Chapter Text
Of course, the one night you’re home alone, there’s some weird noises coming from your backyard.
Your father won’t be home until morning, as he is currently visiting your older brother in Indianapolis. Usually, you tag along for these trips, but school is a little too busy this week for comfort. It is your senior year, after all.
Alas, you were left on house duty. Your old man was reluctant to leave you behind, seeing as you pretty much live in the no-man’s-land part of Hawkins, but you assured him you would be fine. You promised to triple-check all the locks, and call the cops at the first sign of trouble. What could go wrong?
A lot, apparently.
With your ear pressed against the back door, you hear the strange noises again. Twigs snapping, along with some weird rustling. You clutch your father’s ax in your hand - it turns out, having a lumberjack as a father comes with some saving graces. Sure, he often wears his dirty work boots inside and tracks mud everywhere, but at least you have some defense against the potential serial killer in your backyard. Scout, your loyal German Shepherd, whines at your feet. He's the one who alerted you to the potential problem in the first place - usually, Scout’s a quiet dog, but something, or someone, is clearly bothering him.
“Stay, buddy.” You order, and despite Scout’s clear disapproval, he obeys. The last thing you want is your dog dashing into the woods after some wild animal.
You take a deep breath. While you did promise to call the police if there was any trouble, you figure it’s probably nothing. If you end up calling the cops over a raccoon, you don’t think you’ll ever live down the embarrassment. With that thought in mind, you unlock the door and swing it open in one smooth motion, ax raised in defense. You don’t actually intend on using it, but hopefully you look menacing enough to ward off any critter.
The sight before you is… the exact opposite of what you expected.
Steve Harrington, the “king” of Hawkins High, and a few random kids, all dressed in what looks like scuba gear. The group jolts at your sudden appearance, varying levels of shock and confusion on their faces.
“Steve Harrington?” You ask, lowering your ax. What the hell is he doing all the way out here, with some random kids?
“Uh… hi?” He waves, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
“What’s with the kids?” You wonder, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“Oh, them? You see, here’s the thing-“ Steve begins, but is cut off by the curly-haired kid to his right.
“Babysitting.” The boy states, motioning towards Steve with his thumb.
“Babysitting.” You repeat, not quite buying it. “Can I ask what you’re all doing in my backyard at,” You check your watch, “a quarter to midnight?”
“Oh, we were just… hiking.” Steve replies, crossing his arms, feigning indifference.
“Hiking. At a quarter to midnight?” You tilt your head.
“Do I know you, from somewhere?” Steve wonders, clearly trying to change the subject. You sigh, carefully dropping your ax before walking closer to the group.
“We had Chem together, last semester.” You rest a hand on your hip, still eyeing the group with heavy scrutiny. They are clearly hiding something from you - what, exactly? You have no idea.
“Chem, that’s right! And your name is…” Steve trails off, and you can’t help rolling your eyes.
“You had a class with her for a whole semester and you don’t remember her name?” The curly-haired kid jabs, and Steve elbows him slightly.
“Y/N Y/L/N.” You supply, and Steve repeats it, thoughtfully. This close to the group, you realize most of them don’t look so good. The kids are covered in dirt, a couple of them are scratched up, and Steve is sporting several nasty bruises on his face.
“Are you guys okay? You don’t look-“ You start, before a low growling noise interrupts you. The group stills, and you move to grab your ax - expecting a coyote or something - but Steve grabs a hold of your arm, keeping you in place.
“What-“ You begin, before you see it. Something white and slimy, on all fours, emerges from the woods - and it’s definitely not a coyote. The creature shrieks, and you get a glimpse of an alarming amount of razor-sharp teeth.
“What the FUCK is that?” You shout, earning another shriek from the creature, who lunges closer to the group.
“Get behind me!” Steve yells, producing a bat full of nails. He swings it a few times in warning, as the being gets closer. The thing lunges again, and Steve successfully manages to whack it. The monster screeches loudly, as Steve hits it a few more times, for good measure.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, before there’s more growling, louder this time, that sounds like it’s getting closer. As Steve yanks his bat out from the monster’s remains, several more of the same beast emerge from all sides, surrounding your group.
Before you can think too hard about it, you make a leap for your ax, at the same time a monster lunges for you. Steve manages to hit the thing just in time, and you both quickly rejoin the group.
“You have any idea how to use that thing?” Steve shouts, as the pack of monsters move closer - circling you.
