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#stranger things season 3
mybreakdowns · 2 days
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mike wheeler nobody gets you like i do pookie
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disjointed-art · 9 months
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Eddie was never the same after seeing Steve in the scoops uniform
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chopinrefound · 1 year
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Found Party✨
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kitkatdoodlez · 10 months
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After the mall incident
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donttellunclesam · 11 months
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bonding after Starcourt. Robin had some questions.
(close up under the cut)
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finntheehumaneater · 3 months
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I owe you a black-eye and two kisses (pt 2)
(Part one) (part three)
playlist | pinboard
more of my writing here
CW: smoking, language, some slurs
(Not everyone I tagged here asked to be tagged, but they did express interest in it, so let me know if you don’t want to be tagged in future parts)
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Eddie tried to walk slower as Steve stumbled behind him, back to the parking lot off the back of the school where he had left his van. He felt kind of bad for Steve, but then again, this guy had always been an asshole to him. He didn’t know why it stung to watch his glassy eyes dart around the ground as he went, making sure he didn’t trip over anything.
He hopped over the curb and onto the concrete, holding his hand out to catch Steve as the guy practically fell over the small drop. And he said he had walked here? No wonder the knees of his jeans were all scraped up. 
Eddie’s cheeks heated as he awkwardly helped Steve limp over to the passenger’s door of the van. If he knew he would have been driving someone else, he would have at least tidied up a bit. It wasn’t that messy, but the blankets were bundled up on the mattress in the back, and the whole place smelled like cigarette smoke and whatever tea Wayne had left out on the counter for him when he woke up. He opened the door for Steve and watched as Steve clambered inside, wincing as he hunched over in the seat, hand on his stomach. He totally wasn’t only aware of that because he had been looking at the way Steve’s shirt clung to him too tightly. It couldn’t have been his. Steve didn’t look like the kind of guy to listen to Madonna. It probably belonged to some girl he was hooking up with.
Eddie walked over to the driver's side and grabbed a cigarette from the cup holder on the side of the door as he got in, holding it out to Steve. Steve hesitated, but eventually took it, and Eddie handed him the lighter, starting the car. Steve fumbled with it for a moment, and Eddie sighed, taking it from him and lighting the cigarette for Steve before putting it back in the pocket of his jacket.
He was mostly quiet as Eddie drove, which Eddie was thankful for. He didn’t need to listen to Steve complain about the state of his van or the empty cigarette boxes stuffed in front of the passenger seat—no one ever rode with him, save his uncle, who didn’t care how the van looked, as long as it still worked. Steve didn’t look like he hated this, though, because he was leaning against the window with his eyes closed, forehead pressed to the glass and his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. He looked almost at peace.
Eddie guessed it was probably because he knew he was going to be rid of him soon—back to his big fancy house with his big driveway and his nicer car. And just because he could, Eddie reached over to the glovebox, rummaging around the cassettes until he found one that he knew Steve was going to hate.
He put it in and tried to turn it down as quickly as he could, so that Steve could rest a while, because he did look tired—but Steve still jolted awake when it started.
“Sorry, sorry,” Eddie said lightly, finally turning the music down to a softer volume. He felt bad, which was weird. Because of course he had to be sympathetic towards the person who had called him a queer and a fag all his life—who had glared at him in hallways. He had never actually touched Eddie, but words still fucking hurt. It’s not like Steve was wrong, though. He was a fag.
Steve blinked slightly, and Eddie looked back at the road, hearing Steve sigh and go to touch at his face, but he winced. Eddie glanced over again, trying not to take his eyes off of the road for too long. It was kind of dark, now, and there wasn’t really anyone else out there driving, since it was a Saturday.
“You alright? I’ve probably got some pain killers in here,” Eddie muttered, turning a corner as slowly as he could so that Steve didn’t get jostled around too much.
“S’fine,” Steve muttered, but his voice was tight like he was about to cry again, and all of this felt too weird for Eddie. Steve Harrington didn’t cry, let alone in front of someone who he hated. Eddie pulled the car over and ignored Steve’s small noise of protest as he climbed into the back, rummaging around his bag for a minute, nearly tripping over one of the blankets.
“Do you sleep in here?”
Eddie’s head snapped up and he squinted slightly at Steve. “What?”
“In your van.”
“I have a fucking house,” Eddie snapped, glaring at Steve. “I’m not that poor.”
Steve flinched slightly, looking away, and Eddie went back to looking for the pain meds. Maybe he should just leave it and get back to driving. The sooner he could drop Steve off, the better. Still, he kept looking and eventually found them, grabbing the water bottle tucked away under one of the blankets. It was kind of warm, but it would have to do.
He tossed it to Steve and handed him the pill-bottle, climbing back into the driver’s seat and kicking the blanket off of his shoe as he sat back down, straightening out his hair. “There.”
He saw Steve nod as he took the pills, nearly coughing and spitting it back out, and Eddie reached over to pat his back slightly, sighing. “Jesus, Harrington, don’t choke.”
Steve coughed again, tucking his face into his arm, his eyes brimming with tears. “I-I’m okay. I’m okay.”
Eddie moved his hand, sitting back properly in his seat and turning the music up a bit now that he knew Steve was awake. He started to drive again, and Steve pressed a hand against his chest, taking a deep breath.
Eddie huffed. “What’s wrong now, hm?”
“Nothing,” Steve bit back, and there it was. The guy could only pretend to be nice for so long. “Just—don’t take me home.”
Eddie paused, glancing over at Steve again so quickly that the car swerved slightly, and Steve gripped into the armrest of the seat for a moment before Eddie looked back and straightened them out. “Don’t take you home?”
“Just—just drop me off here, okay? My parents aren’t there, and Robin’s parents aren’t letting her leave the house, and—a-and I can’t be alone right now. Please.” And fuck, Steve was practically begging, now, his hand gripping at Eddie’s shoulder in a way that hurt. He looked panicked.
Eddie forced himself to relax and gently pried Steve’s hand off of him, placing it on Steve’s thigh and patting it lightly. “Come home with me.”
“What?”
“Harrington—you can barely keep your eyes open, and you’re…you’re hurt. Stay the night with me. Wayne knows fuck-all about medicine, he can take a look at you, okay? And then in the morning I’ll drop you off at….?”
“Dustin’s,” Steve answered quickly. “Dustin Henderson.”
Eddie looked Steve over. He had heard talk that Steve had gone soft—stopped being such a bitch and actually treated people like people—but no way in hell was he going to believe that. Still, Eddie felt kind of bad about his appearance. His hair didn’t look as nice as it always did.
“Fine. But you’ll have to tell me how to get there.”
Steve nodded and Eddie pulled into someone else’s driveway—one of the nice fancy houses, but it didn’t look like Steve’s. Not that he would know what Steve’s house looked like. He had never been there. 
“And don’t piss Wayne off, okay?” Eddie warns, reaching over to shove Steve’s shoulder lightly, and Steve winces, but smiles slightly. “He doesn’t like me bringing people home. You’re lucky, sweetheart.”
“Am I?” Steve whispered, rubbing his shoulder slightly. He must have been pretty fucked up for that to hurt, Eddie thought to himself, looking back at the road.
“Yep. You can have the couch.”
“Mmm,” Steve hummed, leaning back against the chair. “This how you treat all your girls, Munson?”
“I would, but there are no girls,” Eddie replies, his voice almost too bitter, even though he knew Steve was joking. “But you already knew that. Right, Harrington?”
Steve shrunk into himself, nodding. He hesitated, before sighing and rubbing a hand over his bruised face gently. “I don’t—you have a bed in the back of your car. S’why I asked earlier. I didn’t mean to piss you off or anything. I was just worried.”
“Worried,” Eddie repeated, trying to make himself sound less pissed off, because Steve looked upset—and guilty—enough, and Eddie didn’t want to make him feel worse.
“Yeah. Thought your Uncle might’ve kicked you out, or something.”
Wayne wouldn’t have done that, but Steve wasn’t completely insane for thinking it. He and Eddie argued a lot—and it seemed to happen in public more than anything—so most assumed that Eddie would be out of the trailer within a few weeks, and he’d have to find someone else to bother. But then months would pass, and he’d still be hanging around. Wayne loved him, even if he didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to, really. He was the closest to family that Eddie had, now.
“He can’t get rid of me, even if he tried, Stevie,” Eddie said lightly, forcing a smile and a wink—and Steve smiled back, but his eyes were still glassy and his hands were shaking, his breath uneven.
“Okay.”
“This doesn’t mean we’re friends. Got that? M’just helping out for tonight, Alright? Tomorrow you’re outta here and we go back to hating each other.”
