stranger things imagines.

just one date: steve harrington.

{request for: siriusblacks_bitch <33}

the bell chimes above y/n l/n to signal her entering while the wondrous heat blesses her frigid skin with a promise of warmth.
the snow outside shows no signs of letting up soon,
so she's decided to spend her time in the house with entertainment instead of counting the corners of her walls.
of course she greets steve harrington upon entering.
"y/n,"
he acknowledges with a smile.
she waves in reply then says,
"hi, steve."
but she playfully rolls her eyes when doing so.
the very first time y/n had stepped into this store,
renting smithereens,
a movie directed by susan seidelman,
steve had asked her,
"have you seen this yet?"
"no, not yet."
he nodded his head in understanding.
"it's funny."
"so i've heard."
after he finished ringing her up,
he handed her the film and flashed a smile.
"you'll have to let me know how you like it."
"yeah, i will...thank you."
she waved goodbye and headed for the front door when an urge pounded at steve so heavily,
he couldn't help but to say,
"i, uh, i never got your name."
"it's y/n."
"cool, cool...would you like to do something together sometime, y/n?"
she pushed the front door open with a grin then parted by saying,
"i'll see you next time, steve."
it wasn't that she didn't find steve attractive or that she didn't consider his company from time to time,
she could just never get past the barrier of her worries to take him up on his offer.
but each time she's come in to return a movie and find others,
steve rings her up and hands her the movie while asking,
"would you like to do something together?"
though he often finds different, creative ways to ask.
once,
y/n walked in to see steve had ripped up pieces of a twizzler to spell,
"go on a date with me?"
she appreciated the effort and even remembers almost saying yes,
but her tongue had curled to say,
"that's cute."
then she thanked him,
took her movie and left.
today is no different.
y/n eyes the shelves for a movie but finds nothing is striking her interest in particular.
she admits defeat to call out,
"steve?"
he perks up at the echo of his name then finds y/n along the shelves.
"i need help."
"oh,"
he sings playfully while folding his arms across his chest.
"do you now?"
y/n laughs into the curve of her hand at this.
"don't start."
"too late."
she nudges his shoulder with a closed fist but makes no effort to genuinely hurt him.
it's all an act of fun.
"alright, alright,"
he says as he searches his mind for a movie well suited for y/n's taste.
he thinks about every movie she's rented before then comes up with one.
"ever seen risky business?"
"with tom cruise?"
he nods his head in answer of her question.
she snickers.
"no, i haven't."
steve finds it in the store,
takes it from its resting spot on the shelf,
then waves it in front of her before handing it over.
"what if i don't like it?"
"well...find another movie and i'll let you rent it for free."
y/n mockingly gasps.
"for free?"
he returns the joke with a smug grin and nods.
"oh, yeah. for free,"
he echoes.
"i'm spoiling you."
y/n giggles at the boy and his jest but takes him up on his offer.
she finds one of her favorites,
the goonies,
and checks out with steve.
as she pays for only the one movie,
she realizes steve has made no effort of his routine in asking her out.
disappointment settles within her at this...
but why?
she asks herself
what did she expect?
for him to spend the better half of his youth chasing after her?
y/n tries to hide her discontent when steve hands her the receipt.
on it,
written in sharpie by steve's own hand,
lies the words:
"want to find one-eyed willy together?"
relief blooms in y/n's chest at this.
she laughs when she holds up the paper to ask,
"is this a goonies joke?"
"cut me some slack. i was strapped for time."
y/n genuinely considers it now.
all the times before she's thought about saying yes,
she eventually declined all in hopes of salvaging her solitude.
but the elation that has been ignited within her at steve's asking,
when she though he'd given up on her,
forces her to push that indignation to the side and try.
"only if you do the truffle shuffle."
"awh, come on."
"do it,"
y/n says dragging her syllables out in the way mouth once did in the film.
they laugh in unison like it's something they've always done together.
it's bright and beautiful.
"if you don't have a good time, i'll leave you alone for life."
"you're serious?"
steve nods his head.
"dead serious."
she lets out a rush of breath,
pulls her bottom lip between her teeth,
all to say,
"alright, harrington. i'll see you tonight."
steve's heart races in his chest at her confirmation.
finally,
after many failed efforts and all the wishful thinking,
she's finally said yes.
he celebrates this win with a relived laugh and a closed fist of excitement by his side.
steve harrington has never been so sure of something like he is right now:
he's going to make this the best night for y/n l/n.
***
"so...what'd you think?"
y/n relaxes into the comfort of steve's couch then turns to him with a gentle smile.
"not bad, harrington. i'll give it to you."
"yeah!"
he cheers with a laugh,
meeting her in the middle for a high-five.
y/n laughs the whole time,
both at his excitement and the celebration of it.
then when steve goes to pop in the goonies,
she's given a chance to to eye the size of his home.
it's larger than hers,
that's for certain,
but a sense of loneliness hangs in the air.
"do you have siblings?"
y/n asks steve as he takes a seat next to her again.
he shakes his head full of hair in answer.
