#fwb steve

Thank God you’re all the way out instead of back at camp where your middle school-age campers are tucked away, sleeping in their cabins on the hill.

At Camp Woodwick, the last night of their month-long summer session always ends on the Fourth of July. Which is tonight. And on the last night, the counselors don’t have a curfew, so the whole lot of you can pitch tents down by the lake and watch the fireworks show. 

It was fun for awhile, but after a handful of lackluster campfire stories and couple burnt marshmallows, Steve announced he was going to bed. The guys complained, begging him to light some fireworks with them, but he said he was going to turn in anyway. 

Right after his eyes caught yours. 

You excused yourself shortly after him, not even really sure why. And as you changed into your sleep shorts and a t-shirt, and settled into your sleeping bag, you blamed your sour mood on the heat and the bugs.

Assuring yourself that it had nothing to do with the fact that you and Steve Harrington have been at each other’s throats for weeks.

Tonight is is counselor’s night out! It’s supposed to be a fun end-of-the-summer bash for all the adults who were paid a few grand to babysit. It’s the night everyone looks forward to the most. 

You should be having fun—being young. Whatever that means. 

At some point between the whole saving-the-world-and-barely-escaping-with-your-life-thing, you became somewhat of a stranger to that idea. Your life had been, for lack of a better term, flipped upside down. 

Steve groans again. Hot embers flare to life in your core, stirred up by the sound of his thready voice. So low and breathless. 

He has to shut up. What is he thinking, jerking off like this with people nearby?

Granted, your tents are the furthest away from everyone else’s, and no one has really gone to bed yet. It shouldn’t be that big of a deal. But between the sticky humid air clinging to your skin, and the sharp whistles from exploding fireworks, when Steve moans softly again you finally just…snap. 

Ripping the blankets off yourself, you rustle around your tent for your flashlight, grumbling and muttering in the dark.

God, you have to do everything yourself, don’t you? 

You wince as your tent opens with a loud zip that punctuates the darkness surrounding you. Peeking over your shoulder, you can see the smoke from the campfire in the distance, curling up towards the stars. A few of your fellow counselors are still lounging around the fire, but most of them are small shadows dotting the lake’s edge. 

Steve pitched his orange tent under a tree. 

Stupid. 

Doesn’t he know that the roots will mess the tent stakes up? You’re surprised he could even get them in the ground. Honestly, it will probably fall down on him tonight. 

You hope it does. 

His tent is dark and quiet, but you march over anyway, flashlight raised so the beam falls straight on him when you turn it on. 

You yank on his tent’s zipper. It gives easily. A muffled curse comes from inside, and you click on the flashlight to reveal Steve lying on his side, bare chest rising and falling as he squints into the bright beam.

“God, you never could stay quiet, could you?” You say, bullying your way through the tent flap and zipping it back up behind you. 

Steve scrambles to throw his sleeping bag over himself, but it does practically nothing to hide his raging boner underneath. 

“What the fuck do you want?” He snaps, glaring up at you. 

Despite yourself, your eyes catch on a delicious bicep, and his muscled shoulder in the shine of your flashlight. That chest hair has taunted you all summer long. It’s been torturous pretending you didn’t know what it felt like against your bare breasts, against your back...

You clear your throat. “I just thought I’d let you know the whole camp can hear you jerking off.”

“What? I’m not—Jesus.” His big hand drags down his face, even as he pulls the sleeping bag up higher. “Get out.”

Whoops, there you go again, getting distracted by his hands. 

Maybe you should close your eyes, or turn around—something—because looking at him stretched out in the dark like this is making you think wicked things.

Your lips twist in a mocking smirk, and you gesture down to the sleeping bag. “Oh, c’mon, Steve. Why are you so embarrassed? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.” 

Lots of times, actually. 

Through the years, you’d been there for everything—watched him get captured, tortured, and sacrificed for others. But after it was all over, and the dust settled, you fell into each other a different way. 

Because it wasn’t the days plagued with Demogorgons, evil Russians, or even Vecna that were the worst.

It was the days that followed.

The hollow darkness you experienced as the world kept moving on, oblivious to the memories that plagued you both. You had to learn how to live normally again, and something about that was both relieving and excruciatingly lonely at the same time.

The nightmares had a way of sticking to you like blood you couldn’t get off no matter how many times you scrubbed yourself raw in the shower. 

It was in those shaky, sweaty, middle-of-the-night fever dreams that you and Steve found solace in each other. Because when it all became a bit too much, you could dig your nails into someone else’s skin, feel a slick, hot mouth against yours—ground yourself in something intrinsically human just to prove that after everything, you still are.

But all that came to a screeching halt last summer. 

“Okay,” Steve sighs, shifting a little and squinting up at you. “Let’s say that I was. You wanted to come over and…cockblock me? From myself? And turn that thing off unless you want everyone to see two silhouettes in here.”

You click the flashlight off immediately, plunging you both into darkness. 

Maybe you should rescind your previous statement. Because now, without being able to see him, his proximity is somehow affecting you even more. 

You can hear his soft breaths, smell the lake water on his skin. And underneath it all, the familiar sounds and scents of him that opens a gaping hole of nostalgia in the pit of your stomach. 

You try to laugh, but it comes out cold. “You think I give a fuck if you’re rubbing one out, Harrington? No. I came over here because you’re fucking whimpering and moaning—”

“—I was not whimpering.” 

“—and you’re incapable of keeping quiet—yes, you were, and I was getting sick of hearing it. So, either do it quieter, or find someone to cover your fucking mouth.”

As you were talking, your vision adjusted to the darkness. Which is a very bad thing, because now you can see him again. Specifically the outline of his mussed hair as he lifts his chin to meet your gaze. 

“You offering?”

Your breath catches.

You should say no. You should tell him to go fuck himself—literally— and leave right now. He can let the whole camp hear him for all you care. 

But instead, you hesitate. 

Now, Steve is smart. Smarter than he gives himself credit for, that’s for sure. And there are certain patterns he’s picked up on with you over the years. Like, when you pause like that, the answer is almost always a yes. 

Which is why the second you go quiet, and the distant laughter of the other counselors fills the space between you, he’s already batting the sleeping bag off his lap. 

“I knew it,” he says. The fabric slips off him just as a firework bursts overhead, and your eyes drag over his body. The lean, tan muscle from all his time outside this summer, down to his long, hard cock jerking against his happy trail. “You’re so busy acting like you hate me, wanting to play this game where we bitch at each other all summer, and now you’re making up excuses to come into my tent—”

“Oh, trust me,” you scoff, tearing your eyes away to meet his again. “It’s not an excuse.”

“No?” he says softly, leaning back on one arm and gesturing at his body with the other. “Then, prove it.”

