⋆ ˚｡⋆ pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader (established relationship)
⋆ ˚｡⋆ summary: steve realizes how he affects people twice in one day, after a confrontation with dustin henderson, then his girlfriend.
⋆ ˚｡⋆ warnings: SLIGHT S5 SPOILERS!!! use of y/n and she/her pronouns used, cursing, not proofread + kinda rushed writing idk if this is even good or not oh well
— masterlist !
⋆ ˚｡⋆ a/n: sooooooo s5 steve has a hold on in that stupid sweater of his 😝 also trust will be writing steve with hearing loss headcanons soon AND THIS IS FOR @keerysbrowneyes and @bartxnhood only (ily guys mwah)
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she wasn't sure when, or if, she would see steve harrington again.
this however, isn't the first time she's thought this.
four times in the past four years, while y/n has known steve, he always, stupidly, wholeheartedly puts himself right in front of danger. as if the thought draws steve in like a magnet on an old fridge.
usually y/n is besides steve during the fight, whether it be them versus demogorgans in the byers' house, getting dragged into fighting demodogs by dustin henderson, or getting drugged by evil russians and being held captive under starcourt mall.
steve and y/n were always together.
but not tonight.
steve, dustin, nancy and jonathan were currently trapped in the upside down, along with hopper and el, while everyone else was fighting above.
in steve's defence, he wasn't planning on driving his precious beamer into the upside down to track a demogorgan. he was planning on meeting up with the others to go over the next phase in whatever plan they has concocted now. oh how wrong he was.
y/n hated waiting. waiting to hear if they were okay. hated waiting on if her closest friends and boyfriend were okay. hated waiting for any possible bad news.
she especially hated waiting up to hours on end just to get one single crack of signal coming from a walkie talkie in robin's hand.
y/n wasn't truly sure when the group reunited again in the right side up. her brain was like a fogged window. yes, she saw el, hopper and the others, even max mayfield, come back to the squawk. she was with them while they all walked inside, while lucas started filling max in and stuff she missed, and while dustin was ranting to hopper about all his theories. she was there when steve had shared his brilliant plan on how they could finally put an end to all of this from the wsqk radio tower.
yet, she hasn't said a word to steve.
hasn't said a word since he stepped out of the car next to dustin. hasn't said a word to him after finally seeing a smile on max's face in over a year. hasn't said a word since dustin and hopper were yelling over each other about wormholes and dnd.
she still hasn't uttered a word even as his sits right next to her, on the worn out couch in the squawk lobby, waiting for the all-clear from hopper to start with the final plan.
they sit in silence. the air became heavy as soon as the two were finally left on their own. their knees barely brush each other's as their breaths mix. y/n stares down at her fidgeting hands, as steve glances in her direction. he brings his large hand over both of hers. he decides to ignore the way she flinches at the contact.
"hey," he begins, "it's all gonna be okay." he sends her a smile, a non convincing one at that, but still a smile.
she still can't look at him, while letting out a shuddered breath. steve takes the silence as an invitation to keep talking. "i'm okay, honey. you're okay. everyone here is okay, and- and we're all ready to fight this evil again. hell, we even have will so who knows what c-"
"you don't get it," her voice cuts through steve's rambling like a knife. his lips meet as he fully faces her now. her eyes still won't meet his.
"what? what don't i get?" he begins rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.
y/n stands from the couch, her worried and tired eyes finally meeting steve's brown ones. her action has steve's hand falling against tbe scratchy fabric of the couch cushions, yet he doesn't move it. he's simply caught off gaurd.
"i can't keep doing this steve," y/n admits, "i can't keep watching you and the others keep going into danger. while me and joyce just sit here. in this stupid radio station, waiting for a signal or a message, fucking anything steve. i can't keep waiting-"
steve interrupts her as she begins picking at her hands, while her words were leaving her mouth faster than she intended them to.
"baby it's just one more crawl. we'll all be back by tonight, and we'll have defeated vecna by then, and boom, we're done."
steve's standing, with his hands coming up to rub soothing motions on y/n's shoulders.
she simply shakes her head, "no steve, i can't keep waiting-" her voice gets caught in her throat as tears begin to brim at the bottom of her eyes, like a dam just waiting to burst open, "i can't just sit here and wait-"
steve, as comforting as he's trying to be, cuts y/n off again, "but it's more than just waiting here. you guys are gonna be the first to know when we're safe, and put together, and on our way back," y/n starts frantically shaking her head, muttering out 'no's', but steve keeps trying to comfort the concerned girl.
y/n finally has enough, and shoves steve back in the middle of his (trying to be) triumphant speech.
"stop it, steve!"
he looks at her as if she just shot him twelve times. his breaths come out ragid, while blinking a few times to focus on the girl in front of him.
"i can't keep waiting for you to die!" y/n firmly admits in the open air. however her shaky breath and cracked words do little to show how much it truly worries her. "you keep leaving with the others, putting yourself out there in god-know-what kind of danger. fuck, you're probably always putting yourself in front of them, not caring whether you get hurt or not," she sucks in a breath, letting the salty, needed tears stream over her red cheeks.
she continues, "i hate not knowing if you're alive or not. i hate waiting here for some stupid signal," she hits steve in the arm three times, "just to know if you guys even made to wherever the hell dustin's lead you to now."
y/n doesn't care how many tears are staining her cheeks, or how wide her eyes might be, and doesn't notice how broken steve looks in front of her.
he lets her continue to hit him. continue to slap him. in the arms, the torso. he even lets her push him again. he tries to grab onto her hands, all while she still yells at him. but her phrases start coming out in broken sentences and thoughts.
"you're always being an idiot," she hits him in the arm.
"you're never here anymore," she shoves him, making him trip over his untied shoelace.
"i can't have you die on me!" her voice breaks into a million pieces as she throws herself against his rigid body. he instantly catches her thrashing frame, calming her in the matter of seconds.
her tears and cries are soon overlapped with contant, but soft, shushes from steve. her hands grip onto his jacket, as he holds her tight against him.
"please, steve," her voice is muffled, however she can't tell if it's because of her position of being pressed against his chest, or her sobs have simply ruined her voice. "please. i care about you too goddamn much. i can't- i can't do it steve-"
"hey, hey, it's okay," he instantly begins calming her again, before another wave of panic can make it's way through the girl. "i'm right here, i'm not going anywhere."
he starts swaying the two of them gently, rubbing the back of y/n's head. his mind is reeling, as metaphorical gears start turning. steve's starting to get déjà vu from the henderson boy. he takes in a deep breath.
"y'know, dustin said the same thing to me a few hours ago," steve begins, but doesn't dare break them apart.
"he told me," he pauses, finding his voice, but remembering how broken dustin had sounded. "dustin told me he can't go through it again. that he can't imagine what he'd do if something happened to me."
all y/n can do is nod in his arms, sighing as her breathing becomes normal again.
"i guess i wasn't thinking about how other people would feel if i was gone," steve's eyebrows furrow together, the crease between them becoming more prominent as his mind races, "i don't think i was really thinking at all."
silence fills the space again. it's a different silence than before. the old space feeling tight and restricted with unsaid concerns. however now, it almost feels lighter, as if someone opened all the windows and doors, letting some much needed air in.
y/n pulls back from steve, but doesn't dare leave his embrace. his arms still hold her waist, not risking letting go. he only brings one hand up to wipe away a few stray tears that were caught on her cheeks. his eyes flicker between her rosy cheeks, cracked lips, and worried tear filled eyes.
"oh baby," he simply states, his own voice betraying him.
"i'm sorry. i don't mean to worry as much as i do," she states, holding onto his jacket sleeves a tad tighter, "but i have to worry when it comes to you."
steve shakes his head, "no, not anymore. i swear to you, whenever i even start to get any stupid ideas, i'll run them by you first."
he leans his forehead against her own as she lets out an airy laugh at his compromise. she nods, "only as long as i get to come with you tonight, and make sure you don't do anything stupid."
summary: the five most recent times dustin henderson has been a "cockblock" - (steve's words) during steve and y/n's relationship
warnings: use of y/n, she/her pronouns, kissing, makeout sessions, some allusions to smut but no smut written, slight swearing, takes place between s3 and s4! (not proofread)
a/n: guys this is only for @keerysbrowneyes if you're not aly.... BACK OFF
masterlist !
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steve harrington was, to say it nicely, obsessed with his girlfriend. in the summer of 1985 he was brave enough to ask her to be his, after the duo (plus robin buckley) almost died on july 4th. of course y/n said yes, kissing him eagerly before he dropped her off at her house.
dustin henderson was the first to find out. steve and y/n figured the teenager would be happy about it.
"we're his two favorite people, what could go wrong?" steve's words tried to comfort y/n before the couple told her younger brother the news.
"no. no, absolutely not," a very stubborn dustin paces in front of steve and y/n who are sat on the couch.
"dustin!" y/n can't help but let out a scoff, "what's your deal?"
"i don't want him canoodling you!"
"dude," steve laughs.
"do not say canoodle," y/n responds.
dustin moves on with an eye roll, "how did you ask her?" he points at steve.
steve nonchalantly shrugs, "during summer."
dustin sends him a skeptical look. "was it before or after you guys were kidnapped by russians?"
"after," steve responds quietly.
"dustin," y/n butts in, "can't you just be happy for us? and not give us a round of twenty questions?"
dustin finally stops pacing, sitting on the coffee table in front of the couple.
"you," he points to y/n, "no pda in front of me or the party." y/n nods at his request.
"and you," he points to steve, "don't get her pregnant."
y/n lets out a chuckle into her hand while steve turns bright red, yelling, "dude!"
"do we have a deal or not?"
steve sends y/n a helpless look, making y/n simply shrug, before turning back to dustin.
"you have a deal," y/n states.
"ah!" dustin interjects, while holding out his hand firmly.
y/n rolls her eyes, shaking his hand, making a deal with her brother. steve does the same, before dustin walks down the hallway to his bedroom.
"looks like no little harrington's for you," steve pokes y/n's side.
"oh please!" y/n gasps before chuckling again, "like that was going to happen anytime soon."
during the following month, the couple seemed to take dustin's "instructions" very well. they made sure to keep pda behind closed doors, and if it was in front of the party it was simply hand holding or light forehead kisses here and there. nothing some thirteen year olds couldn't handle witnessing.
1 - september 15th, 1985
"thank you steve," y/n smiles at steve in the driver's seat of his dark red bmw.
"of course. i knew our first real date had to be special," steve sends a smile back, while taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles.
steve pulled his car in front of the henderson household, and was quick to run to the passenger side to open y/n's door.
"you're ridiculous," she states as steve helps her out of the car.
"and you're gorgeous," he responds, before kissing her temple.
steve walks her to her door, like any true gentleman would. y/n turns to steve, and leans up to press a soft kiss to his cheek.
steve tilts his head, "you missed."
y/n lovingly rolls her eyes, but leans up again and presses her lips to his. steve's hands move to hold her waist, and y/n can't help but let out a giggle, causing steve to deepend the kiss slightly.
as he was about to press his tongue past her slightly swolen lips, a creaking sound disrupted their moment.
"ahem," dustin lets out an overly obnoxious cough.
y/n and steve both turn to see dustin, eyes locked on the two, with his arms crossed.
before the pair can get any sort of lecture, steve kisses y/n's cheek, before yelling out a response while running back to his car. y/n follows his lead, and runs into the house past dustin, and down the hallway to her bedroom. now leaving an annoyed, butthurt dustin by the front door.
2 - october 31st, 1985
"why'd you have to pick such a nerdy costume?" steve complains, fixing his brown vest adoring his torso.
y/n turns from finishing her hair in her bedroom mirror. "because you love me and my nerdy interests," she smiles, looking up and down at steve's outfit.
steve rolls his eyes as she walks over to him, running her fingers lightly over the unbuttoned fabric of steve's white shirt. "plus you make a hot han solo," she whispers before kissing steve's jaw.
as y/n pulls away to add her final accessories to her costume, steve grabs her wrist to pull her back to him.
