Hornee

Saturday. It came far too soon for your liking. Parties weren’t your thing, and even though Steve had promised you it would just be a couple people, a sinking feeling filled your stomach. You had a terrible feeling about this. People made you nervous, but it wasn’t just the people, it was the whole forced atmosphere, being pinned to meeting

And when you showed up, that guy feeling seemed to be right. You hopped out of your car and immediately the sounds of a party filled your ears. You scoffed. ‘Just a get-together my ass’ you thought. But you took a breath, your just walk in, find Steve, seem like you were enjoying his friends and leave. Simple…

In theory at least. See, as soon as you walked in, loud music bombarded your ears, your ears were immediately subjected to not only the music but the yelling and whooping and laughing and talking. So much at once attacked you, the smell of alcohol and desperation, the feeling of different people brushing up against you, the dim housed mixed with bright colored lights that shone in your eyes. It was horrible

You quickly found a spot on the couch that wasn’t taken up and decided to camp out there until maybe it all quieted down, scanning your surroundings for harrington but he was nowhere to be seen, at least until your eyes found where people were doing kegstands and you witnessed Harrington stumbling away, drunk off his balls. He hadn’t even waited to greet you soberly.

A drink was suddenly thrust into your hand and you turned to see some dude slide up next to you on the couch, leaning over to whisper in your ear “what’s a pretty thing like you doing all on your own?” He asked, just a little too loud for your liking in the already loud environment

“Trying to not talk to dickwads like yourself” you admitted causing the guy to laugh and grab at your hips, pulling you closer, causing the red drink in your hand to spill a bit down your front

He smirked as he pulled you close “oh come on, don’t be like that~! I’m just trying to have a little fun with you… can’t help but imagining that pretty little ass bent over this cou-“ you quickly shoved his chest before you could hear any more of his fantasies about you causing him to yell obscenities about you. You got to the bathroom and quickly got into the empty bathtub and finally let it happen. Your eyes began to tear up and you let out a sob, holding your red solo cup down in the bathtub so it didn’t spill with the strength of your sobs

You felt your breath shake and your lungs rattle with the power of your sobs, absolutely trembling as everything came crashing down on you. Quite literally. You had forgotten to let go of the shower curtain until it was too late, it came crashing down and hit you in the nose causing your sobs to become that much stronger as your legs struggled to kick it off of you in your hysteria.

The party was over late at night, when you’d normally be asleep. It was quieter now, someone had switched off the music ‘girls on film’ and that’s when Steve Harrington came into the bathroom and rushed to your side.

He was saying something, apologizing for the party getting ‘too party’ and you mumbled out an agreement as you stood “that hit or miss you took, harrington?” You called to the drunk and delirious boy who sat slumped against the bathtub

“Yeah?”

Saturday couldn’t have come slower for Steve. He had made sure it was all set up. It would be you, him, Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and a couple of his other friends.

In hindsight inviting those last two friends was a mistake. Because those last two friends? Those were Carol Perkins and Tommy Hagan. And they told everyone in the senior and junior class about this ‘party’. And at first it was fine! It was only a couple extra people, what could the harm be?

And then 10 minutes later the ‘get together’ was quickly becoming exactly what he promised you it wouldn’t be. He couldn’t even make it to the front door to greet you when you came in if he tried. So he did what any high schooler with access to alcohol would do, and he drank. A little voice in his head screamed at him to stop drinking and send everyone home, because the only people who liked drunk Steve were the exact people you wouldn’t get along with.

The night went well in his opinion, his intoxicated brain had forgotten who he had organized this party for in the first place. “Wait… party? This wasn’t supposed to be a party?” He slurred out, stumbling to the boom box that had been blasting ‘girls on film’ shortly before, before stumbling to the bathroom and that when he was brought to the horribly reality that you really had meant it. Parties weren’t your thing. Because there you sat, in an empty bathtub, mascara streaming down your face, taking deep shaky breaths but the tears wouldn’t stop. Your hair was messy and you seemed horribly overwhelmed.

Steves heart ached, the pretty girl he was supposed to make a good impression on was crying in his bathtub and it was his fault. Oh god. He quickly went to you, falling clumsily to his knees next to you “oh shit, oh shit I’m so… sssorry-“ he slurred out as he quickly took the full cup of punch the wreaked of alcohol from you and dumped it in the toilet

“It’s…” you sniffled, wiping your nose on your jacket sleeve “it’s quiet now, did everyone leave?” You asked, puffy eyes looking up at him, the boy was very obviously drunk but he was still being sweet to you so maybe he wouldn’t be too bad

He nodded “yeah. Yeah everyone left I’m… m’so sorry, I really didn’t mean for this to get all.. party.”

