this one time
pairing: steve x mayfield!fem!reader
summary: reader gets mixed up in the upside down drama with her sister (s2 era) and happens to get a good dose of steve harrington, and she vows it’ll only be this one time.
warnings: ohhhh boy, billy being verbally and physically abusive, fighting, season 2 (aka demodogs and whatnot), illuding to an abusive household (duh), reader being independent as hell (like to a fault lmao bc me too sometimes), kinda sad ending (oops?)
a/n: in this fic, steve and nancy never got together in season 2 :) i think that’s the only variation in the fic. i’m ngl i might’ve cried while writing this but that also could’ve just been me being hormonal lol. also my second stranger things fic!! i’m kinda excited and can’t wait to see how this goes!
you didn’t quite know why he would always stare at you. to be frank, it was getting weird.
at lunch, when you would be waiting for max, basically every time you were in his line of sight his eyes were on you.
you even had a few classes with steve. luckily you were able to sit closer to the back. the downside to that is that the seats were all right by steve. whether in front, behind, or beside. it was worth it to not be in the front row, but still. it sucked.
you just kept your head down and let the day pass as fast as it possibly could, hoping that steve would mind his own business. sometimes he did. other times he would try to start a conversation.
“you do the homework?” steve leaned over to ask, too sweet of a tone adorning his voice to tell his true intentions.
“yes, harrington,” you rolled your eyes. “i did the homework. could your brain cells not keep up enough to finish it?”
“sadly, no,” he sighed, whipping out a softer, pitiful voice. “i was hoping maybe yours were able to make up for the disappearance of mine?”
“this is the last time,” you widened your eyes, trying to remain serious to the annoying little boy. “why do you never do it?”
“well, it always gives me an excuse to talk to you,” he had a sly grin on that stupid face.
you knew him and nancy were once a thing, but after will byers was found things changed. steve found that nancy was different after everything and they had both changed too much for them to make sense anymore.
but that didn’t mean that you and him made any sense at all.
“yea, shut it, harrington,” you scoffed as you let him glance at your paper to copy onto his own.
maybe he was drawn to you because you were a bit stand-offish. you knew you were. it’s because of billy. you had to be the protective older sister max needed. you were her biological sister, but you weren’t always so mean, only when billy and his dad came around.
you would be the one to defend max to billy. on occasion, you would have to defend max against billy’s dad. this might’ve earned you a bit of, punishment, as they would call it. others would say it’s abuse.
regardless, it wasn’t always like this. used to, you would play with max all the time. you were the one to teach her to skate. you had taught her the importance of self confidence. you were her older sister. she loved you dearly, and you did her. you still did, as did she.
it was just the dynamic that had changed. now, instead of being the sweet older sister everyone knew you were the rude, protective one. perhaps you just didn’t know how to shut off the mask you put up so often, in the house you would never call a home.
it was only a matter of time before you and max got dragged into the wild world of the upside down. you had brought her to the arcade that day lucas tried to explain everything to her. as per usual, she told you everything.
“maybe he just wants to impress you?” you scoffed, the story sounding unbelievable to yourself as well.
“why like this?” she rested her head against her fist by the window. “it’s just so stupid.”
“as are boys this age, max. they’re idiots that would say anything to impress a girl,” you gave her a pressed smile. “boys are stupid. why do you think i haven’t had one?”
“yea, maybe i should follow in your footsteps,” max added.
you laughed lightly before gently nudging her shoulder, turning up the radio to the latest kate bush song that had come out.
so when lucas told max that he had real proof, you were practically forced to follow along. well, not forced. max had asked you to come, in case anything funky was going on, and you happily said yes.
little did you know you would be met with dustin henderson and your very own king steve harrington. steve had directed you all, telling you what to do. the experience was rather ominous up to this point, so you reluctantly listened, but only to protect your sister in the case that they weren’t lying.
and once everything was boarded up, you went inside of the bus and waited. and waited. and waited.
max finally got tired of the silence when she asked, “so you really fought one of these things before?”
steve’s gaze from you was finally broken as he simply nodded his head, continuing to play with his lighter in attempt to pass the time a bit quicker than it was going.
“and you’re like, totally, 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?” she offered, being the sassy mini you she always was, you bit back a laugh.
that’s when little dustin decided to speak up a bit, “shit,” he huffed. “don’t be an idiot. okay. it wasn’t a bear,” but he wasn’t done there. “why’re you even here if you don’t believe us? just go home.”
“geesh,” max got up, headed towards the ladder. “someone’s cranky. past your bedtime?” she asked as she began ascending the ladder.
you busied yourself by fiddling with some old peeling fabric from one of the seats to hide the laugh in your throat.
“that’s good,” steve spoke, seemingly proud of the toddler who had tried to insult your little sister. “just show her you don’t care.”
