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xspeter · 1 month

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TIME AFTER TIME

Chapter three ❣︎ that boy is mine

i’m sorry that you, seem to be confused

he belongs to me, that boy is mine

❧ warnings: reader gets a drink thrown on her, but that’s really all! some mentions of sex (but nothing happens)

❧ wc: 3.6k

❧ Note: sorry for the long wait guys !!! school was kicking my butt, but i’m on spring break now!!

❧ masterlist

♥︎

You feel stunned for a moment. Which, honestly, you’re not sure if it’s because you so boldly asked Steve to fake-date you with barely any forethought, or if it’s because Steve agreed to it almost immediately.

“So you’re, um, you’re sure?” You stammer, cheeks beginning to flush.

Steve just shrugs, “Yeah, I guess. I mean it’s like you said- I wanna show Nance I can be the guy she wants.” He rubs the back of his neck, eyes avoidant.

You hum, nodding your head. So you were doing this. Okay. Great.

Suddenly there’s a crash followed by a harsh yell, and you’re reminded of the fact that you’re quite literally at a raging highschool party. You clear your throat, “We should probably..”

Steve nods more aggressively, “Yeah, okay, let’s go.” He doesn’t even hesitate before he’s grabbing your wrist and forcing you inside the house, and you wish you’d never gone in.

It’s so loud, people scream way too explicit songs, girls dressed in the tiniest short-shorts and baby-tees (practically the opposite of your purple dress), and the boys are shirtless and downing bottles of alcohol like it’s apple juice.

“Jeez..” You mutter, unconsciously standing closer to Steve.

He chuckles, a knowing smirk tugging on his lips, “You okay, princess?”

You resist an eye roll, the nickname was anything but new to you. “How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?”

He furrows his brows and points to his ear, not so-subtly leaning closer to you, he says, “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

You scoff and shove past him, taking the lead confidently. Where you’re going, you’re not sure, but you figure your best bet to fit in is to head towards the kitchen where all the drinks are being served.

You cautiously make your way through countless sweaty bodies, praying Steve is still following you and didn’t leave you stranded.

You turn around to make sure he’s still there and - he’s not. “Oh my god.” You grumble, eyes darting across the room, but there’s so many bodies you can’t even spot Steve in the crowd. “Shit.” You whisper. Suddenly you feel self-conscious. You weren’t used to being at a party like this with Steve let alone by yourself.

You take a breath and continue on your path. You assume if Steve wants to find you he’ll meet you there, and if not then… well, you’re not very sure.

There’s multiple boxes of canned beers along with a giant punch bowl. You aren’t sure what your chances are that the punch isn’t spiked, but the atmosphere is making you feel dehydrated, so you take your chances and grab a cup.

You swirl it in your hands for a few moments, before you finally decide to just down the whole thing. You immediately wish you hadn’t. It tastes bitter and you shiver as it slides down your throat. “God,” You cough, “What's in this?”

“I heard some guy earlier say ‘pure fuel’. Not sure how helpful that is though.” You whip your head around and are met with the sight of the very man you’d been hoping for. Jonathon.

You feel your lips subconsciously twitch into a smile, “More like pure vodka.” You joke. Jonathon chuckles and stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets, and you honestly have no idea how he’s even wearing that thing with all the body heat in the house.

“I didn’t think you’d show.” He says, and you shrug and lean against the counter, “Were you waiting for me?” You nearly surprise yourself with your boldness. Maybe you should go to parties more often.

“Of course I was,” Jonathon says casually, “We’ve barely seen each other since I moved back.”

You hum, cheeks flushing a little at Jonathon’s casual answer. It’s like he doesn’t even know the effect he has on you.

“Yeah.” You hum. The conversation goes silent after that, Jonathon sips on his beer casually while you stare at the ground. It’s weird, you’ve imagined yourself in this exact scenario so many times. You’d always know what to say to charm him, but now that it’s actually reality you find the words getting stuck on your tongue.

“Oh,” Jonathon nods his head to something behind you, “there’s Steve.” You turn around and promptly find the said man to be in what looks to be a very uncomfortable conversation with Tina Tarsden, a girl who was very well known for her obsession with Steve.

Jonathon walks past you silently, most likely on his way to attempt to save Steve from the conversation, and you awkwardly follow behind.

Steve clearly looks relieved once he catches sight of Jonathon. You’re hidden behind him, which means neither Steve or Tina are aware of your presence.

“Hey, man!” Steve says, “I’ve been looking for you all night.”

Tina scrunches her nose at the interruption and takes a bitter sip of her beer. “Jonathon,” She drawls, placing a hand on his bicep. It makes your blood boil. “How’re you and Nancy?”

Jonathon shifts uncomfortably on his feet, “Uh, fine. I guess.” He mutters. Tina just hums, clearly uninterested in the conversation. “Have you heard about Steve’s latest whore?”

Suddenly you feel like this is a conversation you’re not meant to be present for, but you need to know if news about yours and Steve’s “relationship” has really already spread that quickly. Jonathon laughs awkwardly, “Uh, no. I haven’t heard about Steve’s latest… fling.” His voice jumps an octave at the end.

Steve runs a hand through his hair, clearly annoyed, he says, “Tina, i’ve told you this a thousand times! Who I date isn’t any of your business.” He sighs, “I'm sorry I'm not into you like you’re into me, but you just need to get over it.”

Tina grips the plastic cup in her hand tighter, cheeks flushing with rage. “I’d agree if you weren’t dating that prude Y/N L/N!”

Now, after her very rude and untrue comment, you think it’s a good moment to make yourself known. You move from behind Jonathon, arms crossed over your chest as you shoot Tina an icy glare. “This whole jealousy thing really isn’t a good look for you, Tina.”

Her jaw drops tightly but she’s quick to pick it up. Her eyes are burning with a rage you'd rarely ever seen pointed at you. “You bitch.” She mutters, taking a step closer to you. Steve watches her cautiously, clearly ready to step in at any moment. Jonathon on the other hand is shocked. “You guys are dating? Since when?” He asks.

You exchange a look with Steve over his question. Neither of you had really discussed your timeline or even how this fake relationship had started yet. Steve makes up a quick excuse, “Uh, I'll tell you another time, man.” Jonathon accepts this answer, but Tina does not.

“I mean, you can do so much better than this… child!” Tina growls, pointing a manicured finger at you. “Look at that dress she’s wearing!”

By this point a small crowd has begun to form around the four of you, and you shift uncomfortably under the weight of everyone’s stares. You look down at your dress, “What’s wrong with what I'm wearing?” You mutter to yourself. Sure, you’ve always known your style to be a little different to most kids your age, but you’d never been criticized about it before.

Tina scoffs, “You dress like an eighty year old grandma!”

You shrug nonchalantly, “Well, last I checked Steve chose this grandma and not you..” You spit back.

Steve laughs at this, but covers it with a cough as soon as Tina turns around and shoots him a hard glare. “I doubt Steve chose you,” She says, voice dripping with venom, “He probably just needed a quick and easy fuck. You guys are neighbors aren’t you?”

Her implication makes you angrier than you were before. To have Tina Tarsden, the biggest slut in Hawkins, imply that you were putting out so easily is laughable.

You step closer to her, “If Steve wanted a quick and easy fuck, all he’d have to do is whistle and you’d come running.”

Tina does not like this reply at all. Actually, she dislikes it so much that she throws her drink at you. The cold liquid soaks through your dress and ruins your hair and makeup. You stand there dripping onto the hardwood for a couple seconds in pure shock, and by the time you come to and go to retaliate you find that Tina has already walked away. Instead, both Steve and Jonathon are in front of you.

“Shit, are you okay?” Jonathon asks, hand reaching for your bicep to hold you steady. Your eyes shine at him, but if it’s because of the oncoming tears or the lighting you’re not sure.

You know you pushed Tina. You stooped to her level and caused her to become so enraged she threw her drink at you. But, still, you loved this dress. You loved it more than you loved yourself. And now it reeked of alcohol and had a large light brown stain right on the front of it.

“Uh, yeah, I’m okay.” You mumble, hands shaking slightly as you ball them at your side. “Here i’ll take you home-” Jonathon begins, but Steve stops him. “I got it. Besides, you’ve been drinking. I haven’t touched any alcohol tonight.”

Jonathon nods, “Yeah. Right. I forgot you guys were dating now.” He says it questioningly, like the idea had never crossed his mind as even being a possibility, and honestly, it’d never crossed your own before tonight either.

Steve shoots him a tight smile, before he’s gently reaching around your middle to cup your waist and lead you out of the house. You blindly follow him, mind too preoccupied on the night's events to even notice how large Steve’s hands feel on you. How warm they are against your now freezing skin.

