“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”
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Steve Harrington x Reader (one shot, first love, fluff)
Summary: You’re undeniably in love with your boyfriend, Steve, and you’re ready to tell him.
You and Steve are sitting on the couch in Robin’s basement, watching a movie with her and Vickie. The four of you have been spending a lot of time together lately. Tonight you’re watching The Breakfast Club, which Steve begrudgingly agreed to. The downside of having a lot of close female friends is having to watch a lot of movies he’d typically never see. He complained every so often, but you believe he secretly loves them, too.
He runs his fingers through your hair while you’re cuddled up to him. His favorite character is the jock, he tells you. You laugh, because you’ve never heard anyone say that.
You started dating about two months ago, and it’s flown by. Every so often you think about the early days, when you’d come to the video store just to get a chance to talk to him. He’d recommend his favorites and you’d rent them and come back later to tell him what you thought of them. Eventually, Robin invited you to watch them all together, and thus began your movie nights.
It didn’t begin as romantic. I mean, obviously you were attracted to him, but it was just flirting for a couple weeks. Then one day, you came into the video store visibly upset. And you told him a guy outside was bugging you, and that he’d said some horrible things, and Steve immediately ran outside, approached the man, and said “you bother her again and I’ll show you the bat I keep in the trunk of my car.” When Steve returned, he said he took care of it, and he did. You never saw that guy again.
That’s probably the moment you really started to fall for Steve Harrington.
He asked you out not too long after that for your first official date. It might have taken even longer if Robin and Vickie hadn’t meddled. And since then, it had been smooth sailing. He made you laugh. He protected you. He cared about you.
You loved him.
You hadn’t said it yet out loud, but you felt it. You’d never felt this way before, and you didn’t know if it was too soon to tell anyone, especially him.
But as you sit there in his arms, his fingers running through your hair, it’s so clear that everything feels exactly right, for the first time in your life.
When the movie ends, Steve drives you home, as he always does. He lays his hand, palm side up, near the gear shift between you. You place your hand over his, interlocking your fingers. You are so happy, so content.
He tells you he didn’t like the movie, but he’s so passionate in his critiques that you know it resonated with him somewhat. You tell him next time, he can pick the the movie, and he squeezes your hand, smiling, and says he knows just the one.
He offers to walk you to your door, but you tell him you have something you need to say. He looks at you like you’re the only person in the world, waiting. While you struggle to find the words, he teases you about how it should be against the law to be as beautiful as you are. He says, ‘give the rest of the world a chance,’ and you blush, overwhelmed with emotion. You need to say it. You have to say it.
He tucks a lock of hair that had fallen in front of your eyes back behind your ear, and speaks before you get the chance to.
“I love you, you know.” He tells you, an undeniable fact.
“I love you too.” You sigh with relief. You’re in love. You’re in love. You’re in love.
Tag list: @ofherscarlettwitchways @livvyshmiv @k-k0129 @chloejaniceeee @wayfaring----stranger @paintballkid711
[1.7k] or, in which robin realises there’s more to you than meets the eye.
.
There wasn’t a soul in this school that didn’t know your name.
That hadn’t seen your face as you sauntered through hallways or as you led the cheer team game after game. That wouldn’t recognise the sound of your laugh in the cafeteria or smell of the floral perfume you spritzed on yourself every morning.
Most girls in the school wanted to be you.
They wanted the attention you had, the popularity you achieved. You were the picture perfect teenager, living the high school dream like it was made for you. Like the world revolved around you and everywhere you went.
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chapter summary: After the fight between her and her father, Kate stays with Steve until things cool off. Steve tries to make things normal between them again, but Kate's friends are apprehensive.
chapter warnings: language, parental issues
word count: 3.6k
series masterlist | masterlist
WHEN KATE HAD woken up the next morning, it had taken her a few seconds to remember she was in Steve's room.
She turned her head to look at where he should've been beside her, just to find that he had gotten up at some point a while ago, the spot beginning to go cold. Without enough time passing for her to have another thought, she heard shuffling downstairs.
Whenever she had made her way down the stairs, following the aroma of pancakes and bacon, she smiled at the sight of him. His hair had been damp still, already fixed up of course, and he'd already gotten dressed for school. As he flipped the pancake, still trying to do it "the cool way," as he'd always so lovingly called it, even when he thought he was alone, he hummed without a care in the world along to the radio, which had been playing "I Want to Break Free" (Kate would have to tell him later that the single edit was not the same thing as the album version). She couldn't tear her eyes away from him as he continued on without any issue. This must've been a normal morning for him.
Whenever he turned around, two plates in hand, he flashed a smile at her. "Morning."
"Morning," she said, snapping out of her gaze.
"I was just about to wake you up," he said, setting the plates down next to each other on the table. "I made pancakes. I know you like them, or at least you used to, so I..." He stopped himself, sighing. "Last night was rough. You deserved pancakes, okay?"
She stifled a laugh. "Do you make pancakes for all the girls that show up on your doorstep in the middle of the night?"
"Nope. Only the blonde ones. The Queen-loving type also get coffee."
She scoffed, shaking her head as she looked at the cup of black coffee on the table. He remembered, even after all this time. "You really are amazing, you know that?"
His face flushed red as he scratched the back of his neck. "I... It was nothing."
As they ate, Steve only watched her carefully. He hadn't quite mustered up the courage to ask her what had brought her to him last night yet, and he almost didn't want to ask. She looked better that morning than she had that previous night, even though she had just woken up, her hair slightly messy and her eyes tired. He didn't want to throw her off by prying into her personal life, by bringing up what she had tried so hard to escape from. He'd just gotten her back—he didn't want to send her away again. However, he knew if the roles were reversed, as they had been a thousand times, she would've asked him no matter what the situation was.
"So, uh... What the hell happened last night? I–If you wanna tell me."
She sighed, eating a piece of bacon. "My dad was just being... my dad. But it wasn't... It was worse than what you're used to. Like, he wasn't drunk or anything, he was just... mad."
"Oh," Steve said, his voice sad. "He didn't touch you, did he?"
"What? No," Kate said, her face tightening. She wondered why he'd ever suggest such a thing until she remembered what his fights were like with his dad. When she remembered, she met his eyes, sighing and softening her voice. "No, we just got into a fight, that's it."
Steve nodded, seeming to understand. Back whenever they were inseparable, Steve witnessed many of the fights she and her father had, and even those got personal enough where he winced.
Kate finally decided she needed to tell him what had happened. He deserved that much, at least. "We fought about Sara and Diane, in case you were wondering."
He almost choked on his pancake. "Wait, what? Why?"
"I—we..." She stopped herself to collect her thoughts. "It was stupid. Something stupid happened and one thing led to another, and he was talking about how he's my dad and I can't tell him what to do, and I told him that he didn't really raise me after Sara died and Diane left and I just took care of myself, and she lost it." She paused, waiting for a response from Steve, but he was still silent as he watched her, looking at her with those sad puppy dog eyes he seemed to do unintentionally. "I mean, I get why he was upset, but I'm not wrong. I've literally been taking care of myself and, on many occasions, him since we moved back here. I mean, you know that more than anyone." She paused again, sighing. "Ever since last year, he's been trying so hard, and it's great that he is, but it doesn't erase the four or five years that he didn't do anything and..." She sighed again. "He said she left because of me."
Steve only stared at her with wide eyes, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Jesus..."
"I know," she said, shaking her head. "I know it's not that bad, it's just—"
"No, that's not..." He cut himself off, sighing. "I'm sorry I didn't help."
Kate shook her head. "What the hell? No, you... I couldn't have asked for anything else. You literally made me coffee and pancakes, what more could I ask for?"
He stifled a laugh. "I'm so glad that helped, then."
She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that's why I knew to come here. Only you'd know exactly what to do."
Steve shrugged, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, uh... Only for you."
On the way to school, Kate had a thought that began to itch her brain so much that it made her head hurt.
"I hate to ask, but uh... whatever happened to my cassette tapes?" she finally asked. "I, uh... Are they okay?"
Steve chuckled, reaching over her to open the glovebox—they were right where she had left them, almost like no time had passed. "Don't worry, they're right where you left them."
She scoffed, her mouth dropping open. "Oh my God, so you're telling me you kept all of these?"
"I wasn't just going to throw them away, okay?" he responded, raising his voice slightly. "Thirteen-year-old you would've killed me!"
"You could have given them back to me, asshole!"
"You wouldn't talk to me!"
Without hesitation, Kate dug around for one of her cassette times. Steve looked over once in a while at her to try to figure out what she was doing, only to find she'd pulled out the cassette titled "FAVORITES '83." As she pulled it from the case, Steve started to shake his head. "No. Nope, absolutely not, okay? Put that back right now."
"No, this is your punishment for not giving these back to me months ago."
She was right about that—Steve hadn't ever tried giving her cassette tapes back to her. He knew he should've done it a while back, but he hadn't wanted to, and he still didn't exactly want to, if he was being quite honest with himself. During the year that Kate Hopper hadn't talked to him, that was the only thing he had left of her. He'd probably listened to that tape in particular alone in his car about a hundred times since the beginning of the school year. That didn't, however, mean that he wanted to hear it right now. Now that she was sitting in the passenger's seat next to him, he didn't want to hear it in the slightest. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Hell no, it isn't. You realize I spent hours making all of these, right? Not the mention the ones I tried remaking?" she said, inserting the cassette tape into his radio. She smiled when the first couple of chords played from "Heat of the Moment," making him groan."This is a great song. You just have poor taste."
"You're insane."
Kate smiled, tapping her fingers to the beat of the song.
Kate wasn't normally late to lunch, but after her English class on that day in particular, she most certainly was.
"Where were you this morning?" Jessica asked as Kate sat down in a rush next to Stephanie. "You didn't hang out with me before Stat."
"Yeah, I know, I—"
"And where did you go after Lit?" Stephanie asked her. "You literally disappeared, I just came here without you."
"Yeah, I know, but—"
"This is so unlike you, Katherine," Jessica said pointedly, almost like she was about to scold her. "I ought to ground you—"
"Listen, I love you guys, but I have to warn you that Steve's coming over here, like, right now," Kate said, her face turning pink as she cut her friends off.
"What?"
"Steve Harrington?"
"Yes, and—" Before she could finish her sentence, Steve put her hand on her shoulder, making her stand up next to him awkwardly. "Hi."
He gave her a dopey smile. "Hey—"
"What's he doing over here?" Jessica asked through gritted teeth.
"I thought you said nothing happened between you two," Kim said softly, trying to be discreet.
Even though her friends' comments had only been for Kate's ears, Steve had still very clearly been able to hear them. "Hey, Kathy, don't worry about it—"
"No!" she said, cutting him off, her cheeks flushing pink as she grabbed his arm. "No, don't worry about them, they... they'll be fine whenever I explain it to them."
"Explain what?" Stephanie asked, confused.
Kate glanced at Steve, almost to get approval to tell the story. He nodded once, making her sigh as she looked back to her friends. "He, uh... After the party on Tuesday, we made up. I had to crash at his house last night, and..."
Whenever she'd explained things to her friends, he felt butterflies in his stomach. She'd left out the part about him and Nancy getting into the fight, even if everyone already knew, but for some reason, felt the need to mention the fact that she'd stayed at his house and he'd taken her to school.
"That's why your car isn't here," Stephanie said after she'd explained things.
"Why didn't you tell us that yesterday whenever we asked what happened?" Jessica asked. "What, d'you think we'd be mad or something?"
"Uh, yeah," Kate responded, her eyebrows furrowing together. "You guys got mad, like, five minutes ago."
"Okay, in our defense, you cried about that so many times—"
"Jessica!" Kim shouted, slapping her on the arm as she cut her off.
"Kimberly!"
Steve's heart dropped in his stomach. Kate had cried about him multiple times? He didn't even want to think about the fact that he'd made her that upset. No wonder the three girls didn't like him—he'd upset Kate for months.
"Guys—"
Steve put his hand on her arm, cutting her off. She gave him a funny look before he looked back at her friends again. "Listen, I know you guys don't like me. I know there's probably not much that I can do to change that, but I promise I'm not like that anymore, okay? I'm done being that guy. Promise."
Jessica, Stephanie, and Kim stared at him sharply, but he didn't mind. It proved to him how much Kate had been taken care of in the year that they'd been apart. Whenever Stephanie and Kim looked at Jessica, presumably because she didn't like Steve the most, she finally caved, sighing. "Fine. Doofus can stay."
Steve and Kate met each other's eyes again and smiled, and the other three girls only watched as their friend's face lit up in a way it hadn't in a long time—she finally had her boy back.
Whenever the bell had rung for fifth period, Steve walked Kate to her French class, even if Jessica and Stephanie had it with her. "So those three really hate me, huh?"
"I... I'm sorry about them," she said, scratching the back of her neck. "They're just... protective, that's all."
He chuckled. "No, no, it's cool. I'm glad they care so much. I wish I had a friend like that, never mind three."
"Hey," she said, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "You do have a friend like that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Mhm," she replied simply, giving a tight-lipped smile. "Yeah, a friend that likes when you make her coffee and pancakes."
"Oh, of course, how could I forget?" he asked sarcastically, making them both laugh. Before he could say anything else, she sighed. "What?"
She shook her head. "Ah, it's nothing. I just remembered I have to go home today."
"No, you don't," he countered. Whenever she shot him an unreadable expression, he shrugged. "Look, I have basketball today after school, but it's only for an hour. Just... please stay again. Please. That way I'm not so alone." He'd made the last part extremely dramatic, trying to make her laugh.
She stifled a laugh, trying not to smile. "My dad is totally freaking out right now. I didn't even tell him where I was going last night."
"Okay?"
Her eyebrows furrowed together slightly as she tried to stop her smile. "I mean, shouldn't I call to tell him I'm alive? Or at least that I'm with you?"
"If he didn't know where you were right now, don't you think a search party would've been sent out already?"
She hesitated. He made a good point. "Yeah..."
His face brightened slightly. "So does that mean you're staying?"
She sighed, finally caving in. "Yeah, I guess."
He smiled, stifling a laugh. "That sounds... great. That's great."
She gave him a tightlipped smile, looking across the hall where Jessica and Stephanie waited in front of the French classroom for her like two disappointed parents. "Jeez, I gotta go."
He nodded. "Yeah. See you later, Kathy."
"See you later, Steven."
As he watched her disappear into the French classroom with her two friends, immediately absorbed into whatever conversation they had been having, he could only smile like an idiot.
Kate couldn't remember the last time she had stayed after school to watch a basketball practice.
She was only there for the sole purpose of waiting for Steve. Even though she didn't want to bother him again, he'd asked her to stay with him again, and she knew she would much rather do that than go home. She was only glad it was basketball practice: waiting for swim practice to be over if they had an extra one of those would've been much, much worse (Kate liked to avoid seeing Steve in a Speedo at all costs just because she didn't want to be caught staring).
She hadn't been too worried whenever he'd said she'd have to stay and watch the team practice. Luckily, her Walkman had stayed in her bag, and she'd just gone out to Steve's car to pick out one of the many mixtapes that he'd accidentally kept from her for so long. She still couldn't believe he still had them after all that time.
As she read The Stranger, and not for her enjoyment, listening to Queen, she also watched Steve get his ass handed to him by Billy Hargrove. She tried to act like she wasn't paying a bit of attention to the game in front of her, but her heart rate quickly began to elevate, putting her on the edge of her seat.