Eddie couldn’t help but notice the disappointment in Steve’s eyes as he glanced over again. The way he wiped at his eyes, agitating blood-dried skin. 
Steve nodded again. “Yeah. Alright.”
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Hallo!!! So, part one got way more attention than I thought it would, so I wrote this super fucking fast because I was excited. I don’t know how many more parts this will have, but I do have a part three planned out :)
as always, reblogs and comments are appreciated! Thanks for reading! <3
@estrellami-1 @randombibitch @insteviewetrust @anne-bennett-cosplayer @hack-saw2004 @lolawonsstuff @goodolefashionedloverboi @slowandsteddie @ellietheasexylibrarian @mugloversonly @littlebluejane @zombiethingy @steddie-island @rozzieroos @ohimamarigold @origamiplushie @mamafaithful @redhoodandhellfire
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lumaxramblings · 8 months
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The Only Tally Mark
Ship: Steve Harrington x reader
Summary: The 'You Suck' tallies are getting pretty high, but there's a girl in Scoops Ahoy who knows Robin in wrong. If she can just get the courage to open her mouth, Steve's luck is about to change.
Word Count: 7,250 words
Warnings: Robin's a bit mean, she also has no filter, pining, Steve's failed flirting attempts, blatant staring/pining, implied confession, first kiss
Note: Set pre-s4 and the day Dustin comes back, before the Russian code is cracked.
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☟ Continue below the fold ☟
July had only just begun in Hawkins, and you could already tell it was going to be a hot one. Less than twenty-four hours in, temperatures had already hit record-breaking highs—at least, that was according to the weatherman on the television you were sat in front of, sweating and feeling relief from the heat only when the fan beside you swiveled back toward you.
“Every July is this hot,” your father said from the kitchen, where he was drinking his second glass of water in five minutes.
“Oh, sure, but never this early,” your mother retorted. “It’s only the first, and already we’re melting out of the house.”
Sensing an irritable argument birthed from the nearly unbearable heat, you left the living room and headed up the stairs to your bedroom. You picked up the phone you’d begged your parents to let you have years ago, dialing the number of your best friend of four years: Robin Buckley, the band dweeb to your theatre kid.
It was her mom who answered the phone, several dial tones later. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mrs. Buckley—is Robin home?”
“Oh, hi, sweetie! She’s at work right now, her shift ends at seven.”
You stopped yourself from swearing. “Oh, right, I forgot. Thank you!”
“No problem, dear,” Mrs. Buckley said before hanging up.
You leaned against the wall. How could you have forgotten? Robin had been telling you about her new job in the mall—and the sailor’s uniform she had to wear. You’d seen her get ready for work once and had burst into giggles the moment she put the hat on her head.
You glanced at the digital clock next to your bed, checking the time. There was still several hours before the mall closed. You might as well visit Robin and abuse your friendship to get some free ice cream at the same time, right?
So you grabbed your wallet and shoved it in your pocket and bounded down the stairs.
"Hey, I'm going out!" you shouted to your parents.
"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" your father asked, appearing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.
"To the mall? Robin works there and I'm going to visit."
"Don't spend too much, dear!" your mother called.
"Sure, Mom!"
You hopped in your car and headed for the mall, following the thick cluster of traffic that always lined the streets leading to the mall, passing through the streets lined with empty, hollow shops.
~❊~
The mall was crowded, as busy as it had always been since the day it opened. You pushed your way through the crowds gathered around storefronts and display windows, trying to remember which floor Scoops Ahoy was on.
You took the escalator down to the first floor and scanned the shops surrounding you. When you spotted the sign for the ice cream store, you headed toward it, maneuvering past a group of pre-teens cackling about manipulating the store's workers into giving them free samples.
There was no one at the counter when you walked in. A majority of the tables were occupied by groups of teens. As you approached the register, you could hear faint bickering from behind the pebbled glass windows, Robin's distinct voice floating out to you.
"...do the job you're supposed to do, I've been scooping so much ice cream my hand's cramped," she was saying.
You stifled a giggle and tapped your hand lightly against the bell in front of you, wincing when it was a little louder than you had been expecting.
The swing door on the left opened with a bang, revealing the back of a boy who was gesturing at Robin, who was quite literally pushing him out the door. She disappeared before you could catch her attention, and the other attendant took up his place in front of the register.
"Ahoy, sailor! Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain, I'm Steve Harrington."
You blinked at him. "Is that company policy like the hat and the outfit?"
He stared at you. "I'm sorry, what?"
You shrugged. "I'm a friend of Robin's, she complains about the, and I quote, stupid company rules that make everyone look stupid."
He stared at you. You stared at him. Awkward silence settled between the two of you.
The introduction hadn't been necessary. You had spent most of your high school experience listening to Robin complain about Steve Harrington and his stupid perfect hair and his stupid easy charm and his stupid actual stupidity. The Steve she'd painted matched up perfectly with the kid you'd seen around in the halls, dressed in his ironed polo shirts and pleated khakis or that stupid basketball uniform and letterman jacket—and Nancy Wheeler on his arm.
You and Robin had watched his life crash and burn with malicious glee—and all the while you had tried to ignore that this was the very same boy you'd crushed on in middle school, and had been so shocked to find out had changed so much when you got to the high school, a year after he did.
Steve cleared his throat, his gaze dropping to the register, firmly away from you. "Um. What can I get you?"
"Uh..." Every ice cream flavor you had ever liked instantly disappeared from your head. It wasn't like the usual mind-blankness that came from being asked a question about your favorite anything. It was like your entire body had stopped, freezing in the pretty face of Steve Harrington, ridiculous as the uniform was. Especially with the hat, which Robin hadn't told you about.
The door swung open again. "Jesus, Steve, what's taking you so damn long?" Robin froze where she stood. A smile lit up her face. "What are you doing here?!"
You grinned. "Visiting!"
Robin hip-checked Steve out of the way. Steve glared at her while she grabbed the ice cream scoop from the pocket at his side.
"Jesus, do you have to be so brutal?" he snapped.
Clearly fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Robin turned back to Steve. "I'm sorry, would you please get out of the way so I can serve my best friend? Thanks," she said, her customer service smile plastered to her face.
Muttering under his breath, Steve pushed away from the counter, leaning on the sill of the window behind him. He crossed his arms, still staring resolutely at the floor.
Robin grinned at you. "I wasn't expecting you to—"
"Be here?" you finished. "I called your house before I realized you were working, so I thought I might as well come visit."
"Glad you did," she said. "You would not believe how much of a headache it is working with dingus over there."
You glanced over her shoulder at Steve, his pink lips forming a pissy pout. Oh, yeah. Still pretty, still a bitch.
"You didn't tell me you worked with him," you said under your breath.
Robin shrugged, shooting you a knowing smile. "Yeah, well, I knew you'd show up and find out for yourself eventually." Her eyes slid to the corners, as if she could see Steve sulking behind her. "We'll talk about him later. What ice cream do you want? On us."
You giggled. "How did I know you'd say that?"
She snorted. "Oh, so you're abusing our friendship for free ice cream?"
"Maybe," you said. "Just this once."
Robin rolled her eyes and grabbed an ice cream cone. "Here—I'll grab your favorite."
And, without you needing to remind her, she lowered the scoop into the tub of ice cream that you got every time the two of you had gotten ice cream after going to see a movie, back before the mall. You wondered how you could have forgotten, until you looked over Robin's shoulder again and found Steve looking up, lips parted and eyes fixed on you. The minute you caught his gaze, he blushed and looked away.
You took advantage of his embarrassment, admiring the pink in his cheeks and how he awkwardly licked his lips. He toyed with the watch on his wrist, crossed and uncrossed his legs. Was he nervous? An even better question—had you ever seen Steve Harrington nervous before?
While you studied Steve, Robin made a second cone of ice cream, a different flavor than yours.
Robin looked behind her. "Hey—man the counter, will you? I'm going on break."
Steve spluttered. "You just came back from break!"
"No, we just finished our lunch break. I still have my federally-required thirty minutes to take. So I'm gonna take 'em." She shoved the scoop at Steve's chest and stepped out from behind the counter.
The pair of you took an unoccupied table near the counter, in case she was needed.
"Should you be leaving him to do it by himself?" you asked, glancing back at Steve one last time.
"What, are you worried about him? He'll be fine," Robin said. She shrugged with a sigh. "He's...he's not as bad as we thought he was in high school. He's less of a douche now, at least."
"Just a dingus?" you asked with a smile.
She nodded. "He's still as stupid as we always thought."
You turned your attention away from Steve at toward your ice cream. "Why didn't you tell me he worked with you?"
