And it was all yellow
Pairings: Bsf!Steve Harrington x Henderson!Fem!reader
Summery: your best friend, Steve, whom you’re hopelessly in love with, plans a surprise birthday party for you…who knew that the happiest day of your life would be the start of a new dynamic, or lack there of.
Warnings & contains: ermm light swearing, diverting from canon a little, no real description of readers appearance, Steve’s parents:(, cute nervous yearning Steve, mutual pining ig, fluff, kissing/making out, implied but no actual smut, ambiguous ending?
Wc: 8.7k+
Note: this does take place the summer of 1983 before canon events, when reader and Steve are 16/17, which is why I am not writing smut about them. I’m also just not comfortable with writing smut in general as of right now, so perhaps in the future but right now, no. I had thought to make this a mini series but I’m not sure yet…however reader and Steve, I must hug my babies... Another thing, this is my first ever fic… I don’t claim to be a writer but I do indulge in writing for fun sometimes. So please be nice, any tips are appreciated! if you don’t like it, that’s ok just scroll away, no need for any nasty comments! Anywho, thanks to anyone who reads it!!!
Dividers by @/pxrce-lain
To you, today was like any other day of the year; you woke up to the faint birds chirping, drowning in the sounds of children already playing outside. You slightly turn to look at your alarm clock, 7:15, you groan, tugging your covers over your head.
10 more minutes, you thought.
However, before you could get comfortable, you jolted on your bed as your mom and brother quickly knocked before entering your room, singing happy birthday.
You cover your face with your hands, hiding your grin.
“Ohhhh, I was just about to go back to sleep.” you say in a slight whine, but a chuckle leaves your lips
“No time for sleep, it's our girl’s birthday today!” your mom says, taking your hands off your face, while carrying a plate of pancakes with a singular lit candle in the middle.
“Yea come on, quit being lazy. Your boyfriend’s here.” Dustin says with a little smirk
That caught your attention, and you sat up.
“Steve’s here?” You try to say surprised, but the truth is you’re not; he’s always been there, by your side, even when you didn’t ask him to be. It’s been that way since middle school. “And how many times do I have to tell you he isn’t my boyfriend, Dustin?” you add with a playful, stern voice.
“Yes, he said he was getting something from his car. And whatever helps you sleep at night, now come on, blow out the candle, I’m hungry.” He complains as he pushes the plate your mom’s holding, so that you can blow it out.
“Jesus, you’re a bossy kid—” you softly chuckle, blowing the candle out and shaking your head at your baby brother's attitude. “Are you happy now?” you sarcastically ask him.
“No, we still have to wait for you to get dressed and leave your room.” he lets out an obnoxious, dramatic sigh.
“Happy birthday, muffin. Breakfast is all set up at the dining table— get dressed, and I’ll send Steve in.” your mother says sweetly, she smiles and winks at you.
You look at her, sending her a questioning look. You open your mouth to speak, but before you can deny anything, she shuts your door.
“He’s not my boyfriend…” you muttered to yourself, sighing.
The truth is, he isn’t your boyfriend. He’s your friend, your best friend since middle school. You knew him better than anyone; you know how easy, flirty, and charming he can be, but you also know just how much of a dork he is. You know that the strained relationship he has with his parents affects him more than he shows. You know how much he hates being alone, and you especially know how easy he falls into this new King Steve act at school whenever Tommy and Carol are around to avoid ever being alone again.
The whole King Steve was still relatively new to you, and to be honest, you weren’t exactly sure if you even knew that side of him. In front of you, Steve never acted any different from who he’s always been around you. However, being a year younger than him, when he started his freshman year, you were starting your 8th-grade year, and you weren’t there to see what he was like. It was then that he had started striking up a friendship with Tommy Hagan and, of course, his girlfriend, since the 7th grade, Carol Perkins, who you’ve all known since elementary school. Steve had spoken to Tommy a couple of times in middle school, so he figured to stick with him for his first year of high school while he waited for you and your friends to join him the next year.
You’d be lying if you said nothing in your friendship with Steve changed that year. While he did still hang out with you and your friends, there would be times when Steve would go hang out with Tommy instead. He would always tell you and you didn’t mind; he was allowed to, but you were weary, you knew Tommy was a jerk, so you could only hope Steve did not turn into one himself. Apart from him gaining new friends, he also joined sports and clubs, which kept him from hanging out. The times he did hang out with you and the girls, he rarely spoke about anything he did with his friends— he would simply say “oh, just hung out, messing around, you know us boys.” One thing is for sure— he never spoke to you about girls, and to be fair, you never asked nor did you want to know. You were truly in the dark regarding what Steve did to gain a status in his freshman year at Hawkins High.
It wasn’t until you started high school yourself that you slowly started hearing about Steve's newfound reputation. You’d unfortunately hear a few stories come from a few girls who were in Steve’s grade in the halls, and in a few instances, instead of girls, it would be a few boys you’d recognize as his teammates retelling one of Steve’s apparent encounters. Each story you would hear made your stomach churn while simultaneously breaking your heart. A part of you didn’t want to believe any of the stories— he was still Steve… but then you realized it isn’t like it used to be in middle school. This was high school— people cared about popularity and image, and both those things easily latched onto Steve. He was still very much your best friend, but you rarely had any classes together, he made friends with not-so-very-nice people, and he’s a teenage boy. The only times you got to really talk to each other were mornings, passing periods, and when he had free time to hang out after school— when he wasn’t busy or when he’d take you to parties. Nonetheless, he always tried to make time for you, just as much as you did for him, too.