The first thing that had caught her eye was the fact that Steve was on the shirts team, not the skins team. She couldn't think of a time where he'd ever been on the shirts team when she used to stay for practice all the time, and she could only assume it had something to do with the new guy.
For that, she really, really hated
Kate hadn't been too impressed when Billy Hargrove had met her outside of the locker room instead of Steve.
"You're the girl from the party," he said, smirking at her. "And my biology class."
"Yep, that's me," Kate replied simply, fidgeting with her Walkman again.
"You know, I don't think I ever caught your name," Billy said. He acted as if he hadn't asked about her at Tina's Halloween party, abusing the fact that Kim and Stephanie had been so into him.
"Well, that makes things difficult for you, doesn't it?" she asked sarcastically.
Billy chuckled, shaking his head. "And she knows how to sting. You ever got a kind word for anyone around here, or...?"
"Occasionally. When I'm not annoyed, really."
He chuckled again. "You're funny, Hopper."
She tilted her head. "I thought you said you didn't catch my name?"
"Turns out you're pretty popular around here, Katie. Isn't surprising, considering you're Harrington's side dish—"
"Steve and I are just friends," Kate said sternly. "Like it's any of your business."
"Then why'd you come out of his car this morning?"
"Are you stalking me?" she asked incredulously.
"No." He chuckled. "No, you've just... piqued my interest."
She rolled her eyes. "Really? Because what you just described sounds pretty close to stalking."
"Huh," he said sarcastically. "Interesting definition."
Kate sighed, avoiding his gaze. "All right, well, this has been fantastic, but I'm busy waiting for someone."
"Well, we can pick this up later," he said, flashing her a grin. "Like, tonight, eight o'clock?"
Kate stifled her laugh, almost taken aback. "No, I–I'm good, thanks."
"You sure?"
Kate nodded, trying not to laugh again. She didn't want to seem like too much of an asshole. "I'm sure."
He shook his head, grinning. "One day you'll cave, Hopper."
Kate shook her head as he walked away. "Absolutely not."
Billy Hargrove. Eventually, she gave up even trying to read the book in front of her, shutting off her Walkman—she couldn't help but watch the scene in front of her.
"All right! All right, all right! King Steve. King Steve, everyone!" Billy shouted, laughing at the brunet boy. "I like it. Playing tough today."
She watched Steve closely, his hair sticking to the back of his neck and all over his face, sweat soaking his clothes. She knew that he must've smelled absolutely disgusting considering how much sweat currently covered him, but she didn't care. She hated how hard he was obviously working just to lose out to the new kid. "Jesus! Do you ever stop talking? Come on!"
Billy laughed as he dribbled the ball. "You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I'm here? Huh?"
Kate's breath hitched in her throat when Billy knocked Steve to the floor. She watched as the blond stuck his hand out to him, after dunking the ball through the hoop, of course, whispered something to him, then pushed him right back to the floor.
She didn't know what to think when Billy turned to her and smirked, making eye contact with her and winking at her. Kate shivered in disgust—absolutely not her type.
Steve had tried to hurry in the locker room.
He didn't want Kate to wait on him, but he also knew that he needed to shower. He hated the way his hair felt after both swim and basketball practice, and he hadn't yet had the opportunity to wash it since school ended, meaning he'd already had to go through both. Besides, there was no way he was going anywhere smelling like that, especially not if she was going to be with him. He was already sweaty enough when he was with her. He didn't need the post-basketball sweat, too.
Of course, he almost immediately regretted that decision when Billy decided to shower next to him, as did Tommy.
At first, Billy only stared at him. "Don't sweat it, Harrington. Today's just not your day, man."
Tell me about it.
"Yeah. Not your week," Tommy added. "You and the princess break up for one day and she'd already running off with the freak's brother." Tommy chuckled, but Steve didn't. He had no idea what he was talking about, and he almost wanted to keep it that way. Almost.
"Oh shit. You don't know." Steve only glanced at Tommy. "Jonathan and the princess skipped yesterday. Still haven't shown. But that must just be a coincidence, right?"
Tommy laughed, but Steve ignored him as he started to lather shampoo into his hair. If Nancy was running off with Jonathan, he was much better off hanging out with Kate.
"Don't take it too hard, man. A pretty boy like you has got nothing to worry about. Plenty of bitches in the sea, just like Blondie in the gym, huh? The one with the nice rack?" When Steve hadn't answered him, only continued to lather his hair in silence, Billy turned off his shower. "Am I right?"
Steve finally turned to look at him as Billy clapped him on the back. "I'll be sure to leave you some." However, before he walked out of the locker room for the weekend, he added, "Blondie's mine."
Steve stared in disgust as the boy walked out, slapping the shower knob right back on as he was finally left alone.
Kate hadn't been too impressed when Billy Hargrove had met her outside of the locker room instead of Steve.
"You're the girl from the party," he said, smirking at her. "And my biology class."
"Yep, that's me," Kate replied simply, fidgeting with her Walkman again.
"You know, I don't think I ever caught your name," Billy said. He acted as if he hadn't asked about her at Tina's Halloween party, abusing the fact that Kim and Stephanie had been so into him.
"Well, that makes things difficult for you, doesn't it?" she asked sarcastically.
Billy chuckled, shaking his head. "And she knows how to sting. You ever got a kind word for anyone around here, or...?"
"Occasionally. When I'm not annoyed, really."
He chuckled again. "You're funny, Hopper."
She tilted her head. "I thought you said you didn't catch my name?"
"Turns out you're pretty popular around here, Katie. Isn't surprising, considering you're Harrington's side dish—"
"Steve and I are just friends," Kate said sternly. "Like it's any of your business."
"Then why'd you come out of his car this morning?"
"Are you stalking me?" she asked incredulously.
"No." He chuckled. "No, you've just... piqued my interest."
She rolled her eyes. "Really? Because what you just described sounds pretty close to stalking."
"Huh," he said sarcastically. "Interesting definition."
Kate sighed, avoiding his gaze. "All right, well, this has been fantastic, but I'm busy waiting for someone."
"Well, we can pick this up later," he said, flashing her a grin. "Like, tonight, eight o'clock?"
Kate stifled her laugh, almost taken aback. "No, I–I'm good, thanks."
"You sure?"
Kate nodded, trying not to laugh again. She didn't want to seem like too much of an asshole. "I'm sure."
He shook his head, grinning. "One day you'll cave, Hopper."
Kate shook her head as he walked away. "Absolutely not."
summary: Y/N and Steve get roped into Dustin's search and destroy mission. Steve reveals more about their past than ever before.
word count: 6000+
tw: a deep wound, sexually suggestive language
You placed your headphones on your head and listened to one of the mixtapes you’d stolen from your boyfriend, watching as the autumn sun illuminated the trees with a golden hue. You felt like you’d swallowed a brick, guilt now weighing heavy in your chest and stomach. You knew he was choosing his outfit for the performance right about now. You knew some of his bandmates must’ve been sitting around in the living room, talking and loosely warming up their fingers on their instruments. Yeah, there were several hours until the performance, but something about the way Dustin nervously chewed at his fingernails gave you a bad feeling about where the night would lead. Something told you that it wouldn't be the concert.
And that killed you.
“Jesus, I can practically hear you pouting from up here, Henderson!” Steve grumbled. “I should’ve just dropped you off.”
“And let you rub off on my brother? Yeah, right. I think not,” You scoffed.
Dustin looked over with wide eyes, sensing the awkward tension between the two high schoolers beside him. The entire ride has either been filled with either bickering or awkward silence. It was almost comical to watch it all unfold to Queen’s The Works album. The last thing he expected from his day was watching you two idiots argue as Hammer To Fall played in the background.
“Isn’t this song about a nuclear war?” He asked Steve, trying to lighten the mood.
“Kinda,” You both responded before giving each other glances of utter annoyance.
“It’s about the inevitability of death,” Steve explained.
“Excellent song choice, seeing as we might be walking into a death trap,” You muttered.
Dustin eyed the two of you; it was eery just how much you both had in common. You both spoke with your hands and ran them through your hair when you got frustrated. It was almost like he was watching a glitch in the matrix as you both huffed and continued to drum passive aggressively with your thumbs.
“Do you have something to say about everything I do?” He groaned.
“Yes. Because everything you do is stupid.”
“Oh, everything I do is stupid?” He scoffed. “I’m not the one who tried to toss myself out of the damn car!”
You both had similar tastes in music. You practically had the same sense of humor. Same argumentative nature. The same sense of responsibility. You were two of the most courageous and selfless people he knew, and yet-
“You basically kidnapped me!”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me right now,” He scoffed. “This is a joke, right? You don’t actually think I-“
“There’s nothing funny about kidnapping someone,” You grumbled.
“I DID NOT KIDNAP YOU!” He shouted over you.
Dustin stifled a laugh.
“What?” You both snapped.
“Nothing. It’s just…” Dustin snorted, earning both of your gazes. He looked at Steve. “Let me guess. She threatened to open her car door because you wouldn’t do what she said? Yeah, she used to do that with my mom until we figured out that it was a big bluff.”
“No one asked for your input,” You reached up and slapped your brother’s arm, making him giggle.
“I’m asking!” Steve smiled. “I’d like to know more about-“
“Let’s get back to the task at hand, yeah?” You leaned forward, blocking Steve’s sight of your brother with the back of your head. “How big was this reptile thing?”
“It’s not a reptile! First it was like that,” Dustin held it thumb and index finger two inches apart before holding his hands two feet apart. “Now he’s like this.”
“I swear to God, man, it’s just some little lizard, okay?”
“It’s not a lizard.”
“How do you know?” Steve asked.
“How do I know if it’s not a lizard?”
“Yeah, how do you know it’s not just a lizard?!”
“Because his face opened up and he ate my cat!”
“… He ate Mews?” You muttered before falling silent. Dustin turned to you with an apologetic gaze, worried about your fist landing a blow on his arm again. You blinked before simply sitting back in your seat again and putting your headphones on again.
Nothing to say? Steve thought. That's a first.
“What’s her problem?” Steve furrowed his brows with concern, taken aback at your sudden change in demeanor. “It’s just a cat, right?”
“No, uh- It was Dad’s cat,” The boy muttered, reluctantly looking away from you. “After he found out he only had a few weeks left to live, he rescued Mews from the pound. She was next in line to be put down. He couldn’t save his own life so..”
He saved hers.
Steve’s lips part as he looked over at the boy to his right. Dustin pursed his lips and sighed. Steve’s eyes drifted to his rearview mirror just in time to watch you wipe away a stray tear. You both wore an expression of guilt and sorrow.
He’d almost forgotten about the fact that he watched everything unfold before his very eyes during the summer he had befriended you in middle school- the summer of your first kiss. Your stepfather got the diagnosis at the beginning of May. He passed away in late July. The funeral was held in early August.
And Steve held your hand through it all.
Then suddenly and without explanation, you acted as if you’d never been friends at all. You stopped answering his calls. You’d walked the other way if you saw him in the halls.
You’d told him your friendship and budding romance was only a summer fling. Once school started, you’d go back to being ‘a nerdy nobody’ and he could go back to being ‘Hawkins’ it boy’. Your words, not his. He, of course, shook on it. But he never expected you to actually follow through with it. Especially not after the summer you’d shared.
He never fully understood why you pushed him away until much later in life when he got with Nancy. She drunkenly let it slip that your stance on falling in love stumped her. She could never understand swearing off of relationships and love. She quickly justified it by saying that she also didn’t understand how much pain you’d endured.
It’d be presumptuous of him to think you ever loved him, but he knew that you backed out before you ever got the chance to. And he didn’t blame you.
Those teary eyes and pouty lips that decorated your soft features at that moment said it all: you were still far too hurt to deal with another heartache. Even still.
Yet here he was behaving like a Grade A asshole towards you, acting as if he wasn’t the one that caught you when you crumbled into a pile of sobs and tears that summer.
To say that he felt awful would be the understatement of the century.
———
“I don’t hear shit,” Steve finally spoke up. You both stood above the storm cellar with your bats, ready to combat anything that might try to jump out.
“He’s in there,” Dustin reassured.
Steve hesitantly poked his bat against the metal doors. He continued to pat gently, as if not to poke the bear. You rolled your eyes at his pathetic taps.
“For Christ’s sake,” You muttered before banging your bat with force against the doors.
Nothing.
“Alright, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank,” Steve warned, flashing the light onto your brother’s face. You chuckled and shook your head. “You’re dead.”
“It’s not.”
“Alright?!”
“It’s not a prank!” Dustin breathed as you grabbed your key and began to unlock the doors.
“Woah- Hey, what are you doing?” Steve turned around at the sound of metal clinking.
“The fuck does it look like I’m doing, Harrington?” You sighed, using your key to unlock the chain that surrounded the handles. “We’re going in. Dustin, toss me a flashlight."
“It’s called a rhetorical question, smartass,” He grumbled as he helped you open the heavy metal doors. You powered on the flashlight to check for any signs of life.
Nothing.
“He must be further down there,” Dustin muttered. “I’ll stay up here in case he tried to… escape.”
You and Steve slowly looked up at the boy and scoffed before you made your way down the dusty stairs. You both swung your lights around in search of anything out of the ordinary.
“You see anything?” He whispered, making you jump a bit. He was so close that his breath caused goosebumps to rise on the back of your neck.
“Nope. But we’re about to,” You reached ahead and switched on the light above you, squinting as your eyes adjusted to the brightness. You scanned the room, only to be greeted by the usual setting.
It wasn’t until you heard Steve gag that you realized Dustin wasn’t joking. He brought his bat up to show you some sort of skin that had been shed, still dripping with slime. Your face contorted with disgust before something caught your eye.
“Steve, you might wanna take a look behind you,” You breathed. His gaze followed the light you pointed at the brick wall. “I don’t think a lizard could’ve done that.”
“Jesus, did that thing eat through the brick wall?” Steve asked as you stepped forward to further investigate the scene. He was only a step behind you as you crouched down and saw the hollowed-out underground tunnel.
“Yeah. Definitely not a lizard,” He breathed.
“Steve?” Dustin’s concerned voice bounced off of the brick walls, or what was left of them. “Y/N? What’s going on down there?”
“Get down here, man! You're gonna wanna see this!” Steve shouted before you heard your little brother’s footsteps approach. You looked over to see him catch sight of the slimy skin on Steve’s bat.
“Aw shit,” Dustin breathed before Steve flashed his light over at you to reveal the giant hole in the wall. “Oh, shit! No way.. No way…”
They came over to get a better look. You all looked around in awe at the sight before you. You recognized the slime that covered the tunnel as the same type that surrounded the portal you and Nancy accidentally slipped into only the year prior.
“Got any ideas, Einstein?” Steve asked you.
You bit your lip in thought for a moment before your eyes shot towards the stairs.
“I might,” You quickly got up and ran out of the basement.
“Hey! Wait up!” They called after you. You twirled around, analyzing the position of the sun before looking down at your watch.
“We still have a few hours until nightfall,” You explained before turning back around to face the boys before you began to pace. “We need to lure it in so we can kill it. Dustin, is it drawn towards blood?”
“Yeah. He likes raw steak.”
