stranger things imagines.

the carnival date: steve harrington.

{request for: -kolohekai <33}

steve harrington is no stranger to y/n l/n.
though they aren't quite the best of friends,
they're acquaintances enough.
they had been lab partners the year of animal dissections,
they once sat together on the bus freshman year,
and they'd even worked side by side in fundraising for the schools athletic teams.
had they ever had a conversation past their priorities?
not one they can remember.
which is why he found it so surprising when robin pulled him to the side during school and said,
"dude, guess what y/n l/n just told me?"
"what?"
"that she thinks you're cute!"
steve chuckles at robin's excitement,
but this poses as nothing new to the boy.
he's heard the compliment time and time again during his high school career.
and though hearing it from y/n l/n is rather odd,
it's not entirely surprising the way robin believes it to be.
"lots of people say that, robin."
she rolls her eyes,
both at his smugness and his ignorance.
"steve, hello! her and i never talk about boys. never, okay? for her to tell me that unwarranted, she was clearly asking if you were single."
steve is shocked at how robin could have come to that conclusion from the simple statement.
"nah. i don't think that's what she meant."
"you're going to tell me, a girl, what another girl meant when she said what she said?"
he laughs and gives her a shrug.
"i just don't think y/n l/n would be in to me like that."
y/n is a beautiful, winsome girl without a doubt.
steve would be a fool to say otherwise.
she's also inexplicably wise,
like her soul has been run through the life cycle a few times.
she's diligent and she's focused.
all of which steve is hardly that.
so what could she possibly see in him?
"why don't you ask her yourself?"
"and embarrass myself? she's got plans for, like, harvard or something. the last thing she wants is to be bothered with."
robin gives steve a swift shove,
though he hardly budges under it,
the implication is clear.
"you don't know any of this! you keep assuming your way out of this and y/n l/n will be gone before you can blink."
robin hurries off to class as soon as she's finished,
leaving steve to do the very same.
is it coincidental that y/n is sitting next to him in this class or was it something planned by robin?
did she know or is this just a stroke of luck?
"hey, steve,"
y/n greets with a gentle smile.
nothing more,
nothing less.
a casual greeting for a casual friend.
her attention turns back to the board up front before steve can utter a response.
as the time ticks by,
he goes back to robin's words.
was she interested in him?
or was it just a statement made in good fun?
he decides to figure it out by leaning over and whispering her name,
"y/n?"
"yeah?"
she whispers back.
he searches for a telling sign in her face:
excited eyes,
fingers drumming in anticipation,
a nervous smile.
but she's as pristine as ever,
showcasing nothing but how truly alluring she is.
"are you busy this weekend?"
"hm...i don't think so. what's up?"
steve feels his skin grow hot under her stare while his heart thunders in his chest.
"would you like to maybe do something together this weekend?"
her smile grows.
maybe robin had been right after all.
"i'd love to."
he relaxes into his chair at this while mirroring y/n's look of elation.
"great...it's a date."
***
y/n is a bundle of nerves the second she wakes up the next morning.
saturday night,
which is merely hours away,
and she will be alongside steve harrington outside of a school setting.
she knew robin would plant the seed the moment she leaned over in class to say,
"steve is kind of cute, isn't he?"
robin had laughed so loudly that it earned her a reprimanding from the teacher,
then whispered in reply,
"he's my friend."
"yeah, i know. he's still cute."
the plotting look on robin's face had made y/n giggle.
they were both in understanding without having to say a word.
and she'd pulled through,
the lovely, clumsy girl!
y/n was now readying herself for a date with steve harrington.
she can't remember when exactly it happened,
but all she remembers is sitting next to him in class one day and feeling her blood warm up in his vicinity.
perhaps it was that day on bus freshman year,
when he took the only empty seat beside her after asking if it was okay.
then he said,
"how was your first day?"
y/n had shrugged.
it was often difficult for her to make friends,
though she said none of this out loud.
steve read her expression and offered her ease with,
"yeah, me too. don't worry though. if you ever need a friend, you've got me now."
she laughed quietly because she knew the moment he stepped off the bus,
they might never speak again,
but she appreciated it all the same.
or maybe it was during the next year that came and when she heard the words,
"lab partner."
she hung her head low.
people only swarmed to her to save their grades.
she'd never had a genuine partner before,
not one she chose anyways.
then her eyes locked with steve and an understanding passed through them:
need a friend?
y/n had nodded her head at his nonverbal asking and worked beside him in content silence all year.
she realized her crush for him when she signed up for school sport fundraising,
despite playing none or even caring for the teams,
she did it all because she knew steve would be there.
and though they never discussed anything past their tasks ahead,
they bonded in the stillness of it all.
her thoughts are interrupted by the sounds of knocking at the front door.
her heart leaps into her throat at who it is.
she last second spritzes on her favorite scent then hurries to answer it.
steve is nervous,
almost as nervous as y/n is,
though he can hardly tell.
she looks nothing short of perfect.