Breaking away from your thoughts, you get up from your bed and head over to your dresser, grabbing a set of clothes, settling on a red-orange plaid peplum blouse and red shorts paired with your white high top shoes, perfect for the warm summer day ahead.
Once you're changed, you head to your bathroom to freshen up, brush your teeth, and apply a bit of makeup. As you’re doing your usual routine, you hear a few soft knocks at your bedroom door.
“Come in,” you shout from your bathroom.
Okay, he’s coming… Don't be nervous, it's just Steve, your best friend. God, you wished he were more, but you can’t wish that. You shouldn’t wish for it.
You hear your bedroom door open, paired with a few footsteps, but they suddenly disappear.
Huh, what the—
You finished rinsing off your teeth, spitting into the sink, and as you’re walking out of your bathroom, you huff, “Dustin, I swear if you’re taking my thi–” you stop mid-sentence, looking up to see Steve sitting on your bed with flowers, and something else is in his other hand you can’t quite catch. A small smile starts to spread on your face.
“Happy birthday, Sunny.” he says softly, rising from your bed with a boyish little smug smile, walking straight towards you and pulling you into a hug. His arms curling on your shoulders. His cologne is overpowering the atmosphere in your room.
Sunny, it's what he decided he’d call you one time in the spring of 6th grade. You had just gotten dropped off at school, and that day you wore a yellow blouse paired with some khaki shorts and some white Converse. A twelve-year-old Steve stood waiting for you by the school entrance, a habit that grew naturally. You walk over towards him, strides slow and quiet ones that come with the early morning. The sun shone down on you just right, so when he saw you walking over— hair down with a smile on your face, all bright and warm, illuminating from the light hitting your blouse— he greeted you with a “hey sunny” and it stuck. It stuck with him because in that moment when things were slowly changing at home, you were the only thing keeping his days bright. You were the sunny sunlight peeking through the clouds, and he knew you’d be the most important person in his life and that he wanted you in it forever. You are his Sunny.
“Oh Steeeve,” you whine, which quickly turns into a giggle as you’re playfully trying to escape from his grasp, “you’re never gonna stop calling me that, aren’t you?” you finish in a soft fit of laughter. This only makes him tighten his grip on you. So you give up and melt into his arms, your face buried into his chest, your arms wrapping around his waist.
He gently chuckles and murmurs into the side of your face, “oh you love it, but fine, happy birthday, pretty. is that better?”
Hearing him call you pretty makes you halt for a moment, one you hope he didn’t catch, but he gave you a light squeeze signaling that he did. Of course he did.
Pretty? he’s trying to torture you.
You laugh and shake your head against his chest.
“God, you’re impossible…but thank you.” you say with a small smile.
You both pull back from the hug. You look up and catch him already looking at you with a warm smile.
There is a beat of silence.
God he’s so pretty. Stop staring.
“Now, are those flowers for my mother?” You ask him playfully raising an eyebrow, looking at the flowers in his hand
“Ah, right, yes— no— I mean— they’re for you.” he stumbled on his words, handing you the flowers.
You grinned softly, taking the small bouquet of wildflowers he got you, “thanks Steve.” you murmured shyly before looking up at him.
He sends you a small nod with a fond-filled smile, before it turns into a look of remembrance, lifting his hand that carries a little rectangular box towards you.
“Oh, I also got you this—well, made—had made, you know, I’m not as tech savvy, so I had someone do the physicality of it.” he says nervously as he scratches the back of his neck.
“It has your favorite songs...um I made him a list, so now you can have them all — most in one tape.” He says a little quieter, almost as if he were unsure if what he was doing was okay. He did know one thing for sure. It felt right.
You grab it.
It’s a cassette tape. You turn it right side up, and in messy handwriting, one you’ve grown to recognize as Steve’s, it says ‘Sunny’s favorites - mixtape’ followed by a list of 13 of your favorite songs. Your breath catches in your throat. You could feel his eyes on you.
A mixtape. He had a mixtape made for you. Full of your favorite songs. Steve did.
He clears his throat, “I might’ve added 2 or 3 songs that remind me of you.” he adds slowly, eyes not budging.
You look up and meet his gaze. The look on his face looks like he’s holding himself back from pulling you in. From telling you things that go beyond friendship, things he won’t be able to take back.
“This is sweet, I love it.” you murmured with a smile.
This time, it’s you pulling him into a hug. On your tippy toes with your arms snaking around his neck.
He wraps his arms around your waist without hesitation, pulling you flush against him. His face falls into your shoulder, inhaling you slowly.
“You really like it?” He whispers against your shoulder, his breath brushing against your skin as he speaks, sending chills down your body.
You pull back to look at him, his arms loosen, but he doesn’t let you go.
You smile and nod, “I do, thank you, Stevie.” you
“It– it’s not weird right?” He says, looking down away from your eyes in a nervous manner.
