Work Text:
this is being updated to my tumblr. you can find it here
The back of your skull digs into the uncomfortable plastic of the hospital waiting room chair; a cup of cold and bitter coffee in your hand. It’s absolutely disgusting against your tongue, your face scrunching, but you’re thankful for the slight buzz it gives your exhausted body.
Your gaze is locked on the ceiling fan as it spins round and round in an effort to entertain yourself, trying to keep your mind off of what the hell happened just hours before.
You can’t believe that everything’s over; that you fought a creature from another dimension (alongside Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington of all people), that sweet Eleven vanished defeating the Demogorgon to protect the kids, that Will’s alive and he’s safe now.
Your heart melts at the idea of getting to see his sweet face again, and then it hurts at the thought of Eleven - you would’ve liked to have given her a chance at a normal life.
Your leg bounces as you grow more and more restless for news about Will’s health; Mike’s anxiousness mirrors yours two seats down. Dustin and Lucas snore lightly with their heads on your shoulders, completely drained from their respective encounter with the monster. The thought of the kids facing off against that thing frightens you, considering how terrified you were.
The door to the room opens and Jonathan steps through, holding it open as he turns his head towards you and the kids, “Come on, he’s been asking for you.”
Mike jumps up and hits Lucas on the arm in an attempt to wake him, shouting “Let’s go see Will!” as he runs out of the room. You start to get up from your chair and you hope that the sudden movement will wake the sleeping boys, “Alright, get up you two.”
Lucas snaps awake while Dustin comes to more slowly, rubbing his eyes as he yawns before following Nancy out into the hallway. You move to close the door behind you as you trail behind the group, but someone grabs before it latches.
“Hey, Henderson, uh, Y/N-” You turn to see Steve as the culprit, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah, okay, sure,” You reply and confusion starts to make itself apparent on your face. It was obvious that something had been on his mind in the waiting room, with his eyes and mind lost in thought; you weren’t quite sure why.
Not that you had been staring at him, or thinking about how painful the wounds on his face looked, or being concerned by the blood that littered his knuckles.
You grimace slightly as you gulp down the rest of the drink, practically shuddering as you do so, and toss the foam cup in the trash. The sterile smell of the hospital wafts through your nostrils as you take a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself for whatever is about to happen.
Once you spin back around, Steve’s leaned against the wall, hands stuffed in his pockets, “I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple of hours-”
“That’s dangerous,” You interrupt, folding your arms over your chest, “Doesn’t seem like you do a lot of that.”
Steve chuckles lightly at your comment, his features softening and holy shit - you can’t believe you just joked around with Steve Harrington, and it made him laugh.
“You probably think too much, you know.”
A small smile starts to pull at your lips, “Touché.”
The moment when he smiles back makes your stomach knot and heat rise to your cheeks, this sensation of feeling flustered is completely new to you. You can’t say you hate it though.
“Anyways, I was thinking about how I’ve just been-” He pauses as he casts his eyes away from you, “I’ve just been such an asshole, to everybody that wasn’t at the top of the food chain. And I wanna try and be better.” His admission of guilt shocks you a bit more than you suspected it would and your eyebrows raise to show it.
Last week it would’ve been hard for you to believe that Steve felt bad about anything - let alone come and express that to you, of all people; you’ve never meant a damn thing to him.
Steve sighs before he continues, “I wanna try and be better for Nancy, and maybe I’ll be able to win her back. She doesn’t deserve somebody like me, with the shit that I’ve done - that I’ve said.”
Oh, right. Her - Nancy .
You face hardens again at the mention of Mike’s sister, readjusting your weight on your feet as you look down to the floor, suddenly very interested in the color of his shoes. You secretly prayed that maybe she’d make a move on Jonathan, maybe start giving him more attention. She seemed more intrigued by the Byers boy on the car ride over.
You hate this new emotion - the jealousy that clouds your judgment, causing your typically rational thinking to get thrown out the window. You know it’s silly, because they’re not even together, and it hurts that Steve’s still interested in chasing after her.
Not that he’d be interested in you. You don’t know why the thought even crossed your mind.
You can’t stop yourself from thinking about it though; what it’d be like if he chose you instead. It makes your chest ache a touch.
“I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry,” Steve’s words hit your ears and you bring your gaze back up to him, “I was stupid, and you never did anything to deserve that.”
“Wow - I,” You stammer, stunned at the fact that he just apologized to you - and so sincerely too, “Thank you, that means a lot, really.”
You can tell that weight gets lifted from him at your acknowledgment as he stands a bit straighter and exhales, “And, you know, if you don’t get into colleges because of what I said - that’d really suck. I know you really give a shit about that-”
“Steve-” You interrupt again, you soft tone catching his attention, “It’s okay, really. Just means I gotta work harder, right?”
