perfect disaster
pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader
words: 5k
summary: all you wanted was a perfect Valentine’s Day date with your boyfriend Steve. but when everything you planned goes wrong over the course of the day, Steve is there to remind you that he only needs you and nothing else to be happy on Valentine’s Day.
warnings: set between season 4 & 5, no mention of the Upside Down, sunshine!reader, clumsy!reader, sensitive!reader, established relationship, the fluffiest fluff, kissing, reader is having a hard time, chain reaction of inconveniences, crying, emotional hurt/comfort, Steve’s the best boyfriend ever, date night, making out, implied smut, happy ending
a/n: Happy Valentine's Day to all the baddies who spend the day alone and reading fics on here, still doing their best! 💕 I love you, I am you and you are wonderful and perfect as you are, don't you worry about it! (Steve Harrington masterlist)
💋
The light in Steve’s bedroom was always soft in the mornings.
Not much decorated the walls of his room, so the first careful sunbeams in the morning had enough space to dance on them. You blinked, nuzzling back into where you had woken up with your face squished into his naked chest.
You spent some time counting his heartbeat and softly caressing the scars on his neck, drawing little heart shapes and love declarations on the silver lines. Your heart never failed to seize up painfully at the sight, but it was only one more detail in the long list of why you had fallen hard for Steve Harrington.
Letting out a content hum, your boyfriend pillow stirred to consciousness after a while, his freckled arms tightening their protective hold on you on their own. Muscle-memory.
You felt the strands of his silky hair brush over your nose and let out a sleepy giggle, nose rubbing against his collarbone in pure affection. Steve and you barely had a filter when you were awake with each other to start with, but still floating in that half-asleep state of mind, it vanished completely.
If someone saw you right now huddled close under the navy-blue sheets of his bed, they would’ve seen two koalas with abandonment issues. You wouldn’t even object, you were just really in love with your clingy, perfect boyfriend.
And today, you loved him more than ever.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.” Steve murmured into your hair, followed by a sweet kiss to it as you stretched out with a throaty groan and rested your chin on his heart to look up at him. His big eyes were still hooded from a good night of sleep and cuddles with you, lazily blinking back at you with the kind of love-sick smile that was only reserved for you.
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” You mumbled back, bridging the distance between you and him for a gentle kiss.
God, there was nothing like kissing Steve Harrington.
He always let out this little noise against your lips, like this was the first time and coming as a complete surprise. But only a second after, you always felt his entire being relax around you, hands pulling you closer and gently holding your head as he deepened the kiss.
You sighed happily, fingernails scraping over his shoulders as you hooked a leg over his. But Steve seemed to have other plans and slowly turned you on your back, shifting over you with one practiced motion so he could continue his journey of kisses down your neck.
You were like puddy in his hands, brushing your fingers through his hair as his lips ghosted over your skin, intent to find all your sweet spots and hear those little gasps he loved so much.
You could’ve stayed like this forever.
But unfortunately – before it was really Valentine’s Day and your boyfriend only belonged to you – reality was waiting.
“Steve…” You breathed, closing your eyes in bliss as he soothed a freshly sucked-on spot with his tongue, his hand drifting underneath your sleeping shirt, over your belly… “Steve, we have to get up. It’s getting late-“
“The kids can wait.” Steve huffed but pulled back, but not before peppering at least a dozen kisses on your face. You laughed underneath him, arching your back to escape the kiss attack but only ending up even more entangled with him.
“Maybe your bunch, but not my kids.”
With a sigh of lighthearted defeat, Steve rolled off you and let you sit up with a grin.
It might’ve been the most romantic day of the year, but life waited for no one.
Fortunately, Steve got a day off, but you were still expected to work the morning shift at the kindergarten. Steve had promised Lucas and Mike to help them pick out ties for their own little dates in the meantime and so, the two of you had settled to make it a romantic evening at his house, not telling each other your plans for the night.