"well you make a hot princess leia," steve smirks before pulling the girl into a kiss.
y/n's hands move to run through steve's soft and tamed hair, making him involuntarily groan against her lips. the kiss deepens as steve bites her lower lip, allowing his tongue through.
"steve," y/n breathes out between mind numbing kisses. "steve," she calls again.
he simply mumbles a response, moving from kissing her lips to leaving heavy kisses down her neck.
y/n blushes as steve starts sucking right below her jaw.
"babe, we have a halloween party to go to," y/n words say something different than her actions, as she only holds the boy closer to her, her hold on his shoulders never faltering.
"we could just stay here," steve kisses down her neck, leaving more dark spots in his wake. he talks in between kisses, "have a nice," kiss "quiet," kiss "night in."
y/n was well aware of the hidden meaning behind steve's words, knowing he'll take care of her when the time is right.
she lightly tugs on his hair, finally pulling his lips away from her neck. she's met with a doe-eyed steve, who's swolen lips are parted and cheeks are pink. she's about to respond, however another voice catches both older teens off gaurd.
"what the hell steve!" dustin calls from the ajar door of y/n's bedroom, pushing it open slightly. he's quick to notice the trail of hickeys leading down his sister's neck, making the girl turn her head to hide behind steve.
"what? it was behind closed doors!" he yells, watching as dustin just shakes his head and grumbles something under his breath while leaving down the hallway to meet with the party.
3 - november 24th, 1985
one thing y/n always found weird, was going to the same school as her brother. she was in her senior year of high school, while dustin was finally in his first. she was just thankful she still had nancy wheeler to talk to, that is when she wasn't being harassed by her brother to join in on his new friend's dnd campaign.
"thank you again y/n. seriously i owe you," nancy flips her reporters notebook closed, finally being able to breath at having the details from the basketball game the previous night.
the two girls bid goodbye, and just like magic dustin is now standing next to y/n as she closes her locker.
"no," y/n deadpans, knowing the next words that will come out of her brother's mouth.
dustin begins with his usual ranting of 'please' over and over again, as the siblings walk down the hallway.
"y/n come on, mike can't make it this week because he got grounded again for talking to el instead of finishing his history work. we need a fill in!"
"dustin, how many times do i have to tell you. i'm not joining your campaign. i don't care about dnd, and i don't want to be in the same room as eddie munson for two hours."
the siblings are now outside, walking towards the large parking lot.
as dustin begins begging again, he cuts himself off at the sight of steve leaning against his car, "what is he doing here? he graduated already."
"picking me up," y/n responds, earning a groan from her brother.
"when will you man up and get a licence?"
"i don't need a licence if i have a boyfriend to drive me everywhere."
"you're impossible," dustin gives up, stopping in his tracks as y/n happily jogs over to steve, greeting him with a kiss on the lips.
"what took so long?" steve asks, his hands rubbing up and down y/n's sides, causing goosebumps to fill her exposed skin.
"nance needed some newspaper stuff, and dustin would not stop bothering me about joining the campaign."
"he's asking again?"
y/n nods, "i guess mike is out and they need a replacement."
"did you say no?"
y/n simply nods again
steve smirks, "good," he leans down to bring his lips to y/n's.
"come on," steve tilts his head to his car, "that means we have a house to ourselves for a bit."
"why can't we just go to your house if we don't want dustin being dustin?" y/n asks while getting into the passenger seat, turning slightly to steve.
steve's cheeks blush ever so slightly, "you're room is just so nice, and comfortable."
"aw, baby you're cute," y/n giggles and leans over the center console to kiss steve's cheeks.
"you missed," steve says his favorite way to get his girl to kiss him, causing her to roll her eyes and grab his chin, forcing him to look at her.
"and you're annoying," but y/n kisses him nonetheless.
before the kiss can progress any further, a heavy knock on steve's window breaks the two apart.
steve sighs, and wipes off any possible lipstick from his cheeks or lips, as he rolls down the window.
"before you bone my sister," steve and y/n grimace at dustin's words before he continues, "how would you feel about joining eddie's dnd campaign tonight?"
steve is shaking his head before dustin can even finish his question, "no way."
"you both suck!" dustin groans while taking defeat and walking back in the direction of the high school.
steve rolls his window up and shrugs, "oh y/n does, and pretty well i may add."
y/n immediately slaps him against his chest as he drives off, however her cheeks are now tinted pink, and it's not because of her blush.
4 - january 9th, 1986
"why did i agree to you helping me study," y/n groans in frustration.
"because you love me," steve smiles while flicking to the next flash card.
"we haven't gotten anything done," y/n argues, "i couldn't possibly tell you anything about certain equations or formulas."
"maybe you're in need of a stress reliever," steve slyly suggests, tossing the flash cards onto y/n's bedside table.
"what do you mean?" y/n's eyebrows furrow, watching steve sit up closer to her. he turns his head kisses right below y/n's ear, nipping at the skin. his hand moves towards her hair, pulling it slightly so it's out of the way.
"steve," y/n tries pushing him off, "this is not going to he-"
y/n's words are cut off as she exhales deeply as steve begins kissing lower on her neck. his other hand makes it's way up her thigh under her skirt. y/n looks down at his hand, making steve move his lips away from her neck.
"do you trust me?" his voice is soft. y/n looks into his eyes, seeing nothing but a home inside the dark brown color. she nods, but steve shakes his head.
"i need you to say it baby."
y/n nods again anyways, "i trust you steve."
steve smiles warmly as he leans back in to kiss y/n. his hand remains on her thigh as hers move to grab his shoulders. the two don't dare disconnect as steve easily maneuvers them. he's sitting back against her head board, while she's placed on his lap, feeling how hard he is between her clothed legs.
steve pulls away, barely, as his breath mingles with hers, "we're home alone right?"
y/n nods, "yeah, yeah no one should be home until later." she leans back in to kiss him again, feeling almost dizzy as steve's warm hands begin to bring her skirt down her legs. he does it so effortlessly, she can't even begin to feel embarrassed as she's almost half naked on top of him.
y/n's hands run down from his shoulders towards the bottom hem of his shirt, playing with the fabric. she begins bringing the material up, making the two disconnect as steve lifts his arms so she can remove his shirt.
y/n can't help but stare at the sight of steve's toned and suddenly hairy chest. she can't resist the urge to squeeze her thighs together.
"you're unbelievable," steve smiles while kissing her again.
y/n takes her opportunity to move her lips away from steve's and trail them down slightly, gently kissing over the three prominent freckles adoring his cheeks, before moving down to kiss his neck.
he tilts his head back and groans at the feeling, while kneeding the flesh of her thighs underneath his hands.
while y/n continues her work on his neck, her hands roam until they find the metal of steve's belt buckle.
she begins fiddling with the accessory, until a large banging sound, accompanied by many sets of feets fill the void of the quiet house.
y/n looks just as confused as steve as he whispers, "you said no one was supposed to be home."
"yeah- yeah my mom's at that school fair thing and dustin's with the party."
just as y/n gets the final syllable out of her lips, dustin barges into her room, without knocking.
"jesus!"
"what the hell dustin!"
steve is as quick as he can be to cover y/n's lower half with a throw blanket from her bed, as she watches dustin searching through her room.
"what is your problem dustin?" y/n now begins moving from steve's lap, however he quietly grips her hip, hoping she gets the gesture. her cheeks turn pink again at the feeling of steve's arousal between her legs.
"mike's atari finally died on us, so we're using mine," dustin easily responds, continuing his search through y/n's closet.
steve and y/n turn their heads at the sight of the party standing at y/n's now open door awkwardly.
"dustin," y/n grits through her teeth.
"yeah?" dustin finally takes a look at the couple in their compromising position. his eyes widen, before he starts yelling out profanities and running out of the room. the party is quick to follow, but not before max mayfield yells out an apology while closing the bed room door.
y/n just sighs, and rests her head against steve's chest.
"i'm sorry," she mutters, while steve begins running his fingers through the ends of her slightly knotted hair.
steve shakes his head even though the girl can't see his actions, "no need to be sorry baby. it's not your fault your brother's an idiot."
a moment of silence passes, until y/n speaks up, "i still want it to be with you. i trust you."
steve swears his heart stopped beating at her words. he smiles like a little kid in a candy store, then leans down pressing a comforting kiss to the top of y/n's head.
5 - march 22nd, 1986
y/n was more than grateful spring break finally arrived. no tests, quizzes or annoying sheets of homework for seven whole days. that just means she gets to spend seven whole days with her boyfriend at his house with an unoccupied pool.
with the party.
y/n absolutely adored the party, even if they were starting to get on her nerves more times than they weren't. she still loved them.
since the incident a little over two months ago, steve can tell y/n has been sexually frustrated. the two have had differing schedules with school and work, and could never find a time alone lately.
they still couldn't on this warm march day in hawkins, as steve, y/n, dustin, max, mike wheeler, and lucas and erica sinclair were all in steve's backyars, enjoying his refreshing pool.
dustin, lucas and mike were busy having some sort of fight in the water. a fight y/n didn't want to pay attention to.
erica was busy soaking on the sun on a faded beach towel.
max was reading in a lounge chair in the shade, content with her book and iced lemonade.
y/n and steve were sharing a lounge chair, as they talked about an upcoming trip they had created for the summer after y/n graduated.
y/n giggled at something obnoxious steve whispered in her ear, as max called out, "hey steve? could i have some more lemonade?"
steve nods at the younger girl's request, "i'll just bring the pitcher out for you."
max yells a 'thank you' as steve walks inside. y/n can't help but stare at steve as he closes the sliding glass door. she stands from the chair, thankful that the party is all too busy to notice her follow her boyfriend inside.
she makes her way into the kitchen, watching steve pull out the cool jar of lemonade from the fridge, as well as a container of watermelon.
"oh hey hun," steve turns and notices y/n walking towards him. "you need anything?"
y/n doesn't respond. she simply brings her hand to lightly scratch at his back, knowing he absolutely loves it, as she places a peck on his tanned shoulder.
she looks up at him in a way that could make steve surrender. he starts shaking his head, "baby everybody's outside. we can't."
she stands on her toes to press her lips to his, "after?" she asks in her softest tone.
steve quickly nods, "god yes," he breathes out as y/n pulls away, only for him to push his lips on her again.
"you're lucky i'm not dustin," max speaks up as she walks in the kitchen, causing the two to split up.
"thanks for the lemonade," she sends steve a look, before walking out with the pitcher in her hands.
steve turns at the sound of y/n giggling, "you're lucky you're cute."
summary: a fight causes an odd silence between hawkins' couple y/n and steve. a week later steve comes back with the dumbest, sappiest, but perfect romantic gesture to win his girl back.
warning: use of y/n, some swearing, giving the vibes of a cheesy 2000s romcom (that one scene from 10tihay) im just a girl, not proofread
a/n: for my beloved @keerysbrowneyes (everyone act surprised) <3
masterlist !
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y/n isn't sure why steve's being such an asshole.
well, at least more of an asshole than normal. and in the girl's defense, he always claims to have a soft spot for her ever since they started dating in their sophomore year of high school.
sure they had their ups and downs. a few minor fights over stupid things: once steve dropped and broke y/n's favorite abba record when trying to clean out her bookshelf for her. a few months later when y/n spilled a milkshake in steve's car. (yes it still smells like strawberries).
those petty fights were stuff the two could overcome in a few days, a week at most.
however this fight, is one the two can't seem to resolve. two weeks after it's beginning.
remember how y/n mentioned that steve's being more of an asshole than normal? well, steve's currently sharing his anger with a certain mullet haired new kid in their school, who steve always claims he's hitting on his girlfriend.
