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on this particular wednesday robin could make out your figure clearing tables, simply minding your own business, with a sigh she turns to face steve who’s eyes are already following you, “why don’t you just talk to her?” “talk to who?” steve tries to play dumb, “the cafe girl you’ve been ooggling for the past 2 weeks” “her name is Y/N” “oh, she has a name!” robin claps her hands sarcastically, “brillant, so enlighten me - why do you know her name?” “because we went to high school with her” steve raises an eyebrow finally taking his gaze of you to stare at robin, “steve, do you really expect me to believe you remember a girl from high school who you probably never spoke to.” “how do you know i never spoke to her?” steve counters “did you ever speak to her?” “no, but-” “there is no but, why do you know her name? oh my god- have you been stalking this poor girl?” “what? NO! i just may have started visiting their cafe everyday before or after my shift” steve admits somewhat sheepishly “so you’re telling me that you’ve spoken to this girl” robin gestures wildly with her hands, “but not asked her out of made a move? thats not very king steve of you” she uses quotation marks with her fingers, “look, i’ve tried but she’s just” steve looks around exasperatedly, “different” robin gasps, “she makes you nervous” “no, i never said that!” “but that’s what it is, isn’t it? isn’t it?” robin repeated over and over poking steve in the side causing steve to lose his temper and bickering to occur, what they don’t realise while caught up in their argument is you walking into the store, in fact neither of them have any clue you’re there until you cough slightly and mumble a very quiet, ‘excuse me’.

the pair in front of you physically jump apart at the sound of your voice, “sorry i um didn’t mean to scare y’all” you cringe, “i was just wondering if you guys had any spare whipped cream we’ve ran out? i know it sounds so stupid but theres this kid at the cafe i work at right now having a full on meltdown because i said i couldn’t put any on his hot chocolate and i swear to god if i have to listen to a 2 year old screech in my fucking ear one more time i’m gonna loose it” you press your lips together offering a smile after your small rant.

for once in her life robin decides to actively help steve out by giving him the chance to reply to you yet after an awkward amount of silence she glances at him out of the corner of her eye to find his cheeks a deep crismon, he is nervous, she thinks before deciding to cut in to help whatever the fuck is going on, “uh yeah we do, i’ll go grab some!” she wanders off leaving you and steve again in silence, slightly cursing him to do something - anything. 

you cannot take much more of steve’s gawking at you, “so how's it going?” you offer a conversation starter, this helps snap steve out of his daze, “uh yeah, it’s um, it’s going - h-h-how are you?” he slightly stumbles over his words and you can see a red creep up his neck, “yeah i’m good” and soon you fall into a small conversation in which you decide to ask, “i was actually wondering if maybe you want-” “i got it!” robin reappears cutting off your almost-date proposal, with a sigh you slap on a smile and take the cream from her, “thanks so much,” you start to back out of the store, “oh and steve? i’ll have your regular ready for you tomorrow” you smile, “you’re a lifesaver” steve calls after you, his mind racing through what just happened and if you were going to ask what he thought you were going to, “your regular?” robin cocks an eyebrow, “black coffee.” steve mumbles, “steve!” robin exclaims “you don’t even like coffee!” “i might” “no you don’t and that’s a fact! once i let you try some of mine to which you said and i quote it tastes like ‘satans asshole’” “well maybe it’s grown on me” “no,” robin tuts “Y/N has grown on you” robin teases, “yeah well you ruined that chance,” steve pouts slightly, “what?” his best friend stares blankly at him, “she was gonna ask me something but you cut her off with your stupid cream!” “she asked for the cream!” “well you couldn’t wait 5 minutes?” steve shrugs with wide eyes waving his arms manically. 

you loved your boyfriend. you loved him a lot. however, holy fuck did he get on your nerves sometimes. you were currently sat on the end of his bed while he stood in front of you rambling about something dustin did at family video today, you loved when he spoke about those kids, you thought it was sweet how much he cared for them and that was obvious by the way he spoke about them, fond and full of love (not that anyone could ever get him to admit that) but sometimes you felt you were second best to a bunch of just about teens. as steve continued you began to feel your eye twitch out of annoyance, you hadn’t seen the boy in 2 weeks due to bustling schedules yet here he was, before you. talking about some 15 year olds.

