#steve the hair harrington

I need the Duffers to continue their “we love all the characters so much, we know some should’ve died by now but we can’t do it” routine until the end of season 5 please, because we cannot lose Steve “the hair” Harrington.

I’m getting the “if Steve dies we riot” feelings and I don’t know if I can cope rn.

Request: You’re going through a hard time after having just been broken up with. You find comfort in your friend, Steve Harrington.

Character: Steve Harrington x Gender Neutral Reader

Requested by @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​ - hope u feel better angel, remember u are more than enough xxx

As you wiped your eyes and blew your nose, you wondered when you’d stop crying. For the last week and a bit, all you’d done was cry resulting in permanently puffy eyes and a migraine from the dehydration. Your head fell back, hitting your pillow, and you tried to hold back a second wave as you let out a long breath. At this point, you could practically cry on demand now; everything and anything reminded you of him. Him. Your boyfriend, now ex. He’d broken up with you a week and a bit ago for reasons you just didn’t understand - bullshit  reasons, to be honest. You hadn’t seen it coming, you’d been side-lined by his decision and that’s what hurt the most. You had no idea; you’d thought things were good, nay great, but not to him apparently so he’d ended things abruptly and not very kindly.

Your friends for the last week had been trying to coax you out of the house and to do something with them, something fun to take your mind off of your sadness but you didn’t want to. How could you pretend to have fun when you couldn’t think of anything other than why? All of these unanswered questions ran through your mind day in and day out. Was it you? Had you done something? Did you not make him happy anymore? Was he not attracted to you? Were you too much for him? You had tried to ask these questions but your ex was vague and didn’t really want to deal with all the negative emotions so he pretty much hightailed out of there after telling you and had been avoiding you ever since. You’d not had the full closure so all of your insecurities, all of your little worries and doubts about yourself were coming out of the woodwork to wreck your brain.

Breaking you out of your thoughts, your alarm blared on your bedside table. Shit. Quickly, you leapt up and slammed your hand on it, silencing it with a slap. You were late; you were late for work. After a week of managing to get your shifts covered, today was your first day back at work since the break up. You wished that you could’ve been off for another three weeks but life had to resume at some point, right? You just hoped that it would be an easy day and that no one would bother you plus you would be working with your friend, Steve Harrington, today; how bad could it be?

You got to work twenty minutes late. Steve was already there, he’d opened this morning, “Well, well, look who it isn’t. How we doing?” He leant on the counter, smirking at you with his hair styled to absolute perfection as usual.

You shrugged your jacket off wandering into the back to dump it in a corner before answering, “I haven’t cried in like thirty minutes. That’s a record.” Steve gave you a sad smile, “Thanks for covering some of my shifts this week, means a lot.”

Steve shrugged, “No big deal.” In fact, it had been a pretty big deal. Steve should’ve had a date with Trudy - a hot college girl - and then should’ve been attending what would be known as the biggest college party of the year but when you’d called, all sad and sniffly, asking if he’d help you out… of course he said yes. That boy would’ve went to the Upside Down willingly if you’d asked him to. Yeah, unbeknownst to you (yet known to literally everyone else in Hawkins) Steve Harrington had a massive crush on you. Of course he hadn’t told you, you were friends and you had been in a relationship so he’d kept it secret. Dustin liked to tease him about it all the freaking time but he was sworn to secrecy. You and Steve had been through a lot together, friends for years then getting swept up into the supernatural world with the rest of your friends. Steve would’ve done anything for you so when you’d called asking him to cover some shifts, he cancelled his date and didn’t show up to the party. He didn’t mind that much really. He could tell that you were struggling, the dark bags under your eyes and the permanent teary eyed gaze told him everything that he needed to know. He hated that you were going through this; he hated that your idiot ex had done this to you and caused you so much anguish. Steve didn’t want to push you to tell him so he waited for you to open up to him.

“Can we put on a movie that’s not all lovey dovey?” You asked as Steve began to look through the racks of VHS tapes to find one to show.

He smirked as he plucked one from the shelves, “How about The Thing? Scare the customers to death when they come in?”

“Perfect.” Usually you weren’t such a big fan of horror but right now, you’d happily sit and watch Kurt Russell and the gang fight an alien.

The day moved slowly. Customers trickled in a few every hour. You and Steve sat on the counters and Steve caught you up with everything that you’d missed over the last week. To be honest, nothing otherworldly or anything like that but you’d missed some party stuff and you’d missed Dustin and Steve having a debate about the best song of all time but that was pretty much it. You’d almost gone so far as to say that you felt better. Everything was going fine until… until the door chimed and someone walked in. You turned towards them jumping off of the counter to greet them when your heart sunk, “Welcome to Family Videos, how can I- oh.”

Stood in front of you was your ex-boyfriend carrying a cardboard box. Steve stepped off of the counter, eyes moving back and forth between you and your ex, “Hey, (y/n).” He greeted quietly, “How’ve you been?”

Your heart pounded in your chest and you could feel a lump forming in your throat. No.You didn’t want to cry in front of him, you didn’t want to give him that satisfaction so instead you nodded, “Fine, yeah.” Your voice was thick, “You?”

“Yeah, good thanks.”

A few tense seconds of awkward silence passed before Steve interjected. He knew that you were uncomfortable, he knew that you were close to crying. He could see your hands fidgeting with the sleeves of your t-shirt and he just knew that he needed to get you out of this situation, “Uh, (y/n), can you go into the back and grab the box of new movies that have to go out please?” He asked you.