“hey no, it’s really sweet and cool.” you say, reassuring him.
He opens his mouth to speak, but closes it the second he hears Dustin’s muffled complaining voice coming closer to your room.
“uuuuhg Jesus Christ, can you guys hurry up? I’m hungry, and mom is not letting me eat until you both are sitting at the table.” he grumbles upon opening your door.
You both turn to look at him, and you can see the smirk on Steve’s face out of the corner of your eye.
“Oh my god, we’re coming.” you tell him in a chuckle.
Dustin makes a sarcastic smile and leaves your room.
“We better go out there before he threatens my life.” Steve says, smiling as he releases you but grabs your hand before pulling you to eat breakfast.
Holding Steve’s hand isn’t something new. It first happened at a party that was a little too crowded. His hand found yours pulling you to walk in front of him, never letting go of your hand, while his other hand guided you by the small of your back. Then it happened when you guys were watching a scary movie, you both sat on your couch close to each other, there was a jump scare, and you quickly grabbed his hand and he didn’t pull away. Then once more, when he took you down by a creek, holding your hand the entire walk there. Needless to say, it’s not weird for you guys to hold hands.
It definitely wasn’t new for him to come over to your house and eat with your family. He has been going over to your house a few times a week for years. Your mom adores and loves him, as does he love your family. To Steve, your mother was sort of a Guardian to him; she was the mom he wished he’d lucked out with. The blueprint. Your home was where he would eat proper homemade food, where he learned to wash his clothes after years of your mom washing his, if his mom hadn’t been there to wash them. It’s where he spent most of his time whenever his parents weren’t home. He saw and felt what a real family was like.
Steve's family wasn’t exactly that, a family. He had a very complex relationship with his parents. His mom has always been a kind lady. She loves her son, she does, but ever since he turned 13, it has turned superficial. Mrs. Harrington found her work and husband to be more of an importance than taking care of her only son.
As for Mr Harrington, he saves face for those he deems worthy. You’ve only had a few interactions with Steve’s dad, most of them being when you would go to Steve’s house after school when you were both in middle school. You saw him as a man of a few words, at least to you, always short and serious. He was the complete opposite towards his son, in the worst possible way. He was hard on Steve, never showing him affection, making sure he maintained a certain image, and constantly pushing him to follow in his footsteps; if not, he was merely a failure. He’s never asked Steve about his interest or his life; you’re surprised he even knows he has a son. You grew to dislike him very quickly. Mr Harrington was a two-faced phoney; he was the type to gloat about having “the perfect family” but behind closed doors, he hardly spoke to his son, and when he did, not a single good thing came out of his mouth. His and Mrs Harrington's relationship was initially based on love, but it eventually became about image and business, and boy did he take advantage of those business trips, which is why Mrs Harrington attended those trips more often than not.
Your home was home to Steve, it’s why now he confidently strides into your kitchen to fill up a vase with water to place the flowers he got you in. His house became a place where he escaped to be alone, which wasn’t a regular thing for him. Sometimes he’d bring you along, especially when you had drunk a few too many drinks at some party he had dragged you to. The majority of the time, the house stays in stillness, except for Steve’s room.
“You okay?” Steve's low voice draws your attention as he looks at you, taking his seat in the chair next to you, pulling it a few inches closer, hoping no one would notice.
You look over at him and nod
“Huh— what— yes, I’m okay, sorry— my mind is still waking up.” you respond.
He nods as he keeps his eyes on you, not convinced, but he decides not to push.
“Finally, we can eat.” Dustin interrupts as he puts food on his plate.
“Impatient little shit.” you grumble with a chuckle.
“Sweetie, language!” your mom spits wide-eyed.
“Sorry mom,” you exhale, smiling, and you all dig into the food.
As everyone is filling up their plate, there is a knock on your door, a complaining groan leaves Dustin, and everyone pauses for a second, then it opens.
Your friends Josie and Robin enter with flowers and balloons, “Happy birthday!” they both say with smiles on their faces, walking towards you.
Your eyes widen, and you smile, getting up, “guys— awww stop, thank you,” you say, meeting them halfway and hugging them both. “I thought I wasn’t going to see you guys until later for our movie marathon.”
“You will, but can’t we just come by early morning to wish our best friend a happy birthday?” Josie playfully questions
You laugh, “yeah, no, of course you can, thank you,” you say. You turn your attention to Robin, who seems fidgety and really hasn’t looked you in the eye. “What’s up with you?” you ask Robin.
“What, me? Nothing's up with me? Why would there be something up with me? Why would you ask if something's up with me? Do I look like there's something up with me?” She rambles on nervously, looking everywhere but you.
“Woah o-Kay…” you say, confused. You were going to ask what was obviously causing her to be this distressed, but your mom speaks first.
“Come on, girls, sit, there’s enough food for everyone.” your mother beams, motioning to the two empty seats at the end of the table.
“Oh, thank god!” Robin huffs as if she were holding in her breath, she practically shoots for her seat. Josie follows behind Robin and sits down. Robin, feeling eyes on her, glances up for a second and catches you still looking at her. “Uh, I mean woo I’m starving, let’s eat everyone.” she adds quickly, trying to get the attention off her. You catch Josie giving her a pointed glare, a silent “shut up robin” look.