"i just don't know how you don't see it," he repeats himself, "he's constantly around you trying to take you from me!"
y/n rolls her eyes for probably the hundredth time tonight. "steve i can assure you, he's not. even if he was we both know i wouldn't go out with him."
steve shakes his head, "so why does he always ask you to hang out after school? or ask if you need a ride home?"
y/n sighs, "did you not hear a word i just said steve?" she places her hands on her hips, watching steve start to pace back and forth in his living room.
"even if billy was hitting on me, i wouldn't leave you for him," she reiterates, "i wouldn't leave you for anyone."
steve's mind is going a mile a minute. even as y/n's words sink in his mind, her words trying to comfort him, his mouth moves faster than his own brain can stop him.
"says the person who kissed tommy freshman year."
the room is silent. steve lightly gasps sat his own words, then sighs as he looks down at the ground. y/n is simply in shock.
"that was before we even started dating steve," she immediately starts defending, "and it was during a stupid game of truth or dare. it meant nothing!" her voice raises.
now steve feels as if he needs to defend something, to feel higher in power, "but you kissed him after we talked about wanting to start something between us!"
y/n shakes her head, and tried to make her voice louder, in order for steve to try and hear her.
"i told you i wasn't ready for a relationship yet steve, you knew that!"
steve scoffs, "oh, so you weren't ready for a relationship but then whored around with tommy. why don't you just go date him? it's not like him and carol will last."
steve now sits on the couch, his back facing y/n. the girl stood behind him can't believe the words that just came out of steve's mouth. he leans forwards rubbing his hands over his face. he's trying not to picture how y/n looks. how dejected she must feel.
y/n doesn't even try to give him a response. the feeling of water pooling at her waterline of her eyes is enough. she hastily wipes her eyes as she turns and walks out of steve's house, making sure to slam the giant door behind her.
steve stays seated on his couch, gripping onto his hair as he blinks rapidly, trying to blink away any tears begging to be released. his breathing becomes ragid, and he swears he can hear his heartbeat making it's way up his throat. he takes his hand out of his hair, trying to grab ahold of anything else. he grabs the tv remote on the table in front of him, before throwing it against the wall across from him. the plastic shatters, hundreds of tiny pieces already becoming lost in the carpet, and the batteries rolling aimlessly on the floor.
steve stands, stares at the remote, then stomps upstairs towards his bedroom, slamming his own door just like y/n had done five minutes ago.
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a week passes.
a full week of y/n ignoring steve. ignoring his calls, or the three bundles of flowers left at her front door. ignoring the longing looks he sends her way in the school hallways. ignoring the notes stuffed in her locker, scribbled with apologies from the boy.
the eighth day after the fight is probably the hardest for y/n. mostly because it's the first time steve seems to be fine. like he seems to be over it, unlike her.
they have their homeroom together, and as y/n goes to sit in front of her friend robin buckley, she notices steve talking to tommy and carol, and a few other popular kids. yet he doesn't dare look up at y/n, which he's done every simgle day this past week.
"harrington still being all mopey over you?" robin asks y/n as she sits.
y/n can't even take her eyes off the boy in question as she responds, "not at all, actually."
on the contrary, steve was in fact still thinking and moping over y/n.
however, last night as he sat in his room missing the girl, he came up with his most brilliant plan yet.
at nine forty-six pm last night, steve drove to the nearest drug store. still clad in his old pajama pants and worn out hawkins high shirt, he grabbed everything he thought he might need.
the clerk gave him a questioning look while scanning all the items. steve muttered out, "last minute school project," before paying and practically running back to his car to get home.
as soon as steve closes his bedroom door, he throws the contents of the bag onto the floor.
a giant posterboard, glue, colored paper, markers, and a brand new shiny speaker covered his floor. before he starts, he rummages through his closet, trying to find a cd he knows he has, thanks to y/n.
he lets out a chuckle once he finds it, and starts working on his poster. he spends at least two hours cutting different paper, and gluing each one meticulously to the board. sure he could've simply used a sharpie, but he wanted this to be more than normal. he'd even say he wants it to be perfect.
which explains why steve is happily almost skipping from class to class today. his bright idea, literally and figuratively, is sitting in his locker, just waiting to be used in between fourth period and lunch.
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y/n groans as she walks out of her fourth period calculus class, knowing damn well she just failed that test.
she walks towards her locker, wanting to shove her calculus book so far in the metal box that it would never have to torment her again.
as she's grabbing her history book for after lunch, people whispering and mumbling steve's name all around her made the girl confused. she turned, and saw what the whispers were for.
steve stood in the middle of the school hallway, with a giant poster in his hand, and a small portable cd player connected to a speaker by his feet.
y/n looks down to read the bright poster.
"i know i'm not abba probably dont deserve a second chance"
y/n's eyebrows come together as the sign seems incomplete. steve then realizes, and simply turns it around. y/n reads the rest.
"but maybe this will prove you wrong about one of those things"
once again, y/n's left confused.
steve puts the poster down and leans down to press play on his cd player. the familiar opening chords to abba's honey honey begin filling the hallway and it's students' ears.
y/n's heart begins to warm, as steve seems to have remembered her favorite abba song. she watches as he begins to perform the song in front of her. he even pulls a microphone out of his back pocket, and begins dancing up to her, and around her.
as his silly performance continues, the crowd around the two grows. many students begin cheering people on. but y/n can only feel her heart breaking.
of course she believed this gesture was more than sweet, and wonders how much effort it took steve to put into all this: the poster, actually learning all the lyrics, and not caring what others think about him in this very moment.
halfway through the song, y/n can't help herself but stop him. she walks forward, leans down, and pauses the cd.
now steve looks towards her more than confused.
"what are you-" he mumbles out breathlessly.
y/n looks around at the crowd around them a bit awkwardly, but replies quietly, "i don't need a grand gesture steve. i just need you to talk to me."
with that, y/n walks around him, and through the now dispersing crowd. steve turns and watches her walk away. he feels defeated, dejected, thrown away like some sort of trash. he walks back and picks up his tragedy of a plan to win y/n back, ignoring all the looks thrown his way by his peers.
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to make steve's day even worse, during his last class, p.e., he had to deal with the root of his and y/n's fight. billy hargrove.
the class was in the middle of playing basketball. it was shirts versus skins. of course billy picks skins being the stuck up guy he is, steve thinks.
steve currently has the ball, and is dribbling it towards his teammate, however he gets pushed over by none other than billy. the whistle blows as the ball ends up falling out of steve's hands and rolling out of bounds of the court.
billy leans down to help steve up. steve unwillingly grabs ahold of billy's hand.
billy brings steve close to him, so he can almost whisper in his ear.
"that performance in the hallway harrington," he starts, "real cute of you. all that work, and still no girl."
"this is none of your business bi-"
"still no girl," billy cuts off steve and repeats himself, "just means more for billy."
billy finishes by pushing steve back down on the ground. steve sits up, watching as the game begins again.
as he stands, he notices y/n stood by the gym doors. her back tucked tightly under her arm, and her eyes being a mixture of simply watching something she knows she can't have, and longing.
the shrill of the school bell takes the two out of their staring trances. y/n turns abruptly and walks out of the gym.
steve makes it his mission to catch her before she actually leaves the school grounds. he runs haphazardly back into the locker rooms, doesnt even bother changing out of his gym clothes or showering. he grabs his backpack and tries closing the zipper, still while running out of the gym towards the parking lot.
steve's eyes filter over the large crowd exiting and loitering around the parking lot. he tries remembering if he saw her car that morning at all, maybe being able to find where she'd be walking to.
he begins running again, brushing past people and towards the direction of where he could think y/n would be.
he'd say he knows her pretty well by now, and can confidently say he knows y/n wouldn't ever park near the gym. she never wanted to be in the middle of sweaty jocks and cheerleaders at the end of her day, trying to get to her car.
he passes the gym parking lot as well as the main lot, knowing y/n hates how crowded it is before school. she's never able to find a parking spot there so she simply avoids it.
he then runs to the parking lot in the back of the school, and almost pushes a teacher onto the ground on his way. he makes his way around the final corner, and sighs in relief watching as y/n hasn't made it to her car yet.
"y/n!" he yells, catching the attention of the other students parked back here, along with the attention of y/n.
y/n immediately takes notice of his appearance. the green gym shorts showing off more of his legs than he'd ever be comfortable with, and his sweaty grey hawkins high shirt sticking to his torso.
"steve, what on earth is-"
steve cuts her off, "you said earlier you don't want some big grand gesture, and that you just wanted me to talk to you."
he takes a breath before continuing, "i know i messed up okay? i'm very aware of that fact. i know i shouldn't have brought up billy and his flirting. you obviously knew how to handle it, and i should've just let you be with it. and-" he cuts himself off catching his breath again, "and god i wish i could take back what i said about tommy. you're not a whore, first of all, you never were. and yeah we weren't together then so i shouldn't have even brought it up again."
steve pauses to finally make eye contact with y/n after his long rambling. she just stares at him as he can't help but continue talking, thinking that his excessive rambling will win her back.
as he finishes rambling, he ends with, "i'm an idiot for everything that went on that night," he then stumbles over his next words, "i love you, and- and i'm sorry."
y/n gasps.
steve harrington loved her.
her first boyfriend loved her.
the first person who she loves, loves her back.
steve goes wide eyed as he realizes what had just come out of his mouth.
of course, the boy begins rambling once again. however this time, y/n walks up to him to do something about it. quietly cutting him off with her closeness, y/n grabs his face in her hands and brings his lips to hers.
his breath gets caught in his throat at the feeling of y/n's lips on his. once realization hits him like a truck, he grabs onto her hips, bringing her impossibly close to him.
"i love you too, by the way," she mutters against his lips, not daring to pull away from him.
"oh thank god," steve praised as his shoulders sagged, letting any stress leave his body as he kissed y/n again.
summary: the four things that steve and y/n did that were nothing but casual, before they started dating (yes 100% based off the "was it casual when..." trend from tiktok)
warnings: s4, s3, and s2 scenes used, not correct dialogue im just using the scene, swearing, not proofread
a/n: in case anyone's curious i'm watching star wars for the first time 🤗🤗
dts: @keerysbrowneyes <3
masterlist !
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¹ “was it casual when he defended her in front of the party?”
the party, including steve and y/n were all piled in the wheeler's basement, as robin and nancy were upstairs planning god-knows-what to try and help max with vecna. both dustin and lucas convinced steve and y/n that staying besides max at all times would help (neither older teens believed it, but let it slide).
dustin, y/n, and lucas were sat across the worn out striped couch, while steve was flipping through an old superman comic book that was on the ground. shame on mike for leaving a perfectly good comic book on the ground, y/n thought.
as max continued writing and scribbling in her dimly lit corner near the stairs, y/n speaks up.
"so why are we all sitting here? doing absolutely nothing?" she asks no one in particular.
dustin and lucas send her a look, as dustin responds, "we aren't doing nothing. we're protecting max!"
lucas adds in with a nod, "vecna can't get to her if we're all around her, it's science."
dustin stutters, "well, okay maybe not science, but we can't just leave her alone."
steve stays quiet as he watches the scene in front of him unfold, completely discarding the comic book.
y/n argues again, "but we're doing nothing," she turns to look at lucas, "robin and nancy are up there coming up with some sort of plan. hell even max is doing something about all this," she points to max across the room. "yet here we are, on our asses, doing nothing."
y/n finally stands, messing up the cushion and blanket she was once sitting on as she makes her way to the stairs. steve's eyes never left her once.
"i'm going upstairs to see what the actual worried people are doing."
dustin stands, his voice louder and firmer than before, "you think we aren't worried? max could die any second now, and you're just going to waltz out of here like nothing's happening?"
the room settles uncomfortably at dustin's angered words. lucas looks up at him, knowing no one ever talks to y/n, their past babysitter, like that. max pauses her writing, and removes her headphones with the music still muffling through the speakers around her neck. dustin lets out a small sigh, starting to realize what he just did. y/n turns in shock, not believing what she just heard come out of dustin's mouth.
steve however, leaned forward on his knees at dustin's outburst, his mouth slightly agape. he stands quickly, pointing a finger at dustin, "hey!"
he catches everyone's attention, but most importantly, dustin's.
