could you write a finn x reader fic of him dating a non-celeb and then doing mundane activities and them getting back to their apartment and being all cute or something 😆
yes so cute!!
warnings: nothing, just fluff!
Loving You is Easy
The freezers in the grocery store hum lowly around you. Similar to the way Finn’s arm wraps around your waist as you walk down the slim aisles.
It’s another one of those nights where you’re just craving something the pantry doesn’t have. Not that Finn minds taking you to the store, despite the fans and paparazzi taking advantage of that from time to time.
“What about these?” Finn points to a bag of chocolates neither of you have ever tried.
“Those could be good.”
He nods in agreement and places them in the basket dangling from his arm.
You shuffle further down the aisle, grabbing whatever catches your eye. You’re not with Finn for his money, but it’s no secret that he’s generous towards you.
“Got what you want, baby?” He calls out over his shoulder, still looking at whatever snacks are in front of him.
“Yep. I got the goods.” You dump your findings into the basket and hold onto him from behind.
“I can’t decide which chips I want.” He huffs like a toddler denied a lollipop, making you giggle into his shoulder blade.
“Just pick whichever one you want. I’ll eat any of them.”
Finn picks out two bags and tosses them into the basket, turning around to kiss your cheek.
The two of you head to checkout, some people taking notice and whispering amongst themselves. You’ve gotten good at tuning it out.
The apartment door swings open to reveal the warm space. Vanilla scent immediately reaching the entrance where you stand.
Finn sets the grocery bags down on the counter and turns to you with his arms out. You grin and make your way over into his tight embrace. He sways you back and forth while kissing the top of your head.
“I love you so much.” He mumbles into your hair.
“I love you more.” You reply, leaning up on your tippy toes and kissing his lips.
It’s nights like this that remind you just how easy love can be when it’s the right person.
Takes place post season 4 -- Best Friends to Lovers -- Slow Burn -- Angst and Happy Endings
Description: You and Steve have been best friends for years, growing together through everything Hawkins had to throw at you. There's just one thing, you're in love with your best friends and try your hardest to move on. Little do you know, your best friend feels the same way. (yes there is a little women reference in here)
warnings: Violence, mentions of insecurities, swearing, assault (guy tries to get reader to sleep with him and reader says no, screaming match ensues)
word count: 9k
a/n: guess who's back, back again, E is back. Hi guys, I know it's been a while since I've written something, and I really wanted to make this worth it as a comeback post. life is weird right now, and i'm handling a lot of weird things happening in my life, and I've used this fic as a creative outlet. this is by far my longest fic to date, so I really hope you guys enjoy it! This fic is dedicated to @foreverindreamlandd for inspiring me to write a steve fic, to @florestmoon for inspiring me to write a slow burn fic, and to @cevans-is-classic for being my dear friend and beta reader. Enjoy!
“Oh my god! You’re in love with him!”
Robin’s voice echoed through the quiet of the Hawkins bookstore, the very few customers scattered through the shelves glaring towards the two of you as you hastily shush her, reaching over the counter to place your hand on her mouth. She rambles on, voice muffled by your hand as you continue to whisper “shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” at her.
“Robin please keep your voice dow- EW!” You rip the hand covering her mouth away at lightning speed, staring at the now wet spot on your palm, brows pulled together in disgust. “You just licked me?”
“You wouldn’t move your hand,” She shrugged. “You taste like old paper.”
“I just reshelved some of our used books.” You frown as you wipe your hand on your jeans. “Robin, I have no clue what you’re talking about.” You grab the box of paper bags and move down the counter to the register.
“Oh come on!” Robin moves with you. “I see the way you look at him, I listen to how you talk about him. I always thought it was some weird best-friends-through-shared-trauma connection you guys have together, but after that pretty decent guy gave you his number and you waved it off and- and I just told you about him putting the moves on Gina during our last shift. It clicked! You love Steve Harrington!” She whispers the last sentence, leaning across the counter so much that her toes lift off of the ground. Your silence is enough for her and she starts to vibrate in place.
“Robin, please, do not say a single word. Please.” You sigh, leaning onto the counter.
“How long?” Her voice loses all teasing tone as she tilts her head.
“About two years.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Your head drops to the counter, body fully slumped over, cheek pressed against the scuffed wood top.
“Ish humiliating.” Your voice comes out muffled.
“It’s not humiliating. Have you talked to him about it?” She places a hand on your hair, brushing it away from your face.
“Of course not.” The heat builds up in your cheeks as you go on. “He was with Nancy, and then Nancy broke his heart and then he liked you,” You miss the confusion on her face at these words. “And then you became friends, and now he’s on this serial dating rampage and I just can’t take that anymore.” You drag the last syllable as a groan.
“I think you need to talk to him, Y/N.” Your head shoots up at that.
“No, no, no. I can’t, I can’t risk it. What if he’s actually disgusted by me and is just pity friends with me? What if he’s just friends with me because I’m a vacuum for him to tell me his feelings?” You ramble out.
“I seriously doubt that-”
“But what if he is, Rob? We’ve known each other for over a decade. He could very well only be friends with me because he feels obligated. I was just his weird new neighbor that his parents made him befriend when we were 8.” Your head smacks right back down onto the counter, the dull thud echoing through the quiet front end. Her hands move right back to smoothing your hair as you whimper pathetically.
