𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 [9.3k!!]; friends to lovers, forced proximity, mutual pining, kinda dialogue heavy, soft kisses, eventual smut, not much dirty talk bc they're really sweet about it, p in v (unprotected 😛) 18+! inspired by this beauty of a fic by @rebelfell
ALSO!! this is my submission for day one of @littlexdeaths twelve days of promptmas writing game!! 🫶🏻🎄
Your regularly scheduled movie night runs amuck when your friends ditch out because of the heavy snow. Everyone except Steve, that is. Trapped in your apartment during a freak blizzard, stuck together under a mountain of blankets with nowhere to go anytime soon, your night eventually leads to some confessions.
I don't proofread my work before posting, so please be forgiving of any mistakes.
"Can you let me in? S'fucking freezing out here".
Steve's shivering voice carries tacky through the tannoy, receiver pressed to your ear as you buzz him in to your apartment complex.
He's right, it was fucking freezing. It's not like you had left the safety of your small apartment today, but the snow had been falling heavy since around 5am. A particularly loud snow plough had awoken you in the early hours, not that it had been back around since, sheets of sparkling white caking the road outside. You didn't know where the sidewalk ended and the street began.
It had become something of a ritual, twice monthly movie nights where your friends flocked to your place on a Friday night with snacks galore in hand. It was cramped, delightful sure, but cramped. You, Robin, Steve, Nancy, Jonathon, Argyle, and Eddie, all crowded into your living room that barely had capacity to house but one visitor was something out of an SNL sketch. Your second-hand sofa wasn't big enough and despite the regularity of their company, you never quite had enough glasses to go around.
Sometimes the kids joined, sometimes they didn't. It was easier when they were absent, since space was scarce and Eddie could turn up proud as punch with an obscene amount of beers tucked tightly under his arms. Jonathon and Argyle never failed to provide generously fat pre-rolled joints of their precious Purple Palm Tree Delight. Even Nancy sometimes brought a couple bottles of wine to liven the party.
But Hawkins, Indiana had been under attack by a particularly intense snow storm the past week. Gradually with each passing day, you would receive phone calls that one of them couldn't make it, which in time lead to all but one cancelling on you. Firstly it was Jonathon and Nancy, explaining that Joyce would be frantic if either of them even attempted to trudge across town in this weather.
Argyle followed soon after, something about the biting chill giving him bad vibes. Eddie the next day, apologetically explaining that he didn't want to leave Wayne considering there was the promise of a blizzard on the horizon. Then Robin only this morning. She didn't even need to provide a reason, you let her off the hook regardless, the night was a total flop anyways.
You hadn't actually told Steve that the others had dipped, assuming that Robin would have filled him in. They were roommates after all, they shared everything with each other, and you had obviously wrongly supposed a cancelled movie night would've been included in that everything.
"Robin not tell you?" you huff at him with your arms folded, not with impatience or annoyance, more guilty with the knowledge that he had driven through mountainous reams of snowfall just to get here.
"Tell me what?" Steve glances up at you as he's dusting off his coat outside the door, melting pearlescent beads of remnant snowflakes twinkling at the tips of his hair.
"Everyone canceled," you shrug, a small tremble engulfing you as you face the icy breeze, and Steve easily picks up on the disappointment laced within the words. You had been in your comfy clothes all day, a cream long sleeved cotton shirt and some baby blue checkered pyjama bottoms, well accustomed to the snug safety of your apartment, so the bite of frost outside your front door was a bit of a shock.
His cheeks are speckled a deep candy floss blush, no doubt chilled to the bone considering the plummeting temperature outside, the tip of his nose that one shade darker.
Pretty, you think despite yourself, gaze lingering a little too long, the sensation of a heated flush spreading along your chest beneath your cotton lounge shirt.
"Haven't seen her," he shrugs back. "Since work closed until this weather lightens up, she sleeps like... all day," his eyes widen in a side glance, pausing the ruffling of his sleeves to affix his stare to you in emphasis. You chuckle, standing to the side where he shuffles past into the hallway to kick off his sneakers that were entirely inappropriate for this time of the season.
"Sorry, you travelled all this way in that shit just to go right back out there again," you cross your arms over yourself a second time, eyebrows furrowing, leaning slack against the radiator that buzzed with delightful warmth.
He eyes you then, confused, as he hangs his coat casually beside yours, clearly not in any rush the step back out into the barrage or sleet and powder white. Steve turns in your direction, his hand through his damp hair that flicks droplets of water onto the floor below him.
"You want me to go?" he responds flatly, a curious tilt of his head, and you immediately redden with panic. Jesus, did you just hurt his feelings? Was it wrong of you to presume he didn't want to stay? But why would he? The two of you never hang out alone.
"No, no. That's not what I meant at all" you assure him in a hurry, tripping over yourself with a small breathy chuckle following swiftly behind in an attempt you save yourself. Steve's lips tighten into a line, though the corners lift into the wisp of a smile nonetheless.
Your heartbeat thrums in your chest, right up into your throat so intensely you were sure that Steve could see your skin pulsing. Though he's just nodding in thought, training his gaze at anywhere but you, and you're both subdued into a terribly long beat of silence. Great, now we've fucked it. God, if you're listening, please let the ground swallow me whole.
Steve had been someone you admired from afar. Of course you considered him a friend, but that type of friend you only hung out with when others were around. You would be lying to yourself if you said that a crush wasn't mingling there at the depth of your belly, a feathered flutter of wings circling around your heart whenever he would beam all pearly white teeth and glossy lips.
Everyone but him seemed to know it, sense it, as if cupid had physically manifested themselves and shot you square in your left ass cheek. Maybe that was why Robin didn't tell him, knowing in her plotting mind that Steve would for sure turn up at your door anyways. Robin knew Steve as well as she knew herself, souls connected at the heart, and you could picture the evil smirk on her face when the lightbulb moment hit.
Steve was kind of the blueprint, not just in your book, clearly. You knew how popular he was with the ladies, and goddamn you couldn't blame them. Angled jaw and olive skin, constellations of espresso freckles that complimented him so nicely. He was also so kind, goofy and silly, bitchy when he wanted to be but mostly raw sugar and candy apple sweetness.
But it was Steve. And you were you. The feeling would not be mutual, as much as your heart swelled at the thought of any maybe's, you had come to terms with that. It was easier that way.
"Well, I brought these," He fills the suffocating gap and you're snapped from your enraptured trance, digging into a blue plastic bag that was swinging from his wrist. You're watching him fumble, a deep crease between his brows and he's frowning. At least you can stare at him that little bit longer.
Steve eventually pulls out two boxes of Nerds, shaking them enticingly in your direction. There's that flutter again, seduced by his natural charm even when he wasn't trying. "I know they're your favourite. Watermelon and cherry, right?".
You were taken aback for a moment, you didn't even know that Steve payed so much attention to you, especially to the things you like. You're a little puzzled but you take them from his grasp with grace nonetheless, your fingertips brush faintly, noting the breath that hitches at the back of your throat that you force yourself to ignore.
"Right. Thanks". Your heartbeat pumps violently beneath the skin of your cheeks that were now a fiery shade of red. You probably sound a tad ungrateful right now, but the tips of your ears were burning and your mouth had run dry and you couldn't help it when the radiator was this hot at your back.
"No problem. Oh and this too". It sounds like he didn't notice your tone, either that or he chose to not pay it much mind. He's handing you a VHS tape then, surely one he had taken from work without hiring it out as he was supposed to. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. You hadn't seem it, four years late to the hype, but this works for you.
You smile back at him, those growing embers of fondness stoke a little wilder in your tummy, and Steve returns the grin just as kindly. The small pause of discomfort fizzled out as quickly as it came, no longer looming when Steve's eyes lifted with affection, platonically of course, glinting handsomely at the corners.
"Perfect. Come in, make yourself at home". You're ushering him inside, socked feet pattering down the hallway with Steve following a pace behind. He knew your apartment like the back of his hand, which wasn't exactly hard. If your group had an assigned headquarters, it would be your place that only had two windows and a bathroom so miniature you could barely take a shower in it.
Your evening set in motion like clockwork. Steve was busying himself with setting up the VHS player, proudly stationing your couch cushions just right on each end, a generous selection of candy littering your coffee table.
Nerds, red vines, milk duds, and cherry sours. The only thing missing was popcorn, which you were hastily shoving into your microwave that would pick and choose when to work. Thankfully, it was on your side tonight. It must have known you were a nervous wreck as it was, which feels dumb to think of in the moment afterwards.
"Uh... No alcohol tonight, though. That okay?" you call to Steve through the walkway after searching through the fridge, twinging with guilt again when you pull out a half empty bottle of cherry soda, as if it was difficult for him to hear you from the next room.
"You think I need alcohol to have a good time with you?" Steve chirps, a cocky eyebrow quirking as he appears through the kitchen doorway, and damn him you were scorching something sickening again.
Steve had turned up in some well fitting grey sweats and a navy blue-black sweater, with some mismatched socks to complete. An attire you couldn't miss when you first opened the door to him merely fifteen minutes earlier. You try not to stare, honestly you do. But those sweats fit him so well in all the right places and he was leaning so slack against the door frame, sleeves shifted up a quarter with his arms criss crossed. Damn him, damn him, damn him.
"I didn't mean it like that," you have to turn away from him before the staring became too apparent, focusing your attention on the dwindling pop pop popping in the microwave. "You warmed up enough yet?", you ask in desperation to change the topic.
It was only half a lie, that you didn't mean it in that way. The majority of social situations you had experienced with Steve involved alcohol; hangouts, parties, afternoons lounging around at community pool, that one summer where you all took a spontaneous day trip to Michigan City beach.
