𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 | 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

the archer

imagine: you and your boyfriend steve meet at a halloween party and start dating shortly after. he can't seem to say i love you so you broke up. he comes to your house and admits his feelings.

i hated to admit it, but i had trust issues. i had once been the hopeless romantic who fell in love with the idea of love itself. kids, weddings, dates, boyfriends, and everything else. i had loved once and been completely messed up by it, and i had never been able to grow to love the idea of being in love again. that was until halloween one year when i was a teenager.

my best friend, nancy wheeler had invited me to a halloween party that everyone was going to. i had immediately said no. partying wasn't my scene even on the freakiest night of the year. she dragged me along and i stuck out like a sore thumb with my maroon leather jacket and ponytail. it was being a sore thumb that had introduced me to my boyfriend, steve harrington. he had had his eye on nancy originally and we all knew that. his entire intention that night had been to sweep her off of her feet. but instead we had started talking and later ended up making out in his car.

not even a month later we were dating. it was a fantastic relationship. he was kind, gentle, and absolutely hilarious. my parents and siblings adored him as did all of my friends and we couldn't get enough of each other. but as the middle of january rolled around, we were on the topic of saying i love you. i knew i was in love with steve, no question about it. i never doubted the same was true for him.

so one night when we were sitting on his living room couch while his parents were gone, i said it and he looked at me for a moment as if he didn't know what to say in response.

"(y/n)...i really really like you...i just-" he began.

"you don't love me?" i asked him, turning to look at him.

"i'm not ready," he said.

"will you ever be?" i asked him.

"i don't know," he replied, looking away.

"so there's someone else," i raised an eyebrow and he looked back to me in shock.

"of course not! why would you even imply that?" he snapped.

"why would you ever imply you wouldn't ever be ready to say i love you?" i shot back, my heart dropping. he just looked at me and i stood up, "goodbye, steve."

"(y/n)! wait!" he ran after me as i got into my car and drove back home.

i cried for a really long time after that. i thought what we had had was good, great even. i wasn't expecting him to say i love you in that moment but i figured one day he would be ready to say it. and i was willing to wait for him.

our three month anniversary rolled around on january 31st. i sat alone in my bedroom, writing a paper for school when i heard the doorbell ring. i was home alone because my parents and siblings had all gone out for something and i had wanted to stay back and finish some schoolwork. i hustled down the stairs and opened the door to see steve harrington standing in my doorway holding a bouquet of red roses.

"hi," he said.

"hi..." i replied, wondering what was coming next.

"i've been thinking about this a lot recently," he sighed, "and i love you. i'm so sorry about not being able to say that sooner."

"steve," i began to cry and hugged him. "i just didn't know if you'd ever be ready."

"i knew i would be soon. i think i was just scared of actually being in love with someone. especially someone who was too good for me," he said.

i looked up at him and he kissed me. then i grabbed his hand and guided him into my house.

"let me get a vase for those," i smiled.

"and then?" he asked.

"i don't care what we do," i said, "as long as i'm with you."