“Okay, we can work with that,” You nodded. “I’ll start working on defrosting all of the meat in the freezer. You and Steve run to the grocery store around the corner. We need gloves, buckets, and enough beef to fill them up. Meet me back here as fast as you can so we can slice it all up into tiny pieces-“
“And leave a sort of bread trail! That’s brilliant!” Dustin grinned. “Let’s go, big guy!”
“Wha- And leave you here alone?” Steve frowned, taking a step towards you. “No way.”
“I’ll be fine. You’ll be back in ten minutes anyway-“
“A lot can happen in ten minutes, Henderson.”
“I can take care of myself, Harrington. That’s what this is for, right?,” You chuckled, pushing him away at the chest to walk past him before waving your bat around. He smiled and rolled his eyes. “Chop! Chop! We have love lives to return to!”
You grabbed the extra gallon of gasoline your mother kept in the garage and got to work. It took them less than fifteen minutes to return with everything you asked for, and another seven to cut everything into small pieces, before you all loaded back into Steve’s car and made your way out towards the train tracks to set your trap. Lucas eventually responded to Dustin’s calls and agreed to meet you all at the old junkyard.
———
“Alright, so let me get this straight,” Steve sighed as you all tossed pieces of meat onto the train tracks. “You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who you just met?”
“If you knew him a little better, you wouldn’t be so surprised,” You muttered.
“Okay, first of all, ouch!” Dustin scoffed. “And second of all, that’s grossly oversimplifying things.”
“Riddle me this, dumbass,” You began, throwing a piece of meat past Dustin’s head. “Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?”
“My question exactly,” Steve followed your lead in tossing a chunk at the boy.
“Okay, stop throwing raw meat at me!” He yelped. “Salmonella is a real threat! And it’s not just some nasty slug. It’s an interdimensional slug, and it’s awesome.”
“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t, I-I just.. I don’t know! I just feel like you’re trying way too hard, man!” Steve chimed in.
“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?” Dustin mumbled.
“Don’t be fooled,” You smirked. “The hair only gets him so far.”
“You know what?” Steve furrowed his brows with a smile playing on his lips. “You’re right! The key with girls is just acting like you don’t care.”
“Take everything he says with a grain of salt, Dustin. Being yourself will get you a lot farther in life. The last thing you wanna be is a douchebag that peaks in high school,” You feigned a smile as you raised your headphones to your ears. Steve chuckled as he watched you trail ahead, bored of his boy talk.
“So you act like you don’t care even if you do?” Your brother pressed on.
“Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts. You just wait until, uh..” The older boy sighed. “Until you feel it.”
“Feel what?” Dustin turned around.
“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know?” Steve explained as you all continued to walk and sprinkle the pieces of meat. “You can’t see it, but you can feel it. Like this, uh.. Oh, I don’t know.”
His eyes landed on you as he finished his thought.
“Like this electricity, you know?”
“Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-“
“No, no, no, no, no. Like a..” He lowered his voice, careful to prevent your ears from catching on to what he was saying. “Like a sexual electricity.”
“Oh.”
“You feel that, and then you make your move.”
“So that’s when you kiss her?” Dustin looked up.
“No, woah, woah. Slow down, Romeo!” Steve frowned. “Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a.. I don’t know, like a lion.”
Dustin hummed in response.
“But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a… like a ninja!” He continued. “I had my first kiss when I was around your age. Talk about awesome. But if you want my advice on kissing a girl before high school, you have to make sure you kiss her softly. Gently. Almost like if you kiss her too hard, you’ll break her. Wait til she deepens the kiss before you do the same.”
“Who was your first kiss?”
Steve laughed at the irony of his first kiss standing only about fifteen feet ahead of him. “You wouldn’t know her. But she was different from most of the other girls. I honestly couldn’t tell you who went in for the first kiss. It just kinda happened with her.”
“She sounds special.”
“Yeah,” Steve nodded. “Yeah, she’s somethin’, alright.”
“But this girl’s special, too, you know? It’s just, like, something about her..”
“Woah, woah, woah. Hey, hey, hey!” Steve stopped in his tracks to look over at your little brother.
“What?”
“You’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?”
“Uh, no? No!”
“Okay, good,” He continued to trot along. “Don’t.”
“I won’t.”
“It sucks getting your heart broken at your age,” Steve sighed. “You aren’t emotionally equipped to take a blow like that, and it takes forever to get over it. And once you do, she makes you a make-out mixtape for your current relationship. You’ll think it’s cool, like you finally made amends. Then you get to the last song of the mixtape while you’re mid-make out with your current girlfriend, and you end up snorting into her mouth."
"Gross."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Steve shook his head. "Next thing you know, you’re laughing the mood away, and your girlfriend stays mad at you for like a week because you refuse to tell her what you found so funny.”
“That’s… oddly specific,” Dustin frowned with confusion.
“Look, kid. My point is that she’s only gonna break your heart, and you’re way too young for that shit,” Steve sighed before watching your feet hit the ground below you at a steady pace, probably to the beat of whatever Scorpions or AC/DC songs Eddie loaded onto that mixtape for you. He looked over to see the defeated boy dropping pieces of meat before he felt a pang of guilt settle in his gut. You Hendersons had the most heartbreaking long faces he’s ever seen. He sighed. “… Fabergé.”
“What?” Dustin asked. Steve pointed at his hair.
“It’s Fabergé Organics,” He spoke reluctantly. “Use the shampoo and conditioner and when your hair’s damp- it’s not wet, okay? When it’s damp..”
“Damp.”
“You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”
“Farrah Fawcett spray?” Dustin smiled.
“Yeah, Farrah Fawcett spray,” Steve stopped to establish a more intimidating presence. “You tell anyone I just told you that, and your ass is grass. You’re dead, Henderson. Do you understand?”
“You don’t give the Hendersons enough credit, Steve,” You turned around with a smile, making Steve’s face drop. “We’re great at keeping secrets.”
“H-How much of that conversation did you hear?”
You shrugged, shooting him an innocent look before twirling back around. You grabbed a few pieces of meat and continued to strategically toss them on the ground.
You all continued to walk in silence for about thirty more seconds before you couldn’t help yourself anymore.
“I made it through the wilderness!” You began to sing, holding up the meat as if it were a microphone as you spun back around gracefully. Steve threw his head back and groaned loudly. “Somehow I made it throughhhh! Come on, Dustin! Join in!”
“Didn’t know how lost I was until I found youuuu!” He giggled.
“I WAS BEAT!”
“Okay, very funny-”
“INCOMPLETE!”
“ALRIGHT!” Steve laughed, throwing a piece of meat at your feet. “I get it! That’s enough!”
“Okay, sorry. We’ll stop,” You chuckled. You shot Dustin a knowing look before you both burst out in song again. “LIKE A VIRGIN!”
“Stop!” He whined.
“TOUCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!”
“Alright, that’s it,” Steve laughed, dropping his bucket before taking off after you. You squealed and tried to run away before you felt his arm wrap around your waist and twirl you back around. He set you down and pointed his yellow-gloved finger at you. “Keep it up and I’ll tell the kid who I was talking about in the first place, got it?”
“That’s big talk coming from the guy that uses Farrah Fawcett spray,” You smirked, making him roll his eyes and chuckle as he walked back to his bucket. “Did you really snort into her mouth?”
“You’re such an asshole, you know that?” He tried to speak sternly but couldn’t seem to wipe the grin off of his face. You shrugged before hopping off the tracks and heading into the woods.
“Would you look at that! I’m literally making it through the wilderness!”
“You’re not funny!” Steve called before turning to the boy who erupted into a fit of giggles. “Stop it. Don’t laugh at that.”
“You coming?”
“Where are you even going?”
You continued to lead the boys to the old junkyard. You dropped the remaining chunks of meat right outside of the abandoned bus. It only took a couple minutes for the other kids to show up too.
“I said medium-well!” Lucas called from the distance. You all looked up to see a red-headed girl walking beside him.
“Who’s that?” Steve asked you. You shrugged before you both looked down at Dustin who wore a forlorn look on his face. “Ah, never mind.”
“Took you long enough!” You teased as Lucas and the girl walked up. “Hi, I’m Y/N. You must be Max.”
“Oh, I know you!” The redhead chuckled. “My stepbrother talks about you all of the time.”
“Who’s your stepbrother?” You asked.
“His name is Billy,” She responded, laughing at the way your face scrunched up with disgust.
“Douchebaggery doesn’t run in the family, does it?” You smirked, making her laugh again.
“Only with the opposite sex,” She shrugged.
“I like her!” You said to the younger boys before wrapping your arm around her and leading her to the bus. “Wanna help me seal the windows?”
“Sure.”
You all worked quickly to get the most of the rest of the day’s sunlight. The kids rolled in metal bins for protection. Steve poured the gasoline. You set up the latter to the escape hole on top of the bus. With the remaining time left, the ladies blocked off the windows with metal scraps as the boys placed the tires on top of the bus. All there was left to do was wait.
Max and Lucas sat on the roof, keeping a lookout for any sign of the Demogorgon. Your brother fiddled with a pair of odd-shaped dice to keep calm his nerves. You looked up to see Steve mindlessly playing with the lighter he brought for the trap. After getting tired of hearing your brother’s dice click, you stood up and took the seat opposite Steve. He looked up at you and nodded as if to greet you before continuing on with the lighter.
“I’m sorry,” You sighed. He looked up with knitted brows. “For breaking your heart.”
“Not this again,” He rolled his eyes. “I swear to God if you start singing Like A Virgin-“
“No, no, I’m serious,” You chuckled. That got his attention. His eyes danced across your face, scanning for any sign of insincerity. “I guess I was so busy mending my own heart that I forgot to be careful with yours. So I’m sorry. Truly.”
“Ah, it’s cool,” He smiled, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees to get closer to you. “I think I needed it. It toughened me up a bit before high school. They would’ve eaten me up alive.”
You let out a breathy chuckle, twirling your ring around your middle finger.
“I’m sorry, too,” He sighed.
“For what?” You smiled.
“For being such a dick to you today after all of your help. I should’ve just listened to you. Taken you home,” He pursed his lips for a moment in thought, carefully considering the next words that would fall out of his mouth. “I guess.. I don’t know. Maybe a part of me-“
A shrill, ear-piercing growl interrupted him.
You both quickly stood up to look out the window behind him. There was nothing but fog, and what made it worse was the stillness it harbored. The anticipation game has begun.
“You see him?” You breathed from behind him.
“No,” He shook his head.
“Lucas!” Your brother shouted. “What’s going on?!”
“Hold on!” He shouted back. There was a moment of silence before his squeaky voice began shouting again. “I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock!”
“There,” Steve pointed. You could barely see the outline of the monster with the fog, but it was there nonetheless.
“What’s he doing?” You whispered.
“I don’t know,” He responded. “He’s not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?”
“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Dustin offered from behind you.
“Maybe he’s sick of cow,” You breathed, looking at Steve with wide eyes. He blinked as a fleeting thought passed through his mind. He got up to get his bag. “What are you doing?”
“Just get ready,” He told you, tossing you the lighter. You scoffed, quickly passing it over to Dustin. Steve grabbed his bat, and within seconds, he stepped out of the bus, not even giving you the time to argue. “Stay in the bus!”
“That fucking idiot,” You huffed, grabbing your own bag and following behind him. “Dustin, keep that lighter ready!”
“Y/N, I don’t think-“
“Close the door behind me,” And with that, you were out in the open.
“What part of stay in the bus don’t you…-“ Steve’s voice trailed off as you pressed a finger to your lips, eyes laser focused on your surrounding. You both got in your usual defensive stance: back pressed to one as you spun around strategically.
The sound of the beast’s chittering bounced off of your surroundings, making it sound as if it was coming from everywhere. You readjusted your grip on the bat as your palms began to sweat. A cold chill began to creep through every single nerve ending in your body as the chittering came to a stop. It was going to attack soon.
Steve whistled beside you to lure out the beast.
“Come on, buddy,” He called gently before whistling again. “Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”
The growls came back at a louder volume before you saw the outline of a slimy dog in front of you, pacing in excitement at the sight of its next meal. You let out a small gasp. Steve leaned into you in as a means to provide at least some comfort.
“Y/N, WATCH OUT! THREE O’CLOCK! THREE O’CLOCK!” Lucas shouted from behind you.
“We’ve got company,” You breathed.
“STEVE! Y/N! ABORT! ABORT!“ Your brother swung the bus door open behind you. You turned around just in time to see a dog jump out of the dark. You swung as hard as you could, sending it flying to your left before Steve grabbed your arm and pulled you back. A swarm of Demo-Dogs pounced onto the very spot you stood in mere seconds ago. You both rolled over the hood of a car before landing on your feet. You barely got the chance to look up at him before his eyes focused on something behind you.
“DUCK!” He ordered. You did as told before he swung with force, landing a swing into something above you. A monster landed beside you with a thud.
“We have to get out of here!” You gasped. He was one step ahead of you, taking a firm grip of your arm, pulling you alongside him as he ran back towards the bus. He pushed you in front of him so that he could place a barrier between you and the monsters. The last thing he wanted was for the curly-haired boy to see his sister ripped to shreds.
You both ran as fast as your feet could carry you, feeling the gusts of wind beside you as the dogs swung at you. Just as you made it to the bus, you felt a claw come in contact with your arm and screamed before Steve shoved you into the bus and the kids closed the door behind the two of you.
You fell onto your hands and knees, but there was no time to waste. There was already a beast clawing its way into the bus. You grabbed a nearby metal scrap and placed it against a weak spot in the bus’s defense, using the strength of your legs to hold it in place from the clawing on the other side.
“Why are they trying so hard to get in?!” Someone yelled.
“Y/N’s bleeding!” Steve responded before grabbing a bat and swinging as hard as he could into the head of an intruder. “A LITTLE HELP HERE!?”
You scrambled to get your own bat before landing lethal blows into the monster. You both continued to rain hits into the beast until it went limp. Your surroundings fell silent again.
“Are they gone?” Dustin asked.
“Doubt it,” Your eyes scanned the bus for any sign of trespassers.
“It was stupid of you to follow me out there,” Steve turned towards you. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”
“Do you?” You scoffed. “You could’ve gotten hurt, you idiot!”
“Oh, I could’ve gotten hurt?” His eyebrows shot up before he grabbed your injured arm, looking at the deep slice the beast left. "Jesus Christ that's bad.."
“It’s just a scratch,” You took your arm out of his grasp for what felt like the millionth time that day. “There’s more important things to-“
You fell silent as your gaze shifted to the ceiling, bringing his attention to the sight of moving footprints above you. Max began to scream at the base of the latter before you ran over to stand between her and the monster. You gasped at the gaping mouth awaiting at the exit above you. It began to drool the moment you got closer.
“Out of the way! Out of the way!” He shouted before positioning himself in front of you and the monster. “You want some?! Come get this!”
The screech that escaped the Demo-Dog rattled the bus. It was so loud you felt it in your chest. You steadied your breathing, preparing for the worst when suddenly it let out one more growl and disappeared and your surroundings fell silent once again. You all looked at one another with confusion before Steve spoke up.
“Are you alright?” He looked down at you.
“Yeah, you?” You breathed. He nodded.
You had no idea how or when Steve’s arm wrapped tightly around your waist, and according to his look of embarrassment, he didn’t either. You both realized just how close you were at around the same time, stepping away with flushed cheeks.