As you walk through the weaves and weaves of people, you aren’t sure if the girl you see walking in Jonathon’s direction is Nancy or just your mind playing a trick on you. You’re hoping and praying it’s the latter.

You barely even register Steve softly ushering you into his car, not until it’s already in motion and the heaters blast onto your cold skin. You wince at the coldness, and reach forward to turn them away from you. Steve mumbles a sorry from beside you, and you turn to look at him and the smile he’s very clearly holding back. You sit in silence for a few more moments, before he glances at you from the corner of his eye and suddenly you’re both bursting out in laughter from the situation.

“She- she dumped her drink on me!” You say between breaths, holding your stomach as you cackle. Steve does his best to keep his eyes on the road as he does the same, “I seriously didn’t know you had it in you, princess! I mean, ‘he’d whistle and you’d come running’ that was comedy gold!”

Your giggling dies out slowly, and silence replaces it. You know there’s so many things you need to talk about, but you’re not sure if now is the right time. But before you can speak up Steve’s already pulling into your driveway.

You swallow, “So, when should we, um, talk about… this.” You gesture between both of you awkwardly.

Steve clears his throat, “I’ll come by tomorrow, okay?”

You smile, “Okay.” And then you bid him goodnight.

🝮

Your dress was ruined. You’d spent a good portion of last night attempting to get it out with Monica’s help to no avail.

You stare at it sadly now, wondering if there was anything you could do to save it. After a couple more moments of contemplating you decide there isn’t, and promptly throw it in the garbage. You’ll have a funeral for it soon.

“I’m sorry, babes.” Monica murmurs from beside you, rubbing your arm comfortingly. You shrug her off, “It’s just a dress. There’ll be others.”

Monica nods, and you pretend you don’t see the disappointment in her face at your subtle rejection. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m glad you’re being so level headed about this, I definitely wouldn’t be.” She jokes.

You give a strained chuckle, hoping to break the awkward tension that fills the space between the both of you. Newsflash, it doesn’t.

Monica looks as uncomfortable as you feel. “Look, Y/N, I know I’m not-”

Suddenly the doorbell rings and you practically jump up to answer it. Monica sighs but doesn’t say anything as you walk away from her. You subconsciously thank god for saving you from an awkward conversation you lost definitely did not want to have.

Unsurprisingly, Steve waits on the other side of the door. His hair is slightly messy and he’s wearing a hoodie and jeans, and compared to his usual school clothes this is much more casual. You on the other hand had stuck with a pretty white dress and a pair of black converse.

“You should’ve called before you just showed up.” You mumble, but still step to the side and let him in.

Steve just shrugs, “I’ll remember that next time.”

No, he won’t. You just roll your eyes in response.

Steve stumbles into your living room and plops himself onto the couch, where you had laid out a single notebook and two pens.

“What’s this for?” Steve asks.

You take a breath and sit next to him, “This,” You say, smoothing your dress over your knees, “Is our contract.”

Steve raises a brow, “Contract?”

“Yes, contract. Because I’ll be damned if we say one wrong thing and expose ourselves to the whole school.”

“I think you’re being a little over dramatic about this whole thing.”

“You say that, and then at our twenty year reunion people are going to be asking you about that one time you faked a relationship and it totally backfired.”

Steve rolls his eyes, “Okay, whatever.”

You smile approvingly. If only Steve was this complacent all the time. “I think we should start out with some ground rules.” You say.

Steve nods and leans forward to grab a pen, “Okay. I’ll write down the first one.”

You’re a little surprised by his initiative, but allow him to do so.

You soon regret it though, because the first rule he writes says “must change wardrobe”.

You immediately go to take the notebook and scribble the rule off, but Steve snatches it away from you. “Hey, hey! A rule is a rule!”

“We’ll, that’s a stupid rule!”

He scoffs, “It is not!” He winces, “Look, as much as I hate to admit it, Tina was a little bit right about your outfits. Then make you look like a grandma.”

You scoff out a laugh, your jaw dropping. “Was this seriously a thing that no one had thought to tell you before? Were they just gonna let you love the rest of your life dressed as a ninety year old woman? You’d never let Steve know that his words got under your skin, so instead you retorted with, “Well, it’s not like you have the best style known to man either.”

Steve shrugs, “I never said I did.”

You stare at him, hoping that at some point he’ll break, but he doesn’t, instead he just stares back.

After wait feels like forever you finally just throw your arms up and say, “Fine! I’ll go shopping.”

Steve tuts, “I don’t trust you to do that by yourself, so I’ll be going with you.”

You scoff, “No way! I’ll just take Robin.”

Steve grimaces and thinks about Robins denim jackets and platform shoes, “Yeah, that’s a no.”

You groan and flop back into the couch, “You suck, you know that?”

Steve just grins, “And yet, you asked me to date you.”

“Fake date, get it right, Harrington.”

Steve doesn’t say anything, and instead puts the notebook in your lap, “I think it’s your turn.”

You didn’t know this turned into a turn-taking thing, but you don’t argue.

For the second rule you write down what you think is the most obvious one, no one can know. Not even your families.

Steve doesn’t argue with this one, he just hums and practically snatches the notebook from you to write down the third rule. Must drive to school together. You find this one to be a little odd, but seeing as you’ve never been the biggest fan of driving, you don’t object.

Now it’s your turn, and you have a weird feeling this one might be a little controversial with Steve. No kissing.

Steve immediately disagrees, “How's anyone gonna believe we’re dating if I can’t kiss you?”

“We’ll just say we’re taking things slow!”

Steve gives you a pointed look, and you sigh. “What if.. you only miss me on the cheek?” Another look.

“You’re not going to make me change my mind.” You say.

Steve groans, “Fine! We’ll stick to.. cheek-kissing or whatever.”

You smile gratefully and hand the paper back to Steve, but he just shrugs and hands it back to you. Since neither of you have anything else to add, you scribble to lines at the bottom and sign your name.

Steve snorts, “This is so dorky.” But he does the same.

“Alright, now we need to get our stories straight.” You sigh, arms crossing over your chest.

Steve just shrugs, “Well just say we decided to start dating on a random tuesday afternoon. There, easy.”

“What’re you gonna say when people ask what led to the conversation, or when we realized we didn’t hate each other anymore, huh?”

Steve groans, “Fine. What do you think we should say?”

You smile, “I’m so glad you asked. I thought about it last night, and I think we should say you realized you had feelings for me a couple weeks ago and then ran to my house in the pouring rain and confessed your love for me.”

“We’re not saying that.”

You frown, “Why not? It’s cute!”

Steve shakes his head, “Because this ain’t one your cheesy rom-coms. Why don’t we just say you were helping me out with a project and we realized we didn’t hate each other and decided to give a relationship a try.”

You hated to admit it, but Steve was right. That sounded way more believable. “Okay. Fine. Whenever. We’ll stick with your boring story.”

Steve just grins, “Atta girl.”

You both sit in silence for a few moments, the paper sitting idiot in front of you. Suddenly, you smack your hands on your knees, “This has been so much fun but I think it’s time you went home!”

Steve furrows his brows, “What do you mean? We’re going shopping together.”

That's how you find yourself in your current position, following Steve as he pushes a cart through Kohls.

Every piece of clothing he’s pointed out to you has been completely out of your comfort zone, but you allowed him to stuff them into the cart anyway.

You draw the straw at a tank top covered in yellow sunflowers. Not like, just one in the middle, no. There was not a single space without a sunflower on it.

“I will never wear that.”

Steve wiggles it in front of you, “Come on, it’s cute!”

“It’d be even cuter in hell.”

Steve just chuckles and tosses it back onto the rack, “We probably have enough stuff already anyway.” You sigh, hoping Steve takes it as a signal that you’re ready to be done with this and just go home. While yes, he does understand that the overflowing cart is most definitely enough stuff, he doesn’t understand that you’re ready to go home. Instead, he leads you to a dressing room.

“I’m not trying on all of that! It’ll take me hours!”

Steve just shrugs, “You better get started then.”

You go to argue, but he just shakes his pointer finger at you, “Rule number one, sweetheart.”

You hate that he’s right, and you hate yourself even more for even agreeing to that stupid rule.

You dramatically grab a handful of clothes, two pairs of jeans and three crop tops, and walk into the dressing room with them.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t like the way the jeans made your ass look, and two of the crop tops actually aren’t that bad.

You yell at Steve to hand you another set of outfits, but he tells you to just get them yourself. God, why are men so lazy?

You exit the dressing room still wearing the jeans and a black, off the shoulder crop top.