“Uh, sorta?” You cringe, tightening your grip on the wooden handle. Does helping your dad chop firewood count?
Steve thinks on that for a moment, before shrugging. “Better than nothing."
You position yourself in front of the kids, with Steve covering the other side. A million things run through your mind - mostly curse words - but you take a deep breath, trying to ground yourself. You just met these kids, but they need you. And along with Steve, you’re the best line of defense they’ve got.
One of the creatures lunges at you, and you manage to swing your ax at the perfect time, chopping the monster’s head clean-off. Your eyes widen at the bloodied blade - this thing is sharper than you thought. Unfortunately, you’re also covered in monster blood. You scrunch your nose in disgust, as Steve takes out another one, yelling the whole time.
The fight continues until none of the monsters are left. You all hold your breath for a moment, waiting to see if anything else will emerge from the woods. A minute passes, and all you can hear is the wind howling.
The group sighs, as you yank your ax out from a monster carcass, cringing at the gory sight.
“Everyone inside!” You nod towards your back door, and the kids enthusiastically oblige. You can’t blame them - after that fiasco, you wish you had a steel bunker to barricade yourself inside.
A hand rests on your shoulder, and you look up to find it belongs to Steve.
“Hey, thanks for the help back there. You’re pretty…” His gaze shifts towards the bloodied axe in your grip. “handy with that thing.”
You roll your eyes. “Are you gonna tell me what the fuck those things were?”
Steve claps your shoulder a few times, before leading you inside. “Later,” he promises.
-
“There we go,” You say, carefully placing a Spider-Man band-aid on Dustin’s forehead. “Good as new!”
“Thanks, Y/N!” Dustin gives you a toothy-grin, and you return the smile, before turning towards the rest of the kids.
“There’s snacks and water in the pantry downstairs, help yourself!” You nod towards the basement, and the kids immediately begin to scurry away.
“What do we say?” Steve yells after them, resting his hands on his hips. You stifle a giggle at the distinct motherly-looking gesture.
“Thank you, Y/N!” The kids chorus, before disappearing down the stairs.
You smile, while organizing your first-aid supplies on the countertop. “You’re a pretty good influence on them.”
Steve shrugs, leaning down to give Scout a pat on the head. “Someone’s gotta be.”
You produce an antiseptic wipe from your pack, and move closer to Steve. “Your turn, Harrington.”
Steve sighs, before moving to sit on a stool underneath your kitchen light, giving you a better view of his injuries. There’s dried blood and bruises pretty much everywhere, with his right eye looking particularly swollen.
“What the hell happened?” You wonder, as you cup his jaw with your left hand, and use your right to gently wipe away the blood.
“Got in a fight. Lost.” He admits, scrunching his nose, then immediately wincing in regret.
“Hey, take it easy.” You instruct, before grabbing another wipe to get rid of the remaining blood. Once you’re satisfied, you fetch him some pain reliever and a glass of water, along with an ice pack for his eye.
“Thank you,” Steve says, after swallowing the pill. “You didn’t have to.”
You roll your eyes. “I did, or else you would’ve tracked blood through half of Hawkins.”
Steve snorts, holding the ice pack to his eye. “I didn’t even remember your name, and we had Chem together for a whole semester.”
He shouldn’t look so cute holding an ice pack to his bruised eye, but you can’t help the smile that forms on your face.
“Don’t mention it, Harrington.” You shrug, as the kids come bounding upstairs into the kitchen.
“Y/N, your basement is so cool! Are those your Star Wars figurines?!“ Dustin exclaims, his face lit up with excitement. Mike and Lucas seem to share some of his enthusiasm, while Max seems indifferent.
“No, those are my dad’s,” You smile. “He’s a big fan.”
Before Dustin can get another word in, there’s a loud thump at your back door. Scout howls, and everyone jolts in alarm, while Steve abandons his ice pack to investigate. He presses his ear to the door, bat in hand, then flinches back when something scratches at the wood, growling viciously.
“There’s more of them!” Lucas worries, at the same time Mike says, “They know we’re here!”
“Okay, what’s the plan? Fight them off?” Dustin wonders, while Max rolls her eyes.
“You mean Steve and Y/N fight them off.” She corrects, nodding towards the both of you.
“We don’t know how many of them are out there.” You point out, as Steve nods in agreement.
“She’s right. We’re probably outnumbered, and waiting here is a no-go, they’ll eventually try to break inside.” He reasons, as another monster scratches at the door, shrieking.