“Y/N, I really think you need to talk to him about this. I think… If you did… you may be surprised at the outcome and see that-” Robin’s dulcet tone is once again cut off, but instead of you being the culprit, it’s the bell above the entrance. At the noise, you don’t move. To hell with professionalism. You’re sure your aunt, who owns the shop and gave you the job, would understand when you inevitably sat down with her and a bottle of wine to explain if a complaint was made.
“Woah woah, why so solemn? It’s starting to feel like a funeral home in here.” His voice makes you tense, Robin feeling it immediately.
“Solemn? Was that your word of the day today, Harrington?” Robin diverts his attention instantly, and you make a mental note to thank her later.
“Actually, Robin, today’s word was ‘Nebulous’, thank you very much.” Steve shoots back, looking out among the shelves. You finally decide to lift your face off of the counter, squeezing your eyes shut before finally looking at him.
He looks good, when doesn’t he look good, of course he looks good. The fall air has settled on Hawkins, the leaves tumbling through main street and past the shop showed you how much temperatures must have dropped since your shift began. He donned his regular jeans, but instead of his usual polo and windbreaker, he stood in front of you with a loose button up and jean jacket on. The mustard color of the button up worked for him, you thought. He ran his hand through his hair before turning to face you again.
“Why the dramatics, huh? Did they delay the shipment of the new Stephen King books again?” He reaches a finger out to poke at your forehead, no doubt red from where it was squished against the counter just moments prior. You kick the newly delivered box further under the counter at this, willing to take the out he presented you with. When you open your mouth, though, Robin cuts in.
“Actually, our dear girl here is having some boy troubles.” You and Steve both snap your heads to look at the blonde at that. Nope, not going to thank her anymore. You, again, go to say something, but Robin continues. “See, this guy gave her his number yesterday and,” Robin leans over the counter to dig a hand underneath the register, pulling out the crumpled paper you stuffed there, flashing it to Steve. “She doesn’t know if she should call him. I was talking her through it.”
“Oh.” Steve’s eyes are wide as he looks at the number and at you. There’s something different in his tone. “Well… who was the guy? Anyone I’d know?”
“Just some guy from the college a couple towns over…” You mutter, picking at the roll of packing tape on the counter. He tenses, but you don’t catch it. “He’s been coming in a bit lately, always asks me what books I recommend, actually read the one book I told him about.” Robin's head nods fast enough that it gives you a headache.
“Yeah! He listened.” Robin looks pointedly at Steve, who bristles and quickly brushes off the look in her eyes.
“So, was this guy bothering you? Do you need me to set him straight next time he comes in?” Steve is serious as he leans on the counter. You shake your head.
“He’s harmless, and anyways, I don’t think I’m going to call him.”
“Yeah?” Steve’s tone was almost… Hopeful? No.
“Not sure if it’s worth it…” You avert your gaze again, moving to a cart of returns and go backs at the corner of the counter. The bell rings again, and you glance over to see Dustin and Mike enter the store with Holly, Mike’s 6 year old sister. Holly’s face lights up as she sees you.
She was a sweet girl, and her mother brought her in frequently for the children’s reading time offered in the store weekly. She had grown fond of you, and you her.
“Y/N!” The blond pulls from her brother, rounding the counter before launching into your legs. You let out a laugh at this, hugging her back as best as you could.
“Holly!” You mimic her tone. “How’re you doing, pretty girl?”
“Mom made Mike bring me to town with him and she gave me ten dollars to get a book!” She beams up at you with a toothless smile. You gasp in amazement.
“Ten whole dollars? What’re you going to do? Buy the store from me?” She lets out a belly laugh when you poke at her sides. “Here, why don’t you sit up here for a minute, and I’ll help you find a book soon. Okay?” She nods excitedly as you lift her to sit on the stool before turning back to your friends.
As you focused on the younger boys, you missed the fondness that filled Steve’s eyes as he watched how you interacted with the young girl.
“What’s going on, guys?” Dustin questions. You go to answer, and once again Robin butts in.
“A guy gave Y/N his number yesterday and we’re talking about it. She doesn’t want to call him.”
“Robin I swear to God, I am going to kick your-”
“Ah ah! Child present!” She jumps away from you, half hiding behind a frowning Steve and pointing at where Holly sits occupied by the price gun, giggling as she covers her leggings in stickers.
“Why not?” Mike speaks up for the first time. He leans on the counter, looking down where the crumpled note sat before stealing a lollipop out of the penny candy jar. “I mean, it’s not like you have to marry the guy, right? A date wouldn’t hurt.” He shrugs.
“Yeah but-”
“Worse comes to worst, you get a free meal out of it.” You sigh at this, looking at Steve. His eyes don’t meet yours as he scuffs a toe on the worn wooden floor. You swallow back the bile that rises in your throat before looking back at Mike.
“I guess you’re right. I’ll give him a call once I get off, but right now,” You force yourself to plaster a smile on when you turn to Holly. “We’ve got an adventure to get to. Right?” Holly nods her head at a speed that rivals Robin, and lets out a loud laugh as you pick her up and jog to the kids section, ‘whooshing’ as you pass the group.
“You are…” Robin reaches up to whack the back of Steve’s head. “Such an idiot!” Her words are hushed, but carry a heat as he cups the sore spot.
“Ow! What did I do, dude?”
“She was obviously waiting for you to say something! How can you be such a moron?”
“No she wasn’t.” He scoffs.
“Steve, I love you, man. But, Robin’s right. Grade A Moron.” Dustin shakes his head as he slaps Steve on the back.
