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katsu28 · 1 year

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to be alone together

pairing: Steve Harrington x reader

summary: steve has to work on valentine’s day, but maybe it’s not as bad as he thought it would be

warnings: none, 1.8k

a/n: u know i had to do a lil something for my steve girlies too <3 went for a more steve centric pov bc he is the definition of pining simp

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(gif credits to @harringtondaily)

“Kinda sucks that you gotta work tonight.” Robin’s voice through the phone pressed to Steve’s ear was staticky, but still provided a good distraction from the empty video store around him.

It was Valentine’s Day and Steve had been at Family Video since opening, watching couple after couple come in to pretty much clear the romcom shelves, and yeah, he was a little bummed about it, but there was no point moping around about it any longer than he already had been.

“It’s whatever, honestly. Not like I had any plans to begin with.” He sighed, shifting the receiver so it was wedged between his cheek and shoulder as his fingers drifted down to fiddle with the pen on the counter absentmindedly.

“Steve, that’s sad.” Robin replied. Steve wrinkled his nose, a slightly offended noise escaping the back of his throat. “No! I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant that you should be out and about, having a good time.”

“You know what’s actually sad? You talking to me instead of paying attention to your date.” He shot back, only half serious. “Where’s Nance?”

“Oh she’s right here. Say hi, Nance.”

Steve heard a faint ‘hi Steve’ in the background and he returned the greeting. “What are you guys doing tonight?”

“She made this really fancy pasta thing for dinner, we’re just waiting on the chicken to finish in the oven and I thought I’d see what was going on with you.” Robin sounded casual, but he knew this was her way of checking up on him since he was the only one on shift all day and she knew how he felt about today.

“Rob, I don’t know how many times I gotta tell you, but I’m fine. It’s really not a big deal.”

“Why don’t you just close up early, come join us for dinner? We have more than enough food.”

“You’re seriously inviting me to crash your romantic dinner date with your girlfriend?” He snorted, rolling his eyes playfully. “What does Nancy think of that?”

There was some shuffling on the other end, a bout of silence, then Robin was back on the line. “She’s giving me a weird look, nevermind. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t my best idea.”

“I love you both, but you know I can’t.”

The bell above the door jingled softly, drawing Steve’s attention away from his phone call and to whoever just walked in.

Shit. It was you.

You were dressed like you were supposed to be on your date, not here, hair and makeup done up all pretty, floaty dress in his favorite color swishing around your knees as you made your way into the store. It made him wonder if you chose that color on purpose, but he knew that you didn’t. You couldn’t have known you’d be seeing him tonight. Wishful thinking on his end though.

“Rob, I gotta go,” He blurted, straightening up behind the counter.

“Wait, what—”

“I gotta go, she’s—someone’s here, I gotta help her.”

“She? Oh my god, wait! Is it—”

“Have a nice date, tell Nance I said bye!” With that, Steve hung up, slamming the receiver onto the base with enough force to send it skittering a few inches. “Hey, Y/N.”

“Steve!” Your previously downturned lips lifted into a smile, one that had Steve’s heart thudding a little faster in his chest. It always did. “I didn’t know you were working tonight.”

See, you were also part of the reason he decided to take the extra shift today, but through no fault of your own. You’d mentioned earlier in the week while you were hanging out with him and Robin that someone had asked you out for tonight, and Steve didn’t really know how to feel about it.

You were friends, but had Steve been harboring a crush on you since pretty much the first day you met? Yes.

Did he feel an itching sense of jealousy that you were going on a date with someone that wasn’t him? Also yes.

Would he do anything about it? Probably not.

Okay, so maybe he knew exactly how he felt about it. Hell, he’d picked up an extra shift to distract himself from it.

“Yeah, I got called in last minute." A lie. "Aren’t you supposed to be on a date right now?” A casual, not at all hoping that it crashed and burned question. That would be mean. (But also a little gratifying for him.)

You chuckled, a tad bitter as you leaned forward, propping your elbows on the counter, the action sending a whiff of your perfume his way. Steve’s knees almost gave out. “Supposed to, yeah. But the guy never showed up.”

Steve had to fight a noise of surprise. What kind of dumbass would skip out on a date with you? “Really? That’s—that sucks, I’m sorry.”

“S’okay. Wasn’t really looking forward to it anyways.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t really know him that well, honestly. He was a friend of a friend, asked me out in front of a bunch of people, and I didn’t really wanna turn him down and make it awkward.”

“You’re way too nice, Y/N. And he’s an idiot for standing you up.”

“Thanks, Steve.” You smiled warmly at him, patting his hand. Steve had to pretend his pulse wasn’t racing right now. “What about you? Why’re you here and not out with anyone?”

“I, uh—I didn’t really feel like going out tonight. Don’t think I’d be a very good date anyways.”

“Oh, you’re just being modest. What girl wouldn’t wanna spend Valentine’s Day with Steve Harrington?”

The one girl he wanted to spend this day with, he thought. You.

“You’d be surprised.” He muttered.

