Crossfire - Book 1 - S.H.

Prologue: Heading out

A/N: So, since it is the 1st of July where I live and we're getting volume 2, I thought I'd post the prologue to my Steve Harrington fic I'm planning. The actual chapter will be coming in August, but, for now, I hope you enjoy what I have planned!

Steve sighed when he received no answer from just knocking on her window.

Now, he couldn't really see her, since she had her blinds drawn, but considering she hadn't come yet to receive him even after his third attempt of knocking, Steve was pretty sure he could paint a clear picture as to what was happening inside her bedroom. He swore he could almost see it - Shelley, laying in her bed, probably staring up at her ceiling with her walkman in her ears, playing some song stupidly loud just the way she liked it. Steve smiled, shaking his head at the image of his girlfriend bobbing her head to the sound of an Abba song or another as she hummed along to the tune, knowing all of their songs word by word but refusing to admit it to the rest of the world - especially to Steve himself, who almost always made a point of telling Shelley how lame her music taste was even though he couldn't deny he loved to see how excited she would get any time Waterloo or Angel Eyes came up in the mixtape Steve had carefully curated for the two of them to listen any time it was just them inside his car.

He loved those moments the most, the moments Steve got to spend with Shelley without his stupid friends interfering or bickering back and forth with Shelley even though Steve had already asked them to just let it go. The moments Steve got to spend with Shelley without her mom barging into her room unannounced or one of her brothers coming up to try and get her attention away from Steve. The moments Steve got to spend with Shelley while being only himself and no one else - moments he didn't need to put up the King Steve facade and could, instead, only be Steve Harrington, the boy he wasn't entirely sure why had gotten the attention of someone like Michelle Byers but that she always swore up and down was her favorite version of himself out of all the ones she had had the pleasure of meeting.

And that was probably why Steve found himself there, at the backyard of the Byers' house, standing by the window he already knew belonged to Shelley's bedroom while hidden away in the shadows of one of the trees nearby to make sure Jonathan wouldn't get a peak of him there if he were to look outside his own window beside his sister's - because he missed his girl and he wanted to spend time with her, just the two of them. No worrying about Jonathan or Tommy H. or Carol or Ms. Byers or even Will... Just the two of them, their mixtape and, hopefully, a few kisses stolen and willingly given inside Steve's car. Of course, this whole plan would blow if Shelley Byers didn't actually open her goddamn window, so, deciding to try his luck one last time, Steve Harrignton knocked on the glass in front of him again - a little harder this time, his knuckles turning a light shade of red at the impact.

But he didn't care. After all, what was that saying? The fourth time's the charm?

"Steve?" Shelley's voice finally called out as she pulled open her curtains and smiled her charming little smile as she pulled open her window. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, sweetheart, aren't you going to invite me inside?" Steve smirked at her then, already climbing up her window to jump into her room and stealing a quick peck of her lips as he went. "Hum... Cherry. That's my favorite one. Are you sure you weren't expecting me?"

"Get over yourself, Harrington." Shelley rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she usually did when she was annoyed, but, while Steve flopped himself down on her bed, he wasn't worried about her attitude because he knew she actually didn't mean it - not with the way her lips struggled to keep the smile out of her face. "Not everything I do is for you."

"Are you sure about that one, sweetheart?" Steve teased her again, propping himself up on his elbow as he raised an eyebrow and took a second to check his girlfriend out from head to toe once. "Because the shirt you're wearing is telling me otherwise."