“and then- whats wrong?” steve picked up on your change in attitude immediately, trying not to upset him you smiled and replied “what? nothing” “y/n. your eye is twitching.” he deadpans, “so?” “so,” he sighs, “that means your annoyed-so why are you annoyed?” sometimes you hated how easily steve can read you but you decide to push past it and be honest, “look, i love you and i love the kids,” you start trying to soften the blow of your next words,” “but.” steve prompts staring at you with a rather confused expression, halted in his place on the carpet - “but i feel like sometimes you put the kids first and our relationship as one of your incomprehensibilities- i mean steve, i haven’t seen you for 2 weeks! dustin sees you almost everyday but you don’t think about that it’s like you don’t realise we’re in a relationship” you complain, whining slightly at your boyfriend, looking up at him through your lashes. steve can’t help but let out a breathy laugh, “incomprehensibilities? now don’t you dare start using big words to confuse me.” you giggle at him, “if this is how you felt, why didn’t you stop me from talking like 20 minutes ago?” you grab his hands to yank him ontop of you, letting him get comfortable on the bed, his legs hanging off slightly, “because” you mumble, “i like hearing you speak especially about things you’re passionate about” you press a kiss to his nose.

He pulled it out and sat down still watching you, “You gonna uh say anything?” You question, “Yeah,” He sighs, “All good?” Worry begins to lace his features as he glances around the shop floor, eyes settling on the Hawkins Tigers who were staring straight back at the pair of you. You nod, “Just stay here alright?” You move from where you were previously standing and begin to wander around, taking orders and chatting to regulars, Steve can’t help but admire you, as he twists the straw around his now empty milkshake. Steve is pulled out of his trance when a girl, Sandra, he remembers going to school with - she was in his history class, pulls out the chair next to him. “Hey Steve, long time no see! How are you?” Steve realises he hasn’t answered once Sandra furrows her eyebrows, “Oh! Yeah good, and yourself?”

5 minutes, he swears he took his eyes off of you for 5 minutes and now you’ve disappeared. He abruptly and probably rudely ended his conversion with Sandra, cursing at himself for getting caught up in his previous conversation. He pushes the doors to the back of the shop leaning all his weight against it, his eyes search wildly for you but his breath dies in his throat at the scene before him - Jason had you cornered, a clear sneer on his face as he attempted to say things he presumed would get under your skin. Steve begins to walk towards the pair of you but before he can open his mouth, you answer “Now I always thought you were stupid, but this?” You gestures between the pair of you, “Is just fucking ridicoulus, I don’t know what the hell you think you’re gonna get out of me but I am not 1. telling you where Eddie is or 2. telling you why Chrissy was with him?” Jason takes a step closer, you don’t back away, Steve feels overwhelmed but also steps closer, “Look,” Jason seeths, “I don’t know what is going on between you and Munson but for your own safety I really suggest you put it beside you. And tell me where he is.” A loud scoff escapes your lips, “You don’t know why she was there do you?” Jason’s expression tells you all you need to know, “Oh my god, I’m so glad I don’t get to miss this. You’re little girlfriend, who by the way was struggling with something way bigger than your tiny pea brain to begin to understand. Was.” You poke the basketballer so hard in the chest he winces and falls back a step, “There.” poke, “To.” poke, “Buy” poke, “Drugs.” You smile eerily, scaring Steve as well as Jason, the latter runs his hands through his hair, “No she would neve-” “Oh give it a rest! You don’t know the next thing about her! Hell, Eddie and I only knew her for a few weeks and we still understood her better than you! Now leave me the hell alone, I don’t have time for this,” You firmly place your hands on his shoulder before driving your knee in between his legs, he lets out a shriek of pain before falling to the floor. You smirk and turn, finally facing an awestruck Steve. “See?” You walk past, “I told you I had it.” Steve smiles, “Then why did you want me here?” He follows after you back into the diner. “Because why would I miss out on spending quality time with you.” You tease, dramatically holding the door open for him. “But,” He blushes deeply, “You hate me.” “I never- actually I did say that yeah, did I make it that obvious?” “Honestly,” Steve swings his legs over the stool again, “I had no clue,” He laughs slightly, “Not until Robin reminded me.” “Ah shucks,” You shrug, “I’m that forgettable huh?” “No! No! I didn’t mean it like that!” “Well that’s how it sounded, Harrington.” Something about the way you said his last name made butterflies spread through his stomach.