“Fine, but I’m only staying to keep you quiet,” you warn him, pinning him with a harsh look. 

“Sure. Whatever,” Steve rasps, watching as you drop to your knees beside him. 

Your fingers curl into his sleeping bag beside his shoulder, but you’re careful not to touch him. 

He wishes you would. 

You gesture impatiently at him, your hand a shadowy blur in the dark. “Go ahead and get it over with. I’m not sitting here all night. God.”

Steve rushes to obey, and when wraps his hand around his cock again, the rush is so intense it’s almost painful. The way you’re sitting there just watching him is making his head feel fuzzy, and his dick swell.

And look at you—pretending to not be affected in the slightest watching the flushed head poke out of his fist over and over as he jerks off in front of you. God, you turn him on so fucking much. 

Steve heaves a stuttering breath, and his head drops back onto the ground as the pleasure pools in his gut. He thinks he’s doing a good job being quiet. But he can’t smother the moan that escapes him the second your warm hand brushes his shoulder.

“Steve,” you hiss, warning lacing your voice. 

“Shut me up, then. Goddamn.” He groans, his cock twitching in his palm. “What are you even here for? I could do this myself—” At that moment, your hand finds his chest and, well, your fingers might as well be a defibrillator. His hips jerk, mouth dropping open in pleasure. “—oh, fuck yeah.”

Your touch is heaven. His eyelids threaten to shut as your fingers brush through his chest hair, over his ribs— so sure, and steady, soothing and warm. Like his flesh and bone is a map you know by heart. 

He’s panting, desperate not to make a sound and give you a reason to take your hand away while your palm trails lower.

He raises his chin to catch a glimpse of your profile as the fireworks crack in the sky, raining down in bright fizzling pops that he feels in his chest. 

Honestly, he should’ve known this is how the summer would end with you. 

He’s known it, and yet, he’s run from it. 

Because the last time he had you…God, he’s been such an idiot. 

Last summer, when you came home from college for break, he’d been sitting on your doorstep. A silent understanding passed between you two, and then you’d grabbed his hand and taken him up to your room.

Afterwards, you were laying under him, sweaty and warm, eyes glowing with…with something that made his heart tug painfully. And suddenly, it all got to be too much. 

He’d been craving you all semester. As if you were a long drag from a cigarette. And that gnawing ache didn’t surface with anyone else. Only you. 

His chest swelled up tight, and the bridge of his nose started to burn, and he realized… he was scared. 

Terrified, actually. 

Because what if the both of you reaching out for each other was nothing but a trained response, like Pavlov’s dogs or some shit? What if you had built this trauma bond…thing? He wasn’t entirely sure what that even meant, but he knew that no one could know him so intrinsically, so deeply, so invasively and still want him anyway. 

So, Steve proceeded to do the stupidest thing possible by dropping a kiss to your forehead, pulling his clothes back on, and walking out the door. 

He told himself it was for the best. Months after, even though he thought of you constantly, and still woke up slicked in sweat, hands flying to his wounds in the dark, he never called you. 

But when you showed up at Camp Woodwick, looking to earn some cash over the summer, same as him, all the walls he’d built up between him and his past came crashing down. 

So, he pushed you away. For weeks. It was worse than he thought it would be, though. Because when he pushed, you pushed back harder. 

His head swims with the knowledge that after a whole year without you, you’re here. You’re the same. Familiar. The smell of your hair, down to the soft breaths escaping to ur lips. 

He’s still hard as a rock, but his hand isn’t cutting it. Not when what he really wants is right here in front of him.

Steve curses under his breath. “You wanna help me out, sweetheart? Give me that mouth?”

“W-what?” You snort. “You can hardly be quiet with your own hand, Harrington. You think you’re going to survive that?”

“Please? Just lick it. Just the tip.”

“Stop begging. Also, be qu—“

“Right. Right, I’ll be quiet,” Steve grumbles. “Just—if you’re gonna fucking march in here and tell me to do it faster, then the least you could do is help me out.” Another firework squeals, then pops, showering you in gold as you blink down at him.

Boisterous laughs drift over the water, and your eyes flick up instinctively to meet the tent wall before your bottom lip disappears between your teeth. His stomach flips in anticipation. He knows that look. 

“C’mon,” he urges, fighting back a smirk. “You know how I like it, baby.”

Shit. 

Steve knows that pet name has always been your weakness. You’re not sure exactly why. Maybe it’s because it reminded you that on the outside, you were just friends. But in bed…you were his.

You shouldn’t fall for a cheap trick like that. Look at him, biting the corner of his mouth like he’s trying not to smirk. Cocky bastard. 

But, even so, you make the mistake of glancing down his body.

His hand slips away in a silent invitation, revealing his heavy cock jutting out from his soft tummy and you lose the war.

Rocks dig into your knees under the tent floor but you hardly pay them any mind, your clit already throbbing in anticipation of touching him. 

“Fine. But only because it’s faster.” You say.

Your hand curls around him, reveling in the hot, velvety feel of him in your palm. A sound slips from his throat, sudden and unbidden. 

You jerk your head up, and he can’t see your face clearly in the dark, but he knows your body language. The message is solidified when you bring your other hand up to rake through the hair on his chest, digging into his pec in warning. 

Steve’s hand lands on yours, and the warmth seeping through his fingers doesn’t just make your pussy clench, it also makes your nose burn. 

You turn your attention back to stroking him, ignoring the tightness in your lungs. Ignoring the way you’re practically holding hands across his chest.

“God, you’ve been kind of a bitch to me all summer,” Steve grunts, thrusting up into your touch. “You know that?”

You roll your eyes, even though he can’t see you. “Steve, you can’t call me a bitch at the same time you’re fucking my hand. Either we’re fighting or we’re fucking. Pick one. Jesus.”

“I don’t know.” His head falls back against the ground with a heavy thud. “We’re pretty good at both, apparently. God, your hand feel so g—”

“Shut the fuck up,” you hiss.

“Sorry! Sorry.”

Another firework shrieks into the sky, exploding in a loud pop, and showering you both in a flash of red. It lights up Steve’s body, illuminating the scars along his side. Long jagged things, carved deep under his ribs.

You can’t help but remember the panic that seized you when the Demobats descended on him. You’ll never forget the sickening horror that coursed through your body when you looked over to see him pale and shaking, dripping in blood. 

You swallow hard. Then, as if pulled by some invisible string, you lower your head and brush your mouth against his skin. His core muscles flex at the soft glide of your tongue on his belly, but he tenses as your lips trace his scar line.

“Don’t—” he rasps. Suddenly, his hand flies down and tugs your chin away. 

“What?” You whisper against his skin, a little teasing. But when you flick your eyes up to his, he looks away, raking a hand through his hair. Your hand slows around his cock and you frown. A thread of anxiety coils in your gut. 