“Yeah, it got party…” you laughed weakly, standing up “that hit or miss you took, Harrington?”

He nodded, looking up at you “mmm’yep I recall…”

“Dustin, you’re getting that fucking catalogue-“ Steve rushed out, jabbing a finger at the younger boy causing the curly haired middle schooler to gasp

“What?? No! Not happening, she’d freak out if I dug through her bag! And beside she probably has…. Lady… things… in there” dustin grumble out, holding his hands up, as if saying this situation wasn’t in his hands “why can’t you do it??” He scoffed

“Because I’ve talked to her twice Dustin! That’d make me a creep if she caught me, so I’ll distract her, you get it the hell out of her bag” he lightly smacked the back of the kids head

“Okay! Okay! Fine, fine I’ll do it, but you owe me!!” Dustin huffed, making his way out of the room, Steve following but instead of moving to the living room where the girls bag was, he went to where he had heard ‘call me!’ By Blondie playing, which happened to be where he found the beautiful girl. She was moving her hips to the music as she cooked, causing the boys mouth to simultaneously feel dry and water at the same time, causing him to swallow dryly and clear his throat catching your attention, reaching over to turn down your stereo after wiping your hands off on a rag, looking at him

“What can I do for you, sailor?” You smiled, your eyes shone with a certain playfulness as you crossed your arms and leaned against the counter to look at him fully

“I was wondering um…this is going to be a hit or miss but um… are you free this weekend? Im having a get together with some friends, um- Mike Wheeler, you know him right?” When you nodded he continued “Well uh his older sister, Nancy? She’s gonna be there and I feel like you’d get along great, she needs more girl-friends.” He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck

“So.. a party? Sorry, I’m not really a ‘party person’” you chuckled, your stomach sinking, you had always had trouble with things like that. Parties. They were loud and crowded and full of drunk teenage boys who just wanted to- your thoughts were cut off with Steve’s Rushed response

“What? No no no, I’m not…. No it’s not a party, it’ll just be you, me, Nancy, maybe Jonathan Byers and a couple others? Not big at all” he assured you, glancing past you into the living room where he saw dustin waving the catalogue, telling him he had snagged it “probably not even alcohol” he said with a sheepish smile, trying to reassure you

You cautiously nodded “yeah I could… I could swing by. Definitely.” You said softly, smiling ever so slightly “it’ll be nice seeing you out of uniform, sailor. I’ll have to tease you for something other than that stupid hat then.” You jested

“What? No I wear this all the time. Obviously.” He said sarcastically, grinning at you before he started heading out of the kitchen “I gotta head out. Duty calls” he said, gesturing to his uniform

You laughed softly “yeah yeah. I’ll see you this weekend, Sailor” you said with a smirk, hearing him respond with a curt goodbye before walking out the door, the door closing.

Steve was whipped. That conversation was all it took to get his engine revving “Robin, Robin, tell me you saw her. She was gorgeous- and-and-and-and! She puts up with Dustin which means she’s probably good with kids, that’s a green flag, right? I need to ask Henderson what she likes and shit and maybe I can impress her, yeah?” He held his hands out in front of him, upturned as if showing her this plan with an expression asking if it was a good plan or great plan.

Robin groaned, listening to her coworker continue going on and on about some girl he had just met and how he was going to woo her. Robin was 99% certain she had seen you in the halls before, you were pretty attractive and you had moved to Hawkins right after Steve’s graduation so it made sense that he wouldn’t have seen you around. “Steve you’re insufferable. You literally just learned her name” the girl snickered, sitting on the counter in the back room “but I guess it’s an okay plan to learn what she li-“

“Great! I’m taking my break! Don’t fuck anything up while I’m gone” he rushed out the words as he grabbed his jacket from the back before quickly bolting out, heading to his car, not intending on coming back soon, causing the girl he left to yell obscenities at him as he left.