You two spent the next hour making idle chit chat between you serving customers, a lot of them knew you from visiting everyday but now they speak to you with a bit more of an edge, understanding you were friends with the suspected town killer. They were used to seeing him half sat half laid across a booth chatting away to you, you frown slightly at the memories but understand the situation from an outsider perspective. Instead you decided to throw yourself into a small conversation with Steve, trying not to laugh at his jokes as you had to keep reminding yourself - you hated him. You didn’t realise how much time had passed until the store phone began to ring, you picked it up - customer service greeting at the ready only to be met with Robin’s rambles, “Hey Y/N is that you? Are you okay? Did Jason get you? Did he get Steve? Oh my god I can’t work here without Steve I’ll die of boredom, please tell me Steve is okay? He said he would be back in an hour but now it’s been 2 and he still hasn’t shown up and I-” You smile at the girl's protectiveness, “Robin,” but she doesn’t stop mumbling, “ROBIN!” This makes Steve turn in his place, “He’s fine, he’s here with me. We are both fine.” “Then what have you been doing for the last two hours?” “Talking.” “Talking? I thought you hated him, what do you have to talk about?” “I did hate him, I’m still not particularly fond but he’s not too bad. At least, anymore.” You mumble slightly, embarrassed Steve might overhear your confession, Robin lets out a low whistle, “Not too bad huh? I’ll have to keep an eye on you two.” “Can it. I’m sending your beloved colleague back to you now, so you can stop worrying and STOP calling.” You laugh before placing the phone back on the wall. “Robin then?” Steve calls, pulling your attention back to him, “Yeah,” You smile, “She wants you back, to the store I mean not like-” you panic, “I mean I wasn’t implying but-” “Y/N” Steve raises his eyebrows, “She wants me back to work. I get it.” He turns for the door. As he reaches the handle, he calls back “Please don’t imply anything - you would be wrong.” You shake your head, heart thudding against your chest, wondering why Steve Harrington had made you crumble into a stuttering mess. This wasn’t you. You take a deep breath with a promise to pull yourself together before turning back to the rest of your shift. 

The last time Steve saw you was that Saturday, it was now Monday and he can’t help but think about you, but as usual he is distracted by the group of kids who stand in front of him. He sighs, staring at the group of young teens in front of him, “No-” He starts, “There is no way I am driving all you lardasses to some random comic book shop 40 miles away just because you heard it was cooler than the one here.” Steve goes to continue before he is cut off by Dustin, “Please man, it would help us take our minds of the truamatising murders here in Hawkins, and-” “Dustin shut up. You’re not traumatised.” Your voice cuts through the video store, causing the gang to jump in surprise, all apart from Max who had spotted your motorcycle as you were pulling up, “Ew what happened to your face?” The redhead cringes, nose scrunching in disgust at the sight before you. You couldn’t argue - you had looked better. The sight of you with blood pouring from your nose and between your lips made all the teens in front of you panic, they began bombarding you with questions, asking if you’re okay, if Vecna got to you, if Jason got to you. You hush them all with a wave of your hand, before wiping the back of it across your bloodied face, “Thank you Max, I’m good just uh hit my head on the front of my visor going over a speedbump.” You mumble, quite embarrassed, because you’re not even fully sure how your injury came about. “That’s a lot of blood for just hitting your head.” Lucas states, “I have a loose blood vessel in my nose from getting hit in the face by a locker.” You try to explain, gritting your teeth, “In junior year.” It doesn’t take long for Steve’s eyes to widen. His body shudders at the memory of him swinging his locker door open in the midst of a conversation with Nancy, and smacking someone straight in the nose with it. If he was honest, at the time he didn’t even notice who was standing there but you had just made it clear. “Fuck-” The group turns to him. “It was you. Shit I’m sorry about that.” “YOU HIT HER IN THE FACE WITH YOUR LOCKER?” Dustin screeches. “I didn’t mean to- '' Steve tries to interject, “it just happened. It was an accident.” He turns his gaze to you, “I’m sorry Y/N.” A small smile plays on your lips, “Don’t worry about it Harrington, I’ve had worse but could I please get a tissue?” “Of-of course” He stutters slightly, rushing into the break room to grab you some rough tissue. Launching himself back over the counter Steve takes large strides to meet you on the shop floor, you go to take the tissue from him but before your hands meet his he’s already holding the paper towel to your nose, mumbling about tilting your head back. 