“Hey, hey! Listen, if anything it’s Wheeler’s fault.” The group flits their gaze to the lanky teen, who’s hunched over the counter, digging in the candy jar again, eyes wide as he’s caught.
“What did I do?”
“What’s the worst that could happen? Free meal! Bleh.” Steve mocks him as he slumps against the counter.
“Hey, hey, Wheeler’s an idiot but he doesn’t know about how pitiful you are for her.” Robin steps up beside him, leaning her elbows on the counter as she follows Steve’s eyes to where you are. Crouched down beside Holly, you hold a book in front of her, the other hand waving wildly as you are no doubt explaining the plot in a way that has her completely hooked.
“Your time is running out, my guy.”
The day dwindled on after the visit from your friends. You helped Holly, and promised her you’d see her at the next story time to quell the tears welling up in her blue eyes. She is sure to wave at you all the way to the door, and even as she walks down the sidewalk, disappearing from sight. You sigh with a smile, turning to face the counter and begin your closing duties before it’s too late, squatting down to grab the cleaning spray and rag before hoisting yourself back to standing with a grunt. As you finally straighten up, you come face to face with those honey brown eyes that have frequented your dreams more often than not.
“Ah!” You jump back a tad, stumbling into a cart, a stack of books tumbling to the carpet. “Christ, Harrington. You trying to kill me?”
“Shit,” He stifles a laugh. “Sorry, I thought you heard me.”
“I swear to god, I’m going to put a bell on you.” You sigh, looking down at the discarded books before moving to grab them.
“Here, let me help.” He jogs around the counter to where you’re squatting, stacking the hardcovers off to the side. You reach your hand out for the final book, and as you grip the leather cover, so does Steve. You snap your head up to look at him, and find his eyes already on you.
You can’t seem to bring yourself to pull away from him, choosing to let your eyes wander from his own and trail across his face. Scattered with freckles and moles, you trace them up to his eyebrow, where a faint scar sits on his brow from a particularly bad night years ago. You were there when the wound happened, desperately ripping at Billy’s arm to pull him off of Steve before he actually killed him. Something Steve always chastised you for, because when you were able to pull him off even a tad, Billy whipped around and landed a punch squarely into your stomach. Winding and effectively sending you into the side table, you had a scar on the back of your forearm to prove it.
Steve is the first to break the silence, pulling you from your memory as he clears his throat.
“Is this- Uh, is this the book you recommended to me a while ago?” He pulls the book from your hand, flipping it over to look at the back of the cover.
“Uh, yeah. It’s Jane Austen.” You busy yourself with straightening the stack of books, focusing everywhere but him.
“Here, ring me up then.” He pushes the book up onto the counter before grabbing the stack of books from the floor, and reaching out to help you up.
“You’re going to read it? I thought you weren’t really into reading-” You slide your hand into his warm one.
“Yeah well,” He hoists you up and you have to brace yourself on the cart before you slam into him. “If it’s important enough to you to recommend it to me, then it’s important to me.” He shrugs, looking far too casual for the way his words set your skin on fire.
“Really?”
“Really really.” You can’t help the smile that blooms its way across your face at that, nodding your head far too many times as he moves around the counter to stand across from you. You ring him up quickly, sliding a complimentary bookmark into the front cover with his receipt, and pushing the book across to him.
“I expect updates on where you’re at in it, okay?” You point at him with a mock scowl.
“You’ll be the first one to know, okay?” He holds his hands up in surrender as he laughs, backing up toward the door. “Get home safe, Y/L/N.”
“You too, Steve.” The bell dings as he pushes it open, still facing you. You finally turn away from him once he’s out of the door, taking a deep breath before moving to wipe down the counter. You’re stopped by the bell ringing, and when you turn around you quirk a brow.
“Steve? Did you forget something?” You move to stand in front of him, crossing your arms against your chest.
“Yeah- I mean no, but I meant to ask you if you wanted to come over for a movie night tomorrow night?” He stutters over the words. Heat blooms in your chest as you look up at him.
“A movie night? Just us?” Your voice feels tight in your throat, the last word coming out a little squeaky, and you struggle to mask it with a small cough.
“Yeah. I thought it would be nice, like how we did when we were kids? I just…” You can’t look away from him as he talks, have his eyebrows always furrowed like that when he talked? “I miss my best friend.” Just as quickly as the heat came, it was extinguished. He reaches out a fist to lightly punch your shoulder, and you feel a piece of you crack away at that.
“Oh… yeah, definitely. I should be free.” You swallow the lump that’s grown in your throat, and force a smile. He doesn’t seem to realize how he’s affected you, his face lighting up in a grin.
“Great! What’re you in the mood for?”
“Whatever is fine with me.” You’re silently pleading for him to leave before the burning behind your eyes culminates to actual tears.
“Good, great, okay.” He nods, that smile still plastered on his face, so unknowing of how much you truly care for him and how much you wished best friend meant more.
You couldn’t continue on like this anymore.
As he said his final goodbye, you chose not to watch as he made his way down the sidewalk. Instead, you made your way past the cleaner bottle and rag, past the cart of books, and to the phone. Reaching into your pocket, you pulled out the crumbled receipt paper, and held the phone against your ear with your shoulder as you typed in the messy scrawl of letters. The ringing from the receiver only echoed in your ears as you waited.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this, uh, Vincent?”
“Yeah, who’s this?”
“It’s Y/N, from the bookstore? I wanted to see what you had in mind for that date.”
