chapter 3: breakfast for two
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stranger things g/t
a/n: heavy on the dialogue. reader gains confidence but has no faith in steve. and steve is trying not to prod too much (but also he wants answers…)
borrower!reader × steve harrington
You sat on a marble kitchen table with your legs splayed out in front of you. Soft clinks of cutlery and something sizzling made you more than alarmed. Yet the food being cooked up was mouth watering, considering you hadn’t eaten in days. You watched the human hum to himself with his back turned to you. It had taken quite some convincing for him to carry you here with your permission. His round brown eyes pleaded and he muttered promises you couldn’t keep count of. Stubbornly you’d gotten off that damn pillow, and fell into soft sheets. Luckily you were fine, other than for your bruised ego. It was then, you crossed your arms, huffed, and agreed to be carried by Steve.
You no longer shook like a leaf under the presence of him, and kept eye contact as long as possible. He smiled first in the morning as you demanded his attention. A rush of heat rose to your ears but you kept eye contact.
“And breakfast is served,” he said as he slid his plate on the counter beside you. You eyed the plate the size of his palm, quite big for you though. There was steaming, steaming, fresh food awaiting you. You raised a brow and looked up at him. He had a towel swung over his shoulder, and his hands were on his hips. He nodded towards the plate and you got up quietly to the plate. Sitting with one knee pulled to your chest, and your broken one in front of you.
“I know it’s kinda big, the plate,” he cringed, “but it’s the smallest thing I could find,” he said as he dragged a chair next to the island. “It's one of my mom’s china teacup plates,” he added and he ate from his own plate.
You were silent as you ate, but internally you were celebrating. The food was delicious, the best meal you’d ever had. You devoured the big chunks in peace, despite how ravenous you were for them.
“Hello?” Steve said your name and you looked up at him. “Hungry huh?” he asked with a laugh. “Makes sense actually,” his brows furrowed and he pursed his lips together.
Dustin, and even the time before that. You’d never had a warm meal, and a beautiful plate to eat it from.
“Since you liked that so much, I’ll try to cook more actually,” he said as he got up from his chair, “would be good for me anyways,” he mumbled.
You wiped your hands as he picked up your plate. He put the dishes in the sink and turned back to you. His lips formed a thin line as he put his hands on his hips. He looked down at you expectantly.
“What?” you asked.
“… what else am I supposed to ask?” he paused, “what are you?” he asked.
Your eyes went back to your makeshift casket around your leg. You chewed on the bottom of your lip, feeling his eyes on the back of your head.
“Borrower?” you muttered.
“Sorry, what?” he asked.
“A borrower,” you looked up at him.
“A what?” he squinted his eyes at you.
“A borrower, people who borrow secretly in order to survive,” the words just rushed out of your mouth. You clasped your hands over your mouth, oh yes, tell the giant of your own people who want to be kept secret. Not that you had even seen anyone like you for years, the memory of your parents was faded at this point. You’d been alone for, god knows how long.
“Oh good,” he let out a breath, “that’s good,” he ran his hand through his hair.
“Wh-what would be bad about it?” you squinted at him.
“It’s complicated,” he dismissed with his hand.
“Okay…”
You both were in the kitchen, not moving, and the only thing you could hear was a clock ticking. You filled your cheeks with air and blew it out.
“So,” you clicked your tongue, “what are you gonna do with me?” you asked.
“Do with you?” his brows furrowed.
“Yeah, I mean… eat me, torture me. Whatever humans do,” you said.
“Woah woah what?” he scoffed, he shot his hands up in the air, palms facing you. “I’m I’m not going to eat you.” He cocked his head slightly to the side, his big brown eyes wide with a small frown on his face.
“Torture? Or–” you were cut off.
“Stop, stop,” he shook his head, and his hands were on each side of you. You felt the ground under your rumble. Your eyes flicked to the proximity of his thumb to you. “I’m not going to hurt you. Remember, I promised?” he lowered his head, the sound making you meet his face. You noted the moles on his face, his warm skin, and those big dough eyes.
Your heart didn’t hammer, your hands didn’t tremble, and you didn’t want to flee.
“I guess,” you looked down at the smoothed marble.
“Okay good,” his voice still soft.
When he backed away from you let out a breath of air you’d been holding in. He went back to eating. His eyes flicked to you between each bite. You pretended not to notice as you ate quietly.
“Where were you living before Dusting found you by the way?” he asked.
“Uh,” for some reason you took a second to answer, “Dustin’s home. In his walls.”
“What?!” Steve asked wide eyed.