A small blush spread over your cheeks, missed by most - but not all before you take the tissue out of Steve’s hand and stumble out a ‘I got it thanks.” “So, other than the nosebleed what brings you to Family Video?” Steve questions, still stood uncomfortably close to you, “What? I can’t come see my favourite employee?” You say, making Steve raise his eyebrows until you step pass him and up to Robin at the counter, “You got it?” You start a conversation with your friend, who looks up, meeting your gaze before flicking her eyes to the now red tissue stuffed up your nostril, “Yeah, I got it-but I’m not giving it to you unless you promise not to bleed all over it. Honestly, Keith will murder me if I return a tape with blood all over it.” Robin laughs, “I promise I won’t bleed all over it. Now gimme!” You reach over the counter, causing your feet to lift from the ground. The group of young teens just watch you, as you obviously snatch the tape Robin is trying to hold above your grasp. That is until Dustin decides to speak up, “Hey Y/N?” “Yeah?” You call back, still trying to reach the movie. “Do you like comics?” “Henderson, gimme a-” You grab the tape and let out a small ‘yay’ which makes Steve smile to himself, you turn. “Uh yeah I guess why?” “Because Steve here,” Dustin gestures to the larger boy next to him as if introducing him, “Won’t take us to the new comic book store! How unfair is that? Why don’t you come with us?” “Aw, Steve, why won’t you take your children to the comic book store?” You smile looking between the pair in front of you, “It’s 40 miles away.” Steve deadpans but can’t help but grin when he hears your laugh, “Damn Henderson, you got some nerve-40 miles? Man, shit hell no will I come. But have fun!” “We aren’t going.” Steve furrows his brows, “You see you say that,” You start backing away to the door, “But 20 bucks says you’ll go.” “Alright Y/L/N you’re on.” Steve challenges, you push the door open and stand in the doorway, pulling your motorcycle helmet on and nodding your head to push the sun visor over your eyes, “Later Harrington. I’ll be back on Wednesday to collect my money.” “Not on my watch.” Steve quips but you’re already gone.

It certainly didn’t look that way to Steve, who stood behind Eddie and to the left of Robin, his mouth physically ajar in confusion of why on earth it appeared Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson was flirting with the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Robin picked up on Steve’s gawking which lead to him receiving a prompt elbow to the ribs, Steve hissed and rubbed his hand where his friend had hit him, “What the fuck was that for?” He moaned, Robin stared at him “You’ll catch flies.” she scolded. Before any bickering can begin, your voice pulls their attention back to the issue at hand. Eddie had demanded that all of them pick you up on the way to see the rest of the gang in hopes to discuss what their next plan for Vecna was. You knew about the Upside Down and all that came with it after you met Max and Dustin. They came in to your work in attempts to find Eddie when he had gone on the run from the police, you demanded more information as you were scared shitless for your best friend, not to mention you were certain there was no way Eddie murdered Chrissy making you all up for proving his innocence. What you weren’t expecting was the  full run down of Hawkins and how many secrets the small town harboured.

