𝙊𝙡𝙙 𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 ━━ Steve Harrington

I

When Y/N was little, she lived a short five-minute walk from Steve Harrington. Their moms were good friends in high school, and were constantly at each others house, bringing their kids along for the ride. Y/N and Steve were inseparable the moment they met. The two of them were never seen without the other, always playing outside without sparing other kids their age a second thought.

Even though the two of them got along so well, they were polar opposites. Y/N would only talk when necessary, while Steve didn't know when to stop talking. Steve was rambunctious and liked to explore, but Y/N was happy to sit back and watch as he would run around with an almost endless amount of energy. They were so different, but that was what made them work. Steve could read Y/N like a book, and when Steve got too excited or agitated, she was able to distract him.

As they grew older, however, they drifted apart. Steve was getting more popular, while Y/N found she enjoyed her days quietly instead of with a huge group of people. Eventually, they stopped talking, going their own way with their own set of friends once high school hit. Y/N didn't mind all that much, falling into her role as a silent observer while Steve bathed in the attention of his peers and became the school heartthrob.

From time to time they would pass each other in the halls, and Steve would give Y/N a large smile and a wave. Y/N would return it with less enthusiasm but was glad he didn't forget about her. These interactions earned her odd glances and the occasional glare from a girl trying to get 'King Steve's' attention that Y/N easily ignored.

Y/N constantly found herself in the company of middle schoolers, seeing as she was the go-to babysitter out of everyone else her age. The kid she looked after the most was Dustin, which in turn included the rest of his "party" when they couldn't hang out at the Wheeler's house. They were good kids, though they had quite the attitude, always wanting to learn more.

She grew close to the kids during the three years she babysat them. From time to time she would even join in on D&D, playing side characters they would encounter in their quests since Nancy stopped doing so a long time ago. It was slightly embarrassing, but the boys loved it, so Y/N sucked it up and played whatever character they needed.

When Will went missing, it hit Y/N hard. She felt oddly close to the quiet boy and would find herself talking to him quietly if the other three ended up arguing over something stupid again. Wanting to help the Byers' as much as she could, Y/N put up the missing person flyers they made outside and inside of the gas station she worked at and gave the extras to anyone that would take them. It was hard seeing Jonathan at school, he was like an empty shell, not focused on anything that wasn't finding her brother.

Almost immediately after Will disappeared a girl showed up, though Y/N only saw her in passing when she went to drop off a comic book for Mike. Y/N didn't think too much of the girl at the time, though thought her sudden appearance was odd. The next day it was discovered that Barbra, Nancy's friend, had run away.

The quiet town was a mess, nothing like this had ever happened before. The strangest thing was when Will suddenly turned up out of thin air, looking tired, but relatively okay. It didn't take long before the kids started talking, calling Will all kinds of names. Y/N always tried to help the kid, not treating him any different from before, but she could tell it wasn't making much of a difference.

His friends seemed to know more than they were letting on, always vague with their answers, but as long as they were able to help Will, Y/N didn't care. The only thing Y/N knew for certain was that the girl with the buzz cut was gone, and she must have been involved somehow.

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Halloween was something Y/N could never forget since Dustin would talk about it weeks before anyone else was. It was the 'best night of the year,' after all. He would go on and on about how he and his friends were all going as the Ghostbusters, and they were going to have the coolest costumes in their grade.