"do you?"
when she answers the question,
steve takes it in then imagines what her home life might be like.
does it resemble his own or is it the complete opposite?
do her parents shower her in comfort?
or do they leave her to her own vices?
steve doesn't ask any of this.
he won't put a damper on the night by bringing up morbid discussions,
so he simply keeps his attention on the tv.
the whole time, though, he finds himself eyeing y/n from the corner of his eye.
she's so beautiful,
he thinks to himself.
the realization that she's in his house on a date makes his blood warm all over again.
when y/n laughs,
steve memorizes the harmony of it and let's it play in his mind over again.
it brings him simple pleasure to hear that melodic laugh.
unique to her own and absolutely genuine.
what he wouldn't do to hear it day in and day out.
then when the movie ends and he realizes y/n is dabbing at her eyes to dry her tears,
he turns to ask,
"what's wrong?"
"look at them reuniting with their family. and sloth."
y/n shakes her head as more tears well in her eyes.
he can't help but to chuckle at her reaction.
how innocent yet endearing.
when y/n realizes that her reaction is giving away to her most vulnerable self,
she takes a deep breath and wills the tears to stop.
then she's quick to say,
"well...i guess i should go now."
steve walks with her to the front door while he offers,
"let me take you home. it's too cold to walk."
"i'll be fine, really."
but as soon as the front door opens,
the winter wind bites at y/n's exposed skin and makes her flinch.
she hadn't dressed well enough to walk in this night snow,
where the temperatures have dropped immensely.
she can feel the water in her eyes ice over.
"do you mind?"
she asks.
then steve inhales sharply through his teeth at the realization.
"y/n, the roads are iced over."
"so...so what do i do?"
what else is there to do?
the both of them know that there's nothing left to do but wait it out until the morning.
"there's a guest room,"
steve says once they both have reached the same conclusion.
she closes the door again to shield them from the blinding snow and turns to him with a shy smile.
"was this your plan all along?"
"to have a snowstorm blow in and trap you? yeah, absolutely."
y/n and steve find their spots back on the couch where the credits to the goonies continues to roll across the screen.
"the end always makes me tear up. i wanted so bad to have friends like that."
she rests her head against the couch cushion as she faces steve.
"are your friends not the adventurous type?"
y/n shrugs,
knowing there's more to it but wonders if it's worth saying.
if she's stuck here for the entire night,
maybe it's best not to create tension with unpleasant answers.
"you're with me all night, y/n. it'd be a waste of this blessed opportunity if i wake up and don't know your darkest secrets."
the weight is lifted from y/n's chest as she laughs.
"i don't know. i never had actual close friends. just, you know, school friends."
steve thinks about the past few years of his life,
all spent in peril as his friends ushered to save this town.
he doesn't say any of this aloud,
but at least he suffered through these things with people he loved.
to be left to his own company sounds miserable.
he can only imagine how y/n feels.
"do you think that will ever change?"
she asks now.
steve goes from listening to her to answering with,
"of course. why wouldn't it? if your wit doesn't bring in great friends, your movie taste sure will."
y/n smiles at this words of encouragement that are riddled with humor.
how does he effortlessly make her burdens ebb away?
what is it about his honeyed brown eyes that make her believe so willingly?
"anyhow, we've got time to kill. what movie is next?"
"i don't know. what do you have?"
steve rifles through his collection of movies then turns to y/n with a smile.
"you're a molly ringwald kind of girl, aren't you?"
"maybe."
"sixteen candles or the breakfast club?"
y/n makes a show of tapping her finger against her chin,
as though she might be in deep thought.
"breakfast club,"
she decides,
mirroring the very smile steve wears.
the moment it begins playing,
the pair trail to the kitchen where an assortment of snacks are made.
"mint chocolate hot cocoa,"
y/n says,
reading the packaging from the box.
"don't judge me,"
steve teases as he reaches over her shoulder to get something from the pantry.
their close proximity makes y/n's breathing hitch;
it tangles up in her throat and stays there until he backs away.
his natural scent settles well within her.
a part of y/n wishes the snow might never melt,
so that she can stay here with steve a day longer.
"so, do you like buttered popcorn or kettle corn?"
when y/n gives him her decision,
he tosses her a wink and says,
"right answer." 
then throws a bag into the microwave.
they listen to the sounds of the kernels blooming into freshness while the scent hangs in the air around them.
he leans against the counter with his arms across his chest to offer conversation,
"are you alright staying here? i'm sure we can figure something out if you're, you know, uncomfortable."
y/n shakes her head.
"no, i don't mind. seems rather fateful, doesn't it?"
