“I’m talking a full brood of Harringtons—five, six kids—”
“Aha, no. You get two.”
“Two?! Come on, Chris. Don’t you want a big family?”
“Easy for you to say! You get to do the easy part.”
“Hey, I’m prepared to be a full time dad. You can do the whole career woman, working mom thing, and I can take the kids. I’m talking every diaper, every doctor’s appointment, every scraped knee.”
“One word, Steve: childbirth.”
“Okay, that’s—fine, that’s fair...four?”
“God, Steve...”
“Four, but two of them are twins.”
“You realize you don’t get to pick that, right?”
“Please?”
“...You’re lucky you’re cute. Four is my max.”
💋 16 + 20 for christeve (i love these two idiots so much)
💕 It was really easy to combine these two! Thank you so much!
16. One person pouting, only to have it removed by a kiss from the other person.
20. Kissing in a stairwell, giving them an artificial height difference.
“So where do you want to go first?”
“Home.”
“Steve...”
“What? Sorry that I don’t want to spend my break walking around the mall in this - this ridiculous, dorky getup.”
They were ambling together around the brand now Starcourt Mall. Christine hadn’t gotten a chance to go exploring yet. Steve had just started working in the food court last week, at an ice cream parlor called Scoops Ahoy. It wasn’t bad as far as summer jobs were concerned, but it did require a pretty horrendous uniform: blue shorts with a red and blue sailor top, complete with a little red necktie. The matching white sailor hat had been mysteriously forgotten in the back room when Steve left for his break.
Christine smirked, grabbing his hand and interlacing their fingers. “I don’t know. I think it’s kinda cute.”
“I don’t want to be cute,” Steve said in disgust. “I wanna be cool! I wanna be handsome! Dashing! Suave! I look like a four year old in a birthday photoshoot.”
“Ooh, that’s a good idea. Do you wanna stop by the photo booth?”
Steve’s death glare only made her laugh at his expense. He rolled his eyes, tugging her closer and dropping her hand in favor of wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Look, I’ve only got thirty minutes before I have to go back to that hell-hole, so if there’s something you want to do, speak now or hold your peace until next weekend.”
“Okay, okay. Why don’t we just start upstairs and work our way down?”
She tugged him toward the escalator, where they had to stand in line. The mall had been packed every day since it opened. Hawkins was a small town, and most people were still dealing with the culture shock of having a major shopping mall open up nearby. After a lifetime of shopping on Main Street, everyone was enjoying the change of scenery.
Steve stepped onto the escalator behind Christine. She was one step above him, which made her just a few inches taller than he was. Steve wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, propping his chin on her shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to her collarbone. He loved to feel the way Christine squirmed under him. She was still getting used to PDA. All the same, she reached back to run her fingers through Steve’s hair, and he sighed in contentment.
Until he got a look at the top of the escalator.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me...”
“What?” Christine twisted in his arms, voice laced with concern. “You okay?”
“You know, I should’ve guessed this was your plan. Did you even want to see me, or just the new movie theater?”
"I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said innocently. Steve raised an eyebrow and she folded. “Oh, come on, Steve! They have six different movies. Six! The Hawk only ever has one at a time! Can you imagine watching six new movies in one day?”
“Right. Great. Glad we’ve established what’s really important here.”
He pursed his lips in mock-annoyance, only for Christine to pout right back at him. She glanced up and down the escalator, then leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. Steve tried to keep a straight face, but it was a lot harder with Christine’s arms wrapped around his neck.
“Just think how convenient date night will be,” she said with a shrug. “Movie at the mall, dinner at the food court...”
“Oh, totally,” he scoffed. “Because Hot Dog on a Stick is so romantic...”
“And then free ice cream at Scoops, where I believe my boyfriend has keys to the back room.”
Steve tripped getting off the escalator, turning to Christine with wide, flustered eyes. Christine snickered as he cleared his throat and ran a hand through his wild hair.
“Yeah, okay, Walcott. Laugh it up. Which one of these movies do you want to see first?”
Yes, she is a savage. 😏 They call her Psycho Bitch for a reason, and it's not just because she almost broke Tommy H's nose.
Some of us HAVE to be savage, because the alternative is having EMOTIONS and that's a no-no. Steve says something sweet and heart-felt with his big puppy dog eyes? "Uhhhh well you're a loser and you suck at fighting so haha!" Crisis Averted™
Okay for reasons I am not yet allowed to disclose, Steve and Christine’s song is “I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore” by REO Speedwagon.
