steve harrington is a total slime. (x reader)

4

Castle Byers was the shoddiest attempt at a fort you'd ever seen, but you could tell it was forged with love. Jonathan had built it with his brother years ago, and it was home to so many warm and fuzzy memories that you could forget about the crude construction. You haven't been there in a while, probably because Dustin had reached that magical age where girls are gross and stupid- nowadays the only time you hung out with him and the others was when you had to babysit. Otherwise, he didn't want you around his friends, so you didn't embarrass him or something. Middle school boys were weird like that.

Now you found yourself there once again, but this time the air around you wasn't warm and fuzzy. It was cold and tense, and the air around you felt suffocating. The sky was dark and cloudy, signaling that rain would fall soon, and the woods were eerily quiet. The scene felt like it was straight out of a horror movie.

You weren't scared that easily, but it was pretty spooky. It put you on edge, so much so that you jumped as Jonathan stepped on a twig, clutching your hand to your chest in an effort to calm your heart. He offered an apologetic smile as he reached past you, opening the door to Castle Byers to see if Will was hiding there.

He wasn't.

You both expected this, obviously, but Joyce Byers had insisted that the two of you check anyway. You shared an uneasy look with Jonathan when she initially suggested that you go- it wasn't like Will was playing a game of hide and seek. But the woman was starting to get almost hysterical, so you quickly made your way out of the Byers house and into the woods.

You didn't really blame her for having hope. After all, her son was missing. If you wanted to be realistic, though, Will was probably.... no. You couldn't go there.

Even now, you could tell Jonathan was still hoping that his brother would pop out- that this was all a trick, that Will Byers was just really, really, good at hiding. You had to admit that you deflated somewhat when you saw that Castle Byers was empty, too.

But Will wasn't here, so that meant he had to be somewhere else. And that meant you had to keep looking.

Eventually, after hours of wandering around aimlessly, the two of you return to the Byers household. Joyce seemed to be having an... interesting conversation with someone on the phone, so you quickly and quietly walked past her and into the living room. Jonathan motions for you to sit down, running a hand through his hair and looking over in the direction of his mother.

"Bitch!" You flinch as Joyce slams the phone back into the wall.

"Mom." Jonathan speaks gently, and the woman quickly turns to her son.

"What?!"

"You have to stay calm." His voice is even and controlled as he tries to reason with the frantic Joyce. She just laughs before reaching out to dial another number.

You try not to listen to what she's saying to whoever's in the line. You felt like it was somewhat of an invasion of privacy, so you looked at Jonathan. He had sat down next to you on the couch, a respectful distance away, and was working on making another copy of the same poster you had accidentally sat on earlier.

He looked back at you, and you could tell he was exhausted. You wanted to comfort him, to find the right words to ease his pain at least for now, but whatever train of thought you had crashed and burned as Joyce slammed the phone into the wall again.

Jonathan seemed like he wanted to say something as well, but he looked out the window. "Mom?"

She turns to him, less aggressive than before. "What?" Jonathan stands up to get a better view of the window as you hear the low rumble of an approaching car, and you find yourself standing up too. "Cops."

Joyce rushes out the front door, you and Jonathan not far behind. You stand there in silence as Chief Hopper walks up, holding Will's bike in his hands. There was no Will to go along with it.

"It was just lying there?" Now inside, Joyce was practically begging Hopper for any shred of information. At his confirmation, she continued. "Did it have any blood on it, or-"

"No, no no no no." The police chief was dismissively calm. He motioned for the two officers that accompanied him to search around the house, taking a moment to look around for himself as Joyce anxiously followed him.

Jonathan wasn't far behind his mother. "If you found the bike out there, why are you here?"

Hopper only gives them a second-long glance before continuing his search. "Well, he had a key to the house, right?" His words were laced with a hint of sarcasm, but you could tell there was genuine concern in the man.

He may not show it, but Chief Hopper was more than the asshole front he tried to put on. You'd know- you babysat his daughter for a good amount of time. Over the years, you'd formed a weird type of bond. Since your father wasn't around, he became somewhat of a figure to you. You wouldn't say fatherlike, though- maybe like an uncle? It didn't really matter anyway. Recently he seemed to try to avoid you at any and all costs.

Suddenly you felt like you were intruding on a private conversation. You pulled Jonathan aside as Joyce and Hopper spoke, told him you were going home, and quickly left.

It was at this point you realized that Jonathan had driven you here and your car was all the way at the high school. You considered your options- you could walk home. Your home wasn't a long walk from here, but how would you get to school in the morning? You wouldn't be caught dead on the bike you used in middle school, and you didn't want to bother Nancy or Jonathan, and there was no way you were taking the bus. You could walk to the high school. Sure, it'd be dark by the time you got there, but at least you'd have a way to get to school in the morning.

The sun was setting fast, and it seemed like your choice had been made. Internally groaning, you prepared for the long walk that was ahead of you.