“Yeah, I don’t think my dad would appreciate our house being broken into by monsters.” You say, eyeing the door with rising anxiety.
“Okay, so we can’t fight them, and we can’t stay here. What do we do?!” Lucas wonders, looking at the group for an answer. Steve paces back and forth, before pausing to meet your gaze.
“Look, I know this is asking a lot, and you’ve already saved our asses once, but do you have a car we could borrow?” He asks, desperation clear in his eyes.
“That’s your big plan? Drive away and what, hope you lose them?” You cross your arms, brows scrunched in disbelief.
“Does anyone have a better idea?” Steve demands, and is met with silence. As much as you hate to admit it, your options are very limited.
“Fine, but my dad would kill me if he found out I let you drive his car.” You resign, grabbing your dad’s keychain from a hook on the wall. “So, I’m driving.” You add, waving the keys for emphasis.
-
Okay, so this definitely isn’t a great plan, but it’s the only plan you’ve got. So, while drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, you try to swallow any lingering doubts. Which is proving to be a challenge for everyone, if the loud, continuous arguing currently offending your eardrums has anything to say about it.
With the kids and Scout huddled in the backseat of your dad’s Cutlass (he graciously drove his work truck to Indianapolis, thank god), you frantically start the engine. Meanwhile, Steve hits the button that opens your garage door. As soon as the door begins to open, he dashes back to the car and hops in the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Go go go!” Steve shouts, as you reverse - the once distant growling of the monsters becoming alarmingly loud. You manage to back out of your driveway and zoom down the street, but the monsters are hot on your trail, and the arguing in your backseat turns into full-on shouting.
“This isn’t a leisurely drive through the suburbs, Y/N, step on it!” Steve complains, and you frown, annoyed - because you, quite literally, are already stepping on the gas.
“What do you think I’m doing, Harrington?!” You remark, pressing your foot down on the gas pedal as hard as you possibly can, but the monsters are still gaining on you.
“Faster, go faster-“ Steve shouts, contorting his neck in an awkward way to keep an eye on your pursuers - when a loud thud from overhead startles his attention back to the front of your car.
The kids stop shouting for a moment, and there’s a few seconds of silent apprehension - before one of the monsters jumps onto your windshield, earning a scream from everyone in the vehicle.
The monster opens its terrifying jaw to screech at you all, as Steve leans over the center console to sharply jerk the steering wheel to the left, effectively causing the beast to stumble off your windshield. In the process, you nearly bash your head against the window - and Steve must have accidentally switched on your dad’s cassette player… unless you’re hallucinating “Karma Chameleon” now playing throughout the vehicle.
“Culture Club?” Steve comments, one brow quirked in amusement.
“Personal space, Harrington, ever heard of it?” You change the subject, elbowing Steve in the ribs. He moves back, now shooting you an annoyed glare.
“There’s monsters trying to eat us and you’re worried about personal space?” Steve counters, and this time it’s your turn to glare.
“I know how to drive a car, you don’t have to-“ You begin, but are interrupted by the sound of several more loud thumps coming from the roof.
“Could you two stop flirting, and I don’t know, DO SOMETHING?!“ Dustin shouts, gesturing to the roof aggressively.
“Flirting?” You and Steve repeat in unison, eyebrows scrunched in distaste - before turning to look at each other in awe. Two monsters landing on the windshield snap you both out of your stunned silence.
“LEFT, SWERVE LEFT!” Steve shouts, and you follow his instructions, but apparently the monsters learned from last time, because they somehow maintain their balance. One of the beasts scratches the glass, and you already have a headache just thinking about the lecture you’ll surely receive from your father (if you make it out of this alive, that is).
“GO RIGHT, GO RIGHT!” Steve yells, desperately, and you swerve right - but keep going, instead of righting the vehicle.
“What are you doing?!” He demands, as you drive off the main road, hightailing it for the woods. Leaves crunch and twigs snap as your car speeds over them, and a well-placed tree branch sends the monsters flying off the windshield, but they quickly recover, regrouping with the others gaining on you. The drive is nauseatingly bumpy, but you keep your foot pressed firmly on the gas, determined. Eventually, the edge of a cliff is in sight, and you make no move to change course.
“SHE’S TRYING TO KILL US!” Mike yells, as an annoyed Max tells him to shut up.
