“RIPTIDE”
pairing: steve harrington x reader. genre: angst, fluff. summary: yn follows steve into lover’s lake. steve gets angry at her and loses his shit. warnings: st s4 v1 spoilers. swearing. reader kind of hates nancy. a/n: the reader may hate nancy but pls i love her so much i wanna marry her!!
Eddie's boat shook violently on Lover's Lake, but you didn't care. You saw the look on Steve's face, and panic began to settle in your mind.
"Don't be a fucking idiot," the words left your throat before you could filter them. "You're not going down there, you dumb fuck. Nope. Nope. No. No. Nope." and you shook your head.
Steve ignored you. "Okay. I'm gonna go down there, unless any of you guys were on the swim team or did lifeguard training. No arguing." Steve didn't even look at you before diving.
At first, all you did was stare: at the rippling water, the rippling water that was rippling because your best friend had dived in, making the water ripple.
And then you thought, that was a lot of rippling.
And then, fuck. He’s in there. How long’s it been? How long had it been until the water stopped rippling, until the water un-rippled, until it stilled? He was still in there, fuck. Steve was still in the water. He was still in the water! Fuck, fuck, fuck.
And you were positive that your friends thought that too. Eddie, because he looked nervous, or maybe because he was nervous about everything else. Robin, who turned to Nancy frantically, “hey, Nance. How long has he been in the water?” speaking your mind for you.
Nancy looked down at her watch, and although you didn’t like her, you thanked god that she had a watch. “Around a minute,” said Nancy calmly, "he’s only been in the water for a minute. He’ll be okay.” it sounded like she was trying to assure herself, and you remembered that you hated her.
You didn’t believe her, either. You didn’t believe her at all. Not just because you hated her. But because you knew Steve, and you knew how stupid he was. Hell, he was the dumbest fuck you’d met in your life. He couldn’t tell his ass from his head. There was a very, very high chance that Steve swam too low, went under for too long -
“Hey guys.” the water rippled again, louder than ever. The four of you in the boat jumped. Robin and Eddie swore loudly. But you didn’t say anything, running over towards the edge of the boat. If you said anything, you were afraid you might cry in front of stupid Nancy Drew.
Steve grinned, “I found the portal.” but it wasn’t like his words were announcing anything good. His words didn’t comfort you like they usually did. Now, they brought tears to your eyes, like they rarely did.
“Steve,” you put your hand on the edge of the boat to balance yourself, but Steve took your hand in his. For a while, it stopped shaking, and it was only the water that was rippling. Steve smiled gently, “hey. Hey, I’m okay. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine. Just stay here, okay? Stay here. I’ve found the portal, and now -”
But before he could finish, Steve fell. Something pulled him down, under the current, tearing him away from your grasp, tearing a scream from your mouth. It was like the horror and fear of loosing your best friend was prying your eyes open, filling them with tears as you stared at the again-rippling water.
Someone grabbed your shoulders. You screamed again, whipping your head around. "Let me go! Let me go!", but they Wouldn't let go. They only let go once you started breathing properly, once you realised who had grabbed your shoulders.
Nancy watched the water fervently. Fuck you, Nancy Wheeler, fuck you! "Y/N, we can't go in yet," said Robin, her voice only a little shaky, "We need to come up with a plan."
"Okay," you nodded slowly, "okay." you backed away, closer to the edge of the boat. "Alright, we'll come up with a plan." and you span, the fastest you'd ever spun on your heel, ripping off Steve's warm, denim jumper, ignoring the rest of your friends' cries, diving down into Lover's Lake.
It was dark and murky in the lake, though you weren't sure if it was the light or your eyes. You kicked hard against the water, pushing through the tide. You weren't going to let your clothes weigh you down, not if you were going to find Steve. You couldn't.
And that's when you saw it, beneath a bone pile of coral. A flashing red light, glowing blue at the edges. The portal.
You knew it was humanly impossible, but you swam harder, forcing your breath back inside your lungs. You kicked and kicked, like there was something chasing you, because, let's face it, there probably was.
But then your body began to give out. You could already feel the colour draining from your face. You weren't trained like Steve. There was no way you were going to make it. You were probably going to die in here.
And then you fell.
You fell down, or at least you thought you were falling down. You tumbled upwards, away from Lover's Lake, away from Eddie and Nancy and Robin and Steve, into... oh, fuck.
It was oblivion. Dark blue and blood red oblivion, lonely, silent, screaming Hawkins. And you were lost. Alone in it, the oblivion.
And that's when you heard it. His voice, confused, troubled, angry? "Y/N." your breath hitched in your throat. You turned around and ran over, but Steve didn't hug you. He didn't even smile. Instead, he threw his arms up in the air frustratedly....
"I told you to stay there!" the rage was laced into every syllable of every word. He flung his arms back down. "Dammit, Y/N!" his voice roared throughout the cavern. "Can't you just goddamn listen for once! Look, I get that you want to be feministic or whatever and I'm all for that, but this is LIFE OR DEATH!"
You whispered his name in an utmost level of quiet, "Steve." worried about the gashing cut on his chest. "Steve, you -" but he wasn't having it. He threw his arms up again, "Y/N, I don't care! I don't care that you wanted to be the hero, okay? Because what if -" and he drew a harsh, shaky breath, "what if you played the hero and you got yourself killed? What are you gonna say when you're dead and I don't have you anymore, when it's practically my fault that I don't have you anymore, because you were a dumb fuck and went and got yourself killed before I could ever say -"
But you didn't let him finish. As the invisible, normal, nonupsidedownian Hawkins water rippled around you, you knew you weren't ever going to let him finish, because you'd always know what he was going to say a million times before he said it. And you knew, right then and there, exactly what he was going to say in the heated anger of the moment. And you knew he would always and forever be yours.
Yours. Not Nancy's, not Robin's before he knew, not Katy's or Izzie's or Rebecca's or Olive's. He was yours now. Forever and always yours, as you knew you were his, and as he kissed you and then pulled away and said, "I love you," as he leaned forward again and kissed you a second time and when he pulled away again and said, "I'm sorry," the first time, you knew he was yours, even as Robin threw her arms up in the air.
"This is really great that you're finally together, but can we get going before we all end up dead?" and you still knew, as Steve pulled you close to him, placing a kiss softly on the top of your head. "Yeah," he gave a small nod, "come on. Let's go." you knew you would follow him anywhere, anywhere the tide brought you.
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