“What?” you repeat. “I was there, too, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” He lets out a short laugh, but the warmth is gone from his voice. “I just—really don’t want to be reminded of that right now.”

You pull back, hands falling away from him instantly. 

Another bottle rocket screams, punctuating the heavy beat of silence that follows. Steve notices the shift in you, the way your body locks up in hesitation. 

Sighing heavily, he raises his palms to his face and digs them into his eyes. 

“Sorry, I’m—that was fucked up. I’m sorry.”

You sit back on your heels, suddenly unsure, and your eyes drop to the ground. 

He combs through his hair again roughly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I was just…there’s a kid here that reminds me of a little Eddie, and the scars—”

You smile softly. “Reed, right? I’ve been thinking the same thing all summer.”

“Every time I see those scars, I think about the bats, and then I think about losing Eddie, and then with you here—” He gestures towards you and he trails off. 

You don’t need him to finish the thought, though. You can see it in the way his chest heaves, and the slight crack in his voice. 

With a sigh, you settle down onto the ground beside him. He shuffles wordlessly, giving you room to lay on the other half of his sleeping bag. 

“It’s okay, Steve. This is how it always was for us. Just—two people trying to get through it, you know? To feel something again.” 

“Oh yeah? Is that all were?” His voice is deeper now. Huskier. It makes a lump build in your throat. “Was that all it was for you?”

You watch the light show fall across the tent ceiling together, muted little orbs glowing through the fabric. 

“No,” you say softly. “But everything hits me at once sometimes, too, you know. And when that happens...fuck, I just need you. And that feeling…” The words fizzle out and fall like the embers in the sky, and your hand reaches up to clutch at your chest—like it would be easier just to rip out your heart and show him.

Steve hesitates, swallowing hard. “It’s not…bad, right? That feeling?” 

“No, Steve. It’s not bad.” 

A quiet moment passes, then he blows out a breath. “At college, they have these therapists. Robin dragged me to a session once, so I went.” You turn your head to look at him, but he keeps his eyes above. “I was scared, like, what if they didn’t believe me, you know? And, well, I’m not sure if Dr. Treya really believes me, but that doesn’t seem to matter much. She treats it all like it’s true, anyway.”

There’s a loud squeal of a bottle rocket, then laughter somewhere in the distance. 

“I’m sorry we fought the last few weeks,” you whisper. “I was angry. But mostly just hurt. By last summer.”

Steve sits up a little at that, his strong arm bracing his torso as he looks down at you. “And you had every right to be,” he says. “I was a coward for leaving like I did. I got scared, I think. But, I’m getting better. At least, Robin says I am.”

You chuckle. “I’m sure she’s right.”

“But I am sorry, too. For that, and for…just for everything.”

You gaze up at him, and the urge to cup his face and bring his lips down to yours grips you by the spine. But Steve lays back down next to you before you can say anything. 

“I’m proud of you for going to see a counselor,” you say into the dark after a long moment. “Does it help?”

“Yeah.” He swallows. “But I wish there was something I could do, too, you know? Other than just talk about it.” 

He takes the world upon his shoulders, this boy.

He deserves to know that, at the end of the day, someone has him. Someone wants him. Not just for what he can give, but for who he is. He’s been pushing you away because you had that for him, and he didn’t know how to accept it. Until recently. 

You see that now. 

His bare arm is so warm against yours. You follow it down with your fingers until you find his hand, threading your fingers through his. 

“Steve, you’ve already done so much. For everyone.”

His hand practically swallows yours. Long fingers, with blunt tips. They just remind you of all the ways he’s used them to pull orgasms from your body, one after the other.

All he does is give, give, give. Even when you give him hell all summer, fuck, he gives that right back. 

Your hair whispers against the sleeping bag as you turn to look at him. His brown eyes meet yours, and his soft exhale ghosts across your cheek.

You search his face for permission, because he already knows what you’re asking. When his expression softens, just enough, you don’t hesitate. Hooking your leg around his waist, you roll on top of him and sit up. 

“Let me take care of you,” you say.

He sucks in a breath at the sight of you rising above him, his hand coming to land hot and heavy on your thigh. 

Scooting backwards, you lower your mouth to his torso. He hisses, his other hand flying to tangle in your hair. His cock has softened slightly against his hip, but you can fix that with your mouth in no time. 

His chest heaves with a shaky breath. “Wait, no. No, baby.” 

You suck a soft love bite on his hip before raising your eyes to his. “You don’t want it anymore?”

“No—shit, of course I want it, but—” He snorts, but his hand finds yours and he tries to pull you up. “If we’re going to do this, I want to do it for real. Not to distract each other. Not like we used to. Can…can you do that?”

You nod once. Then again. “Yes. Yes, of course, Steve. I wasn’t—I was just—” your heart slams into your throat. “I still love you.”

A slow, sweet smile spreads across Steve’s face. Your cheeks flush, and you try to squirm away, but Steve squeezes your thigh, urging you to find his eyes again. And when you do, you see that familiar heat is back. 

“Good,” he says. “Now we can get down to the real question of what the fuck do you think you’re doing barging into my tent when I’m masturbating, you little brat?”

Heat licks up your spine, and you bite back a grin. “I told you! You were being loud.”

“Yeah, sure, now tell me the real reason.”

“That is the real reason!”

“Don’t lie to me.” 

You open your mouth to argue, but his hands clamp down on your hips before you can, and in one smooth motion, he flips you so you’re on your back. Your heart slams against your ribs as he pulls you down under him, his chest rising and falling against yours. 

“Just admit it,” he says, a cocky grin twisting his lips right over yours. “You wanted me to lick that pretty pussy for you, didn’t you?”

Your panties dampen instantly, pulsing in anticipation of feeling his mouth on you after so long. 

You might have been at each other’s throats for weeks, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t like it. You saw it in his eyes by the campfire and by every rough two-hand touch football game. Every time your face went red and you mouthed off at him he’d just smile and lift his eyebrows as if to say, ‘is that all you got?’ Maybe crook two fingers at you with a cocky tilt of his head, urging you to ‘give me more.’ 

Well, you could definitely give him more. 

“I don’t know, Harrington,” you sigh, tilt your head against the tent floor in mock confusion. “I hardly remember what getting head from you is like.”

His grin turns wicked. Then suddenly, he’s moving—greedy hands tugging at your shorts. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says, voice dripping in that mocking tone that always makes you wet. “I thought maybe you’d want me to do that thing my tongue that always—” A whimper escapes your throat and he breaks off mid-sentence with an openmouthed laugh. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He crawls down your body, taking your shorts and underwear with him, and you gasp when something hard and hot brushes your thigh. Glad to see he’s sporting that erection again. You feel a fleeting disappointment at the fact you haven’t gotten to suck him off yet, but it’s probably better this way, to be honest. 

