Every Breath You Take

3

"Okay, Y/n." I snake my arm around her waist as we approach the spiral staircase in my home, "hold onto me and take it slow."

"You have cool stairs." Her words are slurred in the most adorable way as she smiles up at me.

I'm so worried that she's not going to remember anything in the morning, and I'm even more worried that her dad will kill me if he finds out I took her here.

Everyone and their entire extended family in this town seems to think that I'm some sort of asshole, so I'm sure her dad isn't an outlier in that data set.

"Cool stairs?" I chuckle, keeping my grip on her waist as we make it to the top of the stairs.

"Yeah." She looks at me, "spiral."

We make our way to my bedroom, shuffling slowly down the hallway to make sure that she doesn't fall over; once we reach my door, I usher her in and shut it behind me.

"Do you have a land line?" She bats her eyelashes at me.

"I do." I laugh, "why?"

"I want to call my dad and tell him I am at a friends house." She laughs, "throw him off so he doesn't murder us."

"He's protective, huh?" I help her sit down on the bed.

"Very." She sighs, "he is a great dad. Some adopted parents don't treat their adopted kids the way they would a biological child, but he does."

"Adopted?" I tilt my head, "you're adopted?"

She nods, "When I was like, four. Not many people know because it's super personal to me, but you have a very trustworthy face and you've... proven yourself in my eyes."

My heart skips a beat as she says this, and with everything in me I hope she isn't just saying that because she's wasted.

"I'm not just saying that because I'm drunk." She continues, "those four bottles of water really seemed to help a bit."

"You're still drunk, though." I laugh, "do you want to use my shower?"

"Please." She smiles, pushing herself to a standing position and waiting for me to guide her to the bathroom.

I point at the door to the right of my closet, and she gives me a thankful smile, before walking carefully over to the bathroom and locking the door.

I smile as I hear her soft humming in the bathroom, which is quickly masked by the sound of the shower turning on.

I sit on my bed, practically twiddling my thumbs out of nervousness. The reasoning behind my no-dating phenomena is associated with two facts. One, my parents are the least present people in the entire world. I never learned how to open up to people, and they never taught me good dynamics when it came to relationships. It was always one fight or another with them, I don't think I've ever even seen them be affectionate.

Two, none of the girls in Hawkins have ever piqued my interest, except for her. The sheriff, Hop, has always lived in Hawkins, but he ended up sending Y/n to a private middle school for reasons that I'm still not entirely sure about.

I remember Jonathan telling me in grade eight that Y/n was coming back to Hawkins for high school, and I didn't think much of it; but when I saw her for the very first time, my heart did a somersault in my chest, which has never happened in my entire life.

I tap my foot on the ground anxiously, before pushing myself off my bed and shuffling into the hallway, dialing a number into my landline.

It rings once...

"Come on." I mutter.

Twice...

"Please, dude." I twist the cord around my finger.