“Listen, Y/N, you don’t have to do this, you know earlier, with the whole personal space thing, that was totally my bad, I’ll never take the wheel from you again, and I’m sorry for not remembering your name-“ Steve begins rambling, and you roll your eyes, still gunning for the cliff’s edge.
“Harrington?”
The cliff gets closer, and you keep your gaze fixed on it.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
Steve closes his eyes and holds on for dear life. “Yeah, alright.”
You maintain your course, the pack of monsters screeching behind you, and at the very last second, swerve the car to the right with all of your strength. The monsters don’t get the memo in time, and barrel off the cliffside, as you thankfully manage, with no small effort, to right the vehicle.
You stop at the edge of the woods, everyone breathing deeply from the adrenaline of nearly dying.
A moment of silence passes - apart from the Culture Club song still faintly playing in the background.
“Did you… know Y/N was gonna do that, Steve? Or were you just gonna let us all die?” Dustin wonders, causing Steve to frown.
“Of course I knew, dingus, I’m in charge of keeping you brats alive, you think I’d just let someone drive us off the edge of a cliff?” He retorts, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I don’t think he knew,” Max states, at the same time Lucas says, “You definitely didn’t know!”
“I knew, okay, you dummies were the ones who didn’t know-“
More arguing ensues, and you sigh, before beginning your drive back towards the main road.
-
You end up dropping the group off at the Byer’s house, as that’s where Steve says his car is parked. The kids all scramble to escape your backseat, mumbling various choruses of thanks as they take their leave - everyone offering Scout a final head pat before they go.
You wave them off, then slump in your seat, exhausted - the chaos of the night finally hitting you. Steve gets out next, but stops outside your window, partially leaning inside. He searches your face for something, then frowns.
“You’re bleeding.” He says, pointing to his own right temple. You mimic his action, pressing your finger to the area, then wince when it stings slightly. When you draw your hand back, the pad of your finger is covered in blood.
“It’s just a scratch.” You shrug, assuming you probably hit your head on something and didn’t realize until now.
“You should clean that, or it could get infected.” Steve informs you, and you roll your eyes, before nodding in good humor.
“Will do, Doc.”
He nods back, satisfied. “Oh, and you probably shouldn’t go back home tonight, because… you know. Do you have a friend nearby that you could stay with, or-“
You nod again. “Don’t worry, Harrington, my cousin’s house isn’t a far drive from here - I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, good. And about the car…” Steve gestures towards the ugly scratch on the windshield, and you feel your stomach sink. Honestly, your dad’s reaction to the damage may end up being worse than the whole… chased by a pack of monsters, thing. But you’re the one who volunteered his car, and drove it through the woods - it’s not like his reaction will be unwarranted.
You sigh. “Steve-“
“Listen, tell your old man that it was me, tell him that I threw a baseball at it, or something-“
“Why would you have thrown a baseball at it?” You cut him off, with a confused laugh.
“I don’t know, okay! It doesn’t matter, just tell him that I, Steve Harrington, scratched his windshield, and I’ll bring you to Thatcher’s one day after school and pay for the repairs. Alright?” He offers, in a tone that leaves no room for argument.
You look at him for a moment, torn between confusion and amusement. “Alright.”
“Alright.” Steve repeats, then gently smacks the roof of the Cutlass, as if he’s apologizing. “Thanks again - oh, and that move you pulled back there, in the woods? Badass."
“Okay, you can stop buttering me up now, Harrington, I get it - I won't tell anyone about tonight." You roll your eyes, feigning annoyance - but Steve laughs, and you can't quite keep the smile off your face.
“I owe you one, really. See you in school, Y/N.”
You watch him walk towards the house, where the kids are waiting for him on the porch. You think you hear Dustin say something along the lines of, “Really, Steve? Flirting, at a time like this?”
Steve gives the younger boy a noogie in retaliation, just as an important thought suddenly crosses your mind.
“Hey, Harrington!” You call, raising your voice so he can hear you from the porch.
“Yeah?” Steve calls back, turning his attention back towards you.
“Are you ever going to tell me what those things were?” You wonder, realizing that is some extremely important information that you’re currently lacking.
Steve thinks on it for a moment. “Ask me later!” He decides, causing the kids to groan in annoyance.
You’re not sure if they’re frustrated with his answer, or just his general behavior, but you suppose it doesn’t really matter.
As you begin to pull out of the driveway, Scout jumps into the passenger seat, then licks your face. You laugh, giving him a pat with your free hand.
“Weird night, huh, buddy?”
—