steve harrington is a total slime. (x reader)

9

"I'm telling you, my mom's lost it." Jonathan looked away from the developing pictures to where you stood leaning against the wall. Though the room was only lit by a singular red bulb, you could see the exasperation in his face. "I mean, I don't even know when the last time she slept was."

You shrugged, not really wanting to say anything. You thought something was seriously up with Joyce, too, but you couldn't just say that to her son- even if he was the one who brought it up. Instead you diverted your attention to the photos that were clipped to the line. They were the ones he had taken last night, after you'd left.

Like his mother, something wasn't right about Jonathan lately. Not that you'd say anything, though, because they both had a very good reason to be. A Byers had gone missing, after all, and it was hard to expect the ones that remained to act completely normal.

That being said, the pictures were still definitely... creepy. You couldn't refute the fact that it gave off major stalker vibes. But it wasn't like you could tell Jonathan this, since you'd also lingered longer than you should've, so you hesitantly looked the other way.

"I'm just really worried about her. The lights- she thinks he's trying to talk to her through the lights."

Before you can respond, you're interrupted at Nicole walks in. You smile at her, and she greets the two of you before messing with her camera. Her eyes drift upwards, and her hands stop moving for a second before resuming, faster now. Jonathan scrambles to take down his pictures, shoving them into his bag, but the look on her face tells you she saw them.

She didn't keep her mouth shut about it, either, because later that day you and Jonathan emerge from the school to find Tommy, Carol, Steve, and a smug-looking Nicole perched on the hood of Jonathan's car.

"Hey, man." Steve casually slid off, stepping close to the two of you. The others followed suit.

"What's going on?" Jonathan looked around, suspicious.

"Jonathan!" You gave him a light smack on the shoulder, before giving Steve a mocking smile. "That's no way to speak to your King." You curtsied, making sure to keep eye contact with the boy who had once been your best friend. "To what do we owe the honor to, your royal highness?"

Steve glared at you, silent, before looking at Jonathan. "Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work."

"We've heard great things." Carol spoke up inbetween loud smacking of gum.

Tommy, with his arm slung around her, agreed. "Yeah, sounds cool."

"And we'd just love to take a look," Steve said casually. "You know, as... connoisseurs of art."

You laughed incredulously. "Oh yeah? An art connoisseur- and here I thought the only pictures you looked at were the ones in Playboy." A smirk played on your face as Steve shot you a dirty look.

"Shut up. Show us the pictures, huh?"

Jonathan sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about." He pushed his way past the group, only to get his bag stolen by Tommy. "Hey-"

"Oh, no? Oh..." Steve smiled slyly.

"Please, give me my bag." Jonathan rushed to grab it from Tommy, who threw it to Steve before he could reach it.

"Man, he is totally trembling. He must really have something to hide." Steve began opening the bag. "Ah... Here we go." He pulled out the stack of photos as you and Jonathan stood there silently. "Oh, man."

"Let me see." Tommy takes the pictures from him, flipping through them before looking at Jonathan. "Dude," he scoffs.

"Yeah, this isn't creepy at all."

"I was looking for my brother-"

"No." Steve cut him off. "No, this is called stalking. Mmm-hmm."

Nancy showed up, immediately sensing the tension. "What's going on?" She laughed awkwardly, looking around at the group.

"Here's the starring lady."

"What?"

"This creep was spying on us last night." Nancy looked over at Jonathan as Carol spoke. "He was probably gonna save this one for later." Carol handed her a picture.

Steve clicked his tongue as Nancy looked at the picture. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but..." He stepped close to Jonathan. "Man, that's the thing about perverts..." You smack Steve's arm away as he messes with Jonathan's collar. "It's hard wired into them, you know. They just can't help themselves."

"So..." Tommy laughs as Steve rips up the pictures in his hands. "We'll just have to take away his toy." He turns, dogging through the bag.

"No please, not the camera-" Jonathan immediately rushes to grab it from Steve's hands, only to be pushed back by Tommy.

"Hey, hey." Steve says calmly as Tommy chuckles. "It's okay." He holds the camera out. "Here you go, man."

Before Jonathan can grab it, though, he lets it slip from his hands. "Oops."

Your fist collides with Steve's nose before you can even think about it.

"Aw, this is cute." Tommy throws a punch to your stomach as Steve stumbles back into the car, bringing his hand up to his nose. You double over, trying hard not to vomit. He'd hit you where you were already bruised pretty badly. The pain was enough to make you see stars, and you bit your lip to keep from crying out in pain. "His girlfriend fights his battles for him."

You can see him pulling his arm back, preparing for another hit, and prepare yourself.

It doesn't come.

"Tommy, stop, it's not worth it." Steve, wiping the blood from his nose, steps between the two of you. He glares down at you, but for a split second you notice something change- you thought you could see the little boy you grew up with.

It doesn't last long. In the blink of an eye King Steve was back. "Come on, let's go. The game's about to start."

As you slowly rise up you see that everyone had left except for Nancy and Jonathan, who were staring at the broken camera on the pavement. Nancy looked up at you, guilt and apology clear in her eyes, but you averted your gaze, straightening as best you could and walking over to the passenger side of Jonathan's car and pulling aggressively on the door handle.

Apparently all of the strange occurrences in Hawkins had gotten to him, because for once the door was locked. You cursed, hitting the window out of frustration. A shock of pain went up your arm- you looked down to find you knuckles bruised and bloodied. Whether it was from the window or Steve's face, you didn't know and didn't care. You just wanted to get your stuff and get the fuck out of here.

When you look back where the camera lay shattered, you notice Nancy had disappeared, presumably joining Steve. Jonathan was on the ground, holding what was left of the pictures in his hands. It hurt to see- that camera was the only thing he had left.

Silently, you walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. He stands and looks at you without a word, handing you his keys before looking back down at the carnage.

You unlock the car and grab your stuff, giving Jonathan back his keys and enveloping him in a hug. You can feel him shaking, and he stands there for a while before he finally hugs you back.