stranger things imagines.

jessie's girl: steve harrington.

why does it always have to be about love?
why is that the only thing people want to discuss now?
it seems like wherever steve harrington turns his head,
there's someone or something reminding him of that cursed word.
a couple so madly in love on the street,
a movie poster for the newest romance blockbuster,
a song slipping from his speakers about love and all its blessings.
but it's all bullshit.
nancy wheeler has told him so.
steve knows this to be a fact anyhow,
not an opinion of bitter nature.
love is a hoax.
it is only meant to distract and harm,
never to make someone feel good.
and all of this worked well in healing the heart nancy broke,
until he met y/n l/n.
damned, beautiful, irritating, divine y/n.
then everything steve thought he knew came crashing down,
burst into flames,
with only the shape of y/n left in the cinders.
he loves her so much,
he actually thinks he might hate her for it.
and to make matters worse,
y/n l/n is dating steve harrington's friend, jessie.
he knows that out of all the horrible things he's done,
this might be the worst yet;
pining after a girl his friend has staked a claim on.
except for when steve hears those words come from his friend,
"yeah she's mine."
steve has to walk away from the conversation.
mine.
mine.
mine.
y/n is not his.
she belongs to nobody but herself.
doesn't he understand that?
that marking her as some territorial owning is nothing short of thuggish?
she is not some thing to be owned or tamed.
and to hear jessie speak of their relationship that way,
it makes him sick to his stomach.
but what can he do?
challenging his friend in the sake of preserving y/n's name would make everything he's done to keep this secret useless;
it would out him as a betrayer.
but he has to admit it:
every time he sees y/n,
he doesn't mind as much being named a traitor.
he would be fine with being the worlds most hated man if it meant being able to love her.
and that is why he despises her the way he does.
how can someone make him feel this way?
make him consider tossing his friendships away,
to be deemed an awful person,
all for a chance at being worth her time?
"hey, you! i was just coming to find you."
steve finds y/n coming into the room now,
with that infamous smile painted onto her lips.
"me? why?"
steve didn't meant to sound so annoyed,
but maybe its for the better.
so he makes no effort to apologize.
"jessie asked us to run by the corner store. pick up some more beer,"
she says with an eye roll.
"wh-what? why us?"
y/n takes notice of his panic and gives him a look of confusion.
he's quick to drop his shoulders and smooth out his expression.
even if his heart is still racing in it's cage.
"because i'm the only one with a fake."
"okay...so why can't jessie take you?"
y/n's smile wavers at the question,
but she clears her throat and forces back a convincing smile.
steve has spent hours of his time studying her in his mind.
he can see through her facade.
"trouble in paradise?"
"just grab your keys, will you?"
steve finds himself compelled at y/n's words and does as she's asked.
as soon as they're in the car,
steve feels his palms begin to perspire from the tension.
what if this is all some big set up planned by jessie?
what if jessie knows of his love and has y/n stringing him along as one big, cruel joke?
steve's train of thought is interrupted at the radio being turned by y/n,
whose had enough of the silence.
she settles for a pop rock station.
then like some ill-fated trick set forth by the bored universe,
a song that has no business being played in his car leaks from his speakers.
"rick springfield, my heart!"
y/n exclaims with a giggle as she turns it up some.
jessie's girl.
"oh, you've got to be kidding,"
steve murmurs as he changes the station.
"hey!"
y/n proclaims from his side.
"bad song. don't want it playing in my car."
she rolls her eyes and scoffs.
"you guys are all the same. you hate him because women love him."
steve grimaces at this.
it is not this man who he hates.
he doesn't reply,
instead he keeps his eyes ahead and tries to ignore the divinity casually sitting in his car.
the moon sits high in the sky tonight,
look at how full it is.
if he had been able to voice his admiration,
he might ask y/n if he has anything to do with this round, twinkling moon.
it must shine in her favor after all.
when they arrive to the corner store,
y/n opens her car door and waits for steve to do the same,
but he keeps his head turned out the window,
ignoring her existence.
"are you not coming?"
"i don't have the id."
"oh..."
y/n goes to say something more,
but decides against it and exits out the car instead.
steve waits until she's completely into the store to let out a breath of regret.
why does this have to be so complicated?
watching her hesitate for his company weighs heavier on his heart than it should have.
steve wishes he could explain everything to her.
every sick, twisted, hauntingly beautiful truth.
after y/n comes back and loads the back seat up with what she was sent to buy,
she then climbs into the front seat and says nothing.
this is the first time steve harrington has seen y/n
l/n so silent.
all because of him.
if he could cry out in pain,
he would.
there are many, many things he would do if he just could.
