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You hadn't spoken to Steve Harrington all year. You weren't sure why you avoided him or Nancy or even Robin. You'd wanted to reach out after the summer you had, but you weren't sure how to swing it or if it would bring up memories you'd rather forget. So, instead, you spent the year avoiding your best friends- that is, of course, until that cheerleader, Chrissy, died. You'd seen it on the news and call it a gut feeling or you being your father's daughter, you just knew everything was starting again. Nothing in Hawkins happened on coincidence and you knew Eddie Munson. You'd had a couple of run-ins with his band when you dated their first bassist your freshman year of high school. Was Munson strange? Yes. Was a freak? Definitely. Was he capable of murder? Never. For the first time all year, you decided you needed to find Steve.
Pulling up to Family Video, you saw Steve sitting behind the counter with Robin and Dustin Henderson. You pulled the door open to the sound of a welcome bell dinging. Steve glanced over, ready to help a new customer, not yet processing who'd entered the store. When he caught your eyes, he stood up, his hazel eyes brightened.
"Uhhh, y/n, what are you doing here?" he asked, his words coming out is a sort've jumbled, fast awkward mess.
"I heard about Chrissy. I know Eddie and he's weird, but I know he isn't capable of what they're saying he is."
"Oh, yea, he's not," Dustin said, barely looking up from the computer behind the counter.
"Okay, so how can I help?" you asked.
Steve opened his mouth to talk, but Robin jumped the gun before he could get a word out.
"You don't," she said.
"Why not?" Steve and you said at the same time.
"You've spent all year ignoring us and I'm sorry, but this is such bullshit! You can't just waltz back in here and expect us to act like nothing's happened!"
"Robin," Steve said quietly.
"No, Steve, look, I'm sorry, but she's been gone for months now when we were worrying about her and now it's just okay for her to come in here and act normal?!"
"A word, if you guys will," Dustin interjected.
Robin and Steve nodded. They turned their backs to you in a weird huddle. You could hear hushed whispers between the three of them.
"Robin, her dad literally died!" Steve whispered a little too-loudly, followed immediately by a shushing from Dustin.
They continued their conversation for a little longer and then sprang apart, each of them turning around and staring you down. You met each of their eyes. Robin had a steely gaze, Dustin was smiling at you, and Steve gave an awkward wave when your eyes met his.
"Well?" you asked.
"Great news," said Henderson. "You're coming with us!"
________________________________________________________
You'd spent days with your old friends investigating Vecna and trying to help Eddie. You were surprised with how easily you fell back in with them, especially Steve. Although, Steve was never really going to be a problem- he'd forgiven you the minute you walked into that door at Family Video. He wasn't one for holding grudges, especially against someone he'd been friends with since middle school. It was Robin who gave you the hardest time, but after you apologizing over and over, she caved in; although, she still kept shooting hard glances between you and Steve.
Now, you were out in a boat in the middle of Lover's Lake with a wanted "murderer" and your three friends, looking for some new gate into the Upside Down. You and Steve sat together side by side, so close your right arm was touching his left and his left leg touching yours. You welcomed the warmth from him and the sense of safety you felt beside him, despite the whole Vecna thing. When you'd made it to the gate, Steve volunteered to go down first.
"You can't be serious?" you asked him, suddenly fearful. "I don't want you going down there alone."
"Someone has got to do it," he said with a shrug, taking his shirt off.
You had to admit, even in the dim moonlight, Steve looked good. His muscles from years of playing basketball were still there, but not as defined as they were in high school. He still looked lean, but had just a little more hair than you remembered.
"Look, y/n, I'll be back before you know it and you can yell at me about how stupid I am when I get back, okay?"
You reluctantly nodded, trying to swallow your fear.
"Fine, but if you're not back in like two minutes, I'm going in after you."
Steve nodded.
"Deal."
"Alright, lovebirds, we're still on a schedule here," Eddie said. "Take this."
He handed Steve a flashlight wrapped in a plastic bag.
"Okay, here goes nothing," Steve said, winking at you and then diving into the black, murky depths of Lover's Lake.
The minute Steve disappeared, you felt your air leave your lungs. It was dead quiet, not even the bugs around the lake wanted to penetrate the silence. The only person who dared was Robin.
"You seem pale, y/n," she said.
You glared at her.
"N-no, I'm just saying tha-that you seem paler than the rest of us? Like maybe you're more worried?" she stumbled.
"Huh?" Eddie asked.
You and Nancy stared at Robin with raised eyebrows.
"I'm just saying that maybe you care more about Steve than the average person?"
"What do you mean? He's my best friend, of course I do," you said.
"No, I mean- never mind..."
Robin trailed off and an awkward silence replaced the earlier eery one. Thankfully it didn't last long, because Steve resurfaced out of breath.
"I see it, it's down-" he started before he was yanked by some unseen force to the bottom of the lake.
"Steve!" Nancy yelled.
"Fuck this," you said, diving head-first into the cold water.
You could barely see, but you found Steve right away. He was struggling and a vine was wrapped around his leg, pulling him to Vecna's gate. You propelled yourself down, trying to grasp his outstretched hand. You weren't fast enough, though, because the vine pulled him through. You followed without so much as an after thought.
When you landed in the Upside Down, you fell hard. You groaned.
"Y/n, are you good?" Steve asked, reaching a hand out to you. You took it, standing beside him. You looked at him smiling.
"You're alive," you said, throwing your arms around a shirtless, wet Steve. He breathed you in. You smelled like sweat and lilacs. You smelled like spring. He smiled, throwing his arms around you. Both of you were pulled apart when you heard a shrill shriek hurling towards you.