The chittering and growling continued to move away from you until it was completely gone.
“What happened?” You heard from behind you.
“I don’t know.”
“Steve and Y/N scared them off?”
“No,” Steve shook his head. “No way.”
“They’re going somewhere,” You agreed. “I’m gonna go check it out-“
“Not with that bloody arm,” Steve frowned. “Someone patch her up. I’ll be right back.”
“You think there’s a first aid kit around here?” You asked the kids.
“I have one in my bag,” Dustin nodded, earning an odd look from the lot of you. “What?“
“Did your mommy pack that for you?” Lucas smirked.
“No, I did,” Dustin rolled his eyes. “We fight interdimensional monsters on a seemingly annual basis. I think the real question is why don't any of you idiots have a first aid kit?”
Max helped carefully peel off your jacket before she cut your sleeve off for better access. She tried her hardest not to gag at the gaping wound, but the disgust was written all over her face.
“That bad, huh?” You chuckled halfheartedly.
“Worse,” She scrunched her nose.
“They’re all gone,” Steve said as he walked back into the bus. He flashes his light over at you to see your bloody mess of an arm. “Jesus, Henderson… They got you good. At least you have a solid excuse as to why you missed the concert.”
“The concert,” You breathed, grabbing Steve’s wrist to look at the time. 12:03 AM. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
You threw his wrist back down before covering your face with your free hand.
“God fucking dammit!” You huffed. “He never asks anything of me. How the hell is this going to look?!”
“Hey. This is Eddie we’re talking about,” Dustin placed a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Just show him the cut. Tell him you fell while we goofing around on the train tracks. He’ll understand.”
You sighed, opening your mouth to respond before he cut you off.
“Steve, do me a favor."
"What's up?"
"Put your leg up on the seat so that I can put her arm in a stable and elevated position,” Dustin ordered. Steve blinked, reluctantly doing as told before you looked up at him and carefully placed your arm on his thigh. “And hold this light steady for me while I clean up the wound.”
“I’m a shit liar,” You mumbled. “He’ll see right through it. I have to tell him the truth.”
“Woah, woah- you’re not being serious, right?” Steve spoke up. You frowned. “No way! That’s just one more life we’re putting in harm’s way. Romeo over here already got Red involved. There’s no way we can sacrifice someone else.”
You hissed as Dustin squeezed the contents of bottled water onto your arm. Everyone winced with you, knowing you weren’t one to complain about pain unless it really hurt. You took the opportunity to speak up again as he dug through the kit for something else.
“Maybe you’re right,” You breathed. “The last thing I want is to put him in danger. He’s careless when it comes to those he’s fond of.“
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
“She means he wouldn’t hesitate to throw himself in a bad situation if it meant saving her life,” Dustin informed. “It’s better he doesn’t know about any of this.. Y/N, brace yourself. This is the painful part.”
“This is the painful part?!” You whined. “Then what was- HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!”
You let out a scream as he wiped an alcohol drenched cotton ball along your cut. You clenched your eyes shut and dug your nails into your thigh as the liquid burned through the fresh blood.
“I’M SORRY! SHOULD I STOP!?” Dustin shouted.
“NO! HURRY!” You growled through clenched teeth. The next few seconds felt like an eternity before he finally began digging through the kit again. You let out a sigh of relief before letting your head fall into Steve’s upper thigh, making his breath hitch in the back of his throat.
He knew it was inappropriate timing, but he couldn’t help but think about how pretty you looked resting on the inside of his thigh.
His eyes widened at the filthy thoughts that returned to his mind at the speed of light, clearing his throat in hopes of getting you to realize where you’d placed your face. You sighed before getting the strength to get back up. You left the patch of his jeans warm with the remanence of your hot breath.
“It’s not as deep as I thought it was,” You said looking over at your arm.
God, if you’re real, Steve thought, fuck off. This isn’t funny anymore.
“Keep that light still for me, Harrington!” Dustin ordered. “I’m almost done.”
HOW THE HELL WAS HE MEANT TO KEEP HIS HAND FROM SHAKING AFTER THAT?!
“Right,” He cleared his throat, grabbing it with both hands to stabilize it. He watched as Dustin used his gloved hand to wipe some Neosporin on the open flesh and dressing it tightly to stop the bleeding. And with that, you were done. Steve let out a breath he’d been holding in as soon as you took your arm back.
“We should probably get back,” You sighed.
Everyone collected their belongings before you all walked back towards the train tracks. It was the most eerie walk. Silent except the the sounds of your own footsteps. Every piece of meat still laying on the tracks. It was almost like you were tempting fate, especially with that fresh wound of yours.
“Hey, keep it elevated to stop the bleeding!” Dustin ordered, jogging up to you. “We’ll take you to the clinic tomorrow as soon as it opens. You need to be more careful!”
“Okay, Mom,” You teased as you placed your forearm on your head. The crew behind you all inevitably listened to your conversation. Your ability to stay lighthearted seemed to soothe them all.
“I’m serious..” He said in a small voice, gaining your full attention. “I only have one big sister.”
“Oh, Dusty,” You sighed, wrapping your arm around his shoulders as you continued to trudge through the grassy tracks. You placed a small kiss on top of ball cap. “Alright. I’ll be more careful.”
“Promise?” He looked up at you.
“I’m not about to spit swear again, if that’s what you’re after,” You teased, making him laugh. “But yes. I promise.”
You held out your pinky in front of his face and he gladly wrapped his small one around it before you squeezed him into you.
It wasn’t rare for you to take a very maternal role in your brother’s life. Sure, you constantly fought and annoyed one another. But there was no one else in the world that you loved and adored more than the curly haired boy wrapped in your embrace at that moment.
He was the exception to your no-love rule.
You allowed yourself to love him unconditionally, and wouldn’t hesitate to take a bullet for him. Or the occasional Demo-Dog slice.
“Y/N?”
“Hm?”
“I can’t breathe.”
“Oh, my bad.”
———
co-written with @mitchloveswriting
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a/n: I AM SCREAMING!! STEVIE BOY HAS A CRUSH!! I had the time of my life writing this chapter omg!! I'm sorry for the long chapter. I tried to shorten it up but literally couldn't bahaha! The next chapter will likely be short, considering it was mostly focused on El's runaway journey.
chapter summary: Kate deals with the evergrowing tension between El and her father. Steve and Nancy finally talk after the Halloween party.
chapter warnings: language
word count: 3.4k
series masterlist | masterlist
WHEN KATE HAD finally knocked on the door of the cabin, her heart rate spiked before it cracked open. She was surprised to find her father had opened it, not El. "You're late."
"Where is she?" Kate asked, slipping through the door.
"You mind telling me where you've been?"
"At a party."
He sighed. "I thought we agreed that you were supposed to come home—"
Kate scoffed. "No, we didn't agree to anything. I told you I had plans to go to a party, and I followed through on them."
"Yeah? Whose jacket is that?" her father asked.
Kate gave him a confused look before she looked down, remembering that she was still wearing the suit jacket from Steve's costume. She hoped he wasn't currently freezing to death as he walked back to his car (he was, in fact, freezing, but he didn't care in the slightest). She fidgeted with the hair tie on her wrist as she avoided eye contact with him. "I, um... It's Steve's."
"What?" Hopper thought the two of them never even looked at each other, never mind went somewhere alone together. "Is that why you went to that party? Just to hang out with him all night?"
"No!" Kate said, shaking her head. "No, I went with Jonathan. And the girls. Steve just took me home because—"
"He did what?"
"Not like that. Don't worry, he dropped me off at the main road. I walked back through the woods. He was really confused, but he did it anyway." When her father sat back down on the couch, she stood in between him and where the television should've been, but now appeared to be missing. "So now that you're done interrogating me, where's El?"
He sighed, some of his anger melting away. "I was late, too. She hasn't come out of her room since I got home. She's got the TV in there, too, so..."
"Shit." She immediately moved next to El's green bedroom door, knocking on it as softly and as gently as possible. "Ellie, are you in there? Can you open the door for me?"
When the door finally cracked open, Kate quickly slipped through the door and closed it behind her whenever she found Eleven crying with a slight nosebleed. Kate shut the door behind her and sat on the floor next to El in her room, holding her as she sobbed. "You go and visit him again?"
She nodded, nuzzling her head into her as Kate held her tighter.
Kate sighed. "I'm sorry, Ellie, I'm so sorry."
When El cried even harder, her eyes glazed over. Kate wished she could do something, anything to let the girl live a normal life, but she knew that was far from possible.
The next morning, the air seemed to be laced with tension as Kate, her father, and El ate breakfast, even if they were eating "triple-decker Eggo extravaganzas," as Hopper had called it.
"Mm! You know the great thing about it? It's only eight thousand calories," Hopper said, trying to ease the tension. He noticed the television cord that still snaked into El's room. "You visited him again last night?"
El hesitated to answer. "He says he needs me."
"Want me to go check on him?"
El shook her head as Kate replied, "I already offered."
Hopper almost frowned. "I know that you miss him, all right? But it's too dangerous. You're the last thing he needs right now. But you're gonna see him. Soon. And not just in that head of yours. You're gonna see him in real life. I feel like I'm making progress with these people."
Kate had to stop herself from laughing. Even though he had made progress, it had almost been a year—progress wasn't going to be enough for Eleven.
"Friends. Don't. Lie," El responded.
"What?"
"You say 'soon' on day twenty-one. You say 'soon' on day two-hundred and five. You now say 'soon' on day three-hundred and twenty-six?"
"What is this? You're counting the days now like you're some kind of prisoner?"
"When… is 'soon?'"
"'Soon is when… it's not dangerous anymore." He turned away from both girls, not wanting to meet their eyes.
"When?"
He hesitated. "I don't know."
"On day five hundred?"
"I don't know."
"On day six hundred?"
"I don't… know!"
"Day seven hundred? On day eight hundred!"
"No—"
"I need to see him. Tell me!"
"I said I—"
El had pushed the plates toward him, getting the Eggos, which had whipped cream, butter, syrup, and all types of candy in them, all over his uniform. "Oh, shit! Shit!"
Both El and Hopper stood up. "Friends. Don't. Lie!"
As the younger girl stomped out of the room, slamming her bedroom door behind her, Hopper kicked the dining room table. Kate had gotten up already, handing some napkins to her father. "I don't want to be late for school, but, uh, here."
While his face was angry, his statement was not. "I… Thank you."
"I'll, uh… see you when I get home."
Hopper waved once, then Kate quickly left the cabin, Steve's jacket in hand, as she walked swiftly to her car.
As she drove, she thought about that night that they'd found El.
The night of Christmas Eve that year had been absolutely freezing.
Her and her father had been on their way home from the police station Christmas party, and she'd been confused when her father had driven into the woods instead, cutting out the engine seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When he'd gotten out of the car, she sighed, stepping out with him.
"Dad, please tell me why we're out here before I freeze to death," Kate had said, visibly shaking.
"Katie, keep it down, kid," Hopper had replied, his voice soft. He'd lead the way from his SUV, flashlight and food in hand. "I have something to show you, come on."
Before she could reply, the man had already started to disappear through the woods. She'd shaken her head. "Goddammit, Dad."
"You comin' or what?"
She sighed, chasing after her father as he followed a makeshift path. Whenever he'd stopped at a small wooden box, she'd only watched in confusion as he'd put Tupperware containers of food inside of it, even saran-wrapped Eggos. "What are you doing—"
"We have to be quiet," he'd whispered. He'd then pointed in the direction of his SUV. Go back, he'd mouthed. She'd almost yelled at him—why make her go out in the cold just to go back? She'd shook her head, walking back to the SUV in silence.
Before she could get back in the car, however, she'd heard something move, the leaves crunching and the tree branches snapping around them.
Someone else had been in the woods with them.
Kate and her father had both stopped, watching as the person revealed themselves.
Eleven.
Even though only a month and a half had passed since she'd seen her, she'd looked completely different. Her hair had grown out slightly, her clothes dingy, and somehow, she'd even obtained a winter hat and coat. Her eyes had deep bags under them, her skin pale. She had obviously been living outside since they'd seen her last, and she'd been extremely malnourished.
"El?" Kate called, taking a step closer to her. Her eyes were wide and glazed over, a small pit beginning to grow in her stomach. She'd thought the girl had died, not this.
At first, she'd taken a step back. She'd seemed threatened, untrusting.
"Hey, we're not gonna hurt you," Hopper had said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We just wanna help you, okay? That's it."
"You're safe now," Kate had said, extending her arm out to her.
At first, Eleven had hesitated. When she'd locked eyes with Kate, she'd quickly ran into the girl's arms, racking a sob whenever she had hugged her back.
At that moment, Kate had known she would do anything to shield her from the world.
She sighed thinking about that night as she drove to school. She could only hope that things would get better between the three of them before long.
When Kate had arrived to lunch, the three of her friends only stared at her.
At first, she tried to ignore them, blocking them out with her book. She thought if she didn't pay any attention to them that they would drop it, but even after a minute or so, they still only stared, not saying a word. "What?"
"So," Jessica finally started, "how about last night?"
Kim and Stephanie tried to hide their giggling.
Kate's eyebrows furrowed together, still not looking up from her book. "What about it?"
Kim looked at her with an unreadable expression. "Well… I'm sure you've heard the rumors."
"No?" she asked, finally looking up from her book and closing it shut. "What are you guys talking about?"
Stephanie stifled a laugh. "Dude, everyone saw you go home with Steve last night. Literally everyone."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Literally, nothing happened. We just talked, that's it. I swear."
Jessica laughed. "Oh yeah?" She shook her head. "I don't know, Kate… You and Steve? Alone? In his car?"
"Oh my God, it wasn't like that," she explained, her face turning pink. "Nothing happened, I just talked him down after the whole thing with Nancy. I was worried about him, you know?"
The three girls all had varying responses. They'd all heard many rumors by the time lunch had rolled around, mostly ones concerning Kate and Steve, but even more had come up about what exactly had happened inside of the bathroom the night of the party.
No one knew for sure what had happened. The general consensus of the timeline of events was that Nancy had gotten absolutely wasted, she and Steve had gotten into a fight in the bathroom after the punch had been spilled on her shirt, Steve and Kate left the party together after he left the bathroom, and Jonathan Byers had been the one to take Nancy home.
"Do you know what happened?"
Kate shook her head. Even if the three girls were some of her closest friends, she wasn't going to do that to Steve. She didn't feel the need to add to the rumors, to confirm any of them, mostly because she didn't know what had for sure happened between Nancy and Steve. "Not really. He was just upset, mostly."
The three girls all exchanged glances, deciding to let it go. They didn't want to push her about something like this, about Steve. That didn't stop them, however, from continuing their conversation about all of the rumors they'd heard so Kate was aware of them, and Kate, for the first time ever, was appreciative of their knowledge of Hawkins High gossip.
Steve's favorite time of the day had always been basketball practice.
Not only was it at the end of the day, but it was right after swim practice, meaning he'd survived that practice already. While he might've been put out slightly by swimming, he could at least try his damndest in basketball. It was the only thing he was good at other than swimming, and he wouldn't take it for granted.
That was, however, until his ass was handed to him by Billy Hargrove.
