Stranger Things - Imagines (Book 2)

Steve Harrington X Reader - I Would

A/N - In an effort to prove that I'm the lamest 26-year-old going, this chapter is inspired by the song I Would by One Direction. I hope you all enjoy it. 

Steve had been watching your whispered disagreement from his spot on the other side of the hallway, surveying the way Billy had you crowded up against your locker, his face a little too close to yours for comfort as you clearly argued about something. It wasn't exactly a rarity for the two of you to bicker like this, Hell, you could hardly make it through the week without getting into some sort of altercation, even if you did try to keep it as hidden as possible. 

"God, sometimes I think you don't even have a brain," Billy bit out, finally pulling back as he shook his head at you. "You're a fucking idiot," he pressed on, his tongue running over his teeth as he looked down at you. 

"I'm not an idiot-"

"You really think that some random guy is being nice to you because he wants to be your friend? God, you're even more naive than you look-" 

Steve had zoned out of the argument after that, all too aware of how easy it would be to get caught watching the two of you right now. It was safe to say that Billy wouldn't take too kindly to it. Hell, if he was this pissed off about some random guy, he definitely wouldn't appreciate finding out how Steve felt about you. 

After all, you'd spent months reminding Billy that Steve wasn't a threat. That he was just a childhood playmate who was totally harmless, even if they didn't get on all too well. And eventually, Billy had softened slightly to the idea of you hanging out. But if he ever got the chance to listen in on Steve's thoughts, he wouldn't hesitate to kill him, that much was pretty clear.

"It's not like I would ever do anything," you reminded Billy softly, catching him by the lapel of his denim jacket, keeping him close. "I don't love him. I love you," you pressed on, watching with furrowed brows as Billy's jaw twitched in frustration. 

"You're leading him on," he muttered. "Everyone's going to start thinking you're a whore." 

Your face had dropped in an instant, replaced with a solemn expression. "I'll stop tutoring him," you breathed out. "Baby, you know I didn't mean to-"

"Quit fucking pouting like you're innocent," he bit again, cutting you off before you could even try reassuring him. "If I see him hanging around you again, we'll have a problem," he pressed on, reaching up to untangle your hand from his jacket and pulling away from you, leaving you a little lost in the hallway as he marched off towards his next class. 

And then, as tears flooded your eyes, you span on your heel, burying your head into your open locker in the hopes that it would look like you were just searching for some lost book. Fuck, Steve hated seeing you like this. Before Billy had come along, the only time he'd ever seen you cry was when you'd skinned your knee playing tag on the playground, and that had been in 3rd grade. 

Steve hesitated for a moment, making sure that Billy was well and truly gone before hurrying across the hallway to you, brandishing a pack of tissues that he's started keeping in his locker a few months back when these arguments of yours had become commonplace. 

"Here," he started softly, placing a delicate hand on your back as he slid the tissues into the gap between you and the locker. You pulled back slightly, your eyes meeting his for just a second before you accepted his offer, wiping at the tear tracks that had started staining your cheeks. 

"Sorry," you breathed out, your voice all thick with tears. 

God, that word alone was enough to break his heart. You had nothing to be sorry for and yet here you were, apologising anyway. It had been killing him to watch this happen to you. You'd gone from the bright, bubbly, unapologetically-you girl that he'd grown up with to someone so miserable, someone so pitiful that it was like your personality had completely shifted. And all of it was Billy's fault.