Where a set of sunburst hazelnut eyes peered at you fondly over the lip of a beer bottle, cheesy grin dripping in admiration that you had only taken in chaste. Steve had let it linger too, comfortable enough in your presence around friends, observing your doting smile and sing-songy laugh. But the thought of being alone with you made his heart skip, enjoying your company at arms length because of course he didn't like you like that, right?
Of course you wouldn't feel the same even if he did... right?
"I don't know, have I?" he's trialing, voice carrying closer the longer he speaks, and with your back turned, head bubbling over in thought and vulnerable to his actions, Steve presses the frozen back of his hand to the nape of your neck. His fingers hook absentmindedly beneath the collar of your shirt, and you yelp loud in response to his icy touch.
"You jerk!" A shrill floods his ears as you jump away from him, mouth agape and hands flying to swat him away. Steve is laughing, really laughing, and it's so chocolatey rich and sickly sweet and fucking intoxicating.
"Jesus christ, your hands are purple," you announce when you calm, discreet alarm hidden beneath your swift once over of him, chuckling with half the heart since your spine had ricocheted in a white-hot tremor. You reach for him then and he lets you, stepping into his space to encompass all eight fingers and two thumbs around his.
Steve watches you with a kind of intensity you weren't used to, the soft swipe of your fingertips kindling where you were burning, ice to your fire.
You nibble at your bottom lip, the corner of it dipping where you're gnawing at the skin on the inside. A tender dip atop the bridge of your nose, and Steve could count every blemish, every freckle, and every smile line this close up.
You couldn't look at him, losing your nerve at the mere thought of meeting his honeysuckle gaze, and he's thankful for it. Because now he can stare a little longer at you, too.
"Anyway..." you trail off distractedly, a brief glance up at Steve then back to your intertwined hands again. He clears his throat, a harsh swallow then he’s dropping away from where you linked. The room was colder when he took one step back into his own space, purposefully creating that distance.
"Popcorn?" he adds with a breath of finality and a small smile, mentally challenging himself to pay no mind to the lingering warmth of your touch. He shoos you out of the kitchen once you nod, eyes a little sparkly and rounded at the edges.
Steve finishes up in the kitchen as you collect an extra blanket from your bedroom, grabbing two full glasses he had filled with a generous helping of ice and soda in each on your way past again.
Dimming the lights in the living room like you do every movie night, you stand back to admire the sheer cosiness of it all with the snow flurrying down through the window above the television.
It still felt strange, collapsing onto the couch as Steve follows shortly after with a rather large bowl cupped in both hands, towering with buttery popcorn. Though you relax a little in each other's company rather swiftly, cosying a respectable width apart with the bowl secured between the side of your thigh and his.
You settle back into the couch once the movie develops full swing, revelling in the opportunity to steal greedy glances at Steve from the corner of your eye. Mocha blemishes and eyes flashing sparkly with the reflection of the television screen. Your gaze flits to where his silken lips stretch wide absentmindedly, chitters of laughter through his teeth and huffs through his nose.
You don't think you have ever watched him this long, especially not in in the security of nobody else clocking your ogling. Your head lolls back, attention flicking back to the movie when he would readjust or reach for more popcorn.
You didn't stare at him too long, just in calculated intervals. But you revel in him despite yourself; his left arm is stretched along the top of the sofa, fingertips a mere inch or so from the tilt of your scalp in his direction, thighs spread wide beneath the blanket, taking up far too much room, and the back of your neck prickles with some sort of ferocious heat.
You concentrate on the movie again, the possibility of Steve catching you mouth parted and lids heavy, blatantly undressing him with your eyes made your stomach twist. He's just a friend.
Neither of you had said a word in about 40 minutes, not that you had to. The silence was comfortable enough and the copious amount of snacks before you kept your hands occupied.
Though Steve snook at few peaks your way too, soft features and fluttering lashes, fingers twitching when he studies the strands of hair that illuminate silver and blue. He knows he shouldn't, and he curses himself as he surveys the cushioned push and pull of your lips as you chew on a red vine.
Another couple minutes pass, reaching into the bowl beside you to grab a fistful of popcorn, fully engrossed in the flicking scenes in front of you at this point. Steve's hand was digging into the pile too, though his movements considerably slow when his fingertips brush with yours.
You pull back with a clipped "Oop", darting a glance that meets his, and you blush where he pales. Steve's skin is alight, all firing nerve endings and dancing senses.
You're leaning forward then to grab a sweating glass of soda from the coffee table, shuffling to the edge of the couch and shifting yourself unintentionally further into his space. The plush of your hip nudges a fraction into his kneecap, enough for you to both notice, but neither of you move away this time.
You picture Robin beaming down at the scene, the air electric and thick with an unspoken eagerness to be close, so close, closer. Whether this was a wicked plan or not, you knew that the rest of your group would be sighing in relief that the two of you were even just alone together, for goodness sake. Because if you both stewed long enough in this growing familiarity, this growing fondness, face to face with temptation, maybe then these seemingly unrequited feelings would come to a head. At last.
50 minutes in and Steve knows the scene that's about to flash up, literally, because who doesn't pause Fast Times at 53 minutes and 5 seconds? The pool scene. Red bikinis, dripping wet hair and bare tanned skin, you can't look away. Your eyes are fixated on the screen but Steve's are glued to your face, noticing the way your lips part wet at the centre and you grip your glass that tiny bit tighter.
Though as fate allows, it never reaches the crescendo, the iconic segment coming to a close and just as Phoebe Cates goes to undo the front of her bikini top, the screen cuts to black. The lights do the same, no warning, just complete darkness with the only saving grace being the amber streams of light cutting through your window from the street lamps outside.
"What?!" you exhale harder than you meant to, glancing up at the ceiling where the filament of the bulb still glows bronze at the centre as it dies out. Steve rests his head back, a short laugh rattling in his chest in disbelief.
"Goddamn, haven't seen a tit in at least 6 months and this is how I'm treated?" he's rubbing the space between his eyebrows, harshly wiping his palm down the centre of his face and stalling over his mouth.
"Fuck, sorry," you heard him but weren't exactly listening, though you're apologising and he's confused by it, knees knocking with his when you shimmy forward and stand with purpose.
"This happened before?" Steve asks gently without judgement, trained on your movements as you pace over to the light switch to flick it up and down once, twice, three times, to no avail.
"Once," you glower, immediately grumpy and frustrated. "And my dumbass landlord never got the backup generator fixed either, so I doubt that'll save us". Steve grins at the way your expression crumples, petulant and stroppy but he wants to iron the creases out with his thumbs.
"You're laughing" you tell him pointedly, hands on your hips and one brow raised in a terrible display of sternness. Steve holds up his hands in surrender, voice as smooth as silk, "I would never laugh at you".
You believe him and feel your shoulders relax, running your hands over your face amidst a heavy sigh as you collapse back on the couch with him again. "Sorry that this has been a lame movie night," you're apologising once more and Steve is already sick of it, not in a irritated way, he just doesn't like the fact that you're clearly stressed.
"What?" Steve turns himself toward you, left leg triangled underneath him. You're pouting, shiny bottom lip pressed forward with your arms crossed over yourself. "No it's not. Honestly, I don't know why we don't hang out more."
"We hang out all the time, Steve" you remind him.
He rolls his eyes, head craning around and back onto his shoulders without any meanness in it, and you know him well enough to realise there was no intended hostility. "Yeah, but I mean... like, just the two of us," he corrects as if his initial intent was obvious, hands gesturing between the two of you.
Your hand reaches up to scratch at your cheek, concealing your giddy expression from him, skin warmer than the baking sun during mid July. God, your heart was in your throat. Just chill out.
"Did you only choose Fast Times so you could see a fucking tit?" you direct the conversation elsewhere before the iron grip of nerves rusts you beyond compare, like tin in a rainstorm. Your arms are still folded, the corners of your mouth twitched upwards in feigned disgust.
"Listen, I know that's on brand for me. But it was the first thing I saw on the shelf before I closed up the other day, okay?". Liar.
His cheeks are painted beetroot, that kind of dusting of deep rouge he got whilst four beers deep, a look you were familiar with at least two friends apart with music or blurred chatter overtaking any opportunity to absorb the sheer handsomeness of him.
Your skin prickles all over and the hairs on your arms stand on end, whether that be from the quickly dwindling heat in the cramped space, or from feeling like a organism under Steve's microscope, you weren't sure. Probably both. Definitely both.
Frost had now crystallised and diamond-dotted around the corners of the window, not helping any that it was merely single-paned. So the heat that did collect declined twice as fast.
"Okay, slick. I'll let you off easy," you prod, matching his eye-roll, nails scraping up and under your sleeves in an attempt to smooth out the goosebumps taking over. Steve follows your hands, a dip in his expression, a very illustrated sort of look.
"You cold?" he asks, then continues before you could answer, "You not got any candles or something?".
Your eyes light up at first, back straightening when you realise that you in fact do have some candles, ones you had collected over the years from birthdays and Christmas gifts. Though the hope is short lived, slumping back down even further into the cushions when you remember, "Fuck, I don't have a light though".
"I have some matches in my car," Steve sticks a thumb to the door, and the way you beam up at him from your turtled position has him heating up from the inside out.
"Wait there, I'll be right back," he's stumbling up off the couch, trudging down the hallway with a purpose, completely skipping his coat. He was a man on a mission.
It was the couple minutes that you were alone where you could finally fucking breathe. An ant under a magnifying glass being singed till your antennas smoked this entire time. It wasn't awkward, it was something in-between, like you couldn't exhale all the way out but also couldn't inhale all the way in either.