You glanced at him, “What- Oh, yeah sure.” You were confused but as you glanced at him, he widened his eyes slightly and motioned for you to go to the back. Quickly, you turned on your heel and went into the back, sparing a glance at your ex before closing the door. Tears formed and fell in record time as your breathing quickened. You knew that you’d have to face him at some point but you didn’t think it would happen this soon and out of all the places it could’ve happened, you didn’t expect your ex to show up to your work. You could hear the muffled conversation from Steve and your ex, you tried to listen in.

“I just have a box of (y/n)’s stuff, if you could give it to them I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure… Why’d you bring it here, dude? When we’re working? That’s a bit of a low blow.”

“I didn’t think that me turning up to (y/n)’s house would be much better.”

“And why not?”

“Cause they have loads of questions that I don’t really know the answer to!” You could feel your heart break a bit more as he said the next phrase, “It all gets a bit much with them.”

“Know what, dude, you’re not allowed to come back here ever. Not next week, not next month, hell not in the next five years.”

“Dude, what the-”

“We have the right to refuse service to anyone. Get out.” You could hear Steve opening the counter gate and the voices got more and more muffled so you couldn’t hear them much. The door chimed and then you heard it slam shut. It was only a few seconds before the door swung open and there was Steve, “What an asshole, man,” he scoffed under his breath as he turned to you. You were crumpled on the floor, back pressed against the back wall of the tiny back room and Steve changed completely. He crouched down in front of you and spoke with a soft voice, “He’s gone. I kicked him out and banned him for life. Told him if he comes back then I’ll punch him in the jaw.”

“I heard what he said,” you sniffed as you wiped at your eyes, “It’s all a bit much with them. Am I too much? Is that why he dumped me? Am I too much?”

Steve quickly scooted to you, sitting on the floor and placing his hand on your knee, “No,” he said strongly, “Don’t you dare listen to him. Don’t you dare allow him to make you feel this small and worthless. (y/n), you’re so damn awesome. You’re not too much at all. He’s just a dick who broke your heart and couldn’t be assed dealing with the emotions and questions that came from it… He’s not worth it; he’s not worth all of this.”

You shook your head, too caught up in your own insecurities to really hear what Steve was saying, “Maybe I’mnot worth it,” you sobbed, “Maybe I am too much, maybe I’m not pretty enough, not skinny enough… Maybe I’mjust not worth it.”

Steve shook his head so hard that pieces of his perfectly styled hair fell out of place, “(y/n), listen to me,” he said strongly. He reached out, pulling to you to look at him as he held your face in his hands, “He’s a jerk, you’re-you’re- (y/n)… You’re everything.” His voice softened completely, “Maybe not to him, maybe he just didn’t see all of the reasons why you’re so freaking perfect the way you are but that doesn’t mean that everyone ignores them. He might’ve been your first love but he sure as hell won’t be the last.” Your breathing began to slow as you looked at Steve. The way he looked at you, eyes boring into yours… it was… different, “(y/n), you are more than enough, more than worth it… It’s his loss.”

“You really think so?” You sniffed quietly.

Steve rolled his eyes, “(y/n), I’ve had a crush on you for years now, I promise you that you’re pretty damn perfect. You’re gorgeous for a start, funny, dorky, you’re kind and you listen… You blast music and sing with me in the car, you entertain me with stupid jokes and weird impressions… You not only care about me but you care so much about all the kids too, you’d do anything to keep them safe… You are so damn worth it; never doubt yourself.” His words span around your head and it took you a minute to realise you’d stopped crying, “It’s hisloss. Not yours. You’ll find love again, you’ll find a partner again and you’ll be happy again. I promise you. He’s not the last love of your life.”

You nodded, giving him a tiny smile. You were about to speak when you heard the door chime and someone calling out, “Hello? Anyone here?”

Steve mentally cursed himself for not locking the door, “You okay?” He asked softly.

“Better now, yeah.” You nodded.

Steve dropped his hands from your face and gave you a final nod before standing and calling back, “Yeah, I’m here.” He opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him. He’d attend to this customer whilst you got yourself cleaned up. Clearing your throat, you grabbed some tissues, wiping your eyes and nose. You waited until the customer had gone before you left the office.

“Was returning some stuff,” Steve said as you walked out. He gestured to some VHS tapes on the counter, “Said he forgot to rewind them back to the beginning, yeah right! Jerk.”

You laughed slightly, “I’ll deal with them,” you said, picking them up, “Hey… Thank you for back there. Even going so far as pretending to have a crush on me to boost my ego a bit.” To be honest, you didn’t know if Steve had pretended or not, you just couldn’t see it happening in real life so you just assumed he was being a good friend, “I really needed to hear that. Thanks, Steve.”

Steve faltered, “Uh, yeah… Sure, no problem.” He didn’t want to tell you yet. He didn’t want to tell you that he wasn’t pretending, that he meant every single damn word of that speech and more. It wasn’t his place just now. Not when you were sad and vulnerable after a break up. No, he’d tell you once you’d healed, once the time was right… He’d tell you when you were ready to hear it. For now, he’d pretend to be your friend, pretend that everything was normal… For now, he would wait, “I mean it though, you’re worth so much more than him (y/n).”