“I’ll miss you.” Steve looked at you with his best puppy eyes and something big and loud inside of you wanted to give in and roll on top of him once more, but you were strong. Or at least, stronger than your primal urges to keep your boyfriend in bed all day.
“You’ll survive”. You kissed him one more time before slipping out of bed and walking to the attached bathroom.
Steve smiled to himself, crossing his arms behind his head as he listened to your steps and waited. He could hear them falter as you came to a stop in front of the mirror, a big gasp shortly following that made his heart flutter.
“Steve!”
When Steve drove you to work a little later, his hand rested on your thigh in the passenger seat, eyes tearing away from the road as often as he could to see you play in delight with the new shiny ring he bought for you.
“Have a good day, baby.” Steve smiled at you as he parked in front of your work, tucking a lost strand of your hair behind your ear and giving your forehead a featherlight kiss. “Take care, okay? I’ll see you in the evening. Love you.”
“Love you too.” You waved at him over your shoulder to show off your gift one more time and only when you made it to the door of the day care, Steve turned on the engine and allowed himself to drive off.
Just a few hours and you’d be all his again.
At work, your thoughts kept drifting towards the evening, a dreamy smile on your face as you thought of Steve while entertaining the toddlers in your kindergarten group. Luckily, today flew by with barely no tantrums, your kids all dutifully taking their midday naps so you could clean up the play area in peace for once.
Whenever one of your kids snuggled up to you as you read out loud for them or laughed at one of your jokes, it was almost impossible to not think of a future like this with Steve. You vividly remembered one afternoon where he had come to pick you up from work and stood frozen in the doorway, absolutely enchanted by the way you interacted with the kids, loving and patient and so adorable. Steve had wanted to make you his wife and mother of his future babies right there. And god, you were a strong woman, but when the love of your life murmured about wanting to see you pregnant with his babies while railing you expertly into the mattress, you had your weak moments.
You blushed to yourself at the memory while tying one of the boys’ shoes, lost in thought and silently going through your to do list for your big date with Steve.
“There you go, buddy, all done.” You let the kid go play with an encouraging nod, your hand playing with the delicate ring Steve had gotten you for your birthday. Not too many hours now…
Getting out of work was like a breath of fresh air.
After changing into one of the pretty dresses Steve liked so much, you felt light as a feather as you shouldered your bag and walked down to the small grocery store Joyce worked at. A week before, you had put together a list of everything Steve and you liked to eat when you were together.
Your boyfriend was a sucker for Boppers and good cheese, the bread they only sold on Saturdays for some reason and crackers he could dip into anything he found around the fridge. And there was this one sort of wine you were really into and that made a romantic night even fancier.
Joyce had kindly ordered everything from your list from a supplier outside of Hawkins, telling you with a wink that she was going to save it until you’d pick it up after work.
The grocery store was empty at this time of the day and when you entered, Joyce was rearranging canned soup and spices on a shelf near the cash register.
“Oh, hi honey!” The older woman greeted you, looking almost guilty at you. “I tried to call Steve’s home number earlier, but the two of you must’ve already left. We got a call this morning that the truck with our orders broke down. They won’t arrive until tomorrow.”
“Oh.” You frowned. “Are they…okay? Did someone get injured?”
Joyce opened her mouth in surprise. “No, no, they’re fine. But I know you really needed these things for your date with Steve, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“It’s okay.” You sounded more cheerful than you felt, really. “I’ll just…browse for a moment and figure something else out then. Thank you, Joyce.”
“Of course, love.”
You walked past the shelves and freezers, but nothing really caught your eye.
Apparently, it was really hard to get your hands on Boppers these days and everything else wasn’t personal or special enough for a date night. When you got back to Joyce at the cash register with empty hands, she smiled sadly at you.
“I’m really sorry, sweetheart.” Joyce rubbed your shoulder, but perked up when she had an idea. “How about this, we got these red and pink balloons you can have? Balloons are nice for boyfriends, right?”
You laughed weakly and nodded. “I mean, if I can buy them, I’d love that.”