“i don’t,” the toddler deadpanned, staring him straight in the eyes. “why’re you winking steve? stop.”
“really?” you chuckled, speaking up about the stupid situation at hand. “show her you don’t care? that’s the advice you gave him?”
“well, yea,” steve nodded, still playing with his little lighter.
“and does that always work with the girls you like?” you leant down, getting closer to steve on the floor.
you could hear how his breath hitched in his throat as he stumbled to find the right words.
“uhh yea, mo-most of the time,” he stopped toying with the lighter, focusing on dustin who was simply pacing back and forth, mumbling some incoherent nonsense that you figured you probably wouldn’t be able to understand even if you could hear him.
“most of the time?” you scoffed. “so you told him to be a dick to my sister on account of ‘most of the time’?”
“i didn’t say to be a dick!” he threw his hands up in defense.
“well he was being one.”
“i never told him to be one!”
“next time make sure he knows that, asshole.”
a loud growl interrupted your argument. your body became stiff as you instinctively curled into the arm that he protectively threw over your shoulders as you made your way to see what the ruckus was outside.
“lucas!” dustin shouted. “what’s goin’ on!” he demanded to know.
“hold on!” lucas replied.
silence fell over the group as you shrugged steve’s arm off of you, forgetting he had held it there. if you had paid attention to it, it felt a scarier without his arm there.
“i’ve got eyes!” lucas finally informed you. “ten o’clock! ten-ten o’clock!”
“there,” steve pointed at the creature outside of the bus, crawling low and slow.
“what’s he doing?” dustin wondered.
“i don’t know.” steve answered once more. “he’s not taking the bait. why’s he not taking the bait?” he asked worriedly.
“maybe he’s not hungry?” dustin tried to guess before a lightbulb went off in steve’s mind.
“maybe he’s sick of cow?” he replied smartly.
“wait-you mean?” you spoke up for once before steve backed away, making eye contact with you before turning.
“steve?” dustin asked. “steve, what’re you doing? steve?” he worried.
steve turned back to dustin and tossed him the lighter, “just get ready.”
“you’re not going out there alone,” you huffed at the brown eyed boy.
“like hell i’m not,” he replied, turning to face you once more. “you need to stay safe.”
“no, the kids need to stay safe,” you argued. “i’m going with you,” you told him as you grabbed a metal pipe and turned toward the door.
steve huffed as he rolled his eyes at you.
“are you gonna open the door or do you need me to go first?” you offered, teasing the boy before he reluctantly opened the door and headed out first.
“back to back, yea?” he whispered, feeling your back against his own.
you slowly walked towards the creature making the noise, feeling the whoosh of wind coming from steve swinging his bat in circles, probably from the nerves. he started whistling, trying to draw the creature out from wherever it was hiding.
“come on, buddy,” he teased with another whistle. “come on, buddy. dinner time. human tastes better than cat, i promise.”
“cat?” you whisper-yelled at him.
“i’ll fill you in later,” he replied.
when you heard the growl once more, somehow clearer, you turned to face it. you had to know what it was. the dog cleared, giving you sight of the monster you’d been told about.
“oh, god,” you raised your elbow, ready to swing in case of any sudden movement made by the thing.
“steve!” lucas shouted. “watch out!”
“little busy here!” steve roared before you turned around, noticing the second monster.
“oh, god,” your breathing picked up.
“three o’clock,” you nudged his shoulder to inform him of the new situation.
when he turned to where you were faced, his own face became filled with worry rather than mild fear. backed the two of you up a bit before the bus door flung open.
“abort! abort!” dustin shouted. “steve! y/n!”
“run!” the kids were screaming.
but every which way you looked, there was a new monster blocking your path. steve ran for the car, sliding across it before whacking one of the creatures, hearing it whimper and thud against the ground. you heard one behind your own back.
“y/n!” max shouted at you, alerting you that there was one behind you.
you swung and turned your body in one motion, the momentum enough to knock its body to the ground with a whine. another one was approaching your left, so you did the same thing with success.
after turning to where you last saw steve, he was running to you, shouting at you to move. you were too slow. a creature had tackled you to the ground, luckily steve had swung his bat before anything had happened, knocking the creature off of your body and to the side before he scooped you up bridal style and carried you into the bus himself, dustin slamming the door shut on the monsters.
they were easily able to break through the metal covering the door, leaving steve to knock the things with his nailed bat as the kids ran to the other side of the bus. you had luckily kept a hold of your metal pipe after being knocked down, your leg had been hurt but it wasn’t the time to worry about that.
dustin began to radio on his headset for anyone who could hear, seemingly with no hope. max had nudged your shoulder, motioning to the sunroof of the bus, the open sunroof of the bus. you pushed her behind you and made your way to where the roof was, not getting too close.
you could hear the stomps of the monsters above your heads before one approached the ladder. all you heard was max’s scream. the monster began to lunge towards you before steve put himself between you and the creature.