Steve looks up from the floor once he hears the door open, and he nods. “Yeah,” He lets out a wolf-whistle, “You look great.”

Your cheeks flush at his compliment, something you’d never expected to hear from Steve Harrington. “Funny you think I care what you think.” You retort.

Steve just shrugs “I never said you did, I was just saying,” He eyes you up and down, brown eyes lingering on your curves, “You look good.”

You just roll your eyes and slam the dressing room door in his face, hoping and praying he doesn’t see the way your cheeks and ears had tinged a soft shade of red.

Besides, Steve Harrington is still that annoying kid you’d met all those years ago. There’s no reason for you to be blushing at some compliment he didn’t even mean.

And yet, you are.

♥︎

taglist! (dm to be added!): @carinacassiopeiae

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #jonathon byers x reader #stranger things #stranger things x reader #jonathon byers #nancy wheeler #better than the movies #fake dating #joe keery #joe keery x reader #robin buckley #childhood friends #enemies to lovers #time after time xspeter #xspeter

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xspeter · 2 months

Text

TIME AFTER TIME

chapter two ❣︎ cause i’ve got a blank space, baby (and i’ll write your name)

so, hey, let’s be friends

i’m dyin’ to see how this one ends

❧ warnings: none!

❧ wc: 4.9k

❧ Note: yayyy chapter two is here! don’t have much to say about this one… just that i’m happy she’s here! this one covers chapter two and half of three of the og book as well! and let me know if anyone wants a tag list! i’d also really really love to see your guys feedback on the chapters !

❧ masterlist

♥︎

The rain was a light drizzle by the time you reached Steve’s house. You pulled your hood over your head and prayed Steve wouldn’t be an asshole for once in his life and would open the door on time.

You didn’t know how, but everytime you knocked on his door he always made sure to leave you hanging for longer than necessary. How he knew it was you, you weren’t sure.

You knock hastily, and then instantly shove your hands back in your pockets. It was nearing the end of february, but there was still an obvious chill in the air.

You're expecting to have to knock again, and groan and go to do so, but the door opens swiftly and a smiling Mrs. Harrington is standing in front of you.

You didn’t know Steve’s parents too well, but every time you saw them (which was rare) they seemed to be good people.

“Oh, Hi, Mrs. Harrington!”

Her smile grows, “Y/N! I haven’t seen you in years! You’ve grown so much..” She glances at your reddening cheeks, a direct result of the cold. “Oh, come on, come inside!”

You let her pull you in, a shiver running up your spine as she slams the front door shut. “Steve’s in the living room. I’m assuming he’s what you’re here for right?”

You nod, your eyes darting across the house to soak in as much of it as possible.

You'd only been inside once before, when you’d gotten a bad scrape on your knee and Steve’s nanny had to bandage you up. Back then, you’d been too concerned with the pain to even glance around. But now, you can’t help but notice the odd.. coldness to it. There aren’t many family pictures, honestly you didn’t know if there were any at all.

“You’ve got a lovely home.” You murmured.

Mrs. Harrington smiles gratefully, her hands coming up to clench at her heart. “Oh you’re too kind.” She leans in closer to you, “honestly, i’ve told Steve a hundred times he needs to get with a nice girl like you. He just never listens.” She huffs.

You nearly snort but hold back. Steve’s mom wanted him to get with a girl like you? That’s gold. You’d be teasing him about this for the rest of his life.

“Hey, mom, who was at the door-” You spin on your heel to look at him, and you watch as his forehead wrinkles in confusion. “What’re you doing here?”

The tone he says it with makes you roll your eyes. You cross your arms over your chest, “I have a proposition for you.”

He scoffs, “A proposition?”

“Yep.”

Mrs. Harrington glances between the two of you before softly excusing herself. You watch her go, and then shift your attention right back to Steve.

“Let’s talk in the living room.”

Kate & Leopold was playing on one of those retro tv channels that only old people watched, and you couldn’t help but grin as Meg Ryan’s character attempted to evade the charm of a very British and very handsome Hugh Jackman. “Oh, I love this movie!”

“Of course you do.” He gave you a grin that made your stomach churn, a grin that made it seem like he knew things about you that even you didn’t. “What's your.. proposition, or whatever?”

Your cheeks flushed as you realized just what you wanted to ask him. Why would Steve help you? Who’s to say he won’t instantly go running to Jonathon and exposing you? You took a breath, sat on the couch, and said, “Okay. I need your help.”

He started smiling immediately, but you quickly shut it down by shoving a hand in his face, “I know you wouldn’t do something like that out of the goodness of your heart. So I have an offer for you.”

He pretended to grab his heart, shirt scrunching as he did, “Wow, like i’m some mercenary or something. That hurts.”

“No it doesn’t.”

He smirked, “No, it really doesn’t.”

“Look,” You forced yourself to not pretend like this had all been a prank and run with your tail between your legs, “Before I tell you what I need help with, I want to go over the terms of the deal.”

He crossed his arms - when had his chest gotten so wide? - and tilted his head, “Go on.”

“Okay.” You took a deep breath and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, “First and foremost, you have to swear to secrecy. If you tell a single soul about this it is void and you do not get payment. Second, if you agree, you actually have to fulfill your part. You can’t just do little and then blow me off.”

You paused, and he looked at you through narrowed eyes, “Well? What’s the payment?”

“The payment will be full twenty-four/seven access to the parking spot for the duration of our deal.”

“Whoa.” He walked over and plopped into the chair in front of you. “You will give me the parking spot?”

You didn’t want to. At all. But you knew how badly he wanted it, and if he was anything like you, he’d do anything to get it. “That’s correct.”

His smile went big, “I’m in. I’m doing it. I’m your guy.”

“You don’t even know what the deal is.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“What if… I want you to run completely butt naked through the halls during lunch?”

“Done.”

You grabbed the throw blanket at the end of the couch and threw it over your body, “What if I ask you to cartwheel naked through the halls during lunch while singing Madonna?”

“Easy. I love like a virgin.”

“Actually?” That made you smile, even though you weren’t used to smiling at Steve of all people. “But can you even do a cartwheel?”

“Uh, duh.”

“Prove it.”

He groaned, “You’re so high maintenance.” He stood, shoved the coffee table out of the way, and did the worst cartwheel you'd ever seen in your life. His legs were all bent and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth, but still, he landed it like a gymnast. He gave you a confident smile before plopping right back down, “Now tell me.”

You coughed out a laugh you were trying to hold in and searched his face. You were looking for honesty, or really anything. But you were sidetracked by how dark his eyes were. They weren’t dark like Jonathon’s, they were almost lighter. More honey-like than anything. You thought of the time in seventh grade when he’d given you six dollars to stop crying.

Your dad and his new wife, Monica, had just gotten married a couple weeks before, and they’d decided to remodel the main level of the house. To prepare, Monica had cleaned out the closets and drawers and donated all of the old stuff. Including your moms VHS tapes.

When you had an emotional breakdown over it and your dad explained it to Monica, she’d felt so bad. She kept apologizing the whole time you sobbed. But all you could focus on was what Monica had said to your dad. “I just didn’t think anybody watched those cheesy movies.”

You were resourceful as a kid - still were in all honesty (exhibit A, your current situation at Steve’s house) - and all it took was a phone book and a phone call for you to find out where they’d ended up. You’d snuck out under the premise of seeing Robin, and ridden your bike all the way to the thrift store.

You had every penny of your babysitting money saved up, but when you got there it still wasn’t enough. “We’re selling this as a collection kid, you can’t buy them individually.”

You stared at the price tag, and still, you were six dollars short. The jerk at the store was unyielding and you’d cried all the way home. It felt like you were losing your mom all over again.

When you were almost home, you saw Steve outside bouncing a basketball in his driveway.

“Hey,” he tossed the ball into the grass as soon as he saw you, “What’s wrong?”

You remember not wanting to tell him because you knew he’d think it was ridiculous, but there was something in the way he looked at you that made you break down all over again. Through sobs you explained your situation to him, and instead of laughing like you’d expected him too, he listened. And once your sobs had been replaced with tiny hiccups, he reached forward and wiped your tears with his thumbs. “Don’t cry, Y/N.” He looked sad when he said it, like he wanted to cry too. Then he said, “Wait here.”

He turned and ran into his house, and you stood there - exhausted from crying and shocked by his niceness - and waited for him to come back.

When he did, he’d happily handed you a ten dollar bill. You remember looking up at him and thinking he had the kindest brown eyes, but your thoughts must’ve shown because he immediately scowled and said, “This is just to shut you up ‘cause I can’t stand listening to you bawl for another minute. And I want my change.”

