When I was a baby, I actually crawled backwards. You know, I’d push with my hands like this. Beep. Beep. Always in reverse, you know? Come on, it makes sense. You push to move, right? Well, it did to my tiny Harrington brain. That is, until I reversed my baby butt down a flight of stairs and thumped my head really good.
I think, like, right out of the gate, like, I’m super confident. But I’m also, like, an idiot. Which is just…I mean, it’s a brutal combination. But, I mean, the good news is, I get a big enough thump on my head, I can change, you know? I can learn. I can crawl forward.
JOE KEERY as STEVE HARRINGTON
Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2
summary: steve feels a strange, totally new ‘thing’ when he sees you interacting with the kids, making him imagine things he shouldn’t just yet and unintentionally blurts out something you shouldn't hear just yet.
pairing: steve harrington x female!reader
word count: 2.5k
warnings: fluff, talks about future, established relationship, soft!steve, shy!steve, just a LOT of fluff and comfort<3
english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!
Max threw you a look, face hard, but eyes bright and uncertain, fearful, even. “You don't have to stay, you know?”
You simply sighed, giving her a small reassuring smile, she shivered slightly as you rested a hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze in a soothing manner. “Hey, stop that already, we're in this together, alright? We are going to take that Vecna bitch down together. I won't let him get near you again, so I have to keep a close eye on—”
The redhead interrupted you, wrapping her arms around your torso and basically pulling herself against your body, squeezing you tightly in a, grateful embrace. Your lips curved into a smile as you rested your hand on top of her head, giving her hair a small caress.
“T—thank you, (Y/N).” She whispered against your chest, closing her eyes tightly, perhaps avoiding crying in front of you, for the last thing she wanted was for one of the few adult people she admired most to see her vulnerable, that made you smile harder and you stroked her shoulders gently. “For— for everything.”
“That's what I'm here for, Max, that's what we're all here for. Always.”
The promising whispering words seemed to lift her spirits a little, for as she finally separated from you, she gave you an honest, almost tearful smile and nodded, giving your hand a final squeeze before heading towards Lucas, who were waiting for her sitting on one of the couches, greeting her with huge smile and encouraging words.
Steve watched the scene with an affectionate smile raised on his lips, easily noticing the admiration and trust not only of Max, but of all the kids in you, you were like their protector and even though it was hard for him to admit it, maybe you were even a better babysitter than he was, and that was saying too much. Maybe that's why he loved you so much, because you really cared about those little shits and the people you loved in general, he was sure you could even sacrifice yourself for them, even if you shouldn't, of course, after all, he himself had been the one who had gotten you into all the shit that the Upside Down brought with it and still, to this day, after having seen and fought against the most disgusting and terrifying creatures, you put everyone before yourself... yes, that's why he loved you. It was undeniable, a fact, Steve Harrington was in love with you to the fucking core.
And how could he not be? It was a question that invaded his head daily, a place where you had already made yourself comfortable quite some time ago, well, basically you lived there already, in his head, daily, even among all the mess and trouble you were living now, with all this Vecna guy and the possessions and murders, even so, you didn't leave his mind, like a magnet with a small metal, like the moon orbiting around the earth, Steve orbited around you.
And although he tried to suppress it with all his might, it was quite difficult for him to pretend as if he didn't feel his chest fill with a special warmth every time he saw you interact with one of the kids, a funny feeling fluttered through his stomach and his head projected a thousand images of you, with him and a family, not with just any children, but your children.
And Dustin, being the smartass that he was, immediately noticed the adoring look on his older friend's face, so he smiled knowingly at him, setting the magazine of some video game or something on the small table in front of him and devoting his full attention and mockery towards Steve. “God, you should totally look at your dumb face right now, you're gawking, again.”
Steve rolled his eyes, moving his gaze, pitifully, from you to the teenager sitting on the couch to the side of him, though, of course, your figure managed to be seen out of the corner of his eyes, noting how you were now conversing with Nancy, about, well, girl stuff or something.
His fingers played with the edges of the red-covered magazine between his hands, a magazine he hadn't even spent the slightest time looking at, not even for a second, not even a fraction of it, for his head was elsewhere, too busy thinking about you, naturally.
His countenance changed to a completely serious, even annoyed one as he turned to Dustin, finding him with a huge toothy grin plastered on his face. “Stop it, seriously, it's not funny anymore.”
“Oh God—” Dustin's blue eyes flashed with mockery and amusement, that huge grin still curved on his lips, revealing fully his whitish teeth. “you're blushing now!”
“Shut up, Henderson, okay?” Steve replied in the same exclamation-whispering tone from Dustin, leaning towards him and raising his eyebrows to give him more menacing and serious airs, but his young friend just laughed, noticing how his cheeks reddened even more, furiously, as if he was a damn little kid. This caused Steve's jaw to clench tightly and he pointed the magazine. now squeezed between his fingers at the teenager, glaring at him menacingly. “Hey, stop it, right now! Get out of here, dude.”
Dustin made a funny face at him as he stood up and walked over to Max and Lucas, who were calling his name, before leaving the room, talking about how they would sleep that night. Not before saying good night to everyone, of course, Max giving you a huge smile. Nancy and Robin followed the trio closely, the latter throwing a knowing glance at Steve before disappearing out the door. He just rolled his eyes with an amused smile.
When you returned to the center of the room and back to your boyfriend, Steve was already looking at you, of course, soft, gentle brown eyes analyzing curiously the large blanket you were carrying in your arms and by the time you stopped in front of him, a gentle smiled invaded your lips. At this, Steve's eyes sparkled brighter and your smile stuck to him, flashing a goofier one, showing how foolishly in love he was with you.
“Looks like we get the couch all to ourselves tonight.” You said, raising your eyebrows and the blanket in your arms.
He smiled back at you right away as he was standing up, helping you with the blanket and pillow and positioning them on the couch and without further ado, plopped down on it, turning to look at you, his fingers instinctively sought your touch, trapping your thighs between them and caressing your skin gently, pulling you towards him until you were right between his spread legs.
Your hands rested on his broad shoulders, fingers moving up until they ended up brushing his hair, removing the strands that were blocking the sight of his pretty face looking up at you, always so lovingly.
His expression turned to a hesitant one and his fingers taped nervously against your thighs.
“You know, you're pretty good with the kids.” His tone of voice remained cautious, low, as if he was entering territory he'd never even looked at, testing the waters with you, new boundaries. His thumbs stroked circles around your thighs over your jeans. “You're a natural with them.”
“Someone has to take care of them, you know. Max is all alone, her mother doesn't care and Billy is gone. She's just a kid.” Your chest tightened as you remembered how really scared the redhead had been once she had gotten out of Vecna's grip, you remembered mentally thanking whatever it was that had convinced her to fight and not give up. You were all so scared, Max shivering in your arms, sobbing quietly against your shoulder. “She doesn't deserve any of this. None of them does.”
Steve agreed with you with a nod of his head. “I'm sure she loves you more than her own mother, they all do. You do the job so well. You're so good with her, baby, with all of them.” With a gentle movement of his arms, he drew you into his lap, hands circling your waist carefully, drawing you down and into him, his back fully against the back of the sofa, allowing you to settle comfortably on his strong thighs now, face mere inches from yours, eyes gazing at you with pure adoration. “You will be such an amazing mom to our kids.”
His fingers caressing your cheeks and jaw stopped short as the words seemed to escape his mouth with no control over them. He closed his mouth tightly and closed his eyes for a moment, looking totally embarrassed now.
He quickly hurried to apologize, watching you stare at him in complete silence. His hands dropped from your face, pulling away from you as far as he could. Soon enough, he panicked in front of you, back straightening stiffly, his whole body rigid under you.
“Uhm— Fuck, I didn't mean that, I— I'm a complete idiot, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—“
“You— have you thought about having kids with me?” Your abrupt but soft question interrupted his non-stop chatter, making him raise his head, letting you see how really flushed and nervous he was with the situation, although he didn't hesitate in any second to nod, biting his lower lip subconsciously.
But he proceeded to shake his head slightly a second after, allowing you to smell the sweet aroma of his shampoo as his hair swayed with the movement. “I— I've seen you with the kids and— and it's impossible not to think about it— and— and, honestly? It's just a silly thought, it's nothing—”
Your giggle invaded the room, rising above his stuttering, stopping him immediately.
He looked back at you with confusion, almost fearful, his cheeks turning redder than ever as he felt your hands reach around his waist to caress it over his t-shirt, his firm chest expanding under your fingertips due to his so flushed state as he breathed shakily.
“You're not... mad?” He dared to ask, sometimes his eyes darting down to his hands over your lap, fingers fidgeting between, nervously.
“No, baby, it's cute, you're adorable.” You religiously placed loving kisses on his face, down his cheekbones, jawline, to his neck. His hands now squeezing your thighs lightly as your lips reached that soft spot that made him basically melt under your touch. You could feel him tremble under your body as you kissed the cute moles scattered all over his neck. His exquisite cologne and scent turning overwhelmingly intoxicating all around you. “Have you been imagining me as mom, Steve? Is that it?”
Steve sighed under your kisses, his eyes closing and letting himself be carried away by your warmth, your lips, your touch on him, your power over him. “Mhm, yes, b— but as the mom of my kids.”
Soon enough, the atmosphere changed, a tension rose between you two and it seemed to push itself further to the edge with each kiss you spread on Steve's warm skin.
He just was sighing incessantly under you, his hands making their own way up your thighs, hips and waist. He subconsciously lifted his chin, giving you more space over his skin to guide your lips on.
His eyes opened again the instant you took your face off his neck, your fingers played with the neck of his t-shirt, fastening the buttons you had unbuttoned subconsciously, blushing slightly under his attentive brown gaze, dark this time, but always so soft and adoring towards you. Curiosity rose in them, though, uncertainty too.
“But, it's kind of silly, really, it's not important, I know it's rushed and kind of stupid to think about that, I mean,” His eyes traveled to his fingers caressing your hips as he spoke softly, you encouraged him when your fingers delicately traced his jaw, tilting his chin up to look at you again, making him smile as he met those bright, caring eyes he loved so much looking back at him, “we've been together for two years now, but...” his hand picked up a strand of hair. brushing your hair behind your ear, gently brushing your cheekbone, “I feel like you're really the one, you know? I'd love to spend my whole life with you and have our house, a dog maybe and... start a family, make that house a home... although wherever you are, I will always belong there, with you.” Steve shrugged, running a hand through his hair as a sign of his obvious nervousness. “So yeah, I do imagine things sometimes— and you can't blame me either, I mean, you're the most beautiful girl I know and God you are so good. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you, babe.”
A smile had spread across your lips and your cheeks felt hot, overwhelmed by all his words.