“come on you little piece of shit!” he bellowed. “you want some? come on!”
all at once the creatures began to turn away, no longer banging on the bus trying to get inside. steve had looked at you once more, a look of both relief and worry in his face.
you hadn’t even realized that you had latched onto steve’s arm. you didn’t care. you kept it there for a moment longer, hoping he wouldn’t notice or mind. you were scared, you could make an excuse.
this one time.
after a few moments of silence, steve had began to make his way outside, you following right behind with the rest of the kids.
“what happened?” lucas asked, all out of breath as if he had been the one fighting out there.
“i-i don’t know,” max hesitated.
“they scared ‘em off?” dustin mentioned, trying to find some sort of positive.
“no,” steve told them. “no way. there goin’ somewhere.”
when you all decided to take off in the direction of the ominous sound, which happened to thankfully break lucas and dustin’s little argument, steve had noticed after a while that you had been taking a bit longer than the others to keep up. you weren’t too slow, just a bit out of breath. he hung back for a second so he could ask you.
“hey,” steve began quietly as dustin and lucas went ahead. “did you get hurt? when you got tackled?”
“i-i don’t know,” you replied, more truthful than saying no. you just didn’t want to be a burden to the group, but you couldn’t stay behind. “i’ll be fine.”
“y/n,” he sighed. “which leg?” he pointed at them both before you lifted your pant leg, revealing a bruise all the way up your shin, a bit of blood from a cut running halfway down your leg. “that? y/n…” he trailed off.
he automatically put your arm around his shoulder, his arm going to your waist, acting as a crutch so you two could limp along together. you appreciated it, which was odd. you were always in depended. max noticed this too. and you noticed max holding lucas’s hand earlier. she had been talking to him on the roof of the bus prior to the, ‘demodog,’ as you came to find out, experience.
what was it with hawkins boys knocking down your walls? you didn’t like it. but, your leg really fucking hurt, so you could make an excuse.
this one time.
the rest of the night went by fast.
the noise led you to this… hospital? you had to pick up hopper, the police chief, will, mike, and joyce, wills mom. you had also ran into nancy and her boyfriend? jonathan. you weren’t sure if they were official.
when you ran into nancy and jonathan you only felt steve’s hold on you get a little tighter. you would only let yourself embrace it tonight. only tonight. you made your way back to joyce’s house, who you already felt this motherly hold over you. you enjoyed it. it was different.
you weren’t quite sure what you were doing. waiting, you suppose. they had filled you in on everything. the upside down, this girl named el, will’s whole experience and now what he’s going through.
then mike starting saying how bob, the man who had passed while saving the rest of them, had started the av club. how he couldn’t die in vain.
next thing you know they’re talking about the shadow monster and the tunnels that’re connected with the hive mind. how everything, the demodogs, tunnels, mind flayer, and even will are connected.
then the kids are telling you about this mind flayer character from d&d to relate this new creature to something a little more understandable. how this creature wants to conquer us, and become the master race. and the only way to know how to destroy this monster, is through will.
you all worked to make his shed unrecognizable. you covered it in sheets and foil and tons of bright lights. then your part was over. it was yet another waiting game.
while the kids were figuring out the morse code will was signaling, steve ushered you to the bathroom.
“what’re you doing?” you sighed, already exhausted from the night you’ve had.
“cleaning you up,” he informed you as he tapped the countertop, wanting you to hop up. “it doesn’t need to get infected and with those demodogs that did this to you we don’t know what bacteria they carry. so,” he tapped the counter twice more to prove his point, his voice like satin.
you lifted your hurt leg to hop on the other, grasping steve’s shoulder a bit so you could get on the counter easier. his hand went to your waist to help.
“alright, you wanna squeeze my hand when i pour this?” he asked as he lifted a bottle of alcohol to pour on your leg.
you nodded. only for tonight.
“one,” he began counting, only he began pouring on two.
“fuck!” you grasped his shoulder with your free hand, squeezing his hand that was in your grasp. “shit, shit, shit,” you whispered, trying not to distract the decoding process. “ohhh i hate you steve.”
the smell of him was a bit distracting from the pain. it was sweaty, but with undertones of his cedar wood cologne able to peak through. but that little distraction, the little peak of him you were able to focus on, was worth it.
“aww you don’t mean that,” he put on a small smile at your anger. “okay… that’s it. now i’m just gonna put some of this on,” he held up some neosporin from the first aid kit, “and then i’ll bandage you up, yea?”
“yea,” you nodded. “that shit hurt more than it did when i got it,” you motioned to the peroxide.