You in the meantime were already at Dustin’s house, listening to Blondie’s new album while dustin was ranting something about a campaign he was set to be joining next year, something about hellspawn? Hotfire?? Something like that. You hadn’t played D&D yourself but you had sat in on some of the boys’ games and it seemed like fun. A ring came to the doorbell. Well… more like a king series of quick rings which you found to be incredibly annoying so you quickly went to the door and opened it

Steve sighed “fucking finally, Henderson I-“ his eyes fell on you, the same girl that Dustin had introduced him too only a couple hours ago. His mouth went dry “oh- um…” he tried to lean against the doorframe casually only to accidentally hit the doorbell with his arm, startling himself a little “hey. Can I um… can I borrow him really quick?” He asked, his big brown eyes shifting from your own eyes to your lips, then to your eyes again before finally darting over to dustin.

“Sorry, no. He’s on house arrest but you’re welcome to come in and talk to him” you shrugged easily and the boy nodded as you stepped aside to let him in, which he gladly took the opportunity to, walking to dustin, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and quickly taking him to his room.

Steve sat on the bed “so, what’s your babysitter into?” Steve asked, quickly cutting to the chase.

Dustin choked on the coke he had been nursing on “-what???” The boy asked, staring wide eyes at his best friend

“You heard me, what is she into? Music, movies, games, come on man-“ he snapped his fingers in a small circle, telling the boy to hurry the fuck up before he made him hurry up.

“Oh my god!! You have a thing for Y/-“ Dustin’s mouth was covered

“Not so loud! Less teasing, more telling me what the fuck she likes!” Steve demanded, causing the kid to nod quickly and sporadically

“I-I don’t know man! I mean… music, right um… Blondie! She just bought their new album, we were listening to it before you interrupted us so rudel-“

“Dude.” Steve warned

“Right… Um… she said she wanted to try playing D&D, she said it seemed fun but she doesn’t have dice, she found one in one of my catalogues she liked!” He chirped

“Perfect! Attaboy, Henderson. Now I just need that catalogue. Where is it?”

Dustin deadpanned “uuhhhhh…”

“…..Henderson….”

“She kind of has it in her bag….”

It was weird. Your first meeting. You had been told by the kid you often watched on weekends, Dustin Henderson that he wanted to introduce you to a friend of his. It was strange, really. You had thought you had met all of his friends. Mike, Will, Lucas, and a strange girl, El. But you shrugged it off and hopped in your car, driving with him to the Starcourt mall, where Dustin promptly sat you down and refused to let you know anything just yet before running off, disappearing into the crowd causing you to sigh.

Steve was even more weirded out. Dustin had scrambled into Scoops Ahoy and began yelling at him incomprehensibly “woah woah woah, slow your roll. The hell are you talking about, Henderson??”

The boy was hunched over, hands on his knees, panting from exertion and slowly began talking “bringing. Pretty. Girl…. Don’t fuck this up for me.” He sighed, standing up straight and aiming his middle and pointer at his own eyes and then to Steve, telling him that he’d be watching

Steve held his hands up in surrender “right, right, sure thing. Bring her in!” Steve honestly hadn’t thought much of it, sure it would just be some nerdy girl from his grade that he’d somehow managed to coerce into going with him. He didn’t think much of it as Dustin ran off onto to return with you in tow. Headphones over your ears, hands coming up to take them off as you approached the counter.

Dustin had a shit eating grin as Steve’s jaw fell open “Y/N, this is-“

Steve cut him off, throwing the stupid had that went to his embarrassing uniform on the counter “Steve. Harrington. You um… Dustin, how do you know…?” He gestured to you, from head to toe, as if saying ‘this babe’ without actually saying it

“I babysit. I watch Dustin when his mom is out.” You shrugged easily.

Relief flooded Steve, sighing in relief. He knew his tips on hair would be getting Dustin ladies but not… highschool seniors as an eight grader. “Right, it’s nice to meet you Ms…”

“L/N. Y/N L/N. It’s nice to finally meet Steve Harrington in the flesh.” Your eyes glinted with playfulness was you glanced down at his uniform “though I wasn’t aware I’d be meeting a /sailor/“ you teased

“Trust me, Im wearing this against my will.” The young man chuckled almost nervously, rubbing the back of his neck

Dustin looked hopefully between the two of you “right, well it seems like the two of you have hit it off, so I’m gonna…” he gestured vaguely towards the exit, inching his way out only for the back of his shirt to get snatched by you

“Not a chance, squirt. You’re stuck with me, introducing me to your cute friend isn’t getting you out of scratching my car. We’re getting dinner and leaving.” You huffed before looking over your shoulder at Steve “I’ll see you around, Harrington” you said, raising your free hand in a sheepish way to wave at him