Joyce immediately walked to the back, talking over her shoulder to you: “I mean, my time for dating is long over, but I’d love some balloons on Valentine’s Day!”
“I’ll let Hopper know.” You called after her with a small smile, the disappointment over the lost food quickly becoming smaller when Joyce came back with multiple shiny heart balloons on a string. They were big and just the right amount of cheesy and you knew Steve would laugh at them.
“They’re perfect. Thank you so much, Joyce.”
You continued your journey downtown, the mass of pink hearts following you over your head. Maybe Steve would be happy about some pizza as well? But he’d spent the day with kids already and it was a real proper date night. Not even the wine had been in stock anymore, how would you look if you pulled up to your Valentine’s Day date with take out pizza and apple juice?
You rummaged around in your bag for some bubblegum, your own way to take the edge off as you mentally went through every other food store in Hawkins and if they maybe carried what was still on your list.
Your feet carried you forward blindly and just as you wanted to look up, there was a loud honk and you stumbled backwards in shock.
It all happened at once. The car that had nearly run you over drove past and you almost fell on your butt, the road way too close to where you had just stood. A split second later, you realized you had let the balloon string go.
“No, no, no…” You scrambled to your feet and jumped to get a grasp on them, but they were already gone.
You watched breathlessly as the red and pink hearts flew into the sky, mocking you silently as a few other people watched and marveled at them.
Shit.
There was something so sad about the sight, you felt tears prickle behind your eyes, harshly blinking them away to get a grasp on yourself. They were gone and they were not coming back. You were not going to stand in the streets and cry about some silly balloons.
Steve always knew how to cheer you up in small moments like this.
You knew if he were here with you now, he’d lay his arm around you and pull you along with a kiss, probably mumbling some sweet nonsense into your ear.
But with yet another fail of yours, the frustration in you grew and planted unease in your belly.
Luckily, the flower shop was still stacked in the afternoon, the room bursting at the seams with hundreds of different roses and other pretty flowers. Clueless boyfriends were running around and groaning about prices as you pushed through the chaos and quickly assembled your dream bouquet for Steve.
You added some extra flowers for good measure and left a tip for the ladies behind the counter.
With the bouquet pressed to your chest, you soldiered on.
At least you could get flowers right on Valentine’s Day.
You took a deep breath as you walked into Family Video, willing the growing overwhelming pit in your stomach away as you straightened out your skirt. Yeah sure, maybe plan a and b hadn’t worked out, but you still had Steve’s and your favorite movie.
To make sure it was in stock for today, you had asked Robin to hold it back for you without Steve noticing and you could always count on Robin. As you walked up to the busy counter – a lot of couples wanted to make it a romantic movie night, it seemed – you mentally took a note to bring Robin some flowers in the next few days, too.
“Oh my god, please don’t hate me.” Robin groaned, grimacing as she buried her face in her hands at your sight. “You’re gonna hate me so much, I’m so so sorry…”
You laughed nervously, prying her hands away from her reddening face as you frowned. “Um, Robin? Don’t be silly, why on earth would I possibly hate you? Is everything alright?”
“Noo…” Your friend cringed at herself, taking a deep breath. “Okay, so I meant to call you at work, but all these annoying couples are raiding our store like crazy and then I couldn’t and now you’re here and you’regonnahatemebecausethemovieisgone.”
You blinked at her, an eerie internal silence washing over you. “W-What?”
Robin sighed deeply, quickly excusing herself from business and coming to stand beside you around the counter to rest a hand on your shoulder. “I promise, I put the movie away for you, just like we had said. I even had it ready behind the counter because I knew you’d come in after work, but now it’s gone. There, I said it again. I’m so sorry, I lost the movie you wanted to watch with Steve tonight.”
Your heart sank, shoulder deflating as your gaze flickered behind her. “Are you sure? Maybe you just misplaced it, we can check again-“
“I already checked five times, I have no idea where it went.” Robin shook her head, really feeling for you as she gnawed on her lip. “Maybe one of my co-workers lent it to someone else while I was on break or someone took it from behind the counter…I can help you find something else? I bet Steve wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t your all-time favorite…”
If your bags had been full with food and the balloons were still with you, you would’ve agreed. But all you had for now were some flowers that would die in a few days and not even a romantic movie for the occasion.
