Stranger Things - Imagines

Steve Harrington X Hopper!Reader - Time After Time

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper. Reader is Hopper's daughter. I hope you all enjoy it.

You hadn't really known Steve until your Dad got himself involved with monsters, scientists, and superheroes. Sure, you'd been in the same grade at school and you'd shared plenty of classes in the time that you'd studied, but you'd never spoken beyond what was absolutely necessary. And now, from what you could tell, that had been a mistake. 

He'd always seemed so stuck up. Arrogant. Self-serving. It had been enough to make you steer well clear. But the moment you had met, the idea that you had created of him had been completely shattered. He'd been sweet, funny, and so damn protective of the kids that you couldn't help but be a little startled by how much you liked him. 

At first, you'd thought it was just a stupid, childish crush. He was handsome, so it was bound to happen at some point. But the more you got to know him, the deeper the crush became and soon enough you were completely infatuated. 

Turned out that you weren't the only one confused over their feelings. Steve had always thought that maybe he had fallen in love with Nancy, but now he realised that the feelings he had for her didn't even come close to the ones he held for you. You were about as close to perfect as a human could get and it was starting to have an effect on his interactions with you. 

He would stutter through comments, blushing when you'd compliment his hair or a sweater he'd thrown on without thinking. He'd catch himself watching you when he should've been focused on keeping the kids out of harm's way. 

It wasn't until Hopper had shot him a stern glare that he'd realised just how obvious he was being, either. And then, he'd dragged him off to pull the intimidating dad moves. 

"Is there something going on with you and my daughter?" 

"No, Sir," Steve uttered, looking a little flustered as Hopped continued his glaring, one brow lifting. "I-" he paused, his words trailing off into nothing. "I think I love her," he breathed out. "But I don't think she likes me like that-"

Hopper scoffed. "Clueless fuckin' kids," he muttered, running a hand over his face. "I shouldn't have to play Cupid for my own daughter," he finally bit out. "Y/N likes you. I overheard her talking to El about you a few weeks back-"

"She likes me?" 

"Sure sounded like it. But you don't tell her I told you that, right? And you don't go sneaking about with her. You always get her home by curfew. You don't mess her around. You hear me?"

Steve nodded. "Loud and clear, Sir."

"Good."

Steve hadn't taken long to approach you after that, asking you on a date and watching as you'd practically short-circuited as you tried to make sense of what was happening. It had been one of the most endearing things he had ever seen, seeing you get all stuttery and nervous over a date with him. 

*Time Skip*

When you'd been planning out how to defeat Vecna, there hadn't been a single part of you that had considered the fact that if you were sticking with team 'Max becomes bait' you wouldn't be anywhere near Steve. Hell, you wouldn't even be in the same world. Yep, it hadn't been until you were fixing up a bunch of Molotov Cocktails next to the Winnebago that it had clicked into place, and suddenly, you'd gone a little too quiet.

It wasn't exactly hard to see what you were so worried about. It had been less than a year since you had lost your dad and since then you'd only gotten closer to Steve. He'd taken you in when you'd had nowhere else to go. He'd held you when you'd woken up in the middle of the night in the throws of a bad dream. He'd looked after you when you'd barely been capable of looking after yourself. And now, for the first time in almost a year, he was going to be walking into danger; without you.  

"Baby?" he murmured softly, watching as you silently fought with the child-proof cap on the gasoline container. "Sweetheart?" he pressed again, listening as you let out a disgruntled sigh and shoved the bottle in his direction, a deep frown pulling at your lips. 

He just about kept it upright as it tumbled into his lap, deftly undoing the top and handing it back to you as gently as he could manage. "Thank you," you mumbled, waiting patiently as he placed the funnel into the glass bottle, holding it out for you to start pouring. 

"You doing alright, Sweetheart?"

You shook your head slightly, keeping your attention on the steady pour. "Nope, but it's not like it matters-"

"Of course, it matters," he hummed, reaching out to stop you and placing the bottle down on the ground between you. "What are you thinking about?"

Swallowing around the lump in your throat, you shrugged slightly. "Nothing-"

"Baby, please," he uttered. "If something's going on, you need to tell me."

"I can't help but feel like it's going to go wrong," you murmured. "If something happens to you and I'm not even there-" your words trailed off into nothing, and you blinked back tears as he took your hands in his. 

"We can still change the plan. You can come with us-"

"No," you interrupted. "I need to be with Max; she needs my help. I just hate the idea of losing you and not even being able to help you, you know?"

He nodded. "I know, Baby," he hummed, pulling you a little closer until your head was resting on his shoulder. "But this plan is as close to foolproof as it can possibly be. We know it backwards and forwards; inside and out. As long as everyone follows it, we'll be fine."

"What if it's we're not fine?" 

His brow pulled together slightly. "Then I guess you'll just have to marry Robin instead. I think she already called dibs if we break up," he hummed, clearly teasing you. His arm wrapped around you when you didn't laugh, squeezing your shoulder. "Baby, we can't start thinking like that, or it's going to drive us all crazy, alright? This not going our way isn't an option. We win. That's the end goal and that's what's going to happen." 

You nodded. "We win," you repeated softly, twisting slightly in your seat to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. "And you're gonna come back to me in one piece. Without a single scratch, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," he told you, drawing you into a quick kiss. 

"Are you guys working or just making out?" you heard Eddie yell from further down the hill, drawing a snort of laughter out of you. 

You leaned in for another kiss, lifting your hand to give Eddie the middle finger as you kissed Steve again. "One piece. Not a single scratch. Right?" you uttered against his lips. 

"Right," he hummed, giving you one final kiss before lifting the gasoline back into your lap. "Get pouring, Baby," he started, offering you one of the sweetest smiles you had ever seen. 

And shit, even though you were still nervous, it wasn't as all-consuming anymore. Steve just had that effect on you. He made everything easier to cope with. He made the big problems seem small. He made life easier. You really were blessed when you found him.

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