Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Steve Harrington X Hopper!Reader - Don't Stay

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Don't Stay by X Ambassadors. Reader is Hopper's niece who he raised(over 18 for legal reasons) and this is set after Season 3. I hope you all enjoy it.

When Steve had walked into his house after work, he'd known exactly where he was going to find you. You hadn't really done much moving in the last couple of weeks, and as much as Steve understood, it still killed him to see you so broken. But it made sense. You'd lost the one person in your life that had always been there. Hopper had been like a father to you, Hell, he was the only family you'd ever really known, and now, he was gone and you had never felt so alone. You didn't need to say it for Steve to know it was true, either. He could feel the pain radiating off of you without you ever having to open your mouth at all. 

"Hey, Sweetheart," he called out, shrugging out of his jacket and hanging it up by the front door, listening carefully for an answer. "You hungry?" he pressed on. "I grabbed dinner from the diner next to Home Video. I picked up your favourite," he added, watching you carefully as he moved further into the house, placing down the plastic bag of food onto the table in the corner. "Baby?" he hummed again, watching as you suddenly flinched as if you hadn't heard him at all. 

Steve moved slowly as you looked over at him, your eyes filled with tears. "Sorry," you breathed out, wiping them away as quickly as you could manage, scrubbing at your eyes until you could see stars forming behind your eyelids. 

"It's okay," he hummed, crouching down at the end of the couch, his hand catching your arm to stop your movements. "It's okay," he repeated, and God, you could see that he meant it just from the way he was looking at you. 

Steve had always been a pretty good boyfriend but in the last couple of weeks, he'd really stepped up when you'd needed him. He listened to you crying for hours at a time. He made sure you were eating and drinking enough. He held you when you woke up in the middle of the night. He took you in when you had nowhere to live. 

He was practically the only thing keeping you going. And God, you felt so fucking guilty whenever he looked at you like this, because it was becoming more and more clear that you were taking a lot more from your relationship than he was. I mean, you'd been incapable of even looking out for yourself recently, and you knew that you'd let your affection towards him slip too. You were letting him down time and time again and there was nothing you could do to pull yourself out of it. 

"Baby," he pressed on, turning your hand over in his, letting his fingers drag over your palm until he was touching your pulse point lightly, searching for your rapid heartbeat. "Deep breath," he reminded you quietly, waiting as you did as you were told.  "Hold it," he hummed. "And release." You nodded as you followed his instructions, your other hand balled up in your lap. "Good job. Keep doing that," he murmured, letting his fingers brush gently over the skin of your wrist as he offered you a soft smile. 

"I'm sorry," you breathed again, clearing your throat as you avoided his eye contact. 

"Why? You haven't done anything wrong-"

"I have," you disagreed, letting out a broken sigh.  "I'm a shit girlfriend. I can't stop being-" you paused, shaking your head as you searched for the right words to say. "Like this," you finally uttered, gesturing at yourself a little too wildly, making Steve drop your hand. "And it's hurting you-"

Steve hesitated for a moment, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip. "You aren't a shit girlfriend," he corrected.

"Yes, I am," you bit out. "And I think you should leave me."

"Shut up," he uttered, watching as your expression shifted slightly, clearly confused by his response. "I am not leaving you," he pressed on. "I know that you're struggling right now, Baby, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop loving you."

You swallowed down the lump in your throat, sniffling slightly as you stared down at your hands in your lap. 

"I know this feels like it's not going to end anytime soon, but it'll get easier, alright? It just takes time," he pressed on, catching your hand in his again and drawing it to his lips to press a kiss to your knuckles. 

"I feel like I'm sinking," you breathed out, your grip on his hand tightening slightly. "It's like no matter how hard I try I can't really catch my breath and It's not getting easier." You hesitated for a second, your eyes lifting to finally meet his. "And I don't want to pull you down with me."

Steve was reaching for you in a second, dragging you toward him to wrap his arms around you, letting your face burrow into his collarbone. "You aren't pulling anyone down," he told you, his voice all thick with tears of his own as he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head. "And I am happy to keep taking care of you for as long as you need me to. So, please, don't ever ask me to leave you again, alright?"

You nodded your agreement, letting your hands ball into his t-shirt so tightly that you were scared it might tear under the pressure. "I love you," you mumbled against him, your voice muffled by his clothes. 

"I know you do, Sweetheart," he told you, his hand lifting to cradle your head closer to him. "I love you too, Baby."

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