You were surprised to open your mouth and find yourself at a loss for words, throat suddenly tight from boiling emotions. If you had not been through it two weeks ago, you would’ve guessed your period was close.
Of course, Steve wouldn’t mind.
Your boyfriend was one of the most patient, understanding people you knew. (At least with you.) But it was almost five and so far, you had nothing for your Valentine’s date with Steve and by now, it felt like it was all your fault.
Steve and you had watched that movie during one of your first dates. A night without the world ending or a bunch of chattering kids surrounding you. That night, in the dark of the movie theater, Steve had held your hand for the first time. A first sweet kiss had followed on your doorstep as he said goodnight.
It was special and maybe you were overreacting, but that wasn’t Robin’s fault.
You forced yourself to smile at her, but it didn’t quite reach your eyes and she could tell. “Okay, Robin. Thank you though, really. I’ll just…Have a good night with Vickie later.”
“Aw no, it’s gonna be alright!” Robin tried to cheer you up, but you had already turned for the door. You weren’t angry, of course not, but you felt like if you’d stayed just a minute longer, you’d burst into tears in front of everyone in Family Video and you had already been through enough today. “I’ll help you pick out another one, it’s gonna be fine-“
“Thanks Robin, but I’ll just go and think of something else.” You mumbled and pushed past the door, your nose itching as you tried to center yourself like Steve had taught you to when you were getting anxious.
Outside on the road, it was already becoming darker, your date with Steve shifting closer and closer.
You looked down the street, trying to think of another store you could burst into to get – at this point – anything that wouldn’t have you show up at Steve’s with empty hands.
But today, luck simply had abandoned you.
Checking your watch, you made a beeline for the crosswalk, not paying attention to the road.
“Watch out!” Someone called behind you, but it was already too late.
Startled, you dropped the bouquet, a splash of dirty water from the street landing on your dress as a careless driver waltzed the delicate flowers down under the wheels of their car.
You stood frozen, the skirt of your dress dripping wet and ruined with dark splashes, the flowers to your feet broken and trampled.
That was it.
The final straw.
A sob caught in your throat as you bent down and brushed a hand over the ruined flowers. What. The. Hell.
You walked up to Steve’s house feeling like a complete failure.
Your knees were still trembling from the run across half of Hawkins and exhaustion crept up your neck from holding back frustrated tears. Your shoes and calves were still splattered with dirty water from the car and you simply couldn’t wrap your head around the fact that nothing had worked out in your favor today.
There were no balloons with you or nice food or a gift. Hands empty except for a single pink rose you had managed to save from the squished bouquet on the sidewalk. Everything else had either been missing or destroyed.
Your fingers were trembling as your hold on the delicate flower tightened and you walked up the steps to the front door.
If you weren’t in such desperate need to be held by your boyfriend, you simply would’ve given up and gone home, ready to cry the night away with a big bucket of ice cream because you were such a pathetic girlfriend, you couldn’t even organize Valentine’s Day for the boy you loved more than anything.
You sniffled to yourself before trying (and failing) to take a deep breath.
You rang the doorbell and waited.
There were quick footsteps coming from the inside and you brushed over the skirt of your dress one more time, trying to be as presentable as possible in your current state. Then, the door opened and Steve greeted you with the biggest smile as he met your eyes.
It vanished in under a second.
Your boyfriend forgot how to breathe for a moment, the sight of unshed tears brimming in your tears and the dirt on your pretty dress nearly making his heart stop.
“Oh my- sweetheart, what happened?” Steve rushed out the door, both of his hands resting on your shoulders as he scanned you up and down for any injuries or pain. “Did you get into an accident? Someone say anything to you? I swear to god I’m gonna kill whoever made you cry like this-“
“I guess you’ll have to kill me then.” You shrugged miserably, not wanting to meet his eyes. But Steve only rested two fingers underneath your chin and tilted your face up and you went pliant at his soft touch.