I can’t fight this feeling any longer
And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow
What started out as friendship has grown stronger
I only wish I had the strength to let it show
BUT I know I talk about that a lot, so BONUS: Another song Steve considers “their song” is “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel. Both of these will be addressed in the third installment. 💕
Listen, boy, I’m sure that you think
You’ve got it all under control
You don’t want somebody telling you
The way to stay in someone’s soul
She’s a real nice girl, and she’s always there for you
But a nice girl wouldn’t tell you what you should do
god i love listening to these songs and thinking about my dorks thank you so much for sending me this they are the perfect people for this ask ily
Send me a 🎶, OC + canon character and I’ll tell you “their song!”
Ooooooh okay, so this one was a little tougher, BUT I think it fits Christine and Steve most of all. Like, if I was writing them a little less healthy. The early days of Christine and Steve's friendship are filled with "why doesn't he like me instead of Nancy," and Christine proceeding to have feelings for him anyway. So it's a little angsty and a lot frustrating, but despite the warning signs, all Steve's emotional baggage after Nancy breaks up with him, Christine loves him just the same. She wants to heal him after all the shit he went through with Nancy.
Some favorites:
"Toss your dirty shoes in my washing machine heart
Baby, bang it up inside
Baby, though I've closed my eyes
I know who you pretend I am"
“So, if you were in a horror movie, would you rather be a loner and survive the film, or make out with Steve Harrington?”
“Oof, brutal,” said Barb, pointing to Nancy across from her. “Good one.”
Christine chewed on her lip, sagging back against the couch as she began her internal debate. It was difficult to push aside the daydreams of what it would actually be like to make out with King Steve Harrington - the most popular boy at Hawkins High School. She could easily spend all night thinking about it and never answer the question.
It was a stupid question, she knew - make out with one boy or not die? But still.
Not every boy was Steve Harrington.
Here's a couple more! “You can’t keep doing this.”, “That’s irrational.”, “I’m sorry, what? I keep getting lost in your eyes.” for Christine!
“You can’t keep doing this.”
This looks dramatic but it’s really not. It’s just a buttload of fluff.
The red BMW pulled into its usual parking spot in front of the arcade. Within seconds, the backdoors were thrown open, middle schoolers piling out like it was a clown car. They did not look back as they rushed into the building, and did not notice that their chaperones had not followed them.
“You can’t keep doing this, you know,” said Steve, looking over to his passenger.
“Doing what?” asked Christine. “Coming to the arcade with you?”
“Coming to the arcade with them.”
He nodded in the rearview mirror at the children’s retreating backs, and Christine raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me? I’m their babysitter.”
“No, Dustin said I am the babysitter.”
“Dustin was the one who invited me. And we’re both babysitters.”
“Yeah, but I’m the cool babysitter,” Steve complained. “I take them to movies and drive them places and take them to the arcade. You can…I don’t know. Help them with homework.”
Christine gaped at him. She stared, at a loss for words, and then abruptly stepped out of the car. Steve scrambled after her, leaning on top of the hood.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that…”
“I know what you meant,” she said, He was relieved to hear her laughing. “You’re just… You’re so new at this, it’s hilarious.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Steve, I’ve been sneaking these kids into movies for like two years. I’ve been taking them to the arcade for four. Plus, I’ve got an edge.”
“An edge?” he scoffed. “Chrissy, it’s the arcade. And you suck at these games.”
“I may not be good at video games, but there are things that I am good at. And you…not so much.”
“Like what?”
Christine shook her head, and beckoned him to follow her.
They walked into the building, overcome by the loud music and the smell of nacho cheese. Games were blaring their soundtracks, children cheering and booing and screaming. One particular argument floated over the rest.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Dustin yelled. “I only got one turn!”
“Not my problem, dweeber,” said the employee he was arguing with, an older boy with long hair and Cheeto-stained fingers. “You didn’t put a quarter on top.”
“Yeah, shithead, cause I already put my quarters in the machine!”
“No consecutive games. I don’t make the rules.”
“Yes, you do! You literally work here!”
“Exactly. So if I say scram, you scram. Scadoodle. Sigh anorna.”