Despite this, there was no way you were backing out, not even when you saw Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington standing opposite you. You tried extremely hard not to roll your eyes at the mere sight of the boy but it was taking all your energy. You hate Steve Harrington and the worst part is, by the look in his eye (as he was very obviously checking you out), he didn’t remember who you were. You were the unfortunate soul who was forced to have the locker next to Steve for the whole time he attended Hawkins High, even though you had tried to swap with your friends. On multiple occasions. Regardless of this, you ended up stuck listening to the king of Hawkins High himself complain to his friends about issues you didn’t give a shit about for example, who was holding this week's party, how he was failing Spanish, his dad catching him drinking and/or smoking, the list goes on. Or if he wasn’t whining so loud the whole hall could hear, he was making out with Nancy Wheeler, a girl you never really spoke to, predetermining you two wouldn’t get along by the way she walked around the school with her nose turned up, right against your locker, meaning you were forced to attend many lessons without your appropriate books - being too nervous to try and get the two to stop playing ‘tonsil tennis’ as Eddie named it. Instead, you stuck with Eddie and a few others, but now you had also befriended Robin after bumping into her when you were passing through the halls with Max. But Steve? Up until this point you had luckily not run into him since he had graduated yet you knew the reunion would be coming sooner rather than later after Dustin started talking about how he was also in the group.

“Okay, so if we let Steve-” Dustin began as you drove him and Max home from a long day of questioning you about Eddie, “Hang on,” You butt in, “Steve as in Steve Harrington?” You can’t help the grimace that plastered itself on your face, to which Dustin physically retracted at, “Oh no, don’t tell me you two slept together too?” “Ew,” You shudder, “No. I-actually it doesn’t matter.” You don’t offer any more information about how you knew Steve much to Dustin’s dismay who was now very curious. 

“Okay, so why am I coming to this meeting?” You questioned Eddie before moving your attention to Robin, “Hey Robin” You greet with a smile, the girl replies with a small wave but notices how your smile drops as your gaze shifts to Steve. Before you have a chance to hurl abuse at the poor boy who still hasn’t realised who you are, Eddie interrupts, “Because you’re my best friend and I said to.”  “Sounds good enough to me,” You giggle and Steve swears he physically swoons over the sound but also can’t help but feel relief at Eddie’s use of ‘best friend’ - he notes you two aren’t actually together. “Let me just lock up and I’ll drive down behind you.” You raise your eyebrows at Eddie, “Oh hell no,” he waves his hand in the air, “I’ll come with you - Robin and Steve can lead, can’t ya?” Eddie turns to Steve, expecting a response, “Oh-uh-yeah for sure. You can follow us, yep.” Steve mumbles, running a desperate hand through his hair and tugging on it slightly, embarrassed. “Right let's go then dingus.” Robin grabs Steve by the arm, half yanking him out of the store, she turns her head to face you as she leaves, “See you in a sec!” 