–
After you closed up, you packed yourself into your car as quickly as possible, all but peeling out of the alley where you parked, and heading directly to Robin’s house. You were certain you had broken several traffic laws on the way there, but Hawkins Police cared little about anything nowadays. When you finally pulled out in front of her house, nearly forgetting to put the car in park and actually take the keys out of the ignition, you jog your way to the door. It only took a few seconds of incessant knocking for someone to answer, Robin’s mom smiling at you when she opened the door.
“Hi honey! We weren’t expecting you.”
“I’m so sorry to interrupt your night like this Mrs. Buckley. I need to talk to Robin, is she home?” She nods, inviting you in with a small hug and allowing you to take your shoes and coat off.
“She’s in her room. Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can bring some snacks up if you want.”
“I’m fine, thank you though.” You give her a smile as you make your way to Robin’s room, knocking rapidly on her poster covered door. Robin whips the door open, and her eyes widen.
“Y/N? What’re you doing-”
“I called him. I called the guy.” You don’t let her finish her question, pushing into her bedroom and flopping almost violently onto her bed.
“The college guy? What? When?” She goes to sit by your limp body almost immediately.
“After you left.” Your voice is muffled by her comforter.
“I thought you were just saying that to get Mike off your back. I didn’t think you wanted to? What about Steve?” Robin reaches a hand out to rub your back soothingly, confused as to why you were so upset about this. Scrambling, you sit up to face her.
“He stayed, after all of you left.” You began your ramble, words tumbling out so fast that you sounded like her. “We talked a bit, nothing really noteworthy at first. He helped me pick some books up, and I thought we had a moment, y’know? He touched my hand, and he didn’t pull away, didn’t flinch, and he was looking at me with those stupid eyes of his, and it felt like a moment. He bought the book that I’ve been talking about for years, said ‘if it’s important to you, it’s important to me.” You put on your best Steve voice to paint the picture for her.
“And then he left, I was going to clean up a bit, and turned around and he came back! He came back, and he asked me if I wanted a movie night tomorrow. I thought wow is this it? Am I dreaming? And because it’s me, I obviously was wrong. He said it’s because he misses his best friend. Because I’m only his best friend, Robin. I was so stupid to even think, to even imagine that Steve Harrington would even think of me that way in the slightest.”
Robin goes to say something, but you stop her.
“AND!” She jumps at how loud your voice is. “He punched me on the shoulder. Like a dad telling his son ‘good game’! God, I could have died right there.” You slump into her shoulder, exhausted from the rant. “I decided I couldn’t go on like this, y’know? I can’t keep waiting for him to see me, Robin. So I called the guy, Vincent, and we set up a date. It’s on Saturday.”
Robin had talked you down from the ledge fairly quickly after that, comforting you as best as she is capable of doing, even taking you to the kitchen to give you some of her mom’s pumpkin bread. Though her and her mother insisted on you spending the night, you had to make your way home before your own parents began to wonder where you were.
Despite the late hour, neither of them seemed to really care that you were out later than you planned, and before long, you were in bed, staring at the ceiling, desperately avoiding looking out of your window. You could tell Steve’s bedroom lamp was on, meaning he was up, and you couldn’t face him right now. All you could bring yourself to do is roll over, and finally let the tears you’ve been holding in fall.
Across the hedges, Steve sat in his bedroom, back propped against the headboard. His eyes were moving quickly across the pages as he read. He hadn’t stopped since he had gotten home from seeing you, hell bent on finishing the novel to get a leg up on this college guy you talked about today. That, and the fact that he was actually loving the story. Eight years passed, and the two characters were still obviously in love with each other. He thought of you with every passage.
–
The next day came and went much faster than you would have preferred, your shift moving by quickly and soon enough you were standing outside of Steve’s door. Your fingers gripped at the paper bag from the grocery store, no doubt squishing the bag of gummy bears in a vice grip as you knocked.
He had a shift at Family Video today, so he hadn’t stopped by to visit you at the store. He did, however, call you there to confirm that he had a film picked out and to come when you got off. You hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him about your date yet, Keith cutting the phone call off as he chided Steve for personal calls. You didn’t know whether to thank or curse the cheese covered man for that. But, you have to do it now. You had no choice.
Steve opens the door soon after your knock, a smile on his face as he props his hand against the door frame, leaning casually.
“Welcome, Y/N.”
“Steve.” It’s the only thing you can bring yourself to say, trying your hardest to avoid his eyes.
“What’s in the bag? I told you I had snacks covered.” He rolls his eyes at how full the bag actually is.
“Yeah, well your taste in snacks is awful.” You scoff, ducking under his arm to walk into the warm house. You kick off your shoes, before walking toward his kitchen. “I mean, you prefer Red Vines over Twizzlers, what kind of monster does-” You freeze as you finally see the island, its marble countertop covered in your favorite movie snacks rather than his own, a bottle of your go to movie drink sitting next to a cup beside them. You turn around slowly, looking up at Steve’s nervous expression. His entire demeanor changed during the walk from the door as he nervously scratched at the back of his head.
“What… What’s all this?” You keep glancing back over at the counter, convinced you imagined it all.
“I had to grab some groceries today after my shift, so I, um,” He walks past you to grab your glass, moving to fill it with ice. “I just grabbed some snacks. I figured I’d grab some of your usuals.”
“What’d you do? Run over my Nana?” You joke, trying to swallow down any of the feelings that are desperately trying to claw out of you. You sit the bag down on the stool before reaching over to grab the Twizzler bag he has laid out, and pulling the licorice from the package.