It’s literally impossible to make Steve Harrington be quiet while getting a blowjob—

Without warning, he plunges two fingers deep into your slick channel. Your breath stutters, hips bucking into his palm on instinct. He groans out loud, but you’re too blissed out by the stretch that you can’t even get onto him for it. 

Lungs seizing, heart pounding, you squirm on the slippery fabric of his sleeping bag, trying to get even closer. Your nipples harden against your T-shirt, begging for his touch. For more of him.

You peek down your body just in time to see his head disappear between your thighs, and then his mouth is on you. God, his tongue is so warm and wet against your clit, and his skillful fingers stroke you just right. In and out, then curling into the spongey spot inside that has your mouth dropping open. 

“Missed those sounds you make,” he says, voice muffled against your pussy. 

Shit. 

You hadn’t even realized you were making noise. You dig your knee into his side in retaliation and he chuckles, squirming away before diving in again.

He licks messy, broad strokes, tasting you on purpose, getting you all over his tongue. When you grind up into his face he grabs you by the hips and moves with you, following your every wriggle and writhe. 

Yep, his mouth still makes the world feel dull, reducing your hearing to the whoosh of your heartbeat in your ears as everything else just fades away into mind numbing bliss—

“Shut up,” Steve says, pulls back from you with a wicked grin. His face is covered in your arousal, glinting in the firework light, and the sight makes you clench around his fingers. “Seriously, shut up if you don’t want them to hear you.” 

“Wha—Steve!” You whine, canting your hips up into his mouth again as he lowers himself back down to you. “H-help.”

He shrugs. “I’m not the one who gives a shit if they hear.”

The vibrations of his voice against your clit rips a moan from your throat, unbidden, and your lips cinch together. Your hand flies to your hip, finding his fingers there. You try to pull his hand up but he shakes off your touch, holding onto your waist and puling you roughly against his tongue. 

You whine in protest, and go to pull on his hand again, but that’s a mistake. 

He brings his palm down to your inner thigh with a sharp smack that has your back arching off the ground, your eyes narrowing in warning. 

“Cover your own mouth, sweetheart, fuck,” he chuckles, giving your clit a soothing series of licks. “I’m busy.”

“Fuck you,” you whisper, but it quickly turns into a needy whine when he sucks the swollen nub into his mouth. 

Steve continues to stretch you out on his fingers, murmuring dirty things into your pussy as he does. How sweet you taste. How tightly you’re squeezing his fingers. But you barely hear any of it. 

You’re so wet—both from his mouth and your arousal—that your inner thighs slick together when you try to squeeze them. He yanks your legs apart again, and you’re powerless to stop him because the pads of his fingers are dragging out tendrils of pleasure from your spine you haven’t felt in a year. 

Thankfully, the fireworks seem to be reaching a peak outside— loud bangs and pops going off every few seconds help drown out the sounds of your needy pussy and blissed-out sighs. Because frankly, you don’t have the brain power to think about anything except how desperately you need him inside you. 

You whimper again accidentally. “Steve—” 

“Okay, baby,” he replies instantly, knowing what you need by the tone in your voice alone. His fingers slip out and he rises up over you, your knees falling open eagerly as he lines himself up.

When he notches the tip of his cock at your entrance, your cunt greedily sucks him in. He gasps, hips bucking forward instinctively, and neither one of you are able to stop the mixed groans that ensue from finally, finally being connected like this again after so long. 

Big hands scramble for a hold on your waist, blunt nails pinching your skin as he drags himself back, then forth, slamming up into you with a depth that makes you sob.

“Still fuckin’ made for me,” he groans. “Goddamnit.”

You’re panting, arms wrapped around his shoulders, biting the skin of your forearm to keep from moaning as his hips roll slow and deliberate. 

“Good girl,” he praises, and you shudder, feeling the ache grow sharper. “Staying so quiet, look at you. You can’t ask me to be silent when you come around me, okay? Fuck—that’s like being tortured all over again.”

You shoot him a withering look even as you writhe underneath him. “That’s not funny.”

He laughs, and his silhouette shifts over you, his cock driving deeper and hitting that spot inside you that makes you see sparks that aren’t there. “Sorry, sweetheart. I just—oh yeah, grind that clit into me. That’s it.”

 Your hands rake through his hair, desperately trying to hold onto something. But the force behind his thrusts causes you to pull on the strands, and, well, that was a mistake. 

His teeth sink into the skin of your shoulder in order to stay somewhat quiet, and oh—fuck. How could you have forgotten what pulling his hair does to him? Stars burst behind your eyes as the fireworks crackle overhead, and the tension between your hips coils tighter. 

“Fuck—Steve,” you gush. “Please.”

“What do you need?” He rasps against your throat, sucking and biting. “I’m all yours.”

Little tremors course though your legs as your orgasm builds, the swollen head of his cock nudging those spots deep inside that ache for him. 

Only him.

“You need me to kiss you?” he says, breath hot in your ear. “Need me to shut you up?”

You nod frantically. 

“Go on, ask me for it.”

You whimper, too far gone to play the game anymore. “Kiss me, Stevie. Please, please—” 

“Fuck,” Steve groans at the nickname he hasn’t heard in so long, and instantly lowers his mouth to yours. 

The first brush of his lips against yours makes you want to cry. 

“Missed you, baby,” he says, then kisses you deeper, his tongue dipping into your mouth and swirling with yours. “So much. Missed kissing you. Missed talking with you.” He hesitates, pulling back slightly before planting one soft kiss to the corner of your mouth. “Missed loving you. But I guess I never really stopped, did I?”

Your eyes connect for one heartbreaking, devestatingly sweet second before you pull him back down, pouring your love for him into the gentle, yet desperate stroke of your tongue against his. 

Feeling you kiss him like that snaps something deep inside him. 

Your inner muscles clamps down around him as his thrusts turn messy and hard, and his hands run over your shoulders, your breasts, your hips, pulling your body back down to meet his every thrust. 

The pleasure builds to an insurmountable level as he rips your shirt up to capture your nipple in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it and making you want to scream. 

You flatten your palm over your lips, whimpering through the gaps in your fingers over and over, squeezing your eyes shut as Steve pushes you higher and higher until finally—you’re falling. 

Your teeth bite into your fingers hard to muffle your moans as your pussy clenches down like a vice on Steve’s cock rhythmically, your orgasm rushing through you. 

He lets out a choked sound above you, and with the way his chest falls in a sequence of familiar pants, you know he’s close. Through the pleasured haze, your other hand flies to cover his mouth just in time for his orgasm to hit. 