Your mind jerked back to Steve’s living room. Jonathon. The spot. Needing his help.

“I swear on everything holy that I will hire a hitman if you blab about this.”

He sighed, “I very much believe you.”

You had to look at something other than his face, and your eyes shifted to his lap. Which you immediately regretted once you saw the gray sweats he was wearing. So instead, they just made purchase on the spot above his head.

“So, you know Jonathon’s back in town. And I was kinda hoping you’d.. touch base with him. We were close before he moved away, and I want that back again.”

“And I can help you with that how?”

You kept your eyes glued to the wall, “Well, I don’t have any classes with him, so there’s no way for me to talk to him naturally. But you and Jon are already friends. You hang out. You invited him to that party.” You gestured with your hands, “You’ve got the connection I want.”

He pursed his lips and shifted in his seat, “So you’ve still got the hots for Byers, and you want me to take you to the party so you can get him to like you. Am I picking up what you’re putting down?”

You considered lying for a moment, before you conceded and said, “Yeah, basically.”

His jaw clenched, “I heard he’s interested in Nancy.”

God, did everyone now about that? Personal vendetta aside, Nancy Wheeler was totally wrong for a guy like Jonathon. In fact, nudging him to fall in love with you would be doing him a favor by saving him from that.

“Don’t you worry about that.”

An eyebrow went up, “How scandalous of you.”

“Shut up.”

He smiled, “You can’t think going to a party is gonna make him notice you. There’s already gonna be a ton of people there - and i’m willing to bet Nancy shows too.”

An obvious shiver went down your spine at the mention of her being there and you shifted in your seat. “I only need a few minutes.”

“Pretty confident aren’t you?”

“I am.” You had a script ready. “I have a plan.”

He scoffed, “Your plan sucks.”

You tucked your legs underneath yourself, “And how would you know that?”

“Because i’ve known you practically your whole life. Your plan involves some “coincidental” meeting,” He put air quotes above the worse coincidental, “an entire books worth of silly ideas, and someone riding off into the sunset.”

He was nearly right on the money. “You’re way off base.”

He rolled his eyes at you, clearly not believing a word you said.

You sighed, “So…?”

Steve looked way too pleased with himself, “So…?”

“Oh my god, you’re torturing me on purpose. Are you going to help me or not?”

He sucked his teeth and pretended to think, “You know, I’m just not sure if The Spot is worth it.”

You scoffed, “Worth what? Allowing me to be in your presence for a few hours? You’ll barely notice I'm there!”

“What if i’m trying to hit it off with someone?” He retorted, “You being there might throw me off my game.”

You resisted an eye roll, “Trust me, King Steve won’t be thrown off his game by little ol’ me.” You batted your eyelashes innocently, and a scowled formed on his face at the mention of his nickname. “Don’t talk about my game, you perv.”

You groaned, “Are you going to say yes or what? Cause if not i’d like to be going.”

He smirked and kicked his feet up onto the table, “I do love watching you make the walk of shame from around the block, so I guess I'll drag you along.”

🝮

“Y/N.”

You glanced up from your math homework to see Robin climbing through your window, with Barb and her freshman buddy, Max. Robin had discovered years ago if you climbed the roof of the playhouse in your backyard you’d just be able to reach the roof and slide your bedroom window open.

“Hey guys,” You cracked your back and turned around in your desk chair, surprised to see them. “What’s up?”

“Me and Barb just got done with a planning meeting for the senior prank, and we ran into Max on our way out. Her curfews not for..” She glanced down at her watch, “another twenty minutes. So we’re just killing time.”

You hummed, turning back to continue your homework as the three of them plopped onto your bed, “It was basically, like, thirty people jammed into a Burger King saying things they thought were funny. Which they usually weren’t.” Barb snorted and Robin giggled with her.

Max shrugged, “I liked that one kids idea you guys were telling me about. The one that said screw it and just do something terrible.”

Robin groaned and covered her face with her hands, “He said it was ironically funny because it was so not funny and that it'll never be forgotten.”

Barb nodded, “He’s kinda right.”

Robin sighed, “You should’ve been there, Y/N.” She said. You prepared yourself for what came next, a lecture about how you were only seniors once. She was good at those.

But when you finally look up at her, she’s already moved on and started a totally different conversation. You can’t help but feel a tad bit grateful.

Robin walked over to your closet and sifted through it, “Where’s the red plaid dress?”

“It’s buffalo plaid, and it’s on the other side.” You pointed and said, “With the causal shirts.”

“I knew the layout, but I would’ve pictured it with the other dresses.”

“Too causal.”

“Of course.” She snorted and draped the dress over her arm, “So what’d you do tonight? Just homework?”

You blinked like a deer in headlights. But Barb and Max weren’t even paying attention, so you cleared your throat and muttered a quick, “Pretty much.”

Robin hummed and came over to you and began playing with your hair, “Why is only like.. the bottom half curled? Is this a new fashion statement or something?”

You’re reminded of your journey to Steve’s house and how the bottoms of your hair had been nearly drenched by the rain. “No, I just got caught in the rain after school.” A half-lie.

She smiled, “Maybe it should rain everyday.”

“Yeah.” You pictured Steve’s cartwheel and resisted the urge to roll your eyes, “Right.”

🝮

It was nearing seven thirty with still no sign of Steve. You tapped your fingers against the finding table anxiously, legs crossed over each other.

“Why don’t you just walk over to his house?” Monica suggests, craning her neck to see you from her spot in the kitchen. She’s washing the dishes while your dad stands besides her to dry them.

Your dad hums in agreement, “It’s just Steve. I doubt he’d care.”

“In all honesty,” Monica smirked, bumping your dads hip with her own, “Your tapping is driving your dad absolutely crazy and he thinks your date might’ve forgotten you.”

“It’s not a date.”

Your dad ignored your comment, “Actually, I just think Steve Harrington is capable of anything.”

Your dad and Monica began doing their bantering thing back and forth, and you had to fight back an eye roll.

They’d met in a stuck elevator, totally cliche, exactly one year after your mother had died. They’d been in there for two hours. One of your favorite tropes was forced proximity, but you liked to exclude them from that.

It was strange that they had the perfect meet-cute and seemed made for each other, because her and your mother could not be any less similar.

Your mom was sweet, a modern version of Doris Day. She was all baking and fresh cut daisies from her garden. She was the sweetest woman you’d ever known.

Monica was different. She was, I’m-too-good-for-rom-coms, and let’s-go-out-for-dinner and just nothing like the woman you cried for every night.

You glanced outside, no sign of Steve. He was nearing twenty minutes late and hadn’t even bothered to call.

Honestly he was probably already at the party dancing it out with Jonathon as he and Nancy Wheeler gazed longingly at each other from across the room. She probably waltzed over to him all sexy-like and grabbed his arm to drag him upstairs. The thought made you feel sick.

Your dad asked, “You’ll be home at midnight?”

“Yep.”

“Not a second later, got it?” He looked more serious then you usually ever saw him and said, “Nothing good happens after midnight.”

“I know, I know.” You sighed, “I’ll call if-“

“No, you won’t.” He gave a shake of his head and pointed at you, “You will just not be late. Understand?”

Monica groaned half-heartedly and squeezed his bicep, her hand leaving a slight wet mark, “Relax, she gets it!” You both shared a look of understanding, and she easily shifts his attention to something you don’t pay any mind to.

Your dad was always tense when it came to curfew, and you’d always known it’d been because of what happened to your mom. And the only time you’d ever dared to push back he’d just said: If your mom hadn’t been out at midnight, that drunk driver wouldn’t have hit her.

And, well, he was right. So you never said anything about it again.

You practically jump up at the sight of headlights pulling into your driveway, and you’re quick to attempt to give a hasty goodbye and scurry away, but your dad stops you with a look. “I want him to come inside first. He doesn’t get to take my daughter on a date without talking to me.”

You wanted to scream. “It’s not a date!”

Your dad ignored your comment, “Bring him inside.”

So, very hesitantly, you walked outside to a waiting Steve. He was quietly bopping his head to whatever song was playing on the radio, and he instantly stopped once he spotted you. He reached forward and simultaneously turned the radio down while also rolling down the window.

“Hey,” He said, giving you a tight lipped smile. You smiled back, elbows resting on the window cill. He looked confused, “Aren’t you getting in the car?”

You bit your lip, unable to make eye contact. Would he find it weird your dad wanted to talk to him? What if he thought this was some elaborate scheme to date him? Because in all honesty, that was the farthest thing from the truth.

“Um,” You took a breath, “My dad wants you to come inside.”

