Pairing: Steve Harrington x unexperienced / shy female reader
Summary: Steve has fallen hard for you. And he doesn`t hide his affection at all. But you are not used to this kind of attention ... yet.
Warnings: shy reader. unexperienced. friends to lovers. Steve has a huge crush. kissing. flirting. no use of y/n.
Steve wasn't trying to be smooth. He was trying to beâŠWell. Normal. Unfortunately, "normal" tended to disappear the second you smiled at him.
It started with your hair.
The two of you had volunteered to help decorate the community center for Hawkins' annual summer fair, which meant ladders, boxes of paper lanterns, and Robin loudly insisting that every ribbon was "slightly crooked."
You were standing beside Steve, trying to untangle a string of lights. When a breeze drifted through the open windows and a loose strand of your hair fell across your face.
Without thinking⊠Steve reached over. His fingers barely brushed your cheek as he tucked it gently behind your ear. "There." He smiled. "Thought you might want to actually see what you're doing."
Your entire body froze. "âŠOh." Then, after the shortest silence imaginable you took one quick step backward.
Steve's smile faltered. "âŠSorry."
"No!" The answer came too fast. "I meanâ" Your gaze was suddenly glued to the floor.
"I justâŠ" You laughed nervously. "I have toâŠ" You pointed vaguely toward absolutely nothing. "âŠgo."
Then you practically speed-walked away. Steve blinked, to stunned to even breathe. Robin watched the whole thing from across the room.
"âŠWell." Steve looked at her. "I messed that up."
The second incident happened three days later at the Family Video.
You reached for the same VHS tape at exactly the same time and your fingers brushed. Steve smiled instinctively. You looked at him and your heart did a complete somersault.
He smiled. Your brain promptly packed its bags and left.
You yanked your hand back so quickly you almost dropped the tape. "Sorry!"
Steve frowned. "It's okay."
"No, Iâ" You laughed waaay too loudly. "I shouldâŠ" Another vague gesture. "âŠAlphabetize something."
You disappeared into the next aisle.
Steve stood there holding The Princess Bride. "âŠWhat just happened?"
You'd spent the afternoon helping Steve run one of the game booths. He kept making you laugh, while you kept trying not to stare at him.
Neither attempt was particularly successful.
Late in the afternoon, Steve leaned closer to hear you over the crowd. "You've got paintâŠ" He smiled. "âŠright here." He pointed to the corner of your mouth.
"Oh!" Instinctively, you tried wiping it away.
"No." He chuckled. "Here." Before he could think better of it, his thumb lightly brushed the tiny streak of blue paint from your cheek.
It lasted less than a second, but your heart nearly exploded.
"Oh." Your voice squeaked. You took two entire steps backward.
Steve's hand dropped immediately. "I'm sorry."
"NoâŠ" His smile had disappeared now. "I shouldn't haveâŠ"
"No, really." You were blushing so hard you thought you might actually catch fire. "I justâŠ" Words. Where had words gone?
"I have to go help Mrs. Henderson."
"I know." You pointed in the opposite direction. "âŠExactly." Then you fled.
Steve watched you disappear into the crowd. His stomach sank and he felt like the worst person that had ever walked the earth.
By evening he couldn't stop thinking about it.
Three times. Three different days. Every time he'd gotten a little closer⊠You'd moved away.
Maybe Robin was right. Maybe he'd been too obvious. Maybe he'd made you uncomfortable.
The thought sat like a stone in his chest.
He hated it even more than rejection. More than embarrassment. The idea that you might not feel safe around him made him feel physically sick.
So⊠just after sunset⊠Steve knocked on your front door. You opened it wearing an oversized sweatshirt and socks.
You smiled when you saw him. Then immediately looked confused. "Steve?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Can weâŠ" He nodded toward the porch swing. "âŠTalk?"
A few minutes later you were sitting side by side in the warm evening air.
Steve couldn't look at you. "I owe you an apology."
He laughed softly. "For apparently making you uncomfortable all week."
Your eyebrows shot up. "âŠWhat?"
He sighed. "I noticed how you moved away when I came too close to you and I`m so incredibly sorry."