“Mmhmm, mhhhmm.” Steve whines loudly, as his body tenses, and his cock twitches inside you. And you have no choice but to shove your fingers inside his lips, forcing him to suck on them as he reaches his peak. His eyes roll back as he bullies his cock against your cervix, painting your walls with his come, even as his tongue strokes your knuckles tenderly and reverently.

It takes awhile for the both of you to come back down to earth, but eventually, you let your fingers fall from his mouth and he laughs breathlessly, dipping to give you one last slow kiss before slipping out of you. 

He fumbles around for his T-shirt in the darkness and then cleans you up with care, which makes your heart twist. Once he’s done, he settles on his side, and pulls you into him, your back pressed to his chest. You burrow into him, his arm settling around you, and it’s amazing how quickly your lashes start to fall, wrapped up in this familiar comfort. 

“So…truce?” Steve whispers into the crook of your shoulder. You laugh softly.

Even under a hazardously leaning tent, and a sky littered with mini explosions, the world seems a little less dark right now. The past, a little less heavy. 

Maybe it’s because neither of you are running away from it, anymore. But rather, facing it. Together.

And because you know, without a shadow of a doubt, Steve Harrington’s heartbeat will always be in your future.

“Truce.”

a/n: the tent definitely collapses on top of them five minutes later, by the way. also, my idea originally was not nearly as angsty, but don’t you just love it when characters highjack your story? god, the fics always turn out so much better that way.

You continued to sweep the floor, broom sticking to one spot where Dustin had spilled his pop drink the day before whilst trying to convince Steve to let him rent a horror movie way above his age rating.

Just then a loud crash sounded from the back room startling you out of your thoughts.

"Oh come on!" You heard Steve exclaim.

Resting your broom against the wall, you made your way over to where the commotion was, only to be met with the sight of pure chaos.

The back room was a mess. There was a trolley on its side and a mass of tapes spilled out all over the floor. A very defeated looking Steve was standing there with his mouth hanging open, eyes going between his inventory sheet and the mess on the floor.

"Inventory not going well?" You asked as you came to a stop beside him.

He turned to look at you. "I knocked over the trolley and now all the tapes I had sorted are mixed with the ones I haven't, so now I gotta start all over again!" Steve whined, throwing his hands in the air, waving his inventory sheet around.

Steve crouched down to start collecting the tapes off the floor. You got on your knees opposite him to help.

"Not your day huh?" You gave him a soft smile.

Steve looked up at you his frown softening a little. "No, I guess not... Sorry, I know I'm being a grouch."

"Don't be, you're just having a bad day is all," You say whilst looking for the case to Teen Wolf.

"Seem to be having a lot of those lately."

You look up and take a moment to study him.

His hair was as usual perfectly tousled to get as much volume as possible, giving him his signature killer look. Big brown eyes, wide and sad as they mostly were these days and eyebrows slightly furrowed. You followed the slope of his nose right down to his pouty lips.

If the word 'overthinking' had a face, it would be Steve's.

"Steve..."

It was now or never.

"Yeah?" He looked up at you

This wouldn't just be for you, you decided. It would be for Steve as well. You both needed this.

After all, would doing this just once really be that big of a deal?

You were gonna ask him.

"About what you said earlier... About getting over someone by just having a fling..." You trailed off, biting your lip.

"What about it?" He replied, looking somewhat confused.

"Well, I was just thinking... Erm, I don't wanna go on a date with anyone either, even if it is purely just for sex... And I was just thinking - It's totally okay for you to say no - but I was just thinking that, well, maybe we could... Help eachother out?" Your ramble came to a stop as you braved a look at Steve.

His brow was furrowed, mouth slightly agape.

"What, like... Set you up with someone?"

Sometimes Steve could be so brilliantly oblivious it still amazed even you.

"Erm," You cleared your throat awkwardly, "No, not that..."

You took in a deep breath and watched as you waited for Steve to catch up with you.

His face went from confused to more confused before his eyes widened and it finally settled on shock. It would've been comical if you weren't so anxious.

"Wait! You wanna- With me?" He pointed towards himself, "You're- You're suggesting that me and you- Oh my god, OH MY GOD!" He exclaimed, hand now running through his hair.

"Steve I- It's just an idea! I- You can say no!"

"But- It would... Wouldn't it- You're my friend Y/N! I don't..." After flailing his hands around he closed his eyes, hands finally settling on pinching his nose.

"Steve, I don't... I'm not asking you out, I don't wanna date you. I mean no offence, you're a great guy its just, you are my friend. It would only be a one time thing... I just thought, maybe we could... Help eachother out."

Steve was now standing, pacing the room, still pinching his nose.

You let out a huff of air, feeling stupid. How could you have thought this would be a good idea?

He stops pacing and turns to you.

"You make it sound like you want me to take out your trash for you Y/N! You're talking about me and you having," He pauses and lowers his voice, "Sex..."

You look down and shuffle awkwardly.

"You're right... Oh god, I shouldn't have said anything. Just forget it, this conversation never happened... Sorry."

"Y/N"

Just then you heard Robin call out from the front of the store.

"Uh, guys! It's getting kinda busy out here, could someone come and help!"

Before Steve could say anything else you turned on your heel and fled the room as quickly as possible.

================================================

Two hours later and Robin's shift had ended. Two hours after that and the silence was killing you. Just one hour left to go...

Apart from the odd straggler hanging around the adult section the store had been pretty quiet for the last hour, leaving you to rush around doing jobs that could wait in order to avoid Steve, who was still trying to do his inventory out the back.

He had popped out every now and then but had barely said two words to you.

All you kept thinking was, how could you have been so stupid?

Steve was your friend, Your coworker that you have to see at least five days out of seven. He was friends with all of your friends. Of course he didn't want to sleep with you! Why would he? Even before you knew eachother properly he hadn't ever hit on you. Not that you wanted him to anyway, but there was clearly no interest in that side of things with you.

You were behind the counter when Steve finally came back out.

"Well, three hours later and my inventory is done and the back room is tidy again... Well as tidy as it normally is..."

He had decided to brave it and came over to stand next to you, albeit with a little more distance between you than there would normally be.

With his arms crossed over his chest, he turned to look at you.

"Hey, uh... You okay?"

Avoiding eye contact you turned to leave. "I'm gonna go and make a coffee."

"You're making a coffee at 10pm?" He said looking exasperated.

"Well, I want a coffee, I don't care if it's 10pm."

"Bullshit."

You turn back to look at him now leaning against the counter, arms still crossed.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said that's bullshit, you're avoiding me," He gave you the signature Steve Harrington mom face.

"What do you want me to say? Yes I'm avoiding you! Wouldn't you avoid someone if you'd humiliated yourself in front of them earlier?" You say.

"What, so you're not even gonna talk about it? You're just gonna run away again. You know, you're the one who suggested it! You're the one who made the awkward situation in the first place, not me!"