“sorry,” steve didn’t know what else to say as he finished his handiwork, releasing your hand before tenderly wrapping your leg in an ace bandage. “it had to be done.”
“i know, it’s just…” you took a deep breath. “damn,” you both laughed at that.
“okay,” steve breathed out, “all done now,” he bent down and placed a soft kiss to your knee as if he kissed it all better.
“thanks,” you smiled before he placed his hands back on your waist, carefully guiding you down. you didn’t have much time before hopper came barging into the house, telling the kids to get away from the windows.
you and steve marched out of the bathroom, you still rolling your pant leg down before they brought an unconscious will back into the house. you swiftly picked up your metal pipe as steve did his nailed bat, nancy held a rifle, hopped held his own gun, and you waited. waited for something, anything.
you turned where each noise came from, hoping to catch it before it caught you.
“where are they?”
“what’re they doing?”
then the noises stopped. you all panned the area, trying to get a feel for where they went. then a demodog came flying through the window.
“holy shit.” you said in unison with dustin.
“is it dead?” max wondered.
when hopper shoved its head with his foot, we were assured it had died. but then the lock on the door came undone. it seemed as though you could never catch a break in this town. a girl began walking through the door, converse clad with a nosebleed.
mike stepped forward, clearly having a close relationship with the girl. it was like watching the sweetest of reunions.
you turned to max, “is that-“
“el?” she finished for you
“y-yea,” lucas answered. “it is.”
“i never gave up,” mike said. “i called you every night-every night for-“
“353 days,” el nodded. “i heard,” she stepped closer to him, still not believing he was finally in front of her after almost a year
“why didn’t you let me know you were there?” he seemed hurt.
“because i wouldn’t let her,” hopper spoke up, stepping forward in the group.
part of you felt as though you shouldn’t be seeing this. you were so new to the group, you felt wrong witnessing such a seemingly tender moment.
“the hell is this,” hopper began to question el. “where’ve you been?”
“where have you been?!” she retorted, a bit snappy. you liked her.
they responded with a hug, tears began to prick your eyes a little before mike ruined the moment.
“you’ve been hiding her,” he concluded. “you’ve been hiding her this whole time!” he punctuated with a shove to hoppers back.
“hey,” hopper grasped his wrists. “let’s talk. alone.”
he led mike into a room, away from the group to discuss things with a bit more privacy. in the meantime, lucas and dustin began to say their hellos to the girl.
“we talked about you basically every day,” dustin mentioned, leaving el to stare at him before tapping his teeth.
“teeth.”
“huh?” lucas and dustin wondered.
“you have teeth,” el rephrased, a bit confused as to why he had teeth.
“oh,” dustin remembered. “you like these pearls?” he began to purr? you think that’s what that was. it clearly surprised el.
max began to walk towards the girl, “eleven?” the girl just stared at max. “hey, um, i’m max,” she stuck out her hand, “i’ve heard a lot about you.”
el just walked past her, rejecting not only a handshake but what seemed like a friendship. but, el wandered into joyce’s welcoming arms.
“what was that?” you questioned.
“i-i don’t know?” max wondered herself, not knowing where she had gone wrong with the incredibly short interaction.
and with the return of eleven, it was as though the master key to a house was returned. everything fell into place as she stated that she could close the gate. she could fix everything.
in order to get the mind flayer’s grasp off of will before eleven shut the gate, joyce, jonathan and nancy went to burn the mind flayer out of him.
meanwhile you were still at joyce’s with steve and the kids. you had been helping max and lucas clean up the living room while dustin and steve were, for some reason, putting the creature in the fridge. mike was just pacing. worrying.
“mike, would you just stop already?” lucas spoke up, somehow annoyed by his movement.
“you weren’t in there, okay, lucas,” mike shouted back. “that lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.
“demodogs!” dustin spoke from the kitchen.
“the chief will take care of her!” lucas tried to reason.
“like she needs protection,” you added.
“listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it,” steve tried to reason. “all right?”
“okay first of all this isn’t some stupid sports game,” mike rebutted. “and second we’re not even in the game. we’re on the bench.”
“right-right,” steve tried to think of a come back. “so my point is…”
“there’s nothing for us to do,” you finished for him.
“that’s not entirely true,” dustin mentioned, clearly up to something. “i mean the demodogs have a hive mind. when they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”
“so if we get their attention,” lucas interjected.
“we draw them away from the lab,” max added.
“away from eleven,” you finished.
“yeah and then we all die,” steve tried to reason.
“well, that’s one point of view,” dustin retorted.
“no, that’s not a pint of view man,” steve said with an attitude. “it’s a fact.”