“You got me, I’ve been meaning to tell you.” He throws a small ice chip at you, and you throw your head back in a laugh.
“Alright, Granny Killer, what’s on the Roster for tonight?” You grab the snacks off of the table, balancing the bowl of popcorn on the stack of sweets to move to the living room. You hear Steve make some panicked noises at the unstable stack in your arms, before rushing over to grab the popcorn. You scoff at his lack of faith in you, moving to sit the pile on the coffee table.
“Well, I grabbed two. We’ve got Labyrinth and The Shining, so it’s your pick.” He holds up the VHS cases with a flourish and you look at him confused.
“What, no Tom Cruise? You lose your crush on him or something?”
“Shut up. Pick the movie.” He rolls his eyes.
“Labyrinth,” You nod and plop yourself onto the couch, pulling a pillow onto your lap. The opening credits begin to roll, and Steve settles in next to you.
As the movie plays, you feel Steve squirming in his seat. It’s incessant, he shifts every few moments, adjusting the pillows, crossing and uncrossing his legs. You can feel him looking at you in between his movements, and you can’t stand it anymore.
“Everything alright, Steve?” You glance over at him finally, and he tenses.
“Ye-,” he coughs, “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m good. Why?” He shuffles his body to face you, feigning confidence.
“Steve, you haven’t sat still since the movie started.” You give him a firm look that has his resolve breaking in a second.
“I just… It’s been so long since we’ve done this, does it feel a little weird to you?” Your throat burns at his words.
“If you’re uncomfortable, I can leave, or we can invite Robin or the kids over?” You try to hide the disappointment that laces your tone.
“No, no! It’s just different, I think. Back then, we had no clue what was going to happen, and life was easier. Y’know? My parents were around, kind of. All we had to worry about was homework, and the Snow Ball. And now? The world is kind of falling apart and it made me step back and really see everything around me. See who and what really matters. It just feels different.” Steve rambles out. You give him a soft smile, and it reminds him of the times that you would help clean the scrapes on his knees and elbows when he would fall off of his bike. Always so soothing, and gentle with him.
“Steve, listen. Yes, things are different now. We have seen things people never should, dealt with things no one ever should deal with. We’ve loved and we’ve lost people, and things will forever be different. But, that doesn’t make it a bad thing. Change doesn’t need to be bad, change brings people together, brings the close even closer, and it makes us stronger. It’s made you stronger, Steve.” You reach out to hold his forearm gently. “You are so strong. You were given the option to run, to not take on the shit show that Hawkins has become, but you didn’t. You could have let Billy go after Lucas, but you didn't. You could have taken the easy way out in the tunnels, but you didn’t. Hell, you could have avoided everything that happened during spring break, but you took charge. You got us out of there. You saved Eddie’s life by getting him through the gate. Life will never be the same again, but it’s important to see the good that’s come out of this too. If you let the bad take over, it’ll swallow you whole.”
Steve can’t respond. He can feel his eyes start to burn at your words. He wants to blink, needs to, but he doesn’t want to stop staring at you. His throat is thick, and this is the closest he’s been to crying for the first time in a very long time. You can see him trying to keep his composure, and your grip tightens slightly.
“Do I miss your mom’s movie night cookies?” You scoff. “Of course I do, that woman knows how to make a mean dessert.” He lets out a watery laugh at this, and you feel him relax at the break in tension. “But, I’ve got my best friend, I’ve got my Twizzlers, that is the good for me.” You reach forward, grabbing the package off of the coffee table and pulling out a piece to hold out to him. Slowly, he reaches out to grab it, fingers brushing yours slowly as his eyes stay tracked to yours.
“I don’t deserve you, Y/N. You’re too good to me.”
“I don’t want to hear that kind of talk, Harrington. You deserve all the good the world has to offer, and I am the barest of minimums in that department.” You shove at his shoulder, turning to focus on the movie again, but he has you look at him again.
“Hey. If I can’t talk that way, you can’t either. You are too good for this town, I don’t think I could have made it through all of this without you.”
You lean toward him slowly, before whispering, “Ditto.” He throws his head back in a laugh at this, pulling you into a tight hug despite the awkward positioning.
“Now, Bowie is about to come on. Shhhhh.” You settle into the couch again, shoulder pressed against his.
The movie passes by, a few interruptions from Steve confused about the storyline, and you look up at the digital clock beside you on the table.
“I better get home. My parents are leaving pretty early in the morning to visit my Nana in Indy for the week and I’m helping them pack up the car.” You stretch in your spot, groaning as your joints pop.
“I’ll walk you out.” Steve stands with a stretch as well, his sweater rising on his stomach showing the taught and scarred skin on each side of his waist. You have to look away when your eyes travel to the trail of hair visible just above his waistband. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He helps you up, and together you walk to the front door.
“This was fun, Steve.” You smile up at him as you step out of the house into the cold autumn air.
“It was.” He leans against the door frame, arms crossed. “Hey, since you’ll be home alone tomorrow, do you want to come over again? I can order out, maybe we can watch The Shining.” He shrugs, grinning down at you.
“Actually, I can’t tomorrow.” You fold yourself into your jacket a little tighter.
“Oh. Why? Have a hot date?” He jokes, and you miss the way his tone is clipped at the thought.
“I wouldn’t call it hot, but yeah. I called up that guy yesterday, and he wants to go get dinner tomorrow.” You can’t bring yourself to meet his eyes as you speak, so you kick at the stray pebble that made its way onto the welcome mat.