“God, you are so beautiful.” The compliment and his sparkling as the culmination of everything he had just confessed had you nearly melting in his lap, his lips pronouncing your name as if he were reciting the most most romantic, passionate poem, like a promise. His tone of voice remained low, soft and he smiled shyly at you, leaning up a bit to place a small kiss on your lips, gently squeezing your hips. Before pulling away from your face again, he nuzzled his nose against yours affectionately, noticing the shock on your pretty features. “You— you don't have to say anything, okay? I just wanted to, like, get that off my chest.”
His words were pushed out by an awkward giggle, making you grin once again at his deeply embarrassed state.
“I've thought about it too.” You finally declared, after a couple of seconds and a couple of sweet kisses on his lips too. His eyes shone brightly when you spoke, like stars twinkling in the night, light in the dark. Your thumb traced his lower lip now, which moved from time to time when he smiled, Steve always smiled when you were around, he just couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot. “You're everything I want, Steve. Everything.”
You smiled sheepishly at him before leaning into his body, hiding your face against his neck, you immediately felt his strong arms wrapping around you, taking hold of the blanket and covering you both with it as well. Your lips brushing against his sensitive skin made him felt shiver from head to toe, your warmth and soft scent enveloping him completely.
“I would love to spend the rest of my life with you too.”
Steve could have jumped right there from the joy that washed over him when he heard your sweet voice, shouted, raised his arms in victory, but all he did was kiss your forehead.
Suddenly, he felt longing for the future, for what everything would be like, what your house would be like, your shared room, the meals you would prepare, your dog... and your children, he could almost hear the perfect, melodious sound of your laughter mingling with those softest and babyish of them. He felt his cheeks heat up just thinking about it.
But a huge smile curved his mouth. He was so happy.
You could perfectly feel the smile on his lips when they brushed your skin, making you hug him tighter, as if he was some dream come true, although if he was one, it was the most beautiful dream you had ever had ad you would punch so hard in the face whoever would even think of waking you.
You were so happy. Steve made you happy.
“I love you.” He whispered against your hair, already noticing how you had fallen asleep in his arms, the steady beat of his heart making you feel safe, at home.
The feeling of forever had never felt so close to him, with every moment you were together, with every kiss, every touch, every ‘I love you’, every promise. You were his forever.
summary: after a near-death situation while you were literally in hell, it really was what it took for eddie and you to finally address your feelings for each other.
pairing: eddie munson x harrington!reader
word count: 2.4k
warnings: fluff, love confessions, eddie being a total softie for the reader, some injuries, blood.
english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!
“This is so wrong.” Eddie muttered under his breath as he watched with narrowed and worried eyes the wounds marking and bloodying your abdomen now, made by the nastiest creatures you had ever seen, you were thankful that the Upside Down was dark, as it probably would have scared you more to see them directly what they looked like, as you had only managed to make out a few silhouettes.
Nancy was looking at you, pitifully watching your face contract in pain. “As soon as we get out of here, we'll get you to a hospital, (Y/N).”
“Relax guys, they're not too deep as they seem, I promise.” You gave them a small smile, trying to calm thrm down, something that completely failed, as all four of them gave you a disapproving look, not believing your act of playing strong. You rolled your eyes, letting out a small sigh of defeat. “I'll be fine.”
“I told you to stay on land, shit, (Y/N).” Steve mumbled, uttering your name as an exasperated grumble under his breath as he pulled the fabric of one of your t-shirt sleeves around your abdomen, squeezing hard to make it stop the bleeding, making you let out a whimper as you gritted your teeth and eyes, throwing your head back in the cave, mumbling a couple of bad words to yourself. Your older brother sighed, standing up and resting a hand on your shoulder, seeking your gaze, his eyes shining with concern and pure regret even amidst all the darkness. You could see it through him, he felt really guilty, like everything that was happening was his fault, like he had forced you to jump off the boat to his rescue. “Shit, this is all my fault, shit!”
“Well, it doesn't always have to be you who ends up beaten up, Stevie.” You smiled at him, trying to cover the pain, but he just sighed, shaking his head.
“Just rest for a while, take a good breath, I'll get you out of here, okay?” Steve gave you an apologetic little smile, squeezing your shoulder once more before turning on his heels so he could look at the others with his brow furrowing, letting everyone see how truly worried and desperate he was. “How the hell do we get out of here?! Those bat-shits were guarding the gate, Vecna must know we're here by now. I can't let her be in any more danger, we have to get the hell out of here. Now.”
Eddie looked more anxious and worried than anyone else, he kept staring at you, trying to read the expressions on your face, wanting with all his might to take all your pain away, that you would pass all your pain on to him, he would gladly do it. He knew you didn't deserve any of it, but God, you had been so brave to jump right there to defend your brother and all of them of that disgusting bat creatures without even hesitating for a second. You were fearless, he had always known that, but now you had really caught him by surprise, it shocked him, even. You were amazing.
“Guys, we need to make a plan and fast.” Robin stated, sharing a look with Nancy and Steve, before the three of them walked out of the cave and talked about whatever it was the adults talk about, leaving you behind with Eddie.
He made his way towards you, taking off his leather jacket as he took steps, until he was in front of you, reaching out his hand with it, offering it to you.
“Take it, I don't want you to freeze to death- actually I don't want you to have anything to do with death right now.” His tone of voice remained calm, even soft, among all that situation, you always managed to find comfort in his voice, when he sang you songs or just talked to you about DnD or whatever, you liked to listen to it.
Eddie saw you snort lightly at his words. It made his heart warm.
“You're more worried about me getting cold than being trapped in another dimension?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow on your forehead, but with that smirk you always gave him, only him, that smirk he loved so damn much.
He just rolled his eyes, opening the jacket between his hands and resting it on your shoulders gently, a shiver ran through you from head to toe as you felt him so close to you, his fingers brushing against the skin of your bare arm once he dropped his jacket over it. The rings between his fingers glowing faintly in the dim light, grazing their coldness against your warm skin.
Immediately the smell of weed, cheap cologne and mint invaded your nostrils, recognizing the scent almost familiarly, his scent. It became so annoying how actually hard it was for you not to melt under his touch right there.
“There you go,” he mused once he made sure you had the leather jacket on properly, he stepped back a bit so he could look at you fully, raising his eyebrows before returning to his spot to the side of you, sitting down next to you and leaning against the rock of the cave behind his back, “it even looks better on you than it does on me, it's ridiculous.”
You let out a small chuckle, snuggling further into the jacket, resting your hands inside his pockets, thankful that your fingers didn't touch any sort of small plastic bag inside, as you would most likely smoke everything you could find at the moment.
“What are you talking about, Munson?” You asked him, mockery clinging to your tongue. “I probably look like a broken punching bag that's been beaten up for a full day non-stop right now and I'm sure a leather jacket doesn't make it any better."
At the tone of your voice, Eddie looked at you incredulously, letting out a soft snort, almost as if you were speaking from the most wrong point possible, he shook his head as he frowned slightly. “You always look good, even if you think otherwise and you know it, (Y/N).” He smoothly pushed his shoulder against yours, making you laugh softly. “Always good. It’s really annoying at this point, honestly. ”
You were the one frowning this time, looking at him with exaggerated surprise, both of your eyebrows rising on your forehead and your big eyes sparkling, seeing you as one of the most adorable things he had ever seen in his whole miserable life. “Wait... you're saying you think I'm pretty, Eddie, is that it?”
He just rolled his eyes, smiling, his cute smile glowing in the darkness of the place, always flashing against your eyes. A flutter rose in the pit of your stomach and you were sure it wasn't from the wounds. “You're such a dork, Harrington. But, yeah, a hundred percent yes.”
You smiled involuntarily, lowering your gaze to your lap, where your hands now fiddled with each other, demonstrating a rather obvious nervous body language. Without having to tell you anything else, he managed to make you nervous, it was truly unbelievable.
You liked Eddie. Of course you liked Eddie. In the time you had known him, he had been one of the nicest and coolest people to you, he was cool... with his messy hair, radiant and vivid dark eyes, sassy smile, cool clothes, flawless musical taste. And the way he treated you... he made you feel like you really mattered, exactly the way you were, you didn't have to pretend anything when you were with him. You were you, not a ninja or whatever Steve had advised you to be.
And even though you felt sorry for everything he'd had to go through over the last week and that he really was in the freaking Upside Down with you, it made you feel so much safer and happier that he was, in fact, right there with you.
Steve had at first been reluctant to believe that the Eddie Munson was good company for you, as he blindly believed that he was a complete bad influence, even though he trusted you and knew that you wouldn't make friends with just anyone, he had never completely trusted Eddie, until now. He could see how much you cared for each other and now he understood why you thought he was so great, because he, indeed was so cool as you always said, but it wasn't something he would accept out loud.
“Thanks for helping me with this whole... mess, I honestly wouldn't have known what to do without you guys showing up.” Eddie's voice broke the silence that had formed, his serious tone caught your attention, so you returned your gaze to him, finding him with his eyes on you already, full of pure honesty, with a special shine reflecting through them. “Without you showing up.”
“Don't worry about it, now you're in a much worse mess.” You replied in a teasing voice, gently bumping your shoulder against his again, making him snort. “You weren't supposed to jump off the boat, you know? You didn't have a reason to.”
“I had no reason to?” He repeated, his brow furrowing, voice turning offended. “Saving your pretty ass was all the reason I needed to jump off that boat. I-it was all I thought about, honestly.” You resisted all the desire to smile like a fool right there at his words and again lowered your gaze to your hands, at least you tried, because Eddie's hand landed on your chin and made you turn your head back to him with the most great delicacy, and this time, you could feel how the lost blood returned to your body and rose to your face, blushing under his attentive gaze. “I mean, how could I be brave enough to ask you out if I wasn't brave enough to save you?” He whispered, you could feel his warm breath hit your lips, which parted. “Although well, the one that ended up saving me was you. It's always been you.”
You took his hand in yours, lowering it almost subconsciously, while you looked at him in confusion, almost uncertain, totally surprised. “Did... did you want to ask me out?”
Your voice sounded low, incredulous, hesitant. But Eddie, on the other hand, was completely sure aboutb his words.
“Of course I wanted to ask you out– I was planning on doing it a few days ago, you know, before...” his voice trailed off suddenly and he shook his head gently, causing his hair to move with the movement, “before it all happened. I had a little practice rehearsal and everything. I really wanted it to be perfect. I even practiced with Henderson. That little shit couldn't stop teasing me about it...” he smiled even more sadly as he recalled Dustin's words on his mind, “and now we're here.”
The more he talked, the more disappointment and sadness you could see on his face, so you decided to try to comfort him, giving him a soft smile.
“Well, we can still go out, you know.” You suggested, your thumb gently stroking the back of his hand affectionately. “After all this shit is over-”
But Eddie shook his head, his hand separating from yours as he stands up and begins to walk from side to side in front of you, your head swaying as you followed him attentively.