“What?” Steve frowned, his heart breaking at the sight of your wobbling bottom lip and red rimmed eyes. “I don’t underst- c’mere baby, let’s get you inside first. You’re shaking.”
With a steady but gentle hand on your lower back, Steve led you into the hallway and closed the door behind him. His brain was going into overdrive, needing to get to the bottom of whatever made you so upset. He needed to fix it, to make you smile again and happy.
You hugged yourself as you looked at him guiltily, worrying your bottom lip between your teeth as you searched for the right words. But no matter how much you had wanted to keep it together, the tears were already overflowing as you struggled to stay calm.
“I only wanted to make tonight a good date.” You told him through the tears, too upset to refuse the immediate hug Steve was pulling you into. When you were like this, he always needed to hold you, no exceptions. It made him hurt just as much to see you hurting. “I had plans- I wanted to get all our favorite fancy food at the store and our favorite movie, but nothing worked out! I couldn’t even get Boppers! I had balloons and I let go of them and then I dropped your flowers and I feel so stupid, because I just wanted to surprise you and do something nice for you, but I can’t even manage that! The whole night is ruined because apparently, that’s all I do. I ruin nice things, I’m so sorry-“
Your ramble ended in a desperate gasp for air as you sobbed into Steve’s chest, the entire anxiety of today crashing together over you like a wave. You were sad, but also angry with yourself and it all felt like a big confusing cocktail of emotions that needed to burst out of you.
“Aw, my poor sweetheart.” Steve cooed comfortingly, swaying you back and forth as he held you and let you cry. You always had been an emotional girl and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Despite the pain in his chest to see your pain, it also made him feel grounded to know he was the one who could comfort you when everything just got too much.
And the reason for your tears? God, he just wanted to wrap you in his arms and never let go.
“Baby, it’s okay…” He kissed your temple and drew back just enough to carefully wipe away the warm trail of tears cascading down your face.
“I just wanted to do something nice for you.” You leaned into him, feeling stupid despite the kisses Steve pressed to your cheek and eyelids. “You always go out of your way to make me feel so special and I wanted to return the favor…”
“Baby, I love you so much for wanting to do that and I’m sorry you had such a bad day, okay? But I promise you I don’t need much to have a good Valentine’s Day with you. I would never be upset because you didn’t get me flowers. That’s part of my job, hm? To make you happy and spoil you like crazy. And who needs Boppers when I got the most beautiful, amazing girl I could ever ask for as my girlfriend? I’m the luckiest guy alive, okay? Not just today on Valentine’s Day.”
His kind, soothing words made a fresh round of tears well up in your eyes as you blinked up at him, sniffling. “Really?”
“Of course, sunshine.” Steve pulled you into his side to lead you towards the guest bathroom. “It’s all good now, okay? We’re fine, this is completely fine. And…you weren’t the only one who planned something for today, you know. How about you’ll freshen up and I’ll get you some of your other clothes, hm? Does that sound good?”
“Yes.” You sighed tiredly, the thought of washing your face and the whole day away sounding so good to your ears. “That would be nice.”
A couple minutes later, you were dressed in one of Steve’s comfy sweaters and shorts and your boyfriend was leading you out onto the terrace, his hands over your hands so you couldn’t see.
“Steve, I’m going to trip!” You giggled, holding on to his arms as he slowly led you forwards.
“I would never let you trip, baby, we’re almost there.”
You felt the grass tickling your ankles as he suddenly stopped, slinging his arms around your waist from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder. “Open your eyes.”
The most romantic sight was right in front of you.
A big blanket was splayed out in the garden, surrounded by dozens of little candles that painted the space in a soft, warm light. A tray of sparkling cider and two plates awaited alongside with a bouquet of pink flowers while a cake rested in the center of the picnic. It was the most spectacular cake you had ever seen, all decorated with sparkles and white cream icing. The elegant frosting on top spelled ‘I love you, sweet girl’.
