging him to do the same.

“You have to leave!” You were trying to push Billy towards the front door but his feet were still planted against the floor with a frown to his face, and your head snapped to the stairs to see Steve running back down with his baseball bat in his hands. Billy’s eyes widen when Steve starts to approach him with a swinging motion.

“Taking fucking advantage of my sister is something I won’t take from you Hargrove, so get the fuck out of my house before I crush your skull in!” 

“Shit, Harrington– Fucking listen for a second–” Steve’s baseball bat hits the backrest of the couch, and you could see the dent of the wooden under it that he created. Billy ripped himself off you and gave you a look as if asking if you were okay.

“I’ll talk to him, you go.” You tell him and he gulps, looking back at Steve with a threatening look on his face which Steve only scoffed at.

“I’ll talk to you later.” Billy says with a small squeeze to your hand as he walks out of the house, passing by Steve. Your brother follows him to the front door and he doesn’t walk back inside until Billy drives away with his Camaro. After the roaring engine can be heard in the distance, Steve slams the door shut, throwing the bat at the floor and stomping back into the living room where you were standing there with a glare on your eyes as if you were about to kill him.

“When I saw his fucking car out in front of the house I thought it was a stupid coincidence, and I come in here to see you about to have sex with the sluttiest man in the goddamn school! What are you thinking!?” You frown in anger at that, stepping towards him.

“I am his friend! I wasn’t going to have sex with him, and he wasn’t taking fucking advantage of me! I drank ONE beer, ONE!” You yell back at him and he fake laughs as he runs his hand over his face.

“The first time you have a guy in this house, and it is Billy FUCKING Hargrove. The one guy that I am fighting with for Captain at our basketball team, the one guy that gives me the hardest fucking time of my life at the moment, and you want me to just accept that he wants to be with you because he WANTS TO?” Your chest hurt at those words, your own coming out in soft stutters at Steve’s blind rage.

“He even asked me if I wanted to, and I said yes–”

“God, you cannot be this fucking stupid! He hates me, makes my life a living hell, and you seriously think that he is a nice guy!? You really think there is no ulterior motive!?” He yelled at you and his words were stabbing you in every part of your body, your head already spinning from how harsh he was being with you.

“Why? Is it impossible that he actually wants to be with me?” You try to say loudly at him, even if your fingers start to feel numb. He scoffed at that, looking at you.

“Yes, and I don’t think you are dumb enough to not see that.” He was referring to so many other things, and it was regarding Billy’s persona, in Billy’s actions, in his rivalry with him… And when he saw your tear rolling down your face, his anger evaporated as if water was being thrown at him.

“Okay…” Was your defeated response. You turned around to retrieve your glasses from your coffee table and Steve winced, clenching his eyes tightly together as pain rushed through his body. 

“That wasn’t what I meant– Hey, listen to me, I really didn’t mean it to sound like that–” But you weren’t listening, putting the cassettes back into their cases and turning off the TV. You grabbed them and walked past him, going up into your room. Steve stood there, knowing he hurt you once again, not knowing what to do but run a hand through his hair, cursing under his breath as he started pacing back and forth.

He didn’t mean it to sound like no guy would want you, he didn’t mean it at all like that, yet the words coming out of his mouth betrayed him, completely. He doesn’t know how to make it up to you, because if he had given you the chance to go to the parties with him when you asked in your freshman year, many times, and told you yes instead of no, you would have more experiences, you might even have friends. If only he had let you come out of your room at his own parties when you asked him, almost begged him to let you participate, but he declined each time. Then in your sophomore year, you didn’t ask anymore, just accepted that he wasn’t going to tell you anymore about them, and you automatically locked the door whenever he hosted a party. 

This year, he tried to invite you, many times. You always declined. You didn’t even want to eat dinner with him, and he knows you want to leave the house as soon as possible thanks to him. Even with your parents. For the past two years he had been so blind because of his father’s approval and the one of all the students in Hawkins High that he didn’t notice how your parents didn’t ask you stuff at dinner. All questions were always directed to him. He noticed this year, and he tried to tell them you had nailed your exams, and the only thing you got from your father was ‘As she should.’

He was the cause of who you were now. Not at all the bubbly and animated girl that asked him to raise her up like an airplane in their backyard, not at all the small girl that put makeup on him pretending she was a stylist, not at all the middle school girl that got excited to see him whenever she got home from school to tell him about what she learned that day. 

He walked up the stairs and raised his hand to knock on your door, only to hear soft sobs on the other side, muffled. He wonders if you had also cried when he denied you all those times. He doesn’t know how to even make it up to you. He doesn’t know if he even can. 

So the next day, when you didn’t come out of your room, he let you have your alone time. Now on Monday he tried knocking on your door, only to receive the notice that you felt sick. He tried walking in but your door was completely locked. His eyebrows twitched and his mind had come up with a plan. A plan he will terribly hate. A plan that might end up badly for him. But it’s what he deserves for what he did to you. 

Billy looked everywhere for you, and even asked Barbara Holland where you could be. She told him that she hadn’t seen her at Science that day either, so his best guess was that you had skipped school. His jaw clenched when he asked other people about you and some of them didn’t even know what you looked like. He waited for the bell to ring, and he was going to tumble Steve down if he had to in order to see you. He didn’t care.