“—and you're bleeding and we're stuck in this shit and honestly? I feel like I'll go nuts if anything else happens to you, so now I have to act like the hero I've never been and never will be, because that's the least you deserve, 'cause, well, because you're you—” Anxiousness creeping into the expression on his face, frantic eyes watching you down now, fingers trailing up your shoulders delicately until they reached your face, cradling it affectionately. His thumbs traced soft caresses over your cheeks, following your jaw and cheekbones, big eyes taking your loving gaze staring back at him and you could swear seeing a special gleam flashed through his eyes, “And you're the coolest, prettiest person I know.”
“We're going to get out of this, Eds.” You promised him in a low, calm tone, as if your belly wasn't literally bleeding out, as if you weren't trapped in another dimension, with a Stephen King book-like creatures and killer stalking you. “Trust me, we've been into stuff like this for a few years now and I assure you, everything will be fine in the end. Nothing is going to happen to me or anyone, last time a couple of people couldn't make it...” Your voice faded away as the ephemeral flashback of the night of the past 4th of July crossed through your mind, making you feel the coldest shiver. Eddie didn't hesitate to gently stroke your cheekbones with his thumbs, intending to comfort you trough his touch. “But, this time, I won't let anything happen to anyone, least of all you, Eddie. 'Cause you know, you're the coolest and prettiest guy I know.”
Right fucking there, Eddie believed you, as if he wasn't trapped in another dimension haunted by creatures and a killer straight out of a Stephen King book. He trusted you, he always had.
And he just smiled at you, really smiled at you, a real, honest, warm, loving smile. And you felt eager, to kiss him, to have him finally eliminate the very little space left between your faces. His dark eyes, but as bright as a starry night, looked at you intently, as if you were the whole world, right in his hands.
You could almost feel his warm, trembling breath against your face—
“Okay, are you done?” Your older brother's voice made you both jump. Eddie jerked back, pulling you away from you and letting out a small whimper as the back of his head hit the rock wall behind him, causing him to close his eyes tightly, embarrased. “You lovebirds done? Because we really need to get out of here if, you know, you guys want to stay alive! C'mon!”
You rolled your eyes as you stood up, blushing as you felt Eddie rush to wrap his arm around your waist, forcing you to lean your weight on him to help you fully up now.
“We'll continue this conversation upstairs, sweetheart.” Eddie whispered against your ear, his breath brushing against your neck, making you shiver from head to toe, though you found it impossible not to smile, blushing. “First, I gotta save your pretty ass.”
“Deal.” You replied, smiling back at him, totally mesmerized.
“Come on!” Steve clapped his hands a couple of times, looking at you reluctantly and totally disgusted by your closeness with Eddie.
But Robin and Nancy shared a knowing glance behind him, both smiling.
summary: steve is jealous of the apparent close friendship you had with eddie munson.
pairing: steve harrington x female!reader
word count: 3.3k
warnings: just a lot of fluff, some insecure!steve, jealous!steve, swearing words
english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!
As soon as Eddie recognized you walking into his drug dealer's boat house, he ran to you, wrapping his arms around your middle and pulling you to him in a tight, warm embrace, dropping the broken bottle he was threatening to cut Steve's throat with, completely forgetting everything else, finally having you close again, after all the hell he had been through and was going through, you were the ray of light he needed.
“God, I thought you had left the country or something, you had me worried sick, Eds.” You murmured against his shoulder, hugging him back and squeezing him in your arms as he lifted you up and gave you a few little twirls, his messy, long hair tickling against your face, his smell of pot and mint enveloping your nose in a familiar way. You had really missed him. “I'm glad you're okay.”
“I'm glad you're here.” Eddie stated once he broke away from you and took to looking at you with an apologetic face, though you could see past that, of course, he was genuinely scared and confused with everything that was going on. “Sorry for disappearing like that, I didn't know what to do, I was so confused and— ”
“Hey.” You interrupted him, raising a hand and resting it on his shoulder in a sign of comforting, trying to relax him. “It's okay, I'm here to help you, we're here to help you, we're all on your side.” A soft, warm smile curved your lips. “We'll explain everything, I know you had nothing to do with anything that's going on here, Eddie. We'll get you out of this, just trust us... trust me, okay?”
“Okay.” Eddie replied, nodding his head and giving you a small smile.
Steve had watched the scene with a raised eyebrow behind your back, noting with narrowed eyes how your fingers stroked Eddie's jacket in a soothing way and how he smiled endlessly towards you, at every word that came out of your mouth.
And he suddenly remembered all the conversations he'd had with you about how just awesome and great Eddie Munson was and how he was practically your best friend now, of course, how could he forget that? He'd had whole afternoons at work thinking about it, how you were so happy when you hung out with him or whem he taught you how to play his super cool electric guitar or how now, apparently you liked listening to metal with him. Metal. You'd never liked metal before. And now this guy just popped up out of nowhere, with his long, crazy hair, such a rebellious and daring personality, and punk outfit and practically changes you completely. And he just takes you away from him, from your boyfriend and best friend.
And it was happening right in front of his eyes.
Steve sighed heavily, analyzing how you now found yourself sitting next to your new best friend, offering him all kinds of food you had bought for him on the way. And Eddie Munson kept smiling at you. And Steve felt stupid at the storm of emotions that seemed to light a fire burning inside his chest.
―――
“So... I see you get along pretty well with this Eddie guy, huh?”
Your eyes traveled to Steve, finding him leaning against a tree, a somewhat serious face, so serious to be him. Arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows slightly furrowed, his brown eyes looked at you doubtfully, almost suspicious. An eyebrow rose above your forehead as you clearly noticed how he was jealous of your troubled friend, who at that very moment was wanted by practically the entire town, of course Steve Harrington would be jealous, even in that specific and dangerous situation.
“What is that supposed to mean?” You asked, setting the soda can down on a small wooden table and devoting all your attention to your boyfriend.
He proceeded to clear his throat, twisting his head slightly, watching you stare at him in disbelief. “I’m just saying. Where do you know him from?”
“Dustin's part of his club, I met him one day when I dropped Dus off at one of their nerdy meetings.” You shrugged, turning your head to look around the garage, seeing your little brother chatting with Eddie through one of the windows. Steve raised an eyebrow this time seeing a small smile rise on your lips as you looked at the pair. “He's been home a couple of times, we hang out sometimes. I knew he could never hurt anyone, I knew this murder has nothing to do with him. He’s very good guy and friend.” You began to explain in a calm tone, finding it impossible not to feel tender and amused at how physically visible jealous your boyfriend was once you returned your eyes back to him, always drawn to him, naturally. So you felt the need to make clear the whole issue and problem that his little head was imagining. “He’s my friend, that’s it.”
But he went on with his display of jealousy, blinded by the feeling, that feeling that always arose inside him, that little voice inside his head that always reminded him how easy it was for you to dump him for someone else, someone better than him, someone cooler than him and apparently, Eddie Munson was just like that. “So he's been in your house?”
“Huh, yes. We’re friends, friends hang out and go to each other’s houses, you know?” Your lips parted, surprise adding to the emotions that were passing over your face, but you decided to hit the target directly, shaking your head disapprovingly at your boyfriend. “Seriously? I can't believe you're actually jealous of Eddie Munson, honey.”
Steve reacted almost instantly upon hearing the word ‘jealous’, bristling and frowning, before rolling his eyes in an over-exaggerated manner, pulling his head back to show how offended he was and how wrong you were.
“I'm not jealous, why would I be? That’s ridiculous, (Y/N).” He shrugged, uncrossing his arms and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, watching his feet for a few moments, before speaking again. “I don't even know the guy, other than from what you said when you spoke of him the other day, which was a lot, considering he’s just some friend. Dustin also told me you guys were pretty close now, I just didn’t realized it was this close.” His eyes looked down at his feet for a few seconds, looking totally avoidant of looking at you, “He even told me that the three of you have gone out a couple of times.”
You nodded your head, smiling slightly at the memory of Eddie trying to show you how to learn electric guitar, something you had failed miserably at, of course. Dustin couldn't stop laughing when you touched the strings and nothing came out but totally unpleasant noises to hear and Eddie exclaiming to play it carefully, because that guitar was the love of his life. “We did hang out a few times, but that was it. We're just friends, Steve, Eddie is my friend. And he’s been through a lot in a couple of days, I just want to be here for him and help him out of this mess. We have all been there.”
You kept your voice soft, composed, you didn't want to unnerve Steve any more than he was already. He simply sighed, before continuing to speak, totally defensive of his view of the situation.
“He seemed very happy to see you when you came here, he must appreciate your friendship very much— and that's fine.” Steve shrugged. “I mean, this guy seems to have been entertaining you quite a lot the whole time we're not together, you know, b-because of your job and mine a-and that's good, I mean, I wish I could entertain you when—”
You decided to interrupt him right there, knowing that that one was a verbal vomit, caused by nerves and precisely by his jealousy, so you moved closer to him and raising yourself up on the tips of your toes, you placed your hand on his cheek, making him look at you and shutting his mouth.
“Hey, calm down there, pretty boy.” At your low voice, your warm breath against his skin and the nickname that made him blush so much, Steve's cheeks flushed against your palm, making you smile. He literally was the cutest thing you had ever seen, it made you want to grab him and keep him from all the reach of the world, keep him just for yourself. “You are aware that I'm your girlfriend, right?” He nodded softly, lifting his hand and resting it over yours, entwining his fingers between yours to take it and bring it to his lips, lavishing a tender kiss over your knuckles. “And you're my boyfriend.”
“Yep, the best thing that ever happened to me between all this Upside Down bullshit, you know that.” He whispered against your face, leaving a delicate kiss on the tip of your nose, making you crinkle it with a little giggle. Steve smiled as he heard that angelic, perfectly melodic sound to his ears.
“But,” His eyes seemed to droop, watching as your unoccupied hand settled on his waist to give him gentle caresses, tugging his sweater lightly, encouraging him to tell you everything that was going through his head as you searched his gaze with yours, leaning even closer to him, “I'm afraid of losing you, I guess.” Steve ran a hand through his hair, letting out a exasperated sigh, inside his mind reliving the scene of you hitting a demodog right in the head with your golf club, “God, is it stupid that I'm just so afraid of the thought of losing you to some punk nerd dude? Because you’re so good and caring and pretty— and of course you will attract other people, c’mon, you’re like the hottest girl in Hawkins, everyone knows it. Of course Eddie Munson was going to be attracted to you, after all you have pretty similar tastes, you know, the whole nerdy stuff and all. I understand why you get along so well and are best friends now, you know.”
As you watched him pout and his face transform to one of shame and sadness, you could feel your heart squeeze inside your chest.
It really hurt Steve, it hurt him to imagine you walking away from him, leaving with someone else. Of course, he had a wealthy family, a car and a stable job, but, he didn't have it all and over time you had understood that he was getting more and more insecure, the era of King Steve had long passed and with it, the over-confidence, the high self-esteem and all the idiocy that came with it, you knew it and you loved him for that, for exactly knowing how to change, knowing how to be better. He was so... caring, attentive and tender with you, and not only with you, but with all his loved ones, his friends, what wouldn't Steve Harrington do for his friends? For you? He would do literally anything.