Steve just nods as he shifts and runs a hand through his hair, “You’re a lot cooler with this than I thought you’d be.”
“It helps when you didn’t turn out to be as big of a dick as I thought,” You answer as you lean into your hip.
“Also, I gotta say,” Steve starts, “I did not expect you to put yourself between a gun. You don’t seem like the type.”
“Yeah, well,” You roll your eyes slightly, “I surprise even myself.”
Steve laughs as he brings his fingers to the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. You do too, and it feels nice, being able to have an interaction like this with someone your age - you haven’t felt this warmth in your chest in almost two years.
“Can we talk about your skills with that bat? I mean, seriously! You’ll have to give me some pointers cause holy shit, Harrington! You should try out for the team!” You tease, only causing your smiles to grow even wider.
“I’ll stick with shootin’ hoops, thank you very much,” Steve responds, quickly glancing around at the buzzing nurses and their clipboards.
A comfortable silence falls over the two of you as you take in this newfound respect you’ve gained for the other. Who knew it’d take an experience from hell to get to you here?
“You know,” Steve breaks the silence first, turning back to you, “You’re alright, Henderson.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, we should hang out more often,” He says, “Maybe help me graduate to get my parents off my back.”
You hesitate before you answer. Your brow furrows as you cast your eyes down a bit, scoffing lightly, “Seriously think Carol and Tommy would want me around?”
Steve inhales through his gritted teeth, leaning in towards you a touch, “I may or may not have abandoned them at a gas station on the edge of town earlier. So, I doubt they’ll wanna be seeing any more of me.”
You can’t help the laugh that bubbles from behind your lips and Steve is practically beaming at the noise. He could care less that the bruise on his cheek hurts - he can’t remember the last time someone made him smile this much.
“Did you seriously?” You ask him, eyes wide with interest and bottom lip caught between your teeth in anticipation of his response. He nods, shoulders shaking as he laughs again at the ridiculousness of it, “Yeah, I did.”
“Holy shit!” You clap your hands together, “I would’ve paid money to see that, oh my God, Steve.” You move your fingers to hover over your stomach, exuding pure joy as you imagine the scenario in your head, “You’re just full of surprises today, aren’t you?”
“Something is coming. Something angry, hungry for your blood,” Mike says in the most dramatic way he can muster, “It is almost here.”
You lean back against your chair, lips pursed and arms crossed over your chest. The other boys are enamored by the campaign and Mike’s storytelling, eyes focused on the dark-haired Dungeon Master.
“What is it?” Will asks, tossing his pencil down onto the table. You think he’s already predicting defeat.
“I bet you it’s the Thesselhydra,” Dustin thinks, leaning against his forearms, and you smile at how he’s captivated by the game. Lucas shakes his head aggressively and the motion draws your eyes to him.
“It’s not the Thesselhydra!” Lucas replies.
You shrug and they turn to you, “I don’t know - I think I’m with Dustin on this one.”
Your brother’s face brightens at your approval; Lucas and Will are slightly disappointed by your answer, “See, she believes me!”
“She’s not even playing!” Will exclaims as he gestures to you.
You scoff, “Not my fault that Mike wrote a three person campaign.”
Mike smirks as he reaches down, fingers moving past the edge of the table before slamming a metal figurine onto the board, “It’s the Thesselhydra!”
The boys groan in frustration at Mike’s play, no matter how predictable it might’ve been. He continues, “Will, your action!”
“Cast fireball!” Lucas shouts as Will grabs the dice in his hand and turns to Dustin for his input as well. He pauses for a moment, a smile pulling at his lips, “Fireball that son of a bitch.”
The roll is successful - and you all cheer in Will’s favor as he brings the party to victory.
“You arrive at the castle and Dustin gifts the seven heads to Queen Y/N,” Mike says and your gaze switches to Mike at the mention of your name. His boyish smile mixed with the sincerity on his features as he meets your eyes causes a slight blush to creep up your cheeks at the recognition, “She thanks you for your bravery and service and rewards each of you with a medal - you’re now knights of the realm.”
Their celebrations get cut by Jonathan’s footsteps coming down the basement stairs, “Jesus, what died down here?”
You laugh lightly and point to the kids, “One of them did it, and I don’t wanna know which it was.”
“It was definitely Dustin!” Lucas shouts; Dustin’s expression contorts in annoyance, “I did not!”
“Did too!” Through their silly bickering, you notice Jonathan motioning upstairs to his brother, mouthing, “Come on, let’s go.”