"you do not get to talk to her like that. she's been on your guys' side since will went missing, and believed you when nobody else did. she's been through a lot more shit than you dweebs, so think about who you're talking to, 'kay?"
y/n looks at steve as he begins calming down. dustin mutters out an apology, to steve and to y/n, while sitting back down on the couch. lucas doesn't miss the opportunity to slap him in the shoulder. max simply smirks as she turns back to her letters.
steve turns to y/n, his voice octaves softer than mere moments ago, "you okay?" his hand brushes her upper arm.
she nods, "thank you."
steve sends her a small smile, "go on up and see how nance and rob are doing, i'll stay down here."
he sends her a reassuring nod, then watching as she goes up the stairs. he doesn't sit back down in his chair until he hears the basement door open and close.
dustin just shakes his head, as steve cross his leg over another, and opens an old newspaper; his action filled with attitude.
² “was it casual when he saved a scoop of her favorite flavor of ice cream every day?”
"what's that?"
robin had just come back from running a quick errand to the closest sherrif's office, to retrieve the blueprints to starcourt mall. on the way to the break room, she notices a small red, white, and blue scoops ahoy cup hidden away at the bottom of the ice cream freezers. ready to go, topped with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles and a red spoon.
steve picks up his head from the ice cream freezer, and ignores robin's question as he finished making the desired dessert for the customer at the counter. he gives out the correct change before finally turning to robin.
"what?"
robin shakes her head, "oh don't be stupid," she begins reaching for the small cup of ice cream."
"hey don't touch that!" steve interjects.
"oh? why not?"
steve mumbles while wiping off the counter in front of him, "it's for y/n."
robin closes the clear freezer door, "oh, for y/n? i didn't realize you two kept each other's favorite desserts safe for each other."
steve groans, "that's not- i don't- we-"
robin starts mocking him at his stuttering sentence. if you could even call his past words a sentence.
steve sighs, "she comes in almost every day, either with the party or other friends, so i figured i'd have her ice cream order for her. just in case."
he shrugs sheepily at the last confession, and robin can't help but smile at the sight in front of her. she nods, before walking back through the red break room door. she walks forward, grabbing onto the slightly dried up marker on the tray of the work whiteboard, adding a thick black line under the 'you rule' column.
will she tell steve? probably not. will steve find it at the end of the day? definitely not, he's the most oblivious person robin has ever met.
³ “was it casual when she called for him when she was in danger, in an underground cave full of people?”
"this is so stupid," y/n can't help but utter as she climbs down a dusty rope, down into a dark and slimy underground cave. she wasn't sure how the party even convinced her to go through with their absolutely idiotic plan to try and help el from afar, but here she was.
steve helps her down the rest of the way, grabbing her hips as she gets her footing on the vine covered ground.
"this way!" mike calls out, until steve steals the homemade map from the tween, and starts leading the gang to the 'hub'.
y/n stayed at the back of the pack, making sure max, who was in front of her, kept up with the group.
they make it through easily at first, following the different paths written down on the map in blue sharpie, waiting to arrive where dustin had drawn a bright red 'X'.
the only set back being when some thing from the top of the cave had spit on dustin.
the group was almost to their destination. well, close enough was steve's guess as he continued figuring out the map.
however something had caught onto y/n's ankle. she tried just yanking it free. twisting it right and left didn't work, making the girl fall to the wet floor. she gasped, trying to get her foot free again. although her plan only worsens the situation, as the tendril makes it's way up her leg towards her thigh.
she tries getting it free again as she finally yells, "steve!"
the echo flows through the dark tunnels, eventually reaching the party, and steve's ears. they all turn as quickly as humanly possible, all beginning to run back in the direction they came, as y/n continues yelling for help.
"steve! help! shit!" her yells become more and more strangled as the slimy vine starts going up towards her stomach.
the party begins screaming out strings of curses and words of worry at the sight in front of the them. steve however runs to y/n, taking off his bag to get his rusted nail bat before he skids to a stop.
"shit, shit, shit," steve looks down at the creature crawling up y/n. he then looks at her pained and worried expression.
"you're gonna be okay, just stay still for me," steve tries calming her down, before taking a large swing at the vine wrapped around y/n's leg. y/n screams, louder than any of the kids, and steve, has ever heard her, as steve accidentally grazes the nails against the side of her leg. he lets out a string of apologies, but continues swinging, as the vine begins unraveling and breaking from y/n's skin.
as soon as y/n's leg is free from the slippery vine, she grabs onto steve's outstretched hand. their interlocked hands don't dare disconnect even as she fully stands.
steve rubs the dirt and muck off of her forehead, "are you okay?" he quickly looks down at her now injured leg. "sorry for probably making your leg worse."
y/n shakes her head, "it's alright steve."
before steve can respond again, dustin interrupts, "if you two lovebirds are done, we need to go save el."
the two older teens face the party, both now suddenly remembering they're underground with them.
steve nods, and begins leading the way, however still doesn't let go of y/n's hand. he's not taking any chances to leave y/n at the back of the group again.
⁴ “was it casual when she went to his house after her breakup, only after really knowing each other for a week?”
in the past week, y/n has been to hell and back, and that'd be putting it lightly. she unwillingly had to be side to side with steve 'the hair' harrington, as herself, steve, nancy and surprisingly jonathan byers had to fight off an inter-dimensional monster in the byers' house. oh and she got broken up with.
y/n's boyfriend of two and a half years, had broken up with the girl because she "got too connected with her feelings." god forbid a girl want communication in a relationship.
so here she was, grabbing everything she could in her room that belonged to the asshole of a boyfriend she put up with for two and a half years, and shoved it all in a box. she couldn't care if she was destroying or breaking any of the items. she just needed it gone.
her tears however blur her vision as she trips over her desk chair, falling to her knees and dropping a few self help books her ex boyfriend had bought to try and better himself for their relationship. she should've known he was bad for her when he walked into her room with those stupid books.
y/n just sat on her carpeted floor for a moment or two, wiping her running nose on her hoodie. she sighs, knowing she just needs someone. neither of her parents are home, and she doesn't want to bother nancy or jonathan after everything they've been through, between will going missing and any other possible inter-dimensional monsters tormenting them.
which (sort of) explains what y/n is doing in front of steve's house. her hand hovers in front of the door bell for a moment, before she finally gets the courage to press the button. she hears the echoing melody chime through the foyer, before steve is standing there in front of her. his hair is messy and sleep shirt is stretched out over his torso. his everybrows furrow at the sight of y/n, not knowing they were close enough to just invite themselves to each other's house. and the addition of y/n crying did not ease his curiosity.
before he can even get a word out, her cries make her voice scratchy, "i didn't know where else to go."
steve can see how dejected the girl looks, and doesn't say a word as he lets her inside. she crosses her arms before wiping any possible tears off her cheeks. steve also doesn't ask what's wrong, as he knows she just needs someone. he simply holds his arms out, and he swears his heart breaks as y/n only cries more while walking into his embrace.
he holds her close, and brings one hand to hold her head to his chest, rocking the two back and forth. he simply holds her, as her body shakes in pain, agony and sadness. her cheek rests against his warm shirt, as his body heat radiates through the material.
"you're going to be okay," he whispers against her hair.
steve, nor y/n, didn't know it at the time, but those five words would begin a strong friendship the two didn't know they needed.
pairing: quinn hughes x fem!reader & (kind of) jack hughes x fem!reader
summary: after being in love with jack for forever, y/n comes to a realization he isn't the brother who's had her heart the whole time.
warnings: use of y/n and she/her pronouns, jack is kinda an asshole, mention of a panic attack, makeout session, not proofread, this is a long fic im sorry i got carried away 😔😔
a/n: lake house hughes brothers fics always make me FOLD (yes this was inspired by tsitp)
masterlist ! | requests are open
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y/n loved summer.
y/n loved going to the beach or on the lake every single day. she loved the smell of salt water when she drove to the hughes' lake house every summer. she loved her birthday being in the beginning of june, meaning she'd get cake and presents and time with her favorite people on her day. she loved going to fairs almost every weekend and getting sick with the youngest hughes brother after eating their weight in fried foods. she also loved jack hughes.
the day y/n stepped foot into the hughes' lake house at the ripe age of three years old, she knew she was going to love it there.
y/n sat impatiently in her mothers car as she drove to the lake house. this was the first summer y/n convinced her parents to let her go by herself. her father would be busy with work this summer anyway, and y/n thought her mom might want a house to herself for a while.
y/n sat in the passenger seat, legs tucked against her chest as she texted luke throughout the trip. even though her and jack were the same age, she was always closer to luke.
speaking of jack, he had texted the girl himself, asking if she was almost to the lake house, knowing it would just be her staying the summer.
her heart flipped when she saw his name come up at the top of her phone. she held in a giggle as she texted him back.
y/n couldn't help but love jack. she knew she was in love with him since she was ten years old. it was the day he comforted her after her bike got ruined by quinn, when he "accidentally" forgot to bring it inside. the kids soon found out the next morning that it got ran over by a car, making both wheels messed up and the plastic cracked.
ever since she can't help but be drawn to him, and it wasn't changing this summer.
sure they were all older, and this is the first summer in three years where all brothers would be in the lake house.
luke and jack would always be busy with hockey when quinn wasn't, and vice versa.
y/n practically jumped out of the car before her mom even put it into park.
"y/n!" her mom begins the scold her, but the girl is already getting her bags out of the trunk.
"sorry mom, just excited," she smiles.
"now you know all the rules right?" her mom asks as she stops next to the driver's side window.
"yes mom," y/n rolls her eyes.
her mom takes in a quick breath of air, "just mind your manners, and have fun, okay?"
y/n nods, "love you mom" she calls out as she runs up the driveway, hearing a response from her mom before she drives off.
she can't even get her hand up to knock on the door, when luke opens it eagerly.
"you're here!" he laughs before dragging her into a big hug.
"i'm here!" she laughs with him, before going into the house.
the two begin to catch up, considering they haven't seen each other in at least a year. their busy schedules just did not line up.
y/n pauses their conversation to run up the stairs to the bedroom that's been claimed as hers. jim and ellen hughes gifted her the room as a thirteenth birthday present, and not much has changed in the room.
the walls were still baby pink. they used to be filled with bright colored posters out of magazines, and now were filled with pictures filled of her and her friends, and the three brothers.
the glow in the dark star stickers were still on the ceiling, making her giggle slightly.
she didn't bother unpacking now, content with throwing her bags on her bed.
she walked down the hardwood in the hallway, stopping by jack's room. she peaked her head in the cracked door, but frowned when there was no sign of the middle child. she continued down the short hallway towards quinn's room.
she repeated the process from jack's room, and smiled once she saw the oldest brother.
she catches him off gaurd with her knock on his door, making him pause as he was in the middle of putting away clothes from his hamper.
"hey, you're here," he warmly smiles at her, letting her enter his room. "sorry, i didn't here you come in, or i would've been downstairs."
"you're all good," she smiles back as he opens his arms for a hug. "do you know where jack is?" she asks as they pull away from each other.
quinn knew she would ask sooner or later, so he was mad at himself for letting his smile falter.
"he's picking up a friend right now. she's supposed to stay the next week," he explains.
once he sees y/n's smile falter as well, he's quick to change the subject. "are you excited for your birthday?"
y/n's smile is quick to return as she nods, "it feels like i've been twenty-two forever," she drags out the last word, making both of them laugh.