"Harrington, right? I heard you used to run this school. That true?" he asked, trying to steal the ball from Steve, who currently was in possession. "King Steve, they used to call you, huh? Then you turned bitch."
"Hey, maybe you should just shut up and play the game," Steve suggested. He already didn't like this guy, not after the night before, and especially not after he'd almost killed Kate's car.
Not a moment later, Steve was knocked to the ground and Billy stole the ball. Of course, before he could pick himself up and catch up to the boy, Billy had already gotten the ball through the hoop. "That's what I'm talking about!"
Before Steve could say anything, Nancy walked through the gym doors. "Steve?"
When he turned around to look at her, a pit in his stomach started to form. She looked absolutely pissed.
Steve brought her outside to the alleyway in between two of the buildings of the school so they could talk alone. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" Nancy asked bitterly. "Where were you this morning? I missed first period."
"I figured Jonathan would take you," he replied, matching her tone.
Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Wh–What are you talking about?"
He scoffed. "Jesus, you really can't handle your alcohol. Uh… You remember going to Tina's party last night, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, and then what?"
"I… remember dancing, and… spilling some punch. You got mad at me because I was drunk… and then I thought you took me home," she said. She wasn't entirely stupid. She had heard all the rumors going around about last night, more specifically about who Steve had left the party with.
Steve almost wanted to laugh. He knew she wouldn't remember the full story. He scoffed again, taking the towel off of his shoulder and putting it around his neck. "No, see, that's where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy. That was your other boyfriend. That was… That was Jonathan."
"I don't understand."
"It's pretty simple, Nancy. You were just telling it like it is."
"What?"
"Uh… Apparently, uh... we killed Barb, and I don't care, 'cause I'm bullshit… and our whole… our whole relationship is bullshit, and… I mean, pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit." He counted out the bullshits on his fingers. "Oh, yeah. also, you don't love me."
"I was drunk, Steve. I don't remember any of that."
"So that makes everything you said—it's what? Just bullshit, too?"
"Yes!"
"Well, then tell me."
"Tell you what?"
He hesitated, but in a moment of desperation, he cracked. "You love me."
Nancy smiled in disbelief. "Really? You're gonna say that like nothing happened with Kate?"
"What the hell're you talking about?"
She scoffed. "You went home with her last night."
"That's different."
"It's not, either," Nancy said defensively. "You practically go numb when she's in the room, Steve! You've always loved her more than me and it's not fair that I—"
"Harrington!" Neither of them had noticed that one of the boys on Steve's team had come outside, standing at the end of the alleyway so he could coax Steve back into the gym. "Dude, we need you, man. That douchebag's killing us. Let's go!'
"All right!"
"Come on!"
Steve, however, only stared at Nancy, waiting for her response.
At that point, he didn't even know why he was pushing so hard for her. He'd been telling himself for weeks, months even that he didn't love Nancy, that he loved another girl so much more. When he thought about the night before, the night that had led to this very conversation with Nancy, he thought about Kate again. While Nancy had acted like she didn't want to be with him the entire night, acting like he was a nuisance, Kate had made sure he was okay after everything that had happened. She had been there for him, even when she had every right not to be after all that time they'd been apart, even if she had acted like she'd hated him for all that time, even if there was a chance she would get in trouble for being out so late. Even if she didn't have to do those things for him, she did anyway—that was just how Kate was. Even if Kate acted like she wasn't, she was kind, compassionate. He had only been reminded of why he did love Kate more than Nancy.
That was the reason why Steve finally walked away. "I think that you're bullshit."
And as Steve walked away, returning to the basketball practice that had been going so horribly wrong, he thought about Kate once again, that and how he was going to get her back.
Kate had stayed after school for a bit before work so she could talk to her writing teacher about a few things.
She had finally worked up the courage to take a writing class that year instead of having a free period. It had been good for her to finally have someone to read over her work other than herself. The courage in question had come from a talk with El over the summer after she had accidentally found an old journal of hers, trying her best to read through some of them (the first entry she had read had actually been about Steve after a swim meet, more specifically about how he looked in a Speedo) because she didn't realize what they were. Whenever she had asked Kate about them, more specifically about who Steve was, she had told her that she was a really good writer. Even though El wasn't as well-seasoned of a reader as Kate, she still helped build her confidence where she was okay with other people reading her work (just not the ones about Steve, for obvious reasons).
Kate had only meant to stay after school for a few minutes to ask about when the next honors society meeting was supposed to be, that and tell her that her writing portfolio was submitted, which quickly turned into about an hour after the dismissal bell had rung for the day. She finally had to tell Ms. Schaeffer that she had work in about an hour and that she'd talk to her later, and she quickly left the room, putting her headphones over her ears before clicking play on her Walkman.
As she walked to her locker, other people that had had to stay after school for various reasons also shuffling through the halls to get to the right place moved around her. She hadn't even noticed Steve standing next to her locker until she practically stood right in front of him. When she finally stood in front of him, she tilted her head, pulling her headphones off from over her ears and letting them hang around her neck. "Steve?"
He turned to face her, snapping out of his gaze. "Yeah?"
She gave him an unreadable look. "The hell're you doing?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, I… You said you had something for me? Earlier?"
She slapped herself in the face instinctively, nodding once as she opened her locker. "Oh my God, I completely forgot." She picked up the nicely folded jacket at the top of her locker, handing it to him. "I think this belongs to you."
Steve smiled, folding it lazily over his arm. "Thanks."
She nodded once, digging through her locker to put some journals and books back into her bag.
He couldn't help but watch her. It was almost exactly the same as it had been the year before: the pictures of Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, and her friends had stayed, and that even included the ones of him. His heart fluttered at the thought that she'd never taken down the pictures of them after all that time: it made him feel like he had hope. On top of the pictures, she had even more books and journals stuffed inside of her locker than she had the year before, which he didn't even know was possible. It still remained neat and organized, which impressed him, considering his locker looked ten times worse with not even half the number of items in it. He still couldn't believe she had kept the pictures of them together in her locker. "Nice to see you're still obsessed with Tom Cruise."
"Give Harrison Ford more credit," she said softly, trying to fight back a smile. "You know no one could ever beat Han Solo."
"Right." He stifled a laugh as she closed her locker. "I just wanted to, uh… tell you thanks for, uh… last night and everything. It means a lot."
She shrugged, playing with the hair tie on her wrist. "It was nothing. Don't worry about it."
"I meant what I said," he said, touching her shoulder. "About us. I really want to be in your life again, okay?"
She turned to look at him, smiling slightly. "I'd like that. Really, but if that's true, you can't flake on me. I just… I really want things to get better for us. Just… prove it to me."
Steve smiled. "Just wait, Kathy, I'll do more than prove it."
She had no idea how soon he would prove himself to her.
Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Munson!Reader ; Eddie Munson x Fem!Henderson!O.C.
Warnings: Strong language, season 4 vol. 1 (NONE FOR VOL. 2 YET) spoilers, angst, SLIGHT mention of abuse no heavy details and I don’t plan on going into super heavy details and if I do I will put a warning in all caps before the chapter
Word Count: 2k
Author’s Note: so volume 2 happened… so for those who want to know i’m team FUCK THE CANON so yeah anyways this was a fun one to write because a certain scene I imagined I was yelling at my old guidance counselor who did jack shit to help me.
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“Steve, hand me your keys.” (Y/N) put her hand out.
“What? No, you’re not driving my car.”
“I’m not driving your car, just hand me the keys. It will only be believable that I brought Max here if I have some form of keys with me.” She looked at him, “Trust me on this.”
Reader visits Family Video practically every day, and tries to get service only from Robin, ignoring Steve 🥰
Hoooooo boy went a little overboard with this one but I really really really love it so much- maybe not exactly what you asked for but I hope you like it!
This Week at Family Video
Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington friendship (and character study) Robin Buckley x a girl who I guess is technically an oc
summary: A cute girl keeps coming into Family Video and Steve is determined to wingman his best friend Robin into a date with her, which turns into a deeper bonding moment between two friends.
content: it's all fluff and then it made me cry for a minute there thinking about what it would've been like to be a gay teenager in the 80s and Robin also also sad about it so she talks about a lot of classic gay sad stuff so like the effect of period typical homophobia but not the actual application . Also in order for this to work Steve is straight even though I headcanon him as bi and also in order for this to work Robin has to be attracted to film nerds which is actually kind of a stretch but that's mostly a me thing
9k words
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Monday
It was an average day at the Family Video. People filtered in and out, a few of whom garnered some appraising, and, admittedly kind of objectifying glances from the two clerks that sat behind the central desk, who’s eyes would flash up as the bell ring, look at each other and make a subtle face to indicate whether or not the thought the girl that just came in was cute.
Robin admits openly to feeling bad about this ritual, and Steve agreed that it was pretty sexist and they shouldn’t be collectively checking out chicks that came in and consulting on their hotness but at this point it was almost involuntary and hard to avoid when Steve all but lept over counters when a pretty girl walked in. Robin told him that she only did it now so she knew if she’d have to be working the sales desk for the next 2-8 minutes until he’d get rejected and come back to help but he didn’t buy it for a second.
The bell over the door rang and they glanced up to see a cute girl with intentionally messy hair, some oversized layers, and a bucket hat walk in casually. Steve and Robin both looked at each other with raised eyebrows just before Steve walked around the counter.
“Welcome to Family Video- anything I can help you find today?” Steve said, turning on his charm, regardless of how overzealous he was with it at times. “I’m Steve, and you are?” He said, sticking out a hand. The girl looked a little overwhelmed at the attention and laughed awkwardly.
“Uh, yeah I’m Leslie. I’m just looking for a movie that nobody else seems to have.” She said with a laugh and a furtive glance at Robin, who prepared herself to step in quickly.
“Well, obviously we have a wide, wide selection of movies, what kind of things are you into? Tell me about yourself.” He said, leaning seductively against a shelf and knocking a few of the empty cases to the ground and picking them up while attempting to look like he hadn’t missed a beat. Robin couldn’t help but widen her eyes in mild horror at how poorly he was doing. Then her eye caught the girl’s, who met it with the same look that said holy shit, are you seeing this? Robin nodded and silently laughed as she watched the girl turn back to Steve’s attempted flirtation with an overly exaggerated interest and nodding that Robin delighted in seeing was entirely sarcastic.
“I’m actually looking for something pretty specific that I’ve been having a hard time finding.” She interrupted after the humor of the situation had worn off.
“Of course, yeah- what do you need?”
“A film called Hour of the Wolf?” she said nervously, and Robin’s ear perked up.
“OH, yeah I love that one- Michael J Fox as a basketball playing werewolf. I used to play basketball, you know. Didn’t need the wold powers, though-”
“You’re thinking of Teen Wolf, Steve.” Robin corrected from the counter, earning a grateful glance from the girl, who walked over to her quickly, and Steve threw his hands up and sighed.
“We don’t actually have Hour of the Wolf which is a shame because it really is a masterpiece.” Robin chimed in, pulling a thoughtful face
“I’ve been trying to get stupid Keith to get it but he says there isn’t enough demand. Shows what he knows.” Robin said, making Leslie smile and her own heart flutter at the sight.
“Whoever Keith is sounds like he’s got quite the expert on his hands…” She said cheerfully.
“If you're into arthouse horror stuff though you should check out Eraserhead.” Robin suggested, and Leslie shrugged.
“Arthouse? Is that like a place, or..?” Steve asked, trying to stay in the conversation, but was largely ignored.
“Sure. If you recommend it I’m sure it’s a winner...” She said, a little cheeky, glancing down at her nametag so obviously that for a second Robin thought this girl was checking out her rack in the middle of the store.”Robin.” She finished, saying her name clearly.
Robin thought that maybe for a second there she died and was resurrected, but it turned out to just be butterflies. She stuttered for a moment, telling her about the cinematography as she got her the movie and finished lending it. As she walked out Robin sighed, glancing at Steve.
“I really wish I still had the you suck board.” She said with a wry smile.
“Yeah…I know you do, Robin. I know you do.”
Tuesday
The next day at Family Video, Steve was peppering her with questions to Robin’s ire.
“Okay, explain one more time what an arthouse movie is?” He asked, and she rolled her eyes.
“Why do you want to know? You already blew your shot.” She criticized while put away the tapes.
“Alright, you don’t know that. And she’s not the only arty chick in the world. Maybe that’s why I haven’t had any luck lately.” He guessed lamely and Robin gave him a dead stare.
“You are telling me that the reason you can’t get a second date is because you haven’t met a girl that is artistic enough? You, Steve Harrington, want a girlfriend who’s primary interests are in arthouse cinema? Is that really what you’re saying to me?” Robin asked incredulously, stopping herself from laughing at the idea of Steve on a date with a moody poet who wanted his opinions on verse. Maybe she should help him if she’d get to hear about that.
“Just give me another movie like that to recommend her if she comes back in.”
“I don’t know- Dr. Strangelove.” Robin pulled out of thin air. He was definitely about to ask more questions but at that moment the bell rang and there was the girl from yesterday.
She gave Robin a big smile and waved the tape in her hand as she walked over.
“Holy shit, Robin. Holy shit.” She said, putting both hands on the counter. She remembered my name, Robin thought giddily.
“Is that a good holy shit or a bad holy shit?”
“It’s a holy shit holy shit.” Leslie said, still a little bit stunned. “I mean, the last scene? With the bandages? I mean what the fuck? I mean it’s a…bold recommendation to make to a stranger that’s for sure but it was a good one.” She said, giddy, and all of a sudden Robin’s worst fears came true: she opened her mouth and couldn’t shut it.
Fun facts about the movie, her favorite things about cinematography, favorite movies in order, all of it came pouring out involuntarily. Steve sensed her panic and stepped in front of her.
“I think what Robin meant to say was that uh, Doctor, uh,” he glanced at Robin quickly, who tried to mouth the words subtly even though Leslie was standing a foot away Steve read her lips and confidently looked to the customer and said “Doctor Trained Dove.”
Leslie tilted her head and pulled her lips between her teeth like she was trying as hard as she could not to laugh, Robin put her face in her hands and Steve grimaced, reading the room correctly and guessing he hadn’t gotten the title right.
“I haven’t heard about that one. What’s…it about?”
Steve opened his mouth and looked at Robin helplessly.
“It’s a musical about a surgeon that becomes a magician. It’s a lesser known sequel to Doctor Strangelove, about his brother.” Robin said dryly and Leslie laughed and bit her lip.
“Didn’t know Kubrick did sequels.” She said teasingly.
“No, this one is John Hughes, actually.” Robin said, sarcasm not coming through as much as a hopeful punchline that she was obviously shocked to see land.
“Well, Unofficial Kubrick sequels aside, do you have another recommendation for me?” Leslie asked, now leaning on the counter.
“Are you sure you don’t want to hear about 2002?” Robin said, her voice now fully transitioned to that of a person daydreaming and unaware they were talking aloud.
“I preferred 2003, actually.” Leslie played along, and Robin knew she was laughing too hard as it was happening.
“Or 2004, right?” Steve cut in , and they both looked at him awkwardly as he ran a hand through his hair. “Seems like it’s a long time from now but it’s not that far, huh? Weird. End of the century.” he said, forcing a laugh to the two women grimacing at him.
Either way, the camaraderie was broken and Robin was no longer in the nonexistent John Hughes movie where she was the one that got to kiss Molly Ringwald over a birthday cake and the three of them were just standing in a video store again.
