Steve's POV
"I'm the girl next door. That simple."
The look on her face when she said that was stuck in my head the rest of the night. During dinner, my mom caught me being weird.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yeah," I said, not even convincing myself.
"What's on your mind?" She pushed.
"Y/N," I blurted out. I cleared my throat, looking down and pushing the peas around my plate.
"The girl next door?" Mom said with a small chuckle. "Why are you thinking about her?"
"I umm," I hesitated. "I drove her home from school today."
"You got home after 5," Mom said slowly. "Wait, was Y/N still at the school that late?"
"She was tutoring some kids," I shrugged. "When I walked out of practice, she was sitting on the bench. She said her mom was on her way, but it was late and I didn't feel right leaving her."
"I'm glad you offered to drive her home," Mom nodded. "People are still going missing. Mrs. Nelson from the laundromat told me her neighbor went missing. She's the town gossip so who knows if she's right, but still. We need to be careful. It would've been horrible if something happened to Y/N."
"Is this the girl you followed around like a puppy in elementary school?" Dad said, smirking at Mom.
"I didn't follow her around," I stuttered. "You guys wanted me to keep an eye on her, to keep her safe, so I did."
"We didn't tell you to keep an eye on the neighbor's daughter," Dad chuckled. "You made it your life mission to protect that girl."
Something next door caught my eye. I looked over to see Y/N moving around her kitchen.
"It made me sad when you two stopped hanging out," Mom sighed as she started to clear the table.
"She's a sweet girl," Dad said as he stood up. "A little shy, but that's not surprising since she's constantly home alone."
Y/N's dad is a cop and her mom works at the hospital. Both usually do the afternoon shift or the night shift, which means Y/N often goes home to an empty house.
When Y/N and I were in elementary school, my mom and I used to pick her up after school. She'd come over and eat dinner with us so she wasn't alone. She'd stay and hang out with me until one of her parents came home. Sometimes, she even stayed the night if both of her parents were working the night shift.
All of that stopped in middle school.
I stayed at the table as Dad went upstairs and Mom started doing the dishes. I looked back over at Y/N's house to see her standing by the kitchen window. She must've been doing the dishes.
As I watched her, I thought about our last conversation.
"I'm simply the girl who grew up next to the infamous Steve Harrington. You don't have to act like we're best friends."
I opened my mouth, but she kept talking. "Our parents are friends, which is why you felt like you had to give me a ride home. It's also why I got in the car. I don't want you to feel like you have to talk to me at school or sit by me at lunch."
"I'm sorry," I finally got out.
"I'm the girl next door. That simple."
Y/N wiped her hands on the kitchen towel and turned on her heel. I watched as she left the kitchen and went upstairs.
"What if it's not that simple?" I said under my breath.
* * * * *
As we warmed up, people came into the gym and sat in the stands. I looked up, a weird feeling engulfing me when I saw Y/N walking in. I followed her with my eyes as she found a seat on the edge of the bleachers.
My breath got stuck on my throat when she looked right at me. I smiled and waved. My stomach felt weird as she waved back, her face burning from her blush.
Throughout the first half, I couldn't stop myself from continuing to look at her. Every time I did, she'd blush and look away. I jumped when the ref blew the whistle for halftime. I looked up at Y/N to see her smiling. She was laughing at my jump.
I sent her a shrug and was about to head to the locker room when a group of kids walked over to Y/N. I watched, an odd feeling as they sat next to her. The entire time they talked to her, Y/N was playing with her hands.
"Harrington!" My coach yelled, forcing me to tare my eyes away from Y/N.
"Coming," I said.
I quickly glanced back at Y/N before following the rest of my team. I didn't pay attention to my coach's halftime pep talk. I was itching to go out and check on Y/N. Something about the group bothered me.
Why were they familiar?
And why didn't I like them talking to Y/N?
We left the locker room and as soon as I walked into the gym, I looked for Y/N. When I found her, she somehow seemed smaller. I looked at the kids around her, my anger building when I recognized who they were.
Freshman year. The kids who were bullying her.
Throughout the rest of the game, my focus was on Y/N surrounded by her bullies. I knew that the only reason she was here was because I had invited her to the game yesterday when I took her home. Which means the only reason she is surrounded by her bullies is because of me.
At the end of the game, I ran to the locker room and quickly changed. When I jogged back into the gym, it was empty. I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to think of where she could be. I walked through the school, heading towards the parking lot.
I walked outside and my breath got stuck in my throat when I heard people laughing. I looked over, letting out a sigh of relief as my eyes landed on Y/N. That relief turned to anger when I saw she was surrounded by her bullies.
I didn't hear what they were saying and I didn't care. I started walking over to them but quickly started running when Andrew grabbed Y/N's shoulder.