You’re still standing, confused about whatever that interaction was. Your eyes catch Steve’s, who doesn’t seem surprised by the interaction and shrugs.
You take your seat, choosing to ignore the questions at the tip of your tongue.
After breakfast at your house, the girls left, promising to meet you at Steve’s for movie night. Meanwhile, you spent most of the morning being dragged around what seemed like all of Hawkins by Steve. You finally arrive at his house with a few snacks in your hands to have your promised Star Wars movie marathon. You take a look around his neighborhood, noticing that Josie’s car is still not here yet.
You both get out of Steve’s car and head to his front door. Once at his door, he places the key into the keyhole and twists. He slightly turns his head to look at you over his shoulder, sending you a small smile.
He opens the door and moves to the side to let you in first, as he always does. You don’t get too far in when you hear a loud group yell out “Happy Birthday!” which makes you jump backwards, bumping into Steve’s chest.
“Oh my god” You gasp, clutching your chest as you let out a short laugh. You finally look up and see the house decorated with yellow and pink balloons, streamers and other birthday decorations, leading to his open sliding door out to his backyard. The room was half filled with people, while the other half was outside by the pool. Everyone you’ve ever known stood in front of you with smiles on their faces: your mom, your brother, the Byers, Mrs Wheeler with Mike & Holly, the Sinclairs, Robin, Josie and her dad Jim, who was working the grill. All were wearing either their swimsuits or something light for the warm weather.
You make your way inside Steve’s house, saying hi and thank yous to everyone as they come up to you to hug you and or say happy birthday.
“Happy birthday, sweetie.” Your mom smiles brightly as she walks up to you.
“Mom, why didn’t you say anything about this?” You smile, gesturing to the party.
“Well, because that was going to ruin the surprise.” she replies in a sweet, matter-of-fact way.
“You didn’t have to, this was probably a lot of work.” you say softly.
“Oh no, sweetie, I was in on this, but Steve was the one to suggest it and came up with the idea. We just helped.” She says casually.
You slightly pause, chest tight and a little dizzy.
“What?” you reply, glancing at her, and she resumes speaking, but the conversation suddenly becomes muffled. Your focus goes to scanning, until your eyes land on him. He was talking to Hopper, but his eyes were already on you. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
Your whole body gets hot, and you shift from one leg to the other.
“Sweetie,” your mom says firmly to get your attention. You hum, returning your gaze to your mom, letting her know you’re listening. “Here, get changed. I brought you your swimsuit. We’ll all be outside, okay?” she says, handing you a bag.
You nod and grab it. You hear shuffling as everyone is making their way outside, and you head over to the bathroom.
As you change into your swimming suit, a red bikini top with white polka dots and its matching bikini shorts, you can’t help but think about the fact that Steve was the one who planned this party. He did it for you. Surely, he was just being nice, you thought, you are his best friend after all. You brushed the thoughts away just as your slipping on your bottoms, putting the clothes you took off into the bag, you open the door to the bathroom and jump a little at the sight of Steve, already in his blue swim trunks and chest that’s lightly covered with a small patch of hair right at the center with an open short sleeve button up, standing right in front of you with his hand raised as if he were going to knock.
“Oh, uh— hi” you say with a breathy laugh, both you and Steve startled, he quickly puts his raised hand down.
His face is flushed, and he looks embarrassed that he was caught mid-action, even though you had no idea that he was actually standing outside the door for about 6 minutes, contemplating whether to knock and give you one of his t-shirts so you could use it as a cover-up.
You also noticed something else about him, something you couldn’t quite name. Maybe a sense of nervousness. He was looking down at the floor, at the door by your side, the shirt in his hand, anywhere but your eyes.
“You okay?” you ask him as you slightly tilt your head, curious.
“Mmm—what—yea of course I’m okay, I was just bringing you a shirt that you can wear as a cover up after if you want— Not that you have to, I’m not saying you have to, but if you want to—”
You interrupt his rambling, reaching and placing a hand on the shirt still in his hand.
You give him a small nod and smile, “I’ll use it— my mom actually didn’t bring my cover up, so thanks.” you say, taking the shirt from his hands.
There’s a beat. He finally looks up, catching your eyes for a split second.
You think to bring up the whole party planning thing your mom revealed to you, but opt out, planning on asking him about it later.
“Okay, come on, birthday girl, let’s celebrate!” he says with a full Harrington smile now, replacing the nervous & shy Steve that appears every blue moon. You break into a smile as he’s pulling you by your hand, moving you in front of him as he puts his hands on your shoulders, maneuvering you to his backyard.
Outside, you’re met with muffled chatter, the radio playing a Bruce Springsteen song loud enough for everyone to hear but not loud enough to drown out the conversations. And if you’re really paying attention, you hear the faint buzzing of cicadas. The sun is high and bright in the sky, immediately warming your skin, the smell of the grill being worked on mixed with the scent of chlorine from Steve’s pool and sunscreen everyone’s lathered up in.