“Have you seen Holy Mountain?” Robin suggested, and Leslie left with it in hand.
Robin and Steve sort of just stood there in shock at just how badly that interaction had just gone.
“Maybe you’re my bad luck charm. I feel like the last time I was cool was before I met you.” He said contemplatively.
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response besides the fact that I didn’t put you in that sailor outfit. If you want to get her attention tomorrow you’re gonna have to study up, man.” Robin said with a laugh, and Steve frowned at her and cocked his head.
“Me?” He asked, and Robin looked at him with confusion.
“Yeah? I thought you liked her.”
“I mean she’s cute but I was kinda getting a…. Hm?” He said with a vocalization and a hand gesture that Robin didn’t understand.
“C’mon man, you know I have a hard enough time reading people as it is.” She complained.
“A vibe, Robin, there was a vibe.”
“What vibe?” She asked incredulously.
Steve looked around to make sure nobody was around so he could remind Robin that she was a lesbian and he was pretty sure that girl was flirting with her.
“She was totally flirting with you.” He said quietly, and Robin looked at him far more aghast than she had any reason to be.
“What? No! No, of course she wasn’t flir- what would even make you think? I mean that’s just-” Robin stammered and Steve’s eyebrows got higher and higher.
“Alright, alright, alright, don’t start spiraling. You seemed into her, though, right? I’m not about to violate bro code and ask out the girl you like just because you’re a chick.” He said in what she assumed was a tone that bros used to talk to each other with a shrug and Robin just set her jaw in disbelief and well meaning annoyance.
Not for the first time since she met him she imagined getting into a time machine and traveling to Ms. Clicks class and leaning over to whisper to herself See those two right there? See sweet, sweet Tammy Thompson staring at that dick Steve Harrington? In a couple of years one of those people will be the single person on the planet earth that you have ever told that you’re gay and the best friend you’ve ever had in your life. I’ll give you one guess to who it is, and if you guess right I’ll give you a billion US dollars. Also you’ll be tortured by evil Russians together.
“Whatever- look, whether or not I think she’s cute she’s not a- y’know-” she said, grimacing instead of saying lesbian in such a casul setting without a self pep talk to convince herself it wouldn’t be weird.
“Returning Fast Times at 53 minutes and 12 seconds?” He offered, and her shoulders relaxed and she loosely pointed at him.
“Right. Sure. She’s not pausing fast times and she’s cool- why shouldn’t you go for it?” She said, now surprisingly adamant in a way that Steve didn’t understand in the slightest as Robin was almost always apathetic towards his love life.
“Because I blew my shot? It’s fine, it happens. A lot, according to the You Suck board.” He justified it, but Robin had a determined look on her face.
“I could coach you! Yeah, she’s gonna watch Holy Mountain tonight, why don’t we watch it too and you can talk to her about it.” She suggested, and Steve emphasized the confusion on his face.
“Robin, it's fine if you like her. You know I don’t have any problem with-” he started, and she cut him off on the spiel.
He did that sometimes when she was upset and he couldn’t figure out why- always jumpeing to defend himself and assumed he had said something wrong by mistake. It happened on occasion, Steve, as much as she knew his heart was in the right place, was still a straight, male former highschool bully from Hawkins Indiana with parents that voted for Reagan, he was always honest that he was still unlearning a lot of shit and it was inevitable that something would slip out every once in a while. The first time it had happened, about a month after they started working at the video store she heard him talking to an old team mate and casually dropped the word fairy as a descriptor. She told herself he didn’t mean it but she had still let it fester until he was following her around while she restocked movies asking what’s wrong what’s wrong what’s wrong over and over again like a petulant child until she confessed loudly and angrily before looking around in fear that there was a customer. He swore at himself and apologized profusely and in that moment she was really reminded of that night in the Starcourt bathroom and how, despite how annoying he was, Steve Harrington had a heart even bigger than his hair.
It had been a nice moment, the next time he said something a little off-color he caught it himself, but still apologized a lot. It only got annoying when he started doing it every time he (unfortunately, usually correctly) identified that she was in a bad mood because of a problem that stemmed from her sexuality and assumed that problem was that he said something offensive by accident. The truth was that there were just always going to be some things that she would go through that he would never be able to understand and would be hard for her to explain. Half the time she hadn’t even taken the time to figure out what exactly it was that was bothering her besides the baseline level of worry that came with the small town closeted lesbian territory.
“I know you’re not homophobic, Steve.” She said and he stopped, nodding in relief, but then doubling down on his confusion.
“So then why are you getting all weird about this?” he asked genuinely, and Robin shook her head exaggeratedly, like if she did it super obviously he would believe it more.
“I’m not being weird at all. I just think you have a shot and she seems cool. Also I haven’t seen Holy Mountain in a while and it rules.” She said all too casually, and Steve stared at her suspiciously. Robin wasn’t budging, mostly because she didn’t really know why she suddenly had the urge to push them together either besides the odd sensation of trying to make something go away on its own.
“Fine, I’ll watch the movie.” He conceded, as they started to gather their stuff for the end of the day. Robin shook a triumphant fist with a silent yes as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door to his car.
“Is this gonna be a movie that I have to think about a lot while we’re watching?” He asked apprehensively, and did not care for the mischievous and possibly sadistic smile she gave him
Wednesday
Robin and Steve sat on stools behind the checkout counter, Steve looked shell shocked, to say the very least. More so than he looked after last year's Russian Invasion. Robin was alternating between laughing at him and trying her best to be comforting and apologetic.
“Steve, I told you you could close your eyes.” She said in a voice she hoped sounded genuine and that he couldn’t hear it shaking a little. He didn’t say anything, just leaned back against the counter staring downwards, unresponsive. “Okay, you’ve been doing this for like three and a half hours the movie wasn’t that weird.” she said, and he turned to glare at her.
“You know that’s not true, Robin. You know that.” He said emphatically, and they glanced towards the door as it rang.
It was Leslie, walking in with a grin on her face and the movie in hand and Steve was pretty sure that this girl might actually be a serial killer. Robin liked it, too, though, so maybe they were on a crime spree together and they were definitely going to take him outside and skin him alive and hang it up and- ugh, Steve stopped and put his palms over his eyes to get the image out of his head.
“Is…he okay?” Leslie asked, leaning past Robin to look at the unresponsive Steve.
“He’s fine- we actually watched Holy Mountain too last night.” Robin said, glancing at Steve and pumping the eyebrows of a wingwoman, and scowled when he didn’t see her because his head was now resting against the counter.
From his vulnerable state, Steve braced himself to hear them babble on about the perfect ratio of that shot of that lady banging that mechanical horse without legs but instead only heard Leslie respond with a disingenuously excited “Oh!”
Robin was expecting the same as Steve, and she couldn’t quite decipher the way that Leslie’s eyes flitted between the two of them.
“I’m guessing Steve wasn’t a fan?” She asked, and Robin laughed at him to which he responded with a dry ha ha ha said from under his arms laying on the counter.
“Well, that’s commitment for you. Takes quite a guy to sit through a movie like that just because he wants to hang out with you.” She said with a tight smile. The way she said it made Robin wish she was better at social cues because she knew for damn sure she was missing something.
“Yeah, he’s alright.” Robin said affectionately.
Steve was torn between warm fuzzies at the closest thing his best friend can ever come to a compliment and smacking her on the back of the head for not realizing that this girl now thinks that they’re dating. It never ceased to fascinate him that the person that can decipher Russian by ear without knowing Russian couldn’t hear that telltale sound of jealousy and disappointment in the goodbye of a girl who just discovered that her crush had a boyfriend. Then again, he could do that but couldn’t decipher the Russian, so maybe it was just a different skill set.
Leslie let out a fake laugh and put the tape and some cash on the counter before walking away with an awkward wave and disappeared with the bell.
“Wow, I’m sorry dude I really thought that she’d want to talk to you about the movie.”
Steve pulled himself up off the counter, his forehead red from pressing against the surface and his hair messed up, and his look was one of utter frustration and disbelief.
“Holy shit, Robin of course she didn’t. She wanted to talk to you about the movie. She left because she thinks we’re dating and it bummed her out.” He said, almost in a yell at the fact that he knew she wasn’t going to listen to him.
“Ooooh, that makes more sense. See, I was right, proof that she likes you.” Robin declared and Steve dropped his head back onto the counter with a smack that hurt enough to drive that weird ass flick out of his brain. “I’m sorry you watched Holy Mountain for nothing though. She’s right, it is a rough one if you don’t enjoy it.” She said casually, almost certainly smiling a bit maliciously, and he began to smack his head against the counter and he was pretty sure he heard her laughing.
Thursday
Family Video opened at 11 AM, so almost every morning after he dropped Robin off he’d go and try to figure out more ways to not talk to Keith for an entire shift. Today he had decided to take the stack of returns into the back room and rewind the ones returned by the “unkind” that he secretly wanted to kiss on the mouth for giving him a really easy and time consuming thing to do every morning until his break, where he’d go get Robin, listen to her rant about school, get some drive through for the both of them, and then finish off the day with his best friend.
All in all, it was an alright gig.
Except for Thursdays. Steve hated Thursdays.
Because on Thursdays Robin’s band practice goes late and she doesn’t work a shift, and Keith takes off for long periods at random intervals and would leave him alone to mind the store on a pretty busy day of the week.
Today was slow, both in passage of time and number of customers, so they canceled each other out and made the day suck exactly as much as last Thursday.
He continued to rewind movies, noting a few titles for later that seemed to leave off in a random location. He took out the next tape and pushed it in and nearly fell off his chair when his screen was very suddenly two very naked women. He didn’t rewind yet as the two of them kissed and Steve glanced down at the tape. Desert Hearts. He quickly checked to see who returned it and it was, unsurprisingly, a long list of male names, a few of whom he recognized from various sports teams and parties throughout high school, and strangely Karen Wheeler of all people, but he wasn’t going to unpack that.
As Steve scanned the back of the VHS box he read about the plot of the lesbian love affair that blossoms between the two women out west and a plan formed in his mind, and that plan would help him honor his Duty as a Man with a Heart a Soul and The Critical Social Skills Robin Buckley Lacks: He was going to get his best friend laid. Because that's what friends do.
-
Later that day Steve had an ok plan that could potentially pan out and now was just waiting for the opportunity, he just had to wait for Leslie to come in like she had every day this week. He leaned against the counter and idly watched the screens and glanced out the display glass as people passed by.
That was when he glanced up to see somebody slowing down and peeking inside. It was Leslie. Whatever she saw, she looked away and kept walking. Steve tilted his head in confusion, but pushed the VHS tape into the player and waited. There wasn’t much business today and as the movie played he did find himself a bit enraptured in the drama between the two women.
The only time when his attention was drawn from the weighty glances between Vivian and Kay was when he saw somebody pause outside the window. It was Leslie again, peeking in. When Steve met her eye and waved a little she looked like she had been caught red handed and awkwardly walked in and waved.
“Uh, hey Sam.” She said a little stiffly.
“It’s- it’s Steve.” He corrected, and she quietly apologized and wandered into the stacks.
Now that Leslie was actually in the store, Steve realized that his so-called ‘plan’ was actually just the idea to put the movie about lesbians on the tv and wait to see if she reacted. He wished that wingmanning for Robin didn’t have to be so subtle.
Using his stealth skills gained from years of monster hunting and high-stakes babysitting, he tried to secretly watch Leslie around the store and noticed that she seemed to not be looking at the movies, but at the staff break room and around the store for other clues about the whereabouts of a certain missing front desk associate. When her eyes caught the TV screen and saw the actresses that Steve hoped looked familiar her head snapped back in front of her and she stood very still, examining a box without really seeing it for what she deemed long enough to take it to the counter to make a quick escape.
She put the box on the counter and Steve began to slowly start checking out the movie to give her time for her to either look at the tv and say…something. This was a stupid plan, he realized, and he made a quick move to salvage it.
“Do you like this movie?” He asked, pointing at the screen and unable to stop himself from visibly cringing.
She looked up at him incredibly awkwardly. “I’m…not sure what movie that is, honestly.” She said, and he was like 50% sure she was lying.
“Because Robin likes this movie.” He said. What had happened after breaking up with Nancy that left him so much worse at talking to other people? Was it Dustin’s influence? Was it just that he didn’t know how to be charming without being a total dick? He knew it was probably that one.
Leslie gave him a tight smile. “That’s sweet that you’re watching her favorite movies. She’s a nice girl. I'm glad she’s got someone that cares.”
“Yes! Robin is a nice girl!” He said energetically, even if that wasn’t necessarily a word he’d use for her. “She’s super cool and smart too. She speaks four languages and can translate Russian by ear.” he said, hyping her up, realizing now that Leslie had meant it’s sweet that you watch your girlfriend’s favorite movies.
“I…didn’t know that. Very impressive. You two make a cute couple.” She said, and it was audibly strained.
“We’re not dating. We’re just friends. Best friends.” He added at the end, a little embarrassed of himself. “But I do watch her favorite movies and thank you for seeing the value in that because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Holy Mountain for two days and I just think that friends should get credit for doing that shit too.” He added in annoyance at nobody in particular.
“Oh!” She said, and he could hear the audible relief, and saw her glance back at the tv and swallow. Steve could see the gears grinding in her head and he could not believe that his terrible plan might be working. “That’s- I mean- I guess I just assumed.”
“Nope, not dating, she’s totally single. I asked her out a little after we first met because of all the cool hot smart stuff I said earlier but she was not interested and now we’re just friends.” He explained, trying to put emphasis on the not.
“Best friends.” Leslie said gently with a smile, her awkwardness gone and replaced with a very cautious beginning of a theory he was trying to confirm without saying anything.
“Yes! Best friends. Because she’s the best.” He said, nodding, and then Leslie nodded too. They stood there in silence for a second before Steve remembered he was checking out her movie.
He went to write down the number and furrowed his brow when he saw the title.
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? This doesn’t seem like your kind of flick.” Steve said oddly, and her cheeks got a little red.
“I was kinda waiting for Robin to give me another recommendation.” She said with an awkward laugh.
Steve saw his opening, and was closing in on his plan quickly and efficiently. “Well, Robin really likes this movie.” He said, stepping aside so she had a full view of the tv and the lengthy stares between the two actresses. “Do you want to rent it?” he asked, suddenly kind of hoping she said no because he wanted to finish watching it.
“Uh, sure?” She said, and he reluctantly turned around to eject it and making it a full spin when he came up with an alternative.
“Oooh no!” He said in a dramatic fake tone akin to a child's television star that didn’t see you come in but wants to show you some puppets anyway. “This is actually Robin’s copy of Desert Hearts, and not the stores. So I can’t lend it to you.” He said in an exaggerated voice.
Leslie furrowed her brow. “Then why is it playing?”
“Becaaaaaause….she thought I’d like it and she knew it would be a slow day and she wasn’t working.” He pulled out of nowhere. “But- you should come back tomorrow, when she is here and ask her to borrow it. Oh! Maybe you could watch it together and talk about cinema! Now that’s an idea!” He said, knowing he was overplaying it while he was talking and as Leslie stared at him incredulously.
“You…want me. To come in tomorrow. And ask your friend Robin if I can watch her copy of Desert Hearts with her?” Leslie asked, and Steve nodded profusely at the secret code the two of them had developed.