Two flights of stairs separate your front doorway and the complex lobby, therefore you were unable to hear Steve barging himself into an extremely stiff, absolutely without a doubt, frozen solid plexiglass. The at least two feet of snow that had collected in a pile-up right outside was no help either.
So Steve trudges back upstairs where you wait for him criss-cross applesauce, just as he had asked, chin ducked to his chest and hands running across his clammy face. Sweaty and exacerbated, he breaks the news that you were positively, doubtlessly, maybe or maybe not unfortunately, snowed in. Together. Trapped. With Steve. Alone.
"So what now?" you ask him when your face drops, no electricity and no heat with no way to get out of the building made your heart leap up into your throat for all of the wrong reasons.
"We uhhhh, we wait," Steve declares with a flair of certainty, trying to offer that sense of security you were gasping for in that moment. Though you didn't quite like that answer, no offence to him of course but you just couldn't accept waiting. So you hop up off the couch and call your landlord so that he could get his sorry ass up and actually call a goddamn snowplough or something.
"No answer. Of course he doesn't fucking answer," the last two words are accentuated by a pitiful slam of the receiver into the wall beside your telephone, a tilt into the more dramatic side but Steve kept his mouth firmly closed with that one. It was well past nine o'clock at night at this point, so neither of you expected to be able to leave until the early hours of the morning at the very least.
How utterly unfortunate.
You position yourself closer to Steve this time, swallowing over the nerves that wad up good and tight in your throat. He's sitting spread eagle as per usual, head leaning into the heel of his palm where his elbow is propped up on the arm of the couch, the other crossed over his lap.
"It's cold," you tell him bluntly as you bite the bullet and cosy yourself into his side, head on his shoulder, softening when he's peering down at you a little too skittishly. "Too close?" you question, then you're lifting your head up, a small gut punch when he doesn't respond immediately but it was one that you could probably manage.
"No! No, you're fine," Steve rushes to say and you were glad of it, unsure you could take the sting of rejection now that it didn't come, not when you had been shoulder to shoulder all evening.
You slip into silence then, one where neither of you were compelled to fill the gap.
His head is dizzy with you when you ease into him, floating into a dreamlike place when the smell of you overwhelms him. Vanilla and honey, a buttermilk richness that makes him want to press his nose into your hair. He won't though, that'd be weird. Since you were friends and all.
You could smell him too, bergamot and sage. Masculine and expensive, a scent you had picked up on before, but not one that filled your nostrils and sent you dumb with every inhale. Steve could undoubtably say that your breathing had changed, deepened. His mouth perks up into a faint smile.
Just friends.
Explicitly friends, even when Steve's hot palm skates over the back of your hand, fingers splaying out and catching at your wrist. Your pulse ramps up and you gawk up at him doe-eyed and pliant. He's swift with it, ensuring that you weren't caressing him in any way, just a quick slip up the shirt where your skin meets the forest of chest hair.
Steve must feel the bob of your throat as you swallow, because the sensation of his heart clattering under his ribs vibrates your nerves. "This too much? Sorry, I shouldn't've-" he grips your hand again but you resist him, pads of your fingers anchoring into his thatch of hair.
"No, no, it's okay. I'm fine with it if you are," You whisper to him in earnest, as if sharing a secret, scooting your head down so the shell of your ear closes right over where his heart sits. Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. Each beat comes in rapid succession, especially so when your fingertips flex inattentively against his balmy skin.
"You're so warm," you mutter tenderly into the sanctuary that was his sweater, and Steve's breath almost hitches. Your voice is caramel smooth, comforting like a hot bath after a long day, as soft as feather-down pillows and fresh cotton sheets.
"And your hands aren't so purple anymore," you're thinking out loud at this point but Steve is listening, extending his arm you were leaning on once more so that you dropped into his side, head cradled at the dip where his armpit begins.
"Think you've helped me warm up just fine," he's speaking low, the verbalisation mulling over his tongue and purring at the back of his throat. It was enough to make you tremble, the deepness of it when he shushes to match you.
Despite the tip of your nose numbing from the chill, the intimacy of your circumstance cancelled out any bitter altitude. Never in a million years did you think you would be cuddling up to Steve Harrington like this. The Steve Harrington you admired from at least six feet away, the Steve Harrington that you were only in the presence of, at the very least, in the company of his shadow, Robin.
"It's late," you comment after a few minutes, charting the rise and fall of his chest, the steadiness of his heart that fell back into a somewhat regular pace once he acclimated to the weight of your palm.
"You wanna head to bed? I can sleep out here," he's asking with sincerity, but you wish he wouldn't. Steve huffs out a laugh through the nose that strokes at the climbing butterflies begging to fly out from that space between the cage of your ribs and the plummet of your stomach.
You shake your head, eyebrows dipping with two harsh tucks of skin that he has to hold back a laugh against, forced to restrain himself when all he wanted was to keep you this close for as long as humanly possible.
"Steve?" the mutter of his name climbs higher at the end.
"Hm?"
"You really think we should hang out more?" your voice errs on the side of doubt, as if you didn't believe him the first time round, and Steve takes in a stunted breath as he mulls over the question.
He stills for a moment, then takes a more even inhale through his parted lips, and you can hear the grin that accompanies his answer. "Duh. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it".
You perk your head up to peek at him for the first time in a little while, chin prodding sharp into his breastbone but he doesn't say, not when you're so wide-eyed and breathtakingly beautiful in a way that would put Gia Carangi to shame.
"You're full of shit," you're chuckling and Steve wants to swallow every breeze of it, the whites of your teeth twinkling and eyes shining twice as bright. He can't fasten his attention to one specific part of your face, flitting down to the pull of your lips, watching the rosy hue flood over your cheeks, back up again to where you peer at him almost expectantly.
Your stares interlocked then, his golden gaze outpouring with the heat of a bonfire, pressed this close you could both feel the kick up of your hearts. Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. Quadruple the speed as before and double the ferocity, your ears burned with it. Neither of you made a move to look away, not a chance.
"I uhm... I really wanna do something right now, but-" Steve cuts himself short when you stretch your neck up toward him, moving up as he's leaning down. Jesus christ, you feel sick with the nerves. Sick with the intimacy of him, sick with the scorching brush of his fingers behind your ear along the curve of your neck.
"It's okay," you're mumbling, the wash of your permission running over his lips that were so close you could already taste him. Steve's mouth twists up at the corners, the satin stroke of where he's teasing you with the promise of a kiss he's not giving you just yet.
But only for a couple seconds, unable to hold back for long when you suck in a desperate sort of noise, and your grip solidifies at his chest to the point where your nails are casting crescent moons in his skin.
The seal of your lips is courteous, joint satisfied and relieved exhales a tsunami over the flesh of your cheeks and lower jaw. It's nothing more than one long press, nothing too crazy, an ebbing wave of give and take.
"Sorry..." he mutters when you part, merely an inch or so, and you're almost compelled to punch him. The main thing you had been doing all evening was apologising to each other.
"Why are you sorry?" you're whispering and he's desperate to kiss you again, longing to erase that hint of disappointment in your eyes that squashes your pretty features.
"I dunno," his laugh has an edge to it, shy, and you never thought the boy had any capability of being shy of all things.
"You don't want to do it again?" you squint at him, loaded with insincere scrutiny that has his fingers clasping fully to the back of your neck to reel you right back in. A breathy laugh escapes him, his intent as clear as the blooming sunrise shedding light upon a tangerine coloured sky.
The second bump of your lips has more purpose behind it, teetering on the edge of unforgiving, brimming with unspoken truths and wordless confessions. You heave through the nose at this harsher descent onto one another, slipping your hand from under his shirt to bury your nails into the mess of hair behind his ear instead.
He really tastes you then when you open up to him with a muted smack of your lips, artificial cherries and candied watermelon. You can taste him too, lingering milk chocolate and sickly sweet berries. The sweep of his tongue over yours crack fireworks behind your eyes, nothing too hot and heavy just yet, still gentlemanly in his approach, knowing you can cut this short whenever you wanted.
You push yourself up after a minute of wet sloven kisses, begrudgingly having to separate yourselves so that you can shift onto your knees. Steve is watching, grilling you with the fire of his blown out pupils.
The timidness remains deep within the barren of your chest, swallowed by your determination to bring to life all of these wants and desires that had loomed over you for as long as you had known him. Of course the fear is still seated within you, especially when it comes to Steve. Because it's Steve. Handsome, charming, just out of reach Steve who carried a torch for you at the back of a crowd.
He's contemplating you as you move, not entirely certain of where to look; your dreamy expression, already swollen lips that are now twice as inviting, the warm spread of your doughy thighs as you position yourself over him.
He decides then to spread his palms over the fall of your waist, fingers binding to the hills of flesh hidden beneath cotton. You encapsulate his face in your hands, thumbing over his cheekbones, burning up again when his tongue dips out to wet his bottom lip.
Slick, pink and polished with your mixed fervour, noses bumping somewhat clumsy when you take this time to just drink each other in for a second. You chased where he dipped, the curve of your lower lip skating up over his cupid's bow.
It was deafeningly quiet without the blare of the movie in the background, sounds of dreamy sighs and lovesick panting permeating the air and drowning out the whistling howl of the blizzard wind. You were smothered under the safety of the night, cast in raven shadows and the silvery glows of the moon being your only witness.
You can feel it, the growing tent of him under those goddamn grey sweats. You test the waters, weighting yourself down further to nudge your centre right over his lap. Steve's mouth dries up almost immediately at the contact, fingers digging into you with a sudden cruelty and it is the first time you hear him moan.