Sitting on Steve's outdoor table is your mom, who’s in mid-conversation with Karen, Sue, and Joyce. Jonathan is perched next to her, mindlessly taking photos with his camera. Hopper is flipping burgers on the grill with a beer in his hand while Charles is standing next to him, talking about some game. The boys have already taken over the pool, splashing and cannonballing in, all shrieks and giggles.
You make your way towards Josie and Robin, who are on the far side, sitting in front of the pool on lounge chairs, with Steve’s presence following behind you.
They see you, and their faces brighten.
“Oooh, cute bathing suit!” Josie says, looking at you before it slips to Steve for a second, sending him a quick wink while the corners of her mouth curl.
You still caught it, and you suddenly felt so hot you almost thought of jumping in the pool. “Thanks?” you say, but it comes out more unsure and like a question.
What was that? Why did you look at him? What aren’t you telling me?
You brush it off and look at Robin, who is smiling. “This explains why you were acting the way you were acting earlier.” you gesture to the party while slightly chuckling.
The smile on her face falls as she groans.
“Thank god your mom interrupted that interaction, god it was painful to watch.” Steve says with a grin.
“You have no idea how many times I had to calm her down whenever you’d leave the room or even after hanging out. She’d start hyperventilating, I’ve had to aggressively shake her once to make her stop...” Josie shakes her head— “next time it’ll be a surprise for both of you.” She laughs
“It's true, but hey, listen, in my defense, I told them not to tell me anything! You guys know I can’t keep my mouth shut. I am not good under pressure and your stare…” she looks at you almost as if she were recoiling in her seat “my god, I was about to burst!” Robin rambles, wailing her arms.
“Robin,” you say sternly, with no real edge to it. “Deep breaths, it’s okay, but it’s good to know that my stare intimidates you,” you smirk a little.
“Oh god, now I’m being threatened with my own weaknesses being used against me!” she groans as she takes her face in her hands while you three laugh.
Eventually, you all gravitated towards the table to eat the burgers Jim made and chatted amongst yourselves, while the boys were still in the pool, refusing to get out. Not only until after we finished our food, did the boys start coming out of the pool.
After about 10 minutes of eating, you four decided to claim the edge of the pool, dipping your legs in. Steve, on the other hand, takes his open button-up off and jumps into the pool, splashing water everywhere.
You let out a laugh as you shake your head, just as Steve emerges from the water, moving back the wet hair that stuck to his face.
You lean back, left hand supporting your weight,“You still need to wait 20 more minutes.” you state.
“Says who?” he scoffs, grinning, moving towards you through the water. Slow, almost challenging.
“Says literally everyone.” you huff with a barely there laugh. Your gaze goes to Robin and Josie, who are nodding in agreement, before landing back on him.
“Yea well, they don’t know that nothing can faze Steve Harrington!” he declares confidently, now in front of you.
“Well, you better tell Steve Harrington that when he gets a cramp, I better not hear him cry and whine about it.” you teased.
Steve pouts, trying to hide the smile threatening to take over his face. He looks down at the water for a second, then looks up at you again, then past you and gasps. You turn around following his line of sight, but you're met with nothing but a plain tree. Oh fuck. Before you know it, a hand wraps around your hand that’s resting on your lap.
You snap your head. It’s Steve, obviously it’s him, and he’s closer to you with a smug smile on his face. “No.” you plead with wide eyes. He bites his lip to conceal the smile from widening, “Happy birthday sunny.” he says in a sweet tone, as if it will make things better. As if he knew his sweet tone could get him out of the scolding you’re going to give him after.
“Steve N–” you start, attempting to pull your hand back, but he tightens his grip and pulls you into the water with him. You let out a small shriek before you hit the water.
Thankfully, the water is warm on your skin from the July summer heat. You’re still underwater, holding in your breath, swinging your arms around in the water, for a moment, your mind goes blank, like it’s still catching up to what happened. Then you feel a hand brush against your waist, and it snaps you out, reminding you of the need for oxygen.
You emerge from the water — gasping for air, you wipe away the water that clings to your face and open your eyes. Around you, you hear Josie and Robin laughing, already in the water, splashing each other. They must have jumped in when Steve pulled you in. You smile, still panting, but it’s lessened now, then you realize the warm softness against your side. You’re leaning against Steve. Your arm is wrapped around his shoulders while he has his wrapped around your waist. He gives your side a soft squeeze, and you slowly turn to look at him, only to meet his gaze. You both stare at each other, the look of pure fondness over taking his features, his mouth curving into a gentle smile. You feel your mouth doing the same, then the memory of him pulling you into the pool fills your mind, and you playfully push him away, “jerk!” you grumbled, frowning, splashing him in the face with water before turning around, making your way to the girls.
“Oh come on, you were already gonna come into the water anyway, I just helped you out!” he jested, following behind you. You hear the smile in his voice, and you can’t help but smile as well, but because you’re stubborn, you look over your shoulder and stick out your tongue at him, as if you were a child. All he does is smile.