“Baby...” You said in a soft, low, almost hurt tone and without further ado, you approached him, wrapping your arms around him, drawing him to you, letting you fall into his essence, his warmth and his touch. Steve hid his face against your neck, nuzziling your skin with his nose, his arms encircling your torso almost instinctively, naturally pulling you against him, impossibly close to him, his fingers caressing your skin under your long-sleeved t-shirt. “He’s not my best friend, you’re my best friend.”
“That’s exactly what I thought.” He whispered against your skin, leaving a soft kiss against it, his lips brushing against the sensitive skin, causing a shiver to run through you from head to toe, an emotion that only Steve Harrington could cause in your body. “I’m sorry, I know it’s stupid, I’m just so afraid of losing you.”
You took his face between your two hands, pulling it away from its lair on your neck so he could look directly at you, something he was used to doing most of the time, he was always looking at you, he always liked looking at you, even before you started talking to each other, even long before the Upside Down and demogorgon incidents. He always found you so smart and pretty and brave, even to King Steve, you were like unattainable to him.
“All these years we've been through hell and now this happens and it's like it's all repeating itself all over again, it's like, like a damn endless loop that we're doomed to.” His fingers trailed up your body, settling around your face, stroking as much hair and skin as he could, taking a lock of hair and placing it behind your ear as gently as possible. “I know you can take good care of yourself, shit, you're the toughest of the group after El, but, I don't want you to be in danger anymore, I want us to be okay. I don't want to lose you, not to this shitty Vecna and not to Eddie Munson, not to anything, y-you know?”
“It's not stupid if it makes you feel that way, Steve.” You shook your head, your thumbs subconsciously stroking his cheeks in a soothing way. His eyes sparkled when they met yours again and he moved closer to your touch, leaning on your hands. His own hands stayed on your waist, caressing everything they could under his fingers, wanting you to feel close to him, as close to him as possible. “You are the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. I don’t want anyone else when I got the best boy by my side. I mean, you are so caring and brave, and so hot when you were fighting Russians or monsters.”
You raised your eyebrows as you said the last words, leaning into him as if telling some all-important secret, making him snort softly, rolling his eyes playfully, but a huge grin spread across his lips, looking more flushed now, more convinced, more sure.
“You mean it?” But he questioned anyway, insecurity flashing through the beautiful brown of his eyes, glinting against the light of day.
“I really mean it.” You nodded your head, placing a soft kiss on the small pout that had formed on his lips. “Do you really think I'm going to leave you for a rocker or a nerd or whoever?” You placed another kiss on his lips and Steve squeezed your waist almost instantly, pulling you closer to him. “You are everything I want, Steve Harrington.” You whispered against his lips, one of your hands moved up his face, caressing his silky hair between your fingers. “I mean, amazing hair, the prettiest face, and badass babysitter/monster slayer tendencies? What more could I possibly ask for?”
Steve rolled his eyes again, but seconds later he leaned in to join your lips with his in a more passionate kiss, but short, as it only lasted a couple of seconds before separating from you and resting his forehead on yours, staring at you, while you caressed his cheekbones and jaw, gently tapping the cute moles on his neck.
Your big eyes sparkled as you looked up at him, smiling. “You are the complete pack, baby. You’re my dream boy.”
Steve looked hesitant, almost unsure of what was going through his head, but he parted his lips anyway. “I'm sorry, I- I've been really insecure lately and that little shit Dustin kept going on and on about how happy you were to have met Eddie and I began to thought about how we've been away and haven't had much time together, I-” Steve began to speak, venting whatever he was feeling at the moment, saying every sentence that formed in his head, looking a little embarrassed as he ran a hand through his hair again, pulling it back and averting his gaze from yours to the floor, “that made me feel kind of left out, I guess. Like... I was losing you or something.”
“You’re not gonna lose me, Steve. I’m yours.” You promised him, your heart promised him. “Nothing is going to change that.”
“You’re mine.” He replied, brushing his lips against yours, looking directly at you, his tone of voice thickening as his fingers tightened around your waist, drawing you to him. Of course his words made you blush, made you bite your lower lip subconsciously, drawing his eyes to your mouth now, pupils dilating rapidly. “Once we're done with all this Upside Down crap, let's get out of here,” at his abrupt words, you looked at him in surprise, your lips parted in disbelief, but a smile was stretching across them, “let's have a vacation, you and me, we deserve a break, what do you say? Maybe some beach day wouldn’t be so bad.”
You watched out of the corner of your eye as Steve's fingers fit perfectly between yours once he joined your hands in the middle of you, stroking his thumbs over the backs of your hands subconsciously, his eyes, as bright and soft as ever looked at you intently, almost eagerly.
“Steve Harrington, I have literally followed you to hell and back, I have fought the nastiest things I can imagine for you.” You finally answered him, lifting his hands between yours and leaving a couple of kisses on his knuckles, almost instantly he reacted to this with a sudden, red blush on his cheeks, and a goofy grin curving his mouth. “But a vacation? I think I can definitely handle it.”
The next thing you saw just a couple of seconds later was Steve rushing against you and taking you in his arms, his lips resting against yours in a well-deserved and long-awaited kiss, his hands squeezing your waist, pulling you tight against him as your own passed around his shoulders, fingers sinking into his silky smooth hair as if it were the fluffiest cloud.
The kiss was escalating in passion and desire, as was the heat in the air, but footsteps behind your back interrupted the moment, causing Steve to growl softly, biting your lower lip lightly between his teeth before reluctantly pulling away from you, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Dustin looking at you as if you were the most disgusting, vomitous and terrifying scene he had ever seen.
“First of all, ew,” Dustin made an exaggerated grimace of disgust just as you turned on your heels to look at him, instantly feeling Steve's hand go to stop between the back right pocket of your jeans, causing the teenager to again roll his eyes, “second of all, can you guys detach yourselves from each other's faces and actually care about what's going on here? There's a monster on the loose murdering teenagers, we're teenagers!” He exclaimed totally exasperated and offended before turning on his heels, muttering under his breath in a tired and irritated manner, “God, you must order your priorities.”
Your brow furrowed, turning your head so you could look at Steve, who was staring with narrowed eyes and an irritated expression in the direction where your grumpy little friend had disappeared. “Is it my idea or he has been getting meaner lately?”
Steve tapped your ass with his fingers through the fabric of your jeans, clicking his tongue. “I know, is really exhausting.”
“It’s the tone of his voice.” You narrowed your eyes as you started to walk back inside the boat house, causing your boyfriend to follow you as well, letting out a giggle.
“I know!” He exclaimed in a soft tone, exaggerating his wide eyes, he giving you a frustrated look, he smiled though, as he bumped his hip against yours affectionately. “It must be his new friends’ influence on him, ya’ know? When he hung out with me he used to be totally cool.”
You rolled your eyes, smiling at his silly tone. “Oh, shut up.”
summary: there are always fights with marc, but this time he went too far and steven has to come out to fix the mess he made and try to convince you not to leave them, since you are literally the only good thing in his shitty life.
pairing: marc spector x female!reader / steven grant x female!reader
word count: 2.8k
warnings: angst, fights, mentions of implied sex, marc spector being a complete jerk (as usual), steven grant being a complete angel (as usual), fluff at the end, soft!marc (💀).
no because look at the gif,,,,episode 5 has destroyed my heart and soul completely, i'm still not over it (i never will) steven grant stans how are we, huh? 😭😭
anyway, english is not my mother tongue, so forgive the intrusion of possible grammatical errors, hope you like it!
“You can't just hide things from me anymore, Marc!” You exclaimed once you entered the small hotel room, Marc was walking in front of you, his back to you, as usual. “This isn't how it works and you know it.”
He clicked his tongue, turning on his heels to direct an incredulous, almost bitter expression at you.
Since two days Marc had been completely unbearable, you had sensed it when you felt all the tension that had formed in his back, in the short and dry answers he gave you, the scoldings he yelled at you when you made even the slightest mistake during a fight, like when you had inadvertently allowed one of Harrow's guys to bury his blade right in the center of your abdomen, a wound that, just seconds later was healed by the Battle Suit provided by Khonshu, so you had not given it so much importance, contrary to Marc, who started shouting like crazy that you should be more careful and not to be so impulsive, you had simply rolled your eyes at his hysterical reaction, but you had not said anything, not wanting to start an argument, since you understood that he was really on the verge of a nervous breakdown, because, of course, on the one hand you were in fucking Egypt, on the other hand he had lost the Scarab and as a wonderful bonus, it was already almost imminent that Harrow would resurrect Ammit any day now.
During fights you remained calm, you always thought before you struck, you were known for that, you knew how to read your opponent's moves perfectly, what they would do and where they would strike and of course, your dearest God watched over your safety and well being, even after all the years you had been his avatar, one of his two avatars, to be more specific. He had grown fond of you and it was quite hard for you to admit, but there was a special bond between the two of you, you were loyal and he was empathetic with you, almost overprotective. Khonshu trusted you, even more than Marc, but that was a secret that no one but him knew.
“This?” Marc raised his index finger and pointed to the space between you and him, snorting humorlessly. “There is no this, (Y/N). There's nothing between us.” Your mouth immediately snapped shut at his words, leaving you immobile at your stance, not wanting to get any closer to him now, your chest tightened at his words, but, you stood strong anyway, striving not to show yourself vulnerable in front of him. So, you steeled your heart and prepared to listen to whatever came from between his lips, as venomous as ever, knowing that there was no turning back, you had already pushed him to the limit of his emotional overload. “Are you seriously so stupid to believe that you're here for any reason other than because Khonshu made the terrible mistake of choosing you as his other avatar? You think you're that important?”
His dark eyes looked down on you from above like a menacing crashing wave, almost blanketing you, towering over you, playing with the power he had over you, he knew the power he had over you, of course. You let it show in the way you cared for him, every time you overprotected him during fights, healed his wounds, held him in his darkest nights, comforted him when he was most haunted by his past. You were always there when he needed you and even if he didn't want to accept it, Marc Spector needed you basically every day and all day long, by his side, because you were his sanctuary, his comfort zone, his home.
But he kept going, showing no sign that he would stop at any moment. He wanted to vent all the anger he felt and that was the perfect excuse, to vent it against you, the closest person he had, the only person who was still by his side after all the shit he had done, all the people he had killed, all the people he had let down and betrayed. You were still there and Marc didn't understand why. Maybe it was all just because Khonshu had sent you to do it in the first place, as one of his stupid missions. Maybe he was just a mission for you and God knew how much he loved being so, God knew how much he loved you.
Khonshu could be a complete miserable and selfish bastard, but if there was one decision he had made right throughout his very long life as a God, it was to have chosen you as his other avatar.