She rolled her eyes. "Let's not have that conversation while he's here, okay? For your dignity's sake. I know he's far away, but he's got impressive hearing." She shrugged. "Blame it on four years of listening for gossip, I guess."
Your gaze shifted back to Steve as he raked a hand through his hair, stretching enough for his shirt to lift. Heat rushed to your cheeks and you crossed your legs. Now that he wasn't surrounded by assholes who mocked you and Robin and your friends for their own personal entertainment, it was easier to appreciate how he'd grown into himself since middle school. Taking care of himself had made him a whole new level of handsome.
Robin giggled. "Yeah—that's why we're not gonna talk about this while he's around. You still have a thing for him, don't you?"
Steve relaxed against the countertop, fixing his hair and putting the hat back on with a scowl. You cleared your throat.
"I was hoping you'd forgotten about that."
"Me? Forget about you having the most embarrassing crush on him for years? Only to get to high school and find out he'd become a dick? Never."
You groaned. "Oh, stop rubbing it in!"
A gaggle of girls walked into the store, four of them giggling and talking and rolling their eyes. Immediately, Steve stood up a little straighter and fiddled with his uniform.
Robin snorted. "Oh, watch this. He's been failing catastrophically with every girl that walks in. I keep count."
"You keep count?"
She nodded gleeful, pointing with her chin in the direction of the counter.
"Ahoy, ladies!" Steve said, leaning on the counter. His attempt to be attractive failed dismally, however, when his hand slipped off the side and he lost both his balance and his composure for a moment.
One of the girls giggled with her friend. Steve's cheeks darkened.
"I'm Steve Harrington, I'll be your captain on this ocean of flavor. What can I get you lovely ladies today?"
You glanced at Robin. "I don't see what he's doing wrong."
"That's because this is scripted," Robin whispered back.
The first girl stepped forward. "One scoop of chocolate and one of vanilla, please."
Steve tried a debonaire smile. "Oooh, classic, I like it. I'm all for vanilla myself, you know, all the time."
You winced. "Was...was that supposed to be a double entendre?"
"Yep," Robin said, popping the p with a smirk.
"I see what you mean now," you said. The girl was making a face that said she caught Steve's drift and found it rude. Steve cleared his throat and moved on, scooping ice cream into a cone and handing it to her with a mortified whisper of "here you go." His gaze flicked over to you and Robin, at which point his mortification seemed to grow.
You watched the exchange grow steadily worse. Steve stumbled over his words and tripped over his feet and dropped an empty cone twice. Customers who had already gotten ice cream became onlookers who left, one by one, as the secondhand embarrassment grew.
"God, he's hopeless," you whispered. "Whatever happened to the Steve in high school?"
"You mean the one with a new girl on his arm every week? I'd say that stopping can be blamed on one Nancy Wheeler," Robin said.
You rolled your eyes. "While they were dating, obviously. But now? One relationship shouldn't make him incapable of flirting with a girl."
Robin watched the girls leave, snickering behind their hands. A moment later, Steve groaned, wiping a hand over his face. "You know what I think his problem is?"
"What?"
"He's trying to flirt all of them into submission, not just one girl he likes out of the group."
You nodded slowly. "Sounds about right. I mean...if he flirted with me one minute and then you the next, I don't think I'd want to jump his bones, exactly."
Robin rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about? You've always wanted to jump his bones."
"That was middle school, and that was before any of us gave a shit about sex."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Robin teased. "I saw how you looked at him during gym class."
You shrugged, trying to hide your face behind your hair. Robin knew your expressions better than anyone; your embarrassment was going to be obvious the minute she caught sight of you. "It's gym class! Guys don't wear shirts ninety percent of the time, they practically invite girls to stare." Your gaze slid back to Steve, who was once again staring at the floor. His cheeks were still red, and that pretty mouth of his had once again formed a pout. "Jesus, I don't think I've ever seen him so...despondent."
"He's like that at least five times a shift," Robin said. She played with a small red plastic spoon she had pulled from her pocket. "You know... You could come work here with us. Then you'd get to see Steve every day."
"Robin, you're constantly complaining about how much you hate working your, and I quote, pitiful minimum wage job."
"Yeah, but you like Steve, and eye candy makes the day go by faster."
You swatted her arm discreetly. "Don't objectify him!"
She rolled her eyes. "Hey, Steve!"
Steve looked up so quickly you swore you heard his neck crack, even with some distance between your table and the counter. "What?"
"Come convince her to work with us!"
You glared at her. "Robin, I already have a summer job!" you protested, trying to stop your heart from racing as Steve approached the two of you. You looked anywhere but him, knowing a soft smile and a well-timed flutter of his eyelashes was all it would take for Steve to convince you to do anything he asked.
Steve pulled a chair from the other table for two next to you, spinning it unnecessarily in his hand and dragging it to the edge of your table. He straddled it, leaning his arms against the backrest. Your heart climbed into your throat.
Steve's eyes met yours and every thought melted from your brain. Brown had never been such a pretty color. Although his eyes weren't just brown, they were hazel, mottled with soft greens and blues and greys. You'd never seen such beautiful eyes before, so expressive and kind and interested and attentive and—
"Tell her why she should come work with us," Robin said, breaking your focus on Steve's eyes.
You rolled your eyes. "Robin, I already have a job," you repeated. "A job I like that pays well that I can work at year-round."
Steve snorted, shaking his head absentmindedly. "Then don't come here, that's for sure. The pay is shit, the job is just as bad, and nobody likes ice cream in the winter."
Robin glared at him. "What part of convincing her do you not understand?"
Steve shrugged, ignoring her. "But, then again, you'd get to work with Robin and you might alleviate my boredom from dealing with her all the time." He jerked his head toward Robin. "You wouldn't believe how mean to me she is."
You stifled a giggle as Robin huffed. An easy grin reminiscent of the king he once as slid across Steve's face. You felt slightly giddy, knowing you had been the one to put it there.
More people walked into the store and Robin shot to her feet. "Come on, dingus. We have a job to do." She dragged him to his feet, ignoring his hiss of complaint. He shot you an apologetic shrug as she pulled him behind the register again.
While the two of them got back to work, you sat back in your booth table and finished your ice cream. Once you were done, you discreetly snuck out of the store, leaving a note for Robin at the counter promising to call her after her shift.
As you wrote the note and taped it to the register, you failed to notice Steve pause where he was scooping ice cream to watch you, or that his gaze stayed on you until you left the store and Robin had to snap him out of his reverie.
~❊~
Though it seemed utterly impossible, the next day was even hotter than the last. You lasted all of two hours at the community pool before you got tired of the screaming children and moms flirting with Billy Hargrove and you went home.
You changed out of your bathing suit, dressing more consciously than you had since the eighth grade semi-formal. You selected your jewelry carefully before hopping in your car and heading to the mall for a second time that week.
Scoops Ahoy was significantly less busy when you walked in. Robin looked half-asleep where she stood at the counter, but she brightened when you walked in.
"You just couldn't stay away, could you?" she asked, leaning on the counter with a grin.
You shrugged. "It's hot, ice cream is a solution."
She studied you for a moment. "The pool didn't solve that?"
You scoffed. "Hell no. It's full of tiny children and middle-aged moms and girls who only go so they can take up space and stare at Billy."
"And there's no Steve there, is there?" Robin teased.
You rolled your eyes. "No," you admitted. "Or you."
Robin scooped your ice cream and passed it to you over the countertop. "He'll be back soon, his break ends in a minute. He went to go grab us food."
"He what?"
Robin shrugged. "Yeah, he does that a lot. I hate to say it, but he's actually a nice guy. I think we might have been wrong about him."
You grinned. "So I was right back in middle school! I told you."
Robin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you did." She cleared her throat. "Behind you."
You heard Steve's footsteps approaching a split second before he said, "Hey, you're back! Applying?"
Turning to face him, you snorted. "Absolutely not. I'm here for ice cream and ice cream alone."
Steve frowned. "What are we, chopped liver?" he asked, gesturing between himself and Robin.
"I'm surprised you know that phrase," Robin said.
Steve made a face. "I do know some things, Robin." He turned back to you. "I told you she's mean to me."
You laughed. "She's mean to everyone sometimes, it's nothing personal."
"Yes it is, dingus," Robin said, and you remembered she had plenty of reasons aside from Steve's years mocking her and her friends to be angry with him.
You just shrugged at him when Steve looked at you for guidance. He copied your shrug and passed Robin a plastic bag that smelled heavenly.
"If I'd known you were coming to visit, I would have gotten you something," Steve said apologetically.
"Oh, it's fine," you promised. "I've got ice cream." He smiled at you, his laughter shining through. "Honestly, I'm surprised you two don't exist off of ice cream."
