Sticking Around // Steve Harrington x Reader *On-Going*

𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 (𝟶𝟶𝟺)

As soon as you got home you locked yourself in your room. You couldn't stand being around Billy when he was violent. He has no self-control and it's better to get out of his way. Peacefully on your bed, you were studying for an upcoming chem test and listening to music on your Walkman. You usually only used it to drown out the yelling between your brother and father on most nights. But as far as you could tell, this wasn't one of them. Scribbling on your paper, your pencil lead broke off. You let out an annoyed sigh and walked over to your backpack by your bedroom door. As you bent down to find another pencil you heard angry muffled voices. Curious, you cracked the door to listen in on the conversation and hoped it wasn't who you thought it was.

"I told you that you needed to pick up Max at 6 from the arcade... so where is she?!" You recognized the enraged voice to be your father's. He was scolding your brother once again.

"I was busy. And no one told me I had to pick her up from the arcade. I thought she was somewhere else..." You peaked through the crack of your door. Billy's bedroom door was wide open. You decided to stay put where you were. There was no getting in the middle of this. You saw him cowering in the corner of his room. This was the only time you ever saw Bill so powerless. He was terrified of your father.

"THAT IS A BULLSHIT EXCUSE," his voice grew louder with anger, "I TOLD YOU TO YOUR FACE. NOW YOU ARE JUST LYING TO ME."

"Dammit dad, she's with her little freak friends all the time now. How do you expect me to keep up with her and her bitchy little attitude-" Your father wound up his hand and punched him clean across his face. You winced and covered your eyes. Seeing Billy in pain hurt you, even though some part of you felt like he deserved it.

"WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH," Your father huffed. Billy stood there holding his cheek. After a few moments of silence, your father started to calm down. "Max is your family now. Susan is your stepmother now. So treat them like they are. It's you and your sister's responsibility to look after her, you understand? That includes simply picking her up from the FUCKING ARCADE." Bill stood there still frozen. "Really?? You've got nothing to say? What happened to the tough Bill who loves to run his mouth hm? Say something." He shoved your brother into the wall. "SAY SOMETHING."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP," Bill screamed into his face. But Bill knew exactly what he was doing. Your father started throwing punch after punch at him making him slowly slump to the ground. Adrenaline kicked in and you ran out of your room screaming at your dad.

"DAD STOP! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF BILLY. HAVEN'T YOU PROVED YOUR POINT ENOUGH? ARE YOU SATISFIED?" You instantly regretted this. Your father turned to face you. His knuckles are bloody with your brother's blood. You hated to admit it but you were terrified of your father too.

"Well well. Look who decided to join. I think you should have stayed out of this one y/n." No words came out of your mouth. You just stood there defenseless and scared. "Come to stick up for your brother?" He shoved you to the ground. Your head, getting most of the impact, hit the carpet making your vision go blurry for a moment. He hovered over you. "You are so lucky I can't put you into your place like Bill." Your father stepped over you and walked out of your brother's room. Billy, you remembered, check up on Billy. You hoisted yourself back up and saw Bill leaning against the wall. Was he crying? A sharp ringing pain dispersed throughout your head. You observed him for a bit. Words of comfort didn't reach your tongue and you knew that it was better to leave him alone. You turned away and gently closed his door behind you. Looking down the hallway to check if it was clear, you ran into your room and locked the door. The window in your bedroom was wide open making the wind rustle through your f/c curtains. You stared at it as a wild idea came across your mind. 

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The street was pitch dark making it hard to see where you were walking. You couldn't see anything in front of you or anything behind you. A few moments earlier, you had made the impulsive decision to jump out your window and escape for the night. The sharp cold air rushed around you. You really wished you had brought a jacket with you. Hugging yourself for warmth, you made your way further down the road. Where to go from here? you thought. The area was still fairly new to you and you barely knew your way to school yet. All of a sudden, there was a rustle on your left. You turned your head to see an empty dark forest, but you weren't convinced. You took slow and soft steps towards the woods in hopes of catching whatever you heard. The rustling was back again but it was further away this time. You continued to advance towards the sound. Whatever it was, it wasn't very big.

You looked back to see how far away from the road you were, but you couldn't see the road anymore. A new sound echoed throughout the forest. This wasn't any ordinary animal. Chills rushed throughout your body. As you continued to move forward, a dog-like figure finally came into view. However, this did not look like a normal dog. It had no ears and a slender, boney body. Your breath became heavier as you continued to stare at this monstrous creature in front of you. You slowly tried to back away and make an escape but your foot was caught on a branch. The rustling noise stopped and it turned around towards you. Your heart stopped. This thing definitely wasn't from here at all. It growled and opened up its face to expose many rows of dagger-like teeth and lunged towards you. You stumbled but finally were able to make a run for it. The growls grew closer and closer to you as you sprinted through the forest. You hoped you were going the right way. The horrid creator wouldn't get off your trail and you were slowly starting to lose energy. You spotted a clearing up ahead and prayed it was the road. Just a little further.

You made it through the break in the trees and relief washed over you to see the road. However, the creature would not give you a break and was still after you. You finally made it to your window not checking to see if it was still following behind. With no hesitation, you jumped through it. Your bed broke your fall and you scrambled to lock your window behind you. Collapsing on your bed, you struggled to catch your breath. What was that thing? However, it was almost like you never even left your room at all. 

(A.N) I know this was a lengthy chapter and I hope It wasn't too boring. Thank you for bearing with me!