You all continue messing around in the pool for a while, going from racing each other, to seeing who can make the biggest splash jumping from the diving board, to playing chicken fight. Eventually, as you're still in the pool, your mom brings out a cake in her hands with some lit candles while the boys are around her singing happy birthday, and everyone joins in to sing. Steve and the girls drag you out of the pool — leading you right in front of your mom, who is carrying the cake. You’re flustered and full of giggles. The cake is decorated in white and yellow. In the center, it reads “Happy Birthday, Sunny!” in pretty yellow font. When you read it, your brows furrow for a second before your eyes immediately find Steve, who’s singing along with a wide smile on his face, already looking at you.
As they finish singing, Dustin tells you to make a wish before you move to blow the candles out. You smile at him and close your eyes, all you can think about is how much you wish to have more moments like these — to be happy and carefree as you are right now with your family, your friends, and maybe your wish even carries Steve in there. A small part of you wished that he would feel the same way you did, but you would rather have him as a friend than nothing at all.
Your eyes open, glancing at everyone around you, and you blow out the candles.
“What’d you wish for?” Steve pipes up.
“Yea” “yea, what was your wish?” the boys ask enthusiastically.
“Well, if I tell you my wish, then it won’t come true.” You smirk at them.
They groan.
You laugh.
After indulging in some cake, the boys jumped straight into the pool again to swim a little while longer. Josie and Robin settled onto their lounge chairs, talking amongst themselves.
Steve and you end up side by side, like you always do, sitting on the pool steps. Your back is slightly leaned up against the pool wall, and Steve is sitting next to you, thigh brushing yours. You’re both in comfortable silence, one that comes with years of knowing each other. The sun is casting the sky in its pink, orange, and yellow hues as it’s getting ready to set. You turn your head and smile when you see the boys floating on their backs, then, in your peripheral view, you see it. Steve turns his head to look at you.
“You’re staring.” you state, still looking at the boys.
He stays quiet, but his gaze doesn’t leave you.
“What?” you grumble with a shy smile, eyes meeting his.
Steve’s features are soft as they scan your face, then a soft smile settles. He gently shakes his head, “nothing.” he chuckles before his eyes focus back on yours. You send him a look, one that says you don’t believe that, and he huffs a chuckle, looking away from you.
The silence briefly returns between you both.
“Did you have fun?” He asks softly, eyes flickering up to you.
You smile and nod, “Yea I did.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“You know, earlier I was telling my mom she really didn’t have to plan anything like this for me today” you started, moving your hands in the water as a way to ground yourself.
He hums, letting you know he’s listening.
“It’s actually kind of funny because she said she didn’t come up with the idea or even plan it” you finish, looking at the side of his face now.
He’s quiet. Then a small sigh leaves him.
“Steve, you didn’t have to plan any of this.” you breathed, motioning to everything and everyone around you.
“Hey,” he says in a hushed, gentle tone, chasing your eyes. “No. I wanted to. I did. It was fun, and you deserved to be celebrated like this.”
The corner of your mouth lifted. “…Why didn’t you say anything?” You question him.
“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” He shrugged. “And I didn’t want to brag.” he adds.
“Steve Harrington not wanting to brag? Oh my god, am I in another universe? Are you feeling okay?” You tease, placing the back of your hand on his forehead.
He rolls his eyes, but has a grin on his lips. “Ha ha, don’t act cute.” he grumbles, gently moving your hand.
You pause.
Cute? Who is he calling cute? This is definitely another universe.
He notices your pause. He always does. Then realizes what he said.
His heart starts racing.
“Uh…no, but really— I didn’t want to brag about this. This isn’t about me, it’s about you. I wanted this to be genuine.” He says in a tender voice, looking away.
You feel like all the air has been sucked out of your lungs.
You swallow hard. You take a second before speaking, not trusting yourself just yet.
Instead, your trembling hand grabs his wrist, and you give it a soft squeeze before leaning to place a quick but gentle kiss on his cheek.
“No one has ever said or done anything like this for me… thank you, Steve.” you say in a timid voice before pulling back.
Just as he looks towards you, you also turn forward to look over at your mom, who calls in that same second, “Sweetie, we’re all about to head out.” You two were in your own bubble to notice the boys had gotten out of the pool some time ago.
His eyes lingered on you. Subtly studying you, trying to get a sense of what you’re feeling or thinking. You nod, “Okay, I’ll be right there” you say almost steadily, sending her a warm smile.
“Alright, I’ll be back” you tell him before getting up and walking over to your mom.
“Yea.” he says quietly, eyes staring at where your hand had been. Already missing the warmth of it.
You walk over to your mom and everyone who was leaving, giving them your thank yous and goodbyes. Before your mom leaves, she says, “Goodnight, be safe, I’ll see you tomorrow” knowing that you’ll either stay at Steve’s and sleepover, as you have already done many times, or you’ll get home later when she’s already asleep— either way, she’ll see you tomorrow.
After everyone else left, it was only down to you, Josie, Robin and Steve. You went back outside to meet them, only to find them sitting at the patio table. The sun was long gone by now, and the pool lights turned on automatically. Before you know it, the music is turned up a little more, and you all jump into the pool again. You’re all in comfortable conversation, lazily swimming.
