end zone | STEVE HARRINGTON

eighteen

C H A P T E R N I N E T E E N

season 3 episode 3

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ANASTASIA HAD REFUSED TO TALK TO STEVE STILL, even after their most recent discovery she had yet too speak with him. He dropped her off at home, as she grabbed the candy and the movie she had bought for them in her hand and got out of the car with Steve trailing behind her. "I'm sorry, Dustin said they we shouldn't get you involved. Especially after what you went through in Russia. We thought it would be dangerous for you."

"I can handle my own." Anastasia stood tall. "That was my choice, which people have never given me. If there is evil Russians in Hawkins, then I want to stop them, Steve."

"I know, we should have spoken to you first. I'm sorry." Steve held his hands out for her to hug him, which reluctantly she did, they hugged one another as Steve looked down at her, feeling a different type of emotion than he had done before. "Is the sleep over still on?"

"Depends, are you going to lie to me again?" Anastasia raised her eyebrow at him.

He laughed, "Definitely not, come on."

He helped her carry in the things, as they paused, hearing the sounds of two girls singing and laughing together. Anastasia held up her finger, going over to Eleven's room as she held the door open, seeing Max and Eleven sitting on her bed laughing at something. "Hey, El, Max."

"Oh, hey, Anna." Max waved, she had always taken an interest in her as they found common interests. It was nice for Anna too be able to see Eleven with a real friend like Max.

Eleven hugged Anna quickly and returned back to her place. "We are having a sleepover."

"That's great, so am I!" Anastasia announced, equally as happy for her sister.

"With who?" Eleven asked, but her and Max grinned at one another when they saw Steve popping his head around the door to wave at them. "Hi, Steve."

"Hey." Steve greeted back, waving as his cheeks turned slightly rosy.

"We are going in my room, bye!" Anastasia closed the door, as Anastasia was getting older she had managed to convince Hopper to create an extra room, no matter how big or small so hers was now beside Eleven's. She gestured for Steve to come in, closing the door behind her as she dropped the candy onto her double bed, which Steve laid down on almost immediately.

Anastasis sat down beside him, getting out some of the candy for them to eat as she then set up the movie for them, she had bought 'Dirty Dancing' after hearing a couple talking about buying it for themselves too watch. She laid back down beside Steve, who wrapped an arm around her back to subconsciously keep her closer to him, but even that movement caused her to blush.

"Dirty dancing? What is your obsession with romance movies all about?" Steve wondered out loud.

Anastasia nudged him slightly in the ribs. "There is nothing wrong with romance films."

"But they are all the same!" Steve continued to argue his perspective.

"Listen, just be quiet, eat your candy and watch the damn film, please." She smiled at the end, as it started to play.

They watched it with Steve adding in comments, along with Anna telling him to be quiet. She was completely entranced by the movie and was so zoned out that she didn't hear the front door open. Hopper stumbled through the house, hearing the movie coming from her room as he walked inside, his eyes widening when he saw the two of them cuddling up together. "Anna, Steve."

"Hey, Dad." Anastasia grinned, "Where did you go?"

"No where." Hopper immediately replied, he didn't want to tell his daughter that he'd just been stood up by Joyce. "The sleepover is today?"

"Yep." Steve nodded, his lips in a straight line.

Hopper nodded slowly, the pieces coming together a little slower because of the alcohol he had consumed. "Great, I'm going to check on El really quickly."

"Okay, goodnight! Love you." Anna sent him a kiss which he caught, holding tightly onto his chest as the door then closed.

They resumed back to watching the film until it finished, and the two of them had nearly consumed all the candy that she had bought for them. She climbed over Steve who groaned, "I'm getting changed, close your eyes."

"Fine." Steve sighed, covering his eyes with his hand until he waited for her to say otherwise.

"Done." She announced, he removed his hand and chuckled when he saw her pajamas, that consisted of an oversized shirt and an eye mask on her head.

Anastasia frowned as she looked down at herself. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, you just look so cute." He stood, walking over to her as he smashed her cheeks together in his hands.

She smacked his hands away from her. "I look hot, not cute." Anna grinned to herself, remembering what Robin had advised her to say when talking to a boy.

Steve rose his eyebrows but didn't complain. "All right, now close your eyes so I can change."

She did so, waiting until he said which happened moments later. She stared at him, removing her eyes from his stomach as she looked back up to see him staring down at her still. They remained like that for a couple of minutes, their eyes trained to one another until Steve whispered. "Dammit."

"What's wrong?" Anastasia whispered back.

Steve run his hand through his hair. "I really want to kiss you, but I know that you might not want too and I do not want to get attacked by your red creepy powers."

"Steve." She attempted to interrupt but ultimately failed.

"Because what if we kiss and you hate it? And I ruin our entire friendship over a kiss because I couldn't just control myself!"

"Steve."

"We should just forget about it before I embarrass myself even more than I already have, I'm so sorry, Anna."

"Steve!" She finally got his attention. He stared at her in shock as she took his face in her hands and whispers, "Shut up."

Their lips connected as Steve put one hand on the side of her face and the other around her waist to help keep her in place. Anastasia first led the kiss, feeling his soft lips on hers but he soon took over. He didn't want to include anything extreme considering it was most likely her first kiss, but he still kissed her like he truly meant it...which he did.

Steve couldn't get enough of her, and as soon as she regained her breath, he went back in. He kissed her more passionately than he had ever kissed anyone before, as she ran her hands through his hair. They came back up for breath, resting their foreheads against one another as she smirked. "You're a decent kisser, I suppose."

"Decent?" Steve scoffed. "Take it back."

"No way." Anastasia laughed, moving out of the way of him but he still grabbed her waist, throwing her onto her bed as he began to tickle her stomach. "Okay! Okay! You're a good kisser! I take it back!"

He stopped tickling her and hovered above her, leaning down to kiss her again until they stopped once again. They laid against one another, Anastasia curled up against him as he ran his fingers through her hair. And for the first night, Anastasia went to sleep without a nightmare and Steve felt whole.