“Yeah,” you squint and draw your eyebrows in confusion, “See you in a sec.”  “Steve, what the actual fuck was that?” Robin whisper-yells at her friend as soon as they exit the store. “I have no idea, was it bad? It felt like it was kinda bad.” Steve cringes, a blush forming on his cheeks, “It was like watching a train wreck. In slow motion.” Robin deadpans, “Wow thanks Robin, you have such a way with words.” Steve glares. “Oh Steve, will you please enlighten me on why on earth you just fell apart when speaking to Y/N Y/L/N? You like puddleified.” “Puddleified?”  “Melted, like turning into a puddle. Wasn’t my question. Answer. Now.” At this point they have reached Steve’s car and as he unlocks the doors, he can’t help but feel like he knows your name from somewhere - he just can’t put his finger on it. “What? She’s pretty. Pretty girls make me nervous.” Steve tries to explain but cuts himself off when he hears Robin scoff, “What?” he slides into the driver’s seat and turns his head to look at her, “That’s the most embarrassing excuse I think I have ever heard, and I had to listen to you try and get out that date with Stacy last week.”  “I handled that well!” Steve proclaims, “Steve, you told her you had chickenpox! You’re 19! And statistically 90% of cases of chickenpox are children 5 and below!” She hits his arm, “Anyway, you’ve got no chance idiot.”  “Why? Do you think she likes Eddie?” Steve can’t help the wave of disappointment wash over him as he tries to draw to a conclusion, “No way.” Robin states, “They have been friends forever, I think if anything would’ve happened, it would’ve happened by now.”  “Then why do you think I have ‘no chance’.” Steve uses air quotes, before turning to face the front of the store, seeing Eddie chat to you as you smile at him and lock the doors before replying to whatever the metalhead has said to you. Steve turns his key in the ignition, waiting for the engine to catch. “Because,” Robin says cockily, “She hates you.” She says it as if it’s a fact everyone should know. Like, oh the grass is green, the sky is blue and Y/N Y/L/N hates Steve Harrington. Steve can’t help but whip his head back round to the passenger seat, “What? Why would she hate me? She doesn’t know me.” Robin tuts slightly, “Oh but Stevie,” She teases with a shit eating grin, “She does.”  “Since when?” Steve shoots back, a part of him thinking Robin is just making this all up. “School you imbecile, she had the locker next to you and from that experience, she hates you.” A singsong tone covering her voice. It’s like everything clicks into place, he falls back into his seat, head thrown back as he groans, “Oh my god.” He mumbles before running both hands over his face, memories flooding back to him, you rolling your eyes everytime you tried to get to your locker, sighing and walking off when he was spending time with Nance, or mumbling curse words under your breath when you saw him heading towards his locker,  “You’re right. She does hate me.” Before either of the pair have a chance to say anything else, a knock on Steve's window makes him bring his hands down. Face to face with Eddie, he rolls his window down with a “What?” to which Eddie replies, “Dude are you gonna leave or? Y/N doesn’t know the way to Dustin’s house.” “Right.” Steve lets out a huge sigh, “Yep.” He slaps his hands onto the wheel.

Eddie returns to your car and slips into the passenger seat, “Well?” You scowl slightly, “He’s going now.” Eddie points his thumb in the direction of Steve’s car, who still had the window slightly ajar meaning you could hear Robin’s laughter from where you were sitting. You start to reverse your own car, before looking over to Eddie, “You might wanna like-crouch down?” “Crouch down?” Eddie laughs, “You know, in case the police drive past, I don’t really wanna be caught with a fugitive in my car.”  “I am not a fugitive.” “Eds, you are about as fugitive as they come right now.” You laugh, “Anyway, whose house are we going to?”  “Dustin’s.”  “And Steve just knows the way there because?”  “They’re friends?” Eddie tries to state but it comes out as more of a question, you let out a huff. “Y/N you can’t hate him forever.” “Don’t you start too,” You interject, “First Robin, now you, oh he’s changed. He’s so nice now.” You purposely put on a high pitched voice exaggeratedly pretending to be Robin, making Eddie giggle, “I’m being real with you, he’s actually alright, well so far.” Eddie shrugs, “Exactly,” You try, “So far. We still don’t even know that much about him.” You complain, “Yeah but Robin does, hell they even work together and I don’t see Robin hanging out with someone who is, as you claim, a total dickward.”  “HE is a total dickward,” You wave your hands around letting Eddie grab the wheel as your car almost swerves, “Hands on the wheel please Y/N or this fugitive is going to be found dead in your car.”  “If he keeps trying to make me befriend Steve Harrington then maybe it’s for the best.” You purse your lips trying to hide your smile, Eddie lets out a dramatic gasp, clutching his heart, “You would let your BEST FRIEND DIE because he’s asking you to give a guy a second chance?” He shouts, “I don’t care about giving ‘a guy’ a second chance,” You mumble, “Just not Steve Harrington. Man, I hate Steve Harrington.”  “We’ve established that.”  “Fuck off Munson.” 