Suddenly, Josie grabs your hand — you turn to look at her, and she's already looking at you with a beaming smile. She looks up at the sky for a second before turning back to look at you, your eyebrows pulled together in confusion, yet you still look up, you’re still confused, but when you catch the twinkling stars up above you, you catch on. You smile and look at her, and in a second, you both move through the water, dashing towards the pool steps, and once you’re out, you quickly grab the shirt Steve gave you earlier— slipping it on as you turn to jog behind Josie, who runs down the small hill towards the grass area of Steve's backyard. Steve and Robin, still in the pool, call out from behind you at the same time, “hey wait, what are you doing?” Robins shouts, her voice laced with confusion.
“Where are you guys going?” Steve questions.
“No questions. Come on!” Josie laughed, already sitting on the grass, pulling you to sit down next to her. She lies back, staring at the sky, smiling.
“Steve, turn off the lights please!” you add quickly, shooting him a smile.
He is already moving, not questioning anymore and does what you ask, both of them coming out from the pool. Robin comes straight to you guys, taking a spot next to Josie, immediately lying down— she mumbles something to Josie and points to the sky.
The lights turn off, leaving just the moonlight glow shining down on you guys. You catch yourself still sitting up, looking back to where Steve is coming from.
You can’t see his face, yet you smile at him. Once he reaches the spot next to you, he stands there and looks up to the sky.
You can’t help but stare — your stomach fluttered.
You reach up and take his hand, and you give it a soft and gentle tug.
He turns to look at you. “Sit” you whisper with a controlled smile.
And he does. Never letting go of your hand. He bends down and sits next to you, his gaze never leaves you until you both lie down, looking up.
He laced your hands properly— thumb tracing your knuckles faintly.
God, you’re so screwed.
You all lay there watching the twinkling of the stars, keeping an eye out for shooting stars. You and Josie try to identify some of the constellations, but fail miserably.
Eventually, they called it a night and headed home. You’re now standing in his room in front of the mirror, feeling a small fading buzz of warmth traveling through your body from the day before you. Everyone has left now, you stayed back to help Steve clean up a little, but he demanded you not touch a single thing. Sending you to his room so you could have your long-awaited movie marathon he had promised you.
Once you got there, your legs took you straight to his mirror that is leaning against the wall next to his window. You look at yourself in the mirror, scanning your appearance, hair wavy and damp, almost dry, and in the T-shirt Steve had lent you, underneath your red bathing suit.
As you’re staring at yourself, Steve finally appears, stopping right at his open bedroom door. He expected you to be lying down on his bed, snuggled up in a blanket like you normally would, but his breath catches as he sees you standing in front of the mirror. The room was dim, but the two lamps he had on cast yellow shadows on your figure. You looked warm, gentle, and beautiful. You always did to him. He caught the look on your face as you looked at your reflection, eyebrows pulled together, paired with a slight frown. That broke him.
You don’t notice him standing at the door, taking you in. Not until he starts walking towards you, his reflection coming into view in the mirror in front of you.
You slightly jump at the sight of him, looking at him over your shoulder.
He sends you a lopsided smile and joins you, standing so close behind you that you could feel his body heat. Your eyes meet through the mirror facing you.
“Hi” he says in the softest voice you’ve ever heard from him.
“Hi” you say just as softly, with a smile.
“I– uh– I have one more thing for you.” he stammered as he lifted his hand to reveal a necklace. A necklace with a small gold sun pendant on it.
It’s dainty and perfect.
“Steve, it’s…it’s beautiful. You didn’t have to.” you muttered.
He fumbled with the tiny clasp for a moment before moving your hair to the side and guiding the chain into place.
“I wanted to.” he said with a soft and quick, warm grin on his face.
You could feel the chills appear on your body as you feel his hot breath hit the back of your neck.
He moves closer, sliding his arms around your waist, hands resting flat just below your navel, while he rests his chin on your shoulder.
You hoped he couldn’t feel your heart beating rapidly or the fact that you're trying to control your breathing.
A small smile spreads on your face. You move yours, sliding from his forearms to rest on top of his hands, fingers slightly intertwining.
He tilts his head up a bit, his lips brush against your ear lightly, sending a spark of electricity down your spine, while his eyes stay connected to yours.
“You look pretty.” he murmurs with a smile on his face. One of his hands starts to gently rub below your navel, sending chills down your body.
You exhale a breath you didn’t know you were holding in, but you try to cover it up with a soft and shy giggle, “Steve…” you whisper, your face leaning against his.
“What…it’s true, you always do.” he mutters, face pulling back just enough to look at you. His hand stills in place.
There’s a pause, the air thicker.
Your breath hitches for a moment before you turn to look at him. Your faces are centimeters apart, breaths mixing. The look on his face was filled with tenderness, honesty, and desire. Eyes searching your face. Searching for reciprocation. For any green light. Hoping you wouldn’t look away and break the spell.
You don’t. Instead, your eyes lock with his.
To him, holding you like this felt right. If he were meant to be anywhere in the world, it would be right in this very moment with you in his arms. He was sure of it.
You open your mouth to speak, but words fall short, voice gone.
His eyes fell to your lips, staying there for what felt like a lifetime until they met your eyes again.
Before you know it, you’re both leaning in, noses brushing — breaths mingling together.
“Tell me to stop.” he mumbles, looking into your eyes before they drop to your mouth, barely audible yet desperate & pained, almost as if he forced those words out against his will.