"oh, fateful,"
steve parrots with the nod of his head.
the two of them laugh together and y/n realizes how nice the pressure feels on her abdomen.
how long has it been since she's been in such great, entertaining company?
y/n's eyes soon lock with steve's and for a moment,
they're frozen in their spots,
able to do nothing but stare.
y/n wonders if steve might make a move,
and she might just let him do it,
before the sounds of the beeping microwave rip them away from the moment.
disregarding the tension that thickened between them,
they take their snacks to the living room where molly ringwald stars in one of y/n's favorite films.
she notices herself inching closer to steve throughout the movie.
she isn't sure what force is bringing them closer together,
or what's happening within her that makes her eager for his company,
but she decides not to fight against it.
let good things come to you, y/n.
she reminds herself.
and if steve harrington happens to be one of those good things to unfold in her life,
she'd be more than okay with it.
soon enough,
their knees are brushing as they sit with eyes glued to the tv,
though neither of them are paying attention to it.
instead,
they're focused on the great existence of each other.
steve tries to steady his breathing but finds it only quickens the more he wonders what kissing her would feel like.
what would holding gods greatest cloud feel like?
what would water feel like to dehydrated land?
what would glittering stars feel like to a lonely night?
whatever feelings may be conjured by those,
that is what he thinks kissing y/n l/n would feel like;
heaven.
steve quickly takes the last piece of candy in y/n's hand and claims it as his own,
but she isn't going down without a fight.
"you thief,"
y/n claims through a giggle as she yanks on his hand.
but steve is able to rip his hand free from her grasp and hold it further away.
she climbs up on steve and reaches out to reclaim her belonging,
until she realizes what it is she's doing.
steve's hand, holding her candy, is mere inches away,
but she's practically lying against his chest in hopes of retrieving it.
is he always this warm?
y/n looks down at him and sees that he's come to the same realization,
wearing the same look of shock from being pinned under y/n.
neither of them make an effort to move.
until steve can't take it anymore.
he brings y/n closer and plants his undeserving lips to this goddess of a woman's existence.
he was right.
kissing y/n is bottled revelry.
he'll spend forever chasing this high.
y/n holds the shape of steve's face in the curve of her hands while he keeps her steady by wrapping his arms around her waist.
she's spent the better half of her life watching moments like these unfold in movies or told through ink,
but here it is:
happening to her.
she melts beneath steve harrington and feels the empty parts of herself become whole.
loneliness is a trait worth abandoning,
especially if it means being rewarded with kisses so sweet.
passion runs through the length of steve harrington the longer he's under the spell of y/n.
he wants to know nothing besides the taste of her lips for the rest of his life.
every effort made has been worth it for this moment here.
where their lips taste of candy,
where the snow falls and taps against the window,
where their limbs are tangled into each other,
where a song plays in the back to forever remind them of this night:
don't you forget about me.
***
y/n wakes up the next morning to find blinding sunlight peer through steve's blinds.
she winces at the first sight of it but soon grows accustomed to it.
this is how she feels,
lying in bed with steve,
like golden sunshine come to life after a dark, cold storm.
the epiphany is right there on y/n's lips before it's interrupted by steve's shuffling.
he soon pulls her closer into his chest.
"the suns not shining, it's still snowing. go back to sleep,"
he teases with his eyes still closed,
resting his chin to the top of y/n's head.
she laughs into the crook of his neck before placing a kiss against his collarbone;
shivers run down his spine at the action.
what he wouldn't give to wake up to this everyday.
"i don't want to leave,"
y/n admits in a small whisper.
steve kisses her temple before he says,
"you could stay here forever. i'd have no objections."
she runs a hand through his hair while she settles into him.
"won't your parents be upset?"
"they're never home. will yours?"
she can't help but to laugh at the irony:
two abandoned kids finding companionship in each other.
"i haven't seen 'em in forever."
"this might be a sad situation if it didn't mean we could stay here for as long as we'd like."
she hugs him a little tighter.
"no, i'm done being sad."
steve has offered her a chance at genuine happiness.
and who is she to deny it after so long of being deprived?
things in her life may be awry,
but steve is not one of them.
so she'll stay here in his embrace for as long as the snow will allow her,
then she'll tend to her routine like daily.
"you'll never be sad again, y/n. not if i can help it."
he kisses her forehead in sealing of his promise.
the morning glow warms them up after a night of frigid temperatures,
though they have each other to keep comfortable.
steve smiles a little at the memory of how he got here.
the receipt asking to find a mythical man together.
yet they've found the greatest thing of all,
the rarest of commodities,
the one thing people spend forever chasing and losing:
love.
***
the humid air has returned over hawkins,
basking everyone in stifling air and sweaty skin.
y/n opens the door to the shop like she's done so many times before and hears the bell sing above.
the air conditioning is relief to that hellish weather outside.
"man...i might pass out if i have to walk back,"
she groans as she makes way to the shelves.
steve harrington comes up behind her and snakes his arms around her waist,
repeatedly kissing her cheek while he says,
"my red stallion lies outside in wait for you."
y/n spills over with laughter at steve's actions.
"you're childish,"
she says though she means it none.
y/n turns to face him and meets him for a kiss,
like they do so regularly,
yet are delighted every time.
then when she pulls away,
y/n runs her fingers through his hair and smiles softly.
she's glad she took the chance that one winters night.
fate seemed to be playing in her favor and now,
she was reaping the rewards.
"i love you,"
she reminds him with a peck to the lips.
steve mollifies under the words then returns them with ease,
"and i love you. now, what's the pick for tonight?"
their attention goes back to the movies on the shelves for a routine date night that consists of two movies,
one being free,
and a surplus of snacks for their consumption.
and even though they'll spend hours looking for the right movie,
the night will always end with neither of them watching it and enjoying only each other.