Star Crossed Lovers (STEVE HARRINGTON)

Christmas at the Hendersons'

Murph's POV:
"Merry Christmas!" Dusty yelled, bursting through the basement door with dad's old camera, filming me. I felt my lips pull up into a cheesy grin as I waved at thee camera and got up, pulling him into a hug. "Merry Christmas toothless." He nudged me as I chuckled, ruffling his hair. As we made our way up, nostalgia hit me like a truck at the sweet fragrance of Christmas dinner filled my nose.

"Mom's been up for hours." He sighed, sitting down by the tree, his eyes shifting to all the presents. I could see his fingers itching to rip them open as I laughed to myself, walking over to the kitchen counter. "Merry Christmas." I mumbled. She smiled warmly, sliding around the counter and putting her arm around me. "Merry Christmas Murph." With those three words, everything began shifting. We were no longer awkwardly eyeing each other, I found comfort in that evening.

After finishing our dessert, I excused myself from the table, hearing Dustin ask mom where I was going. Smiling to myself, I made my way down to the basement and grabbed a wrapped present I'd been saving to buy for Dustin.

"You forgot this one D." I said, jogging back up the stairs and handing it to him. His eyes lit up as he looked to my mom. "Open it!" She squealed. I chuckled as he tore the wrapping paper open to see the newest Glasslite action figure. It was a classic Luke Skywalker wrapped along with a lightsaber attached. He squealed loudly, me and mom covered our ears.

I couldn't help but laugh loudly as he jumped into my arms. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!" He exclaimed. I leaned back in my chair, my hands behind my head as I glanced over at him. "I know, I know. I'm the coolest.... Go ahead... I know you want to." I nodded at the walkie talkie he always hid under the table.

His toothless grin warmed me as he yelled at the talkie. "I GOT THE SKYWALKER. I REPEAT. I GOT THE BRAND NEW SKYWALKER" Static noise became louder before I heard commotion on the other end, all of them yelling and saying what they got for Christmas. I looked over at my mom smiling. She handed me a small box as I felt my eyebrows raise and eyes widen. "For me?" I asked. She nodded, smiling at me the way I had at Dustin.

I tugged at the wrapping paper and opened the box carefully. A small gasp left my mouth at the sight of my Dad's ring, it had been a family heirloom for forever. "I got it altered to fit you. Your deserve it, I know ... he would've wanted you to have it." She smiled, looking down in her lap. Tears sprung in my eyes as I slid it around my finger, it fit perfectly.

Slowly, I made my way closer to my mom and she opened her arms, hugging me. I felt my shoulders relax from their tensed state as she pressed her lips to my cheek. She opened her mouth as if she was about to speak when the doorbell rang. I made my way down the hallway and opened the door.

"Hey." Jonathon smiled. "Hi Byers'" I responded. His hands were behind his back as I leaned over to see what he was hiding there. "You have precisely ten seconds to show me my present before I punch you." I joked as he sighed, laughing nervously. "Here." His eyes not meeting mine. I put a hand over my mouth before saying "Wait. Your's is inside." I ran inside before running back and tugging his arm, pulling him inside.

"It's cold." I stated, he nodded smiling as I ran to retrieve his present. When I did, which was a few mix tapes I'd made him, a strap for his new camera and a Christmas card. I handed the wrapped box as he passed me mine. "I... I love you Murph." He mumbled, pulling me into his arms. "Don't go soft on me Byers." Chuckling, I patted his back whispering softly in his ears. "I love you too."

I slowly moved back but his eyes were intent on mine, focused and in a trance. Before I knew it he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes widened as I gently pushed him off. Before either of us could speak, Dustin came from around the hallway. "Murph can I get some batteries for my talkie?" He asked. I was breathing heavily as I nodded and put on a smile. "Second draw up from the bottom." He grinned and walked away.

When I turned around to speak Jonathon was walking away. "Hey! We need to talk about this." I yelled behind him. I could see his hands shake as he got his keys and got in his car. Which diverted my attention to the right side of the porch where I could see a car which heavily resembled Steve Harrington's.

As I looked, I saw him slouched down in his car trying to hide. I rolled my eyes, making my way to his car. We'd built a little friendship since that day in the hospital and I had really been enjoying his company but I'd rather swallow nails than admit that to anyone. I tapped the window as he slowly rolled it down.

"Nice hiding spot stalker." He groaned before opening his eyes and saying "I didn't want to interrupt whatever... that was." He muttered, making a waving gesture with his hands. I sighed before making my way to the passenger side, he reached over and opened the door for me. "Chivalry really isn't dead." I smiled. He inhaled, placing a hand on his forehead.

"So you and Byers really are... dating?" He asked. I looked ahead at the Christmas lights, me and Dustin had hung around our roof last week while my mom made us cocoa. "Remind me why that's any of your business?" I hadn't meant to come across as harsh as I did.

"I just thought.. we're friends you know?" I looked over at him before kicking my feet up on the dash. "No we're not... talk about something else. Please." I sighed, leaning my head back against the seat with my eyes shut. He looked outside the window, turning his head away from me. "How are you and Nance?" I asked. "Good. I think." He awkwardly said.

"Well this was riveting, now I have seconds waiting for me inside and..." He cut me in quickly. "I.. I was I don't know. It's Christmas and I know you love these so.."

"M&M's." I stated at the bag he'd pulled out of the glove compartment. "Yeahhh.." He sighed, looking into his lap. "I love this shit." I grinned, holding the bag up as he exhaled heavily. "I know it's not much. It just reminded me of... You're a real cool person Murphy. You know that?" He smiled. "Oh I do Harrington." He smiled, chuckling softly as a wave of comfortable silence passed us.

"The day you looked at me and... I.. Jesus." He breathed, struggling for words. Pulling my feet of the dash I looked over at him, "You're not an idiot Steve Harrington." Repeating the same words I'd said to him that day, I could tell that's what he was referring to because apparently no one had said that to him before. It must've really struck a chord, I thought to myself. The day he'd seen me munch on M&M's. His eyes warmed as they bored into mine. "Would you.. would you ever wanna hang out sometimes? I mean like you and me and Nancy and Jonathon." He worded the sentence strangely but I found myself nodding, because that was the truth.

"Sounds cool Stevie."
He groaned loudly at the nickname as I laughed to myself. "Hey, don't mention the Jonny thing to anyone okay?" I said. His eyebrows furrowed as he nodded. "You gonna talk to him about that?" He asked. I inhaled noisily, "I think so Harrington."

After an awkward goodbye in which Steve didn't know whether to hug me or not (which I politely declined and offered a shove instead) I made my way back inside. When I shut the door behind me, I leaned over to the window facing our porch and peaked out seeing Steve glance at the house for a second before pulling out and driving away. When he did I released a deep breath I didn't even know I'd been holding in.