"oh by the way, when jack gets back we're all going on the boat," quinn exclaims, telling her to change into her swimsuit.
the two bid goodbye as y/n practically skips back down the hallway towards her room. she loves nothing more than being on the lake with the brothers. it's her paradise away from paradise.
however her current bliss is lost as she remembers she packed her swimsuits at the very bottom of her bag. she groans, realizing she'll have to unpack anyway to retrieve them.
she does her best to unpack quickly, not wanting to make anyone wait to start their summer festivities.
finally after nearly ten minutes of unpacking, all of her shorts, t-shirts and dresses were in their designated drawers in her worn out dresser.
she kept her swimsuits laid haphazardly in her suitcase, considering she always mix-matches tops and bottoms anyway. no need to put them in a drawer.
she grabs two pieces; a pair of black bottoms with white polka dots, and a yellow top with thin straps connecting behind her neck and back.
as y/n was upstairs getting changed, the three brothers, along with jack's friend, gabriella, were waiting in the boat for y/n. jack and gabriella already had swimsuits on under their clothes, and luke and quinn were fast to change.
"can't we leave already? i'm like baking out here," gabriella groans, leaning her head back against jack's arm thats behind her, and fanning herself off.
luke shakes his head as quinn responds, "no, we're waiting for y/n."
gabriella simply groans again, as jack is unusually quiet, but stays connected at the hip with her.
speak of the devil, y/n is running out of the back door and down the wooden dock. she has a towel, sunglasses, and container of pineapple in one hand and her phone in the other.
quinn and luke both chuckle at her frazzled state, even though this is usually how she comes out to the boat.
"just in time," luke pats the seat next to him. y/n gladly sits down on the hot material, and quinn starts the boat.
"oh, jack you made it!" y/n smiles, until she notices how close him and his friend are. "hi, i'm y/n," she holds her hand out.
"gabriella," the girl simply replies, making y/n awkwardly put her hand back in her lap.
to avoid any upcoming awkwardness, luke questions, "whatcha got there?" pointing to a plastic container besides y/n's leg.
she holds it in front of her, making him chuckle.
"what is with you and pineapple?"
"what? it's good!" she defends, before putting it in the cooler filled with ice, water, seltzers and beers.
the five on the boat make small talk (really it's luke, quinn and y/n talking in the front, while jack and gabriella as whispering at the back), before quinn stops the boat in an empty clearing. y/n helps luke with the anchor until the metal can't go any farther down into the water.
"race you to the water," luke pokes y/n's side.
"not fair!" she responds, having to catch up to him at the back of the boat.
she jumps in right after him, and quinn is quick to follow, splashing both luke and y/n in the process.
"you guys coming in? or are you just gonna canoodle the whole time?" luke interrogates the two left on the boat.
"you did not just say canoodle," y/n cringes.
"i did," luke nods proudly, "and i'll say it again."
y/n and quinn both begin splashing luke before he can let any other nonsense slip from his lips.
fifteen minutes pass, and quinn and luke are having a backflip contest off the back of the boat, with y/n being the judge.
even with the amazing title of being the backclip contest judge, she couldn't help but advert her eyes towards jack.
the way his hair practically glowed from the sunset behind him. the way his eyes seemed to shine brighter with the blue waves reflecting off of the them. the way his eyes crinkled when he smiles at the story gabriella told him. the way he played with gabriella's blonde hair. the way he was rubbing his thumb over gabriella's thigh.
y/n now felt like she was going to throw up.
"okay," luke pops up from under the water, "who had the better backflip that time?"
"what?" that broke y/n out of her trance.
"the contest," luke reminds her, "who won that time?"
"uh, sorry i wasn't paying attention."
luke splashes her, "some judge you are."
quinn however noticed y/n's small change in demeanour, then looked in the direction she was just looking in, putting together what had made her gone sour.
of course the other hughes brothers knew about y/n's infatuation with jack. it hasn't lessened over the years, and the only one who hasn't noticed was jack.
"you guys wanna start heading back?" quinn asked the two in the water, "mom said they're doing a barbeque tonight."
luke and y/n nod, both excited about the traditional first night barbeque. ellen and jim always made too much food, but their hearts are always in the right place.
after luke gets on the boat, quinn leans down to help y/n. her skin is quick to fill with goosebumps, not yet prepared for the slight breeze and setting sun.
she wraps her towel around her before sitting, but the cloth only dries her from the lake, instead of keeping her warm.
"you cold?" quinn asks as he sits down in the drivers seat in front of y/n.
"yeah, and i forgot to grab a shirt," y/n admits, now realizing how excited she was to get on the boat to forget to grab one.
quinn silently hands her one of his vancouver canucks shirts that he was wearing earlier.
was it an excuse to see her wear one of his shirts again? maybe. and no, this wasn't the first time this scenario had happened.
she mutters a quick thank you, and slips the warm shirt over her body. it bunched up around her waist.
as quinn pulled away back in the direction of the lake house, y/n couldn't help but let her curiosity peak as she turned her head towards jack and gabriella.
gabriella was laying down, with her head in his lap while he ran his fingers through her hair. y/n could only wish she was in gabriella's position. she felt foolish sometimes when it comes to her feelings with jack. she felt as though he'd never feel the same, or she'd never be enough for him. but his green eyes and perfect smile, and beautifully warm personality pulled her back in every time.
y/n looks away, feeling foolish again as she wipes her eyes of the tears starting to form. she's twenty-to for gods sake. she shouldn't be feeling like this.
as luke and quinn continued talking near the front of the boat, y/n brought her knees up to her chest and leaned her head against quinn's back.
she let the sound of the waves, the lull of the boat, and the warmth radiating off of quinn help relax her. she wasn't going to let jack and some dumb blonde ruin her summer.
wait, she didn't say dumb out loud, did she?
⋆ ˚ ｡ ⋆ ୨୧ ˚
y/n woke up the next morning, now regretting her decision to go straight to bed after the barbeque, and not bothering to change out of her swimsuit or shower. she was still wearing quinn's canucks shirt.
no one could blame her though. watching the guy you've been in love with forever latch onto someone else the whole day made her have a low appetite, and all she wanted to do was sleep.
she picked out a simple outfit, consisting of black jean shorts and a baby pink tank top. she ran towards the upstairs bathroom, thankful to hog all the hot water before anyone else could.
with her shower completed and hair finally brushed out, she went back into her room, but was surprised to see quinn laying sideways on her bed.
"i didn't think anyone else was awake," she pulled quinn's gaze away from his phone.
"no one else is, just me," she nods at his response.
"what exactly are you doing in my room at eight in the morning?"
quinn sits up, "we're going to the bakery down the road and picking up bagels for everyone," he explains.
"and i have to go with you why?" she asks, however she starts putting on her shoes anyway.
he shrugs, "you just happened to be awake." 'i just want more time with you' he thought, but couldn't tell her the true reason.
"fine quinnifer, lead the way," she used the nickname she knows he hates, but he lets out a low chuckle before leaving her room.
y/n loves being in the car with quinn, simply because he lets her be in control of music. jack and luke never let her.
she picks her summer playlist before telling quinn all about her most hated class this past semester at umich. he listens intently, and even interjects with a few reactions.
as quinn parks in front of the small bakery, y/n decided to wait in the car, insisting she can't miss her favorite song.
y/n lets her eyes wander. they look over to the beach on her left, maybe she can convince the brothers to go there for her birthday tomorrow. she then watches a family walk into the bakery. the two parents and happily swinging a little girl between them. then her eyes switch to quinn at the counter. she watches his smile grow only slightly when he steps up to the counter to order. she looks over his dark brown hair, and how soft it seems this morning. her gaze shifts to the slight stubble starting to grow on his chin. she notices the viens in his hands she's never noticed before as he grabs the plastic bag from the worker.
she jumps out of her trance when quinn unlocks the car, making her realize she was just checking quinn out.
checking. quinn. out.
she must've been getting sick, or maybe she was just really hungry. she never thought of quinn romantically. it was always jack. the only time it had gotten remotely close to that with quinn was when he visited her at her dorm room 'just because'. he surprised her with concert tickets to her favorite artist, got her a new lego set, and a basket full of her favorite snacks.
"you okay over there?"
y/n jumps slightly, but nods, "yeah, why?"
"you like zoned out pretty hard."
y/n nods again, "i'm fine."
quinn doesn't question it, and starts driving back to the house. he takes notice of the way y/n fidgets with the plastic bag now in her lap, but doesn't bring it up.
the two finish the drive in silence, the only noise being the pop songs playing from y/n's playlist.
quinn and y/n enter the house, and hear shuffling in the kitchen. they expect it to be luke, or ellen or jim, but it's jack and gabriella.
jack and gabriella kissing.
jack has her pushed up against the kitchen island, lifting her shirt slightly while she's grabbing onto his hair like her life depended on it.
y/n feels her insides flip and she just looks down at the floor as she lets out a shuddered breath. was it selfish she thought she'd never see jack with anybody besides herself? yes, but she knew that.
"hey," quinn catches their attention, "are you done shoving your tongue down your friends' throat?" he eyes jack. "we got breakfast."
y/n can't look at the sight of jack and gabriella. she feels like an idiot. a hopelessly in love, idiot.
"i'm not hungry," she mumbles while walking behind quinn before jogging upstairs and walks towards her room.
she groans on frustration as she feels tears pool at her eyes. she can't believe she's crying over this. she can't believe she's been in love with jack for so long, for it to go no where between them.
she thought he was distant yesterday, but she thought that might've been jet lag, or first day tiredness. she didn't think it was her fault.
she didn't think she did anything wrong towards jack, so why had he been off towards her?
was it only towards her? has he been like this with luke and quinn before they arrived to the lake house?
a knocking takes y/n out of her own head, however that's when she realizes she's started struggling to breathe. her flowing tears aren't helping the situation either.
"y/n? are you okay?" quinn's voice is calm outside. a complete three-sixty to how y/n is feeling on the inside.
she tries to answer, but nothing comes out but a strangled whine.
quinn comes inside. his eyes widen slightly at the girl in front of him.
"woah, woah, woah," he immediately walks over to her and wipes under her eyes. "you're okay," his voice is soft, but her heartbeat over powers it.
"c'mere," he brings her closer, so close that her head is pressing against the bottom of his collar bone. he rocks her slowly back and forth, glad when he feels her arms reach around his torso.
she shudders against him as her body keeps shaking, something she didn't notice was happening before.
"i feel so stupid," she admits. her voice is muffled and shaking against quinn's body.
quinn shakes his head, "you're not stupid y/n."
y/n nods in disagreement, "but i am quinn," she sniffles, "i've been in love with jack for years and he's only hurt me more than he's cared about me. i've practically thrown myself at him, and he just doesn't see me. he'll always see me as a little sister, or luke's best friend."
"that's not true y/n," quinn argues again.
y/n pulls back, her breathing slightly better than it was before.
"but it is true quinn. he was the only one that didn't come to my high school graduation. you and luke did, hell even your parents did. he was the one to forget to pick me up at the airport, so i had to wait for an uber to go to his game. and at another game when they won, he hugged all of you guys, except for me. he couldn't even look in my direction when him and luke met us after the game. i don't know what i've done wrong to him, i just don't quinn."
y/n doesn't realize her breathing has only picked up again, making her last few words slur together and come out fast and breathy. quinn simply pulls her back against him.
"i'm sorry," y/n cries into his chest, now all of her emotions colliding with one another, making her cry again. "i'm sorry quinn."
quinn is quick to shush her apologies, muttering comforting words, in between placing kisses over her hair.
the two stayed like that for about five minutes, before quinn noticed y/n's breathing even out again, and her sniffles stopped. he didn't mind how tear stained his shirt was right now, he only cared if y/n was okay.
"would a bagel cheer you up? i can go get one and bring it up here for you," quinn offers, "we can even watch a movie if you want. just hide up here."
y/n nods and whispers, "yes please."
quinn kisses her one last time on the top of her head, and rubs her back once more before exiting her room. she figures she'll get comfortable, so she changes into sweatpants and gets under the covers, waiting for quinn to come back.
minutes later, quinn returns with two paper plates. he hands y/n the everything bagel.
"an everything bagel. one side with cream cheese and the other side with butter," quinn watches a smile show up on her face.
"did you-"
"yes i toasted it."