“Oh.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, uh, have fun I guess. Be safe.” His words catch in his throat as he straightens up in the doorway.
“Always am. Uhm,” You cough awkwardly, quickly looking up at him, and then back down. “I’ll see you later, Steve.”
“Yeah… See you later.” He can’t help but stare at you as you make your way back down the pathway to the sidewalk, watching you until your figure disappears behind the hedges.
Steve slouches into the empty entry way of his house with a sigh, heading to the phone to punch in Robin’s number, waiting impatiently for the girl to answer.
“Hello?”
“Robin…”
“Steve?”
“I think my time has officially run out.”
“Maybe not, my dear dingus.”
–
The following morning, you kissed your parents on the cheek as they got into their car. They left with a promise to give your Nana a kiss for you, waving as they pulled out of the driveway and down the street. The morning flies by after that, your brief nap on the couch assisting in that because anyone who willingly gets up to function this early on a Saturday should be arrested. You keep looking at the clock anxiously, the minutes and hours ticking by far too quick for comfort.
You should be excited about a first date, shouldn’t you? You were moving on, you were taking initiative to move forward and get over the pain of an unrequited love. Vincent seemed nice enough at the store and on the phone, albeit a little forward, but you brushed it off as being inexperienced in this department. Deep down, you couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to go on a first date with Steve.
In your fantasy, he would knock on your door, flowers in hand and that eye-crinkling smile on his face as he told you how beautiful you looked. He would walk you to the car, refusing to let you open your own door as he did it for you with a wink. You’d drive to dinner, a fancy restaurant or a diner, you wouldn’t care. Time alone with him would be enough. You’d share a dessert even if you were full, wanting to drag the date on as long as possible before you inevitably ended up driving through the abandoned main street of Hawkins.
Music on the lowest setting, you would talk, before he would ask to hold your hand. The two of you have held hands before, but there’s something different this time. You’d let the warmth of his hand heat yours up, the grip sweaty, but neither of you daring to pull away because you would miss the touch. Eventually you’d end up in his driveway, him walking you to your front door, hands swinging in between you. You’d stand at the door, just staring at each other because you didn’t want the night to end. He’d smile as he steps toward you, whispering Can I kiss you? And you’d nod, because why wouldn’t you want to kiss him? And finally, it would happen.
You shake your head almost violently, wanting to rid those thoughts from your brain. You looked at the clock, knowing that even though your date wasn’t for a while, you needed to distract yourself. The best way to do that is just to get ready early. You needed help, though. You couldn’t handle being alone with your thoughts like this, scared without other distraction you would fade back into that fantasy world that was so far out of reach to you. You jog to your bedroom, grabbing the handle of the green phone your parents gave you two Christmases ago with your very own number attached to it.
“Hello?” You hear Nancy’s voice over the receiver.
“Nance, I need your help.”
Within the hour, Nancy and Robin stood at your door, following you to your room quickly.
“I don’t know what to wear, I don’t know how to do my hair, I don’t know what to do with my face. I’m losing it here.” You throw yourself down onto your bed, heat crawling its way up your face.
“Okay, okay. Wait a second. You’re actually going on a date? Mike wasn’t messing with me? What about Steve?” Nancy asks. You groan almost gutturally at the mention of his name, pulling your pillow to cover your face. You can hear Robin’s whispers, too fast for you to understand at your distance, but you know she’s explaining the situation you had told her not even two days ago. It’s quiet for a moment, before you feel the bed sink beside you. You pull the pillow down slightly, glancing at Nancy through the mess of hair that's fallen into your line of sight.
“Let’s start with an outfit, okay?” Her tone is gentle as she brushes the hair out of your eyes. You nod pitifully as she pulls you up and she goes to raid your closet.
Over the course of a few hours, the girls were able to help you find an outfit, figure out what to do with your hair and make up, and help you forget about Steve, even if it was just for a little bit at a time.
It was about half an hour before Vincent was set to arrive at your house to get you when Nancy and Robin left, and yet again you were left with your thoughts until you heard the honk of a car on your street. Looking out of the window, you could see Vincent sat in his Camaro.
But, Nancy and Robin weren’t gone. Beyond the hedges, Nancy’s car was parked and hidden away as she stood with Robin and Steve as they watched on.
“Asshole didn’t even get out of the car and walk to the door.” Steve scoffs, annoyed with a man he’s never met. The trio watches as you lock your front door, and make your way down the path toward the car. Steve’s breath catches in his throat when you turn. You look beautiful, the green dress you’re wearing fitting you perfectly, a blazer tossed over your shoulders to protect you from the harsh autumn air. Your legs are hugged by black tights, black heels adding a couple of inches to your height. He only looks away when Robin elbows him in the ribs, cursing and rubbing at the sore spot.
“He didn’t even open the door for her!” Nancy whispers, annoyed in her own right at the guy's clear lack of manners. Steve watches on as the two of you talk in the car for a minute before driving off, and Steve has to bite back bile at the thought of you going off with this stranger.
“Did you get the stuff, man?” Robin pushes away from the hedges, nodding toward the house.
“Yeah, I’ve got it, I was able to find the recipe in a box under the sink.”
A few miles away, while Steve executed his plan, you sat in a booth at a restaurant across from your date.
The talk was dull, to put it simply. He hadn’t really asked you much about yourself, opting to tell you all about his fraternity at school, and the wild party they had held earlier in the week that got them put on probation from the university. He talked about baseball, his sport of choice that gave him a full ride.