An eyebrow went up, and his lips parted for a second. Shock flashed across his face, but he was quick to replace it with indifference. “Uh, yeah.” He slapped his knees, “That’s fine.”

You watched with a grateful smile as he stepped out of his car, it shifting a little with the loss of his weight. You both approached the door, you honestly thought you might be more nervous then he is.

“Sorry if this is weird,” you breathed out, placing a hand on the knob. “I tried to explain it wasn’t a date and he just would not listen-”

Steve tsked, hands shoved into his pockets. “Don’t worry about it, your dad loves me anyway.”

You side-eyed him, a small smirk tugging at your lips. “I’m not too sure about that one..”

His eyes went wide, “What are you talking about?”

You just shrugged and opened the door, watching with an amused smile as Steve nervously made eye contact with your father.

“Hello, Mr. L/N.” He said. He sounded way too serious, and it almost made you chuckle. Key word being almost.

Your dad narrowed his eyes at him, “Steve.”

Steve swallowed, adam's apple bobbing as he did. You made eye contact with a smirking Monica, both of you trying (but nearly failing) at holding back your eye rolls.

Your dad gestured to the dining room table, “Have a seat, son.”

Steve glanced at you, palms becoming sweaty. He wouldn’t say your dad was intimidating, no, he was more so just scary. And if there was anything Steve was sure of, it was that your dad would go to the ends of the earth before he let anything happen to you.

He remembers this one time back in the fourth grade, just a couple months before your mom died, and Carol Perkins had been picking on you.

Steve noticed it, but he just thought they were teasing, not full on bullying. No, he didn’t know that until he saw your dad storm into the elementary school lobby with a crying you in his arms. He’d yelled at the principal so loud people could hear it from across the hall. Talk about protective.

He sat at the table hesitantly across from your dad, leg bouncing as he stared anywhere but your dads face.

“What’re your…” Your dad glanced at you, “plans with my daughter?”

You scoffed, “You’re acting like we’re gonna go do drugs or something.”

Your dad glared at you, effectively shutting you up, but not without a few irritated grumbles from you. He nodded at Steve, silently telling him to answer.

Steve took a breath and straightened his shoulders, “I’m taking her to the party, which will be alcohol free by the way, and we’ll be back by midnight.” He swallowed and then threw in a sir.

Your dad leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, “And who will be at this party?”

“Kids from school. It’s mostly just people in our grade. Uh, Jonathon will be there as well, Sir.”

They stared at each other for what you were sure was months, and you were starting to get antsy. Every second spent here was a second Nancy could be using to get closer to Jonathon.

“Um, this was really great and all,” you took a cautious step closer to Steve, slowly pulling him up from the seat, “But we really need to get going!” You practically dragged Steve across the dining room to the front door, hastily saying your goodbyes.

You opened the door, you were nearly outside, but of course, your dad stopped you. “Steve!” He yelled.

Steve paused, and craned his head to look at him. “Sir?”

There was a pause, and then, “If anything happens to her tonight, me and you will be having a long talk.” Could tonight get any more embarrassing for you?

Steve didn’t say anything, instead he just nodded solemnly.

“Okay, whatever, bye!” You huffed.

You slammed the door shut, finally able to take a breath. “God, he’s annoying.” You groaned.

Steve was silent, arms crossed as he stared at the ground. “No, he’s not.” He mumbled so quietly you could barely hear it.

“Uh, yeah, he is. Like it’s just a party, he’s so dramatic.”

Steve didn’t say anything, he just sniffed and walked to his car, not even sparing you a glance. You furrowed your brows. Why was he suddenly acting like this?

“What’s your problem?” You asked as you followed him.

“Just get in the car.”

You did as he said, silently sitting and shutting the door. You knew he’d be pissed if you slammed it, and seeing as he was suddenly in no joking mood, you didn’t.

The car ride was silent apart from the quiet stereo, and it made you uncomfortable. You and Steve didn’t like each other, sure, but you were never silent with each other. You always had some snotty thing to say to start some petty argument.

“Are you.. are you okay?” You asked hesitantly.

Steve didn’t say anything for a moment, knuckles nearly white as he gripped the wheel, “I’m peachy.”

He didn’t sound peachy.

“Look, if it was something I said, or-”

“You didn’t say anything, okay? Let’s just get to the party so you and Jonathon can.. I don’t know, make out or whatever.”

You scoffed, “There will be no making out. Not yet, anyway.” You mumbled the last part, silently smirking to yourself.

Steve scrunched his nose, “Ew, gross, please keep that to yourself.”

You just snorted, spending the rest of the car ride annoying Steve to the best of your ability. Whatever had bothered him before seemed to be forgotten about, and you were happy about it.

“Okay, we’re here.”

You looked around at the drunken teenagers outside, all of them making anything but good decisions. There was a keg stand with a bunch of boys from the football team high fiving each other, one of them you recognized as Billy Hargrove. What a total douche.

Next to them were multiple couples showing way too much PDA, and by PDA you mean practically grinding on each other.

You gave Steve a look, but he just smirked and pushed you out of his car.

You barely made it to two steps out before there was a wolf whistle sounding from beside you, and it didn’t take a genius to know who it was.

“Well, don’t you look nice.” Billy said, voice as smooth as honey. (If the honey had been grounded in a meat grinder and then dipped in glass.)

You glanced down at your dress. You’d gone with a red one to accentuate your features, hoping Jonathon would be impressed.

“Uh, thanks?”

Billy grinned, hand on his hip as he waltzed over to you. “That dress s’real nice, but…” he leaned closer into your ear, breath minty with a strong odor of alcohol, “it’d look better on the floor, don’t you think?”

You gasped, jaw hanging open at his crude comment. “You’re such a pervert!” You glanced to Steve, “Besides i’m… seeing someone.” You winced, and you hoped it sounded more convincing then you thought.

Billy laughed, actually laughed, and looked over at Steve.

He’d already gone up the porch and was talking to his friend, so he didn’t see the situation with Billy. But once he heard Billy’s sultry laugh, he turned and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw you.

He bid his friend goodbye and came over to you. “Is he bothering you?” He asked, chest puffed out as he tried to intimidate Billy.

Billy smirked, “Sorry, man. I wasn’t aware you two were.. a thing.”

Steve looked stunned for a moment, but quickly played it off. “Well, we are. So i’d really appreciate it if you’d back up.”

Billy put two hands up and did as he was told, “No need to get hostile,” He licked his bottom lip, “Jus’ let me know if you ever feel like sharin’.”

You scoffed and Steve just rolled his eyes, effectively pulling you away and to somewhere more secluded. “You okay?” He asked.

You nodded, but couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. “He’s gonna tell everyone we’re dating, Steve.”

Steve just shrugged, “So? We deny it.”

It was then that a thought came to you. Jonathon didn’t know anything about you anymore. Even if it hurt to admit, it was true. Which meant he wouldn’t know how good of a girlfriend you could be.

So, wouldn’t it be a good idea to show him? If you could show him that you were better then Nancy, then he’d obviously be drawn to you and want to date you. The only problem? Steve.

“What if…” You swallowed, “what if we didn’t?”

“I’m not following.”

“What if we let everyone think we’re dating? Then Jonathon would see how great of a girlfriend I could be. And Nancy, who I know you still have a thing for, will see that you’re a great boyfriend.”

Steve’s eyes widened a bit at the mention of Nancy. He didn’t know you knew about his crush on the girl. “I don’t like Nancy.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Okay, maybe I do.”

You swallowed, “If you do this for me, I'll let you have The Spot all the way up until prom.”

Steve’s eyebrows went up. This offer was too good to be true. Get The Spot, get Nancy, all just by pretending to date you?

How hard could it be?

“I’ll do it.”

♥︎

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #joe keery #joe keery x reader #stranger things #better than the movies au #stranger things x reader #xspeter #time after time xspeter #nancy wheeler #jonathon byers #robin buckley #barbra holland #max mayfield #billy hargrove #x reader

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xspeter · 1 month

Text

“What’re you doing here, Steve?” Even his name hurts to say.

“Robin, uh, she told me Mrs. Beck was hiring and, well, I needed a job..”

You finally whip around and face him, your hair following you as you do and harshly slapping against your face, but you ignore it. “That’s the only reason? I find that a little hard to believe.” You mumble the last part, eyes narrowing as you stare at him. Steve hadn’t realized how much he missed your glare.

“Yeah, it is. Why do you wanna know?” He asks with a suggestive taunt, almost as if he’s daring you to take the bait. You know how his mind works though, so you don’t fall for it.

“I just didn’t know if you finally decided you wanted to learn how to read s’all.”