"thanks quinn."
for the rest of the day, quinn does his best to get y/n's mind off of jack. if he was being honest, he knew this day would come eventually. the day y/n stopped having feelings for jack.
he knew it would happen when he got a call from y/n at two in the morning. jack had dragged her to a party, but then left her there, claiming he found the hottest girl to go home with.
y/n embarrassingly called quinn to come and pick her up.
if she called him any time, anywhere, he'd pick her up in a heartbeat.
⋆ ˚ ｡ ⋆ ୨୧ ˚
quinn and y/n weren't sure when they fell asleep, or how long they'd been asleep, but both were startled awake with luke's consistent knocking on her door.
"we're making a fire if you wanna join!" he calls out, before they hear his heavy footsteps walking downstairs.
"so glad to know he's not worried about where i am," quinn jokes while stretching.
y/n turns and laughs with him, and feels a blush creeping up her neck as her eyes lock onto quinn's shirt riding up slightly. letting her eyes get a peak at his boxers peaking out from his shorts. she quickly averts her gaze before she gets caught.
"do you want to change into something warmer? i can just meet you outside by the firepit."
y/n nods, "jeez it's already getting dark? how long did we sleep?"
quinn finally checks his phone, "six hours," he shows his phone to y/n, making her see a bright '4:00 pm'.
she only chuckles, "i'll meet you out back q."
he decides to ignore the flutter in his heart at the use of his nickname. he closes her door behind him and makes his way downstairs.
when y/n arrives outside, now adorning one of luke's devils hoodies, she takes the only open camping chair left opposite of quinn. him and jim are standing and talking, while every one else is sat around the fire.
"hey sleeping beauty," luke jokes as y/n sits down beside him.
"yeah, yeah," she ignores with a smile on her face.
however her face drops involuntarily at the sight of jack and gabriella. they're sitting in one camping chair, gabriella on jack's lap, as he's whispering god knows what in her ear to make her laugh like a hyena.
y/n simply turns and starts a conversation with luke.
"are you excited for your birthday tomorrow?" luke asks.
y/n nods eagerly, "yeah, i've always loved having my birthday at the lake house."
"well i just know you're going to love my gift," luke smiles.
"i love your gifts every year luke."
the two chuckle before luke excuses himself to use the bathroom. this leaves y/n alone with her thoughts.
her interesting thoughts. her very recently quinn obsessed thoughts.
she tries justifying it though. how can she not? he helped her get over a panic attack earlier in the day, and honestly has been nothing but sweet to her since she's gotten here. something jack hasn't even thought about doing.
y/n took her time by herself to truly think about where she stood with jack. sure, he probably didn't know about her insane feelings towards him, and maybe that was for the better. just like before, she feels like such an idiot for now wasting years of her life on a boy who would never even fathom dating someone like her.
maybe it's better this way, she thinks, as he eyes now look over towards quinn. he's still talking with jim.
y/n is enthralled by the way the orange hues of the fire light his face. he's wearing a backwards baseball cap, that y/n simply wants to take off to see his soft long hair underneath.
her eyes roam over his face. over his relaxed eyebrows, and the way his eyes move from listening to jim to watching the fire crack and spark. over his perfect nose. the nose she's only recently thought about kissing. over his cheeks and the way his stubble is growing, making him look more manly (and more hot in y/n's opinion). over his curved lips, as y/n wonders what it would feel like to k-
quinn's eyes meet hers.
she got caught like a deer in headlights.
but she can't look away.
and neither can he.
⋆ ˚ ｡ ⋆ ୨୧ ˚
"happy birthday to you!"
a chorus of off key singing comes to an end as y/n blows out the candles of her personal red velvet cake. all three brothers would always make fun of her for red velvet being her favorite. she simply just thought it was prettier than every other cake flavor. plus it tasted amazing with cream cheese frosting.
however all three brother's weren't present. only two were. luke and quinn. one on each side of y/n on the large couch, as ellen and jim sat on the loveseat besides them.
y/n didn't want to admit it bothered her, but he always there with with her on her birthday. but when she realized gabriella wasn't in the house either, she had a good feeling neither of them would be showing up any time soon.
ellen and jim gave their present first, loving how excited y/n got when she opened the box to find even more pairs of mix-matchable swimsuits. they knew her a little too well.
luke got her two lego sets. one new marvel one of groot, and a set of sunflowers to put with the other lego flowers both him and quinn have gotten her over the past few years.
quinn was next, and to say y/n was shocked would be an understatement. the bag was small, and she pulled out a tiny white box. inside was a silver necklace, how quinn knew she wore silver and not gold, she'll never know. there were two dainty charms on the chain, and she held it closer to get a better look.
the one on the left was a hockey stick, which made her giggle since it just felt fitting for her. even though she's never played a game of hockey, it's surrounded her her entire life.
the second charm is the letter if her first initial, with the tiniest sparkling gems inside.
"q, i love it," she's quick to wrap her arms around him, before hugging luke, as well as jim and ellen.
just as she clasps the necklace around her neck and adjusts it, the front door opens.
jack and gabriella walked in hand and hand, surprised to see everyone sitting in the living room, staring at them as they arrived.
jack looks around, and notices the cake and opened gifts scattered on the coffee table.
"oh, um, happy birthday y/n," jack sends her a smile, as well as gabriella, but she knows neither of them mean it.
"thanks jack," she immediately begins playing with the new necklace, a habit she didn't know she'd have.
"why don't you go get your gift for her jack?" ellen suggests.
jack awkwardly looks between his mom and y/n.
"i forgot to get her something, sorry."
his voice was low, and talked as if she wasn't in the room with them.
y/n shakes her head, "it's fine, really."
jack nods, before grabbing gabriella's hand and leading her upstairs, until they hear a door close.
"i swear we have to go talk some sense into that boy," ellen exclaims.
jim agrees, and the two get up and go towards their own room, honestly not feeling like dealing with their middle son's raging hormones.
the rest of the day practically revolved around y/n. she got to pick whether they hang out in the pool or go on the lake (obviously she picked the lake). she picked which movie to watch while the group ate leftover barbeque. then she got to pick where to go out for dinner. she sat in between quinn and luke (quinn pulled her chair closer to him before she sat down, not that she'd notice) and ate the most amazing lobster roll she thinks she's ever had.
as the night started winding down, everyone went into their bedrooms. however y/n wasn't tired yet, even after showering and finally letting the birthday excitement leave her body.
for probably the thirtieth time this week, her mind can't help but be drawn to quinn. but also to jack.
she was certain she was over jack. her hopeless little crush on him over the years has finallt fizzled out like a sad firework. and honestly, she feels like a weight has been lifted off her.
years of trying to impress him, and look good for him, and try to make him laugh, all down the drain.
but she wasn't sad about it.
her mind then drifted back to quinn. her hand subconsciously reaches for the necklace, moving the charms back and forth on the chain.
was she falling for the wrong hughes brother this whole time? she thought.
quinn has always been nice to her. always cared about her, physically and emotionally. she remembers when she was eight, him being ten, and him worrying about her when she got heartbroken when she lost her favorite stuffed animal on the way to the lake house.
that whole first week he tried cheering her up by bringing her stuffed animals from his own room, to try and find one she loved.
she giggled at the thought.
she wondered what quinn was doing. was he asleep already? or watching one of his favorite tv shows? maybe he's downstairs getting a midnight snack. it'd probably be leftovers from dinner.
she wondered how he was doing right now. was he upset at jack for forgetting her birthday earlier? or was he happy y/n had a good birthday regardless of the middle hughes mishaps.
the more y/n sat and pondered over the oldest hughes brother, the more she realized she's falling.
this wasn't exactly an over night sensation however.
don't get her wrong, she did have an insanely long crush on jack. but something about quinn managed to captivate her and draw her in closer to him over time.
"shit," y/n whispers.
she's fallen for quinn hughes.
she decides it's just her delirious and tired state doing all the thinking right now. she gets out from under her warm covers. maybe a splash of cold water on her face will help. she's seen it in movies, so it must work.
what she didn't know, was that the boy on her mind was standing right outside her closed bedroom door. he's been there for no longer than three minutes. his hand was in his pocket, a third charm encased in a little mesh bag. one he didn't think she'd want. but one he knows he needs her to wear.
he's made up his mind. screw jack for messing up his chances in the past. quinn knew he was in deep when it comes to y/n. he was just an idiot for not doing anything about it before. all because he knew how y/n felt towards jack. he didn't want to be in the middle of anything. but in reality, it was jack being in the middle of quinn and y/n.
quinn debated on turning back around and just going to his room. he didn't even think of the possibility of y/n being alseep.
he still knocked.
well, he would've knocked. if there was a door there.
y/n and quinn were now inches apart from each other.
"hi," she whispers.
"hey," he whispers back.
"i didn't think anyone was still awake," she voices.
quinn shakes his head, "just couldn't sleep."
a moment of silence passes as the two simply look into each others eyes. eyes that are saying a million words, yet their mouths aren't moving.
quinn takes a step towards y/n, and she doesn't move back.
"can i ask you a question?" he asks.
she nods, "yeah, anything."
quinn takes a deep breath, "please tell me you're over jack."
"what?" the question catches y/n off gaurd, before she can truly respond.
"before i do this, just," he pauses, "please tell me you're over jack."
y/n nods, but her eyebrows are still scrunched in confusion.
"i need to hear it," quinn responds.
"i'm over jack."
after those three words leave y/n's lips, quinn takes ahold of y/n's jaw, bringing his lips to hers.
just as y/n was about to move her hands to hold onto quinn's waist, he pulls away, still leaving only inches between them.
their mingled breaths linger between them, but not for long as y/n pulls quinn towards her, kissing him again. it's more emotional than the last kiss, filled with longing and desire.
y/n pulls on his black long sleeve shirt, pulling him into her room. without disconnecting their lips, he closes the door behind him. quinn's mouth moves to her neck, kissing and sucking lightly at the skin, as her hands roam to his front, reaching underneath his shirt.
"wait," quinn pulls away, both of them now panting. "i have one last gift for you."
y/n watches him reach into his pajama pants pocket, seeing something silver peeking out of a mesh bag.
"quinn, what is-"
"this might be really stupid, but it was a good idea at the time. um," he pauses, dropping the contents on the bag into his palm. y/n gasps at the small 'Q' charm. "if you'll be mine, i figured you might want my initial. y'know, like that one taylor swift song you love."
"quinn, oh my gosh," y/n's at a loss for words.
"can you put it on the necklace for me?" she asks him, making him nod and comply instantly.
he's quick to clasp it around the chain, falling in line with the other two charms. quinn's finger and thumb rub over the newly added charm.
"does this mean you'll be mine?"
y/n nods, and before she can get a real response out, quinn pulls gently on the necklace, drawing her towards him to push their lips together once again.
⋆ ˚｡⋆ pairing: steve harrington x reader (no specific pronouns used!)
⋆ ˚｡⋆ summary: after four years of being beat up, drugged, and almost killed too many times to count, steve suffers from severe headaches and minor hearing loss - aka steve headcanons
⋆ ˚｡⋆ warnings: none! just not proofread sorry
⋆ ˚｡⋆ a/n: @bartxnhood @keerysbrowneyes pspspspsp get over here
masterlist !
. . . it happened on the saturday after the fourth of july fiasco of 1985. steve harrington woke up that morning, the sun partially blinding him from behind his faded dark blue curtains. he rolled over, seeing the much too early time of day, and argued internally about getting up and being productive, or sleeping for at least another hour.
steve chose the latter, and after his glorious hour of added sleep, went downstairs to find some sort of food in his almost empty kitchen.
selecting a bowl of probably stale honeycomb cereal, he sat on his couch and turned on the tv.
however, when going to bed last night, he didn't remember turning the tv volume down beforehand. so why was it so low all of a sudden?
he turned it up, not reading the numbers going up the tv on the side, still confused how he can barely hear it.
steve rubbed both his ears, maybe he was still tired, he thought. he turned it up again, his eyes widening slightly as he noticed the volume level of the tv was now at forty-nine, when he used to be able to hear it perfectly at fiften, maybe sixteen.
at the newfound information, he shot up from his spot on the couch, and called you.
