"What happened?" You ask Steve quietly as he drives back to his home, the soft hum of music from the stereo filling the air not a worthy enough distraction from your remaining fears of being in a car, despite how careful Steve was to not go too fast. You'd hoped the conversation might help, turning in your seat to look intently upon his side profile as he drives. "To the fox?"
His expression falls and you watch as his grip on the wheel tightens ever so slightly. A flash of hazel fixates on you from the corner of his eye, just briefly, before returning to the road. "It, uhh... They couldn't do anything for it. Poor thing had a lot more wrong with it than we thought." He pauses, his Adam's apple bobbing with a swallow. "They put it down."
"I see." Is all you say in response, though there was a twinge of sick satisfaction in your gut that the animal hadn't survived since it meant you had been justified in your actions earlier. Well, perhaps not. You weren't sure, you just knew it felt better this way. "Well, it's not suffering anymore."
"Right." He sighs, retracting a hand from the wheel to run through his hair. You settle back in the seat, trying your best to focus on the music now to concentrate. It was a song different to what usually came through the radio, and you actually quite liked it. Everything Steve had shown you hadn't exactly peaked your interest, but this? Yeah, you could get used to it.
Steve's fingers reach out to turn it down, but you utter your own protest and capture his wrist with your fingertips, a sheepish smile on your lips as you look up at him. "No. I like it."
"Oh, sure." He says, though when he sits back, his face lights up with a grin and he chuckles to himself.
"What?" You ask, smile growing at how amused he seemed. He looked good like this. "Nothin', just..." He snorts, shaking his head without dropping his expression. "Of course you like Metallica."
"What's that?"
"It's, umm.. It's the band that's playing. I think." He shrugs, shoulders slumping as he relaxes into his seat. "I don't really know, but it sounds a little like them."
"Oh. Well, yeah... I think I like them." You admit, and despite his teasing words, Steve seems almost happy that you've finally found something you like, even if it weren't to his particular music tastes.
"Does this mean I gotta buy metal tapes now? God." He whines dramatically though you knew he didn't really mean any malice by it from the way he peels a hand off the wheel to reach over and steal one of your own, looping your fingertips through his and bringing it to the gearshift so he could hold it while he drove. The simple motion, dripping with the comfort of people far more familiar than you should be with him, has your heart leaping in your chest.
You shiver and he turns the heating up, thinking it was the cold of the sodden clothes you both wore, but he was wrong. So very, very wrong.
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When you finally get home, each of you separates to your own rooms to shower and get into fresh clothes - simple grey basketball shorts and a deep navy sweater. You wandered if Steve might have just stayed in his room from then, wanting to just curl up and go to sleep after a long day.
But, as you step out your door, there he is at the other end of the hall, wearing charcoal sweatpants and a white t-shirt, a small wave raising his hand and a relaxed smile on his lips. "Hey. I was, uhh.. Do you--" He pauses, pulling his bedroom door shut as he takes a step closer. "Do you wanna watch a movie?"
"I'd like that," You say softly, though it had been loud enough for him to pick up, his posture relaxing just a fraction with your acceptance.
In a way, he seemed almost more at ease and less so all at once after this evening. Perhaps you hugging him had thrown him off guard. Maybe he didn't like it and felt weird around you now. But, then... If that had been the case, the last thing he'd be doing is inviting you to watch a film. So maybe the opposite, then?

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Surrender // Steve Harrington x Reader
FanfictionShe didn't know any better. Years of being raised by the evil entity that was once Henry Creel skewed her view of the world she once lived in. When Y/N is sent by him from the Upside Down to infiltrate those that so tediously continue to thwart his...