Through The Strangest Things || Steve Harrington x Reader

3. Holly, Jolly

Nancy came into the spare bedroom wearing one Steve's sweatshirts to wake me up.

"(Y/N), come on. We've gotta go home, my mother is gonna freak out," she whispered frantically.

I sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "What time is it?" I asked, my voice groggy.

"I don't know, but it's late," she replied.

"Why can't you let me sleep longer?" I grumbled, smashing my face back into the pillows.

Nancy grabbed hold of my shoulder and yanked me up harshly. I yelped and smacked her hands away.

"What the hell, Nancy!?" I yelled.

"Hush! You're gonna wake Steve up. Now come on," she said, gathering my still-soaking clothes. I adjusted the sweatpants and hoodie that Steve had given me so it felt more comfortable and followed Nancy out the door.

"Did Barb go home?" I asked after we were walking on the side walk down the street

"Yeah. I told her to, though," Nancy said, looking down in a guilty manner.

"Hey, Barb could have gone home anytime she wanted to. She chose to stay," I reassured her with my hand on her shoulder. "And plus, like you said, you told her to go. You don't have to feel guilty for that."

Nancy nodded while a single tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away, thinking I didn't notice.

+*+*+

I opened the door to my house and quickly hopped inside, closing the door quietly behind me. I turned around at jumped out of shock at the sight before me.

Jonathan was standing in the middle of our living room with his arms crossed. He had turned on one of the lamps beside the couch and was glaring at me. I set down my bag with my damp clothes in it, copied his stance, and raised my eyebrows as if to ask him what was going on.

"I thought you were spending the night at Nancy's," he snapped.

"Nope. Nancy and I got a ride in Barb's car to Steve's house. He had a small party," I explained, my voice laced with annoyance. I didn't want to have an interrogation, I just wanted to go to back to bed after being so rudely woken up.

"Wait, seriously?" Jonathan asked, taken aback by my bluntness.

"Yes. It was only me, Carol, Tommy H., Barb, Nancy, and Steve. It was like a small hangout with a bunch of friends."

"Oh so now you're friends with Tommy H. and Carol?" Jonathan accused.

"No. Jonathan, relax. We stayed there for a few hours and I fell asleep on the couch. Nancy woke me up, and we walked home because Barb had already left at that point," I explained myself with professional lying skills.

"You walked!? (Y/N), you really thought that was a good idea with what's going on? You could have ended up just like Will!" Jonathan said, rushing over to engulf me in a hug. "Why didn't you call me? I could've driven you home."

I hugged him back tightly. "Because I thought you'd just yell at me for calling you from Steve's house phone. Plus, it's really late at night and I was expecting you to be asleep."

"Yeah, I guess that's a valid reason," my brother sniffed. That's when I realized that he had been crying.

"Oh, Jonathan. I'm sorry for not telling you where I was so you didn't have to worry," I smiled up at him. I took Steve's hoodie sleeve and wiped his cheeks with it.