Joe Keery Imagines

Hallway Chats Part 2-Steve Harrington

After the disastrous run-in I had with Steve in the hallway where I basically told him to dump Little Miss Perfect and date Awkward Me, my dad's job transferred him and we had to move. That hallway conversation was the last conversation I had with him.

In our new town, I kept my head down. I quietly did my work and graduated high school. I didn't make any friends. I didn't date any guys. I was completely by myself.

Two years later, my dad's job moved us back to Hawkins. For the first week, I was too scared to go anywhere. Eventually, my mom had had enough.

"Okay," my mom sighed as she barged into my room.

"Mom," I groaned as I put my book down. "I'm eighteen. I know I still live with you and Dad but can you please at least knock?"

"Honey," she said sweetly as she sat on the edge of my bed. "Listen, I know that you and Steve left things on a weird note. But you can't let that keep you from living your life."

"What if I'm not over him?" I asked, pulling my knees into my chest.

"What if he's not over you?"

"He never felt the same way," I mumbled.

"How do you know?" Mom asked with a knowing smile. Her smile dropped and she cleared her throat. "That was two years ago," she continued. "Maybe things have changed. Either way, you can't keep yourself locked in the house, afraid to run into Steve. Seeing him again might actually help you get over him."

"What if it doesn't?"

* * * * *

After talking to my mom, I slowly started leaving the house more. I got a job working at a floral shop and started hanging out with my coworkers. They were all around my age; either just about to graduate high school or working to earn money for college.

"Hey, girl," my coworker Maddie said. "We're going down to the mall to get ice cream. Wanna come?"

Our floral shop was down the street from the mall. They had been going there during their lunch break before I started working with them. Usually, I didn't go with them but ice cream sounded really good.

"I'm in," I laughed.

As we walked into the mall, we laughed about a guy who came in who was clearly lying about needing flowers.

"It was so obviously a lie," Lulu giggled.

"It was not," Maddy said, slightly clearing her throat.

"Girl," I sighed. "He walked around the shop for an hour asking questions that didn't even make sense. Half of them weren't about flowers. The other half were about flowers that he made up."

"But. . ."

"He asked for you by name," I cut her off. "He literally walked in and asked if he could talk to. . ."

"Y/N?" I heard a familiar voice. When I looked up at the owner, my breath got stuck in my throat.

"Steve," I said, his name slipping out.

"Wow," he mumbled. "I haven't seen you. . . It's been. . . Wow. . . . The last time. . ."

"Yo, dingus! Can you go in the freezer and grab some more. . . What the hell is wrong with you?"

I looked behind Steve to see his coworker through the weird little window. She made eye contact with me and instantly got excited.

"No way!" She laughed as she disappeared. I looked at Steve to see him groaning. Suddenly she burst through the door and jogged over to Steve.

"Is this the famous Y/N?"

"What?" I stuttered.

"Robin," Steve said through his teeth.

"What?" She laughed. "I've known you three months and you haven't shut up about the 'girl who got away'."

"Robin," he said again.

"Come on," she sighed. "You haven't stopped talking about her all summer. And now here she is. What? Does she not know that you. . ."

"Robin!" He yelled, cutting her off. He turned towards me, a weird look in his eyes. I couldn't take it.

I ignored my friends and turned around, running out of the ice cream shop. I ducked into a hallway that led to a bathroom and caught my breath. Seeing Steve again made me freeze. My breath got caught in my throat and all the pain from the last time I saw him came flooding back.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall. I cursed under my breath when tears started streaming down my face.

"Y/N?"

I quickly wiped my face before wrapping my arms tightly around myself. I turned and hesitated before I finally looked up at him.

"It's nice to see you again, Steve," I said under my breath.

Steve closed the gap between us, pinning me to the wall. I opened my mouth to say something but Steve grabbed my face and pressed his lips to mine. I couldn't help but moan as I started kissing him back. I felt him smile as he let go of my face, softening the kiss. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He slowly broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I've missed you," he whispered.

"I've missed you too," I said, still trying to catch my breath.

He leaned back, but still close to my face. "I haven't stopped thinking about you," he said under his breath. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about that conversation we had in the hallway. And then you left and I. . . I was so confused. I missed you like crazy. And then I realized that you were right."

"I was. . ."

"I don't deserve a girl like Nancy," he whispered leaning closer to me. "I deserve someone like you. Not like you, but you."

"You're not with Nancy anymore?" I asked, still unable to catch my breath.

"Nope," he chuckled. "Not anymore."

I gasped when he pressed his lips to mine. Our lips instantly started moving in sync. I ran my fingers through his hair, something I've been dreaming about doing for a long time. Steve moaned, quickly pushing me up against the wall. We didn't care about the people walking past us as things started to heat up.

"Steve," I whispered, breaking the kiss. "Your uniform makes you look like a cartoon sailor."

Steve laughed as he shook his head. "I know," he sighed. "It's horrible."

"Don't wear it tonight."

"Why would I wear it tonight?" He asked.

"On our date."

Steve smiled before pressing his lips to mine. I moaned as I kissed him back. He broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine.

"I'll pick you up after work."

"And?"

"And I won't be wearing this uniform."