Steve can’t help the smirk that grows on his face. “I was hoping you’d teach me, actually.”

You scoff, a shiver running up your spine in disgust. Of course he’d say some stupid shit like that, he always knew how to get on your nerves. “In your dreams, Harrington.”

ఌ You Cling to Your Papers and Pens (Wait Until You Like Me Again) / sneak peak

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #sneak peek #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x yn #exes to lovers #fanfic #stranger things #stranger things x you #stranger things x reader #xspeter

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xspeter · 1 year

Note

could u write something for carl grimes where the reader and him reunite? set in like season 4 after carl and rick think judith had been killed. and like the reader was with judith and ran her away from danger but carl and rick didnt know until they saw them both again?

INNOCENT

carl grimes x fem!reader

you never imagined you’d be in an apocalypse at 14 years old, let alone taking care of the sister of your friend alone.

➪ thank you sm for the request!

“it’s okay, it’s okay, please judith- just stop crying!” you begged, doing your best to scavenge for something, anything, that was suitable for a baby to eat.

being in an apocalypse was already hard, but having to take care of a baby as well as your self in an already cruel world? it might as well have been suicide.

you could hear the walkers getting closer, five maybe ten of them? when you could hear their footsteps practically in front of you you decided to just give up on your scavenging and run.

you seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, running. you had always known the governor was dangerous, rick worried about him practically every second of the day, but you never really understood just how dangerous he really was.

that’s probably why when he finally did attack, you were anything but prepared. carl had warned you that things weren’t going to end up all sunshine and rainbows, that people were probably going to die.

you wish he was still there to knock some sense into you.

you have no idea what happened to him, really you had no idea what had happened to anyone. for all you knew everyone was dead.

you decided not to think about as you stumbled into a neighborhood. a nice neighborhood. “maybe things are looking up for us jude..” you murmured, holding the baby closer to your chest.

you scavenged a house, going through drawers and cabinets. it looked like mostly everything had been taken, so you decided to check the upstairs. right when you were beginning to ascend the stairs, you heard a growling coming from one of the rooms.

you took a deep breath and set judith down in the bed in front of you, pulling out your knife and rounding the corner towards the room. the door was closed, and as you looked closer at it you noticed the words written on it.

“walker got my shoe, but it couldn’t get me.”

you let out a breath as you realized whoever had said written that was probably close, and people close could mean your group.

you smiled as you ran to get judith, she seemed to notice your mood and began clapping her hands as you perched her on your hip.

running out of the house, you began to look inside each and every window. “cmon.. please be here.” you muttered as you looked in the last houses window.

there were open cans and a couch seemingly pushed against the door, and on top of the couch was… a hat.

a sheriffs hat.

“carl…” you gasped, beginning to pound on the door. you heard the sound of a couch being moved, and you did your best to make yourself atleast a little presentable.

when the door opened, you gave a sad smile to the broken man standing before you. rick seemed to be bruised all over, his hair torn in patches. “hi, rick.” you smiled as he dropped to his knees, his eyes never leaving his daughter.

you gently handed her over to him as he began to burst into tears, when you looked behind him to the boy staring at you in shock. carl. your smile seemed to get impossibly wider as he stood next to his father, tears in his own eyes.

he looked up at you, a smile on his lips. “thank you, thank you, thank you,” he repeated like a mantra as he hugged you tighter than you’ve ever been hugged before.

“it was really no problem, really!” you reassured, fighting your own tears. carl smiled as he pulled you tighter against his him.

you were finally home.

i hope this was okay! this was my first request like ever so i was a little stressed lol

©️ 𝐱𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫

#carl grimes x reader #twd #the walking dead x reader #xspeter #rick grimes #x reader #angst

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xspeter · 1 month

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hey kat <3

could i request a Steve Harrington hurt comfort or angst where r and Steve and the others make it out of the upside down(s4), but r is injured and she doesn't realise it until they actually get back to hawkins.

the adrenaline's just masking any pain they're all feeling, but when they climb through the gate at eddies trailer and reader falls on the mattress, she winces. Steve asks her about it when they finally get to his house, after it's all over and done with.

you can totally ignore this if it's not your cup of tea. but thanks anyways love<3

✩ I hope this is alright, i wrote it as soon as i woke up 👩‍💻. didn’t proofread it so im really sorry for any mistakes !! thanks for the ask <3

Steve’s hurt. It’s the only thing your mind can focus on beneath skull mountain. Steve’s hurt and you weren’t there to protect him.

The bats had held onto him as if he was the best thing they’d ever tasted, and even with your pushing and pulling, it took way longer to get them off of him then you would’ve liked. Your mind couldn’t even focus on your own injuries, particularly the large gash on your thigh from the bats claws, but instead on Steve’s face constructed in pain.

“I’m sorry,” You breathed, wrapping your shirt scrap onto his gaping wound. His normally tan skin was paled, brown eyes dilated slightly.

You watched as the shirt began to seep into a light pink color and tightened it more to stop the blood flow, and Steve hissed as you did. You froze at the noise, mind running with different outcomes and worries.

“Hey, hey,” Steve reassured, back sliding down the rock so he could be eye-level with you. He winced as he did. “I’m okay.” He spoke softly, reaching a hand out to cup your cheek. “We’re all okay.”

You gazed around at all your friends, Robin and Eddie are nursing each others wounds, while Nancy takes care of her own. You’d always admired the girl for her resilience and independence.

To be honest, sometimes you almost felt jealous of the girl. Steve had been in love with her for so long before he finally started to fall for you last summer at Starcourt, but sometimes you couldn’t help but feel like those feelings they had for each other never fully went away.

You sucked in a breath, “I know. It’s just.. what if-”

“Don’t think about the what ifs,” He spoke, pink lips slightly glossy, “We’re here now, and we’re okay. Alright?”

You squeezed your eyes shut and focused on your breathing. Sometimes, it was still hard for you to comprehend that this was your life now. After the disaster at Starcourt and you’d been exposed to this entire situation, sometimes you still just couldn’t believe how many times these people had put their lives on the line.

“You promise you’re okay?” You asked solemnly, shoulders slightly slumped. Steve just grinned and rubbed your arm gently, “I promise,” He eyed your figure, “Are you okay?”

You nearly scoffed. Steve had chunks of flesh missing from his stomach and he was asking if you were okay? “I’m fine, Steve.”

He squinted his eyes at you suspiciously, “Are you sure? We’ll take care of it if you are. Don’t be a hero.”

“I’m not being a hero. I’m just not hurt.”

Steve, being so exhausted and delirious from the blood loss foolishly believed you. He kissed the side of your head softly and followed you as you followed Nancy to the Wheeler residence.

His first sign should’ve been when you nearly stumbled down the stairs. He’d been there to catch you, eyebrows knitted as he helped you steady. “What happened?” He asked.

You let out an awkward chuckle, going a bit pink at everyone’s concerned gazes. “I’m fine,” You spoke softly, “Just lost my balance.”

Nancy hummed, but she didn’t look convinced. Once everyone left the room to figure out what the hell Steve was yelling about, she pulled you aside. “You’ve been quiet ever since Skull Rock. Did you get hurt?”

You swallowed. The adrenaline rush you had felt was slowly waning away, leaving you to feel every bit of the long gash on your thigh. “I’m fine.” You spoke, thankful that your black leggings hid the dark red substance slowly leaking from you, “Just exhausted.”

Nancy still didn’t look convinced, her eyes glimmering slightly as she sucked in her bottom lip, “If something’s wrong we can figure out a way to help you, okay?” She took a breath, her eyes downcast. “If.. if you’re hurt and- and god forbid something were to happen to you Steve would never forgive himself. You can’t do that to him.”

You knew she was right, Steve didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to lose someone else after everything he’s suffered, but you firmly believed you’d be okay. If anything, you’d just need a few stitches and then everything would be okay. Which is why you say, “I’m fine. Promise.”

❣︎

You were more than just relived when you made it to Eddies trailer. You were practically ecstatic. You were ready to get out of this hellhole and finally take care of your wound.

But, you should’ve known that nothing would be okay, not after Nancy’s vision. You and Steve watched as she fell over, the both of you attempting to shake her awake while everyone else rushed to find a song.

But, Nancy wouldn’t need it, and instead would wake on her own with a message from Vecna.

Steve let Nancy go first, her body hitting the mattress softly. Robin helped her up, offering her hand which Nancy gratefully took.

Next, it was your turn. Steve helped you down, his cold hand on your lower back gently dropping you down.

But, unlike everyone else, you couldn’t get up from the mattress. The fall winded you, and the pain on your leg increased tenfold. You let a quiet whine when you tried to stand on it, immediate tears springing to your eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Steve called down in a panic stricken voice.