. . . it took both you and steve about a month to get used to his new found dilemma; hearing loss.
steve isn't surprised it's happened, considering all he's been through lately. but he's surprised it's hit him this quick, quite literally over night.
you make sure to talk a little louder when around steve now.
you always stand on the side of his good ear, and are happy to repeat anything when in a large group of people.
. . . steve has become quite a good lip reader. robin was the first to notice the change, a little confused why steve was suddenly looking at everyone's lips in a conversation.
after robin, the group slowly began to catch on. yet, no one was the first to announce it.
"do you think they all know?" steve asks while watching tv one night. his hearing has gotten slightly better, so now the tv volume settles around twenty-eight.
"know what steve?" you ask, genuinely curious.
"about my hearing. do you think the whole group has finally noticed?" you can hear the concern laced in his words. the shakiness indicating steve is starting to think he's becoming a burden, with everyone having to talk either louder or slower. all for him to understand simple sentences.
you easily shrug, "so what if they noticed? they're all your friends. a little thing like that isn't going to deter them away from you steve. they've all just adapted, exactly like we have." you lean over and kiss him on the cheek. he calms at your words, and action.
. . . as soon as steve, and everyone around him, had seemed to get used to his fractional hearing, another misfortune showed up on steve's door.
it started out as any regular shift at family video; steve stuttering in almost late due to the traffic near the high school, keith no where to be found (even though he's acclaimed to be the manager), and robin already yapping steve's good ear off in the first ten minutes of his time inside the dimly lit building.
it hits steve suddenly, as robin is going on and on about her upcoming date with vickie, the always dim lights seem to start pulsating to steve. they become entirely too bright, and robin's words seem to feel like their punching steve in the head. each syllable making his head dizzier than before.
"robin," he triee to get her to pause the conversation, yet the flustered girl keeps rambling.
"robin!" steve interjects, but soon regrets it as his own voice seems to make his pounding head worse. "please, i love you but if you keep talking, you won't make it to the date tonight."
and with that, steve takes the movie cart him and robin were distributing all the way to the other end of the store. he leaves a stunned robin in his place, but he simply can't care as his head feels as if it'll fall off his neck at any given moment.
. . . a week passes, and steve has cataloged on his calander. a tiny red dot drawn in the corner of five out of the past seven days. five days with nonstop headaches, and only two days of peace.
he sighs, already getting annoyed by the oncoming headache he can feel bloomomg in the back of his head.
it's not like steve never got headaches before. none of them felt like these though. sometimes the pain was all around his head, as if someone put a tight rubberband spanning from his forehead all the way to the other side.
others he felt behind his eyes, or by his temples, or simply on the top of his head.
by week two he's had enough. he began sifting through every drug store in hawkins for anything to relieve his worsening headaches.
he was lucky for a few days after finding something at the big buy a few minutes away from his house. however his body seemed to become immune to the medicine, as his headaches came back heavier and quicker.
. . . finally, you have a day off of work. you feel like you've been living at this small record store for weeks. you did love it. the smell, a record playing in the background while you helped customers find the perfect cassette player, and the easy small talk while standing behind the register. you truly love it, but you don't think you can go another minute of someone asking if you have abba's new release.
you don't bother going to your own home, instead driving the familiar path to steve's.
you don't even worry about knocking on the large wooden doors anymore. you've been over plenty of times that steve really can't be surprised when you walk through the foyer.
you set your belongings down in the kitchen, and make your way to the stairs, however something in the living room catches your eye.
the tv is on, and you see a figure laying on the couch. you know it's steve, yet it's odd to see him down here. usually he's up in his room when he's not at work or being bugged by dustin, or any member of the party.
"steve? are you okay?" you call out, but get no response back. you walk closer to the couch, and your heart practically breaks at the sight in front of you.
steve's laying on his couch, with his head propped up against one of the biggest pillows you think he has, as he's holding an ice pack to the other side of his head. the tv is on in front of him, yet no audio is making it's way through the living room.
you crouch down in front of him, making him look up towards you. the action resulting in steve wincing slightly at the new position.
"oh, hey honey," he barely whispers.
you're not dumb. you can take a wild guess at why steve seems to be miserable with pillows and an ice pack stuck to his head.
"headache?" you ask in a hushed voice, while staring to run your fingers through his hair. steve closes his eyes at the feeling after nodding.
he leans into your touch, as you rub softly over his scalp and back through his roots. you repeat the action a few times.
"do you want to go lay down in bed? i bet that'll be more comfortable than the couch," you offer, smiling as steve nods in response.
you help him up, walking behind him up the stairs while he continues holding the ice pack to his throbbing skull.
he immediately finds his bed once you're upstairs and in his room. you sigh, wishing there was something you could do to take his pain away.
you sit beside him silently, and resume running your hands through his brown locks. he once again leans into your touch.
in the span of the next minute, steve slowly makes his way into your lap. his head resting over your thighs, still holding the ice pack to the aching area.
"does the ice pack help?" you wonder.
steve only nods. you take a mental note, now going to be sure to keep multiple ice packs in steve's freezer as well as your own.
so steve lays there contently. the combination of the ice, the warmth of your thighs, the comfort of your fingers and the smoothness of the comforter under him slowly lulls him to sleep.
. . . steve gets used to the headaches now. he always carries some pain killers in his bag or keeps a bottle in tbe glovebox of his car. you do the exact same, never knowing when he might need one. dustin's even picked up on the small notion.
if things get too loud for steve, it's become a second nature of yours to notice just as fast as steve starts feeling that fuzzy pounding behind his eyes.
you two will sit in a quiet hallway of the squawk. you'll hold his hands gently while he begins breathing deeply beside you. you make sure to bring medicine and a water bottle with you, making sure he drinks at least half of it.
you don't know how long you sit there in silence, but you don't mind. really, you don't. you'll do whatever it takes to help steve with his headaches.
summary: after what feels like the longest day in scoops ahoy history, steve harrington wants nothing more than to go home and cuddle with you.
warnings: none? i think? definitely not proofread, pretty short tbh sorry 😔
a/n: once again, for @keerysbrowneyes <3
masterlist ! | requests are open
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twelve hours.
steve harrington had been working twelve hours at scoops ahoy today.
twelve hours of scooping countless flavors of ice cream. twelve hours of making milkshakes for young ones and older kids alike. twelve hours of listening to robin buckley talk non-stop about an upcoming summer band camp. and almost an hour of dealing with erica sinclair trying every single scoops ahoy flavor, he swore she's tried before.
after those twelve long, grueling, never ending hours, steve was finally on his way home.
the starcourt mall parking lot was fairly empty. his red bmw was one of the last cars, as most other shops were already closed and ready for the bright summer morning to follow.
steve sighed as he got in his car. he ran his probably ice cream stained hands through his hair. his hair that is now flat and matted. a combination of wearing that stupid sailor hat all day, and brushing it out of his face when he leaned over the ice cream fridge to serve customers.
ah, the customers, steve thinks. the customers that were practically yelling at both him and robin for not being quick enough to make their desired ice cream cones on this hot summer day. the customers that were just a bit too whine-y. the customers who seemed to be yelling so loudly in their respective booths while enjoying the cool treat.
steve sighed once more, before starting the engine of his car. he starts his drive, nodding along slightly to the queen song playing softly over his car radio speakers. he doesn't dare turn it up, not wanting it to be the reason his newfound headache grows.
steve is about to turn on his street. his street towards his empty, dark, lonely house. his house that's entirely too big to enjoy for one person.
steve keeps driving straight. straight down the road until he reaches your road. he turns left, drives past the handful of houses that show up through the green trees before your own.
steve walks up towards your front door, running his hand through his hair one more time, before knocking on your door.
unbeknownst to you, who's currently in your bed, catching up on the newest episode of the golden girls, you have no idea what's on the other side of your door.
you open the wooden feature, it's hinges creaking heavily due to it's old age, you're heart practically leaps at the sight of your boyfriend in front of you. steve's scoops ahoy uniform looking more worn in today. with many stains littering the blue material, and the shorts slightly ripped towards the bottom seam.
"steve, baby, what are you doing here?" you take no time in leaning forward, holding his warm, tired face in your hands.
steve sighs for the umpteenth time tonight, "i just really needed to see you."
your heart breaks yet again, "oh baby," you simply state, "bad day?"
steve only nods, to which you wordlessly let him inside your cozy home. you explain to him that your parents are visiting family out of town, when he asks why it seems so quiet tonight.
maybe steve hoped it would be quiet in your house. it's a different kind of quiet than his own house. a kind of quiet he enjoys. a quiet he needs.
you lead him into your bathroom. when you turn and see his face, covered in a confused expression, you quickly respond, "when i have a bad day, all i want is a warm shower," you push out a few hairs out of steve's face, "plus god knows how much ice cream you have on you right now," you both let out a chuckle, before steve just nods.
you lean up and kiss his cheek, before leaving the room, making sure to close the door quietly behind you.
while steve showers, you rush around your room, finding a small section in your dresser where some of steve's clothes are. inside is a couple of different clothing items; a few t-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, and even a scoops ahoy uniform.
you reach down for a comfortable outfit for steve, placing it inside the bathroom on the counter.
while the water continues running, y/n gets comfortable under her thick blanket, not before making sure her big light on her ceiling was off. a few lamps staggered around her room – her desk, and nightstand lamps – were on, knowing steve wouldn't want to deal with anymore bright lights after working in the florescent lights of scoops ahoy.
you hear the water turn off.
inside the bathroom, steve slightly smiles as he notices you got his clothes set out for him.
you grabbed a pair of boxers, grey sweatpants, and a faded blue t-shirt. steve decides on opting out of wearing the t-shirt, as his skins needs a break from the confinded material.
he walks back down the hallway and into your room, being met with you reading, all bundled up under your sheets. he can't think of anything else he'd want in this moment.
your head picks up as he throws his clothes into your hamper.
"hi baby," your voice is soft, "how was your shower?" you set your book down, and open the blanket for steve to squeeze in next to you.
steve nods, "it was really good, thank you."
however, instead of climbing under the sheets next to you, steve simply moves the blankets a bit. he moves them just enough so he's able to lay his head on your lap.
you smile warmly at the gesture, knowing this is all steve wanted after his day.
you know what he wants, as you begin running your fingers through his damp hair. you cannot care less if your hands and up wet from his shower. you just wantes to help.
you continued the motion, making sure to scratch at his scalp every so often. he subconsciously leans his head further into her lap, and moves his hands to hold onto your legs softly.
you two lay together for what feels like forever. you both swear you could die hear and be content with the fact.
after a few moments, steve turns, his back on the bed with him now looking up at you.
"hi beautiful," he says nonchalantly.
you can't help but giggle, "hi."
"i love you," he simply states, his eyes filling slowly with nothing but love.
he watches as a blush creeps over your face, going up from your neck to your cheeks.
you move your hand to rub your thumb over his cheek, "i love you too."
you then lean down and kiss the tip of his nose, causing his features to scrunch together.
"i don't know what i'd do without you," he admits into the softness of your room.
it takes you a second to respond, never being told that before. you shake your head and let out a light chuckle, "probably have so much ice cream in your hair you wouldn't be known as steve the hair harrington anymore," you joke.
he rolls his eyes, "please, i haven't been called that since high school."