And Marc knew that as a fact, even Steven knew. You were the best thing he had, the best thing they had, the only good thing they had in his miserable life, you were their sun, always bringing your light to even the darkest parts of Marc and always supporting Steven even in his worst moments.
But anyway, he had to vent his emotions and he did it through the one he knew best; anger, rage.
He usually did it through sex, he fucked you mercilessly wherever he wanted, however he wanted and whenever he wanted, he had you in the very palm of his hand and you loved it, because you loved him. You loved knowing you could help him, in the slightest way and you knew it was wrong, because God, it was against everything you believed, to rely on an idiot, broken man, but there you were anyway, there you had always been.
Even Khonshu knew, of course, you and Marc were the closest thing to soulmates that would ever exist, that's why he had saved you from death in the very first place, that's why he had chosen you.
You were perfect, to protect the dark night on his name, to fight for the moon, to kill for him... and to love each other.
But there you were, fighting, like the fools you were.
“You think you're important to me?” Marc questioned in a tone so devoid of emotion and deep that it almost made you want to puke in his own face, in his so fucking perfect face. “Do you think you're anything more than a hot piece of meat that I can use and fuck whenever I want? Really?”
Your breathing had quickened as the seconds passed and with each more word he said, until there came a point where it simply stopped for a moment, at which point you could feel how perfectly your heart squeezed inside your chest and how your stomach seemed to do a flip under your skin. Your armor had been completely destroyed, as did your heart.
Your lips parted, still holding his gaze, even as your eyes had filled with tears, even as your heart broke and your whole body trembled.
“Fuck you, Marc.” You spat in a low, but harsh, emotionless tone, your jaw clenched. He simply remained silent, breathing rapidly as well, looking down at you, naturally, still with his eyes clouded with defiance and anger, as dark as you'd ever seen them, his eyebrows raised slightly at your insult, almost mockingly. And you knew you had had enough, you had to get away from him, you needed to get away from him. “But you know what?” You clicked your tongue, your chest filling with anger and courage to look him straight in the eyes and challenge him right against his. “You're right, coming here was a mistake, I'm going back to England.”
“If someone is chasing me there too, maybe I'll let them kill me, maybe it's for the best, I'm tired of endless fighting and killing and I'm tired of you and your fucking selfishness.” You began to walk towards the bed as you let out every word that formed in your head, giving loose rein to the anger, you'd had enough too. Grabbing your small bag from the floor, you began to throw all your belongings inside, pulling your clothes bluntly as you raised your gaze back up to Marc for just a moment, finding him still standing in the center of the room, still looking at you, always looking at you, every one of your movements. “ And you can get yourself killed here too, right? Otherwise you'll have to find someone else who wants to take care of your reckless ass. You can do whatever you want, I won't stop you. I don't give a shit anymore about this Harrow guy and his fucking cult, I never did.”
Marc cocked his head slightly at your words, masking beneath his expression how much it hurt him to actually hear them. Marc Spector was a complete idiot, of course, too proud to accept that he had made a tremendous mistake in starting an argument over such a silly subject, so instead of softening his tone, his tongue sparked with disgust and bitterness when he asked. “Then why are you here then?”
“For you, you fucking idiot! I did it for you.” You responded almost instantly, making him shut his mouth sharply, his breathing was barely, just barely cut off by your statement. “Everything it’s for you. You think I really only do it because Khonshu sends me?” You shook your head, scoffing humorlessly, totally in disbelief now, with your hand roughly wiping away a couple of tears that were escaping from your eyes. “It seems the stupid one here is you, Spector.”
All was silent in the room for a couple of minutes, all you could hear your low growls as you packed all your things, sometimes the sniffling you did to try to cover the soft sobs that came from your throat, forming a knot around it like a snake, almost choking you with emotions, nothing but sadness and disappointment now, but still, blurting out words to yourself under your breath, tongue encircled in anger, burning fury.
“Did you two stop with your little act of temper tantrum like a couple of spoiled children already?” Khonshu's voice interrupted the tense silence, out of the corner of your eye you could see him leaning against one of the walls of the small room, his skull almost scraping against the ceiling, his arms folded across his chest, his fingers clenching his much-loved staff. When neither of you two showed you wanted to answer him, he sighed, turning his beak towards you, analyzing how you packed your things with angry airs, gaze lost, and then looked at Marc, standing with clenched fists and clenched jaw, but gaze lost on the floor. “(Y/N), little one, you know you can't just walk away on this, you have to comply with my—”
You snapped, raising your head to the God, eyes sparkling with fury. “I don't give a shit Khonshu! You can kill me if you want, take my life back, I don't care. I honestly can't take another day with this idiot, it's so fucking agonizing.”
Khonshu was silent, sighing deeply, moving his skull towards Marc, but twisting it as he noticed that it was no longer Marc and without further ado, he disappeared from the scene, giving you a moment alone with the worm, as he referred to the sweet, innocent British man. Several times you had scolded him not to call him that, as Steven could be very sensitive, Khonshu simply ignored you, always finding it quite amusing that you were so protective and defensive of him.
As your gaze had returned to your bag, you obviously hadn't noticed how Marc's whole demeanor and pose had changed in the lapse of mere seconds. His fingers were now intertwined and in front of him, lost eyes looked at you this time, frightened as never before.
“(Y/N)?” Steven's trembling voice made you stopped your breath for a few seconds and all anger seemed to instantly disappear from your body as you turn to look at him, finding him with tear filled eyes, a little pout curving his lips slightly before continuing to speak, eyes usually bright, now dull, full of fear. “A‒are you going to leave me? Don't you want to‒ to be with me anymore?”
You exhaled air shakily, your hands dropping any clothes they caught, before quickly making your way towards Steven, your hands lifting towards his face almost subconsciously, your thumbs wiping away the pair of tears that fell down his cheeks.
He immediately rested his face against your palms, closing his eyes for a moment, his hands coming up to rest on yours, caressing your skin with his fingers so delicately that it made you want to cry even more.
“No, baby, no. I don't want to leave you,” You whispered softly against his face, “but Marc has been so complicated lately, you know how it is—”
Steven interrupted you, voice filling with fear, faltering as he re-opened his eyes once again. “You're going to leave me to die here?”
Your brow furrowed, eyesight unfocusing from tears now as you shook your head immediately after he asked such a thing, actually falling into the words you had said earlier, reality crashing against you like a bucket of cold water. Regret overturned your heart and your whole body. “No, Stevie, God‒ no, that's not—”
“Then why did you say that? All those... horrible things.” He asked so innocently, so frightened, staring at you, almost as if he was seeing beyond your irises, as if he was seeing your soul, your whole being, right in front of him. “You don't care about me anymore? Did‒ did I do something wrong? Whatever I did, I‒I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't want to upset you, never‒ I swear‒ I don't want you to leave me, please.”
It was all it took for you to start crying almost uncontrollably, between soft sobs, trying to modulate your words well, all the words that went through your head as you watched Steven wrap you in his arms, looking at you with begging eyes, begging you not to leave, not to leave him.
Your heart seemed to break even more inside your chest and guilt engulfed you like a wave.
“Steven, you haven't done anything wrong, you've never done anything wrong, baby. Don’t cry, you’re perfect.” Your fingers stroked his face, trying to soothe him, give him the comfort he needed. He led you to the bed, making you sit beside him on the edge, his fingers reaching for yours almost instinctively, always wanting to be in contact with you, always so close to you. “I was just angry, Marc was angry. That was all. I'm not leaving, okay?” You lifted his hands, leaving soft kisses on his knuckles, seeing him blush under your attentive and loving gaze. “I won't leave you.”
“I was so scared, I could see how you were packing and Marc...” Steven hesitated for a moment, shooting you a glance at the broken mirror at the foot of the bed, his voice was soft, “he was scared too. He panicked, he just gave up control.”
“Tell her we couldn't do this without her.” Marc stated from the mirror, looking sad-eyed at your state, how he had caused it, again. His arms hung at both sides, his hair was messy, contrary to how he always kept it pretty much combed. “Tell her that I‒ we need her.”
Steven hesitated, stroking his fingers over your hand, pulling them into his lap now, noticing how they fit so perfectly together, like pieces of some puzzle. “He's just scared of losing you, (Y/N), he doesn't want to lose you, he just wants to protect you.”
You sighed, closing your eyes for a moment.
“It's okay, Stevie, you don't have to speak for him. I'll talk to him whenever he wants to.” He nodded his head a couple of times at your words, noticing how you were already completely relaxed again, a couple of curls fell down his forehead at the movement and your fingers almost involuntarily lifted towards his head to rest them back in place, feeling the softness of his hair against your touch. “I know he is stressed, we all are.”
“He didn't mean those things, none of it.” Steven said softly, seeking your gaze as it was lost in your joined hands. His unoccupied hand reached out to you, resting on your thigh for a delicate caress, tracing a nonexistent pattern on your skin, you could feel yourself melting under his touch, already ever so addicted to it. “You are everything to us, everything, love.”
“I'm just trying to help him—” Your voice broke slightly and Steven didn't hesitate for even a second to wrap you in his arms and draw you into his body, laying you across his lap. He remained silent, devoting himself to giving you all the comfort and reassurance he could at the moment, through caresses, delicate kisses, tender looks and so on, allowing you to speak, to express yourself however you wanted, speaking whatever you had in mind, for he would never judge you or scold you or invalidate how you felt. “I don't know why he has to be so complicated and closed sometimes, it's like... he doesn't trust me.” Your fingers traced nonexistent paths down his neck and chest, feeling under your fingertips how his lungs breathed in and out, how his heart beat, always fast when you were so close to him. “Why doesn't he trust me?”
Steven’s lips brushed against your forehead, his fingers gently caressing your waist, while his other hand your lower back. “I know, love. But he does trusts you, he loves you, we love you.” His voice remained soft, low, his accent and words making you grin against his neck. “He'll fix things, we always do. Just... don’t leave us, don’t leave me.”
And Marc was the one who left a short kiss on your forehead this time, his fingers searching for your face, pulling you away from his chest so he could look directly at you now.
His eyes reflected the dim light of the room and more than anything else, they shone with regret and sadness, you could almost see them crystallize from tears even. He was genuinely regretful of what had happened, even ashamed.
There had been very few times when Marc had shown himself vulnerable in your presence, you could count those times on one hand, but he had never been so emotional about a fight you had had, much less how emotional you made him feel.
“I'm sorry, honey.” His thumb traced your lower lip before he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against yours, his warm breath crashing against your lips as he shakily exhaled air. “Don't leave me, p‒please, I wouldn't know what to do if you left me. You're all I have. Don't leave me, I love you‒ fuck, I love you so much.”
You simply left a tender kiss on his lips, causing him to open his eyes and look at you as if you were the center of the universe itself, his center, his everything. “I love you too, Marc. I love you both.”
“You are the best thing I have, the only thing I have and the only thing I need.” Marc promised you.
And you believed him, so blindly in love, blinded by his love, by his shining beautiful eyes looking at you, by his touch against your skin and by his lips fitting perfectly with yours.