You tried to talk to him, even just comment on his stories, but everytime you began to speak, Vincent would talk over you.
Or should you say Vinny. He was sure to correct you when you got into his car at the start of the evening, claiming that ‘Vinny is way cooler, goes over better with the chicks too.’
The food came, and you were thankful for the distraction, swirling the watery spaghetti onto your fork and hiding your grimaces by chewing. God, he even chewed with his mouth open. The disgust settled in even harder.
“So,” He’s smacking his lips as he talks around his food. “You should definitely come to a party on campus sometime. None of the parties go quite as hard as ours, but I’m sure I can find something close enough.”
“Yeah…” You shove another fork full in your mouth to keep from saying something snarky.
“You’d get me some great cred as well, you know?” You hum, trying best to focus on the bead of condensation on your glass rather than the way he chews at you. “A babe like you on my arm would be pretty great.” You swallow down your food, as well as a tad bit of vomit that felt like working its way up your throat at his tone.
“So, uh, Vinny. I’d love to hear what you liked about the Stephen King book I told you about. You said you read it?” You politely sipped your water, desperate to bring the conversation to something a tad more civilized and to something more your speed.
“Oh, yeah, that was some book.” He nodded, scooping another over-piled fork of spaghetti into his mouth.
“What part did you like most?” It was clear he had lied to you about reading it, but you tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. This is about moving forward, Y/N. Expanding your horizons.
“That, uh, part where she, uh, kills her shitty mom. The knives? Absolutely insane.” Your grip tightens on the glass in your hand at the lie. The bastard was trying to pass off the movie as the book? You have to calm yourself before you can bring another forkful of spaghetti into your mouth to yet again bite back a remark.
“You can really put it away, you might want to slow down there.” Vincent says, attitude in his tone as he drinks from a backwashed glass.
Fuck expanding horizons.
You’re able to make it throughout the rest of dinner by focusing on the water glass, not needing to speak much due to Vinny’s ever exciting life that he just can’t stop talking about. The bill comes, and surprisingly, he pays for both means, and you head out to the car.
The drive home is yet again him talking, and you keep glancing at the clock, counting the minutes that it takes to get to your house. When he pulls up, you can taste the freedom on the tip of your tongue as you turn to thank him. But, you’re cut off by just how close he is to your face.
“Vinny, um, what’re you doing?”
“It’s been a really good night, doll.” Your body shivers at the way the name rolls off of his tongue, his hand coming up to tuck your hair behind your ear. He takes your reaction as an invite to lean in, his nose touching your cheek as your body tenses. “I’d really hate for it to end without a little...” He caps his sentence off by leaning down and trying to kiss your neck. At this, you snap out of it, pushing him off of you and back into his seat.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Your voice is loud, furious as you rip the seatbelt off of your body and get out of the car quickly, slamming the door with enough force that it echoes through the trees.
“What?” He scoffs, getting out of the car as well, and jogging over to you.
“You spend the whole night talking about yourself, being a dick and you really think that is how the night is going to end?” You don’t even try to keep your tone down, despite the late hour. You are enraged.
“Now now, doll.” He steps closer to you, his gait cocky as he approaches you. He reaches a hand out to hold your chin. “There’s no reason to play hard to get-” You slap his hand away from you, fuming at this point.
“You are a fucking pig! God,” You laugh bitterly at him. “Get the fuck away from me.” You reach into your coat pocket to dig for your keys and start walking to your door when he grabs your arm and whips you to face him.
“Are you kidding me? I paid for your meal! You owe me.” He leans down to try and kiss you again, but you’re able to pull out of his grip and your hand whips back before your fist lands with an echoing smack that has him stepping back.
“I don’t owe you shit.” You spit at him. He’s holding his cheek, swearing as he looks up at you, rage in his eyes as he starts to storm toward you.
“You fucking-”
“Woah woah woah!” A new voice enters the conversation, if you could even call it that.
Steve was in his kitchen when he heard the door slam, pulling the tray out of the oven with a proud smile. He sat the oven mit down on the counter, wiping his hands on his mothers waist apron before grabbing the tea towel to start drying off the counters. He heard your voice, loud and angry, and his blood ran cold. Throwing the towel onto his shoulder, he jogs to the door, opening it. Your voice is clearer now, the fury palpable, and he’s quick to move to where he can see you.
The guy you went out with tonight is grabbing at you while you scream at him. He feels his own anger bubble up at the way he’s speaking to you, and when he grips your arm and starts to lean in, he balls his fists up, straightens his back, moving quickly to defend you. He freezes again when your hand lands a solid punch across the prick’s cheek, sending him back a good few feet at the impact. Steve can’t help but feel a little surge of pride. He was the one who taught you to punch after the run in with Billy in the Byers’ home. His proud moment is cut off my the way the guy starts to advance on you, and he’s quick to step up.
“Woah woah woah!” Steve steps in the path of Vinny, holding a hand up to keep him from getting any closer.
“Who the fuck are you? Betty Crocker?” Vinny spits out.
“I think it’s time for you to leave, buddy.” Steve ignores his question, hand still inches away from the guy's chest.
“She fucking owes me!” Vinny goes to push past Steve, but Steve is quick to grab his collar and pull his face up to his.
“You touch her, and you’re dead.” At that, Steve shoves him away, watching as he stumbles down the path. Vinny assesses the situation, looking between you and Steve before finally yielding and stepping back.