"Hey!" I yelled, ripping his hand off of her and slightly pushing him back. I stepped in front of Y/N and gently grabbed her hand, pulling her behind me.
"What the hell is your problem?" I asked through my teeth.
"My problem?" Andrew scoffed. "You're the one who ran over here, yelling like a crazy person."
His friends laughed but my expression didn't change.
"Seriously, Harrington," Andrew sighed. "Chill. We were just. . ."
"Just what?" I harshly cut him off. "You grabbed her."
"Whoa," he laughed. "Take it easy."
"No," I said, trying and failing to hold my anger back.
"Steve," Y/N whispered from behind me.
"She speaks!" Luke, Andrew's right-hand idiot laughed. I could feel Y/N tuck more behind me. I squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that it was going to be okay.
"I get it!" Morgan giggled. "Steve's the magic ingredient to get her talking."
"That doesn't make sense," Darrin smirked around me and at Y/N who had started shaking. "Steve wouldn't hang out with her. He's a basketball player. Y/N is the mute bookworm with no friends."
"Watch it," I said through my teeth.
"Or what?" Andrew challenged. I rolled my eyes as his friends laughed at his challenge.
"What, Steve?" Andrew continued. "What are you going to do if we don't leave the mute alone? What if I decide to start paying special attention to her? What are you going to do if. . ."
I didn't let him finish.
I let go of Y/N's hand and punched Andrew as hard as I could.
"Steve," Y/N gasped.
As Andrew's friends helped him, I turned towards Y/N to see her watching Andrew. When she looked back at me, her eyes were wide.
"I'm sorry," I said softly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm. . . I'm fine," she stuttered. "But you. . . Why did you. . ."
"What the hell, man!" Andrew yelled.
I turned around and protectively stood in front of Y/N. He must not have liked the look on my face because his glare darkened. I got ready to push Y/N out of the way.
"You're dead!" He yelled as he charged me.
"Dude, chill!" Luke said as they stopped him. "If you get into another fight. . ."
"I know!" Andrew cut him off. He glared at me before turning around and starting to walk away.
"Hey!" I yelled, making the group stop. They turned around, all glaring at me. I took a couple of steps away from Y/N, ignoring when she whispered my name.
"If anyone comes near Y/N again, I'll do a lot worse."
With that threat, I grabbed her hand and led her away from the dumbfounded group. She kept glancing at me but didn't say anything. When we got to my car, I dropped my duffle bag and struggled to calm down. I paced back and forth in front of my car as Y/N watched me with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
I stopped pacing when she suddenly stood in front of me. We looked into each other's eyes, neither one of us saying anything. Suddenly, Y/N quickly wrapped her arms around my neck. The second I felt her tighten her hold on me, I wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the smell of her strawberry shampoo.
"Thank you," she whispered.
I shook my head, tightening my arms around her. We stood like that for a few minutes before Y/N slowly loosened her arms. Her hands were still on my shoulders as she took a step out of our embrace.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"Sorry?" I repeated, tightening my arms around her waist, trying to keep her from walking away from me. "What are you sorry for? I'm the one who punched Andrew."
I felt a chill as she finally let go of me, taking a step back. She wrapped her arms around herself as she looked away.
"I'm sorry for what I said the other night," she continued. "I didn't mean to come across. . . I just. . . You offered to drive me home and I acted like you were only doing it because of our parents."
"Y/N," I tried to interrupt her, but she kept talking.
"The truth is, that night, my mom was supposed to pick me up and take me home after the study session, but she took another shift without telling me. And my dad. . . I tried to call him but he must've been at the station because he didn't call me back. If you hadn't shown up. . ."
I closed the gap between us and gently grabbed her arms, unwrapping them from around herself. She looked up at me with soft, slightly embarrassed eyes.
"I'm sorry I was mean to you," she whispered.
"You weren't mean to me, Y/N," I chuckled. "I don't think you could be mean even if you wanted to. It's not physically possible for you to be mean."
Y/N looked away, trying to hide her blush. I let go of one of her hands and used my pointer finger to lift her chin. Once she was looking at me, I didn't let go of her chin. After a second of hesitation, I leaned in a pressed a delicate kiss to her lips. As quickly as I initiated it, I broke it.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"For what?" She asked barely audible.
"For drifting apart," I sighed. "We were friends but then I kind of stopped hanging out with you. I don't even have a good excuse. I just stopped. I'm sorry, Y/N."
"Steve, it's. . ."
I held my breath, waiting for her to finish. My stomach sank when she shook her head. She suddenly threw her arms around my neck again. This time, instead of hugging me, she kissed me.
I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her back.
"Never again," I whispered when I broke the kiss.
"What?" Y/N asked with a small giggle. I smiled and reached up, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I won't leave you," I clarified.
"Promise?"
"Never again."