God, you wish you could capture it on tape, and you choke on a breath when he does it. The richness of it, testosterone and roughness that demands you to press down on him again. Steve rolls his hips as you squirm above him, gasping into his waiting mouth as you ramp each other up into one giant needy mess.
"You're on fire. You wanna stop?" His question comes to you through the thick smog of want eventually, noticing that he's pulled back to inspect you like a bird with a broken wing, palm cupping the underside of your jaw, tipping your head from side to side as your bated breaths mingle into a simultaneous heave.
"You just made a noise like that and you're asking if I wanna stop?"
He swallows, swears at himself then his lashes are fluttering when he meets your eye. He's stumbling over a response, totally disbelieving that he's finally in this situation in the first place. So many fantasies and wet dreams come to life at long last.
"I don't want you to think-" almost combusting when you lean forward again and tread your lips along his jawline. "Fuck- that I just came here to, to..." he whines into your hair as he succumbs to the slide of your teeth at his pulse point, arms wrapping around your back now to force you closer into him.
"Shut up, I don't think that," you display your honesty with a feathery kinder press of your mouth to the bulge of a vein in his throat. Steve releases a pleased sort of sound, grateful and comforted in the clarity that you wanted this just as much as he did.
"But if you don't want to anymore then that's okay," you're sad when you murmur it into his collar, not in a pressuring manner, and Steve knows you well enough to realise you would never pressure him.
His hands are searching for your face, revealing you from your hiding place of the clammy skin of his neck. Your forehead shines from the outpouring of sheer want and need, shining eyes glazed over and gem-like.
He traces the outer corner of your lip with his thumb, dipping into the crease when you part them slightly for him. He tugs lightly at the pillow of your lower lip, focusing entirely on the way it bounces back and leaves a sheen on his thumb in it's wake.
"Shut up," his abdomen shakes with laughter when he tugs you back to him, and a wrecked sigh overcomes you when your hot mouths meet again. You lick over his tongue with urgency, wild strands of his har wadded up in your fists so tight it almost hurts.
Steve shifts beneath you, arms cascading up and around you, fingers tracing down the curve of your spine and back up again. The delicate touch of skin on skin juxtaposed the meanness of his kisses, noses bruised in a crush together, not even leaning back when you close and part your lips over and over again.
It was like a well oiled machine, accustomed automatically to the seam of his mouth and where you slot perfectly against him. You rock your hips over him again and wish that you could drag this out further, but the way that he's stuttering under you, his movements becoming messier and less calculated, you had to tear his clothes off and get this done with before you both erupted.
You were the first to tug off your shirt, escalating this further and curse you, your hands are shaking as you do so. Steve's ministrations follow your lead, large hot hands spreading flat to take in this new exposed skin.
He treads over the pillow of soft tummy, revels in the feel of the cushion of fat over your ribs under his thumbs, up further until his knuckles are brushing at the underside of your breasts. He hadn't even looked, his eyes are squeezed firmly closed and his features overcome with a look of pure anguish.
Because it was almost too much; the see-saw of your hips over where he was straining in his pants, the softness and heat of your tongue in his mouth, the furnace of your skin in this freezing room, and those fucking sick sounds you were making. You were breaking his will, crumbling chalk beneath your fingers.
"Jesus christ" Steve groans into your open mouth, and you finally pull back so he can eat up your naked torso, feasting on your mouthwatering form. That's it, he's died and gone to heaven. There's no way that this was real.
You’ve seen a tit now, haven’t you, Harrington? You keep that one to yourself, he didn’t need to be embarrassed about it.
But damn you it is real, made even more apparent when you take his hands in yours and guide him to the perk of your breasts. He stills there for a moment, mouth agape and hips grinding up into you without meaning to.
You push his mess of hair away from his face, heart skipping a beat of two, lurching up into your throat when he beams up at you. Full ear to ear grin, teeth and all, large hands kneading into you. Another shift underneath you and your eyes are rolling back, cotton on cotton, the height of your clit prodding right over the grooves of his tip.
Steve slouches from the back of the couch, burying his face into the glossy juncture of your neck, you have to glue your nails into the nape of his hairline to trap him there.
You can't remember the last time you had been kissed like this, or ever in fact, greedy and harsh yet he was only give give give.
He's clumsy as he fondles you, suffocated under the bareness of you but it still wasn't quite enough. His tongue works over where your artery is screaming for him, groaning and tilting your head to the side to jam his mouth even further into you. You arch your back when his teeth ghost over you, not fully biting, just there to tease and make you want him more.
"Steve. Take this off, for fuck sake" you're mewling a plea, scampering to hook your fingers under the hem of his sweater. Steve is more than compliant, anything for you to keep sighing his name just like that. He's chuckling at your urgency, cock kicking up to meet your centre for another countless time. He needs to get these fucking sweats off like five minutes ago.
Your hands are trembling twice as hard as you undress him, and Steve takes laces your fingers in his once he's shirtless.
"It's okay," he soothes, rich and buttery smooth and your heart lurches up into your throat again. "You're okay," he tugs your interlocked hands up to his mouth, stippling one two three kisses across every knuckle and back again. He tucks your fists into his chest, that same soft thatch on full display and you never could have guessed that he was this hairy. It was a pleasant surprise.
"You wanna lay down? Hm?" he's cooing at you, forehead to forehead, but you don't feel chastised by it. You nod, nose bumping with his when you go to tease his lips again. A flush strikes you right from the crown of your head to the tip of your toes when Steve shimmies to the edge of the couch, grip strong as he holds you to him, not once hit with a falling sensation when you glides you to the side to settle you on your back.
He's on top of you then, crowding into your space and you're struggling for breath. He's so close and you still can't quite believe it. Can't believe that he feels this way, can't believe you're about to fuck on the couch where you've spent countless evenings admiring him like a lovesick puppy dog.
"If you wanna stop, you can tell me, 'kay?" your chest concaves and you could actually cry right now, the sweetness of him, so tentative and gentle and alluring.
"'Kay" you mirror back, swaddling his hair in your fist again as you tug him down to your waiting mouth, "Same goes for you". Your knees spread wide to allow him access, lowering himself onto you further, abdomen pinning to yours.
The sweep of his cock hiccups a gasp in your chest that Steve devours in earnest, lips enclosing around your tongue and he sucks. You keen something vicious, any remnants of self control now shattered glass beneath your feet. Steve moans twice as loud, abandoning pleasantries when you're mewling so good for him.
He releases you with a sickly pop, not even giving you a beat to recover before he's kissing you deeply again. Steve rocks the length of his cock along your clothed slit, and when you look down between your sandwiched bodies, there's a darkened patch of grey where he's beading with want.
"Steve, please, just -" but he's already fumbling for your pyjama bottoms, manhandling your hips up without you even needing to do anything. His stare bores into you when he slots his fingers beneath the elastic waistband, honey molten eyes replaced by a marbled inky black.
You whimper at the sight of him, lustful and without restraint, a demeanour you couldn't even conjure up in your daydreams with your hand tucked between your legs. You couldn't get enough of it.
Steve peels back your bottoms and panties in tow, achingly slow and methodical. He breaks eye contact to peak down at where you're fully exposed to him, an etch crumpling between his brows when he Ooh's out loud. You could scream you were so pent up.
"Look at you," he purrs, and your stomach twists with an aching need. He takes your ankle in his hand to pry one leg up and out, your lips blossoming open with the stickiness of your arousal.
"So fucking ready, huh?" he drags his pointer finger over your slit, spreading the mess you had already made of yourself. But you don't let him play for long, you can't, beckoning him up with a curve of your two fingers.
Then you're swallowing each others sounds for another time, Steve's biceps are tensing as he scoops one arm under you, arching your back and bearing your chest to smoosh into his. He's all over you all at once, the underside of his cock rutting through the seeping folds of your cunt.
He kisses at your jaw, murmuring curses and sweet nothings into your blazing skin as he travels down to suck on your neck. There's those teeth he had promised earlier, bruising a spot right beneath your earlobe ivy and plum. He laves over the area in apology, hot mouth softening the blow.
You hiss through the teeth and sway yourself back and forth to meet him, the tip of his cock probing into your aching clit with each overwhelming sweep.
He wanted to love on you more, take his sweet time with you, but the way you were near ripping his hair from the roots and sobbing his name, he was nearing his end much quicker than he intended.
"You ready?" he asks wholeheartedly, waiting on your reply before he did anything else.
"Yeah. Please," your eyes are wet and glassy when they sear into his, and he wasn't a man that would deny the pleas of a beautiful woman.
"Okay, baby. I got you," there was that gentleness again, that practiced well-polished dance of sweet and sour. Rough around the edges with a caramelised sugary centre. Steve grasps himself at the base, angling your hips up so that your opening meets his tip.
The first push of his length into you was easy, of course it was, you were dripping like a fucking faucet. You open up to him no problem, and it only took two thrusts before he bottomed out completely.
You're suspended in time then, the falling snow coming to a halt, the stars cease their twinkling, just so you can bask in this ultimate intimacy for as long as possible. Sucking in his exhale, foreheads leaning together, all either of you can do is just stare and smile.
The kindness resumes, still unmoving, Steve descends his lips back onto yours and the world begins to turn again. "Okay?" he whispers against your lips.
"Okay"
Then you squeeze your gummy walls around him and his angelic exterior shatters a little. Steve plants his hands on either side of your head before he's moving again, dragging his entire length out before sliding right back in to the hilt.
You gasp when he knocks his weight into you right at the end of his thrust, your body prodding upwards into the arm of the couch. It wasn't mean, or cruel, just pleading, carving the shape of himself so he fit perfectly and then some.
"More," you plead, unable to catch the breath it takes to tell him what you want and Steve doesn't half oblige. Your mewling spurs him on, retreating half as much this time but he ruts back into you twice as fast.