"ready for the best date of your life?"
steve asks with an infectious smile.
y/n nods her head while she walks beside him to his car.
he opens the car door for her then closes it when she's safely in.
when he enters and brings the engine to life,
y/n notices the way his hands occupy any and everything they can.
"are you nervous?"
she asks through the butterflies piling in her throat.
steve debates on telling the truth,
so he fills the air with a laugh while he thinks.
then he admits,
"yeah, yeah. a little...are you?"
"oh, i'm terrified."
steve turns to her with raised eyebrows and senses none of that terror on her expression.
"you wear terror pretty well, then."
"what do you mean?"
he chuckles when he says,
"just saying i can't tell and that you look...you look beautiful."
y/n blinks sheepishly at steve.
"that's kind of you...thank you. you-you clean up real well, too."
the pair share a laugh at this and the knots in their stomachs loosen.
soon enough when they're parked,
steve faces her to speak,
"i'll pretend i'm not nervous if you'll pretend you're not terrified."
she breaks into a smile.
"terrified of what?"
he winks at her to say,
"come on. we're going to have a great time."
steve hurries over to open her car door again as she's left to revel in the evening steve has planned for them.
"oh, my god. i forgot the carnival was in town,"
she says through a laugh.
"don't you come every year?"
he asks as they walk beside each other into the revelry.
"yeah...usually. how'd you know?"
"i heard you say something about it last year. when-when we were lab partners."
y/n feels her heart swell at the thought of him tucking away this tiny detail of hers,
only to have it be brought to surface a year later.
"i've been so busy with school this year, i can't believe i almost missed it."
steve nudges her playfully to lighten her mood.
"almost. you're here now."
she turns to him with a smile so bright,
it nearly knocks the breath from his lungs.
"we're here now."
shy smiles are exchanged as they walk through the crowd,
with the giggling children sticky with glee,
with the couples clinging together to bundle from the chill,
with friends filling the air with jovial laughter.
what's there not to love?
there's the smell of sweet treats tinged with the air of autumn,
the thrill of riding rides,
and the anticipation for how tonight will go for steve and y/n.
"what do you want to do first? there's rides, we could get something to eat, play some games."
"well, steve, how good are you at the ring toss?"
he feigns a smug laugh then crosses his arms.
"you kidding? i'm the best."
y/n laughs as they walk towards the ring toss booth,
where steve immediately begins playing.
the laughter that rises from her lungs and out,
though it's at steve's failed attempts,
is a wonderful sound that makes him laugh right with her.
"you're going to go broke and we just got here."
steve slams another dollar down before he replies,
"i'm not stopping till we win."
y/n can't help but to exhale another snicker.
being in steve's presence is proving to be a lot more lighthearted than she once imagined.
here she thought they'd spend their evening too worried to unfurl from their nerves,
but they seemed to shed them pretty easily.
in the midst of her thoughts,
y/n watches as the last ring circles around the peg and steve wins.
the two exclaim in unison at the surprise of him actually winning,
then cheer together with bright smiles.
"i told you i'd win."
steve nudges her during their celebration.
"i didn't doubt you for a second."
"uh huh,"
he says with his tongue in his cheek.
the two of them giggle some more until he stops to tell her,
"choose your prize, y/n."
y/n scans the rows of stuffed animals lying in wait for winners to take.
"help me choose. it was your win."
"the frog?"
steve suggests as he points to the green fuzzy animal.
"why that one?"
"you know...because that was the first thing we dissected together."
"steve!"
y/n chides as she gently slaps his shoulder.
"god, that's gross."
steve chuckles then scans over the options again.
"okay, okay, fine...you strike me as a penguin kind of girl. are you a penguin kind of girl?"
i am tonight.
"how'd you know?"
y/n teases while the worker hands her the penguin steve worked so hard for.
"i love it. what should we name it?"