“i’ve got it!” mike went into another room, pointing to the drawings of the vines. “this is where hop dug the hole. this is where we get to the vines,” he began to move again. “here, right here. this is like a hub. so you’ve got all the tunnels feeding in here. i think if we set this on fire-“
“oh, yea, that’s a no,” steve interjected, a hand on his hips as he pointed to the child. you nudged steve with your arm, pulling him to the side.
“look, i know i don’t know much about this situation and everything,” you started. “but i don’t think they’ll be able to close the gate at all with all of those dogs for eleven to kill. it seemed like killing only one of them drained her a bit. mike said that place had hundreds, steve. it’s not just our lives on the line. it’s everyone’s.”
he wanted to listen to you. he wanted to help. and he wanted you to know that he cared about what you thought. but he promised them that he would keep the kids safe. he couldn’t break his promise.
while you were trying to reason with him, the kids were still plotting on how to distract the dogs. steve ran his hands through his hair before clapping, getting everyone’s attention.
“hey! hey! hey!!” he shouted. “this is not happening.”
“but-“
“no buts!” he scoffed “i promised to keep you shitheads safe and that’s exactly what i plan on doing. we’re staying here. on the bench. and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. does everybody understand that?”
“this isn’t even a stupid sports game!” mike reminded him.
“i said does everybody understand that?” steve repeated. “i need a yes.”
you opened your mouth to begin speaking when you heard a familiar engine revving outside of the house. you and max ran to the couch to peer outside and see who was out there.
“shit,” you turned to max. “billy.”
“he’ll kill us if he knows we’re here,” max told lucas.
“just-just stay inside,” steve motioned to you and max. “both of you, please,” the look in his eyes told you he was serious.
you placed max behind your back and nodded to him, knowing that if he saw you would would know max was with you.
you didn’t know or hear anything that was going on outside. you were just pacing around the living room, trying to remain calm. steve could handle this.
then you saw all the kids duck down from the couch.
“what the fuck guys?” you scoffed at them. “max did he see you?!” the door slammed open, billy walking inside.
“well, well, well,” billy scowled. “lucas sinclair. what a surprise. i thought i told you to stay away from him max,” he said as he got closer to your sister, you were both able to feel his breath on your skin.
“and i thought i told you to brush your teeth this morning,” you got between him and the children.
“she knows what happens when she disobeys me,” he chuckled. “i break things.”
he immediately turned towards lucas before you could move him out of the way. billy had your shirt collar in his hands, shoving you towards the wall before he laid a punch on your cheek.
the kids were screaming, begging for him to stop. he wouldn’t listen after throwing two punches, feeling blood trickling down your nose, he held you tightly once more.
“what is it with that fucking mouth of yours huh?” he chuckled. “always such a bitch. i would imagine that your new boyfriend, harrington would like you much more if you would just keep it shut like a good little bitch, huh?”
“you’re the bitch,” you heard steve announce before he laid a fat one on billy’s cheek, shocking his grip off of you.
you nearly fell to the ground, your balance being less than stellar with your leg already hurting. max was there to help you balance, wrapping her arm around your waist.
“looks like you finally got some fire in you after all, huh?” billy began laughing maniacally. “i’ve been waiting to meet this king steve everybody’s been telling me so much about!” he walked closer to steve.
“get out,” steve ordered.
billy swung, steve ducked to miss the shot before landing another one of his own, sending billy across the room. he landed a couple more blows before billy grabbed a plate, smashing it over steve’s head. steve stumbled out of the room, trying to catch his breath while billy followed.
“nobody,” he picked steve up by his collar. “nobody tells me what to do,” he threw him to the ground.
you could sense that he was about to pound on top of steve, so you shoved billy out of the way, reminding him of your presence to shift his focus. maybe steve would be alright if you were able to distract him for long enough.
“look,” billy chuckled. “little princess with the hurt leg wants to save her boyfriend,” he kicked the hurt leg, sending you falling to the ground, but not before grasping one of billy’s legs, taking him with you.
with billy now on the ground, you rolled on top of him, sending a punch to his cheek. you winded your hand back, ready to send another one before he caught your hand, squeezing it so tight you swear your heard some bones pop.
“he’s-“ you tried to speak through the pain, tears running down your face. “he’s not,” you yanked his hair back with your free hand, shocking him enough to retrieve your hand. “he’s not my boyfriend.”
“right,” he smiled with his head back before spinning you two back over, him now on top of you before landing another punch on your cheek. “he never would be, huh?” another punch. “you’re not good enough for anyone in this goddamn town, as terrible as it is. not good enough for anybody anywhere. you’re just a little girl with daddy issues,” he put his face in your own. “trying to feel love even though you know you’ll never deserve it,” he began chuckling, brushing your hair behind your ear. “you’ll always be that pathetic little whore deep down, huh?”
tears were now flowing down your face, embarrassment long forgotten from the pure pain and torture you felt beneath the boy you should’ve trusted. the boy you were supposed to be able to call a brother. as he spat in your face, you realized he had a hold on one of your hands.
he used the free one to land one more blow to your face before steve tackled him off of you. max had immediately come to your aid, but it wasn’t long before billy was back on top of steve. you pointed to steve, then to the shelf that had the sedative.