"We used to," Robin said.
Steve nodded. "It got pretty tiring after a week. It's like when they told us in health class that energy from sugar doesn't last very long. Or something like that."
Robin squinted at him. "You can't remember enough of high school to get to college, but you can remember health class?"
"I remembered enough to graduate," Steve mumbled, cheeks turning pink once again. You were starting to get used to Steve's embarrassment. It was as cute as he always was.
"Stay and eat with us," Robin said, turning back to you. "I'll split my fries with you. You did remember the fries, didn't you, dingus?"
"Of course I remembered the fries," Steve snorted. He dropped the Closed for lunch! sign on the counter and held the swinging door open for you. You thanked him as you walked by, aware of his eyes following you.
You sat in the seat Robin pulled out for you and finished your ice cream before stealing some of the previously offered fries.
"I think we're closing early, Robin," Steve said, glancing out the cracked window. "We've had, what, three people all day?"
"Four if you count the Radio Shack employee across the way," Robin said. "But I don't, because they get it for free."
You frowned. "Do I not count as a customer because you give me ice cream for free?"
Steve shook his head a bit too quickly. "No, you count, Robin just doesn't like the Radio Shack employees."
"Because they're rude," she complained. "They complain about everything and change their minds three times—but always after you've already started scooping, and even when you're done, they don't like it!"
"Sounds like a regular day in customer service," you said, feigning cheerfulness.
"Yeah, a shitty day," Robin said.
"Where do you work?" Steve asked. "I don't think I've ever asked."
"The record store down on Main," you said.
"You know, the one I said I had been planning on working at," Robin said. "But Scoops hired faster."
"Maybe we should switch jobs," Steve muttered.
Robin snorted. "Yeah, like that'll go over well."
"The store won't hire more people, anyway," you cut in. "It got rid of most of the staff, especially the new people, to cut costs because of the mall."
"Is there a record store in here?" Steve asked.
"No, but there is a Sam Goody and a Camelot Music in the mall. We used to have a partnership with the Sam Goody on Main, but then it closed due to the mall, and we started losing business to the one in the mall." You sighed. "I hear about it all the time. It's all the owner ever talks about these days."
Steve munched on a fry, staring at you as you spoke. His eyes were stuck firmly on you. You tried not to squirm under his intense gaze.
Robin leaned back in her chair. "One of these days, I'm gonna visit you at work instead."
You rolled your eyes. "If you ever have a day off," you said.
"Kinda hard to have a day off when we're the only two working here," Steve said.
You nodded. "The constant problem of being short staffed."
"That would be solved if you just came and worked here," Robin muttered into her wrap. You rolled your eyes again, stealing another one of her fries.
"No, Robin."
Robin harrumphed and took a bite of her sandwich more viciously than twas strictly required.
Steve faked a pout. "You just really don't like us, do you?"
"She doesn't," Robin agreed, smirking. You knew that smirk; she was going to do her best to guilt trip you—using Steve, which was perhaps the only way to guilt you into doing what she wanted.
You rolled your eyes. "It's got nothing to do with you, I promise."
"Ouch," they said in unison.
You frowned. "What are you, the same person?"
They both shrugged.
"Alright, that's just weird," you sighed. You glanced down at your watch. "How long does your lunch break last?"
"Thirty minutes. Why?" Steve asked.
You shrugged. "Wouldn't want you to get fired because I'm here distracting you."
Steve propped his head up on his hand. Stray curls of hair fell into his face. Your heart twisted in your chest. He was beautiful. How could he be so beautiful?
Robin watched as you and Steve stared at each other. You were aware of her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two of you, observing the way you were melting under his gaze, your lips parting the longer he looked at you, the barriers you'd put up slowly crumbling. Steve was no better, staring at you with open, asking eyes. He moistened his lower lip with his tongue and it took everything in you not to whimper.
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the look on Robin's face—the look of disgust that crossed her face every time she was disgusted by public affection from straight couples. Your heart did flips at the sight of her expression.
"Would you guys stop that?" she groaned, getting up from her seat.
"Doing what?" Steve asked, still looking at you. You tore your eyes away from him and back to the half-empty container of fries.
"Making eyes at each other," she said. Steve spluttered, instantly losing the lovey look in his eyes.
"Making eyes— Robin, what are you talking about?"
You cleared your throat. "Hey, um, what's the board for?" You hoped your question would steer the conversation away from the feeling bubbling in your chest at the sight of Steve.
Steve groaned, hiding his face in his hands.
"I told you I was keeping score of Steve's failing dating life. This is my scoreboard."
You nearly choked. "You keep track of it on a whiteboard at work?!" You looked at the neatly drawn board, the 'You Rule' and 'You Suck' columns divided by a line.
"Actually, I have to put the one from yesterday on here."
Steve groaned again, cheeks burning very red. He looked like he wanted to crawl under the table and stay there.
You watched her add a line. "Robin..."
"She's right, I suck," Steve sighed. "My luck's been pretty shit recently."
"You don't suck, she's just being mean," you said. You sent her a look, shaking your head slightly. She just shrugged.
"You don't have to be nice about it," he said. "I know how bad I am at this. I haven't gotten laid in months."
"Okay, too much information, Steve," you said with a little laugh.
"Oh, so this suddenly isn't a safe place to talk about all our life troubles?" he teased.
You laughed fully. He smiled, and the room seemed to light up with the glow emanating from him.
"Get a room," Robin groaned.
Steve turned around. "I'm not flirting, Robin!"
"Yeah, right," Robin smirked. "It's just working this time."
You coughed. "I, um, I have to go."
They both turned back to you, as if they'd forgotten that you were even there.
"Shit, hang on," Steve started, but Robin cut him off.
"No, wait, I didn't mean it like that—" Robin said, realizing she'd practically told Steve you liked him.
"Yeah, right, I know, I just have, uh..." You fumbled for an excuse for a minute. "I have to go drive a friend home! I'll call you later, Robs!" You rushed out the swinging door just as the bell at the counter rang.
Steve pushed his hands through his hair. "Shit."
"Oh, no," Robin whispered. "Steve, ignore that, ignore all of that, I screwed up, I shouldn't have said anything, she's going to be so pissed. It's just that she's liked you since middle school and it's gotten worse now that you're not a douchebag—" Robin clapped a hand over her mouth.
"I won't tell her you said that," Steve said quietly. "Oh, Jesus, Robin..."
"I'm sorry—"
"Stop apologizing to me," Steve said. "If you hadn't said anything, I never would have realized."
Robin made a face. "See, that's why you suck, not because you're bad at flirting with girls. You've just been flirting with the wrong ones, because you're oblivious of the ones that actually like you."
Steve was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. Thanks for pointing that out." He peered out the window, watching you leave the mall, wiping at your eyes and pushing your hair out of your eyes.
Simultaneously, Steve and Robin whispered, "Shit."
At the counter, Erica Sinclair tapped the bell again. "Hello? I want some samples!"
They shouted, "Shut up!"
Steve slammed the glass doors shut.
~❊~
Steve unlocked his front door, stepped inside his house, and put his back to the closed door. He slid down the door with a heavy sigh.
"Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath. All he had been able to see since you left Scoops was your stricken face, horrified and embarrassed that Robin had spilled your biggest secret. (Which Robin had told him after, in bits and pieces, while they closed up the store.)
Steve couldn't believe it. How had he never noticed? Granted, he hadn't been the most observant for, well, the majority of his life. And his middle school years had been fairly dull, unmemorable. But wouldn't have noticed if you—you, out of everyone in Hawkins Middle—had been crushing on him?
To his utter shame, the most Steve remembered of you in middle school was how you had been a good friend to him, long before any of his high school friends knew who he was, and that he'd ditched you once he got to high school. You'd helped him study a few times, too. He wasn't sure what year it was, but he knew you'd helped him pass both English and History in the same year.
He'd shared a handful of classes with you, too, when classes had been so small they'd mixed grades. Sixth grade science, when the two of you had worked on a minor chemical project together. In seventh grade, you'd had two classes together. Gym, which had been downright brutal so early in the morning, especially when the teachers split up the teams as boys against girls. He remembered you had gotten nailed in the head with a basketball once, and that he'd been asked by your teacher to take you to the nurse. Then there had been math class, where he'd sat behind you, asking you questions and begging you to explain the concepts he didn't understand—even though you didn't understand it much more than he did. Eighth grade history, where Steve had done a presentation on his grandfather's experience in the World War, and you had been the only to actually raise your hand to ask a question.
Steve got up from the door and went up to his bathroom, stripping out of his uniform to take a shower. While the water soaked his hair and skin, warming him up, Steve's mind turned back to you—not that it had ever really left you.