“He’s the reason you won’t put out, huh?” He tosses one more snark in your direction that has your body ignite.
“I don’t owe you shit for paying for the date you asked me on! You fucking expired coupon of a human being.” You move forward to get one last hit in, but Steve is quick to stop you.
“Hey, hey, hey. Let it go, let’s go.” He’s backing you up to your house, and after a moment of struggling against him, you push him away with a huff and rip your keys out of your pocket to unlock your door. You kick the heels off almost immediately, going to slam the door but Steve catches it before it can close.
“What happened?” He was concerned, eyebrows furrowed in a way that usually made you want to kiss the crease it made, but this time was different. Your adrenaline skyrocketed, breath coming out in shallow puffs as you threw your blazer down on the couch.
“I had it covered, Steve.” You spat. You were turned away from him, missing the way his eyebrows shot up in surprise at your tone.
“What’s with the attitude? He was coming at you, what was I supposed to do?” He follows you into the kitchen, running a hand through his hair.
“You could have let me handle it.” Your tone was clipped as you pulled out a glass and filled it with a bit of your dad’s whiskey from the counter. You threw back the amber liquor quickly, ignoring the burning that rolls down your throat.
“Yeah right.” He scoffed. “I wasn’t going to stand there while that douchebag was trying to-”
“I’m not yours to save, Steve!” Your voice is loud, and it cuts him off immediately.
“What? I wasn’t trying to-”
“Yeah, sure.” Your tone is clipped.
“I wasn’t going to let him hurt you, Y/N! I don’t see how that makes me the bad guy here!” He throws his hands up in exasperation. “You said he was harmless! Why would you ever go out with someone like that?” He raises his voice, but you stand your ground.
“It’s none of your business!” You step up to him, nostrils flaring as you glare up at him.
“It is my business! You are my business!” Your voices rival each other in volume.
“Like hell I am!”
“If someone tries to hurt you, it’s my business too!”
“Why! Why do you care so much about what happens to me Steve?”
“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!”
Your mouth immediately closes, and you feel like time has frozen as you stare up at him. He’s breathing heavily, the air puffing out and hitting your cheeks, and you can’t bring yourself to say anything. All you can do is stare for several moments, taking in the way he’s looking at you. He’s got his hands on his hips as he looks at you, and if the gravity of the situation wasn’t so heavy, you would have laughed.
“Steve…” Your voice cracks, the previous screaming adding onto the tears that work their way up and out, finally falling for the first time in so long.
“What?” His voice is soft as he sees your expression.
“No…” You back away from him as he reaches out to hold your face. “No, you’re being mean.”
“What do you mean?” He steps toward you again.
“Don’t lie to me, that’s not fair. I’ve gotten my hopes up so many times, you’re being mean.” The tears are rolling down your cheeks in hot tracks as you shake your head at him. “I’ve sat by and watched you choose everyone over me, Nancy, Robin even. You can’t keep dragging me along like this.” Your voice cracks as you close your eyes, your resolve finally breaking.
“What? Robin?”
“I heard you guys in the bathroom, I heard you trying to ask her out and then she came out to you, I heard it Steve.” Realization falls across his face.
“No, no, no. Y/N, I was talking about you. When she asked me if I liked anyone, I was talking about you. You missed that part, baby. It’s been you for a while now.” His hands come up to caress your cheeks gently, thumbs moving to wipe the tears off of your cheeks.
“What?” You mumble, finally looking into his eyes.
“I realized it at the Halloween party, when Nancy and I broke up. She said some things to me that made me realize that I have loved you for so much longer than I thought. It’s why I worry so much. When you got hurt by Billy? God, I hated myself for not being able to protect you. I will always protect you, even if you think I’m being an asshole, I will always keep you safe. I love you too much to do nothing. I was just afraid-”
Steve can’t finish his sentence. Your lips slanted over his own as you spring fiercely into his arms. Your arms are wrapped around his neck, squeezing him to you as if he were to fade away in your grip. He seems to snap out of whatever stupor he was in, as he brings his arms around your waist just as tightly. Your lips move in tandem, years of feelings finally bubbling to the surface.
His lips were soft, almost saccharine as you opened up to him. He moves the two of you backwards, not breaking contact as he hoists you to sit on the counter. If air wasn’t a necessity of life, you don’t think either of you would have pulled away.
When you do, you’re both breathing heavily, foreheads pressed together as you take in what had just happened.
“If, uh,” You mumble between pants. “If that wasn’t obvious, I’m in love with you, too. Just thought you should know.” Steve lets out a laugh at your comment, tossing his head back and pulling you into a firm hug. You tuck your face into his neck and breathe him in deeply.
“Y’know, there was a little bit of gray area there so thanks for clearing it up.” You laugh into his skin, hugging him to your body tightly before pulling away. You finally get a chance to take in his appearance and look at him in confusion.
“Why are you wearing an apron?” You tug on the ribbon that sits on his hips and his face flushes. He backs up a little bit to look down at the floral fabric.
“You mentioned those cookies that my mom made when we were kids, and I was able to find the recipe. So, I made them tonight for you.” You bite your lip to keep from letting out a laugh at how wonderful he is. “They’re over at the house cooling down right now, if you want some.”
Instead of an answer, you simply grab his collar and pull him into you again. His hands brace themselves on your mesh covered thighs, pupils blown in surprise and love. Pulling him in to kiss you once more, you smile against his lips.