"what do you get when you combine our names?"
steve inquiries.
she thinks about it,
glues the syllables of their names together to come up with something,
and watches as his expression melts into one of satisfaction.
"that's perfect."
y/n takes note of how well they work together even out of school.
it's easy;
like an instinct that was just waiting to be awakened.
the two make way through more games when y/n declares,
"oh! they have balloon darts."
steve gives her an inquiring eyebrow.
"you actually like that game?"
"yes,"
she answers with a laugh.
she doesn't know if she'll ever quit letting the symphonic notes leave her lungs in steve's presence.
he doesn't much mind it either.
in fact,
he quietly wishes she'll spend forever laughing so that he can revel in the bliss of it.
"i'm quite good at it,"
y/n boasts playfully.
steve scoffs while leading them to the game.
"nobody is good at this game."
"all it takes is a little focus and precision. watch."
y/n rifles for her wallet to pull out the cash she'd brought,
but steve is quicker in sliding the dollar bill to the worker.
"are you going to let me pay for anything?"
she asks in a tone of annoyance,
but her smile betrays her words.
"not if i can help it."
y/n wastes no time in proving steve wrong.
she's so good at the game that all the brown-haired boy can do is stare in astonishment.
what a niche achievement,
yet so surprising.
when she wins without much effort,
she turns to steve with a flashy smile and says,
"i'm waiting on my congratulations...maybe even some groveling."
steve rolls his eyes but keeps the smile wide on his lips.
"oh, i'm so sorry for doubting you, y/n. you're obviously very talented at...balloon darts."
she feigns flattery by bringing a hand to her chest and batting her eyelashes at the boy.
"do you mean it?"
does she notice the crimson hue covering his cheeks at this playful look of hers?
how despite her mockery,
she still looks absolutely stunning,
staring up at him with wide, wondrous eyes.
"i mean it,"
he finally says through his daze.
noticing his eyes full of admiration,
y/n's facade falls through and is replaced with one that truly encapsulates her timidness under his stare.
something is changing within steve harrington.
he thought this as nothing more than a simple first date,
one that might lead to many more and offer the chance of something coming to bloom in the future.
but it seems the buds of his enamor are in full blossom in this very moment.
how could it be anything but when the epitome of divine existence is standing before him,
blinking in time with his breaths,
blessing him with her company that he feels so undeserving of?
what must he do to be considered worthy?
to be a man she considers beyond the features of his face?
"you a fan of heights, y/n?"
steve asks through the silence,
though their thoughts are plenty loud.
"what have you got in mind?"
"the main attraction, of course."
the pair turn to see the ferris wheel high above them,
spinning with its alluring neon lights.
y/n has never felt as bold as she is feeling right now.
something about steve's gaze has charged her right up,
which is why she links her arm into his and leads the way to the ferris wheel.
the entire time,
she doesn't let go of steve's arm.
his skin grows hot under her angelic touch;
like she might be healing all that is wrong with a simple graze of her fingers.
his heart pulses in staccatos at their close proximity.
what had it been between the moment they arrived to the moment now that has him feeling so fervently?
was it the way her leg nervously bounced on the ride here?
was it the the suave words that escaped past her lips?
or perhaps it was the way her eyebrows furrowed together in a look of concentration during that game.
maybe even the spark of joy in her eyes when steve won her a prize,
as cliche as it had been.
all steve harrington does knows is that he doesn't want this night to end.
what he wouldn't do to spend a little while longer basking in the perfumed scent of y/n l/n and letting her honeyed words abate his mind.
"you okay? you're a little quiet,"
y/n says as she tightens around steve's arm;
he can feel her shivering beneath the chill of tonight.
"you're not backing out on me, are you?"
steve shakes his head with a dramatic eye roll then sheds himself of his jacket to offer it to the girl. 
"and miss seeing the best view of hawkins, indiana? never."
y/n becomes swallowed in his coat but is warmed immediately;
whether by the action or the jacket itself,
she doesn't know.
the two share a laugh at the plainness of this town and how at the pinnacle of this ride,
nothing will be seen but acres of land and space.
then soon enough,
they take their seats and are beginning the ride up and around.
"hey...thanks for coming out with me tonight."
y/n turns her head from the view of the people and offers steve that winsome smile.
"thank you for asking me to come. it's been fun."
"did you ever think we'd end up here after freshman lab?"
she gives a shy shrug then let's the words of admittance tumble from her mouth,
"i'd always hoped so."