You had been his first crush. Well, his first real crush. You'd been pretty, even when you were young and curious and a year younger than he was. Most of his friends had said that the younger girls were cute, but embarrassing to like. So Steve hid that he liked you. It wasn't until Nancy in high school, when it became cool, that he dated anyone younger than himself.
He wished he'd said something to you then. Would it have saved him a world of hurt? Or would it just have been an even worse broken heart waiting for him?
Steve recalled the way you had looked at him earlier, your eyes practically sparkling and your lips stretching into a gorgeous, content smile. It had stopped his heart to know that he was the reason you looked so happy, that he had brought that smile to your lips and that he had made those smile lines around your eyes appear and that he had been the reason your pupils were blown wide.
Steve shut off the shower and pulled on a new pair of boxers, flopping onto his bed with a content sigh, which matched the happy smile on his face.
You liked him.
Feeling like a teenage girl, Steve rolled until he could hide an excited squeal in his pillow.
You liked him again.
Steve was certain that's what made him so giddy. You'd liked him before he'd become King Steve, before the popularity made him interesting—and you liked him again, now that he'd changed and learned and grown up. Now that he'd learned to be himself without a care in the world for anyone else's opinion.
It was like redemption, but it felt so much better than that.
A sudden feeling overwhelmed Steve.
The next time he saw you, he needed to tell you how he felt about you. He needed to make it clear that Robin's slip-up had not ruined the slow banter, the friendship the two of you had been dancing around.
Resolved, his thoughts stopped spinning. He turned off the lamp on his nightstand and shut his eyes.
Please come back tomorrow, he thought, before falling into a gentle sleep, full of dreams of romanticized meetings, confessions, and kisses.
~❊~
You avoided Scoops for several days, choosing to tough out the warm weather in the overcrowded community pool until your mortification subsided. Robin had called repeatedly to assure you Steve wasn't weirded out or annoyed or embarrassed by your crush on him. In fact, she almost made it sound as if he was pleased by it.
But you still couldn't make yourself go to Scoops Ahoy. Even the mental image of walking in and seeing Steve's face twist with some kind of disgust made your stomach twist.
But a girl could only take so much of Billy Hargrove. So, after nearly a week, you drove to the mall instead of the pool. It still took you nearly ten minutes to force yourself out of your car.
You had thought seeing Steve and Robin in their sailor uniforms had been strange, but there was a far stranger sight directly ahead of you: Robin at the counter, staring in absolute confusion, and Steve jumping with joy at the sight of the small child in the front of the store.
"Henderson!" Steve's smile was huge. The sight made you smile, albeit a bit more confused. "Henderson! He's back, he's back!"
"I'm back! You got the job!"
"I got the job!"
And then, just when you thought this strange scene could not get any weirder, Steve mimed playing a trumpet and both he and the child did a strange miming handshake, giggling all the while.
Robin leaned forward. "How many children are you friends with?"
Steve's overjoyed smile slipped from his face. He gestured to Robin with a strained look on his face, as if he were signaling See what I have to deal with?
"You mean there's more children?" you asked, walking up to them with a shy smile, almost embarrassed to make your return. Your stomach dipped as Steve turned to you, but his smile was back.
"Hey, you're back!" Steve said. "I thought we'd never see you again!"
You shrugged. "Yeah, well, I got tired of Billy flirting with me."
"Max's brother?" the child asked.
You stared at him. "I don't know who that is. Or who you are, actually."
"Oh, I'm—"
"This is Dustin," Steve interrupted. "Dustin Henderson. He's, uh, he's one of my friends." He went behind the counter and started making an ice cream sundae.
You gave Dustin your name and offered him your hand. "Pleasure to meet you."
"How do you know Steve?" Dustin asked.
At the same time, both you and Steve pointed to Robin. She waggled her fingers at him.
"I'm going on break," Steve said, handing the sundae to Dustin. "Your turn to man the counter. Come on, Dustin, my treat!"
The two of them slipped into a booth. You leaned against the countertop with a heavy sigh.
"There's like...five or six of them," Robin said. "Kids, I mean. That he's friends with."
"Jesus," you muttered. "How old are these kids?"
"Like...thirteen, maybe?"
"Oh, boy."
Robin giggled. "Looks like you gotta share your man with children now."
You choked. "He's— He's not my man, Robin!" you hissed, your entire body burning. You glanced at Steve, but he was too engrossed in whatever story Dustin was telling him.
"But that's why you're here, isn't it?" Robin asked. "You came back because you're ready to talk to him again, knowing that you like him and he likes you."
You glanced over at Steve. While you observed him, Robin slipped out from behind the counter, quietly humming to herself as she worked.
"Yeah, I mean, sure," he was saying to Dustin. "It's not really a good idea for me though, gotta keep in shape for the ladies." Was it just your imagination, or did his eye stray over toward you?
"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?" Robin teased.
"Ignore her," Steve said quickly.
"She seems cool," Dustin said.
"She's not," Steve said, even quicker. "But, uh, the girl you just met? She's cool. She's really cool." A smile tugged at your lips. You pushed it away as you looked down at the floor, completely missing Steve's lovestruck glance toward you.
Dustin, however, missed nothing, and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really, Steve?"
Steve cleared his throat. "Anyway. So, uh, where are the other knuckleheads?"
"They ditched me yesterday," Dustin said.
"No," Steve said, his face falling. Your heart squeezed at the sight of his empathy. The Steve from high school never would have cared about a kid whose friends had abandoned him, but this Steve did.
"My first day back! Can you believe that shit?"
"Whoa, seriously?!" Steve demanded, incredulous. Your heart warmed once again.
You turned back to Robin. "In answer to your earlier question," you said under your breath, "yes, that is exactly what I'm here to do."
She giggled. "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" She paused. "Was Billy Hargrove really flirting with you?"
You nodded. "I guess he doesn't really care about high school social status, as long as he gets laid." You shuddered. "I've never felt more objectified in my life, and I pranced around on stage in fishnets and a bodysuit in front of the entire school last year during Chicago!"
"I'm still convinced that was our best show," Robin said.
"I'd like to know how we got the rights to it," you snorted.
"I'd like to know how we convinced Principal Higgins to let us perform it."
You snorted. "Yeah. Has anybody heard anything about next year's shows?"
"Nothing yet," Robin said.
You harrumphed, your gaze sliding back to Steve and Dustin and found them talking in hushed tones. Steve's face was fixed into an expression of embarrassed confusion.
"Oh, got customers, hang on," Robin said, and served them while you moved off to the side, watching Dustin speak behind his hand. Steve just blinked at him and told him to speak up.
"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin said, far too loudly.
The entire store went quiet. You and Robin exchanged a glance.
"Jesus, shhhh!" Steve hissed. "Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said."
Business as normal resumed and Robin's customers headed for their own table.
You cleared your throat. "Well, I guess I should head out—"
"No, no, no, wait! What about Steve?"
"He's busy, Robs," you said, gesturing to him. Your stomach did flips at the cute, teasing little expression on his pretty face as you caught him saying American heroes. You weren't sure you wanted to know what mischief they were getting into. "I'll just...come back tomorrow."
Robin sighed. "Fine. As long as you let me play matchmaker!"
You rolled your eyes. "You've been doing that for the past, what, four years?"
"Yeah, but this time I might actually be successful!"
You shook your head with a smile. "Catch you later, Robin. Bye, Steve!" you added as you walked past.
Steve's head snapped up. He scrambled up from his seat at the booth. "Hey, wait, wait, where are you going?" He caught your arm and your eyes darted to his fingers on you. Every possible excuse was wiped from your head. "I thought you were gonna stay and...hang out for a little while."
You smiled apologetically. "Yeah, I was going to, but your friend just came back, so I figured I'd just come back another time. So you don't have to...divide your already divided attention, y'know?" You gestured back to the counter.
Though there was understanding in Steve's eyes, he still looked disappointed. "Oh...um... Would you—" He cleared his throat, his cheeks gaining a deep pink shade. "Would you maybe wanna hang out together—" He stopped again. "Would you wanna go on a date? With me? Sometime?"
You couldn't stop the smile that stretched across your face. "When?"
"Oh, you know, whenever you want? If you want to, I mean."
You stopped his rambling with a finger against his lips. His eyes widened. "I want to, Steve. I really, really want to. I always have."
He beamed. "Really?"
"Really," you promised. You patted his chest. "Even in this stupid little uniform."
He laughed. "What do you say to...two days from now? Meet me here at the end of my shift so Robin can make fun of us like always—" You laughed with him. "—and then we can go see a movie?" His thumb caressed the skin of your arm. That single touch alone sent butterflies through your stomach, not to mention the beautiful, sappy look in his eyes.