You stride back over to him, finger jabbing into his polo shirt.

"Oh, so this is all my fault? You know this is exactly why I didn't wanna talk about it!"

"You said a one time thing."

You frown, confused at Steve's words.

"What?"

"You said a one time thing..." Steve's eyes glance at your lips.

"Yeah but... You don't want to..."

"Actually, I do... Actually, I think its a pretty good plan. No first date nerves, no worrying about if they wanna see you again. Just sex..."

"Steve, stop humoring me," You sighed.

Steve pulled you closer to him, now pressing you into the counter with his own body.

"Does it feel like I'm humoring you?" He whispered in your ear.

You gasp.

Where Steve was pressing himself against you, you could feel a long firmness pressing into your hip that was unmistakably a hard on.

"Ever since our conversation, it's all I've thought about all day. Think it's probably the longest I've gone without thinking about Nancy," He stops to push some hair out of your face. "So yeah. If you still wanna do this, I wanna do this."

You stop, thinking about what he's just said and realize, You've barely thought about Eddie since this morning. Pretty much all day, your thought's were consumed by Steve... by this.

You lean you head back to get a better look at Steve. His pupils are blown wide, his mouth slightly ajar.

The air is thick with a sexual tension that you didn't realize you and Steve were capable of creating.

He looks down at your lips, waiting for you to make the first move. You can feel his heartbeat thumping against his chest where your hand is still pressed up against him.

You run both hands slowly up his chest until they reach the whisps of hair at the base of his neck, fingers tangling in and tugging. Steve nudges his nose against yours gently before finally pressing his lips to yours.

It feels strange at first. Steve is kissing you. Steve is kissing you. And then you relax.

Fingers bury themselves into his hair, pulling and tugging. His hands grip your hips and press you harder against the counter.

He's making out with you like a man starved of physical affection, tongue slipping into your mouth making you whimper.

"Steve..." You breathe out against his lips.

He's panting, still pressing himself into you.

"Ugh, say that again," He breathes into your ear, now moving his kisses to your jaw, your neck and finally he's sucking on your throat making you gasp again.

"Steve," You say louder this time, panting out his name.

His leg at some point had made its way between yours and was slowly grinding up against your core, making your eyes roll back.

"Break room?" You ask, still trying to catch your breath.

"Yeah," He nods eagerly.

He presses you against every wall on the way, still making out with you, walking you backwards through the door until the back of your legs hit the break room table.

Steve's hands fumble with the buttons on your shirt, undoing each one and you shuffle to get your arms out of the sleeves before untucking Steve's polo and pulling it above his head. He then starts undoing his belt before you smack his hands away and pull him closer to you, slipping it out of his beltloops and tossing it somewhere in the room.

You grab the back of his neck, pulling his mouth back down to yours and nibble on his bottom lip eliciting a loud groan from him.

"Oh," He whimpers against your mouth, "Oh god, Y/N."

Your other hand palms him over his jeans before popping the button and dragging the zip down. Your hand reaches in and continues its ministrations.

Steve lets out another load groan.

He pushes you back and starts to kiss his way down your chest. Sucking just outside the cup of your bra.

"Oh, Steve!"

He stops what he's doing and looks up at you. Even though you're friends he takes a moment to appreciate how beautiful you look like this. Sweaty, panting and your eyes half lidded.

"You like that?" He asks.

You open your eyes and look at him, "Don't get cocky Harrington."

Steve huffs out a laugh, "Alright, Alright. We doing this or what."

"Hey, you're the one who stopped not me," You laugh.

Steve grins, shaking his head and you sit up to undo your jeans, pulling them down as Steve does the same with his own.

"Nice undies," You say, smirking whilst nodding towards his checkered boxers.

"Shut up," Steve whines.

"Or what?" You challenge.

Steve smirks, "Or I'll make you shut up."

You're about to reply when Steve sinks to his knees and starts mouthing at your thighs, making his way closer to your center, turning you into a moaning mess.

His nose nudges against your panties and he starts to pull them down, a string of wetness still connecting them to you. Steve's mouth hangs open.

"You get this wet for me?" He sounds almost surprised.

"What'd I tell you about being co- Oh my god! Steve!"

He licked a stripe up the whole of your pussy before he finds your clit, toying with it expertly with his tongue.

Your head bangs against the table as you writhe around in pleasure.

"Fuck... Yes!"

Steve, still toying with your clit moves his large hands from your thighs, giving them a squeeze as he does and slowly pushes two of his fingers into your pussy. He moves them in and out of you, each thrust deeper than the last until you're screaming his name.

"Oh god, Steve! Don't stop... Fuck!" You scream.

Steve removes himself from your pussy with a loud smacking noise. Fingers still pushing in and out of you at an agonizingly slow pace, he kisses his way up your body until you're face to face again.

He gives you a short kiss before asking, "You sure you wanna do this?" A small crease of concern visible in his brow.

"Bit late for that now isn't it?" You ask breathlessly, still grinding onto his fingers.

Steve looks at you, eyes flitting between both of yours, looking for an answer.

"It's not too late. I mean it... If you've changed your mind, then we can stop whenever you want," Steve says it with such sincerity.

You stop your movements for a few seconds, Your eyes searching Steve's big brown ones. Your hand comes up to push his hair back, out of his face and you pull him back down to you again, giving him a slow, deep kiss.

"I want to do this Steve. I haven't changed my mind."

You give him a small, genuine smile and he mirrors your expression, a relieved grin taking over his face.

"Okay, good, me too."

With that, Steve takes a second to shimmy out of his boxers and gives himself a couple of pumps before lining himself up with you. You look down before he pushes in and your eyes go wide at the sheer size of him.

"Holy shit Steve! How long have you been packing that?" You exclaim, now feeling a little nervous. Steve was huge, bigger than you'd expected him to be.

He looks back at you, brows furrowed once again. "Is it... Gonna be a... A problem?" He asks timidly.

You raise your eyebrows at him.

"No, I just... Wasn't expecting you to be quite that big is all."

Steve's looking at you, now unsure how to proceed, lost in his own thoughts again.

"Steve," You say, regaining his attention, "You can carry on, just... Maybe start off slow," You let out with a nervous huff.

With one last look at you, Steve pumps himself again before you feel him run his tip up and down your pussy, making you shiver slightly in anticipation.

"Stop teasing," You whimper.

"Sorry."

And finally, with a loud groan, Steve pushes in.

Your mouth falls open in a silent gasp as Steve sits, buried deep within you. He stops, cock now completely sheathed by your pussy.

You're face to face, breathing in eachothers gasps. Steve kisses your lips before letting out a sharp breath.

"Oh god, please tell me I can move now," He whines pathetically, making you grin.

"You can move."