But when he walked out of the school doors to rush to his Camaro, he was surprised to see Steve Harrington sitting on his trunk with his arms crossed. Billy’s eyes hardened at the sight, walking towards him, tilting his head in question at the brown haired boy who was looking at Billy with a mix of emotions behind his eyes.

“Harrington. Get off my fucking car.” He says and Steve gulps as he looks to the side.

“I fucked up.” At that Billy’s eyebrows turned into a frown, but his fists started clenching as Steve kept talking, telling him everything, everything he did to you, and what he had said to you that night when Billy left. 

While this was happening, you were combing your hair after the shower you took while sitting on your bed. You had taken a shower because you were greasy from yesterday already, and you really didn't want to get up, but you didn’t have a choice. Ever since Steve said that, you didn’t have the guts to actually call Billy because at some far away place in your mind, it made sense. 

You were invisible, and suddenly you were noticed? It doesn’t sound real. 

So maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it really was to get into your pants to mess with your brother, and that was honestly the most reasonable explanation for it. You frowned when you heard the door open downstairs, your door was left open so you could hear some drawers being open, to then hear steps coming up the stairs. Your eyes widened when you saw Steve slamming himself against the door frame of your room.

His eye was completely inflamed from a punch received to the face, his nose was bleeding and he was holding some ice covered in a rug to soak the blood in it. From what you could see, his lip was busted as well and his breathing was coming out of his mouth, almost in a pant.

“Steve, what happened?” Even in your hatred for him, seeing him this way made your heart fill with worry, pushing all of the other feelings aside. You were about to rise from the bed until Steve raised his hand up at you.

“I deserved it.” He looked towards the hallway and your eyes widened when you saw Billy coming into view, a pack of frozen peas on his right hand, his eyes glaring at Steve as he passed by him and into your room. His eyes turned to yours and you couldn’t help but look up at him, completely stunned. Steve groans and closes the door for you two as he heads downstairs. 

“What… Did you…?” You stutter as you sit back on your bed, seeing Billy’s injured hand as he sat on your bed too, nodding as he looked at you.

“I sure as hell did. Fucker deserved it. He told me everything, from the very beginning, and also what he said to you on Saturday night right after I left.” You feel your face flush with embarrassment and you look down at your hands again. You are not understanding what is going on, nor why Steve would go and tell your life story to Billy. “Though I have to say… Your brother does care for you.” You scoff at that.

“Right. Like he cared for me the past two years.” You reply with venom in your voice and you feel Billy scoot closer to you.

“He knows. He knows what he did to you. Your freshman year was the punch on the eye, your sophomore year was on his lip… And what he said on Saturday was the one on the nose.” He lets out a chuckle and you feel mixed emotions to that. You were happy that he defended your honor, but Steve was still your brother and you didn’t want physical harm to come to him.

“Don’t punch him again… Please.” You slowly looked up at Billy and his blue eyes were already looking at you. Your heart rate picked up the longer he stared at you.

“Do you really believe what he said to you that night?” He asks you, a small worried tone behind his voice. You feel yourself gulp and you look away in embarrassment or nervousness, you no longer know.

“I– After years of feeling this way, it was a very possible scenario.” You say to him in a low voice, your fingers playing with each other. You see him put the bag of peas away, and his hands look for yours. You look down to see his right hand completely bruised up, some skin completely chipped off on his knuckles. You gasp at that and his hold gets stronger on you, making you look up at him. He was closer now, making your breathing get stuck in your throat. 

“How can I prove to you that I want you? How can I prove to you that I like you, that I like you very much that I drive myself insane with this fucking feeling, because god knows I am not good with relationships…” For the first time you see a blush come to his cheeks, and his gaze looks down at your connected hands, like how you do when you get nervous. “But I wanna try that with you.” 

Your heart leapt out of your mouth almost, not truly believing what was happening, but the bruised knuckles made it more real, the blush on his cheeks made you realize it was no dream at all. This man in front of you wants you, despite it all, and you both have so many broken pieces to pick up inside one another, but you figure that you can help each other. You can mend his heart back, as he can mend yours.

“I think… The first step would be a date…” You say to him almost in a whisper and he chuckles as he looks up at you. He squints slightly at that as if in thought as your smile grows on your face while looking at him.

“I have an idea for it. I think they are showcasing the new Rambo movie.” He says to you with a smirk to his face and your mouth fell open at that, shaking your head.

“I am not watching an action movie on our first date!” He chuckles at that, his face coming closer to yours slowly, and you feel magnetized to him as you both leaned into one another. 

“Oh, I bet you prefer the one where the bad boy goes for the intelligent and perfect girl, that genre, right?” You squint at him, pretending to be offended by his words.

“Don’t act like you don’t like those movies Hargrove.” At that he chuckles, his left hand snaking to the back of your neck to pull you closer to him, a soft breath hitting your lips as he talks.

“I might have a thing for romance.” His lips touched yours again, and you smiled through the kiss, your own hands resting on the back of his head to pull him deeper into the kiss, to taste him even better. Your lips moved along with his, taking in eachother’s breaths, bodies coming closer at each second.

“Don’t fuck my sister, I draw the line there. Not today, not with me here.” You both heard Steve’s voice behind the door, making Billy groan in annoyance and pull away from you to glare at the door as the steps could be heard and another door closes down the hallway.

“I am punching him again.” Billy says and you were glaring at the door too.

“My turn.”

A/N: Well shit, I hope you enjoyed. IT TURNED OUT TO BE A ONE SHOT.