"I'd like that," you said. "I'd like that a lot."
"And, um, if you'd like, there's a little dinner about ten minutes from here with awesome milkshakes we could go to after."
You beamed. "Oh, Steve."
"Yeah?"
"You're absolutely perfect," you said to him, cupping his cheek and smoothing your fingers over his skin. He hummed happily. "Steve?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I... Do you... Can we kiss? I know it's soon, it's just... I've wanted this for a long time."
Steve beamed. He leaned in, cupping the back of your head and pulling you into him. His lips touched yours, and you swore your body crackled with electricity. A feeling similar to pins and needles, but far more pleasant, spread throughout you.
He made to pull away. You brought both your hands to his cheeks and held him to you, kissing him for all you were worth.
In the booth, Dustin's mouth dropped open. A grin spread across his face.
At the counter, Robin, who couldn't see the kiss but saw your hands slide into Steve's hair, pulled out her whiteboard and added a singular tally into the 'You Rule' column.
She glanced back at you and Steve. Steve had broken the kiss to tug you close to him, hugging you to his chest. You twisted your hand into his hair, smiling over his shoulder, your eyes closed against the rest of the world.
Robin grinned; she guessed the 'You Suck' tallies didn't matter anymore. Steve had found the one his charm worked on.
☞ ❊ ☜
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Stranger Things // Steve Harrington
part 2 coming soon!
Taglist: {comment and let me know if you'd like to be added to the S.H. taglist!} @ohatropa@nix-rose@live-the-fangirl-life
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devondespresso · 3 months
Text
(found this bad boy in my drafts and honestly i loved reading it again so we're gonna post it. wahoo)
my personal canon for post-starcourt stobin is that they're actually inseparable for the first month or so
im talking steve taken to the hospital for his injuries and the staff having to force them apart and call security. im talking they have to drag robin kicking and screaming to a different room because last time Steve left her sight he was dragged back lifeless and presumably dead (i firmly believe they intentionally used physical torture for steve and to use his condition for psychological torture for robin)
and steve waking up half-present in a cold plain room alone? might as well be back in the bunker. and if theres doctors trying to run tests and examine his wounds? might as well be Russian soldiers standing over him and touching his injuries. hurting him again. possibly planning to hurt Robin next.
and now hospital staff are trying to deal with two screaming desperate teenagers who keep begging for the other in between rambles of nonsense and they can't run tests or do their jobs or even get answers from them because all these two seem to care about is the other teen
so they don't really have any practical choices other than moving them to a combined room. and they still freak out every now and then but having the other in the room keeps these outbursts much shorter and doctors are able to actually run tests and help these kids as long as they're close together. And when Robins blood tests and everything come back ok and shes able to be discharged, shes given special permission to stay in the room at all times
and the two little kids that came in with them? they're not exactly freaking out quite like the teens but they're certainly not making things easy either. Ericas testing the willpower of any doctor or nurse she can speak to and both kids stay as close as they can at all times and refuse to leave the hospital. visiting hours over? they're in the waiting room, even convinced a couple to move so they can have seats closest to the hall that teens room is in. try to call their parents? good luck getting a full name or number out of them. once their parents do come get them they're showing back up in an hour, bikes lodged in the bike rack and back in their seats. they've been stopped for sneaking in several times and caught hiding under one of the teens beds even more often. eventually staff just gets tired of spending half their shift wrangling two middle schoolers and it becomes an unspoken agreement to just ignore them hiding in the room.
And once Steve is discharged its the same thing all over again. Robins parents were worried about her spending all her time in the hospital with the boy from her summer job, but given the cover story about the fire and the pair getting trapped inside they convinced themselves its reasonable to want to stay by your friends side while they recover
but now that hes out, shes asking if she can spend the night at his house? and his parents won't be there? absolutely not. except robins in no mindset to accept leaving him alone for this long let alone overnight so she tried sneaking out to bike over to his before he can get the dumb idea to drive over in the middle of the night post-concussion. but the buckleys notice shes gone either because she makes too much noise sneaking out or they notice the severe lack of Robin-trying-to-be-quiet noises into the night (robin my tism queen definitely has bump-into-shit syndrome in the middle of the night but she also doesn't make any noise sneaking around the base with scoops troop so i think it's a 50/50 weather she can use the adrenaline to sneak out to see steve quietly)
so they put two and two together and drive over to the Harrington house. steve answers the door and calls robin over, both of them looking sheepish but not exactly guilty. they talk on steves couch (yes Steves there too) and stobin does their best to explain their separation anxiety that gets the severity across without getting them sent to a mental hospital all while making sure not to break any ndas (which ends up being a long conversation with stobin trying to translate their experience in the bunker to fit the cover story well enough, which is very different when the real story is kidnapping and the fake one is a building fire)
eventually they reach an understanding of "we're worried this is kinda unhealthy but its clearly more stressful to try and separate you right now and we're definitely not going to be able to stop you" so they compromise to let steve stay at the buckleys for a little bit so they can at least keep an eye on them. at first they try just letting steve sleep on the couch (which they agree to because steve worried about overstepping as the guest in their house) but one or both of them have nightmares the first night and robin ends up on the couch with him anyway.
after a few nights they get the gist of the stobin dynamic: attached so strongly its concerning but nothing... flirty. anything they do is always completely innocent. hand holding with no heart eyes, banter with no tension, hell even sharing a bed they resemble little kids in a sleepover pile more than lovers. and especially after nightmares they'll find robin holding steve like hes just one of her old teddy bears.
of course theyre still cautious and have their suspicions that theyre secretly dating and just really good at hiding it, they're paranoid parents after all and robins never shown this much attention to a boy ever. but they do relax a bit with it as they're more confident theres no... funny business.. going on. or at the very least nothing thats going to leave robin hurt. they'll have their talks and robin will promise its "nothing like that", but they've grown to like steve so they're sure robin will come to them when shes ready.
now if only there was a reasonable explanation for the middle schoolers that keep showing up. apparently they were also trapped in the fire with robin and steve which helps make some sense of it, but they also sat with them in the hospital. surely if they're having nightmares about the fire they'd go to their parents? they hadn't really talked much with the sinclairs but they seemed like very loving parents and robin follows steve to his little dinners with mrs Henderson pretty often so its not likely that they can't go to their parents about nightmares, but they seem to prefer going to steve specifically. like ringing the Buckley's doorbell at 1 in the morning asking if steves there. and of course they'll let them in and show them to robins room (after calling their parents first, do they even know their childs run off?) where steve was sleeping in a pallet on the floor but is now a glorified blanket pile robins hugging. on her bed, of course. because god forbid theres 2 feet of space between them.
and the kid just joins them in their sleepover pile, dustin usually clinging to steves other side like a baby koala and erica usually finding a spot leaning against robin or occasionally making room in between them
and so more often than not the Buckley's have not one, not two, but three extra children in their house that isn't their daughter, all of them sleeping in a pile on robins bed like theres nowhere else they'd rather be
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spoodrm4n · 2 years
Text
And I Would Do It Again
Parings: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader
Summary: In season 3, instead of Steve getting beaten by the Russian interrogators, it’s you. Steve and Robin are still drugged so they don’t notice your life threatening injury at first. 
Warnings: Angst, mentions of injury, mentions of blood.
Word Count. 3.7K
 A/N: I suck at summaries. This fic took me 15 years to write. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE!!!!!
PART TWO
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You weren’t quite sure how you had ended up with your little brother Dustin, your coworker and crush Steve Harrington, and other coworker and best friend Robin Buckley, and Lucas Sinclair’s little sister Erica in a secret underground Russian base beneath Star Court mall– but that’s where you ultimately found yourself. You had been beaten within an inch of your life by some of the Russians trying to get some answers from you. They had gotten nothing out of you, but you had paid the price. The guards had just thrown you into the room they were holding Robin and Steve. Just like that the guards were leaving again, leaving the three of you alone. 
You landed on the floor at their feet with a groan, closing your eyes and willing the excruciating headache you had earned away. You opened them slowly as you heard the two giggling above you. You could make out Steve and Robin’s faces even though it seemed like you had lost part of your vision in your left eye from the interrogation. 
“You klutz! You’ve always been sooo clumsy!” You furrowed your eyebrows at Robin’s slurred insult and looked up at the two, pushing yourself to sit back on your heels in front of them. 
“You have a rainbow… all over your face,” Steve was gasping at you, eyes wide and a goofy, opened mouth smile on his face. You blinked at them. 
“What did they give you two?” You were standing up, grimacing at the pain it caused you. You sucked in what little breath you could without jostling your broken ribs and walked over to them, starting on untying them. 