Steve didn't need to be told twice. He pulls out and pushes back in once slowly and then he's like a wild animal. Desperately pushing in and out of you, shaking the table underneath you. One hand comes around your thigh and pushes it back, making you moan loudly at the new angle Steve has created.

In all the years that stories had circulated at school about what a sex god Steve Harrington was, how amazing he was in bed. None of them compared to this. Never did you imagine he would actually be this good.

One of your hands comes up between you and runs through his chest hair, tugging lightly before sliding up even further and carding through his hair.

A relieved sigh falls from your open mouth as Steve sucks on your neck. He was right, this was exactly what you needed to forget the pain. The feeling of intimacy, the closeness to another person and the high of your impending orgasm. For these few moments with Steve, your mind was at peace.

"Oh, shit... I'm getting close," Steve pants.

"Ugh... Me too... Oh, Steve!" At your words, Steve had brought a finger to circle at your clit, sending you even closer to your orgasm.

With the hand that's in Steve's hair you bring him closer to you, your mouth working his once more. Deviously, you purposely clench your pussy around Steve, squeezing him, milking his dick. Steve lets out an animalistic growl before shouting your name as he comes within you.

The feeling of Steve's cock pulsing as he comes sends you hurtling over the edge, your orgasm washing over you as you moan his name one last time.

Steve pulls out and flops down next to you on the table. You lay in a comfortable silence for a minute, the only sound being both of you panting as you try to regain your breaths.

Steve turns his head to look at you.

"How was it?" He asks genuinely.

Still facing the ceiling you answer him.

"Well, the stories are true... You definitely know your way around that area."

Steve starts chuckling and after a second you join in.

================================================

Once you've both finally regained your strength, you start searching for your various items of clothing and get dressed.

Steve starts setting things in motion to shut the store, locking the back door and flipping off lights as you tidy up the mess you've both made in the break room and sort out your messy hair.

You grab both yours and Steve's jackets, handing him his as he meets you back in the doorway to the breakroom.

You both head towards the main door, shrugging your jackets on.

"Right, I'll see you tomorrow morning?" Steve asks.

"What?" You say puzzled.

"For work," Steve says as if you're stupid, confusion now gone from your face as you remember that you, Steve and Robin have another shift together tomorrow. "What, you didn't think I was gonna give you an early morning wakeup call did you?" Steve adds cheekily.

"Wha- No... Oh shut up!" You laugh again, shoving his shoulder as you go to leave.

"Although," He says following you out the door before turning to lock it behind you both, "If you ever want one just let me know," He continues his teasing.

"Steve!" You huff out with another laugh.

"Alright, alright, I'm done," He turns back to you now with a sincere expression, "Thanks, by the way. This was great, totally took my mind off... You know," Steve lifts a hand and scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Me too. Thanks Steve," You give him a genuine smile as he stands there gawking stupidly.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home," You instruct, corners of your lips still lifted.

Steve looks as if he's suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Eyebrows lifted he backs away in the direction of his car.

"Right, See you tomorrow, Friend," He grins, putting emphasis on the word 'friend'.

"See you tomorrow, friend," You return with a grin of your own as he finally turns away from you to get in his car. You start walking in the other direction to do the same.

As you sit in the drivers seat you look at your reflection in the mirror and think about how much happier you look since this morning. Still tired, yes. But significantly happier.

You can still hear Dustin crying next to you but all you see right now is Eddie, soaking him up for however long he has left.

You lean forward and kiss him for the second and last time. His bloodied lips struggle against yours as he tries to find the strength to reciprocate.

"I love you Eddie," You choke out. And as you pull back, you see that he's gone, his eyes staring but not seeing. You and Dustin sit with him a while longer, you still cradling the body of your best friend, the man you loved.

================================================

You gasp and wake suddenly, startled by your reoccurring dream of Eddie's last moments. You lift a hand to your cheek and feel a dampness where the tears in your dream had bled through to reality.

You reach for the glass of water on your bedside table and take a sip to steady your nerves.

It was rare in the last two months that you had a full nights sleep. Not since you had all been in the upside down and Eddie had died.

Nancy, Steve and Robin had all succeeded in killing Vecna, El had managed to close the gates, Max was in a coma and everyone in Hawkins had gone back to normal, or as normal as Hawkins could get.

And then there was you, who was also expected to go back to normal. But how could you when the one person that made everything seem better, the one person who despite being dressed so darkly made each day brighter, was no longer here.

You get up and decide to stop dwelling on your nightmares for now, though they're still there in the back of your mind.

Looking over at your bedside table you find that you have just under an hour to get ready for work at the video store.

================================================

Your car pulls up in the parking lot outside Family Video. You look down at your watch and see that there's still ten minutes before your shift starts and decide to get a well needed coffee from the café next door, picking one up for Steve and Robin too.

Five minutes of queueing and two minutes of frothing later you were entering the doors of Family video to a very grumpy looking Steve standing behind the front desk and a few loud banging noises coming from the stock room that you could only assume was Robin.

His elbow was leaning on the desk whilst his head was resting in his palm, frown plastered on his face.

"You know, I don't think you're gonna sell many copies of Top Gun looking like that," you remark as you walk up to him.

He huffs and lifts his eyes to meet yours.

When you started working here, it'd taken you a while to warm up to Steve. You got on with Robin immediately, like a house on fire. You'd had a preconceived opinion of Steve from all the stories about how much of a jerk he was in high school. But after a couple of weeks working with him and a day where Robin had called in sick, leaving you to work alone together, you'd found that he was very different to the Steve you'd heard about and was in fact, a decent guy.

"Is that coffee?" He asks hopefully.

You scoff, "Help yourself Dingus, I got you the lowest fat option available. I know how you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Says Robin, finally appearing from the stock room. "That despite you working in an ice cream shop for a whole summer -meaning you get all the free ice cream you want - the only thing you would help yourself to was the bananas. You, Steve Harrington, are a health Dingus."

Steve rolls his eyes at Robins words.

"Oh! Coffee! Thanks," Says Robin, already downing too much for a steaming hot cup, hence why you requested the barista put more cold in hers.

Steve takes a swig out of his cup, still quiet but he nods his head at you in thanks.

"Well, I'm gonna go hang up my jacket. I'll be back in a sec," You head towards the back to slip your denim jacket onto your hook, a sticky label with your name on above it. Next to yours is one that says Robin and next to hers is a sticky label with Steve scratched out and Dingus written above it instead, courtesy of Robin.

You check yourself in the small, square staff mirror next to the coat hooks. You look tired as you observe your reflection, now twiddling with the pick necklace around your throat.

Wayne had given it to you, saying that after some serious thought that he was sure Eddie would've wanted you to have it. You lift it to your lips, kissing the pick quickly before leaving.

You head back onto the shopfloor, still tugging your dark green Family Video vest over your shirt.