“use it,” you nodded towards max.
she marched towards the shelf, grabbing the medicine before shoving it in the back of billy’s neck. he quickly got off of steve, turning to face max. you couldn’t hear what was going on, the ringing in your ears a bit too loud. you saw billy hit the floor, smiling with what seemed like laughter before you hobbled up, grabbing steve’s nailed bat before raising it over your shoulder.
“from here on out you will leave max and her friends alone, got it?” you asked.
he just laughed.
you swung the bat right between his legs, underneath his dick before screaming, “say you understand! say it!”
“i understand,” he finally mustered up the courage to speak.
“sorry, what was that,” you wanted him to be louder.
“i understand!”
“good,” you dropped the bat to your side before grabbing the keys from his belt loop. “joy ride, anyone?” you put on as good of a smile as you could while holding the keys up.
you had told max to drive, your leg still absolutely killing you. you sat in the back, steve’s head on your lap as you doctored up his wounds. it was the hydrogen peroxide that made him wake up.
“shh,” you whispered. “i know, i know,” you ran your hands through his hair.
“y/n?” you nodded at his question.
“let me just clean you up a bit, alright?” you finished pouring the peroxide, letting him squeeze your hand to return the favor from earlier before placing a dab of neosporin and a bandage over each cut while the kids were navigating.
you were paying attention to his wounds but he was paying attention to you. how careful you were. how soft your hands felt on his face, how nice they felt in his hair. was his head on your thighs? they were comfy. soft. he could stay like this forever. until he realized…
“oh my god!” he shouted, moving him from his daydream and back into reality.
“relax, she’s driven before,” dustin tried to convince steve it was fine.
“in a parking lot!” mike added.
steve kept chanting, ‘oh my god,’ as max drove, each of the kids trying to calm him down. it was all stressful and probably too loud for his head. there was definitely a concussion, you just weren’t sure how bad it was.
“everyone shut up!” you ordered. “steve, i couldn’t drive. the douchebag hurt my leg even more, i told her she could, she’s really not too bad. now you have got to breath before you put yourself in worse condition than you already are, got it?” you told him, hands placed softly on both sides of his face to ground his attention.
he nodded, taking a deep breath as you animated with him.
“your face,” he reached up to cup your face, you leaned into his touch.
this one time.
“i’m sorry i didn’t stop him sooner…”
“it’s not your fault, steve,” you gave him a small smile. “billy’s just a douche,” you shrugged. “besides, now i can say that i’ve been in a fight.”
you swore he was leaning into you until max nearly missed her left turn, hitting a mailbox and nearly crashing the car. steve’s arms were flailing everywhere until he wrapped one around your shoulder and the other around your waist.
“jesus, max!” you huffed out. “make a liar out of me, why don’t ya?”
a sigh of relief fell upon the entire group as she put the car in park. “i told ya. zoomer,” she added.
“zoomer?” steve asked you, you laughed and placed your hand over his mouth to shut him up for a moment.
you and the kids got everything out of the car, the masks and goggles to protect yourselves. steve was stumbling out of the car, mumbling about how he told you not to go in there, saying that it wasn’t gonna happen.
“look, steve,” you took your metal pipe out of the trunk. “either you stay here and watch the car or something while i make sure they stay safe or you come with us and help me. your decision,” you shoved his backpack in his direction, along with his nailed bat, before hobbling after the kids.
“y/n,” steve called you back. “you’re hurt. your leg. is this really the best decision?”
“it’s the only decision, steve,” you shook your head. “regardless of whether or not you’re going down there, my sister is not going without me. got it, steve?” he nodded. “good.”
steve jumped in the hole before you, able to catch you so you wouldn’t hurt your leg even more with the impact of landing. you quickly took your hands from his shoulders to turn and observe the tunnels.
“yea i’m pretty sure it’s this way,” mike said, his voice slightly muffled by the bandana around his nose and mouth.
“you’re pretty sure or are you certain?” dustin demanded to know.
“im 100 percent sure!” mike rephrased. “just follow me and you’ll know!” mike began to lead the group.
“woah! woah! woah! hey, hey, hey!” steve shouted. “i don’t think so,” he said as he caught up with mike, leaving max to be your crutch beside you.
“what?” mike questioned.
“any of you little dipshits die down here and i get the blame,” steve said. “got it, dipshit?” you rolled your eyes. “here on out, i’m leading the way. come on, let’s go.”