“You’re dripping on me, Henderson.” Robin scrunched up her face and you quickly apologized about getting blood on her white socks. You quickly realized after untying them from their chairs and each other that you were missing two other people. 
“Where the hell are Erica and Dust-” You were cut off by the door being blown open by your brother and Erica on an industrial cart. You jumped in front of Steve and Robin, shielding them from any debris. “There they are,” you laughed as Dustin and Erica rushed over, concern written all over their faces. Sirens started to sound through the base accompanied by bright, red, flashing lights. 
“Shit, Y/N what the hell did they do to you?” Your brother was all over you as you tried to push him away and lead Steve to the cart. 
“Plenty, as you can see, but we need to get out of here before they do plenty to someone else!” You urged him as he got the hint to help Robin to the back of the cart with Steve. You hopped in the back with the two as Dustin and Erica got back in the front. “Drive!” You yelled to your brother as you saw guards starting to file into the hall. 
“Wooo!” Robin was cheering and you winced at how loud she was. You flinched at the loud sound of gunfire behind you and ducked down, dragging Steve and Robin with you. 
“Shit! You two, stay down or so help me god!” You yelled at them both, hands skimming the bed of the back of the cart. You grinned when you felt a small handgun. “It’ll do.” You whispered, checking the ammunition, turning the safety off and cocking the gun. You popped back up from the cover of the cart and aimed at one of the guards running towards you. You fired and hit him in the shoulder, making him collapse and having a couple other guards trip over his body. 
“Badass,” you heard Steve whisper in awe behind you. You cocked the gun again and took aim, but before you could pull the trigger again one of the guards had taken a shot and hit you in the side. “Holy shit,” you gasped as you fell back into Steve’s chest on accident and bit the inside of your cheek, swallowing a scream. 
“You’re back,” Steve smiled down at you. You shot him an annoyed glare and breathed out, grabbing Steve’s red tie from his Scoops uniform and working to tie it around your wound to slow the bleeding. It had already stained your scoops uniform a bit. “Hey that’s mine!” He whined and you couldn’t find it in yourself to feel bad. You grit your teeth as you finished tying it around your waist to cover your wound and pulled your uniform shirt back down. You breathed out, sagging against Steve but it was short lived as Dustin slammed on the breaks. You flew forward, face first into the back of the cart and groaned. That earned you some giggles from Robin and Steve. 
“Come on, Y/N!” Dustin was yelling at you, tugging your arm to get out of the cart and into the elevator. 
“Grab Robin, I’ll grab Steve. Erica get in, fast!” You instructed, pulling Steve by his bicep out of the cart and into the elevator, trying your best to ignore the burning pain in your side. Dustin had Robin in front of you. You pushed Steve into the elevator and ducked in yourself, bullets flying over your head. “Woah! Take me to dinner first!” He giggled at you and you rolled your eyes. You flung yourself against the side of the wall as Erica frantically pushed the ‘up’ button and grabbed Steve by the back of his shirt, making him stumble to your side and out of the range of fire. Dustin and Robin were behind Erica. It felt like years before the doors were finally sliding shut and the elevator was shooting up with as much grace as it had falling down. 
“Are you okay?” You ran over to Dustin, wrapping him in a hug. You bit back a whimper as he hugged you back. Not only had you just been shot, but you also had been beaten within an inch of your life. 
“I’m fine, I’m fine. What about you–” Dustin was cut off by a snort from Robin as Steve hopped onto a pallet dolly and held his arms out as if he were surfing. You ran a hand over your face. What was wrong with these two? Robin jerked the cart and caused Steve to fall over into the corner, Robin cackling like a mad man. 
“Wipeout!” She cheered, motioning with her hands to Steve in the corner. 
Dustin crouched down to Steve and pried one of Steve’s eyes open, checking his pupils. Steve poked Dustin on the nose with a small ‘boop’.
“His pupils are super dilated.” Dustin spoke, turning to Erica. 
“Maybe he’s drugged?” Erica shrugged and you did the same. 
“That seems like a fair answer,” you supplied as Dustin turned back to Steve. 
“You drugged?” Dustin quirked an eyebrow and Steve almost scoffed. 
“How many times dad I don’t do drugs… it’s only marijuana,” Steve booped Dustin’s nose again. 
“I’m not sure what answer you were really expecting, Dusty.” You smiled, trying your best to find the humor in the situation. All of you fell on your butts as the elevator came to a screeching halt. Damn Russian elevators. The doors opened to the outside and you got up, helping Steve to his feet and out the doors. You ushered him out of the elevator and he trotted on out, Robin ahead of him and gulping in fresh air. You walked out with Dustin and Erica but froze when you saw more guards at the gate giving your all incredulous looks. 
“Shit! Come on! Other way!” You yelled, running and grabbing both Robin and Steve and pulling them back into the mall and slamming the doors closed behind you. You ran in front of the four, guiding them down the back tunnels that connected everything in the mall. 
“We’re going to take these two to the theater and me and you,” you motioned to Dustin, “are going to get in touch with Wheeler.” You made your way to the movie theater, remembering all the times you had shown the kids where to go and opened the back door, pushing the four of them through. Dustin led the way into the theater and made Robin and Steve sit down in two empty seats towards the front of the theater. 
“You two, stay here. Do not move!” Dustin hissed at the two and it wasn’t long before a man behind the three were shushing Dustin. You walked to the back of the theater to wait for Dustin as he talked to Erica. In the corner of the theater you leaned against the wall, lifting up your shirt to check the state of the gunshot wound on your side. You were met with purple and blue bruises littered all over your torso and the once bright, cherry red of Steve’s tie was now crimson. “Shit,” you muttered, pulling your shirt back down. Dustin finally came bounding up to you, leading the way to a supply closet. 
“Mike, this is Dustin. Do you copy?” Dustin kept on trying to get a response from Mike. You were just about to tell him to give up when Mike’s voice crackled through the speaker, static cutting in and out. “Shit! Low battery.” Dustin was fumbling through his bag now and all you could do was lean against the door frame, barely on your feet in the first place. You had your arms wrapped around your torso, trying to find any comfort at all. 
“Find anything?” You mumbled as Dustin set his bag down. 
“No. I don’t know where my spare batteries went. We’ll just have to go and find them. Let's go grab Steve, Robin, and Erica and get out of here. We have to tell the rest of the party about this.” Dustin shoved everything back into his bag and you opened the door, following him back out into the hallway. 
“I’ll wait here. You get them and meet me back out here. I gotta think of how we’re actually going to leave the mall without a car.” Dustin nodded as he went back into the theater and you leaned back against the wall. You squeezed your eyes shut and grit your teeth. You weren’t sure how much longer you could stay standing at this point. 
“Not too much longer…” You breathed out, shoulders slumping. You jumped and turned to see Erica and Dustin barging through the doors. 
“They’re gone.” Dustin spoke and you felt a bit of your resolve crumble. 
“What do you mean they’re gone? You’re kidding me.” Anger rose in your voice but it wasn’t pointed at Erica or Dustin– not even Steve or Robin. Just the shitty situation you all had been put in. “Okay. You and Erica search the bottom level of the mall, I’ll look for them on the second. You find them, you meet me at the front entrance. Be safe,” you patted your little brother on the head and the three of you parted ways, now on a man hunt for your drugged up coworkers. 
You exited the theater and climbed the stairs to the upper level of the mall, starting down the left side. “It would be my luck to get trapped in a secret, underground Russian base after a long day of work and get beaten the shit out of, shot, and now on a manhunt for my best friend and crush. Gotta love Henderson luck,” you thought out loud, running a stressed hand through your hair. 
You had met Steve one of the first times he had taken your brother over to the Wheeler’s house instead of you. You had questioned him and your brother on your doorstep on why they were suddenly best friends. It was odd to you, but they had made up a solid excuse which you believed for a while. You both started at Scoops and you became closer, sharing late night drives, dinners, movie nights, and taking care of your brother and his friends. You had also developed a crush on Steve in that time and Robin had called you out on your bullshit within the first week of you realizing you were in love with him. It didn’t help when he would always try to flirt with every girl that would come in, leaving you to cringe and seeth in jealousy beside him. He never had any success anyway, Robin’s ‘You Rule / You Suck’ Talley on one of the whiteboards at Scoops had kept track of it. 
Little did you know that Steve only did it because he thought he had no chance with you. It’s not like he wanted his attempts to succeed anyway, he only wanted to make you jealous but you were both too thick in the head to say anything to each other. It was driving Robin absolutely insane. 