"since high school," you mock, "you just graduated honey."
steve just dismisses your comment, and moves his head so your hand is pushing against his hair once again; silently asking you to play with his brown locks again.
you giggle, but comply nonetheless, beginning the motion you just completed moments ago.
a few minutes pass, and you feel steve's head get slightly heavier in your grasp, as the weight on your legs grows. you know he's beginning to fall asleep.
you watch as his face becomes more relaxed. the crinkles around his eyes subside, just as his lips fall into a small part. you let it slide – the fact that he's fallen asleep on you – as you simply pick up your book again.
why not get through a few more chapters while steve just relaxes.
summary: when an incident between y/n and a player on the toronto maple leafs brings her and connor closer together.
warnings: use of y/n, she/her pronouns, mentions of cuts, blood and injuries, kissing, swearing, petnames used (hun, baby, babe), kind of heated makeout
a/n: ofc i had to include my fav hockey team in a connor fic its just who i am (also hockey era incoming)
masterlist ! | requests are open
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people always say you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
y/n l/n however didn't think the phrase would be relevant to her in the middle of the second period against the toronto maple leafs.
tonight marks the 100th nhl game for y/n. her and her teammate, connor bedard, were both drafted into the team going into the 2023 season, making this their sophomore years in the nhl.
the two teenagers immediately became close due to their birthdays being only two days apart in the same year.
it was more of a running joke (maybe a superstition) for the hawks in which every time connor scored a goal, y/n scored one quickly after.
which explains why y/n is more than determined to get the puck between the goalie of the toronto maple leafs, twenty seconds after connor scored a goal to tie the game.
after trying to hit the puck in again after a rebound, a player from the leafs hit it away from their own goal. in the small bit of commotion to follow the puck, a second leafs player fell onto the ice, with his skates up in the air as he fell into an odd position.
unbeknownst to the leafs captain as he went around the net, he bumped into y/n, not hard, but definitely enough to push her forward.
now y/n finally understood what people meant when they said wrong place wrong time.
just as y/n was falling forwards, the leafs player that was on the ground, his skate moved.
the only thing y/n felt was something cold against her face, followed by something warm and wet, and it caused her so much pain.
she immediately flinched, both from the feeling on her cheek and from finally hitting the ground after getting pushed. the game around her kept moving as she reached a gloved hand up to her face, panicking slightly when the white on her hand was now red when she pulled it away from her skin.
the closes referee noticed the girl on the floor and quickly blew his whistle.
within the mere seconds of the injury, blood was quickly making its way down y/n's cheek and neck, and onto her jersey and the ice.
fans began booing the player who cut her, while others were quiet and concerned about the blackhawks player.
y/n wasn't sure when she began to cry, but as soon as connor, and another teammate came up to her to help her, her tears weren't stopping any time soon.
the blackhawks coach was quick to meet y/n at the boards, sending her off to the medic room.
"can i go with her?" the question from connor certainly caught everyone off gaurd. he's never wanted to go with any other player if they got sent to the medic, so why did he want to go with y/n?
"please?" y/n asks, only wanting connor by her side, as she hold her glove to her cut, trying her best to stop the bleeding.
the coach sends both players off, definitely not happy now missing two critical team players.
y/n and connor faintly hear the whistle blow as they make it down the hall to the medic room.
"jeez, what happened here?" the doctor asked, frowning at the sight of y/n in front of her.
y/n was about to answer, only to find out it hurt for her to talk, making tears run down her cheeks once more.
connor was quick to speak up, "a leafs player's blade cut her, not sure how bad it is though."
the doctor nods, "can you move your glove hun?"
y/n does as asked, and the doctor slightly gasps at the cut and now blood stained cheek.
connor moves to take a look as well, and simply grabs onto y/n's hand in comfort. the girl can't deny the blush she feels creeping up to her cheeks.
while the doctor instructs y/n to sit, connor takes both of their gloves and helmets and sets them down on an empty chair.
the doctor walks y/n through the cleaning process, causing y/n to wince and reach out for connor's hand whenever some cold touched her wound.
"it is a mild cut, so it's going to need a few stitches."
y/n only nods, realizing how much energy has finally been taken out of her. all she wanted to do now was go to her apartment and sleep for the next twenty-four hours.
connor however stayed by her side the whole time, repeating comforting words whenever he noticed her eyes squeeze shut in discomfort, or when her hand tightened around his.
"we're almost done, just one more okay?"
the doctor is as quick as possible to finish her work, before handing an ice pack to y/n, who gladly holds it on her now slightly swollen face.
"the stitches can come out in one week if they don't fall out on their own, and i wouldn't reccomend talking for the next few hours. i would also advise to miss as many hockey games as you can. just so your wound can properly heal, and you won't be irritating it by yelling and all the other hockey stuff, yeah?"
y/n slightly chuckles at the doctor's last words, and connor thanks her before grabbing their things and walking with y/n back to their locker rooms.
connor looked at the small tv in the hallway, noticing the third period had started, meaning the two had a few more moments of privacy before the whole team would come barging in.
connor sits beside y/n on one of the benches, and smiles as she leans her head against his shoulder.
"how are you feeling?"
y/n simply shrugs.
"that bad, huh?"
"i just want to go home," she mumbles out, her words slurred together from the ice pack squishing her cheek and due to the pain.
"did you drive here?"
y/n shakes her head, now feeling stupid for asking a friend to drive her to their home stadium.
"i can drive you home, if you want," connor offers.
y/n nods as fast as she can, making connor chuckle again. he suggests they should finally change out of their sweaty jerseys and protective pads, making y/n get up and go to the very smaller locker room, specifically made for her, right next door.
they were both quick to change, both meeting in the hallway wearing sweatpants and hoodies.
"wait, won't coach mind we're gone?" y/n mumbles, just as connor's grabbing her bag off her shoulder.
he shakes his head, "no way. you got injured, the last thing you want to do is celebrate or do post game interviews. and i can just text one of the guys and tell him i took you home."
y/n nods as the two begin leaving the stadium. they get to connor's car fairly quickly, and y/n doesn't even have to tell connor the way to her apartment, since he's been at least once a week since they became friends.
"does it still hurt?" connor asks as he finally turns onto the street where y/n's apartment complex is.
"not as bad. the ice is definitely helping."
"that's good to hear."
connor and y/n make their way up the steps to y/n's apartment, still with connor carrying her bad for her. she fishes her keys out of the side pocket and lets them inside.
"why don't you go change into some pjs and i can throw on a movie?"
y/n gasps, "yes please."
connor laughs at her excitement before walking towards the couch, "i'll be out here."
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about an hour into the movie y/n had ended up picking for them to watch, connor felt a thump on his shoulder.
he turned, being met with y/n's head now resting on his shoulder. her eyes were closed and her breathing was even. he could only describe her as peaceful.
connor simply turned the movie off, knowing y/n would have a fit if he watched the rest without her.
as best as he could, he shuffled out from beside her and tried grabbing her to bring her to her bed, knowing she'd be more comfortable there. however she stirs when he tries picking her up again.
"what?" she mumbles tiredly.
connor chuckles, "i'm just trying to move you to your bed. you fell asleep against me."
"oh, okay," y/n relaxes again, making connor reach for her again, and successfully pick her up in his arms.
he carefully brings her down the hallway towards her room and sets her on the bed. as be leaves to grab a glass of water and pain medicine he knows she'll need in the morning, she works on getting herself comfortable.
"do you want me to spend the night? just in case you need anything?" he asks before shutting the door to let the girl sleep.
"can you stay?"
connor can't not stay at the sound her voice. he nods as a response, before shutting the door quietly. he makes his space for the night on the couch as comfortable as possible, grabbing the throw blanket on the end and piling the two pillows up as one.
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when y/n woke up the next morning, she knew one thing. her face hurt.
it hurt to swallow, it hurt to move her face, it hurt to drink water. everything simply hurt.
she couldn't imagine how much it would hurt to talk, let alone yell for connor. so she didn't even try.
she got up, completed her morning routine (minus brushing her teeth, she only guessed it would hurt), and walked slowly towards the living room and kitchen.
she turned and was surprised at the sight of connor cooking. his back was towards her, and the sound and smell of bacon cooking on the stove in front of her welcomed her into the kitchen.
she walked around him so her non-injured cheek was now resting against his shoulder.
"well hello sleepyhead," he jokes, making y/n notice it was almost eleven in the morning.
"does your cheek still hurt?"
y/n only nods, once again not daring to speak.
"after you eat something will you let me clean it again? i know it's gonna hurt but that's what the doctor said to do," connor reminds her, earning a groan out of her, making connor laugh.
"i promise i'll be gentle," he affirms while placing three strips of bacon onto two plates.
as he brought them over to the living room, y/n followed.
a few minutes passed and y/n didn't touch a single piece of bacon.
"are you not hungry?" connor asks.
y/n nods, her stomach has been rumbling since the moment she woke up.
"does it hurt to much to eat?"
y/n nods again, looking down at the plate in her lap in defeat.
"oh baby," connor pouts, as the pet name just slips past his lips. "can i clean you up first then? maybe some pain killers can help too?"
y/n nods again, grabbing connor's hand as he offers to help her up off the couch and towards the bathroom.
y/n sits patiently on the closed toilet seat as connor tries gathering as many first aid supplies as he can. once he's satisfied with his haul, he begins cleaning the girl's cheek to the best of his abilities. he was careful when taking off the bandage and wiping around the area, and let y/n hold his hand if needed.
after cleaning it, he took a warm washcloth to the skin. y/n sighed in comfort, feeling more comfortable than she's ever felt in the past twenty four hours.
"does that help?"
"mhm," she replies, her eyes closing in bliss.
connor wets the washcloth again, making sure the water isn't too hot, and brings it back to her cheek. connor is now kneeling in front of her, with her hand resting against his cheek.
the two however don't break eye contact this time, but this doesn't make the moment uncomfortable.
subconsciously connor begins rubbing his thumb over the material of the washcloth, not knowing the butterflies it was causing in y/n's stomach.
"connor," it's the first word y/n has said the entire morning, and it makes connor's heart flip.
"yeah?"
"why have you been so nice to me?"
connor takes a minute before answering, trying to internally find the right words to share.
"i just need to make sure you're okay," he was satisfied with his own answer, but y/n wasn't.
"but no other player would've done all this for me," y/n defends, talking more now that her cheek isn't hurting as much.
"well yeah, i mean we're best friends. i have to help you. i want to help you."
a minute of silence passes, as connor watches y/n's eyes flicker between his own.
he removes the washcloth from her face, only to wet it again and bring it back to her skin.
as y/n continued to stare at connor, only one thought consumed her mind. it was now or never as she let her lips move faster than her brain could stop them.
"do you ever think we're more than best friends?"
the question catches connor off gaurd. but before he can even think of a response, y/n's lips once again move faster than her liking.
"'cause i want to be more than your best friend."
y/n isn't sure where this newfound confidence is coming from, and she only swears at herself when she realize connor still hasn't answered. the last thing she ever wanted to do was make anything awkward between them, and now she's sure he's going to be walking out of—
connor's lips were on hers.
the washcloth was still pressed against her face, connor's other hand was now resting on her upper thigh, and his soft lips were on hers.
y/n's eyes were wide as he began to pull away. however she didn't want the feeling to ever end, causing her to grab his face in both of her hands and pull him to her again.
connor dropped the washcloth, making both of his hands now holding onto her thighs.
their lips were molding against one another, yet clashing to fight dominance at the same time. it was a kiss filled with many emotions. so many emotions that have been pushed down or to the side the past year, that needed to be opened.
y/n's hands moved to connor's hair, pulling slightly at the strands causing him to moan against her lips.
tongues soon started fighting, making the two more and more out of breath.
as the began pulling away, their panted breaths mingled between them as their flushed faces were only inches apart.
"i've liked you the second i saw you in that blackhawks meeting," y/n admitted, remembering the time she first saw connor after they were chosen as the 2023 rookies.
connor chuckles as his hands comfortingly rub up and down y/n's thighs, "i've liked you since the draft babe."
he simply leans in to kiss her again, but y/n hesitates.
"as much as i love kissing you, and would do anything to do it again, can you finish cleaning my cheek first?" she asks sweetly.
"oh shit, yeah, i'm sorry," connor is quick to start finishing his first aid job.
as soon as he completes taping the new gauze pad over the skin, y/n pulls him down to her by the collar of his hoodie, giggling at his surprised yet turned on moan against her lips.