“I’m- I’m fine.” You replied hoarsely, attempting again to stand and being unable to.

Eddie gazed down to where a large pool of blood was beggining to form on the mattress beneath your leg,band his face immediately paled.

“Shit, shit, shit,” He chanted, “You gotta get down here, man!” He called. Eddie graciously slipped his ringed fingers under your back and knees, carrying you away from the mattress and towards the couch.

You barely heard Steve’s body hit the bed as he jumped down, but you felt his presence as soon as Eddie set you down. “Shit, how long has- why didn’t you-”

You could feel Steve’s panic, and it made you want to scream. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You were supposed to be okay, and everything would’ve been fine.

But even now you can feel the unnerving exhaustion the blood loss is making you feel, and you know that’s not going to happen.

“I’m sorry.” You spoke softly, eyes glassy with tears as you began to accept your fate.

Steve was yelling for them to get help, his own eyes wet and wide.

He attempted to put pressure on the wound, and at this point you couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He chanted, voice wobbly.

“I’m sorry,” You swallowed, “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I told you not to be a hero!” He cried, “You- you said you were okay.”

“I know,” You shushed softly, “You’ll be okay.”

Steve froze for a moment, letting your words process. You didn’t say I’ll be okay, you said He’d be okay. While the change was slight, he understood what it meant.

“You’ll be okay too,” He attempted, voice weak. “We’re gonna be okay, and we’re gonna get that apartment in Indianapolis that we talked about, okay? We’re gonna move outta Hawkins like we said we would.”

You smiled softly at the memory, remembering all the sweet nights where you laid naked in his bed, drawing soft patterns on his back. You’d talk for hours about your futures. About marriage and kids and growing old together.

You just wish you could’ve seen it happen.

“Can you remind me?” You asked softly, eyelids heavy. “About our life after we get married?”

Steve let out a quiet sob. He’d stopped his attempts at putting pressure on your leg, he knew it was too late. There wasn’t anything he could do.

“We’re gonna-” He sniffled, hand reaching for your own and squeezing it tightly. “We’re gonna get married in the forest, just behind Hoppers house with the Gazebo. And we’re gonna move into a beautiful apartment in the city, with green shudders and- and-” He paused momentarily, a tear slipping down his cheek.

You squeezed his hand softly, encouraging him to keep going. He took a breath, glassy eyes staring at your paling face. “We’ll have three kids. Two boys and a girl, and they’ll have a cat named Penny. They’re gonna- gonna get older and they’ll all go off the college, and we’ll have so much space we won’t know what to do with ourselves.” He chuckled softly, “We’ll spend every day with each other. Doing all that sappy, old people stuff. And- and we’ll grow old together and we’re gonna live happy, okay? I just- you just gotta-”

He allowed himself to risk a glance at your face, and he wished he hadn’t. Your eyes were closed, a soft smile tugging on your pale lips, and he knew what it meant.

You were gone. Just like that.

And even as the police arrived and Eddie attempted whatever story he could put together onto why you all looked so.. well, roughed up, Steve couldn’t even listen.

All he could focus on was your body slowly being zipped away.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #angst #hurt no comfort #joe keery #joe keery x reader #stranger things #stranger things x reader #steve harrington x you #the upside down #character death #kat thinks 🙋‍♀️#xspeter

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xspeter · 2 months

Text

TIME AFTER TIME

Chapter one ❣︎ Uh oh, i’m fallin’ in love

uh oh, i’m fallin’ in love

i thought the plane was goin’ down (how’d you turn it right around?)

❧ warnings: none!

❧ wc: 2.8k

❧ Note: first chapter is outtt! I hope you guys enjoy and are as excited for this story as I am! if things seem to be going a little fast i do apologize, but i am going straight off of the book! like all this happens in literally the first chapter

❧ masterlist

♥︎

The day started out completely terrible.

First, you’d woken up late and threw on the first thing you saw. And you only realized the massive coffee stain on it once you’d reached school.

Then you realized you’d completely forgotten about Mrs. Clicks homework and had barely managed to scribble down random answers on it before the bell, and even then the disappointed look she gave you as she collected it made you want the floor to swallow you whole.

The only good part of the day had to be the prom posters that had been thrown up around the school over the weekend. You couldn’t help the pride that filled your chest when you saw your own design looking right back at you.

The prom committee had let you have complete and total free range over them, and you liked to think they turned out pretty well.

You’d gone with a dark blue base with white sprinkles thrown across it, the words “A Night Under The Stars, Senior Prom, 8:00, April 5th, 1985” sprawled across it in baby blue letters.

“The posters came out super nice!” You don’t have to look behind you to know the voice belongs to your best friend, Robin Buckley.

You bit your lip, arms crossed over your chest, “Do you think so? I feel like I should’ve made the letters white or something.”

Robin shakes her head, “It looks fine to me.”

You gave her a grateful smile, “Shouldn't you be getting ready for the pep rally?” You asked. The school would be having a seniors only pep rally at the end of the day to celebrate your final semester of highschool, and you were honestly excited for it.

It was silly, but you couldn’t help the thought in the back of your mind that this could be it. Maybe you’d meet the guy you were meant to end up with there, even though you already knew practically everyone in your grade. You still couldn’t help but hope.

Robin threw her head back with a groan, “Please don’t remind me.” She whined. You snorted.

You knew the real reason Robin didn’t want to go was because of her new crush. It was cute, honestly. And you understood why Robin is so hesitant to make any moves, but you’re positive Vickie is the right girl.

She looks disgusted every time she’s with her boyfriend and you swear you catch her gazing at Robin more often then what should be considered normal.

“If you never make a move you’ll never know, and then you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” You tsk, lips thinning out into a sharp line.

Robin rolls her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She sighs, “Look, I don’t wanna be any later for band then I already am so i’m gonna run, but nice dress!” She yells out as she jogs away, and you grin and yell back a thank you.

You turn around to head to your next class but are met with something rock solid. You nearly tumble to the floor, but are caught by a hand around your waist.

“Shit,” The wall says, “Are you okay?”

You looked up, arms tight across your chest to hold your books in place. The sight you’re met with is one you hadn’t been prepared for at all.

Jonathon Byers stood before you in all his glory. He was still as handsome as you had remembered.

Jonathon had lived across the street from you practically your entire childhood, and you’d harbored a massive crush on him the entire time.

How could you not? He was kind and such a gentleman, and he had an amazing family. (Apart from his dad, but you liked to pretend he didn’t exist.)

He smelled so-so good, and you wanted to catalogue every part of this moment in your mind. It was the perfect meet-cute, even if this wasn’t your first time meeting.

“Jonathon?” You stuttered out, carefully finding your footing as he slipped his hand away from your waist and back to his side.

He gave a weak smile, “Hey, Y/N.”

You couldn’t help but throw an arm around him, the other holding your books in place. “Oh my god, I haven’t seen you in years! When-when did you get back from California? Why are you back?” You asked, thoughts going a mile a minute.

Jonathon had moved to California at the end of your eighth grade year. His mom, Joyce, had been offered a well paying job that she couldn’t turn down.

It had been a teary goodbye, but you chose not to dwell on the fact that Jonathon would never know how you really felt.

Now, you couldn’t help but think that maybe you’d be able to turn that around.

Jonathon shrugged, hand rubbing at the back of his neck. “Mom lost her job and she was offered a managing position at her old one back at the store, so we came back.” He explains.

You frown, Joyce losing her job must’ve sucked, but you can’t help but be the tiniest bit thankful that it brought Jonathon back to you again.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You murmured, laying a gentle hand on his bicep. He just shrugs, hands shoved into his pockets, “It’s okay. At least we didn’t have to move somewhere completely new again, right?”

You nodded in agreement, and you both stood in silence for a moment. You held your breath, you had to do it. You were going to ask Jonathon to prom. Was it a little hasty? Sure, but chances are he doesn’t have a date to prom yet, and there was no harm in asking, right? You were friends, or at least you had been, so it only made sense.

You swallow, “Hey, do you think you’d want to-” But you were cut off by someone knocking into you from behind and shoving you away from Jonathon.

“Holy shit, man! I didn’t know you were back!”

Your eye nearly twitches at the voice. Steve Harrington. The very bane of your existence.

You’d grown up with Steve as well, he only lived two houses down from you, but it’d been nowhere near as romantic as it had with Jonathon.

Steve was obnoxious. He was what your parents considered “troubled.” He would tease you for the dresses you wore, refused to play any of the games you wanted to, and was just an overall punk.

You grit your teeth, “Um, maybe watch where you’re going?”

