Joe Keery Imagines

Fallin' For Ya-Steve Harrington

"He can bend like Gumbo."

"You mean Gumby?"

"I'm pretty sure it's Gumbo."

"If it's not too much of a struggle," I grunted, "would one of you mind taking this box from me before I. . . Ah!"

My foot slipped. The box went clattering to the floor. I would've too if Steve hadn't caught me. I looked up, both of us with wide eyes.

"Are you okay?" He whispered, still holding me bridal style.

"Yeah," I stuttered.

"Holy shit!" Robin yelled, breaking the tension between Steve and me. "Y/N, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, Steve and I still staring at each other.

"What the hell are you doing, dingus?" Robin asked, hitting his shoulder. "Put her down."

"Sorry," he stuttered before finally putting me down.

The second I was standing, he reached up and scratched the back of his neck. He looked around at the mess I made, glancing back at me through his eyelashes.

"I'll go umm. . . I'll go get a broom." He was about to leave, but stopped and turned back around. "Are you sure you're alright, Y/N?"

"Yes," I said instantly. "Thank you, Steve."

He nodded before leaving the storage room. I bit my lip and wrapped my arms around myself.

"What the actual shit was that?"

I looked over to see Robin smirking at me. "What do you mean?" I stuttered.

"You and Harrington," she said like it was obvious. "What was that?"

"I slipped. He caught me."

"No," she laughed. "There's something going on with you two."

"Robin," I sighed as I walked out. "Please don't."

"Don't what?" She asked as she followed me.

"That thing you do when you fill my head with thoughts."

"I don't do that!"

I turned towards her and crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh, really?" I challenged.

"Really," she said, copying my posture.

"Kyle."

Her eyes widened. "Oh," she said under her breath.

"Yeah," I laughed. "Oh. Junior year you had me convinced that he had feelings for me. You remember how that ended? With a huge, embarrassing rejection. I'm not letting that happen again with Steve."

"But Y/N. . ."

"No," I interrupted her. "Steve is my friend. I can't imagine how horrible it would be if I told him how I felt and he rejected me. Work would be awkward but losing him. . . That would be worse."

"Whoa whoa whoa," she repeated as she grabbed my arm before I could walk away. "So, you do have feelings for Harrington?"

"Robin!" I said through my teeth. "He's in the other room. What if he hears you?"

(Little did I know, he currently had his ear pressed to the door.)

"Why would that be a bad thing?"

"Robin," I sighed.

"Come on!" She laughed. "Look I've known you throughout high school. And I know Steve. Not as well as you know him but still. It doesn't take long to see he likes you."

"Robin, don't."

"I'm just saying. . ."

"Well, don't just say!" I cut her off. I sighed before continuing, "It doesn't matter how I feel about Steve. What matters is the fact that he will never feel the same and there's no point in setting myself up for heartbreak."

"How do you know it's going to end in heartbreak?"

I held my breath, forcing the tears back as I glanced at the door to the back room where Steve was cleaning up my mess. I took a shaky breath before looking back at her.

"Because heartbreak has a habit of always finding me," I whispered. "I can't outrun it and I definitely can't have any kind of relationship without it."

* * * * *

The next day when I walked into my shift, I noticed Steve was there instead of Robin.

"I didn't know you were working today," I said softly. "I thought Robin and I had the opening shift."

"I asked her if we could switch," Steve shrugged.

"Oh," I said under my breath. "Okay."

The rest of the morning, Steve and I got the shop ready for opening. I could feel him constantly watching me, but I ignored it. I went to the supply closet to grab some more sprinkles. I gasped when I turned around and Steve had followed me.

"Hey," I said, my voice soft. "Everything okay?"

"Not really," he stuttered, running his fingers through his hair.

"Oh?"

I held my breath, waiting for Steve to continue. When he didn't say anything else, I spoke up. "Are you alright?"

He cut me off and gently grabbed my face.

"Steve," I whispered. "What are you. . ."

"Tell me if you don't want to do this," he whispered.

I stood on my toes and closed the gap between us. I felt him smile as he slowly started kissing me back. He let go of my face and wrapped his arms around my waist. I slid my hands up his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Steve smiled into the kiss before slowly breaking it. He looked deeply into my eyes as we caught our breaths.

"Robin was right," he whispered.

"You heard that?"

"I did," he chuckled.

"Look," I sighed, "about what I said. . ."

"It's okay," he cut me off. "I'm glad I overheard it."

"You are?"

"Yeah," he said, slowly leaning down.

I smiled as Steve pressed his lips to mine. We instantly got lost in our kiss. We had no intention of breaking the kiss until the bell above the door rang.

"I guess we should probably get that," I said under my breath with a small chuckle.

"Who gets ice cream at 11 in the morning?" He groaned.

"They need their energy before they can shop," I chuckled. "Plus, we probably shouldn't be kissing at work."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll get this one, you get the next."

Steve sent me a smile and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the back room. As he went to help the customer, I texted Robin.

Me: Thanks for trading shifts with Steve.

I laughed when she instantly responded.

Robin: Does this mean I'm forgiven for the whole Kyle thing? 🥺

Me: Definitely. 😉