“my god, what is this place?” you looked around. it seemed like a cave that had little extensions.
“alright let’s keep moving!” steve ordered, moving ahead quickly.
“ahh shit!” you heard dustin’s scream “it’s in my mouth! holy shit it’s in my mouth! ahhh!”
you all ran to where he was, you got on the ground next to him, he grasped your arm as he kept trying to spit it out on the ground, coughing before sitting back up.
“i’m okay,” he breathed out.
“seriously?” you shoved him back before steve held out his hand to help you up, letting his hand linger around your waist.
“really funny man,” steve sassed. “nice, very nice.”
this time he let his hand on your waist guide you through the tunnels beside him, albeit a bit worried about something happening to you. you didn’t mind, you felt max’s presence right behind you.
“alright wheeler,” steve announced. “i think we’ve found your hub.”
it was huge. like a big cave with little extensions in every direction. the little particles dancing around made it hard to see, even still with your adjusted eyes.
“drench it,” mike said.
you all began pouring the flammable liquid you had gathered everywhere, making sure to cover as much surface as possible. this thing would burn. and you wanted to make sure of it.
“you guys ready?” you asked, they all nodded. you turned to steve, his nod ensuring that they were ready before you flicked the flame alive, tossing it onto the ground.
immediately the vines began to come to life, screeching from pain and writhing, trying to escape it.
“let’s go,” steve yelled. “let’s go! let’s go! lets go!” he ushered the kids away, you not too far behind him.
when mike tripped, screaming for help, you were able to whack the vine with your metal pipe, sending it screeching back away from his leg, you ordered the others to keep running before a dog came before you.
“dart?”dustin had asked. “is that you buddy?”
“dustin-“
“trust me!” dustin ordered. “hey, it’s me, it’s me. it’s just your friend. it’s dustin,” he took his goggles off to prove it to the creature. “just dustin, all right? you remember me,” he crouched down to the dog’s level. “will you let us pass?”
the dog snarled at him, seemingly telling the child no.
“okay, okay. i’m sorry,” dustin tried to reason. “i’m sorry about the storm cellar. i know it was a pretty douchey thing to do. you hungry?” he reached into his backpack. “yea? i’ve got our favorite. see? nougat,” dustin began to unwrap the candy for the dog to eat, placing on the ground. “look at that. yummy. here, all right,” he backed away from the dog, waving for everyone to pass the creature while he was occupied. “there’s plenty, i’ve got more,” he offered.
you began to ignore his reunion, instead ensuring that max got across safely, your hand on the square of her back as steve led the group at the front. dustin quickly earned his footing ahead of you before you saw the rope.
steve began lifting the kids up the rope as he heard the roaring of the dogs. first max, then lucas, mike, dustin, then the dogs were too close.
“steve?” you looked at him, tears pricking the corners of your eyes.
he grasped your hand, “i’ve got you,” but you opted for wrapping your arms around his torso, his going around your shoulders. you tucked your head into his chest before realizing that they hadn’t attacked you. they were going around.
“eleven,” mike realized.
steve was able to hoist you up, letting the rest of the kids help pull you up before he grasped your hand, you and the kids doing the same for him. once you were all on safe, solid, normal ground, you noticed the headlights of the car getting increasingly bright. eleven was doing her thing. you had helped.
-
one broken tibia and a month later, hawkins was seemingly ‘normal’ again. you were adorned in a pretty little cast while waiting for max outside of the snow ball dance. you think her and lucas will kiss, she might’ve mentioned wanting to during one of your sleepovers.
you were parked outside of the school, reading the shining for what felt like the 50th time, when a car parked next to your own. you looked across and saw none other than steve harrington in the drivers seat, a dorky grin on his face as he waited for you to wave your hand and motion for him to join you in your car.
“hey,” he opened the door and plopped in. “so, uhhh…”
“yes?” you asked, wanting to know why he had that dopey grin on his face. while it was an obnoxiously cute grin, you still wanted to know what put it there.
“how’s the leg?” he motioned to the one that was bent in your seat, still a bit of grief hit him when he remembers how hurt you had gotten that night.
“y’know,” you shrugged. “it’ll be fine. hurts like hell, though.”
“i’m sorry,” he dropped eye contact with you, opting to look at his hands that were currently cupping his knees.
“for what?” you chuckled. “you didn’t do this.”
“yea but,” he breathed out. “i could’ve. i saw billy when he-he shoved your leg in. you have no idea how-how angry that made me. and how he spoke to you? i just… you are deserving of-“
“hold it, steve,” you put your hand up. “i don’t need you to give me this whole ‘pity speech’ about how i deserve love and how im not broken, okay?” you rolled your eyes. “i know i am and im fine with that. what i don’t need is some guy who thinks he knows me try to tell me that im good enough for him or for anyone else. because frankly, i don’t-i don’t even feel that way, okay? so, please,” you felt tears prick your eyes. “don’t bring that back up. because bill-billy somehow knows my deepest thoughts and fears and i-i don’t want anyone else to even think about them. i just can’t handle it right now.”