“Well then they’re idiots too.”

A small smile quirked his lips. “Thanks.”

“Hey, I just came to pick up some movies and spend the rest of my night shoveling down ice cream, but since we’re both here now and alone, d’you wanna…be alone together? Grab a bite to eat or do something?”

Steve’s shoulders slumped defeatedly. “I’d love to, but I—I can’t. I gotta stay here til the end of my shift, Keith’s been on my ass about taking off early and as much as I hate the guy, I don’t wanna get fired.”

“Oh, okay. Don’t worry about it, I’m, uh—it’s cool.” Was he hallucinating, or did you look disappointed?

“Would you maybe wanna, I dunno, stay here? We can watch whatever you want and I know where Robin keeps her work snack stash. That way we can be alone together and I don’t get chewed out again?” Steve blurted hopefully. He was honestly expecting you to say no. Why would you wanna spend the rest of your already shitty night with him in a dingy video store? But then your face split into the biggest smile and you nodded, rocking forward on the balls of your feet earnestly. “Go pick something out, I’ll grab the snacks.”

You scurried off to browse the near bare shelves, leaving Steve shaking his head amusedly in your wake as he watched you skim the tapes with a look of utmost concentration. He slipped into the back room to grab Robin’s last unopened bag of chips, making a mental note to buy more before tomorrow’s shift before returning to the video area.

He skimmed the store, spotting you in the romcom section, and when he made his way over, you were contemplating the last two tapes on the shelf.

You beamed at him upon spotting him. “Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles?”

“Am I allowed to say neither?”

“You said whatever I want, Steve.” You said pointedly, propping your hands on your hips.

“I did, didn’t I?” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. You let out a hum of pleasure, sliding your chosen movie off the shelf and wandering towards the TV in the corner. Steve hurried after you quickly, plucking the tape from between your fingertips and running away, not unlike a child would.

“Steve!” You huffed, whirling on your heel. He grinned mischievously at you, waving it in the air like a taunt. You caught up with him within seconds, lunging for the tape that he held up above his head and away from your outstretched hand. Your body was pressed against his as you reached for it, as you leaned against him in a fruitless attempt to overpower him. “Steve, gimme the tape!”

“No!” He laughed, but that laughter very soon trickled off as soon as he realized your proximity. You were so close, he could see the color of your eyes clear as day, looking right back at him. You’d fallen quiet too, as if you’d come to the same realization.

You were nose to nose, faces a hair’s breadth away from each other, the stolen tape in Steve’s hands long forgotten. Every fiber in his body was telling him to pull away, because the longer he stayed here the weirder it would be when he finally did manage to retreat, but no matter how hard he willed himself to move, he couldn’t. Instead, his eyes flicked down to your lips. Your breath hitched almost imperceptibly.

“Steve?” You whispered, gaze darting around his own face.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.”

You didn’t have to tell him twice.

Steve dropped the tape immediately, closing the gap between you and pressing his lips against yours. His hands came up to cup your face, holding you firm but kissing you soft, like he was preparing himself to pull away if you did. But from the way you were returning his kiss, how your hands clutched at the front of his vest to keep him this close, it didn’t feel like you’d be pulling away anytime soon, and that spurred him on even more.

One hand slid down to settle at your waist, the other curling around the back of your neck as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss just a little bit.

Steve’s lips felt tingly when he pulled away, tasted of your cherry lip gloss when his tongue darted out to lick them. He was sure to have a little bit on his mouth now, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Not by a long shot. Cherry might’ve just become his new favorite flavor.

“I really like you.” He breathed, chest heaving against yours. Your lips curved into a soft smile—the same smile that nearly sent Steve’s brain short circuiting every time it was aimed his way.

“After that kiss, I’d sure hope so,” You replied, smoothing out his wrinkled shirt as best you could. “I like you too, just so you know. Part of the reason I was so okay with my date ditching me. He wasn’t you.”

Steve could only beam at you, going in for another kiss. In his excitement, he missed his mark, hitting the corner of your mouth instead, but he didn’t care. The girl he wanted all along actually liked him back, and it only took one failed date and an extra shift to find out.

Maybe working on Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad after all.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington fic #stranger things #joe keery #if u saw me say goodnight earlier don't look at me #what is it with me and posting when i should be sleeping #is anyone awake #does anyone even read tags anymore tho #anyways if you've gotten this far hi thank u for reading i love u #MWAH #ok im actually going to bed now #goodnight <3 #happy valentine's day besties

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slashersteve · 1 year

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Dream Girl

pairing: Walter “Keys” Mckey/Female Reader

summary: Keys helps you pass a seemingly impossible boss battle in a video game you’ve been playing.

warnings/extra tags: cursing, a kiss kiss, probably ooc keys? I tried 😔, poor hacking things i got very vague but for this imagine just trust me bro, beta read, edited by me so if i missed anything pls ignore :')

note: Consider this my debut to writing Keys and who knows…maybe I’ll write more of him 👀 also yall this has been in my drafts for decades and today i was like?? it's bri's birthday, so i should post this right??? happy birthday @userdjo !! Thank you for reading and enjoy ♥️

✦ ✦ ✦

“I'm not doing it.”