You check your watch and inhale once you notice the position of the hands, scrambling to grab your things. You shove Dustin’s shoulder to move his attention away from his friends, “Hey, come on. We better get goin’ too, Mom’ll hate it if we’re riding in the snow.”
Tugging your hat over your ears, you and Dustin send your farewells to the group as you begin to make your way up the stairs behind Jonathan and Will.
The scents of warm spices and pine assault your senses as the door opens to the kitchen, where Karen’s decorating some beautiful desserts and Steve’s stuffing a cookie into his mouth.
You snort at the hideous Christmas sweater he’s wearing, adjusting your bag on your shoulder, “Nice outfit, who forced you to wear that thing?”
But he manages to pull it off - you’re not going to lie. And he looks so happy and in tune with the holiday spirit; you’ve decided that joy looks really good on him. You hope it sticks.
“Hey, Y/N-” His words are muffled through the bite, “You didn’t tell me you were coming, how long have you been here?”
“Since ten this morning,” You state plainly, glaring over to where your brother stands on your right. He shrugs as he grabs a cookie too, making his way to the door, “For Christ’s sake, you said you wanted to come!”
“Jesus, what the hell were you all doing down there?” Steve questions before walking you out to the front, “They didn’t drag you into one of their games, did they?”
“Actually,” Your voice lowers a touch, “I volunteered. Queen Y/N, at your service.” Heat rises to your cheeks with the admission that you actually enjoy being involved, and Steve teases at it, “Ouch - you really are such a nerd, Henderson.”
Just as you’re about to reach for the handle, you get reminded of the parcel inside your pack and you go to grab it, “Wait! I almost forgot.” The red and white wrapping paper stands out against your palm as you extend it out to him, “Uh, Merry Christmas, I guess.”
Steve’s eyes flick between the package and your face, pangs of guilt starting to flood his brain - he hadn’t thought to get you anything, “You didn’t have to do that.”
You shake it slightly, the inside rattling, trying to urge him to take the present, “Come on, it’s Christmas.”
He sighs as he looks back up to your meet your eyes, a small smile spreading on your lips once he takes it and starts to peel back the paper.
“You mentioned your first one got scratched up so-” You utter the words just loud enough so the two of you can hear above the tune of the carols in the background. It’s a copy of his favorite album - Corey Hart’s First Offense. The look of surprise on his face widens your smile a bit further and he laughs, “I can’t believe you remembered. Holy shit, I don’t know what to say-”
“It’s okay,” You wave off, eyes drifting to the ground, “Don’t worry about it.”
Steve pauses as he tries to process your gesture and response - trying to think about why you’d do something so selfless and thoughtful for him and clearly not expect him to return the favor. It tugs at his heart a bit, and he does the only thing he can think to do.
“Thank you,” He mutters, and his appreciation causes your attention to be brought back up, “You’re amazing, really. This might be the best gift I’ve ever gotten.”
You go a little dizzy at his compliment and you laugh nervously, stumbling over your words, “You’re welcome, and Merry Christmas.” You grin as your hand slides over the doorknob and Steve returns it, “Merry Christmas, Henderson. See you around.”
The cold air hits you like a ton of bricks as the door shuts behind you and you hope it’ll disguise the redness of your cheeks. On an impulse, you turn to look back through the window of the door, hoping to sneak one last glance of Steve before the night’s over.
And you do - but he’s met up with Nancy by the staircase, beaming down at her and an arm slung around her waist.
The color drains from your face at the sight of them together and happy. It makes your eyes sting and your nose run - and you try to convince yourself that it’s just the freezing temperature. Nothing more.
You try and shake the image of them from your mind as you turn away, refusing to try and get caught up in your feelings over a boy that’s taken. Especially one that’s taken by Nancy Wheeler of all people.
You walk down the path to where your bike is stashed, wiping your nose with the back of your sleeve. You’re met with the annoyed stare from Dustin, who’s sitting on his bike and arms folded over his chest.
“I thought we were leaving,” He asks as you throw him his gloves from your pocket, your tone laced with an unconscious frustration, “We are now!”
A few seconds go by as you two prepare yourselves for the ride and Dustin speaks up, “So what are you friends with Harrington now or somethin’?”
You kick up the stand before taking care to not slip on the light layer of snow that’s coated the pavement and you sigh, “Yeah, we’re friends.”
How could you not be friends? He’s sweet and gentler than the morning sun, filled with just as much passion as you, and God if it weren’t for his stupid soft eyes you might be able to forget about it all.
Your head snaps back to look at the house, snowflakes getting caught in your eyelashes as the realization slams into you. This silly crush that you’ve been harboring for the past few weeks is starting to develop into something else - something more, and that thought absolutely terrifies you.
Your voice softens a touch before swallowing harshly, “We’re just friends.”