Really? ||Steve Harrington x Female Reader||

The Gate: Pt. 1

"Eleven..."

"Mike..."

The two held each other in a tight embrace, tears falling from both their eyes. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, happy to see El.

"Is that..." Dustin and Lucas nodded to Max's question.

"I never gave up on you," Mike smiled. "I called you every night, every night for-"

"353 days," El finished. "I heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were ok?"

"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper admitted. He took a couple steps towards El. "The hell is this? Where you been?"

"Where have you been?" El shot back. Instead of arguing back, Hopper pulled her into a tight hug. A hug that could only be replicated between a father and daughter.

"You've been hiding her," Mike accused, shattering the beautiful scene. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" Instead of just leaving it there, he shoved the police chief in the back.

"Hey!" Hopper turned around and grabbed him by the shirt, stopping him from assaulting him more. "Let's talk. Alone."

Hopper dragged Mike down the hall, and just before a door clicked shut, I could hear Mike yelling, "Protecting her? Protecting her!?"

"He's gonna get himself killed," I muttered.

"You think?" Steve laughed. "He shoved the Jim Hopper. Mr. Police Chief of Hawkins, Indiana. If that kid comes out alive, then anything's possible."

I laughed at Steve's remarks, feeling a little more hopeful about the situation. Then, I remembered the argument. The stupid argument that should've never even happened in the first place.

"Steve, about what happened earlier-"

"Hey, it's fine," he smiled. "We can talk about it more after we defeat this thing. I'm sorry for pushing it."

"Completely fine, Harrington," I assured, giving him a little nudge.

It was Dustin and Lucas' turn to greet El. They all formed a group hug and Lucas said, "We missed you."

"I missed you, too," El admitted.

"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin admitted, pulling away to get a better look at her.

She stared at him for a moment, the gears turning in her head. She reached forward and felt Dustin's teeth before he pulled away.

"Teeth."

"What?"

"You have teeth."

"Oh, you like these pearls?" He did his little pur thing I showed to him, earning a shocked look from El.

"Eleven?" Max appeared from the kitchen, offering a smile. "Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you." She offered her hand for Eleven to take. El completely ignored it and stepped right past her and right to me.

"Hey El," I smiled, giving her a tight hug. "Where'd you get the new look?"

"Kali," she answered, and before I could ask who 'Kali' was, she pointed to Steve and asked, "Boyfriend?"

"Woah- I'm sorry, what?"

"Boyfriend? You know, kisses and holding hands and-"

"No, no, this is not my boyfriend," I rushed, heat blossoming across my face. "This is my friend, Steve."

Steve offered her a lopsided grin. She looked him up and down, and deciding he wasn't worth her time, brushed past him and went straight to Joyce's arms.