After Hours. || Steve Harrington||

It was you.

Over the course of two weeks, Steve's grades have sky rocketed. He now had all B's, and he was working on raising them to A's. All those missing assignments that he hadn't turned in really made a big difference to his average when he finally finished them. Once he was caught up with his late work, he focused on making sure his new assignments were turned in on time. Christmas break was nearing, which meant that college applications were closer to their deadlines. Steve said he wanted to wait a little while to decide where he wanted to go, to which I understood.

The temperature in Hawkins was dropping, so I made sure to layer up while getting ready for school. I was at my locker grabbing my textbook before going to class, when I spotted Steve walking down the hall. I heard whispers from the students that were lingering in the halls. That's when I looked at Steve and noticed his face was all beaten up. My stomach dropped.

I didn't know if he'd want me to follow him, or ask him what happened. I assumed he didn't want to talk about it at all, but I had to know who did that to him. I chased after him, and I didn't care that people continued whispering, I just needed to catch up. "Hey!" I said, grabbing his arm once I had finally got to him.

Steve jolted his arm away. "Oh, it's you."

My brows drew together, "Yeah, it's me." He was trying to avoid eye contact. "What happened? Why are you so jumpy?" I asked.

"Nothing, I'm fine." He said forcing a smile.

I didn't buy it, but I figured I'd play along, at least for now until we're alone. "Okay." I nodded. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore. Hurt like hell when it happened." He gave me a lopsided grin.

"And what happened exactly?" I pushed.

Steve scoped out our surroundings before saying anything else. "I'll tell you later." That was the last thing he said to me before walking off.

I was left standing there, confused. I didn't think Steve had any problems with anyone, so I couldn't piece together the possibilities of how his face looked the way it did. I tried to brush it off for the time being, and continued with the school day.

Later that day Steve and I met up in the parking lot, which had almost become a new routine for me. We sat in his car and I looked at him blankly, waiting for him to start talking. But he didn't, like always I had to make the first push. "Alright, so who fucked up your face?" I asked.

He laughed. "First of all, my face isn't fucked up. Once this all heals, I'll be just as good looking as before." I rolled my eyes. Then he finally told me it was the new kid Billy who did that to him.

"Why are you picking fights with him?"

Steve threw his hands up in defense. "I wasn't! He was messing with some younger kids and I told him to leave them alone and one thing led to another and now my face looks like this." He blurted out.

I shook my head. "Did you win at least?"

"Well uh- I mean- I think I did?" Steve stuttered.

After that conversation we went to my house, and this time my mom was home. I debated wether or not we should go inside or not. I knew she'd ask questions and make it a bigger deal than it actually was. "Hey how come we never go to your house to do homework?" I asked.

Steve hesitated. "Um I don't know. We can go to my house if you want." He offered.

I nodded. "That'd work better."

It wasn't too long of a drive to his house, maybe a little over five minutes. He parked in the garage, and I grabbed my bag as I stepped out of the car. I didn't see any other cars around. I figured with a house this nice and spacious, there would have to be a loving couple of parents inside, but there wasn't. "Where are your parents?" I asked.

He opened the door and stepped into the entry way. "My dad is on a business trip, and my mom is with him."

"Do they travel a lot?"

"Mhm." He said nonchalantly. There was a staircase a few feet in front of the door, he gestured to it, directing me upstairs. He trailed behind me, and stopped once we reached the top. His room was the through the first door on the right. We went in, and I stood in the middle of the room, idling. I hate to admit it, but I couldn't believe I was in his room. It made me wonder how many girls he brought over here, but I quickly brushed off the thought. He stood in front of me and looked around his room too. "Well. Here we are."

"Yeah." I looked at his bed and noticed that it wasn't made, but it wasn't totally messy either. "I'm surprised that your room is this clean." I joked.

His eyebrows shot to his forehead. "Really?" He asked. I laughed in response to his disbelief. "I'm not an animal, you know." Steve sat in his bed, and I saw how soft it was when his body made contact. He was looking for something in his backpack, and I took this time to look at him clearly.

Sure, I'd looked at him before, but I was always careful at how long and how much I was staring. Otherwise he might think I have a problem. He was wearing a forest green crewneck with jeans and blue Adidas sneakers. His sleeves were pushed up the length of his arms, and his veins were very much apparent. I looked at his hair, something he was known for, and how his dark brown locks shined in the reflection of the sunlight shining through the cracks of his curtains.

Okay... he is kind of a baldwin. Even with the cuts and scratches that appeared on his brow and lips.

Whatever, I thought. I'm sure he's been told more than enough times how pretty he is. I knew he was into the popular, pretty girls who put out. But I wondered if even half of those girls he dated knew him the way I did. Academically, of course. I bet none of them knew he struggled with keeping his grades up, they probably didn't even care.

"Reid?"

I snapped out of my trance. "What?"

"I finished my homework earlier." He said.

"Oh, good." I began noticing the moles on his face, I don't know how I never saw them before. They're so visible now. "Um, what am I doing here then?"

"I can help you with your homework." He smirked.

I giggled at his suggestion. "Yeah, right Harrington." He started laughing too. "Seriously, why am I here?"

His laughter died down and he sighed. "I hang out with you almost everyday, but I feel like I know nothing about you."

"Okay..." I walked over to his bed and sat on the corner closest to him. "What do you want to know?"

"Favorite color, biggest pet peeve, most embarrassing moment....?" He listed.

I took a few seconds to think, especially about that last question. "Blue, people who misspell a lot, and...." I answered, dragging out the last word in order to torture him with anticipation. "I don't know, maybe that time someone ruined my project and I had to present in anyway."

He looked confused, but curious at the same time. "Okay, you need to explain that one." Steve scooted closer to me.

I looked him in his eyes. Did he seriously not remember? "It was you, Steve."

His mouth gaped open. "Oh. And that was you. Listen, I know I was a jerk back then-"

"Yeah, you didn't even apologize."

"I know. It was shitty. I felt really bad about it if that helps."

"It doesn't matter, happened years ago." I gave him a close mouthed smile. "Water under the bridge."

Even after bringing it up, he still didn't apologize. I looked down at my shoes, and I could feel his eyes lingering on me. I wanted so badly to ask what he was looking at me for, but I enjoyed having his eyes on me for even just a little. I think he might have felt guilt in that moment, and I didn't know if I should let him wallow in it, or make him feel better. "I like blue too."