𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 | 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

daylight

imagine: your feelings for steve become clear after you watch him support dustin from the backseat of his car.

i'd been friends with steve harrington for a while. ever since diapers, i'd known him. but we hadn't become friends until we were older. dustin henderson was a name i heard only when i would babysit or see mrs. henderson when she made an appearance at my mom's famous dinner parties. that was until i was 16.

somehow steve and i got wrapped up with nancy, jonathan, and their younger siblings and their friends in the upside down and the mind flayer. steve had been seeing nancy romantically for almost a year and it was around this time that they separated due to the events at a halloween party.

dustin had enlisted our help after i was helping him apologize to nancy by bringing her flowers. we ended up helping everyone out and saving hawkins as we knew it. the whole thing was crazy and sometimes i doubt that it ever even happened.

after all of this, the snow ball dance was coming up at the middle school. mike, nancy's little brother, had invited eleven, this girl he was absolutely infatuated with and everyone else was just coming along. dustin had a crush on this girl and had asked steve of all people for relationship advice. this had resulted in steve sharing his super secret hair routine with the kid.

steve and dustin had come and picked me up since steve and i had decided we'd drop dustin off at the dance, go see a movie or something, then pick him up and take him home again. i hopped into the back seat and saw dustin sitting in the front seat looking nervous.

"you look handsome," i smiled and steve did too.

"if (y/n) says so then it must be true," steve smiled and i chuckled.

"you're just saying that because you have a giant crush on her," dustin replied.

"i-" steve began.

"you're not denying it," i joked.

steve stopped in front of the middle school gymnasium a few minutes later and put the car in park. he looked at dustin who looked like he might as well have passed out from the nerves.

"all right buddy, here we are," steve said, "just remember when you get in there-"

"act like i don't care," dustin answered.

"you don't care," steve said.

"i don't care," dustin echoed.

"there you go. you're learning, my friend. you're learning," steve smiled softly, "hey,"

"what?" dustin asked.

"come on. you look great, okay? you look...you look great," steve said.

"you look fantastic, dustin," i said from the backseat.

"exactly. now you're gonna go in there..." steve said.

"yeah?" dustin said.

"look like a million bucks," steve continued.

"yeah," dustin said again.

"and you're gonna slay 'em dead," steve said, his eyes catching mine for a solid minute.

"like a lion," dustin purred.

"okay don't do that," steve noted, breaking the gaze.

"okay," dustin replied.

"you've got this, buddy, i believe in you," steve smiled, "you helped kill that stupid mind flayer, you can do anything."

as steve sat in that front seat giving dustin that pep talk, i started to realize that for the past two years that i had been friends with steve, and probably the entirety of our lives, i had fallen in love with him.

all of the darkness and sadness that had clouded my unfortunate life went away the minute that i was with him. it was like all i could see was daylight.

it took steve harrington saving my life and taking care of this thirteen year old boy for me to realize all of this. and as he wished dustin good luck and sent him on his way, he glowed like the sun in the sky on a summer day. his red sweater was warm and welcoming despite the snow falling outside and his smile was calm as he watched dustin practically run down the icy sidewalk.

his eyes met mine again and i slid into the passenger seat. he did not take them off of me for a single second.

"what?" i asked.

"i need to say something about earlier," steve said.

"and whatever might that be," i raised an eyebrow.

"i haven't been fully honest with you, (y/n)," steve blushed.

"and how's that?" i asked, my expression softening immediately.

"when dustin said i had a giant crush on you...he wasn't kidding," steve said it slowly like he was nervous of how every single word would sound.

"steve-" i was shocked.

"look, i'm a hasbeen. i'm a nothing. i'm some guy who used to be popular a month ago. i have no friends besides a thirteen year old boy and you. the only things i have going for me are my hair and my car. i'm not expecting you to feel the same about me or even accept that i have these feelings for you," steve explained.

"you're an idiot, steve harrington," i began to smile.

"and how's that?" he asked me with a smile.

"i'm in love with you," i smiled.

"but-" he began.

"you accepted me when i was and am a nothing. you wanted to be around me when i was irrelevant and i was mean to you. and i think...i think i've seen something in you i've never seen with anyone else," i explained.

"and what's that?" he asked.

"daylight after a lifetime of darkness," i replied.

he reached across the console and cupped my cheek with his hand. gently and gracefully he moved closer to kiss my lips. as he grazed them softly and began to press, the honking of a horn interrupted him and he paused but didn't pull back. it came again. this time he leaned in and finished the kiss.

the horn came again, longer this time. steve sighed and went over to his window, rolling it down.

"go around!" he yelled and rolled it back up. "come back,"

he kissed me again and again and again until we decided maybe we should go do something productive instead of make out in the middle school parking lot.