You don’t; instead, your right hand trembles its way up to his neck.
That’s all he needs.
You blink. And his lips are on yours. He’s so soft and gentle, you barely feel the warm press of his lips on your own. Then another press, firmer now, until you naturally find a rhythm. The kiss is slow and maybe a bit hesitant, almost as if he’s testing whether you’ll pull away but hoping deep down you won’t.
This is new territory, but it feels right. Like a place you’ve been searching for and you finally found it — your destination.
His lips are soft and warm against yours.
One of his hands lightly cups your cheek; his touch is still gentle and light like he’s touching something delicate that he doesn’t want to break, or more specifically, break this moment.
His hand that still rests on your waist starts moving you, turning you around so you’re facing him, lips never disconnecting. His arm goes back around your waist, slowly pulling your body against his, removing any gap between you.
At first, your hands didn’t know what to do, but they quickly found refuge on his chest. while his hand on your face slid down behind your neck, right into your hair, tugging at it gently, tilting your head.
It makes your lips part against his mouth as a small gasp leaves you.
Steve takes advantage of your open mouth and deepens the kiss by slipping his tongue into your mouth. Swirling his tongue with yours, moving slowly and deep as he explores your mouth. More confident than he was a few seconds ago.
He shuffles you both to his bed behind him, moving you to where you’re on his bed first. The kiss becomes more intense by the second.
He sits on the bed next to you, leaning as he lays you down on his bed, lips now moving frantically, breathing deeper and faster. He’s half hovering over you, his right hand supporting his weight while the other cups your face.
Your hands move to the nape of his neck, slightly pulling at his hair.
A faint whimper escapes his mouth, breaking the kiss. You both open your eyes— lips swollen and wet, panting. His pupils are blown, which you’re sure only mirrors yours.
“I–uh–d–do you wanna stop?” He asks in a breathy voice, eyes gliding down to your lips before going back up to your eyes.
You shake your head, a breathless “no” slips from your lips before you can even think.
He smirks at your eagerness. Suddenly, you feel nervous and slightly embarrassed.
“Are you sure? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” he says in a low voice as his thumb rubs your bottom lip.
You nod, “I uh I do– I am, I–I–I want to” you stammered nervously.
He chuckles lightly, loving how cute you look when you’re nervous, especially since it’s him who has you like this.
“Are you laughing? don’t laugh!” you say in a playful whine, taking your hands and covering your face. “steeeve.” you laugh, a forced one, trying to cover how shy you are in that moment.
You feel & hear him softly laughing against you until it slowly stops. Then you feel his warm hands wrap around your wrists, pulling your hands off your face.
“Awe come on, don’t hide,” he says with a small frown, which quickly turns into a soft smile. He delicately moves some loose strands of hair behind your ear. “You’re beautiful.” he coos, eyes scanning your face, really taking you in.
He leans in again, eye contact remaining until your lips touch. This kiss is still gentle, but this time there was no trace of hesitance behind it, seeing as he slips his tongue into your mouth within seconds.
“Oh, and by the way, I want to too.” he mumbles against your lips, smile evident. You hum in response, fighting the urge to giggle.
The night carried forward with you & Steve discovering each other in a new way, the most intimate way. A way you both thought was never in the cards, a dream, a fantasy. Clothes were slowly shed, warm bodies were pressed together, limbs were tangled, teasing and giggles were exchanged, many kisses were given, hands were held, & names you’ve said normally for years were moaned. The line between friendship and romance was blurred, and to be fair, the line was already fading.
Come early morning, you’d wake up in the stillness of Steve’s home. It is usually an eerie and cold feeling, but this morning, instead of that, it felt familiar and warm, especially with the body next to you. Steve’s body. He’s lying on his stomach, head faced towards you, lips slightly parted, with one arm around you, still fully sound asleep. You can’t help but feel your chest tighten as you look at him.
You look over at his alarm clock on his nightstand, 8 o’clock, and suddenly you remember you were supposed to help your mom with an errand that morning. You gently slip out of Steve’s embrace and put on your normal clothes from the previous day. You didn’t want to wake Steve up, so you grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from one of the journals on his desk and wrote him a note.
Steve,
I didn’t want to wake you, but I had to head out early. I forgot I had to take Dustin to his doctor's appointment since Mom was summoned for a work meeting. Thank you for the party, you really shouldn’t have but I loved it! And thank you for last night too, it was special, I had a really nice night. Call me when you can, yeah? Okay, talk soon!
Love,
Sunny
You fold the note and walk over to place it on the pillow your head had laid on all night, and look over at Steve, who’s still asleep. You smile and lean over to place a quick, soft peck on his cheek. You quietly make your way to the door, and you open it to leave, but before you do, you stop to take a glance at Steve once more. You take him in and think about last night, your stomach flips in the best way. Finally, you close his door and make your way out of his house, beaming and hopeful for the next time you talk to him, for the call.
Who was going to tell you that after that morning, you wouldn’t see or hear from Steve that day or the next day or the next. That he would avoid you under the pretense that he was busy, until one day, he just stopped talking to you at all.
Eeeeek! Thanks for reading <33333