“... now can we actually save the planet from it’s imminent doom?”
summary: marc is apparently having a breakdown in the middle of egypt, the good thing is that you're right there with him, the person he seems to hate the most in the whole world... or quite the opposite of that.
pairing: mostly marc spector x female!reader / slight steven grant x female!reader
word count: 3.5k
warnings: angst, marc spector being a total jerk, bad language, some blood, wounds, alcohol consumption, slight smut (minors DNI), fluff at the end, soft!marc (at least as much as i could get out of him 💀)
english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!
Egypt was indeed as hot as they said, the warm wind rushed through the small town, kicking up the sand with it as the sun shone furiously overhead, always watching, attentive, almost mocking the people who were not used to it’s power, just as you were.
You were fully grateful to Steven, rather to his memory, when he had once told you that if you were ever to go to Egypt, you should pack purely light clothing, no wasting space on jackets or vests or even pants, nope. Now you understood exactly what he meant. God bless him.
As you closed the door to the small hotel room behind you, you sighed and restrained yourself from grunting in annoyance at the sight of the almost naked man, still lying on the floor beside the bed and holding an almost empty bottle of some alcholic drink that you assured was quite strong even for him, for when he took the last remaining drink, he let out a hiss, you could almost see his brow furrowing from the burning in his throat. It was definitely rum.
Blood ran between his fingers and along his hand to his wrist. You immediately noted also that the circular mirror in front of the bed was now broken. You knew he'd had some argument with Steven, obviously.
“Okay, Marc, what the hell are you doing?” You dared to asked, dropping your bag with some purchases you had brought from the small market across the street. You had even bought yourself a rather cute necklace with a small moon shaped crystal, two in fact, as you planned to give the other one to Steven, which he would probably love, you knew he would.
You hadn't seen him for a couple of days already, since practically the fight back in England with that invisible monster, you had even helped him defeat it and then you had tried the same with Marc, he had rejected and dismissed your help completely, of course.
Marc didn't even turn to look at you, he just stared straight ahead, into nothingness, ignoring you completely, once again, but still, you didn't give up, you never would and he knew that too.
You had been Steven's girlfriend for a while now, Marc knew that you loved him with all your heart and that you cared about him, you really were perfect for each other, but with him... it was different, everything was different with Marc, since, well he was a complete idiot sometimes —;not to say all the time. Even Steven couldn't understand why he was so mean to you sometimes, he couldn't wrapped his head around the fact that he was treating you wrong, you, the nicest, most precious and caring being that had ever walked this planet.
The two of them had had fights about that too, pretty heavy fights, in which you had to console Steven trough all night afterwards.
And it wasn't that you hated Marc, not in the least, it was just that.... it was very difficult for you to understand him. You were really trying to get even the slightest bit closer to him, but he always acted so closed to everyone, he never showed himself vulnerable, he never showed much emotion, he never showed anything at all. This sometimes made him appear very selfish and careless, even dark and evil.
And yet, there he was, looking like the fucking God he so much seemed to be, his tanned skin glowing under the little rays of sunlight sneaking through the curtain of the open window, long muscular legs stretched out, back wide and strong against the side of the bed, his hair as dark as night, now tousled, curls falling through his forehead, almost brushing his long eyelashes. A small layer of sweat covered his body completely, giving a special touch of shine to his bare skin, making him look even more attractive, something you found totally ridiculous.
His eyes, so dark too, rose up at you as you stood in front of him, moving up through your whole body, past your bare legs, your dark skirt, your tight sleeveless shirt, your neck, your lips, until at last they met yours and you found nothing in them, just an infinite emptiness, no emotion at all. He really looked depressed, more than usual, at least.
“You need to stop drinking.” You muttered in a low, disapproving tone, bending forward and stretching your hand towards the now completely empty bottle he was still clutching in his right hand, eyeing the wounds that now covered his knuckles, thinking they probably needed cleaning. “You look like shit, Marc, you need a bath and you’re bleeding, let me—”
This time, his face showed something, annoyance, pure irritation. His dark eyebrows furrowed slightly on his forehead, his eyes never stopped looking at you, he was really looking at you this time. “Would you stop pretending to care about me for a fucking minute?”
The words came out of his mouth as if he were spitting venom, his jaw clenched and his eyes, now, flaming with anger. It looked like he was having some kind of emotional breakdown, since you had never seen him so well, emotional.
You tried to calm him down, speak in a low, gentle voice, words that weren't triggering, you didn't want to make him angrier. “What do you mean? I just—”
But he cut you off, pulling himself up, standing right in front of you, now making you look up at him. His chest swelling even more as he sucked in a sharp breath, you could almost feel the warmth coming from his body, his biceps tensing.
“I just don't need you to take care of me, (Y/N).” Without further ado, he headed to the other side of the room, where he probably kept more alcohol, his shoulder brushing lightly with yours as he passed you.
Finding another bottle, this time Whiskey, he turned his head to the side, allowing you to see his profile, his well-marked jaw set tight, but his eyes, now expressionless, set on the bottle as he opened it, his fingers moving in sharp, desperate motions.
“I am not him.”
Seeing out of the corner of his eye how you opened your mouth again to reply something, he hastened to continue speaking, turning to face you this time, leaning his body against the dark wooden shelf, his fingers squeezing the glass bottle tightly between them, with such force that for a moment you thought it would explode right in his hand.
“I'm not your sweet little Steven, okay?” An unamused sarcasm danced between his words when he brought the name of his alter into the conversation, tilting his head slightly as he sipped his whiskey. His Adam's apple moving up and down his throat in such a ridiculously attractive way that almost made you move your eyes away from him with a blush cripping on your cheeks. “I'm not like him, I'm not your little lapdog and I don't need you be all over me all damn day.”
“You're just being mean.” You stated, shaking your head as you walked over to a ledge and set the empty bottle on it, not really having the energy to deal with Marc in that...state. You just didn't want to give in to the lure, of yet another, pointless argument with him. “Just because you're not him doesn't mean I won't care about you, Marc, you know that.”
He clicked his tongue ironically at your words. “I don't need you to. I don't need you.”
“You don't?” You turned towards him abruptly, frowning, but always trying to keep a calm tone, the last thing you wanted was to upset the man even more. He was silent, staring at you, almost daring you to continue to contradict him, drinking more of the Whiskey with a blank face. “Just look at you,” with a wave of your hand, you fully signaled him, “you're obviously not okay. You feel bad about what happened with Khonshu and the Scarab, I get it and that's okay, we all make mistakes, that's beyond our control, but right now, you need someone to be with you and watch over you, Marc.”
“What makes you think that of all the people here I would want you to be that someone?”
His gaze remained dark, his face hard as a rock, his demeneaor impenetrable, of course, he didn't want you to get inside his head, he didn't want you to see beyond his eyes, he didn't want to be vulnerable, much less in your presence, although, the last few days had been quite the opposite. From the point he lost the Scarab, he knew he was nothing but disappointing Khonshu, Steven and most of all, you, who regardless, had been there with him, in that fucking depressing, dry hotel room. But you were there.
And he felt that with every second you spent in his presence, he felt that he was breaking down even more, his walls weakening, threatening to fall around him. He could feel himself drowning with the sensation of your essence around him, almost covering his all around. You were his fucking breaking point, his downfall, his weakness. And yet, he was pushing you away, he was trying, with all his might.
“Because you don't have anyone else!” You snapped back this time, your tone of voice already starting to drift from relaxed and starting to drop to annoyance. “You push everyone away from you, all the time. You act like nothing and nobody ever matters to you, like you're on your own all the time. You push me away and you even push Steven away too.” Your face was filled with disappointment and disapproval under Marc's attentive eyes. “You've been a jerk to him all these days, you treat him so wrong and he doesn't deserve that, neither of us deserve that. But. no matter how hard you try to push me away, I won't let you, Marc.”
“You're so annoying.” Marc snorted humorlessly, setting the bottle on the small ledge and heading for the open window, parting the curtains sharply when he was close enough, staining the orange curtain with blood. In silence, he dedicated himself to observing the city of Cairo, analyzing the majestic and immense pyramids at the back of the place, giving you a perfect visualization of his broad back. The sun fell on him like a golden bath, making his skin glow. He was fucking glowing. “I screwed up. I always screw up everything.” The tone of his voice sounded lower this time, although you managed to hear him perfectly, you stayed leaning against the wooden counter, looking at him attentively, in silence. “With Steven, with Khonshu, w—with you. I try so damn hard and I always fail anyway. It's my fault we're here... it's my fault you're here.”
When he said the last words, Marc turned his head so he could look at you for a moment, giving you a look full of anguish and regret, even shame. He was ashamed that you saw him in that state... he was being vulnerable.
“Marc...” Cautiously you said his name and began to take slow steps towards him, testing the limits, the boundaries.
“I put you in danger and that was the last thing Steven wanted. I promised him I wouldn’t let it happen... and now you’re here.” His shoulders slumped as he sighed deeply, moving his head forward again, looking out at the landscape in front of him disinterestedly, feeling how you were getting closer to him from behind. “I'm sorry, I've been behaving like a real idiot.”
Saying absolutely nothing, you wrapped your arms around his torso from behind, resting your head against his left shoulder. You could immediately feel his body tense under yours, but it only took a couple of seconds for his shoulders and his entire body to relax.
Almost shyly, his hands rose until they were over yours in front of his abdomen, completely covering yours and feeling how your warm breath hit his skin, he sighed, more relaxed now, finally. His nose was deliciously impregnated by your perfume and the smell of your hair.
“Marc, it’s okay. We can get out of this, we will.” You whispered against his shoulder, looking up at him now as he turned his face towards you as well, his forehead brushing against yours. “You’re not alone on this one. You have to trust me, okay? ”
He nodded just barely, bringing his face even closer to you and not before rubbing his nose against yours, he joined his lips with yours in a shy but oh, so desired kiss.
First a short one, which barely lasted a couple of seconds, testing your limits, testing Steven, who Marc could see how he was attentively observing the scene, from the reflection of the Whiskey bottle, already so forgotten on the wooden counter. He couldn't quite make out what his alter's expression was showing, but what he could sense was that he wasn't angry, upset or jealous.
But Marc sure could feel the warmth engulf him now, your warmth over his or maybe it was just the fact that he was blushing like a fucking little boy when you kissed him a second time, more confidently now, as if you always had, so naturally, your lips fitting perfectly with his, your hands touching the bare skin of his chest, so knowingly, as if they had always been there, though they had already been, on Steven, hugging Steven, kissing Steven, making love with Steven. Steven.
But he wasn't Steven, he never would be, he never could be and both of you knew that, but he had you, both of them had you. You. You were everything.
Marc turned on his heel, his hands desperately reaching for your waist and pulling you hard against him as your own hands moved up his abdomen, past his pecs, one of them actually staying there and the other up his neck, pushing his head against yours, your fingers sinking into his silky dark hair.