He pants out your name, eyes saucered and bottom lashes kissing the skin beneath. One leg is hiked up over the back of the couch, the back of your other knee resting in the crook of Steve's elbow where he's spreading you wide.
It was downright pornographic, the way you opened up for him without shame, but he adjusts his angle the faintest amount and then he's hitting that spot that erupts white light behind your eyes.
Steve mouth drops open when you squeal. "There?" he accentuates with a particularly hard snap of his hips and you almost black out. Tears brim at your waterline, stuffed to the brink of him, overrun with the sensation of having Steve fucking Harrington everywhere. He's watching you like you've hung the moon, tongue drawn between his teeth as he charts every reaction you bestow on him.
If he weaves his fingers with yours again, what would you do? You're grasping onto him as if you would fall into the abyss if you let go, is what you did.
If he bent your leg up that little bit higher and slowed his rhythm, what would you do? You cry his name and crush his fingers between yours until they're contusing indigo, is what you did.
He committed it all to memory, condemning your body to scripture that he would keep under lock and key, tucked snugly into the corner of his mind that he would dig out another time. Maybe even add another page or two, if you'd let him. Please, God, will you let him?
Steve kisses you firmly, with a finality that tells you the end was in sight. With you way you rotate your lap against him, chasing your high, head fuzzy and drifting into a euphoric peak that Steve is climbing to right along with you.
"You feel so, fuck, so good" he praises, pinching the tip of your chin, thumb swiping along your bottom lip. You have half a mind to take it into your mouth, though you can't help but be a little selfish when you can taste your orgasm on the horizon. You just needed one final push.
"I'm really close," you admit, releasing one of his hands to snake your fingers down where your middles meet. Steve's brain completely shuts down as he follows your movement, straightening his back so he has a better view of where you're rubbing tight circles into the bead of your clit.
He's ignited with a new sense of determination, your moans becoming a quiet mess of jumbled pleas and his name, cascading as fluidly as a waterfall. Steve is one for eye contact, you note, pocketing that confidential piece of him just for you.
Your stomach is billowing with pleasure, knot tightening and you swear you can feel Steve's cock swell inside you the closer you get to the edge.
"You gonna cum? Please cum, i'm right fucking there. Goddammit" he's seething through his teeth, another snap of his hips, a second third and fourth, so deep that it aches all the way into your chest. Your fingers are furious the way you tune yourself with the pace he had set, less forgiving and drowned in pure animalistic need.
His name slips off your tongue in prayer, kicking up at the last letters when you fall over that edge for him, exactly in tune to the final drives of his cock, scoring the throbbing veins of his shaft into the grip of your walls.
Steve slows as you both unravel, buried deep where his head nuzzles to the opening of your womb. You close those few inches where his lips sat just out of reach from yours, throaty moans echoing into open mouths, so sloppy that your teeth clack together.
"You are fucking insane," Steve chuckles when he stops twitching, his release already dripping around the base of his cock that's still seated inside you. You kiss him in turn, that wash of shyness overtaking you once more when the buzzing in your head starts to die down.
Steve goes to shift backwards because he knows you're ruining the couch right now, but you make a sort of pathetic sound from the overstimulation, and he settles right back down over you.
You didn't really care about the sore ache in your legs, or the cold globules of cum that were gliding down your ass onto the material below you. You just wanted to lay here with him for a little longer.
When it was all said and done, the rise and fall of your chests steadying, the gravity of the situation catching up with you in the post-coital haze, Steve buries his nose into your hair, lax fingers twirling three quarter circles into your bare shoulder.
He's still hovering over you as his hushes absorb into your scalp, his next words soak into your skin so they can live and breathe as a part of you. Seeping into your pores, coagulating with the warmth of your blood that rushes in and out of your heart.
"I really like you" he confesses, mouth curled into a giddy grin and you can feel it.
"I couldn't tell," you grin when he does, adding, "I really like you too, Steve".
"I'm glad we got snowed in together", he presses a small kiss to your temple and you beckon him down so he's laying on top of you full weight, the shake in his forearms subsiding when he does.
You expect the skin over your ribs to unfold and stitch back together again, sealing him with you for good. Now wouldn't that be lovely.
"Me too"
The flurry slows outside the window, a closing curtain on your first night together, one of many, the sky swirling with amber and lavender hues.
The morning came much sooner than you expected.
holy fuck i'm so sorry this took longer than intended. but ahhh!!!! I loved writing this, II can't tell you how many hours i've put into this, I just have very limited time :( hope you enjoyed regardless <3
gonna tag a couple peeps who have been waiting for this 🫶🏻 @losingmygrasponreality @professionalpromqueen
There’s a tumblr post floating around somewhere that says “We think that if we get better at writing, it will someday stop sounding like we wrote it” or something along those lines.
Does anyone happen to have a link handy? I want to reference it in an advice post.
I hate when people ask me about my preference but I don’t understand their preference level. Like yes I kinda want Chinese food 10% more than I want a sandwich but if you want a sandwich like 40% more than Chinese food then I would say it’s totally reasonable we get sandwiches.
Literally everyone out here acting like Eddie's the flirty one? Did we all miss the "its only been an hour" "tell me about it <33333" from S2??? Steve is a SIMP and he FLIRTS and he's a fucking DORK
Holy shit this got angsty fast.
AIDS crisis, it’s ambiguous if Steve has it or not but no main characters are dead. Mention of funerals.
Steve doesn’t forget to tell Robin he’s queer. He just can’t find the right time to interject that he’s been driving down to Indianapolis to go to gay bars and get laid since 1984.
Steve means well, as even drugged up on the bathroom floor, he was unwilling to expose Robin to his type of raunchy queer indulgences.
When Eddie shows up, Steve stares at the Hanky and wonders if he was just copying other metalheads or flagging in Hawkins. He settles on Eddie doing it on accident as a fashion choice and moves on.
Robin, on the other hand, asks if the rumors of Eddie’s queerness are true and Eddie confirms it after Robin makes it incredibly clear that she is completely safe and a lesbian.
Robin and Eddie become best friends, moaning about their crushes on straight people. Eventually they decide to go to Indianapolis and find a gay bar. Steve is out of town for the week so it’s perfect timing.
Little do they know, they roll up to Steve’s cruising spot, and Steve has his little navy hanky tucked into his back right pocket. He’s grinding up on some guy when they arrive and neither of them notice each other. Steve’s too busy having a guy lick up the side of his neck and Robin and Eddie are busy looking timid as fuck near the entrance.
Robin and Eddie don’t notice Steve until the bartender is yelling “put y’a tits away ‘evie, if you wanna fuck, do it somewhere I don’t have to see!”
Their eyes jolt to the direction the bartender is yelling and there’s Steve, the guy behind him had pushed Steve’s shirt up to his collarbones and was currently brushing over his nipples. Steve rolls his eyes at the bartender, straightening up and letting his shirt fall back over his body. It was still obvious that his hook-up’s hands hadn’t moved.
Eddie chokes and Steve’s eyes whip over to them. He pushes the guy’s hands off his chest, whispering something quietly to him before sauntering towards Eddie and Robin.
“Hey.” Steve says sheepishly.
“Steve, what the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me?” Robin inquires in a whiny tone.
Steve rolls his eyes again, tangling his thumbs in his belt loops.
“There wasn’t exactly a good time where I could tell you I come down here to get the daylights fucked out of me.” Steve replies nonchalantly as if telling Robin the weather.
Robin just makes a series of unintelligible and unholy noises of frustration at this.
“Oh and unless you plan on hitting someone while having sex with them, I’d remove the hanky as you’re probably not actually a sadist.” Steve states plainly, gesturing at Eddie’s pants where the hanky swings from his back pocket.
Eddie hurriedly unfastens the hanky and tucks it fully into his pocket to hide it.
“So what are you two here for? Fun or a hook-up? If you’re looking for a hookup I could pair you guys off with some of my acquaintances.” Robin looks mildly horrified by Steve’s offer, while Eddie looks repulsed. 
“So, not a hookup?” Steve inquires.
“Oh my god, Steve shut up!” Robin squeals.
“Tiffany over there has a mouth like heaven, as I’ve been told by her numerous trysts, Still not interested Robin?” Steve asks, gesturing vaguely to a perfectly coiffed woman with red tinted hair and sun-kissed skin.
Robin got distracted for a second when Tiffany looked at her and winked.
“We just wanted to check the place out, maybe make some conversation.” Robin justified.
“Fuck! I should probably stay with you then. Jack will be disappointed.” Steve says with a pout. “Can’t exactly ditch my friends to get laid.” He grumbles.
Steve waves at the bartender, “Paul, can you send Jack a Long Island, as an apology from me?”
“ ‘Course”
“Steve you don’t-“ Eddie is quickly interrupted.
“Unless you’re planning on fucking me, it’s probably not happening tonight.” Steve said in a blasé tone.“Anyway, maybe go to Paul if you want the whole papa gay spiel. Condoms, gay plauge, and how not to get murdered. Specifically important for you Eddie because men are a lot more likely to try to kill you.” Steve laughs self deprecatingly with an odd tilt to his barking laughter.
“Steve why are you acting like this?” Robin questions sharply.
“The plague is killing the gays, might as well party up while we’re still alive.” Steve pauses, remembering something, his smile slips slightly just for a moment. “There’s a funeral I’m attending tomorrow. So party tonight, party tomorrow to remind us all we’re still alive, visit the ward before going back to Hawkins.” Steve says it with a smile, his eyes shining like he’s high on something and not all quite there.