Steve blinked, once, then twice, before finally he turned to you. “Oh, so sorry. I didn’t even see you. Which is strange, because that dress is seriously an eye-catcher.”

The tone that he says it lets you know it’s anything but a compliment, and you cross your arms over your chest, subconsciously hiding the light brows stain on it. “Hm, it’s weird, Even with your hair being nearly half your height, I still didn’t see you coming.”

Steve goes to bark back a retort, but Jonathon’s chuckle stops him. “It’s nice to see you two haven’t changed a bit.”

You force a smile, “Yep. You know. Same ol’, same ol’.”

Steve glared at you, “More like she hasn’t stopped being annoying.”

Jonathon furrowed his brows, “She’s not annoying. She’s just spunky, it’s my favorite thing about her.”

Your jaw nearly drops at Jonathon’s words, and your cheeks begin to flush a pretty pink. You stutter out a thank you, and Steve leans in and whispers, “Careful, you’re drooling.”

You stomp on his foot with your heel, causing him to hiss and pull away from you. He swatted at you before he turned back to Jonathon, “You remember Tommy Hagan?” He asks.

Jonathon nods hesitantly, “I think so, yeah. First Baseman right?”

Steve snaps his fingers, “That’s the one. Look, he’s having a party this Saturday and you should totally come.”

You do your best to keep your expression neutral as you listen to Steve invite your Jonathon to a party. What right did he have? What if you were gonna invite Jonathon somewhere on saturday?

Jonathon glances at you, “Sure man,” He says. “Sounds fun.”

Steve grins and claps him on the back, “ Party starts at eight, i’ll see you there!” He turned and jogged to his next class with a shout of, “Later guys!”

You and Jonathon watched as Steve disappeared into the crowd of people. He turned to you, “Are you going?” He asks.

Your mouth dries a bit at the question, though you aren’t sure if it’s because Jonathon’s looking at you with those wide, chestnut brown eyes like you move the sun and the moon, or if it’s because you, in fact, weren’t invited.

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I think I have to work.” You stammer out the excuse, hoping he doesn’t catch the nervous way you pick at your chipped nail polish.

He doesn’t, instead he gives you a weak smile and lazily says, “Alright. Look, i’ve gotta run, but let’s catch up soon, yeah?”

You smile girlishly, “Okay.”

His arm brushes against your own as he leaves, and the touch nearly leaves you dizzy.

Finally, things were working out for you.

🝮

Once the pep rally ends you immediately shoot for Robin. You find her next to the bleachers, staring longingly at an unaware Vickie.

You can’t help but roll your eyes, “You look like a kicked puppy!” You yell at her.

She nearly jumps out of her skin at the sound of your voice, but she’s quick to collect herself and throw you a glare. “I do not.”

You shrug, “Fine, keep telling yourself that. But, anyway, you are not going to believe who’s here!” You nearly squeal, fingers playing with the hem of your dress.

Robin thinks for a moment, “Who?”

Your grin grows impossibly larger, “Jonathon Byers.”

“I know.”

Your smile immediately drops, “You do?”

Robin furrows her brows, “Uh, yeah? Was it a secret?”

You scoff, “I mean, no, but - look, this is really good for me.”

Robin squints at you, leg kicking up onto the wall she’s leaning against. “And why is that?”

Your grin returns as you shift back and forth on your feet, “Jonathon is gonna be my date to prom. We already had our meet-cute, now I just have to win him over.”

She nods, eyes lidded, “Right. And how do you plan to do that?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

You shush her and roll your eyes, “Don’t question me. Just trust that I'll make it work.” You begin to walk away, gesturing for Robin to follow. She does so with a groan.

“Steve invited Jonathon to this party. Which, might I add, he did right in front of me and didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go!”

Robin snorts, “Don’t you guys not like each other? Why would he invite you?”

While what she said may be true, it was still just basic manners to not do something like that right in front of people. But, Steve was constantly tiptoeing the line between person and barbarian so you wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t know basic human decency.

“That’s besides the point,” You grumbled. “I just need to get into this party and then boom! Me and Jonathon will be married in no time.”

“Tommy’s parties are always just beer pong, fireball, and truth-or-dare immature bullshit. Honestly, I'm glad we didn’t get invited.“ Robin murmurs.

The both of you approach your car and you hop into the front seat with an annoyed dent in your brows.

“And…” Robin bites her lip, “I guess Jonathon moved a couple houses down from Nancy Wheeler and they’ve been talking for a while now.”

Your heart plummets. Nancy Wheeler? Is this a joke?

Sure, you didn’t know Nancy very well, but that didn’t stop you from despising her very being. She always played the image of the perfect girl. Smart, pretty. You could see right through her though.

It’d started in kindergarten, when you’d gotten a bloody nose and shrieked an Ewwww right in your toddler face, making the entire class join her.

In first grade she exposed your box of love letters you’d made for Bryce Waterson, and he’d called you gross. It was humiliating.

In fifth grade, not long after your mom died you’d been forced to sit next to her at lunch. And it wasn’t the perfect cookie cutter sandwiches that bothered you, no, it was the notes.

Everyday she’d pull out a handwritten note from her mom. It always said something different and had colorful hearts and doodles. You’d get so sad you couldn’t even eat.

While Nancy could play the part for everyone else, you saw right through her.

And besides, Nancy always got everything she could ever want. She couldn’t have him. You wouldn’t let her.

And Nancy didn’t have the history with Jonathon that you did. She didn’t grow up in love with him, always watching in admiration as he played around with your nemesis.

Your mom said it was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen, though your dad couldn’t help but disagree.

Robin looks at you like she knows exactly what you’re thinking, “Jonathon Byers is not your perfect oh-we’re-so-in-love guy, okay?”

He could be, you wanted to retort, but you held your tongue. Instead you just shrugged as you began to drive your car out of the parking lot, “In all actuality they aren’t even together yet, so I still have a chance..”

“Don’t be that girl!” Robin scolds, “Whatever happened with him was not your meet-cute.”

You couldn’t help but buzz a little at the thought of your interaction with him. The way his arm had ever so gently bridled your own.. that wasn’t coincidence.

“But maybe it was.”

She throws her head back against the seat, “Pull yourself together, woman! You barely even know him anymore.”

His eyes flash in your mind, those beautiful dark eyes. “I know everything I need to know.”

🝮

Jonathon was back.

You propped your feet up onto the kitchen table and dug into your container of ice cream.

After Jonathon had moved, you’d daydreamed about him for what honestly was probably years.

You came up with so many different scenarios in your head for him, but there was one that always seemed to stick.

It was December, Christmas Eve. You were sitting outside in your cutest winter outfit just staring at the snow, and you get the sudden urge to turn your head. When you do, you’re met with the sight of him. He runs to you, holds you in his warm embrace and tells you every thing you’d ever wanted to hear. Some would call it delusional, you just called it perfect.

It took you forever to get over him. And at some point you’d accepted that he was never coming back.

But now he’d returned.

The smile on your face grows wider at the thought.

You didn’t have any classes with him and you were no longer neighbors, which sucked so badly, but you were anything if not persistent, and the one thing in your corner was your expertise on love. Not to call yourself a love expert, but, well…

Love was practically in your genes. Your mom lived and burned for it, and she had luckily given the very same passion to you.

Thanks to this, you were more then certain you had to get to Tommy’s party.

Honestly, the party scene had never really been your thing. A house filled with the distasteful smell of sweaty jocks and booze along with people who didn’t even know you wasn’t your idea of a good time.

But, you were running on a tight schedule here, so party here you come.

Lightning shoots across the sky and illuminates Steve’s car, and you’re reminded of the days events.

There was a parking spot right outside your house, and it was sacred.

If you wanted to be able to comfortably get to your house without having to walk all the way up the street, you’d have to park in this spot, which should be no problem right?

Wrong.

Steve knows about this spot, and unfortunately he wants it just as bad as you. And he’d tailgated you as soon as you’d dropped Robin off at her house and he’d snagged it away from you, forcing you to park a block over and walk all the way to your house in the rain.

You licked off a spoonful of ice cream and daydreamed that Jonathon lived there instead of Steve.

And that’s when it hit you.

Steve was the key.

He was your in. Steve, who’d invited Jonathon in the first place, would be attending this party.

But, there was only one world where Steve Harrington would be willing to help you, and honestly, you were willing to live in it. Even if you had to be drenched in rain everyday.

♥︎

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #joe keery #stranger things #jonathon byers #jonathon byers x reader #stranger things x reader #robin buckley #jonathon byers x nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler #xspeter #time after time xspeter #better than the movies au

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