"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or that you are not safe with me. I would never force myself on you like that ... well I guess I kinda did that ..."
He dragged a hand down his face. "God, I`m so so sorry."
"I justâŠ" His shoulders slumped. "I think I got carried away."
He finally did. You were trying very hard not to smile. "You thoughtâŠ" You covered your mouth. "âŠthat I was uncomfortable?"
He blinked. "Weren't you?"
For one long moment you simply stared at him. Then you laughed with complete disbelief. "Oh my God."
Steve looked even more worried. "Was I really that bad?"
"No!" You reached for his hand without even thinking. The contact made him stop talking instantly. "No, Steve."
You shook your head. "I wasn't uncomfortable."
"I wasâŠ" Your cheeks warmed immediately. "Oh man how should I put it?."
"This is so embarrassing."
"You don't have to tell me."
"No." You smiled shyly. "I think I should."
"I moved away becauseâŠ" You laughed at yourself. "âŠI forgot how to function."
"I've neverâŠ" You looked down at your joined hands. "âŠhad someone flirt with me before."
Steve's heart skipped a beat. Yeah he flirted with you. Hard and with everything he got. And he couldn`t understand the fact that nobody did before.
"So when you tucked my hair behind my earâŠ" You hid your face for a second. "âŠmy brain completely shut down."
"And when our hands touched at Family VideoâŠ" A tiny smile. "âŠI spent the next ten minutes pretending to organize shelves because I couldn't remember the alphabet."
Steve actually laughed. "You couldn'tâŠ"
"I genuinely couldn't." He laughed harder. "I got to 'G' three times."
"And thenâŠ" You groaned. "âŠat the fair?"
Steve smiled. "You practically ran away from me. I felt like a deadly disease."
"I know." You looked at him through your fingers. "But you smiled at me first. As if that's a normal thing to do!"
"Not when you look like that!"
Steve blinked. "âŠLike what?"
"LikeâŠ" You took a deep breath. "Like I'm the only person you're looking at. And with those eyes? Give a girl a break!"
"So every time you smiledâŠ" Your voice became smaller. "âŠor accidentally brushed my handâŠI felt like my heart was trying to climb out of my chest."
Steve had gone completely still.
"And I moved away because I was scared that if I stayedâŠ" You looked up at him. "âŠyou'd notice how hopelessly in love with you I am."
Silence. Complete silence. Steve's face turned the most spectacular shade of pink.
He opened his mouth but nothing came out.
He laughed once. Very quietly. "I spentâŠ" Another laugh. "âŠan entire week convincing myself I was the worst guy in Hawkins."
"I thought I'd scared you."
"You absolutely did." His face fell. "No!" You quickly squeezed his hand. "Not like that."
A smile spread across your face. "You scared me because you kept doing incredibly sweet thingsâŠand I didn't know what to do with all the butterflies."
Steve looked at you as though the world had just tilted on its axis.
"SoâŠ" He smiled, almost shyly now. "âŠif I did this againâŠ"
Very slowly, giving you every chance to move⊠He reached up. His fingertips gently tucked another loose strand of hair behind your ear.
This time you didn't step away, instead you leaned into his touch. Just a little.
Steve's smile grew. "That is the reaction I was hoping for."
You smiled back. "That was the reaction all along, I just needed a little longer to understand."
"I`m glad because I dont think I can stay away from you any longer after tonight." He laughed softly. "I love you too, sweetheart."
You reached up, your fingers finding his wrist. "SoâŠ"
"You can keep flirting with me."
Steve's eyebrows lifted. "Yeah?"
You nodded. "I'll probably still get flustered."
"That's okay. I kinda love it actually."
"I might still forget how words work."
"I think that's kind of adorable."
You laughed. "JustâŠ" You looked up at him with the sweetest, most bashful smile he'd ever seen. "âŠdon't mistake butterflies for fear."
Steve's heart melted on the spot. "I won't."
And when he leaned in to kiss you, you didn't run away. You smiled into the kiss and afterwards Steve wondered how he'd ever mistaken that look for anything other than love.
Thank you so much for reading! All interactions are highly appreciated
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