"I swear these things get itchier each day. You know, I don't think Keith ever washes them..." You say as you clock yourself in on the computer behind Steve. He still remains silent. Just you and him behind the counter - Robin having left to help a customer pick out a movie - you move to stand beside him so you can see his face better.

He has a soft frown on his face like he's deep in thought, brow creased and his eyes wide and sad.

"You okay?" You ask him softly. He looks up suddenly and turns his head towards you, as if just realizing that you must be talking to him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, no I'm... I'm fine," You give him a somewhat disbelieving look.

"You sure? You're kinda quiet..."

Steve opens his mouth to reply but at that moment the bell rings. a tall, beautiful, dark haired woman walks in - one of your regulars who always gets served by Steve. Her eyes light up as soon as she sees him behind the front desk and she heads over.

"Hey Steve! I was wondering if you'd be able to help me with some recommendations?" Steve barely lifts his gaze, clearly disinterested.

"What kinda movie you after?" He drawls in a bored tone.

Not quite catching onto Steve's mood, she continues in a light, hopeful and somewhat nervous voice.

"Well I was," The woman clears her throat. "I was hoping you could recommend something good for a date?"

Steve reaches into the trolley of movies waiting to be reshelved, grabs the first one at the top of the pile and hands it to her.

"Try this one."

She looks down at the copy of 'My Little Pony : The Movie' that Steve had handed her and frowns but decides to continue with what must've been a carefully constructed plan.

"The erm... The only problem is that I have no one to watch it on a date with... Any er, any ideas on how to fix that," She sets up his opportunity to suggest he go on said date with her. Her eyes are hopeful as she gazes at him.

Steve, already ringing her up at the till simply says, "You want a bag for that?"

Your mouth drops open in shock.

"Oh... No, thanks," She takes the video from his hand looking quite deflated, turns on her heel and leaves.

Steve's already standing back in his spot looking mopey when you turn to him.

"What the hell was that? She was totally asking you out on a date!"

"What?" He frowns at you again, looking confused.

"Oh my god Steve! What's up with you?"

"Look, it's nothing okay. I'm just not in the mood for flirting with random girls today. Just let it go."

He's avoiding your eyes, something that in the past you had found to be a telltale sign that he was lying to you.

"Hey," Your tone of voice softens and you put a hand on his shoulder making him look at you as you ask, "What's really going on with you? You can talk to me you know."

A look of defeat crosses his features.

"I just... I," He huffs, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue, "I went grocery shopping before work this morning 'cause I was out of milk, then I realized I was out of eggs and laundry detergent as well so- uh, anyway. I got all my shopping and I was waiting in the checkout que and I heard this beautiful laugh that I'd recognize anywhere, so I look a few tills over and there's... Nancy and Jonathan."

Steve's eye's go big and sad again as his frown returns.

"I know its stupid and they've been together for a couple of years now but... I guess just after everything with Vecna and how we were together it just, it just really seemed like I could get her back for a while there." Steve pauses, running his hand through his hair. "I mean, I wasn't the only one that thought it. I had Dustin nagging me about it in one ear and Robin in the other, even Eddie said-"

He seems to realize his mistake a second too late and pinches his nose between his finger and thumb. You reach up and twiddle your necklace at the mention of Eddie's name, a sharp stabbing pain going right through your heart. Steve, now feeling like an idiot, looks at your fallen expression and your watery eyes.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking... Here I am whining because Nancy doesn't love me when you're going through all this."

Steve continues apologizing, his hand waving around. You grab his shoulder again, this time to stop his apologetic spiel.

"Steve, Steve, it's okay! No I- It's okay Steve!" He stops waving his hands around and finally stops apologizing. "I mean, we're both kinda in the same situation really."

Steve narrows his eyes in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're both in love with someone we can't have, we're both trying to move on and we're both hurting right now. I mean it's different but kinda the same," You lean back on the counter.

"I guess so, when you put it like that,"

"I've not had much experience in the dating world but, you have... How would you normally get over someone?"

Steve's eyebrows raise in thought and his toned arm reaches towards his neck to scratch it awkwardly.

"Well, uh... Normally... Normally I'd just have a fling," Steve clears his throat awkwardly.

"A fling?"

"Yeah, I'd go on a date with some random girl and just have some meaningless sex. You know, just get it out of my system."

Steve looks over at the sci-fi section where Robin can be heard trying to explain to her customer why Star Trek and Star Wars are not the same and that his date wont be happy if he whips out Star Trek as a substitute.

He sighs and looks back at you, who is currently eyeing him curiously.

"Honestly," He starts, "I don't wanna go on a date with anybody right now. I just got my heart broken again, by the same girl. The last thing I feel like doing is buying flowers and going on a date with some girl I don't wanna be with 'cause she's not Nancy... I don't wanna waste my time or theirs, so I don't know what to do..."

He sighs again and slumps back into what seems to be his new favorite position on the counter. You decide to join him and press your jaw into your palm, your other hand starts to play with the slinky between you on the desk.

"I know what you mean. To be honest with you I don't want to go on a date with anyone unless it's Eddie, not at the minute at least."

Steve turns his attention from your hand toying with the slinky to your face again.

"You're right, we are in the same situation."

You turn to look at him, you mimic the gentle smile lifting his his lips. Your eyebrows furrow as briefly, a thought enters your mind. You and Steve are in the same situation. Maybe you and Steve could-

Robin suddenly appears in front of you both.

"Honestly, I just spent the last thirty minutes serving that guy and he said he'll come back tomorrow... I don't wanna serve that guy tomorrow or today, couldn't he have at least wrapped it up in one visit!"

She looks between the two of you, "Have either of you done any work since I went over there or do I have to do everything?" She says grabbing hold of the trolley of tapes waiting to be reshelved. You snap out of whatever crazy thought you were about to have.

"Oh god, Robin I'm sorry, I'll do that, You go and head off on your break," You say rounding the desk and taking the trolley from her hands.

"You sure you can handle Mr Grumpy while I'm gone?" she asks cheekily.

"Ha ha," Comes as a sarcastic reply from Steve.

"He'll be fine, go enjoy your lunch."

Robin thanks you and skips happily off to eat her tuna sandwich.

"Hey, you good?" You ask Steve.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm gonna head to the stock room and do some inventory. Give me a call if we suddenly get a load of customers."

With one last huff, Steve turns and heads towards the stock room. You watch him as he goes, one thought replaying in your head.

You and Steve are in the same situation...

================================================

A/N Hope you all enjoyed! chapter 2 should be up soon if I can get my arse in gear as It's very nearly done.

I don't know how many parts this will end up being but it is linked to my Fwb!Steve oneshot as well, so give that a read if you're thirsty for more as that will be making an appearance in the fic eventually.