You could perfectly taste the rum and whiskey on his lips, giving a special touch to the kiss, which became more and more passionate with the passing seconds.
And your essence, you, covered him completely and he could perfectly feel like breaking down, his walls finally falling around him, letting you in, letting you have him, however you wanted, whenever you wanted. He was yours, his whole being was yours.
He always had been.
But you broke the kiss, pulling away from him slowly and he let out a small grunt of disapproval, pulling at your lower lip between his teeth gently as you parted from each other.
And when he was finally reopening his eyes again, he found you looking at him with that soft gaze that characterized you every time you looked at Steven.... or at him. “Come with me, your hand is still bleeding.”
Gently you took his good hand and pulled him back towards the bed, forcing him to sit on the edge by resting both of your hands on his shoulders and pushing him down, he followed every one of your moves intently.
You reached into your bag and from it you pulled out some absorbent cotton, for you knew that somehow or another, Marc or Steven would bleed at some point, so you had packed everything you needed to help them with their wounds.
Marc's dark eyes still followed you as you knelt between his legs and taking his injured hand, you began to clean his knuckles as delicately as if you were holding some kind of doll of the weakest porcelain, glancing from time to time at your concentrated eyes and how you subconsciously bit your lower lip. And suddenly, Marc felt guilty, very guilty.
“Sorry for being a jerk to you, you don't deserve it, I'm a complete asshole.” After a few seconds of hesitation, he whispered, just for you, making a couple of winces of pain as the cotton rubbed the most open part of the wound. "Steven doesn't deserve it either, but God, he really can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”
“He is an angel, literally the sweetest thing on this planet, I don't know how you can have the nerve to even treat him so badly, he is trying so hard.” You replied, still holding his hand in yours, looking at the wound, now clean, until finally, you raised your gaze to him, with pleading, sad eyes. “Try not to be such a jerk to him.”
As he nodded, you stood up and tossed the bloody cotton pads in the trash, feeling Marc's eyes always on you.
“We really don't deserve her.” Steven declared, gazing at you with adoring, sparkling eyes from the reflection of the mirror in the small bathroom just across from the bed. Marc simply rolled his eyes at his smitten face. “She is so good.”
Though he agreed with his alter anyway, nodding his head once. “She is.”
You quickly washed your hands and returned to the bed, a couple of little patches on your hands, with little drawings of the moon on them, in fact, making Marc roll his eyes once he saw them, though he found it impossible not to smile. “They match the suit.”
You gently placed the tiny little patches on the wounds that looked most severe on his knuckles and when you were done, you lifted his hand and placed the softest kiss on it, bringing your eyes up to Marc, who actually looked like he was blushing as he watched you do it.
“Just hug her, mate, show her you appreciate what she does, she deserves it.” Steven stated in a gentle, suggestive tone, letting Marc know it was okay what he was doing, giving him the green light.
“C'mere.” Marc stated in a low tone, with his accent that you loved so much, fleetingly wrapping his hands around your waist and drawing you back to him, making you sit on his lap, bringing your full attention to him, something you were naturally used to doing by now. He threw a glance at Steven, who nodded his head through the broken mirror, giving him encouragement, approval. “Listen to me, honey, I— ”
With a small giggle you interrupted him, tidying his tousled curly hair, trying to do it. “I know, Marc. It's okay, I understand.” You gently removed a pair of dark curls that fell across his forehead, preventing you from looking directly into his beautiful eyes. You smiled to yourself as you saw how he looked at you, as if you were everything, as if from your hands hung the entire universe... as if you were the moon itself. “Don't be so overly demanding on yourself about sharing your emotions now, love. It's weird.”
You whispered against his lips, almost secretive, just for him, everything was for him. He snorted lightly, amused and without even realizing it, you found yourself kissing him again, with desire, lust and fierceness. His hands caressed your hips, playing with your skirt and yours tracing a non-existent path through his shoulders and chest.
“He's okay with this?” You questioned breathlessly, analyzing Marc's darkened eyes looking up at you too, breathing very quickly himself, he knew immediately what you were referring to, so he shot a glance at the broken mirror that was right in front of the end’s bed, finding himself with a, quite flustered Steven, looking at the scene with eyes that brimmed with pure desire.
Marc gave you a small smirk as he turned his attention to you once again, taking a strand of your hair that had fallen in your face to gently tuck it behind your ear. “More than okay.” He murmured, straightening up slightly so he could start kissing your jaw and neck, sucking hard on the skin, making you whimper uncontrollably. “Stevie is even more turned on than we are.”
You leaned closer to him, devoting yourself to kiss his neck, leaving a trail of wet kisses down to his chest, the gold of his necklace gleaming so delightfully in contrast to his skin. You felt his hands run up each side of your thighs, caressing your hips and waist, touching where they had never touched before, grasping, knowing, feeling.
As you placed a final kiss on his collarbone, you paused once more and raised your gaze, finding him staring at you already, one eyebrow curving up on his forehead at the abrupt halt of your kisses.
“Does all this mean you like me?” You questioned with a shy voice, all of the sudden, and Marc looked for some sign that you were actually joking or something like that within your eyes, but found nothing but pure honest curiosity.
One of his hands ran up your hip, passing behind you, giving gentle caresses to your thigh. His expression remained relaxed, showing that he was indeed comfortable with you, only you. “I always liked you, honey.”
At his soft tone of voice, you frowned your eyebrows slightly. “Then why didn't you ever kiss me?” Your voice sounded sad, disappointed, almost made Marc's heart clench in his chest. “We lost so many days...”
“Because...” Marc sighed gently, thinking about his answer, feeling some melancholy envelop his heart as he saw your face, looking like a little lost puppy, he felt an enormous desire to hold you close to him, protect you from everything in the world and never let you go again. “ —I thought it wasn't right to do, I didn't want to do it either, I—I didn't want to drag you into all this.” His thumb traced a smooth path along your jaw, moving up towards your cheek, caressing the skin with utmost tenderness. “I didn't want to put you in danger...”
You rolled your eyes, your fingers tracing a path over his cheekbone delicately. “I was already into all of this when I decided to be with Steven, Marc. And it's not some kind of complaint, I love him, I love you. I want to do this with you, I want to help you."
Marc twisted his head to place a short kiss on the palm of your hand, taking it between his own and caressing your fingers before entwining them between his, his eyes moved to your joined hands, smiling as he noticed the little patches with little drawings of moons on his knuckles, before reattaching his gaze to you, almost as if it was meant to be like that, always on you. “I know you do, baby. I would never let anything happen to you either, I— ” I would die for you if I had to, I would kill everyone if I had to, I would suffer the worst torture in the world if it meant seeing you okay. “I won't let anyone near you, okay?”
“Well, I don't think I need that much protection either, you saw how I kicked a couple of asses back in England,” Marc smiled at your words and nodded, remembering how he was quite shocked with how you handled yourself with Harrow’s guys, recalling how he had grinned like an idiot at it. “I can do it again.”
“I know you can, baby. I'm proud of you.” Marc left a soft kiss on your lips before drawing you to his chest, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, leaving you literally lying on top of him, just as he wanted.
“Well, can I have my body and my girlfriend back now?” Steven asked from the reflection of the mirror, with a hint of jealousy on his eyes, seeing the intimate moment of you and his alter. "I think you're enjoying yourself already too much, mate."
“Just a little while longer.” Marc hummed in a low tone, resting his chin on your hair, closing his eyes and letting himself relax, even for only a moment.
more druig please i am begging 🧎🏽♀️🧎🏽♀️🧎🏽♀️🧎🏽♀️🧎🏽♀️
i'm working on them! i've been a little busy because of college, but, as soon as i have them ready, i'll publish them right away, i'm really really sorry 😭
hi just wanted to say that ‘chamber of reflection’ was SO good and you write MK so well! that’s all!
😭💖 thank you so much! i love writing and there is nothing that makes me more delighted and honored than knowing that you like how i do it, that makes me very happy... and i have a couple more MK ideas i'm already working on because honestly i am obssesed.
summary: steven looks really tired and exhausted, so you decide to confront marc for not taking care of his body properly and this pushes him to do something that the three of you have been wanting to do for quite some time now.
pairing: steven grant x female!reader / marc spector x female!reader
word count: 3k
warnings: just a little bit of angst, fluff, marc (yes, he himself is kinda of a warning), some friends to lovers, soft!steven, cuteness, cute kisses, just a lot of softness on this one for the romantic fools like me<3
english is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me if there is a grammatical error. hope you like it!
You knew Steven had been having bad days and nights for practically the last few weeks, you could see it in his face, in his tired eyes, his lost look, his noticeable dark circles under his eyes and in the amount of coffees he drank during his shifts at work, which were quite a few.
Certainly, you were aware of the whole Marc thing and how he was literally taking over Steven's body and life, although you still didn't understand how it all worked, you could already tell the difference between the two of them, you could recognize who was who just by the body language, since they were indeed two, very different persons.
A clenched jaw, a tense stance and a look that exuded a murderous air?Totally Marc. Soft eyes, stance perfectly mixed between relaxed and nervous, low stutters and gentle smiles? That was Steven, of course.
Both were so remotely different that you thought it was almost a bad joke that they shared the same physical body.
You knew Steven basically since you had taken the job as a guide at the museum, since you were a specialist in Egyptian culture, especially in the whole subject of the gods, and that, indeed, was what brought you and Steven together the first time you two had meet. It was as if you had known each other all your lives, you quickly went from simple co-workers to the best of friends. You two had a very special connection, you knew that in that huge city you were all you had, both of you were physically far away from your families, so you were lonely together.
Although, on the other hand, your relationship with Marc was quite different, as he was known to be rather dry and cold, although, as time went by, even he could not fight the feeling of getting fond of you and getting used to your presence, always close to him.
He already knew as a fact that you really cared about Steven and looked out for his welfare at all costs, you both did, each in your own way, of course. And Marc was also aware of the obvious feelings Steven had been feeling for you over time, he felt them through him as well, so close to him, too close, in fact.
“Are you sure you're feeling okay, Stevie?” You questioned under an unsure but ever-so-smooth tone, eyeing how the man practically fell asleep against the wall of the hallaway, your apartments were actually face to face with each other. A pair of dark, unruly curls fell over his face, covering his pretty eyes, so you took one of your hands and removed them in a delicate motion, causing Steven to immediately stand up abruptly, looking flustered by your closeness and concern.
You smiled warmly as you noticed how his cheeks were tinged with a pink as he blushed. He was so cute that sometimes you felt like your heart would actually explode.
“You look like a little kid blushing so much, just look at you.” Marc declared, arms folded and a mocking expression shining across his face. Steven saw him out of the corner of his eye in a small, dirty, circular mirror hanging on the front wall in the hallway, but decided to ignore it completely, focusing only on your pretty eyes.