 You caught sight of the two a little ways further down, staring up at the glass domed ceiling. You saw them sway on their feet for a second before they were plowing into a nearby bathroom. “That can’t be good,” you muttered before walking as fast as you could towards the two, which wasn’t fast at all considering the state you were in. 
You opened the bathroom door and found the two sitting on the floor of the first stall, laughing with each other. 
“Oh, Y/N! We were just talking about you,” Robin winked at Steve and you could’ve swore his face turned a bit pink. 
“Oh, sorry to interrupt story time, but I’ve been looking for you two everywhere. We gotta go,” you couldn’t help but be a bit annoyed as you wrapped an arm around yourself on instinct. You knew you were about to bite the dust soon and you needed to get out of here. 
Steve looked up at you and for the first time it’s like he actually processed the state you were in. “Holy shit, Y/N.” He breathed, standing up and rushing over to you. He held his hands out helplessly, not knowing where to even start as he looked you up and down. “What the hell did they do? Are you okay?” You looked into his eyes and you could see his pupils were no longer dilated and they didn’t have a haze to them anymore. 
“I will be okay as long as we get out of here, Steve.” You were being honest now. “Dustin and Erica are downstairs, we’ll meet up with them there and get out of here.” You explained, shoving his hands away so he wouldn’t find the bullet wound. You were almost out of here. You could do this. 
“Yeah, okay, sorry. Let’s go.” He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, worried eyes trained on you as you turned to walk out of the bathroom. They followed you out and you three headed towards the stairs. You started falling behind and you felt yourself get dizzier. You looked down to see that Steve’s tie was no longer holding up and blood was soaking through your shirt. You pressed a hand to it, trying to slow the bleeding. 
“Henderson, keep up otherwi– Oh my god,” Robin stuttered out as her eyes trailed down to the crimson seeping through your uniform. You blinked up at her, but she was blurry. In a moment your knees were buckling beneath you and you found yourself on the floor on your back. “Y/N!” Robin’s face appeared above you and you squinted, trying to see her clearly. 
“What happened?” Steve was there above you now too. You felt hands pull your shirt up just enough to see the bullet wound. You don’t know when you started crying but you furrowed your eyebrows as you felt hot tears drip down the sides of your face. “Oh god, Henderson.” Steve again. 
“Steve,” You breathed, one of your hands reaching out for him. Robin grabbed it instead as Steve undid his tie around your waist and grabbed your own, replacing the soaked through one. “Oh fuck,” you groaned, eyes squeezing shut in pain. All the adrenaline from earlier had dissipated and you were in agony now. You swallowed the bile that threatened to crawl up your throat. 
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” Steve apologized, securing the cloth around your waist. You gripped Robin’s hand impossibly hard; you would have to apologize to her later. “When did you even get shot?” 
“Who got shot?” Dustin and Erica were there above you now as well. You hated that Dustin was seeing you like this. You were supposed to be the big sister who was always okay. “Y/N! What the hell happened Steve?” Dustin was crouching down next to Steve now, grabbing your other hand. 
“She must’ve gotten hit when we were driving away from those guards. I’m pretty sure I remember them shooting at us. That was like an hour and a half ago, though. How was she even still walking? And she got the shit beat out of her before getting shot? How are you even still alive Y/N, I mean you should definitely be–” Robin was rambling now out of nervousness. You cut her off. 
“Robin, stop. You’re rambling again and I’m gonna punch you in the face if you keep talking,” you grit out, sitting up on your elbows. “I’m fine, really.”
“Yeah, no. You’re definitely not. You need help.” Steve scolded, hand on your upper arm supporting you. “I can carry you down. There’s no way you can walk,” Steve hooked an arm under your knees and your shoulders. 
“Steve, really it’s fine, I can walk, I just needed a minute.” You felt your face grow hot as he stood up with you in his arms. You looked up at him. 
“Y/N, you’re literally an idiot. Just let Steve help you,” Dustin chastised at your stubbornness. 
“Absolutely not. There’s no way you’re walking. Don’t be ridiculous,” Steve scolded at the same time as Dustin as he made his way down the stairs with you. You just sighed and rested your forehead on his shoulder, trying to hide the blush on your face. This is not happening right now. 
You all got downstairs and to the entrance when you were met with Nancy, Jonathan, Will, Max, Mike, Lucas, and Eleven. Steve set you down carefully on a bench by them as they conversed. Each of the new members stealing a concerned glance at the shape you were in. You felt yourself start to drift off as their voices droned on. You shook your head, willing yourself to stay awake and stood up.
No one had noticed you get up, thankfully. You walked towards the bathrooms that were nearby and stepped up to one of the sinks. You white knuckled the ceramic, chest heaving with exhaustion. You turned on the water and splashed some on your face, trying to wake yourself up and clean the cuts as well. 
“What the hell are you doing?” You jumped nearly a foot in the air. You gasped for air and placed a hand over your heart as Steve came up to you and turned the water off. 
“I just needed to get up. I was gonna fall asleep. I can’t really do that right now,” You gestured to yourself, sarcasm dripping from your tone. 
“You need to sit down, you’re going to hurt yourself more.” He argued, hands on his hips. 
“What are you? My mom?” You grew frustrated. You felt like absolute shit, you just wanted to go home, and you were stuck potentially bleeding out in the mall bathroom. 
“I’m sorry I just give a shit about your well-being!” Steve yelled, throwing his hands in the air. 
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re doing the bare minimum!” You shouted back, hands going back to gripping the edge of the sink. 
“Are you trying to kill yourself, Y/N? Is that what you want? Just sit down and let me take care of you because I can’t– I can’t lose you.” Your heart shattered as his voice broke. You stared at him mouth agape. “I can’t Y/N.”
“I’m sorry, Steve. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” You whispered, eyes filling with tears. “It’s just, it’s funny– ya know? I’m going to bleed out in the mall bathroom after escaping from a secret, underground, Russian base in my Scoops Ahoy uniform. It seems so funny.” You were laughing now. You didn’t really know if it was due to blood loss or just because the scenario you were stuck playing was actually hilarious. 
“Hey, you’re not gonna die here. You’re not going to die anytime soon, if I have anything to do with it.” Steve stood in front of you now, hands gliding up and down your arms. “And as soon as we get out of here– alive and well– I’m taking you on a date like I should’ve done ages ago.” He smiled at you. 
“What? Am I dead?” You were definitely dead. Steve Harrington didn’t want to take you on a date. No way.
“Um no? Not unless we’re both dead and we’re simultaneously dreaming the same death. I like you, Y/N. A lot. I have since you answered the door that first time instead of your smartass little brother.” Steve laughed. 
“Hey, Dustin’s my smartass, okay?” You chuckled as he stepped closer to you. 
“They really beat the shit out of you, huh?” Steve was close to your face now, drinking in every detail of you. “Why couldn’t they have taken me?” He shook his head, eyes sad as they remarked your injuries. 
“I wouldn’t let them. If it had to have been anyone, it would have been me. And I’d do it again as long as you’re okay.” You spoke, eyes flicking from his eyes to his lips every now and again. Steve had always been so pretty. He was handsome, really handsome– sure, but he was also pretty. 
“And that’s the only thing I wish I could change about you.” A smile tugged at his lips. He leaned in finally and your lips touched. You breathed out through your nose, melting into him. Your hands stayed planted on the sink, your knees becoming even more weak. His hands trailed up your arms, to your shoulders, and finally to your cheeks. He made sure his hands were just gently placed there, being careful of your injuries. 
The both of you pulled apart and you smiled at him. “Steve?” 
“Henderson?” He grinned back. 
“I think I’m gonna pass out.” You said as you felt your head get lighter and your knees once again give out beneath you. Your vision started to go dark and you felt yourself let go.
“Y/N!” He caught you. You knew he would. 
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nerdy-girl3791 · 2 months
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Can someone who's smarter than me explain why the almost affair plot line with Mrs. Wheeler and Billy was a thing? I understand why for Mrs. Wheeler because she feels neglected in her marriage but why was Billy a part of it?
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I don't wanna be pretty like a girl
I wanna be pretty like steve harrington on season 3
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disjointed-art · 6 months
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I never posted these guys finished!
Here’s the doodle page turned coloring style practice! They will all be stickers when I eventually open shop again :3
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gmaybe666 · 7 months
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loneliness
this summer has been a lot of loneliness for me, what better way to channel it into a drawing of will in that scene yanno …
[ fun fact: drew this from memory on an app on my phone :3]
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kitkatdoodlez · 11 months
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Scoops Ahoy break time ❤️🤍💙
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gloomp3s · 2 years
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Ahoy, ladies! Didn't see you there. Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me? I'll be your captain. I'm Steve Harrington
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