You arrive at Dustin’s house, far too quick for your liking. Slightly hitting the curb with your wheels you begrudgingly set your car into park. Meanwhile Eddie, the dramatic, is acting as if you just got into a head on collision, grumbling about your wheels and how if you damage them he doesn’t want to be the person who changes them, again. “Firstly, you offered to change them last time and who am I to stop you? And secondly, if I can change the wheels on my motorcycle I doubt it’s much harder.” You retort, “Wait?” Robin’s voice makes you jump, not realising she had caught up with you two as you march towards Dustin’s door, “You have a motorcycle? That’s so badass” She sounds awestruck, “Yeah,” You wave your hand, “It’s in the shop right now thanks to idiot-” You gesture to Eddie, “And his genius idea to try and drive it himself.”  “It wasn’t that bad.” “It certainly was that bad,” You exclaim, “You took my prized possession and drove it straight into a tree!” You begin to recall the dreaded night Eddie, after too much weed, decided to give his hand at motorbike driving, “You didn’t tell me it was gonna go so fast.” Eddie tries to bicker with you, an argument you had been repeatedly having since the incident, “I was high Eddie. You got me high then crashed my bike so I’m stuck driving my godforsaken mother’s Honda around.”  “I like your mom’s Honda.” “No Eds, you like my mom.” “Well, have you seen her?” Both you and Robin make various noises of disgust, all the while Steve trudges along behind the three of you. Wondering how he was going to make up for 5 years of his ‘King Steve’ era that you had witnessed, yet he couldn’t  help his look of surprise after listening to your story involving both drugs and a motorcycle - he didn’t take you for a motorcycle rider and definitely not a stoner. Nevertheless, he shakes his head in a way to physically remove the thoughts of you that seemed to plague him.  Eddie knocks on the door in front of him and Dustin swings it open with a happy grin, “Oh perfect, you’re all here.” He says before hurriedly waving the group of older teens through the door. “Common, hurry, we only have an hour before my mom’s gonna be back from bookclub.” He rambles, “Oh shit, I’m missing book club for this shit?” You gasp, voice laced with so much sarcasm Steve can’t help the laugh that bubbles then leaves his chest. Your head shoots to look at him, “Nice one.” He coughs, nerves overwhelming him, “Thanks.” You tilt your head in confusion, there was no way Steve Harrington laughed at your stupid joke. “Stop with the sarcasm and get inside or have you forgotten we have a literal demon running around Hawkins?” “Eddie’s right here. Not running anywhere?” You smirk, earning a punch in the shoulder from Eddie and a hushed, “No more talking from you.” From Dustin, Steve freely lets his smile widen at the sound of your voice. 

Once you settle into Dustin’s living room squished between Eddie and Steve, after of course complaining to Max about her being sat in the armchair (to which you got a “You snooze you lose Y/L/N.”  in response) Dustin began talking. Laying out facts you knew, and some you didn’t - you tried to pretend you were shocked at the horrors which were being described in front of you but Steve felt your body stiffen, almost without thinking he went to rest his hand on your thigh in attempts to reassure you but he stopped himself, Robin’s words echoing in his mind, instead he chooses to place his hand back on his lap, ringing his fingers together. All the while you took a deep breath trying to focus on what Dustin was saying and not the warmth radiating from Steve, if he didn’t disgust you as much you might’ve relaxed into him. But he does. You hate him. You almost have to remind yourself after your eyes flicker to the moles which litter his cheek.

The meeting continued on, Lucas explaining to the group that he overheard Jason telling the whole basketball team they were going to pay you a visit in hopes of figuring out where Eddie was hiding, in response you guys formed a plan which involved you occupying the Hawkins Tigers at work, in an attempt to buy time.  Luckily, no one had noticed the tension between you and Steve, that was until Robin had to open her big mouth, “So Steve,” She claps her hands together to turn and leans on her knees to speak to the boy in question, “You’ve met Y/N obviously, why don’t you give her hand, y’know make sure things don’t go south.” Robin tries to sound innocent but she can’t help but have a teasing undertone. Before Steve has a chance to reply you do, “Actually Robin, I’m good-” you sit back and cross your arms over your chest, “I can assure you I don’t need any help in keeping basketballers busy.” As you finish Steve starts, “I would uh actually agree with Y/N, I don’t think I can provide much help.” He curses as he feels a blush creep up the back of his neck, something you take a note of but don’t speak on, instead your own scheme forms in your head, “On second thought,” The gang turn to you, a smirk peeking under your bitten lip, “I could probably do with some help just incase you know ‘things go south.’” You quote, “So what do ya say Harrington?”  Steve feels all the air exit his lungs hearing you say his surname. “Uh-oh of course.” He manages to squeak out, “Would love to do that.” He sighs, “Okay it’s sorted then,” Mike starts, “You two keep Jason busy while we look through his car to see if he has anything that could explain why Vecna chose Chrissy as his victim.” 