“See?” Steve watched with a crooked smile as you gaped at it all. “I can plan a Valentine’s Day date too.”
“Oh Steve, this is so…” You blinked back tears for the third time this day as he laced your fingers together and led you towards the blanket. “I love this so much, it’s so pretty.”
“I also got our favorite movie for later.” Steve told you as you sank down to sit on a pillow, followed by an offended gasp coming from you.
“Oh my god, that was you!” You laughed, already feeling silly for being so upset earlier. “Robin held it back for me, but someone stole it from behind the counter. That was you?!”
Steve blushed filling up a glass for you with a mysterious shrug. “I won’t tell all my secrets, but…I might’ve had Mike distracting her so I could go through with it.”
You solemnly clinked glasses and Steve fed the first piece of chocolate-cherry cake to you as you talked about your day and everything that had gone wrong. But now, in Steve’s presence, you were even able to laugh about it. In return, Steve talked about the challenge that was picking ties for Mike and Lucas, especially when Dustin and Max had joined the mission only to make fun of them. Afterwards, the whole gang was going to meet up for a game with Will and El, so why dress fancy anyway?
“I guess they just want to impress the girls.” You said, having migrated to sit closer to Steve as you rested your head on his shoulder and looked up into the slowly darkening sky. “They learned from the best when it comes to girls, after all.”
“Who, me?” Steve smirked down at you, wiping a little icing from your bottom lip with a dreamy look in his eyes. “There’s just one girl in the world I’m trying to impress, baby.”
“You do.” You squeezed his hand in yours, warm and safe and snuggled against him. He widened his legs for you to sit between them, his hands automatically resting on your thighs and hips to steady you. “Every day. I know how much you care, Stevie…”
A shiver both from contentment and the chilly air outside ran down your spine.
Steve noted instantly, perfectly in tune with you as always.
“How about we go inside, hm?” He helped you up, hands rubbing up and down your back to get a little warmth back into you. “We can watch the movie, cuddle…”
Kiss. Kiss a whole damn lot.
It went on unspoken between you, but you saw how Steve’s eyes darkened when you bit your lip. The thought of heavily making out with your boyfriend on Valentine’s Day suddenly seemed way better than watching a movie you had already seen five times with him.
Steve seemed to think the same.
You stretched up on your tiptoes and played with the hair in his nape, your lips eagerly meeting his in the quiet silence of his garden. Steve almost stumbled backwards, but caught himself to hold you close, kissing you back feverishly.
You never got tired of the addicting way Steve kissed you.
He kissed with all the need and want in his body, all or nothing but still so soft and always giving you enough space to breathe if you wanted to. But right now, you didn’t need to – you needed to crawl inside of him, wrap yourself around him in a desperate attempt to become one.
Nothing felt more like home than Steve Harrington did to you.
And you were so ready to give yourself over into his experienced hands.
“Let me take care of you,sweetheart…” Steve mumbled against your lips, his arms already hooking underneath your thighs and lifting as the blankets slid from you. “’m gonna make love to you, take my time with my pretty perfect girl. I love you so much, you know that?”
“Yeah, I do…I love you too, Stevie.” You nodded at him with big eyes, gladly locking your ankles together behind his back and pressing your chest against his as he carried you up the stairs. “Take me to bed.”
The kisses didn’t stop once you were inside and there was a brief detour by the big couches in the living room and the bottom of the staircase, the two of you insatiable for each other as you kissed and kissed and messed up each other’s hair and clothes.
There was quiet laughter and the first careful moans let out into each other’s mouth while your hands explored each other’s skin. And when Steve pulled your sweater over your head for you and looked at you like he’d never seen anything more perfect in his life, you knew no matter what all had gone wrong today, this was still the best Valentine’s Day date ever.
There was still time for a movie later.
But if there was one thing you had learned today, it was that you didn’t always have to follow the exact same plan to be as happy as you could be.
Not if you had Steve by your side.