"i don't know why you hate me so much, steve, but you don't have to make it so obvious. jesus..."
the breath gets caught in steve's throat.
"i don't hate you, y/n."
is all he can manage to say without admitting the whole truth.
"yes you do. jessie tells me all the time."
steve turns to face her with his eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
"he told you that?"
"he tells me none of his friends like me. but you're the only one who makes it so damn obvious."
he wonders why his friend would blatantly lie to y/n this way.
the entire friend group,
excluding steve,
admired her like one would a sister.
for jessie to tell her they all despised her...
it makes steve wonder just what he gained from her believing that.
then he remembers all the parties they ventured to when y/n was left at home.
how jessie would disappear for hours then come back with the smuggest of looks.
steve is putting the pieces together now,
but hates that he's doing so in front of y/n.
"god,"
he mumbles since the disappointment is too much to handle in silent.
"what?"
y/n asks.
steve doesn't think he can manage to form the delicate words that are demanded of this situation.
think about what's at stake,
he reminds himself.
y/n's still intact, precious heart.
his friendships that would fall apart without fail.
is it worth it?
to break her heart and be exiled in the process?
when he turns to look at y/n,
the look in her eyes makes it impossible for steve to do anything but admit,
"jessie's been cheating on you."
he waits for the dam to break;
for her eyes to flood over,
for her to clutch her chest that cages a breaking heart,
and to cry out in the love that's been taken.
instead,
a bitter smile grows across her face.
"i knew it. fuckin' douchebag."
"you knew?"
y/n rolls her eyes.
"women know everything, steve."
he doesn't disagree,
but he also doesn't prove her wrong by saying:
yeah, right.
i've been in love with you for months and you haven't the slightest clue.
then when steve parks the car,
y/n thanks him for taking her then keeps her eyes trained on him for longer than necessary.
but he doesn't mind.
anything to keep her here in this moment with him.
then the spell is broken by the sounds of jovial cheering and a certain voice,
"y/n! babe, come here."
steve has to actively fight against rolling his eyes.
jessie slings his arm across y/n,
leaving steve to wait for the blowup.
the accusation,
the yelling and fighting,
maybe even the slap across jessie's face.
what steve wouldn't give to see that.
but instead,
y/n falls into jessie's embrace and gives a smile.
what the hell are you doing?
he mentally shouts at y/n.
maybe steve doesn't know her after all.
***
steve can't take it anymore.
how could he?
that night after the party,
when y/n faced the fact that jessie was cheating,
she simply moved on like nothing happened.
steve couldn't let that happen,
could he?
what kind of a man in love would he be if he let this continue?
every time he musters up the courage to find y/n and convince her otherwise,
he's shut down by the thought of this being a selfish act;
something he's doing to hopefully gain y/n's affections.
his intentions are pure,
but he won't do anything in fear they'll be seen otherwise.
now seeing y/n now from across the party,
standing just a few bodies away from that adulterer,
he can't quite figure out what she's doing here,
especially with him.
steve surfs through the sea of teens and carefully grabs y/n by the crook of her elbow to get her attention.
"what are you doing here?"
he asks once she faces him.
y/n scoffs.
"what? am i interfering with your ability to have a good time?"
doesn't she understand?
doesn't she know all steve wants is for her to be happy and cared for?
that her being here ensures quite the opposite of that?
"no, not at all, y/n. i was just wondering."
y/n leans against the wall behind her and laughs.
"i'm only being sarcastic, steve. relax a little, why don't you?"
she turns to the table at her side,
searches around for a bottle and hands it to steve.
"here. drink up."
"nah, i'm alright. not a big drinker."
"ugh, steve!"
steve hears a laugh slip past his lips and into the air,
but he doesn't recall letting himself do that.
what is y/n doing to him?
"just one,"
steve says and points the bottle towards y/n.
she points her cup back before she speaks,
"one is more than enough."
steve gazes around the party in hopes of finding a conversation piece,
but comes up flat.
y/n's perfume is clouding his mind,
making that the only thing he can focus on.
his mind is always busy with the thought of y/n.
then steve turns to find her again,
but she's gone.
steve begins to search for her in the crowd of people and finds nothing.
y/n l/n is gone.
that is until steve sees her just a few feet away,
climbing up the stairs behind jessie.
his stomach tightens at the idea of what they're leaving to do.
the nausea that rises in him makes his head spin.
he wastes no time swallowing the entirety of the contents in this bottle in one quick swing.
steve has finally mustered up the courage to interrupt this god-awful interaction between heavenly y/n and devilish jessie.
but before he can climb the stairs,
y/n is descending with a satisfied smile on her lips.
she doesn't register steve's presence until she's well out the front door.
he doesn't know why he decides to follow her out.