"did you?"
"well, steve, duh. i think almost every girl in school has or had a crush on you. i just happened to fall for the harrington charm, too."
steve tries not to act surprised by this,
but he can't help that his eyes are wide with shock.
sure,
it's one thing to be sought after by girls who fixations are often fleeting.
it's another to be sitting before one,
reveling in her glory,
and listening to the tales of her admiration.
does y/n know that steve, too, is falling for her?
if he could,
he might rise to his feet and shout it to the world as he stands at the highest point.
instead,
he nudges her to jokingly ask,
"it's the hair, isn't it?"
y/n's glad for the breach in silence and listens as her laugh echoes.
"definitely the hair."
steve chuckles with her before he grows serious again,
bringing back the topic of conversation,
"i didn't know."
"no surprise. i mean, i didn't make it totally obvious."
steve tilts his head to gain a new perspective on this marbled beauty then asks,
"why didn't you?"
"would it have mattered to you then?"
he considers saying the first thought in his mind:
if it meant having more time with you,
yes it would have absolutely mattered.
but the ride has stopped before he can answer.
the two are dangling at the top of the ride,
peering down upon their tiny town and wondering how much longer they can handle the tension between them.
it's begging to be unfolded and understood,
but which one of them will be willing to admit it?
"do you think this is how gods or goddesses feel? looking down at all the tiny people, wondering what their thoughts are and how to help?"
steve watches her instead of the view.
she quite looks like the goddesses she's imagining;
with her curious fingers and eyes dancing over the townspeople,
the set curve of her lips,
the length of her limbs.
steve might commemorate her beauty in statues like the goddesses.
if that's what she wants,
steve will make sure she gets it.
"is that how you feel?"
"something like that. i'd like to feel omniscient, but then that means knowing everybody's thoughts. i don't know if i could handle that."
she turns to steve as she talks,
as though she might be insinuating something.
are my feelings not clear to you, y/n?
he wonders.
he vows to make it clear by the end of the night.
he doesn't know what she's done to him with that bewitching smile,
but it's worked.
and he'll be damned if he lets her slip by so easily.
"who possibly could?"
she smiles softly;
nothing more but a crease in the corner of her lips.
"you're right. good thing we're only human."
steve wonders what it might be like to become more than that with y/n;
metaphorically of course,
to shed himself free and entwine their souls into something greater than the average person can fathom.
what is happening to me?
steve groans internally,
looking out of the window and towards the view.
"do you remember the first time we ever talked?"
how could he forget?
even if their friendship hadn't been one of priority until now,
nothing would ever lead him to forget their meeting.
how she'd been just as scared as he was,
though she was way less talented at hiding it then.
he promised her friendship and that much had proven to be true when she saved him from being partnerless;
steve was failing science at the time and nobody wanted to be dragged down with him.
then she saved him again during their school's fundraising,
when he didn't have the faintest clue on what to do but had y/n's company to help.
"yeah, on the bus. we were like, what? fourteen then?"
y/n giggles and nods her head.
"fourteen and our first day of high school."
steve and her exchange proud smiles.
y/n's heart swells a bit more to know he remembers after all.
despite his popularity,
he's still made room for shy y/n in his memory.
the silence that last the rest of the ride is nice.
it's not awkward nor are the pair fumbling to fill it,
they simply relax in it and let it come as tranquility to their nerves.
y/n can sense the change in steve harrington.
though she doesn't know by pure experience,
she can see it in his glittering eyes:
a man falling.
does it mirror the very same awestruck look in her eyes?
the same look she's worn since the very beginning?
steve keeps his attention out of the ferris wheel car while y/n focuses on him.
this could be the night she's spent days dreaming about.
if only she were courageous enough to reach her fingers out and entangle them with steve's.
the ride comes to a halt and steve makes sure y/n gets out safely before he does.
then their feet are back on solid ground,
though their emotions have never been so intense.
y/n's heart pulses forth her adrenaline,
making her quick to zip steve's jacket up so her abdomen is warmed and grab steve's hand into hers.
"candy apple? you look like a candy apple kind of guy,"
she echoes with a giggle that slips from the unbeknownst.
she is chasing a high and hopes steve joins her.
which of course,
he does.