Robin could suddenly see why Steve was acting like this, it slotted perfectly into her picture of Steve. Steve the monster killer, Steve the human shield, the Steve who tempts death on a yearly basis.
No matter where he went, Steve was on the front lines, getting shot. But now it was like he was dancing in no man’s land, pirouetting around the death and destruction like it was his damn home.
Robin felt a little mad that Steve would seemingly never be able to escape it, by nature of who he was.
Eddie on the other hand, was shocked. His time in a small town had protected him from this. Getting whiskey drunk in the trenches before disease inevitably claims you. Being gay seemed suddenly too large for him, made him want to scurry back into his closet and hide.
But, God, Steve could die without ever knowing how Eddie felt.
“Steve, I think we should leave.” Eddie said firmly, Steve gave him a bewildered look.
“Why?” Eddie responded by tugging the hankey out of Steve’s pocket and hiding it in his jacket, before beginning to drag Steve out of the bar.
“I have to pay my tab, asshole!” Steve tugs back, quickly grabbing his wallet and throwing 30 dollars in the counter before Eddie resumed tugging him out of the bar.
They were hit with cool spring air when they emerged, Eddie taking little time to drag Steve into the alley and push him up against the wall.
Eddie was shaking with rage, but his eyes were full of tears.
“You can’t act like this!” He yells.
“Chill Eddie.”
“You’re not allowed to kill yourself.” Eddie whimpers out.
“I know how the plague spreads, I’m safe, always make the guy wear a condom. Why, you wanna fucking watch to check?”
“But what if one pops, what if you die before..-” Eddie starts shaking harder.
“Before what Eddie?” Steve interrupts, anger lacing his voice.
“BEFORE I CAN TELL YOU IM IN LOVE WITH YOU!” Eddie shouts, tears winding paths down his cheeks.
Steve pauses, anger and tension melting off his frame. He blinks a few times, stunned. Eddie on the other hand is curling into Steve and sobbing, body shaking like a leaf.
Steve curls around Eddie, taking him securely into his arms.
“Oh I’m so sorry.” Steve says in a hushed tone.
“I d’nt wan’ you to d’e!” Eddie struggles out.
Steve looks up and finds Robin and Paul staring at them. Paul nods at him before going back inside.
“Eddie, I’ll get tested and stop coming here to hook up, I still want to see my friends though.”
Eddie nods tearfully at the compromise.
Steve pulls Eddie’s head up and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips.
“It’ll all be okay.”
Want to make a minor adjustment to my Steve With Much Older Siblings post from yesterday. I think it’d be a much more interesting dynamic if he’s actually their half sibling from an affair.
Their father had an affair with his secretary and then married her when she got pregnant. It broke up their family and they blamed Steve for it for years.
When they stayed over for their weekend with Dad, they were either outright cruel to him or pretended he didn’t exist. When they were old enough to stop coming over, they did. It’s only after growing up and maturing that (most of) his siblings were able to acknowledge that Steve was never at fault for their family breaking up.
They tried to mend their relationship with him, especially after realizing how absent his parents are, but by then Steve was old enough to build up his own resentment. It’s an uphill battle.
It’s a lot of actually coming around for holidays and a lot of teasing when they do. It’s actually picking the phone when the hospital calls, something that’s happening with increasing frequency.
Steve has never asked any of them for anything until one day, he shows up on Richie’s front porch smelling like death and gasoline. He’s got blood drying all over him and is visibly shaking, and Richie thinks that he’s been hurt in the earthquake but Steve barely acknowledges the concern, “I need you to represent my friend.”
“What?”
“You’re the only lawyer I know, and -“ Steve takes a big shuttering breath. “They’ll kill him, Rich. He never hurt anybody but no one will listen. They’ll lock him up and it won’t be fair, and Dustin can’t… I never ask you for anything but. But I need…”
“Eddie Munson?” He asks incredulous. “You’re friends with Eddie Munson?”
Tumblr makes sense to me bc if i see something i like i get excited and hit the button to show other people and theres no weird unspoken social conventions my autistic brain doesnt understand. I can literally sit here and reblog 150 niche shitposts about harvest mice in an hour just bc they make me happy and i dont have to explain myself to anyone and i'll actually *gain* followers instead of just being called weird and downvoted or whatever its so cool
I am totally not reblogging this to save it. And also totally not because it is fucking awesome and i want to know more.
When Steve wakes up, he is very confused. His room looks very different and unfamiliar- but he knows it's his. It still has the plaid wallpaper his mom had picked out for him (he hadn't liked it, but there was a lot of lines and pretty colors).
The toy car his babysitter, Sarah, had gotten him for his fifth birthday isn't on his dresser anymore. He knows that she'd left it there for him last night, playfully insisting that he couldn't play with it until his actual birthday.
He'd been so excited to play with it. He wants to cry, and wail. He wants to run to his parents and scream until they give it back.
But they aren't home. That's why his babysitter had been over the previous night. They have a very important business trip that they aren't allowed to miss, not even for Steve's birthday.
The pictures in the hall look different too. Sarah had put up some cool pictures for him. She'd done the same for his fourth birthday. They had to take them down at the end of the day, but it had been nice to have family pictures up. Even if it was just for a day.
Sarah isn't downstairs.
He almost does scream this time. She'd promised that she'd stay the night, sleeping on the sofa, so he could have pancakes for breakfast. It's one of the many things that he can't, or isn't allowed, to make on his own.
His cake isn't in the fridge either. He even pulls a chair over so he can climb on it, to see if she'd hidden it on one of the higher shelves.
He sits on one of the dining chairs, watching the clock, and waiting.
After two hours pass, he gives up any hope he has.
Sarah, just like his parents, is probably too busy for him. He reasons that she probably just forgot to tell him. His mom had done that one time- it had stung, but he couldn't blame her. He forgot lots of stuff, even if it is important.
The only cereal in the pantry is some plain, corn brand that he doesn't recognise. It tastes just as bad as it looks, but there isn't a lot of food anymore.
At least, not a lot that he can make.
He has a second bowl, putting a few spoons of sugar in. It's not much better, but he doesn't feel so hungry anymore.
The TV looks different too. There's weird and new things playing. It's fun, interesting, and distracts him well enough that he's able to keep himself from worrying about how long he'll have to be alone again.
The next day goes the same.
The third day, he risks cooking. It ends up a little burnt, but it's better than cereal all the time.
The fourth day, he can't eat the food he tries to cook. It smells too nasty. He has to have cereal again. The sugar helps.
The fifth day, he doesn't risk cooking. His parents have never left him alone, without a babysitter, for more than a week, so he'll have a nice meal soon.
The sixth day, he checks their voicemail. There's a few odd messages from grown up sounding people, asking about how he's feeling, but he doesn't recognise any of their voices. He doesn't know what numbers he should try calling. He hopes they try calling again.
The seventh day, he sits at the bottom of the stairs. He stares at the front door, ready to jump up and give his mom and dad a warm welcome home.
The eighth day, he's starting to worry. Surely his parents will remember to call a different babysitter?
The ninth day, there's a key in the door. He almost misses it, sat in the kitchen, glaring at his cereal.
"Steve!" Someone calls. It sounds like one of the nice, unfamiliar grown ups who left a voicemail message. "Stevie! You here? How are- oh my god."
"Hi," Steve greets. He waves, tries giving his most polite smile. He almost forgets to keep his lips shut- his dad told him that his teeth don't look nice enough for a grin that big yet. "You're one of the nice people who left me a message, right?"
She stares at him for a long moment, mouth hanging open. "Steve?"
"That's me! What's your name?"
"Robin."
He sticks a hand out to her. "I's nice to meet you Miss Robin!"
"Yeah," she replies, voice high and thin. Her hand is trembling when she gently shakes his hand. "I'm... gonna need to use your phone. Real quick, ok?"
"Um... ok. But you can't make long distance calls, mommy will be very mad at me." He bites his thumb nail, following her into the hall. "Are you a babysitter? Is Sarah sick?"
"Sarah?" Robin echoes, questioningly. She's only half paying attention though, pushing in a phone number.
"My babysitter. She was supposed to be here for my birthday."
"It's your birthday?" She chokes out, spinning around so fast she stumbles. She looks heartbroken.
"Not anymore! It's ok, you don't need to be sad. She gave me my present early too, so it was good."
"Wait. How long have you been... what have you been eating?"
"Um. Cereal, mostly. All the food is different. It's weird."
"That's not- oh, hi," she turns away slightly, talking to whoever is on the phone. "Yeah, I'm at Steve's right now. Gather, like, everyone. We have a major emergency."
"No!" Steve quickly says. He tugs at the bottom of her top. "Not an emergency! You can't say that, you'll get me in trouble!"
"You don't understand, this is-"
"No, please," he pleads. He can only hope he won't get in trouble for talking back to her. "I'm sorry."
"Ok, ok, alright," she agrees. She pauses for a second, listening. "No, that was Steve. Yeah, exactly, that's why-"
"Tell them it isn't an emergency. Please. If dad hears, I'll be in big trouble."
"Ok, big guy. It's not an emergency. Just... yeah, do that. Yeah. Alright. No, I'll be fine. I can deal with it. Ok, see you soon."
She hangs up with a sigh, turning to look at him. She still looks sad.
"Are you ok, Miss Robin?"
Her laugh sounds strained, but she laughs. "I'm alright. How are you?"
"I'm ok. Do you know when mommy and daddy will be back?"
"I don't. I'm sorry, Stevie."
"It's ok. It's only, like... I can't really, uh, cook."
"I can make you something. What's your fave? It was your birthday, you said? Let's get you something special! How old are you?"
He stumbles a little, trying to keep up with her fast talking as well as he long strides. "I'm five. Sarah was going to make me pancakes."