“Yes. That’s exactly what I think you should do. If you want to.” He said encouragingly, and he could tell that Leslie was running some serious cost-risk analysis gymnastics in her head trying to decide if this really weird situation was actually trustworthy. Steve knew that if he said anything else he could blow his cover, so he just kept his mouth shut.
A little smile came on Leslie’s face and she nodded.
“ I guess I’ll be back tomorrow, then.” She said, and Steve thought it was adorable how she was trying to hide her excitement.
She left with a little spring in her step and, unsurprisingly, National Lampoon’s stayed on the counter with him. Steve grinned, imagining how excited Robin was going to be, and started to rewind the movie because he was sure that he’d missed something important while he was talking to Leslie.
Friday
It was Friday at Family Video and Steve was acting….weird.
“Dude, tell me what’s wrong you know I can’t read body language.” She scolded and he shrugged energetically.
“Nothings wrong. Everything’s great!” He said, and reached out to pick a piece of fluff out of her hair so she would look her best when Leslie arrived but she smacked his hand away.
“Don’t touch my hair-Is it the Russians again?” Robin asked seriously.
“What? No. Why do you always assume it’s Russian?”
“Because of the time that it was Russians.”
“Yeah but it was only once.” He said calmly.
“That’s already too many times, Steve.” She said dryly. “Okay, fine, nothing’s wrong but something is up. What is it?”
He sighed. “Okay, but I’m only keeping it a secret because I don’t want you to freak out and get in your head about it.” He explained, and Robin’s eyes went wide.
“Oh no. What did you do?” she asked in horror.
“Not oh no! This is good!”
“Tell me now or I’m going to punch you in the throat Steve Harrington I took a self defense class after last summer.” She said sternly. Robin didn’t like surprises. Especially after the Russian thing.
Steve leaned in conspiratorially, looking around the store to double check that no customers had snuck in. “Leslie’s gonna ask you out today.”
“What?” Robin squeaked, her eyes going wide and her chest filling up with that extra special anxiety that was cooked up for her specifically by Sappho two thousand years ago and Ronald Reagan now.
“Yeah! It’s gonna be great- I had a whole plan to figure out if she was, y’know, pausing Fast Times and it worked and she’s gonna come in later and ask if she can come over and watch your copy of Desert Hearts.” He explained cheerfully, hoping that his enthusiasm would break through what he really hoped was happy stunned silence.
“What? How did you..? Did you tell her I was- I mean what the fuck, Dude- and what is Desert Hearts?” She stammered, trying to gather her thoughts.
“You haven’t seen it?” He asked in shock. “Oh my god it’s amazing the chemistry between Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau is amazing-”
“Steve!” She said, snapping him out of his review.
“Right, sorry. I didn’t tell her anything, I just put on the movie and said that you liked it and she said she also liked it and I said that she should ask if you want to watch it.” He said calmly. “More or less.” he added, but Robin didn’t look any less freaked out. “What’s wrong? I thought you liked her.” He asked, truly confused.
That happened sometimes. Steve would assume he said something wrong but that’s just because he doesn’t like seeing her upset. If he had just accidentally said something shitty at least he could just apologize but more often than not it was just something that she didn’t believe she could explain to him. He had asked her to try, he was her friend and he knew that he was the only one that knew she liked girls- He wanted her to be able to talk to somebody- he hated that his best friend ever felt alone.
“It’s not about that you just- you shouldn’t have done that.” She said angrily and walked towards the counter away from him.
“Why not? You’re always helping me get dates- why can’t I help you too?” He asked, hoping she could tell he was confused and not just being difficult.
“Because it’s different!” She snaped.
“You always say that but maybe it isn’t! Maybe I would understand. We’re friends, Robin. Just because we don’t have the same experiences doesn’t mean that I won’t be able to listen and help you. You told me about how much you liked Tammy- I thought you wanted to meet somebody.” He said, and Robin glanced at him, her hard gaze softening to something more awkward and nervous and familiar.
“It’s just…” she started, screwing up her face and trying to figure out how to explain something that frustrated her about herself endlessly. “It’s- fuck- okay,” she took a deep breath and tried to start, quickly scrubbing her face with her hand.
“I knew Tammy didn’t like me back. It wasn’t real it was just a stupid crush and it hurt like hell but it was still safe.” She tried, words spilling out of her.
“Robin, Leslie’s a nice girl. She’s not going to hurt you.” He said, pained at the fact that he got to ask out and get rejected by 20 girls a week and Robin could just watch from afar.
“That’s not what I mean. I mean, it kind of is, you never really know it’s just- fuck.” she groaned in frustration, pacing for a moment before finally finding her words.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, okay?” She said in a furious rush. “I’ve never done this before. It’s not like when you were ten and you got to walk up to a little girl on the playground and ask to hold her hand. I never got to learn how to flirt or ask my friends if the girl I like mentioned me or figure out when you’re allowed to put your arm around a girl at the movies.
“I didn’t get a first date, or a first kiss or a dance with my crush at the Snow Ball or-or ask my mom for dating advice or gotten to hear my dad sternly talk to my date before giving a nod of approval.” Robin sniffed hard, her eyes watering up as she valiantly fought away the tears. “I didn’t get any of that. And I’m never going to.” She said, her voice now rough with emotion and a little quieter. She wiped away a stray bit of wetness from her eye and twisted her mouth up. “Nobody’s going to be pulling up in a limo to take me to prom.”
“Robin…” Steve said softly, but she wasn’t done and he wasn’t going to stop her. She took another unsteady breath
“I’m always going to be different, and it’s hard and it hurts that all of that is just gone now and I missed all of it and I can’t ever get it back. I’m never gonna be a kid at the Snow Ball looking at Kelsey Landin sitting by the punch and not understanding what was so wrong about wanting to ask her to dance. I couldn’t even doodle our names in a heart in my notebooks.” She took a gasping breath and wiped away a tear that finally fell.
“It shouldn’t be like that.” She was almost talking to herself now, taking an angry breath and shaking her head. “I was just a kid. It wasn’t fair that for my entire life every person that has ever claimed to love me might have hated a piece of me so much that if I was sitting on the swing sets at recess holding hands with Jenny Becker instead of you then I would be utterly ostracized by everybody. Not just bullies. Friends, family, students, teachers, strangers. Grown-ass adults that would hate a child for the crime feeling the same way as every other kid but about the wrong kind of person.” Her voice was sad and proud and angry and valiantly holding down the waterworks that were going to come bursting through any second now.
“I mean, Jesus, Steve, you’re the only person I ever told and I did it totally on a whim fueled by adrenaline and truth serum- you have no idea what it’s like not knowing if anybody else I care about might turn on me and ruin my life if they actually knew me. I still don’t even know if my parents would still fucking love me if they knew I wanted to watch a stupid movie with a pretty girl and put my head on her shoulder.” Robin was humiliated that she was fully crying now, sitting down behind the desk on the floor and unable to stop. She had kept all of this in for so long and now it was pouring out of her involuntarily. Steve walked away for a moment and she felt an irrational panic that he was going to walk away from her for not just keeping the ugly parts of it to herself and left any discussion of her sexuality at vague looks of hot or not when a girl came into the store. She watched him go to the door and her heart froze until he just reached out flipped the sign to closed before coming back and sitting next to her.
Relief flooded her followed quickly by more misery that after all they’d been through her instincts still told her that she shouldn’t expect him to be okay with her saying any of this out loud and the tears came back in full force.
Steve put his arm around her and pulled her close so she could cry into his shoulder and patted her back as comfortingly as he could as his heart just fucking shattered. He remembered when they were in the Starcourt bathroom and she said that if he really knew her then he wouldn’t even want to be her friend. The two of them had just been kidnapped and tortured by evil invading Russians armed with bone saws and floor eating acid and Robin was afraid to tell him that she had a crush on Tammy Thompson. Even worse is that she had watched him be King Dickhead Steve for years and he had almost certainly given her a reason to think he wouldn’t be okay with it at some point.
You know what, Byers? I’m actually kind of impressed because I always took you for a queer but turns out you’re just a screwup like your father. Was what he had said to Jonathan after telling Nancy to go to hell. He felt bad as soon as he said it, but that didn’t stop him. Back then he didn’t know how to be hurt he just knew how to be angry. He had been heartbroken, in love, and an absolute piece of shit about it. About thirty seconds after saying it Jonathan was beating the ever loving shit out of him and each punch really hit home the fact that he absolutely deserved it.
He had actually thanked Jonathan later for very literally knocking some sense into him, and to his surprise, he forgave him. And it felt good. He hated who he used to be. He really did, so he had made a few phone calls and a few drop ins to make some heartfelt apologies to some surprised people that were genuinely shocked that he would ever have come around. The worst part is that he would never really know everybody that he hurt, never know who was out there overhearing him say something hateful and taking it to heart.
Robin was his favorite person. He wasn’t sure when it had happened but despite all his complaining she was somehow the only person he knew that really got him. She exploited that knowledge constantly and used it against him, sure, but she got him. He wished he could make her feel as understood as she did. But there would always be things like this that he never would’ve considered that she had gone through her whole life.
Eventually her breathing calmed down and she sat up, her breathing a bit unsteady and her face red and puffy. She gave him a watery smile when she saw their matching tear tracks and she patted him gratefully on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry about that- that was-”
“You don’t need to apologize, Robin. I’m serious.” He said, looking at her so she knew he meant it. “If I’m the only one you have to talk to about this then I want to hear it all, even when it’s sad and it sucks. Especially when it’s sad and it sucks.” He said, and took a deep breath. “You’re not alone anymore. Anybody tries to mess with you or make you feel like shit just come and get me and I know that I’m not enough to make up for the entire world’s garbage but if there’s anything I can do to make all of that even a fraction less shitty for you then I’ll do it.”
He looked at his hands for a moment, feeling a confession of his own coming on.
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, you know.” Steve said honestly, and Robin quirked an eyebrow. “Like, even though I was super popular and knew everybody I still only really hung out with Tommy and Carol and they were just the worst.” he sighed, not knowing how to say this without making it seem like he was trying to get out of responsibility for being a shithead.
“I have never met two people so good at making somebody feel like a fucking loser like Tommy and Carol and there is nobody better at making you terrified of being that loser like they could. I’m not saying that they forced me to shove nerds against lockers or anything but any time I tried to do the right thing they’d just shut me down and taunt me until it felt like if I didn’t do whatever bullshit they wanted me to then everybody would think I wasn’t a real man or some shit and they’d drop me and then I wouldn’t be fucking King Steve anymore.” He shook his head, his hair wobbling as he swore and looked at Robin, unsure if he was getting across what he was trying to and he saw that she was listening, even if her thing had been bigger and more painful she still cared.
“And that’s exactly what happened. For the first time in my life I stood up to them instead of for them and Tommy punched me in the face and drove away. Never even tried to talk to me again. Then at school they started all kinds of rumors and talked shit about me all the time and then I wasn’t King Steve anymore and…” he trailed off and had a little smile “and then I was happy.” He said, in a little disbelief.
“I didn’t fucking hate myself anymore, I got to follow my own instincts and do the right thing. Sure, Nancy dumped my ass and broke my heart and it actually felt so good to just…be sad. Without Tommy and Carol taunting and yelling at me until I felt so angry and pathetic that we’d spray paint her name on the movie theater again and I would’ve felt like absolute shit about it for the rest of my life. I was totally heartbroken but for the first time in my life I actually got to feel it and it . Then Dustin Henderson of all people comes sprinting at me one day and says that everybody else is busy and he needs my help.” He grinned. “It’s just stupid, right? All that time I only cared about being popular and if I could tell my younger self that someday I’d be working in at the video store for minimum and I’d spend all my time hanging out with a 15 year old egomaniac and a band geek that I was briefly a little bit in love with until she rejected me brutally on the floor of a mall bathroom I’d do it and let him know up front that they’re honestly the reason that I’ve never been happier. Really rub his nose in it too.” He said, and Robin laughed aloud in that special way he recognized because it always preceded I was just about to say that.
“I was thinking about that the other day, pointing at you and Tammy in Ms Clicks class and asking young Robin one day, one of those two people will be the only person you trust enough to tell that you’re not into dudes.” She said, a little mystically, and Steve burst out laughing, and Robin quickly followed. Their laughter calmed down and they knew that the storm had passed and they came out better on the other side of it. They grabbed each others hands to hoist each other back to a standing position and looked at each other grinning.
“Is my face red?” She asked, touching it and being a bit satisfied at how healthy her skin felt after crying.
“Yeah but just give it a couple minutes.” He said, and she nodded. “Hey, when Leslie does get here you can go hide in the back or something if you really don’t want to talk to her, I know I overstepped, but if you need any advice on stuff you didn’t get a chance to learn let me know, no judgment- guaranteed.”
Robin furrowed her brow. “Wait- how exactly did your conversation with Leslie go yesterday? Did you just point at the screen and ask if she liked the movie?” She asked incredulously, and Steve slowly began to nod.
“Uhhh…yeah. That’s exactly what I did.” He said, and she started to laugh again. Steve grinned when he heard a laugh that seemed a little lighter now.
About an hour later the bell rang and Leslie came in. Steve nodded at her and went into the shelves to give quiet support and maybe some advice via arm gestures from behind Leslie, and Robin took a deep breath.
Both girls were extremely nervous, both giggling when their eyes met in a way that reminded Steve a bit of middle school and he smiled to himself and resented the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes when he remembered her speech earlier and thought about her getting a chance at simple, blushy, giggly, inexperienced romance. She deserved it, more than anybody.
“So, um, this is kind of a weird question but I stopped by yesterday to see if you have a copy of um…Desert Hearts?” Leslie said tentatively like she was giving a secret password at a speakeasy and hoping it was the right one.
Robin had a determined look on her face that didn’t necessarily give off a romantic vibe but he could feel her relentless bravery from where he stood.
“I’ve heard of it.” Robin tried to say mysteriously, waiting for the next part.
“And your friend with the hair- He said that, um, that you didn’t have it at the store but he said that you had a copy and that maybe…..you…might…want to watch it with me?” She said, finishing with a smile that was also a grimace. Steve was delighted at how awkward the girl who had seemed so cool all week had gotten.
“I…would like that very much.” Robin said, holding in all her excitement to seem casual when inside she was exploding.
“Cool.” Leslie said, and she and Robin stared at each other in gleeful silence until they made a plan to meet after her shift and Leslie left, waving awkwardly while walking out the door. The bell rang as the door shut and Robin turned around so she could catch her weight against the counter, but Steve’s eyes followed Leslie out the door first and saw her get into a car parked out front with a driver that was currently giving her a high five and obviously congratulating her. Steve waved subtly to the silhouette of the other wingman and he waved back as they drove away.
Steve then walked up to Robin to see her smiling dreamily and starry eyed.
“Cool.” She said softly, and smiled again. She wasn’t much help around the store for the rest of the day, but every glance he got of the wistful Robin putting tapes back in the wrong places and saying cool in a whisper every few moments and giggling made it worth it.
Saturday
Steve waited anxiously outside Robin’s house before work and was annoying himself more and more every time his brain made the comparison of a parent waiting for their kid after their first day of school to ask how it went when they’ve spent the whole day worrying. It wasn’t like that, but he was still anxious for her to come outside.