the house was positively shaking as the bass of the music flowed through it. the shaking mixed with the heat from other peoples bodies began to make you feel nauseous, definitely nothing to do with the copious amounts of alcohol you had drank hours earlier. you were standing with a friend, around the edge of the living room as the wave of sickness came over you, immediately pressing your body back to a standing position to see if that would help, when it didn’t you mumbled a small, “i’m gonna throw up” before fleeing to the upstairs bathroom. once in there with the door locked you produced your stomach’s contents into the toilet bowl. after sitting against the cool tiles you began to feel a lot better. it then dawned on you that you had just projectile vomited into a toilet belonging to a boy you shared a math class with, in your drunken state you couldn’t even remember his name. figures. it was at this realisation you decided you didn’t really want to be at the party anymore, the friends you came with had all wandered off with others and you began to miss your boyfriend steve. you begged him to come to this party tonight but he firmly rejected your offer, opting to instead hang out with robin at his. for the first time in the night you kind of wished you had chosen the same option. despite this, you decided to make the best out of your night, forcing your wobbling legs down the stairs and back to your friend who was waiting for you, holding two red solo cups. 

she waves them in your face before asking, “feeling any better?” “you wouldn’t believe how sometimes a good puke is'' you laugh, “perfect, now lets dance common” your friend pulls you by the wrist into the makeshift dance floor, while you throw out some apologise to the people she’s swinging in to. once situated in the middle of the floor, you began to dance. 

before you knew it, an hour had past as your friend was talking about going back to some boys place, it was at this moment you concluded was the right time to phone steve to pick you up. moving through the house, with a new found excitement, you reach for the landline - dialling the number you had memorised for times like this. “hello?” steve’s voice rings through your ear, silencing any background noise, “heyyyyy steve” “y/n?” he questions, confusion evident in his tone, “everything okay?” the confusion quickly shifts to concern, “yeah all good here but i was wondering if maybe just maybe you could come pick me up? i’m drunk” your words accidentally slur slightly, “i thought y/f/n was dropping you home?” you can hear him start to move around, getting his wallet and keys, “she’s running off with some stranger in approximately 15 minutes so i thought it would be best if i found my own way back” you start to wrap the telephone cord around your finger, “sure no worries, i’ll be there in 10. but y/n?” “yeah?” you hum, “whats the address again?” shit. “one second,” you trail off, eyes desperately looking for your friend, once they land on her you beckon her over, “what?” “where the fuck are we?” “1123 sickamore street, tim’s house” tim. ohh- that’s his name. “did you catch that?” you bring the phone back to your ear, all you can hear is steve’s deep chuckle from the receiver, “yeah i got it. i’ll be there soon” 

you’re waiting outside by the time steve’s car pulls up, the cold slightly nipping at your cheeks as you slide into the passenger seat, a lazy smile across your face, “drunk huh?” steve teases, “shut up and take me home harrington” you place kiss on his cheek, “no way y/n” steve laughs, “no way what?” you pout, “no way am i dropping you home, obviously drunk-” “i’m not obviously drunk” “you almost fell twice walking from the curb to my car. anyway as i was saying, no way am i dropping you home to your dad who doesn’t really like me when you’re meant to be staying at a friends house and your drunk.”but-” “no buts” you giggle and he rolls his eyes, “you can stay at mine and i’ll drop you home tomorrow. sober.” “but what about your movie night with robin?” “babe it’s 2am, movie night ended 3 hours ago when i dropped her home. look we’re almost here now anyway” you take note of how close you are too steve house before you feels your eyelids start to droop.