"how'd you know?"
he says with a grin as they run through the crowd,
following the scent of sweet treats.
neither of them let go of each other's hand the entire time,
not even as they stand in line to purchase the sticky, delicious candy apples.
soon enough,
their lips are glistening with a caramel tint and the gloss of apple,
though they try to keep their laughs to a minimum in hopes of keeping their snack down.
"you're like a toddler!"
y/n exclaims as she wipes away the caramel on steve's cheek,
but he's quick to retort with,
"so are you! look, you're dirtying up my jacket."
she looks down to see beads of caramel drying on steve's clothing.
so consumed by her laughter,
y/n falls into steve as the unison of their laughs raise higher and higher in the air.
"oh, i'm sorry,"
she says when she's finally caught her breath,
using a napkin to clean the spill.
"don't worry about it. there could be worse things."
"yeah, like getting caramel in your hair."
with cautious fingers,
steve touches his hair in search for the caramel.
"are you serious?"
y/n shakes her head with a compelling giggle.
"no, i'm not."
"woah! you can't mess with the hair like that."
the hilarity seems to keep coming the longer they're in each other's presence.
y/n's cheeks hurt from smiling so widely.
and steve...
he is so enamored of y/n,
more than he's ever known himself to be.
"you're sticky,"
steve jokes as he grabs her caramel coated hands into his.
"you're stickier,"
she parrots back.
they are all sugary smiles as they find a place to wash their hands and faces free of the residual candy.
then when they meet back,
steve has found a bit more confidence lingering in his limbs.
he drapes an arm over y/n and leads them back into the eye of the carnival.
y/n relaxes into his embrace.
this had been exactly what she was looking for and it is a tenfold more blissful than her imagination could have ever expected.
a few more games are played,
a few more prizes are won,
and their euphoria has yet to be worn thin.
this is the greatest night of their lives and like steve predicted,
the best date.
after their hands are full with prizes,
their pockets stocked full with won candy,
and the moon is shining down in warning of a nights end,
y/n decides to do just one last thing before they leave.
anything to stay in this moment with steve,
protected in their own bubble of peace.
"steve! we almost forgot about the photo booth."
steve throws his hands up to fake surprise as he says,
"oh, god. what would we have done without going to the photo booth?"
"the date might have just fallen apart,"
she teases.
steve knows her words to be nothing more than light jest,
considering she's been kept in his embrace for the better half of the night;
the way he much prefers.
they settle in the photo booth with their prized possessions placed against their laps and begin.
"what are we doing?"
steve exclaims as the countdown begins and neither of them have a pose.
one, two...
"just-just smile!"
three.
the picture is taken of them leaning against each other,
smiles wide and true much like they've been all night.
"hold him like a child!"
y/n instructs as she props up the first stuffed animal steve won for her.
their stomachs are in the midst of cramping from how hard they're laughing.
one, two, three.
the picture is taken of them holding their prize in loving arms;
like a parent to a child.
steve catches y/n's eye and holds it.
having her so close,
what more can he do but become entranced?
"hold on, you've got..."
he trails off as he uses his thumb to wipe away a smear of caramel against y/n's cheek.
hardly noticeable yet,
any excuse he can find to feel her skin on his.
one, two, three.
a picture of steve embracing her and y/n falling deeply into it.
then he brings her in;
he closes the much too wide space between them and kisses her.
y/n sinks into the boy before her and lets the world around them drown out.
this is steve harrington,
a man of love.
one, two, three.
a picture of them is taken,
sharing their very first kiss.
it is beautiful and sensual,
it is romantic and everlasting.
what steve wouldn't do to sit in this photo booth with y/n for the remainder of his life,
letting her lips gloss over his own.
apples will forever be his favorite taste now,
especially since y/n wears it so well.
the sounds of teenagers giggling outside makes them break apart.
it doesn't take a genius to know peering eyes have seen the printed pictures that they've been too busy to retrieve.
"sounds like we've got an audience,"
steve whispers against her lips as his palm remains molded against the nape of her neck.
"can't wait to be the talk of the town."
"you already are, y/n l/n. as beautiful as you are."
she blushes under his compliment and kisses him one more time for good measure.
then they hurry out of the booth to find their pictures.
this is love in its rawest form,
caught on film to forever be solidified in ink.
steve smooths a thumb over the pictures in all their perfection.
"why do you look like you've just seen the world for the first time?"
y/n asks,
though she knows her eyes are just as full of wonder as his.
then steve turns to her with a soft smile to say,
"cause i am just seeing the world for the first time. and it's you, y/n l/n. it's always been you."