“It’s sayonara, dumbass.”
“Language, Dusty,” said Christine, strolling up behind him. “What’s wrong?”
“Keith,” he grumbled, jabbing a finger at the employee. “He’s trying to kick me off the machine when I already paid for my turn.”
“N-No I wasn’t!” Keith had blanched white, wide-eyed. “I was just…uh…giving him one of my quarters. Free game. On the house. Yeah. Hi, Christine.”
“Hey, Keith.” She grinned, ruffling Dustin’s hair. “See? Just a misunderstanding.”
“Oh yeah,” said Dustin, now with a Cheshire Cat smile. “Sorry, bro. I appreciate it.”
“Sure thing…bro…”
“Hey, Chrissy?” asked Dustin. “Can we get pizza?”
“Yeah sure. Keith, you think we could get a…?”
“One pie with half pepperoni and half sausage, yeah totally. And soda’s on me.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do…”
“No, really! I’ll bring it to your booth.”
Christine smiled, and wrapped an arm around Dustin’s shoulders. “Thanks a lot, Keith. We really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, man,” added Dustin. “Super appreciate it.”
Keith smiled. It looked painful.
“Anything for our most loyal customers. Be right back, Christine.”
He threw Steve a dark glare, and hurried behind the counter to put in their order. Dustin whooped and went back to his game, and Christine turned around with a proud smile.
“Wait,” said Steve, shaking his head. “That’s your whole thing? You flirt with the nerds to get cheap pizza and free soda?”
“What?” Christine’s smile dropped. “No! I wasn’t flirting with him.”
“Uh, yeah you were. ‘Thanks a lot, Keith. We really appreciate it.’”
“Shut up.” She blushed. “It’s not like that. One time he was giving the kids a hard time, so I flipped out on him. Now he’s terrified of me.”
“He’s not scared of you. He’s into you.”
Christine opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it shut. She looked genuinely confused, embarrassed even. She had no clue what she’d been doing. Steve grinned like a madman.
“Would you look at that? Christine Walcott, using her womanly wiles on unsuspecting geeks. You little manipulator.”
“Shut up, Steve,” she mumbled, flushing scarlet.
They found a booth, sitting down so they could keep an eye on the kids from a distance. The boys were all crowded around Dustin, who seemed to be going for a new high score on his princess game. Max was teaching El the basics of Dig Dug, though she was a terrible backseat driver. Steve kept up a one-sided conversation about his latest basketball practice and their upcoming game. Christine sat silently next to him, in her own world.
It had never occurred to her that Keith would be interested in her as more than a regular customer. Looking back, it made sense. She hadn’t been crazy enough to really scream at him, and there was no way she was strong enough to beat him in a real fight. She knew she wasn’t intimidating - she’d just thought he was a wimp.
Their pizza arrived faster than it should have.
“Alright!” said Keith. “One pie, seven…sorry, eight cups. And I gave you twenty-percent off. Special employee discount.”
He offered her a wide smile, looking nervous. Only now she knew he was nervous because he was excited, not because he was scared. She couldn’t bring herself to say thank you.
Christine pulled out her wallet, only for Steve to push her hands away. “No, I got it, Chris.”
“What? Steve, you don’t…”
“No, really. Don’t worry about it.” He threw an arm around her shoulders, and leaned forward to hand Keith a few bills. “Thanks, man. Keep the change.”
Keith’s smile slipped as he looked between them. He mumbled some polite response, and quickly disappeared into the kitchen again.
Christine turned to Steve, who was already reaching for a slice of pizza. His arm was still around her.
“What was that about?”
“Hm?” He looked up in surprise. “What? Do you like him?”
“What? No!”
“Alright, so what’s the problem? Now he knows you’re not interested.”
“No, I mean - thank you, but…” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. “Um…yeah. Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He rubbed her arm gently, and glared at the empty cash register. “Seriously, that dude gives me the creeps, bullying kids like that. You’re not coming here alone anymore.”
She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or roll her eyes and hit him. But before she could respond properly, Steve had called out “Hey shitheads!” And the party was running over to the table. Dustin and Lucas crammed themselves next to her, pressing her into Steve and Steve into the wall. She was sure her face was tomato red, but Steve just laughed and shoved Dustin’s head forward. He left his arm around her.
Christine tried not to smile into her pizza. Maybe they could both be the cool babysitter.