"Ah, fuck!" Steve said, glancing at a strange bat-like creature flying toward you, teeth first.
You and Steve panicked, running over to a stack of wood and grabbing the first piece of strong plywood you could find. One came straight for your face and like a batter at plate, you swung. The wood made contact with a slight crunch.
"Nice one!" Robin yelled from behind you, her and Nancy and Eddie now having joined you and Steve in the Upside Down. You turned and bowed at her with a smile, like an idiot, completely forgetting about the other bats. You felt one grab you from behind, dragging you backwards and digging its teeth into your shoulder.
"Y/n!" Steve yelled, whacking one off of him and following you. He swat at your back, pulling the thing off. You screamed as it bit you for the last time on your lower back. All around you, everyone was fighting the weird fuckers. Robin was swatting at one that had latched itself onto Nancy and Eddie was hitting them left and right. There was seemingly no end to them, all you could do was keep fighting. Eventually, with sore arms and heavy breathing, you had looked around and realized they'd let up. You'd dropped your weapon and collapsed on the ground. Steve ran over, checking on you. He knelt on his knees, so he was face to face with you, cupping his hand on your cheek and looking you in your eyes.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked, checking your body for any serious injuries.
"I'm fine, but Steve, you're bleeding," you said, putting your finger to a wound on his forehead.
"So are you," he said as he pointed to an open wound on your left side.
"We have to go back," Nancy said, ever so obviously.
"Yea," Munson agreed. "I'd rather deal with Jason right now than those things ever again."
You nodded, standing. Steve followed, placing a hand on the small of your back.
"Uh, guys, I think that's going to be a no-go," said Robin, pointing to a new approaching horde of demobats.
"Fuck me!" Munson whispered.
"We need to run," said Nancy.
You all didn't have time you think, you just did as Nancy said, running until you couldn't see the bats anymore. You didn't stop until Nancy did. You were in a neighborhood.
"Okay," Nancy breathed. "We need to get some first aid."
You all agreed. Nancy led you into a house, looking around she found a bathroom. You and Steve were the most hurt, taking a seat on the living room couch. Eddie and Robin went to the kitchen, looking for weapons. Nancy came into the living room with a smile.
"Here," she said, throwing a wad of gauze bandages onto your lap. "I'm going to go check on Robin and Eddie."
She disappeared into the kitchen.
"I'm going to do you first, okay," you told Steve. "Don't argue."
He nodded.
"Have at it."
You knelt on the floor in front of Steve on the couch.
"Raise your arms," you commanded.
He did as he was told and you got to wrapping the gauze around his slim torso. He was staring at you the whole time, admiring how focus you looked. He'd noticed years ago that when you really focused, you stuck your tongue out the left side of your mouth and furrowed your eyebrows.
"Hey, Y/n," he said softly.
"Yes?" you asked, not meeting his eyes, still focusing on bandaging him up.
"I'm sorry I didn't try to reach out more this year," he said.
You stopped, finally looking up to meet his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I just mean that I didn't try as hard as I could've. Starcourt just kind've happened and I let you disappear. I'm sorry."
You sighed.
"You don't have to be sorry, Steve, it was on me-"
"No it wasn't, Hop died. It wasn't on you to reach out."
"You came to my house after the funeral."
"But how many times did I come after that?"
"Can we not play the blame game right now, Harrington? Not when you're about to bleed out on some gross-ass couch in an alternate dimension?"
He nodded.
"Okay, but I just wanted to let you know that it's never going to happen again. You're about to be so sick of me. You're going to see me everyday from now on and I'm going to kiss your feet every time I see you and tell you a million sorries."
You laughed.
"Please for the love of God, do not kiss my feet. I think I'd actually puke."
"Okay, but my point still stands. I'm going to make you sick of me."
"I don't think I could ever be sick of you," you said gently.
"I don't think I could ever be sick of you, too, y/n. I haven't been sick of you since we met at Tommy's party in the 7th grade."
"When you shoved your tongue down my throat?" you asked, a slight laugh in your voice.
"Hey! It was truth or dare and you didn't seem to mind my tongue down your throat!"
You both laughed.
"You know you were my first kiss," you told him.
"You were mine, too," he said.
"No fucking way. I call bullshit."
"No, I'm being dead serious. That's why it was so bad. I'd told Tommy and that's why he wanted to play truth or dare."
"Well, I'm glad to be the Steve Harrington's first kiss. It is truly an honor."
"I thought about that party a lot, actually," Steve said.
"It was 7th grade, Steve," you chuckled.
"I know, but sometimes I think about what would've happened if I had just asked you to kiss me instead of doing it on some stupid dare. It looked like I only did it because I'd look like a pussy if I didn't, but I didn't it because I wanted to."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm trying to say- fuck- I'm trying to say that I've wanted to kiss you since the 7th grade and I've wanted to kiss you everyday after that party. When we became friends after I thought, 'well, okay, this is the closest I'm going to get, so I better get used to being her best friend,' but that's not enough. God, I was miserable when you dated that guy from Eddie's band. What was his name? Alex? Adam? That's not important. I'm just saying I've loved you since I was 13 and I still do."
You looked up at him, doe-eyed. He was breathing heavily.
"Steve," you said.
He stared at you.
"I dare you to kiss me."
He did. He bent over, pressing a soft kiss to your mouth. You wrapped you arm around his neck, hands in his hair. The kiss deepened. You moaned. He slid a hand, rubbing his thumb on your cheek.
"Oh come on guys!" Nancy groaned, walking into the living room. "You're too busy making out to realize that you're about to bleed out!"
Robin came barreling into the room.
"Did you finally tell her Steve-o?!"
Steve nodding, smiling. Robin smiled back.
"That's my man!"