"y/n! hey! are-are you alright?"
y/n stops her face paced walking to turn around and grab steve's wrist into her hand.
"keep walking."
steve does as she's demanded,
of course,
and walks in time with y/n's gait until they're obscured from the rest of the party.
"what is going on?"
"what? you're the one who followed,"
y/n says with a shrug.
"yeah, cause i was worried about you, y/n."
"you were, huh?"
the grin on her lips is teasing and steve wishes he could wipe it off with a promising kiss.
he stands still instead.
"can i ask you something?"
y/n nods and steve continues,
"why are you still with him after what i told you?"
"because i had to catch him."
"what?"
"i had to catch him,"
y/n simply repeats.
"i didn't think you wanted me telling jessie it was you who told me he was cheating."
steve doesn't know what he'd prefer;
to be kept in silence longer or to have been outed all for y/n.
"so...you did it just to find him cheating?"
she nods her head as if it's the simplest thing ever and not, in fact, the wildest waste of time.
"yeah, basically."
"oh, okay. wow,"
steve says through a breath of laughter.
what am i doing here?
i followed her out here for what?
i couldn't possibly tell her now.
"well...i hope it all works out for you, y/n."
steve scratches the back of his neck and goes to depart,
until y/n calls out for him.
he stops his walking.
"i think this will be the last time i ever see you, so...goodbye."
did steve hear that correctly?
is her voice breaking as though she is forcing herself to not cry?
he shakes his head of this unfathomable possibility then says,
"bye, y/n. it was nice knowing you."
with a certain tightness in his throat.
y/n forces a smile but steve can see just how sad it is.
he wants to ask,
he wants to hurry by her side and make everything okay again,
but he does none of this.
you're a coward,
he spits at himself internally.
steve puts his hands in his hair and tugs at the root just soft enough to make his brain reboot.
"you know what? no."
he turns on his toes and faces y/n again,
though this time they're mere inches away.
"i'm tired of pretending im not in love with you, y/n. and im tired of pretending that assholes friendship means more to me than you do because, god, y/n, i'd spend the rest of my life in sin with you if you'd let me."
y/n places the palms of her hands to steve's chest,
rests her forehead to his and whispers,
"steve harrington, you're a sinful man."
steve ghosts her lips with his own as he thinks:
then cleanse me.
and the space between them is closed.
a kiss so riled with passion that y/n's knees nearly buckle from the overwhelming weight of it.
and steve becomes new again,
a man better than before.
y/n's kiss has brought forth the bliss waiting to spring free from the core of steve harrington.
he is finally understanding what it means to love.
love as a whole has the potential to be grand and great,
he had been looking at this all wrong.
love is not a thing.
love is y/n l/n.
***
"of course you're a smiths fan."
"what's that supposed to mean?"
steve grins at y/n then shrugs.
"nothing. you just look the type."
y/n twists the ring around her finger,
which is a habit she's picked up since steve fished her this very ring,
then says,
"well if that means beautiful and totally awesome, then yes, i guess i do look like the type."
steve laughs and brings y/n's hand to his lips,
where he peppers her knuckles with kisses.
"that's exactly what i mean."
the girl giggles and is soon pulled into his embrace by the gentle tug of her wrist.
the crescendo of her laughter,
beautiful and bright,
can be heard filling the empty corners of this room.
steve never thought he'd be able to experience a love so pure it must have been sent from heaven.
"have i ever told you how much i adore this?"
steve asks in nothing more than a whisper as the pad of his index finger circles around the freckle against y/n's shoulder.
"it's only a freckle."
"maybe. but it's the first thing i ever noticed about you."
y/n snickers.
"really? that out of all things?"
"mhm. and then i thought to myself, "i wonder what else there is about her waiting to be explored.""
she runs her hands through the boys full head of hair as he speaks in the sighs of a lover.
"was that when you fell in love with me?"
she muses with a gentle grin.
steve let's his lips find hers for a tender kiss before he pulls back to say,
"no. i fell in love with you the first time i heard your laugh."
this is a first for y/n.
she's always worried her laugh was too loud for others to enjoy.
but here is steve,
telling her the opposite.
"my laugh?"
"yeah. i knew then i wouldn't mind hearing it for the rest of my life."
y/n makes a sound of awe and brings steve closer to her so she might be able to express this admiration in physical form.
"i thought i knew love before you. i had never been so wrong."
steve allows for these words to sink further and further into himself so that he will be made whole.
he once thought loving y/n was something for only the imagination;
something impractical and will never be real.
what a fool he was to think he could have ever ignored the calling of his heart.
jessie is figment of the past,
belonging to a girl that y/n has outgrown and outshines.
"you're the girl for me, y/n. you always will be."