"We can do pancakes." She searches the cupboards and fridge, frowning. "Where is anything?"
"I dunno. I looked but everything is all gone or weird."
"Well... we'll just have to have pancakes later. Special pancakes, for the special birthday boy."
"I guess."
She steps close, putting her hands on her hips as she looks him over. "Are you sure you're five? Did you hit your growth spurt early? You're getting real big."
"I dunno. Mommy says I'm gonna be tall and be a real ladies man, or something."
"Do you even know what that means?"
"Not really. Mommy thinks it's cool though."
"Hm. Are you too big to pick up?"
"Oh, you're not supposed to. Daddy says I'm a big boy now. Big boys don't get picked up."
"Your dad's an asshole."
Steve giggles, quickly covering his mouth with both hands. "You're not supposed to say that! It's a naughty word!"
"Supposed to do this, supposed to do that," she tutts. She leans down, scooping him up into her arms, resting him on her hip. "Your five, stop being so boring!"
Her hand feels so big on his back, like there's no way he could fall with her holding him. She doesn't even seem to mind his hand automatically grabbing the collar of her shirt.
"Daddy doesn't like it when people pick me up."
"What do you like? Hm? Do you want me to put you down?"
"... No."
"Then I'm not putting you down. Daddy isn't here to tell us off, is he? And what he doesn't know, can't hurt him."
She bounces him a few times, making him giggle. Judging by her satisfied grin, that was her aim.
It confuses him, a little. Mostly because she keeps doing that- little things, little comments, trying to make him laugh. Trying to make him smile. Even just listening to him talk about things. Little things. Silly things. Like she isn't annoyed when he goes on, and on, and on.
By the time another person comes in, he's decided that she's the best person in the whole wide world. If she puts him down or tries to leave, he's going to throw a tantrum.
He knows it's bad, but he doesn't want her to leave too. She's cool.
"Oh, God. Robin, please tell me that the baby isn't Steve."
"He's five," Robin corrects. "And yes, it's Steve. I checked, it's him."
"What the hell happened to him?"
"I don't know, I called you!"
"Is something wrong with me?" Steve asks, voice quiet and timid.
"No!" Robin quickly tries to say, at the same time the man says, "yes, obviously."
"Dustin!" Robin scolds.
"What? Lying to him won't help!"
"Neither will being a dick about it!" She tutts at him, adjusting Steve in her arms when she looks to him. "It's nothing, like, bad. It's just kinda weird. See, when we saw you, a week ago... you were a little bit older than me. And now you're five."
Steve stares at her for a moment. She looks too serious, too honest.
"Weird," he says.
"Exactly," she agrees. "From what you've said, though, it's not that bad. You're still you, and you're healthy. You're just... not so big."
"Maybe El can fix him," Dustin mutters, squinting at Steve. He leans close. "When did this happen?"
"He's been like this for a week," Robin tells him. Her voice is quiet, almost scared- it doesn't help that Dustin looks horrified too. "At least."
"Who's been taking care of him?"
"No one."
"What the hell," Dustin turns his frown on Steve. "Why didn't you call anyone?"
"Not supposed to unless it's a real emergency," Steve says. "Mommy says she has a repo... rep... rep-yuh-tay-shun. It's a big thing."
Dustin looks heartbroken, turning to Robin, who shrugs back at him. He groans after a pause, frowning at Robin. "Shit. You can't drive."
"Oh, shit."
"I'll call Eddie," Dustin sighs, already heading to the hall.
"Who's Eddie?" Steve asks.
"Eddie's a friend. He looks a little scary, but don't worry. He's a big softie, an absolute teddy bear." She leans close, whispering loudly with a grin. "Don't tell him I told you, though. He likes to pretend that he's all tough and mean."
"And he's... not mean?"
"Not a cruel bone in his body."
"Ok," he bites at his thumb, frowning when Robin gently pulls his hand out his mouth. "You won't leave though, right?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
"You gotta promise, though! Pinky Promise!" He lifts a hand, sticking his pinky up- Robin almost immediately wraps her own around his.
"I promise I won't leave you. Who knows what could happen if I leave you alone with the gremlins." She pretends to shudder. "Oh, the horrors.."
"He'll be here in five minutes," Dustin announces.
"That's... quick."
"Yeah. I barely got out 'Steve is in trouble' before he hung up."
"Maybe don't start like that next time," Robin rolls her eyes. She adjusts Steve again, trying to sit him higher on her hip. "He's probably breaking at least, like, five speeding laws or something."
"I don't think that's how it works."
"Whatever." She huffs. "Jesus. Steve, bud, I might need to put you down for a sec."
"Oh... um... do you have to?"
"My arms are really starting to hurt, bud," she says. She looks as upset at the idea as he feels. "Maybe we could sit down together. Would that be a good compromise?"
"Yeah!" He grins. "What's a comp- compa-"
"Com-pruh-mise." She says it slowly, careful to sound it out, as she sits down on the sofa. She pulls Steve around so he's sat on her knees, facing her. She keeps one hand on his back, supporting him.
"Com-pa-mise," Steve repeats.
"Oh, that was great!" Robin encourages, laughing at how big and excited Steves responding grin is. "Well, compromise is when..."
Robin is so patient with him, taking her time with him, making sure he understands what she's saying- before easily jumping onto whatever tangent he brings up.
It feels like only a few minutes have passed by the time the doorbell rings. Dustin stands to answer- Steve had completely forgotten he was there the whole time, too caught up in his conversation with Robin.
He doesn't come back for a moment. Steve can hear muttering, straining to hear what they're saying, but the living room doors shut.
A man follows him inside. He's tall, with long hair and dark clothes. He looks different to anyone Steve has ever seen before. He looks scary.
"Oh god," he mumbles, frowning at Steve. "You're not joking."
Steve tugs at Robins sleeve, leaning close to her, whispering, "who's that?"
"Oh, right!" Robin groans when she stands, lifting Steve with her. "Steve, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Steve."
"This is Steve," Eddie repeats. "Jesus Christ."
"Why do you look so scary?" Steve blurts out. He slaps a hand over his mouth, horrified.
But Eddie just laughs. "Damn, Stevie, tell me what you really think."
"You do!" Steve snaps, face warming. "All the black and chains and stuff."
"Robin is wearing 'black and chains and stuff'."
"Yeah, but Robins cool."
"You wound me," Eddie gasps, slapping a hand to his chest. "I'm totally cooler than Robin."
"Nope," Robin quickly cuts in. "Steve said I'm cool, not you. It's been said, declared- no, decreed! Facts are facts, Eds, suck on it!"
"Ew," Steve and Eddie say in sync, grimacing.
"Alright," Dustin interrupts, hands on his hips. "You're introduced, now can we go? Now?"
Part two
Skipping a day of writing.
Not having a perfect first draft.
Partaking in sinister, arcane rituals for inspiration.
Working at their own pace.
Enlisting demons and/or helpful spirits to aid them with editing.
I have no explanation for this one
Short steddie idea I had about what if they’d met somewhere around end of s1-s2 | kinda angsty | R: G | 2580 words | could be canon if the writers weren’t cowards (nowhere does it say this doesn’t happen)
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Steve was tired. It was a Saturday night and there were people at his house. People he didn’t know, some who knew him. Somebody brought beer, it was Saturday night and there were people drinking beer at his house and Steve was tired. Exhausted.
He thought he would be done with house parties when he had his fall from popularity, when he was no longer King Steve but he had a big house and crowds liked space. He didn’t want them here, only recently recovered from the nightmare fuel that went down at the Byer’s house. He wanted to spend his night alone, in his bed, maybe watching a movie. He didn’t want to spend it cleaning up after high schoolers and playing messenger between a fighting Tommy and Carol who had stopped talking to him three months ago.
“Steeeeeve!” There was a girl calling his name, tripping over her feet on her way to reach him. He fell back further into the crowd.
Somebody was pulling him onto the designated dance floor. He didn’t want to dance, he didn’t want people calling his name from across the house. Get out, please just get out.
He just wanted these people out of his house but the music was too loud and he couldn’t find it in him to send a gaggle of drunk kids out into the public unsupervised.
So he was going to block it out and let them have their fun until people started passing out on his floor and then he was going to go to bed. This was the last, last, party that would ever be held at his house so he could rub his temples and toughen up for one night. Always were too whiny, Steven. Never could toughen up, don’t bother now. His father’s voice, always his father’s voice.
Steve was trying to keep it together but he was getting a headache and the music was too loud. He distracted himself by picking up crushed solo cups and taking cans from people who were a little too drunk already, dodging Tommy when he tried to clap a hand on his shoulder. The music got louder. He was done, done with Tommy Hagan and his romantic troubles, done being Carol's personal coat rack and gossip boy.
“Steeeve,” he heard Carol shout over the music—was somebody turning it up?—from his left, “Tell Tommy-!”
“Don’t listen to that bitch, Harrington. No good cheater!” Tommy spat, coming up on his right.
Steve was so focused on getting away from the nagging voices that he didn’t notice he was marching into a denim clad shoulder.
“Hey, man, watch where you’re going-” the guy said, he stopped when he turned around, coming face to face with Steve. If Steve were a girl he’d say the guy was gorgeous—but he wasn’t a girl so the guy wasn’t gorgeous. Steve thought he’d seen him around school, they might’ve been in the same grade.
Steve barely heard him—who was turning up the goddam music—“Watch where you’re going.” He snapped.
The guy scoffed, mumbling a quick asshole under his breath before turning back around. Steve was faced with tangled, curly hair instead of big, brown eyes.
“No, wait. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.” Steve was trying to be a better person these days, he didn’t much like who he was before Byers beat him around the head. Step one was apologizing.