Robin opened the door and waved goodbye to her family and started towards the car. He could see the size of her grin from the moment she was in sight.
When she got into the car she was silent for a moment, and he refused to drive, only stared at her expectantly
“So? How’d it go?”
Robin was trying to play it cool despite the fact that she was bouncing in her chair.
“You know that whole list of things I thought I had missed out on and it was too late for? Let’s just say I…checked a couple things off.” She said coyly, and Steve grinned at her proudly and gave her a victorious shoulder pat. That’s when she exploded into squeals and all that sandy hair shaking around her as she bounced up and down.
“Oh my god, Steve, it was amazing. She was so cool and pretty and funny and we, um” She stopped and her cheeks turned red, and Steve’s eyebrows shot up.
“I knew it. I knew that you had it in you to be a total chick magnet.” He said proudly, and she grinned at him, shrugging in concession.
“Turns out I’m a natural Cassanova.” She said with only a hint of irony, and turned her head to look at him. “Thank you, Steve. I mean it.” she said with a tone so genuine that it almost sounded strange in her voice.
Steve nodded and smiled back. “No worries. I’m your wingman, it’s what friends do. And I like seeing you happy.”
“Well then…you did what you came to do, because I’m really really happy right now. You’re a good friend.” She said with a sweet finality, and things would stop being mushy and go back to normal but they’d never be the same and Robin had never been so grateful to have a friend like Steve, and Steve had never been so proud to have a friend like her.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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summary; the story of summer and steve and how they navigate through life dealing with heartbreak and loss, all while fighting off inter-dimensional monsters, and trying to be normal adolescents.
warnings; this story contains explicit language, sexual content, violence, alcohol and triggering topics such as: anxiety, assault, nightmares, blood and death. please read at your own risk.
i began this series back in 2018 and have every intention of continuing on with it throughout the remainder of the show. these stories mean a lot to me and i hope you’ll enjoy them as much as i enjoyed writing them. lots of love, sav 🫶🏽
I just binged this entire series, and omg, it's spectacular!!!! It's so well-written, I couldnt put it down! I'm soooo excited to read oasis when season 4 is done!!!
ALMOST PARADISE: PART THREE - CHAPTER ELEVEN OF THIRTEEN (?)
pairing: steve harrington x henderson!reader
word count: 7.2k (you read that right)
a/n: yeah. sorry for the long wait but i hope this doosy of a chapter is worth it. this chapter took a ton of time for me to sit on and think about. this one gets dark and deals with some heavy topics. graphic descriptions of blood/death return. this will make you laugh and cry. please enjoy!
Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader)
Warnings: cursing, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, obnoxious flirting, mention of tax fraud, money launderig, etc. you know. the usual
Word count: 5.8k
A/N: oh hi. no i didnt disappear for two months what? anyway. for a story to have a conclusion, there should be a plot. and since there is no plot, just have some good vibes and idiots <3
shoutout to my sparkle anon for the can opener slander <3
also to my love currently in another continent on video call with me as i post this. i love you. thank you for all the non-decisions decisions and sitting with me for 8 hours and hearing me complain. this is for you mwah. now send chips ahoy
if you want more of them, check out Harmless Mini Drabbles to catch up on what we’ve done so far!
okay now for the last time!!
Previous Part || Series Masterlist
It was a fine day.
A good day, even, to watch your lair descend into complete chaos after your plan to take over the tri-state area with an army of clones fails.
ThiS epilogue is PERFECT!!! I love Nico, and I love how he had a chance to shine for this chapter. Bucky's confession at the end made my heart skip a beat, it was everything. I loved the banter in this series, it was so fun, and I'm sad it's ending, but really satisfied with it.
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meet me at the cafe (I'll put a heart next to your name) |•
pairing: Peter Parker x Reader
summary: You're the attendant at the new campus cafe, Peter is a clumsy student who immediately develops a crush on you.
warnings: fluffy. that's it.
wc: 1,3k
Peter was tired. It was as if the dozens of books he carried in his arms grew heavier and heavier with each step he took toward the dormitory, his tired body begging for a good night's rest. It was unusual for him to feel this way, and May would surely be worried if she knew that his Spider Powers were put to the test after a long week of final exams and exhausting patrols, the enhanced strength included in his superhero abilities seeming not to differentiate him from any other student.
His last meal had been lunch; a tuna sandwich and a can of soda forgotten beside his notes that were spread across the extensive library table. Too tired to realize that more than five hours had passed since he had put something in his stomach, only now, as he listened to the loud complaints coming from his belly, did Peter realize how hungry he was, his steps becoming unconsciously faster thanks to this new revelation.
I'm spending the night in Gwen's room, buddy. Buy some food on your way back to the room, our fridge is empty :)
Propping the books on his knees, Peter had to read the message that flashed on his cell phone display about three times, his face now even more frowning than before. He and Harry always interspersed between weekly grocery shopping, but somehow Osborn always managed to sneak out of that responsibility, leaving them with nothing but saltine crackers in the cupboards and bottles of water in the fridge.
Peter couldn't hold back a grunt of annoyance, squeezing the strap of his backpack between his fingers as he continued on his way, his cell phone already secured in one of his pockets again.
The poles around the sidewalk and the sound of crickets chirping were his only companions along with the noise that came up whenever his sneakers gently touched the gravel floor.
His eyes were downcast, fixed on the almost untied laces of his vans, his attention suddenly captured by the sign that glowed a few meters away from him. Harry had been pestering him to go to that café since its opening a few days ago. Peter had always been too busy to accompany his friend, however, besides being a little suspicious of Osborn's appointment after hearing him ramble more often than he would have liked about the girl who worked there and how the uniform composed of softly colored fabrics seemed to have been made especially for her.
He was sure that the clock was approaching midnight, and even though he found it odd that an establishment was open at that hour on a fully empty campus, the hunger that plagued him was not concerned with his misgivings.
Through the glass door, Peter took a brief look around the space, his eyebrow rising slightly as he noticed the place completely empty.
Colorful pouffes were scattered across the floor, tables and bookshelves in a polished white taking up much of the place. It seemed safe and harmless, his spidey sense had not awakened and his stomach seemed to clamor louder by the second, causing him to abruptly enter the cozy little cafe.
A bell had rung above his head to announce his arrival, and while waiting to be greeted by anyone who was there, Peter placed all the luggage he was carrying on one of the tables that faced the counter.
The display cases were empty, and the young superhero found himself discouraged again when he realized that he would probably have to make do with the suspiciously flavored cookies that were forgotten and still sealed in the compartments of his kitchen.
Through his enhanced hearing, Peter could hear the sound of approaching footsteps, his posture straightening immediately to greet the employee who would be attending him.
"Hey," only your head appeared through the door frame, and Peter could swear the world had frozen for a few seconds, "I forgot to change the door sign, I'm sorry."
He blinked repeatedly, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, his brain frantically searching for words, but his mouth refusing to pronounce them.
"Are you okay?"
He heard your voice in the background, his attention completely focused on your face, his eyes minimally following every step you took toward him.
Peter was sure that it was you that Harry was talking so much about. He had no doubt about it, because it suddenly seemed impossible for anyone to look more adorable in a uniform that alternated between shades of white and soft pink than you did.
"You're pretty."
If Peter hadn't been in his momentary state of abstraction, he certainly wouldn't have missed the shape in which your face transfigured upon hearing those words, a small smile appearing at the corner of your lips while you leaned on the counter.
"Well, thank you." You tried to sound relaxed, but you was sure your cheeks were as red as the fresh strawberries you used to decorate the cake slices that afternoon. Needless to say, it wasn't often that students with pretty eyes and shiny curls approached you with a compliment as unpretentious as that one. "You’re not so bad yourself, but I suspect that’s not why you’re here."
It was as if Peter had come back to life again, all color suddenly fading from his face only to be tinged with a scarlet red in a matter of milliseconds.
"Holy shit." He muttered pathetically, widening his eyes as he looked at you properly. "I-I didn't mean for that to come out loud, I'm really sorry."
Peter was about to turn around, go away and pretend that that night never happened, embarrassment eating him alive in a way that seemed enough to make him forget his hunger. He had never been good with girls, and since MJ and his high school graduation, nobody had ever caught his attention. You had been the first to make him sweat and stutter in a long time, and, regretfully, Peter felt as if he had already screwed things up with you.
"No." You extended your arm to reach out to him, needing to stand on tiptoe to hold his shoulder. Peter immediately turned around, and you quickly returned to your original position, clearing your throat to disguise your unthinkable act. "Y-you seem to have had a rough day. I have some leftover slices of cake and I can prepare a cup of coffee if you'd like?"
Peter nodded vehemently, smiling gratefully as he sat down on one of the stools in front of you.
"That would be lovely."
You had walked through that same door you had come out of when he first saw you, the relentless noise of freezers opening and closing breaking the silence that had been established.
"Hmmm, I still have berry pie and almond cake. Do any of those appeal to you?" You asked loudly, still out of Peter's sight.
"Both sounds great, but I think I'll stick with the cake." He replied in the same tone.
A hummed "okay" left your mouth, and Peter smiled at the sound, playing with some napkins laid out on the counter.
He reached into his pants pocket, intending to text May before he reached the dorm, knowing he wouldn't last long awake when he arrived at his facility. The display lit up, and Peter's eyes widened instantly when he saw the reminder that appeared prominently on his lock screen, a notification that he had activated about a week ago so that he wouldn't forget the lecture he would have the next morning at seven o'clock.
As soon as he dragged the warning to the side, causing it to disappear from the display, you appeared in front of him, a wide smile on your face as you placed the generous slice of dessert on the solid surface.
Peter hated himself for having to leave, suddenly wondering if that lecture was really worth it when he could just eat and spend some more time talking to you, his sleep long forgotten.
Unfortunately, Peter knew how demanding and harsh his professor could be, and there was a good chance he would miss important topics of his upcoming exams if he didn't sit with his classmates in that damned lecture the next morning.
He tried to disguise his dissatisfaction when he saw you staring at him curiously, probably noticing the drastic change in his countenance.
"I have to go." He said low, his eyes averted as if afraid to see your reaction.
Your lips crisped, a wave of disappointment drowning you for no apparent reason. You didn't know why you were so frustrated by the boy with the brown curls saying goodbye so soon; you didn't even know his name, but that didn't stop you from wanting him to stick around a little longer, even though it had been more than three hours since the end of his shift.
"It's okay." You nodded, smiling with closed lips. "I can wrap it up for the trip, in case you have ten more minutes."
"Y-yeah." He stammered like the clumsy boy he was, grasping at every opportunity to spend some more time with you. "Sounds great."
"How do you like your coffee?" You asked him. "Did any on our menu appeal to you?"
"Actually, I didn't read the menu." He shyly confessed. "Maybe the coffee of the week? Honestly, I don't really care, you can choose for me."
"Hmmm," You murmured uncertainly, turning to the chalkboard behind you, still blank, "we haven't had time to think about it yet, but I can make you my favorite coffee. It hasn't been put on the menu, so consider yourself special."
Peter smiled at your response, glad that you were not upset by his sudden departure.
"I look forward to tasting it."
While you were preparing the drink, Peter couldn't help but admire your concentrated face; the way your hair, tied up in a ponytail, already looked slightly messy, but no less beautiful with those strands that flowed across your forehead and cheeks.
He noticed how your forehead creased softly whenever you used the meter and how you bit your lips as you read each line of what seemed to be the recipe, written step by step on your phone.
You put the coffee in a small mug, offering it to him so that he could taste it. Peter tried to disguise it better this time, not wanting you to think he was weird for staring at you like a stalker.
"Tell me what you think."
Peter brought the ceramic object to his lips, an interesting mixture of chocolate and cinnamon lingering on his tongue. It was addictive, and he almost pouted like an irritated child when he noticed that there was not enough liquid for more than two sips in the mug.
"This is, without a doubt, the best coffee I have ever had the pleasure of drinking." He said astonished. There was no lie in Peter's words, the coffee offered by Mr. Stark's fancy coffee makers seeming far inferior now that he had tasted yours. "That should definitely be on the menu."
You clapped your hands like a horny teenager, Peter laughing at your sudden excitement.
"I was insecure about that." You told him. "I'm glad you liked it..."
"Peter." He completed you.
"Peter." You repeated with a smile, a little more relieved that you now knew the name of the boy with beautiful curls. "I'll remember that."
Less than ten minutes later, you handed him a paper bag with the cafe logo on it, your fingers lightly brushing against his in the process. Peter became a blushing mess for what seemed like the tenth time, turning fumblingly in search of his backpack.
"What's the value?" He asked quickly, still with his back to you. "Please let me pay a tip for making you pack all this stuff, plus making the coffee-"
"Peter." You interrupted him, and the boy immediately turned around when he heard you call him. "You don't have to pay extra for that, it's my job."
Peter shook his head negatively, disagreeing with your words.
"It's over midnight, I'm sure you didn't have to attend me."
You shrugged your shoulders, typing the amounts into the cash register.
"I make some exceptions for pretty boys." You didn't even have to lift your gaze to know that Peter had blushed again, the redness taking over your own cheeks as you realized how bold you had been. "That'll be seven dollars for the cake and coffee, Peter."
Peter could not tell how he had managed to open his wallet under your watchful eye. He hoped you wouldn't notice how his hands were sweating or how his breathing had become ragged.
He held out a twenty dollar bill in your direction, wiping his hands disguisedly on his dark jeans as he waited for the change.
"Thank you for your purchase, Peter. I hope to see you more often."
He nodded, taking errant steps toward the door, still facing you.
"T-thank you for your purchase as well." He muttered, mentally cursing himself when he noticed that you held back your laughter. "I-I mean, I hope to see you too. "You agreed, waving your right hand. Peter wished he could reciprocate and, moreover, ask for your number like some brave boys surely would, but his hands were busy and his self-esteem wouldn't allow him to be so bold, so he merely stared at you until his back slammed into the door, a thunderous noise filling the place.
He was about to choke on rambling excuses, but fortunately you spared him further humiliation, just gesturing nonchalantly.
"Don't worry about it."
Peter walked breathlessly out the door, placing his books on the banister of the staircase in front of the cafe. With the paper bag on top of his college materials, he noticed that you had written his name on the brown sheet with a black pen, a heart carefully drawn beside it.
He smiled automatically, opening the package. The same handwriting and heart adorned the cover of his cup, a small pink post-it stuck on the cake box catching his attention.
"I hope this makes your evening sweeter. I will take your advice, coffee will be part of the menu, titled 'Peter' as coffee of the week <3
ps: I will always put your name next to a heart ;)"
Peter gasped, raising his arms in mute celebration before beginning a little dance that, if anyone saw it, would surely embarrass him for the rest of his days. He had just forgotten that the doors of the cafe were made of glass.
A/N: finally a normal sized chapter. ANYWAY last official chapter besties how are we feeling!! (there’s an epilogue but i don’t know when im gonna write it lol) im listening to dumb playlists to suppress to emotions lmao
thank you to the anon who suggested the idea of camelot costumes! this may just be the pointless chapter absolutely 0 plot but enjoy <3
we might do drabble nights v soon so head over to Harmless Mini Drabbles to catch up on what we’ve done so far!
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“That thing’s going to go explode.”
“Huh?”
“That thing’s about to go nuclear. We just poisoned the entire city.”
