Star Crossed Lovers (STEVE HARRINGTON)

Madmax

Murph's POV:
It had been a while since everything was back into motion, it seemed to everyone else that the Upside Down had never occurred. Me and Will were still getting a grasp on things, Joyce and Hopper had been keeping a close eye on us. It had been a week since Mom had left, I wasn't worried though because Hop told me he was keeping an even closer eye on her too.

I woke up to Dustin searching through the basement, I coughed as I sat up in bed to let him know I could see him. He sprung back and awkwardly smiled at me. "It's an emergency I swear!" He exclaimed, hands held up as I stalked my way over to him. I ruffled his hair and walked over to my closet, I grabbed my leather jacket and reached through the pocket on the left hand side.

Grasping a bag of quarters I'd kept knowing Dustin was going to the arcade today. I sighed before picking the whole thing up and making my way back over to him where he patiently stood. "For you, maestro." I offered, handing him the bag, a grin pulled up his lips as he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. "You're the best smurph." He mumbled as I chuckled and let him go. Before he left I yelled behind him "I'm picking you up in two hours."

He shouted back a response and left to go bike over to the arcade. Id only just let him start biking around again and it still gave me shivers to think about. As he left, I sat down at the counter and inhaled a few breaths before standing up and making my way to my car.

I got in with the intention of going to see Hopper but instead ended up in Steve's front yard. The drive felt like seconds as I zoned out for most of it. Before I knew it, I was there again and completely exhausted. Contemplating whether or not to get out of the car and actually knock on the door, I laid my head back and closed my eyes just as I had all that time ago with Nancy. And just like then, a knock interrupted my thoughts.

Steve's intent smile blossomed as I rolled down the window and groaned. "Hey come inside." He mumbled, his finger poking me as I nodded sleepily. The nightmares still occurred randomly, not as often as before but when they did, it really took a toll on me. Steve was the only person I'd told about this because anything I told Jonathon would end up in Joyce's ear who would then discuss it with Hopper, ultimately making it a huge deal and I was fine. I didn't need that. They didn't need that.

"Come on." He uttered, his eyes full of sympathy. Me and Steve were growing closer and closer as the days went on. I could sense some unsolved tension between him and Nancy and had recently tried giving him some space to deal with it. But I needed Steve's input on everything and honestly I was curious about him and Nancy. Was something going on?

I walked beside him and we made our way upstairs to his room to lounge around. "Was it the same again?" He asked, referencing the nightmares I'd been having. They involved some seriously fucked up imagery of Barb and I always ended up waking with a chill down my spine. I nodded and leaned my head back on his chest as he slipped behind me and pulled my back against him.

"It's gonna be okay peach." He whispered in my ear as I sighed. Thinking of Barb always made me cry, I wasn't entirely healed from the situation and held an incredible amount of guilt inside about it all. Steve knew this. Feeling overwhelmed with the urge of crying and not wanting to have mascara running down my face, I closed my eyes and mumbled "Tell me something true Steve Harrington." I felt his chest rise with an inhale as he breathed.

Seconds passed and I almost thought he wasn't going to answer the question until I heard him clear his throat. "You're the strongest person I've ever met." He spoke softly as I chuckled and almost scoffed. "I said something true." I teased as he poked me. "You're the only person I've never lied to." He promised as I felt the familiar butterfly zoom around my stomach.

"Thank you." I responded plainly as I heard him humming behind me. "Sing me a song?" He asked inquiringly as I again scoffed. "No." Plain and simple. I heard him huff before he looked at me incredulously. "Cmon. I wanna hear you sing." He pleaded. I sighed, his one glance convincing me. Groaning, I took a deep breath before singing a few lines of the Beatles and ignoring the way I felt him relax behind me. Ignoring the way his hands slowly moved over my waist and his fingers intertwined with mine.

We were friends. Friends held hands and hugged. Friends sang each other songs and held each other.

"You're perfect."
Friends complimented each other. I continued as the lyrics of Blackbird fell from my lips his grip tightened a little.

"I love you."