“I'm fine, (Y/N).” Watching as a questioning eyebrow rose on your forehead, he sighed, giving you a small smile, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He was really trying to look completely normal, simply not to worry you anymore, the last thing he wanted was for you to over think about his well being, because, of course he was fine, if you were around, he was fine, more than fine, in fact. He proceeded to scratch his neck, a sign that he was clearly lying, making you roll your eyes. “I promise. I just haven't been able to sleep well, you know—”
“ —the sleep disorders, I know, but God, Steven,” Your voice full of worry made Steven feel his heart give a flip inside his chest, your eyes shone with pure concern, concern for him. Your arms crossed over your chest this time, taking on a more serious pose, back against the door of your little apartment as you looked at him, “you really look tired, if you want I can cover for you tomorrow, you know?” He immediately reacted with a shake of his head at your suggestion, making you sigh softly between words. “You could just— stay at home or go out somewhere and relax, you need it. Your body needs it. I will force Marc to let you rest, even for one bloody day, I will oblige him to stop this... murders of him, that way you could just rest all day on your apartment.”
“No, no—” His voice seemed to break as he denied, his eyes falling to his shoes for a moment before hhe brought them back up, meeting yours once again. He actually looked scared this time. “N—no— I can't— I don't want to be alone anymore, I—I feel like I'm going to go mental, I don't know w—what to do— Marc—”
“Hey, hey—” You interrupted his stuttering as you reacted to move fastly closer to him and rested your hands on his arms in an attempt to relax him, under your palms you could feel his whole body shaking. He was really bad. “Just breathe, yes? Can you do that for me, Stevie? I know you can, breathe with me,” as you inhaled deeply, he silently copied your action, looking directly into your eyes, which immediately seemed to soften and then moved down to your lips as a small reassuring smile tugged at them, “that's it, darling, very good.”
You didn't hesitate to formulate the questions that were forming inside your head, searching Steven's eyes, which had drifted to your joined hands, watching intently as his fingers almost subconsciously intertwined between yours, your warmth spreading along his entire body. “Do you want to come with me to my apartment and maybe have a cup of tea? We can watch a movie or something too, if you want. What do you say, hun?”
Steven barely nodded his head just a couple of times, but you could see the movement perfectly, making you smile sweetly at his naturally cute demeanor.
Without saying anything, you pull his hand with yours and pulled him with you into your apartment, his fingers giving you a little squeeze, as if it was some kind of verification that this was really happening and that it wasn't some dream or illusion.
When you both passed inside, you closed the door behind you and by the time Steven faced the full-length mirror you had on one of the walls of the living room, he found Marc, who was looking at him with a little smirk, folding his arms.
“I can see why you like her so much.” His reflection twisted his head slightly, giving him that touch of darkness and mystery to his persona, rather, his other persona, Steven really didn't know even at that point what was going on. “She really is special. I see that, okay? No wonder she has you like a mutt drooling all over the floor, Stevie. I get it now.”
“Just shut your mouth, will you?” Steven replied back in an irritated, but low tone.
At his abrupt words, you turned to him, seeing how he was looking at himself in the mirror.
“Is he bothering you that much?” You asked cautiously, pulling him towards your couch to make him sit down, trying to take his focus off the annoying ex-mercenary in his reflection.
“All the bloody time.” His response full of weariness made you grimace, although inside your chest anger began to burn, against Marc, of course. Sometimes he really could be infuriating and so annoying at the point to made you angry, even Steven and making Steven angry was something that, well, only Marc could do. Steven lifted his head to look up at you as he saw your hands separate, something about him cooling as he felt your warmth with your hand pull away from him. “Especially when you're around, he just... won't shut up about it.”
“I'm so sorry, darling.” You murmured softly, before heading to your kitchen, leaving your bag and keys on the counter, but not before putting water on to boil, to serve the teas.
Steven was left smiling like an idiot to himself on the sofa, analyzing his hands, now empty in his lap, almost able to feel the warmth and softness of yours under his touch. “I like that.”
“What was that?” You questioned, preparing his tea as fast as you could, glancing at Steven's curly bowed head sitting on your sofa and by the time you walked back towards him, already with the cup of tea in your hands, you could see how his entire pose and body had changed, making you frown.
“He likes it when you call him darling.” Marc answered this time, turning his head towards you, his tone wary as always, watching every move you made carefully. He was manspreading on the couch, of course, and you fought against all your might to keep your eyes from being subconsciously drawn to his thighs, as they usually were. “He really is like a little boy in love whenever you are around, it's disgusting.”
He watched as you put the teacup down on the table with extreme care and then turned to him, pointing your index finger accusingly, at which he looked up with a raised eyebrow, looking as disinterested as ever.
“I swear to God, Marc, you have to let him rest, you know?” You declared without any fear, without stuttering and without softness in your voice, something that really surprised and caught Marc off guard, he even felt somewhat offended by your tone of voice, but even so, he remained silent, watching you from the sofa intently. His thighs opening even more and his head twisting, listening to every attacking word you threw at him. “Your body needs to rest, you may be the son of Kohnshu or whatever, but this body is human, Steven's body is human, he is not an ex-mercenary or vigilante or whatever, do you understand? Human bodies get tired, they need their hours of daily rest to heal themselves.”
The man's eyes narrowed slightly when you brought the god's name into the conversation and soon enough, his jaw was clenched tightly, looking more annoyed with each passing second now.
But you continued your verbal attack, getting closer, actually leaning down towards him, blinded by fury. “Every time you go around killing people and come back, he comes back with some wound or scratch or whatever. He came to work the other day with his nose broken, Marc! Did you even notice that?! You don't take care of him as you should.”
Marc decided to snapped back this time, unable to contain himself any longer, looking genuinely somewhere between offended and angry now. “I don't take care of him?”
When he stood up abruptly, he made you take a few steps back, his body and presence towering before you like a bloody tower. His dark eyes, almost sparking fire with anger, seemed to almost burn you all over within them.
“I'm taking care of him, I'm protecting him from everything and everyone,” his thumb pointed fiercely at himself, “I am the one fighting everyone for him, I am killing for him, I'm saving him.”
Your mouth half-opened with disbelief. “Have you even seen him? He looks like he hasn't slept for days, Marc! Goodness, you are just so reckless and selfish and— ”
His chest rubbing against yours made you catch your breath for a few seconds, interrupting yourself when you realized that Marc was actually pinning you against the wall now, his hand resting calmly on the side of your head and with that, you realized you had no escape now, no more steps back, no more distance away from him. He had you right where he wanted.
"And...? And what? You should watch that tone now, little one." His voice was raspy, guttural, so thick coming from deep in his throat, his warm breath hit your lips and nose, making you gulp... but you still held his gaze and glared at him defiantly, he even seemed to look quite amused as he recognized the spark of anger within your eyes. "And you should change that look, it really doesn't suit that pretty face of yours.”
You were used to Marc saying things like that by now, though that didn't mean that when he did you wouldn't feel your heart do a big flip inside your chest or your blood start to rush fiercely through your veins. He could be a bloody tease at times, mostly with you. He liked to tease you.
“Just leave her alone, mate, seriously this was your apology plan? This is what you asked me to pass you control for?” Steven questioned rather incredulously from the reflection of the full-length mirror, now behind Marc's back, watching with some jealousy at the closeness of you and him. Marc simply smirked, ignoring him. “I can't believe I seriously thought you'd do something about it.”
“I'll do something you haven't dared to do, Steven.” Marc turned his head, catching a sidelong glimpse of his alter ego's reflection in the mirror looking at him suspiciously. “Something we both want.”
Your brow furrowed slightly and with your index finger, and your chest filling with sudden courage, you rested it on Marc's chin and turned his head towards you, with that, turning his attention back to you again.
“I'm worried about him, Marc.” Your voice barely came out as a low whisper from between your lips, watching as his dark eyes were drawn to them as they moved, making you feel a spark ignite inside your chest. “I don't want anything bad happen to him...or to you.”
Hearing the last words correctly made almost instantly the anger and seriousness wiped from Marc's face to change to one of complete softness, even his smirk was gone from his lips, his expression was blank now.
Your heart beat even more fiercely, you could almost hear it thudding in your ears when you felt his thumb tracing your cheekbone delicately, as if he were touching the most precious object in the world, because you were.
His eyes moving from your lips to your eyes as you opened them in speechless surprise.
Suddenly, both of you could feel the tension that had really risen in the air, so slowly under the ignorance of both of you, until that very moment.
“I know you care about him, (Y/N). We both do.” His tone of voice was different this time, everything about him was different at that precise moment, it was actually soft, almost vulnerable. Your name kept coming out from between his lips as if it were a secret, very carefully, very low. His thumb traced a gentle path along your lower lip now, his dark eyes staring at you, analyzing every reaction, every movement of your body, every emotion that passed through the glint in your eyes. “But you don't have to worry about me, sweetheart, I've got everything under control.”
At last, the distance between you got closer when Marc leaned in just a few inches more to you and brushed his nose against yours, your lips barely touching now. His forehead was resting against yours, both of you feeling the heat radiating from your bodies, warmed up by the situation, desperate for each other's touch, for anything.
“Nothing bad will happen to us, I won't allow it, okay? No more scratches or broken noses.”
With your heart pounding inside your chest, your index finger on his chin went up thorugh his jaw to his cheek, giving him just a small gentle caress with your fingers.
“You promise?” You whispered against his lips, looking up at him as if he were the moon itself, the one most bright and beautiful thing among the cold darkness.
At your caress, Marc closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, leaning against the palm of your hand, as if it were a magnet, as if he were attracted to you, doomed to orbit around you... though he would not complain if he was.
And when his eyes opened again, you knew he was promising, that he was vowing to something with his whole being. To you. “I promise.”
And by the time the kiss finally began, Steven was the one who brought both hands to your face, cupping your cheeks as gently as he possible could, twisting his head slightly to gain more access to you, to bring you closer to him, impossibly close.
You could tell it was him by the tremble of his breathing, the strong beating of his heart under the palm of your hand resting on his chest and the softness of his eyes once they met yours a few seconds later, when your lungs were actually screaming for oxygen again.
The world began to roll around you again and you could hear the noisy night city return to your ears more than just the beating of your heart and his breathing.
“That was...” he breathed out, looking at you with bright, wide open eyes, “as amazing as I imagined it would be, e—even better than I imagined.”
A smile graced your mouth upon hearing his words and his birtish accent, making it impossible not to leave a short kiss on his soft lips once more and comb his rebellious curls back to their proper place, caressing his face with your fingers.
Steven leaned against your hand, closing his eyes for a moment, just as Marc did seconds ago. Maybe they weren't so different after all, you thought.
“Stay with me tonight, okay?” You asked gently and almost immediately, he nodded, silently willing to do everything, to follow you blindly, devoted to you. “Let me take care of you. Of both of you.”
――――――
okay, i will say it... i'm in love with steven grant, like, to the bone, so, i wouldn't mind if you guys send me requests or ideas of one shots (please do send me)<3
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