“Yeah well I didn’t mean to be here tonight. Guess neither of us are happy.”
Okay rude, here Steve was trying to apologize and the guy was complaining about his party—a party he hadn’t even thrown!
“Why don’t you leave if you hate it so much?” Steve questioned, again trying to sound open and nice and like a good host instead of taking the guy by the shoulders and shaking him around, you think I want to be here either?
“My friends need a ride. I came here to deal. I’m actually really enjoying myself but I didn’t want to say that to your face. Take your pick, King Steve.” God, Steve hated that name. Even when he was popular it made his skin crawl.
“I hate it here too.” It was too quiet, he wasn’t sure Brown Eyes heard him. Steve didn’t know why he said it, didn’t know why it came across as more than being done with a shitty party, why it came across as if he meant—
He didn’t know the guy, “They keep turning the music up.” There definitely wasn’t any reason to say that, Brown Eyes didn’t care that he was a baby who couldn’t handle loud music anymore.
The boy stared at him for a second and Steve wondered if this was his way of politely telling him to fuck off, but then he was being dragged through the crowd by a hand on his wrist. Carol tried to latch on to his other arm but he shook her off, he supposed he could shake off Brown Eyes too but he didn’t want to. He didn’t know where Brown Eyes was dragging him to, it could be a quiet corner to kill him for all he knew about the guy. Maybe—maybe Steve would let him, maybe he would show him where the knives were tucked away in the kitchen and tell him which ones were too dull to get the job done. But Brown Eyes didn’t look like the type to kill on first meeting.
“Where are we going?” Steve managed to ask, only after Brown Eyes opened the patio door.
“Outside.” Brown Eyes grinned.
“No shit, you don’t say.” Steve grumbled.
“You said you hated it in there so I brought us out here. It’s not like you can leave your own house party so this is the next best thing.”
The boy plopped down at the edge of the pool. Steve hadn’t sat so close to it since Barb died, he hadn’t even opened it since Barb died but some asshole found their way out here and tripped into the switch. It screamed when it opened, a horrible sound Steve had been trying to forget since being dragged into the mess that was the Upside Down, and he’d nearly stopped breathing when the guy who opened it almost fell in.
He sat down, keeping his legs far from the water, unlike Brown Eyes who’d already gotten his shoes off and dunked his feet. Steve had to sit on his hands to stop from grabbing him by the back of his collar and dragging them both back inside, away from the pool. He had bite the inside of his lip until he tasted blood to stop from saying something stupid, something like please don’t sit so close to the water don’t get in don’t let it touch you because the last person who sat like this never made it past graduation.
In his search for a distraction, anything to keep words sure to get him a look from tumbling out, Steve noticed that the guy had a metal lunch box with him when he lifted the lid, bringing out weed. Oh. They were here to smoke. Something Steve hadn’t done since, well a long time.
“It’s not mine.” Steve mumbled in the silence.
Brown Eyes raised an eyebrow from where he was bent over a lighter.
“The party. It’s not—I didn’t throw it.” Steve felt silly saying that, it was his house after all so he was responsible.
Brown Eyes just hummed, didn’t question it, only asking, “Who did?”
Steve took the joint when Brown Eyes handed it to him—out of habit, he’d say later. He’d say a lot of things later.
“Tommy. Or Carol. They’re the only ones who know where the spare key is and I sure as hell didn’t unlock my door for a dozen people.” Steve sighed, blowing out the smoke.
“Shit.” Brown Eyes took the joint, exhaling his own drag before he spoke—Steve would say, later, that it didn’t make his stomach swirl like the smoke between them— “You know you could get them arrested, right? That’s technically breaking in. Think I even saw some kid break a fancy little vase. Breaking and entering right there.”
Steve winced, his mom loved those vases more than him—not exactly a difficult thing to do but he was sure to be skinned alive if she found out, “Like Hopper would believe I wasn’t just saying that to get rid of the blame. He’s busted my parties one too many times and he’s not exactly up to date on the high school drama that is my fall from grace.”
“Well you have one eye witness if you decide to go to the cops. Though I can’t say how reliable they’ll find me.” Brown Eyes turned to him with a grin.
They passed the weed back and forth for a while. Steve didn’t like being high much, this felt different, every other time he'd had to keep up the image. Sitting and talking high with Brown Eyes was easier than talking to Carol and Tommy sober. Steve would decide that was the weed talking when he got his brain back. Easy conversation about nothing, probably classes they had together, led to Brown Eyes asking what had caused Steve’s downfall.
If Steve hadn’t stopped breathing that moment he might’ve spilled his guts about the Upside Down. If his heart hadn’t stopped and he didn’t need to get away from the pool immediately, he would’ve just kept talking. The real answer to Brown Eyes’ question was Barb’s death. The real reason he lost his popularity was the night Nancy’s best friend died in his pool and everything had gone to shit.
Brown Eyes noticed his panic, “Woah there, okay that’s enough weed for tonight. You okay, dude? You’re, like, super spooked.”
“I-yeah, I’m fine. Just, there’s more to the story than high school drama. Stuff I’d really rather not relive.” Steve scooted away from the pool a little further and hoped, pleaded with every bone in his body, that Brown Eyes wouldn’t press.
He didn’t, thankfully, just sat back with Steve—out of the water Steve realized, “We’ve all got ghosts in our closets.” He said.
Steve huffed out a laugh, “Isn’t it skeletons?”
“That would mean somebody sees them, Stevie. Ghosts are much more invisible.”
“You have ghosts?” Steve asked, quiet.
“Oh, loads.” Brown Eyes shrugged, “I’m basically a haunted house, man.” That made Steve laugh, “What about you? The ones you can talk about anyway.”
“You mean other than the fact that my house is a ghost town in and of itself? Try parents that are never around to watch you at sports you joined for their attention or friends who only like you when you’re rich.” Steve sighed, “God that’s so fucked up, I should be grateful for the money. Not complaining like an asshole.”
“You know I might’ve agreed with you a few months ago. I don’t think it’s actually the money you’re talking about, though. It’s the life, right?”
Steve felt himself nodding.
“You’re not an asshole for being lonely, Harrington.”
Steve almost remembered he never asked Brown Eyes’ name. Almost remembered to ask it now, but he didn’t, just let them lapse into silence. Steve didn’t look up for a few minutes, but when he did Brown Eyes was looking at him. Steve felt his breath hitch for a second time, not out of a panic like before. When had they gotten so close? Were their pinkies always just barely brushing?
Steve would make a dozen excuses later. Maybe he was just too high, maybe his hand slipped and he accidentally fell forward. He was lonely, Brown Eyes had said it himself. Maybe he was imagining a girl in Brown Eyes’ place. But when Brown Eyes leaned closer, a question in his eyes, Steve didn’t want to pull away. He didn’t want to be the one to break this, he wanted to see how far Brown Eyes would go.
He told himself he only closed his eyes so he wouldn’t see when it happened, only pushed forward that last inch because—maybe he didn’t have an excuse for that but it didn’t matter because Brown Eyes didn’t pull away and he didn’t pull away. He felt the foreign feather light brush against his own lips distantly, an out of body sensation that left him tipping forward when Brown Eyes scrambled back.
“Oh shit.” Brown Eyes muttered, pushing a finger to his lips, “Oh fuck this is-this isn’t—”
“We’re just high, right?” Steve pushed off the concrete, standing probably a little closer to Brown Eyes than necessary.
Brown Eyes was avoiding Steve’s gaze. He knew Steve was grasping at excuses he didn’t even believe himself. Brown Eyes seemed to deflate, hunching in on himself and Steve would think it looked almost disappointed if he could think anything at all right now.
“Yeah. Yeah, one joint split between us and we’re both high enough to kiss, right King Steve?” Sarcasm dripping through his words but it didn’t feel mean, it felt desperate.
It was then Steve realized he never asked the guy’s name. He needed-he wanted to know now. Before he could ask, though, Brown Eyes was backing away.
“I-I’ve got to go. I… I’ll see you around, Harrington.”
“Wait-I never—” never got to finish his sentence. Never got to ask Brown Eyes for his name. Because Brown Eyes was through the door and disappearing in the crowd inside before Steve could get a word out and he was alone.
Steve stayed by the pool for a long time, the longest he’d been out there even before Barb’s death. The air turned cold, leaving him littered with goosebumps, but Steve just stood there. He wanted to scream, wanted to kick and cry and throw a tantrum. That’s not how Harrington’s act, Steven, don’t be such a big baby, Steven. He could practically hear his fathers voice digging its way into his ears. God, he was a dead man if his dad found out about this, he was a dead man and there wasn’t a thing his mom could do—if she would even still stick up for him now.
He wanted to believe she would, wanted to think she would tell him it was going to be okay but she’d just stand back and start planning for his funeral. Maybe she’d remember the time they sat in the garden years and years ago and Steve told her his favorite flowers were the daisies she would tuck into her hair on summer afternoons, maybe she would remember sliding them into his hair and then picking them out before they went inside as she told him it would be their secret and maybe she would lay them over his coffin.
In his panicked state, he noticed the guy left his shoes behind, black converse coming apart at the seams. There were little drawings scattered around the bottoms, Steve saw, smudged and dirty. He should return them. He doesn’t know who they belong to but he should return them. He couldn’t just leave them outside, at least that’s what he told himself as he trudged through his now empty house, hours later. It was the weekend anyway so he couldn’t even return them, that’s why he found a place for them in his closet. He didn’t know who they belonged to, that’s why he kept them there until summer bled into fall bled into winter.
———————————————————————— Part 2??
Fun fact: I was listening to acolyte by slaughter beach, dog when I finished writing this