One day. One day when he's ready. When he knows who he is, and where he belongs. And fate has revealed to him his true path. On that day, I'll be right by his side.
summary: after figuring out the reasoning behind your favourite book, steve takes the time to annotate his own copy
pairing: steve harrington x reader
requested: yes
warnings: none
notes: you can find my masterlist here
steve harrington wasn't much of a reader. he could never concentrate long enough to focus on the printed words, couldn't settle his mind enough to really take in what was happening and to be honest, he didn't really care for stories. in school he always got brief summaries of books from his classmates, blagged his way through tests without ever actually picking up a novel. he'd never really understood the love other people had for it, never really wanted to understand. until he met you.
in the weeks leading up to him asking you on your very first date, every time he'd seen you it had been with a book in hand, barely paying attention to what was going on around you, completely in your own world. maybe it was kinda weird and robin had called him out on it a few times but he liked watching you read. not in a creepy obsessive way, just, he liked seeing you get lost in the words, found a strange sort of comfort in the way you became so absorbed. sometimes, when you both happened to be at the coffee shop at the same time, he'd find a seat where he could see you, would often let his coffee go cold because he was too busy trying to understand what was happening in the book depending on your expression.
sometimes your brow would crease, a soft worried line appearing in your skin, one he so badly wanted to smooth out with his finger. or your lips would quirk into a barely there smile, one so small that others would probably miss it but steve already had you mapped out, could read you just as easily as you could read your book. he liked those smiles, the ones you tried to hide, but when you really smiled that's when he lost his head because sometimes you'd grin so brightly his breath would get lodged in his throat.
he'd lost count of how many books you'd read in the time it took him to find courage to ask you out, but he had realised over the course of those few weeks, you often went back to the same book; little women. at first he thought it was just taking you longer to read, that maybe you were getting bored and swapping between books but no. it was your favourite book and steve later found out that it was a large comfort to you just to have it with you.
youβd explained one night, the two of you curled up beneath his sheets, words quiet as though it was a secret, that sometimes your anxiety got the best of you, made you struggle and panic over the smallest of things. you carried your old and slightly tattered version of little women with you everywhere, kept it tucked away so that in those moments, when the world got too loud you could thumb through the pages, read and reread your favourite lines until your breathing evened out and things didnβt seem so crushing. steve had felt something twist inside of him, realised that having your head in a book all those times heβd seen you was more than just enjoyment, it was something to ground you, to ease your anxiety.
it was also in that moment that steve harrington decided he was going to read his first book.
but he didnβt just read it. he stole a pack of pens from erica one night, some sticky notes too, and spent the next week or so carefully annotating the copy of little women heβd drove two towns over to buy. it was a special edition copy, different to the one you had, fresh paged and marked only by steve. he added his own thoughts to the margins, wrote a few cheesy jokes that popped to mind, circled and underlined words and phrases that made him think of you. he even wrote an inscription on the first page, signed it with a well meant βi love youβ and a somewhat terrible heart. heβd took his time with the book, wanting to understand why it meant so much to you and he wanted to show through his words and attention how much you meant to him.
to say he was nervous to give it to you would be an understatement, once heβd finished reading heβd left it hidden in his sock drawer for two weeks, carefully wrapped in brown paper, a piece of string tied delicately across the middle. he worried you wouldnβt like it, worried that maybe you didnβt want to hear his thoughts on the book, that his added commentary wouldnβt be helpful during your most anxious moments and youβd never even bother to look through it. but this was you, who sat attentive at his side during movie night, almost begging to hear what he thought, who asked for his opinion on everything, no matter how small because even if steve didnβt know it, everything he had to say was important to you. and so one night as he picked you up from work he finally gave it to you.
βthereβs uh, thereβs a present in the glove box for you.β his words were soft, whispered nervously into the quiet car, his fingers tightening a little on the steering wheel, gaze focused straight ahead. you raised your eye brows at him, shifted in the passenger seat before tugging the compartment open, confusion clouding your features as you pulled the brown package out, set it gently in your lap.
βwhat is it?β
βopen it and see.β he swallowed, ran a hand through his hair and glanced at you, smile small but encouraging. he felt nauseous with nerves, worried again that you wouldnβt like it because heβd never done anything like this for anyone else, had never even thought of gifting someone something so personal and thought out, a gift that came from his heart and not his wallet. he was thankful to be driving, he was worried if the car was parked heβd have to get out, would try to walk away.
you opened it quietly, fingers tugging carefully at the string and then tearing the paper, revealing the corner of the book you knew so well. you frowned, tugged more of the paper off until the novel was on full display and you could trace your finger tips over the title on the front. you turned to look at him.
βlittle women?β
βyeah, i- uh- maybe you should open it?β steve coughed lightly and nodded his head towards the book, watched out of the corner of his eye as you turned to the first page, the one heβd wrote the message reminding you how amazing you were, how you could face anything you wanted to. you gazed at it, mouth open, thumb brushing over the ink and your silence worried him, the way your body had fallen still making nerves lick at the furthest corners of his mind. he stumbled over his words. βi read it because you told me how much it meant to you and how much it helped and i wanted to be able to talk to you about it but then i also thought that maybe i could annotate it yβknow? you said it helps with your anxiety, reading it or just going through it and i donβt know maybe i was being ridiculous but i thought maybe i could help too. i thought some of the stuff i wrote might be able to help when you get in that headspace, might be able to calm you down or bring you some sort of comfort.β
steve was blushing, face a soft pink, ears hot to the touch and his stomach was in knots, fingers drumming against the wheel. he glanced at you again and some sort of relief washed over him, settled the unsteady beat of his heart because you were smiling. that full blown smile that he adored, that made his thoughts scatter and his chest tighten.
βyou really sat and annotated this? for me?β he nodded as you thumbed through the pages, smile growing bigger with each passing second, eyes tracing over each note heβd left behind, each remark about how heβd thought about you during certain moments. βsteve.β it was breathless and you sounded a little choked up, eyes glassy when you looked at him.
βi just wanna help, yβknow? even if you keep using your old one and just have that one at home, i donβt mind, i just wanted to do something for you. to help if things got a little too much and you needed a distraction.β you startled him when you moved across the car, pressed your lips to his cheek, his temple, the corner of his mouth, your hand cupping his jaw.
βdo you have any idea how in love with you i am?β he blushed even more, couldnβt hold back his smile as you kissed his jaw. βi canβt believe you took the time to do this. i know reading isnβt your thing and i know lots of people wouldnβt wanna sit through reading little women and you have no idea how happy i am knowing that you did. knowing that you took the time to write everything you did.β you nuzzled into the side of his head, both of you grinning like idiots and steve shrugged a little, felt his body relax now he knew what heβd done was something you appreciated.
βi love you.β that was his answer, his reasoning, his why. steve had read and annotated because he loved you, because he wanted to give you something that was well thought out and personal, a show of how much you meant to him, something that, if need be, could distract you from your anxiety and the incessant crush of the world.
steve harrington wasnβt much of a reader. until he met you.
Metallica and Iron Maiden both acknowledge Eddie! now that is a HUGE thing to pull off for an existing main character, let alone a character that was introduced this season and was supposed to be a side character, which really goes to show just how much popular and loved Eddieβs character has really become. now i enjoy reading new theories on how Eddieβs character could come back but i donβt get my hopes up. it really is better that way. still, i have to say that even after all this, if duffers donβt bring Eddie back, thatβd be the worst decision in the history of stranger things ever.
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