“y/n,” he grasped your hand with his own. “it’s okay. it’s okay to not be able to handle something-especially after what you’ve been through,” he brought your hand to his lips. “i care about you. i want you to be able to talk through it, even if it isn’t with me.”
“i can’t,” you shook your head. “i can’t talk to max about this. i don’t want her to see me like this.”
“then she doesn’t have to, okay?” he reached across the console and wrapped his arms around you, letting you cry on his shoulder. “i’m here, it’s okay.”
“it’s just…” you dragged on. “home isn’t good. it’s not even a home. i just try to make sure max is never in the mix when things go down but then i-then,” you choked on a sob before he continued to stroke your back.
he pulled back after a second, “if you and max ever need to just… escape, you know my door is always open,” his eyes searched yours for some sort of confirmation but found a bit of weariness. “my parents are like never home, so you won’t really have to worry about them not wanting you guys around.”
“i wouldn’t want to do that to you,” you shook your head, insistent on the idea that you would be too close to a burden on him.
“do what?” he scoffed with a smile. “rid me of my… i’ll admit, loneliness?”
“steve harrington? the king of hawkins high, lonely?” you rolled your eyes. “yea, i’ll believe it when i see it.”
“then you will come over?” he acknowledged with a shit-eating grin. “see the loneliness, first-hand?”
“maybe, steve,” you sighed. “maybe.”
and maybe you should’ve let yourself hold onto him a little longer. you should’ve let your walls down for him. but you couldn’t. you barely knew him. well, you knew him now. but not outside of trying to save the world. you didn’t know how he was when he was sick. you didn’t know his favorite color.
so for tonight, you let yourself feel. you let yourself weep and break and crumble apart in steve harrington’s arms. chances are he would forget what even happened the next day anyway.
this one time.
tomorrow came. and no sign of steve. then the next, then the next. for some reason you felt disappointed. after everything… no.
you don’t need him. you don’t want him. you are perfect without him. your walls are still intact. you have yourself. that’s all you need.
but max, well, max needed you. sometimes she wouldn’t admit it, but she really did need you. so, you were there.
you drove her to the arcade the fifth day, deciding to stick around and watch her do her thing from inside, cheering her on and handing her more quarters once she ran out.
when you heard the other heathens arrive, you knew who was dropping them off. you opted to not even look out of the glass door. he doesn’t need to know you’ve even thought of his name. maybe you have a bit too much.
“y/n,” steve’s voice rang through your ears. you turned to face him with an obviously forced grin. “sorry i never called, my-“
“oh, doesn’t matter, harrington,” you shrugged. “all is well.”
“i just thought that you maybe wanted to talk since…” he dragged on, not wanting to spill too much with this many ears around.
“look, harrington,” you turned to actually look him in his eyes. “i get that we got a bit close and all because of some life or death situations but you don’t need to pretend to care or be my friend anymore. i just-i need to make sure max is taken care of, and that takes a lot more work than you would think,” you chuckled, trying to break the bridge before your walls became irreplaceable to the brown haired boy before you.
“i was never pretending, y/n,” his eyebrows furrowed at your word-vomit taking a step closer to you while reaching for your hand. “you realize i just want to help, i want to be there for you.”
“i don’t need anyone,” you shook your head, pulling your hand away from his. “i’m fine, harrington. i’ve been fine without someone this far, and i’ll continue to be fine.”
“you deserve to be better than fine, y/n,” he argued, letting your hand fall from his own, as much as he missed its warmth. “and what-what’s happened to ‘steve’? what’s with this ‘harrington’ bullshit again?”
“it’s your name,” you shrugged, avoiding eye contact with the man in front of you. you could feel how close you were to caving in. but you couldn’t. you just… you couldn’t risk it. “i’ll use it how i please.”
“when you decide you want to be more than fine,” he sighed, knowing how stubborn you were. “i’ll always be here. waiting for you.”
you turned around before saying with tears in your eyes, “don’t hold your breath, harrington.”
you felt his hand linger over your shoulder, hesitating to leave his touch before you felt the warmth of his presence retreat. the only sign that told you he was surely gone was the ring of the bell on that glass door and the revving engine of his car.
you wouldn’t have noticed if the glass door had shattered as distracted as you were with the feeling of your own heart doing the same. this wasn’t supposed to hurt. you weren’t supposed to feel anything. but now you felt everything. from the one night, that was supposed to only be one time. so why did you want him all the time?
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