No One Left Behind

Chapter Twenty-Two

(Next day - Outfit One) 

Steve laid asleep beside me, snoring softly. Last night, Steve and I had been up pretty late talking with the movie playing in the background. The main topic of the night was the Russian Translation from that day. We tried figuring out what the Russians wanted with Hawkins, but none of us could think of anything. I sat up from the bed as Steve's arm fell from my waist. 

I squinted when I pulled the curtains aside. I could already tell that it was going to be a warm day. "Steve," I lightly shook his shoulder, "Hey." He hummed in response with his eyes still closed. He grabbed the comforter and put it over his shoulders, preventing the sun from reaching his eyes. "We've gotta get you to work," I attempted to remove the blanket from his grip. 

He flipped over on his side. "I'll just skip today," Steve said, his voice muffled from the pillow and the comforter. I rolled my eyes at his response. I knew taking him to work would be hard, but I can't say I don't blame him. "You know you can't do that," I said. "I know. But I can sure as hell try," Steve remarked, pressing his face further into the pillow. One part of me thought about yanking the pillow out from underneath him, but I knew that probably wasn't the best idea. 

My boyfriend wasn't the best person in the morning. He had his moments, but most of those moments consisted of him being an asshole in the morning. Steve usually blamed it on me not waking up beside him. "Steve, come on, bud," I finally got a grip on the blanket's edge. "Bud? Seriously?" his voice was less raspy. He looked up at him with his brows furrowed. I sighed and rested my back against the wall, beginning to lose hope. 

"What? You like King Steve Harrington more?" I spoke in a posh British accent. Steve's face contorted in disgust at my sudden accent change. He shook his head, sitting up from the bed. I couldn't help but chuckle at his expression. "No, never speak like that again, like ever," he claimed. "What? You don't like when I talk all British and posh?" I joked. "No," he shook his head again, slightly laughing. 

Steve's eyes landed on me, his smile growing. "You're doing that thing again," I turned my attention to him. "What thing?" he questioned. He removed the pillow underneath him and propped it against the wooden headboard. Steve rested his arms on his knees. "That thing you do when I laugh," I rested my chin on my knee. He intertwined my hand with his. His smile was still on his face.

"Because you are the only girl in the world," Steve said. I looked at him with my brows narrowed, reacting to that silly and cliche flirtatious statement. "That was so cheesy," I commented. He scoffed and took his hand away from mine. He glanced to the side to hide his smirk. "If I can't call you Bud or King Steve Harrington, what can I call you?" I asked, "Oh! I could call you Steve 'The Hair' Harrington." 

Steve looked at me with a defended look. I bit my lower lip, desperately trying to hold back my laugh. "You know how much I had that nickname," he said. I motioned for him to give me some nicknames to call him. The two of us hadn't established any nicknames. I'd usually call him Steve or Stevie, but he hated Stevie, so we decided to end that. After all, we've only been dating for a few months. This whole thing was new to us. 

But, if we're being honest, my likeness towards Steve was always there. I just was pretty good at hiding it from myself. "How about babe, boyfriend," he listed, "My love and only love, Steve Harrington." Now it was my turn to look at him with a defended expression. I shook my head in disagreement. "I am not calling you that," I said. 

"What? Why? I think that's a great nickname," Steve said. 

"Steve, I'm not calling you My love and only love, Steve Harrington," I claimed. He leaned back with his hands resting behind his head. He nudged his leg against mine, trying to get me to call him 'My love and only love, Steve Harrington.' "I don't know. I think it's got a nice ring to it," he looked up at the ceiling fan in thought, "Yeah. It's settled. That's what you're calling me from now on." I rolled my eyes, clearly feeling defeated.