"Why not?”

“Uh, because it's too risky?”

“Seriously? Too risky? Do you hear yourself right now?”

Keys was standing across from you, leaning on the kitchen counter holding a cup of coffee that he had only taken a single sip of seeing as the moment you heard the coffee maker come to life you stalked out of your own office to try to convince him to do what you wanted him to do all morning.

“Keys!” You were exasperated when he didn’t reply to your rhetorical question.

He just wanted to spend a bit of time during his break to look at something that wasn’t a screen of codes he could read like the morning paper. He wanted to talk to you in this kitchen like you always did throughout the day and unfortunately your conversations had to be this.

“We could get into a lot of trouble, I could get into a lot of trouble,” Keys told you firmly, to which you scoffed and crossed your arms, “I’m serious.”

“Only if you get caught, which I know you won’t,” you replied, before huffing and adding, “Where did this goody two shoes attitude come from? You literally took down an entire gaming company by causing trouble with Millie.”

Keys sighed, turning away from you as he set his mug down and brought one hand to his face to remove his glasses just so he could properly pinch his nose. That was different, and you knew it, but still wanted to try and guilt him into helping you.

“And you can’t do it yourself?” He asked, fully knowing that you couldn’t because you wouldn’t be asking him otherwise. If you could you wouldn’t be bugging him so much, pushing him to do what you wanted.

“I’d get caught, we both know it. Nobody can do it but you- Millie probably, but she’s not here,” you explained, “Come on, please? If you do it I’ll do every coffee run for the rest of the month.”

You were trying to bargain now, which amused Keys as he wiped the lens of his glasses before sliding them back over his eyes.

“Yeah me hacking into a game of another company is definitely worth you doing coffee runs,” he said sarcastically, resting his eyes back on you. You shrugged weakly and shot him a sort of sheepish smile, not caring that he was obviously irritated with you.

“I think it is- unless anything else is up for grabs? Anything you know…you would like?”

You wiggled your eyebrows at him, and he felt his chest tighten slightly, unsure exactly what you were getting at and suddenly being afraid that you did know. The sight of his expression had you smirking before you said, “She is my best friend- like yours- but girls mostly listen to each other…I could potentially lead her in your direction. You know…get that date you’ve always wanted lover boy.”

Keys blinked, understanding after a moment or two that you were talking about Millie and the hopeless crush he had on her, something he had confessed to you a while ago. Just that, nothing else…thank god.

“Don’t-“ Keys laughed awkwardly, “Don’t. I actually don’t like her like that anymore.”

You gave him a look, and he felt his cheeks heat up, embarrassed by the mention of his old crush on her. Not because he was embarrassed of being in love with Millie once, but because he had thought you had known something else now, that had nothing to do with Millie but with the woman standing in this kitchen with him.

“Oh…when did that happen?” You questioned him, not believing a single word that just came out of his mouth. Truth be told, long before he confided in you his crush, you had been aware of it. How could you not be? It was the way he looked at her, brown eyes longing and yearning. He had it bad for her, for years, so it was hard to believe he’d moved on, that he’d fallen out of love.

“A while ago, actually, just sort of happened one day,” he replied awkwardly, eyes flashing to his watch. He had a few minutes left before he had to go back in there and start coding again. You both worked from home, made up your own hours and he liked to keep a more timely schedule than you did.

“Huh,” you said, still curious as to how that happened at all, but knowing he was going to be escaping back to his office/room was enough to make you set it aside and continue your prior conversation bargain.

“Anything else then? I’m really desperate here Keys, I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I wasn’t, you know this,” you continued, watching as he picked up his basically untouched coffee and pushed himself off the counter, ready to return to his coding.

“The coffee runs do sound nice, but like I said, not worth it,” he told you again, this time a bit more firmly and now it was you getting frustrated with him as you followed closely after him through the living room.

“Oh come on! I can do it for longer? The rest of the year- Keys!” You grabbed his arm, the one that wasn’t holding a coffee thankfully as it definitely might’ve spilled, “I’m begging you, do you want me to get down on my knees and beg to show you how serious I am?”

He cheeks suddenly became flushed as you started to descent to your knees and he had to catch you to keep you from doing that. The last thing he needed was to know how you looked when you’re on your knees in front of him. The last thing.

“No! You don’t have to-“ he said a bit too frantically. You stared at him, confused by his sudden behavior (even noticing his suddenly very pink cheeks and wide eyes underneath his glasses). Keys blinked rapidly for a moment, before he turned his head and cursed, “Alright alright, it may take a day or so- we need to make sure our schedules are clear- which means you gotta do work.”

He gave you a pointed look, knowing your tendency to move away from your work computer to what you called your fun gaming one whenever you felt like it.

“Oh yeah of course!” you replied like you did work all the time, “If that’s what it takes then hell yeah, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

You didn’t say it like a joke, which made him swallow thickly at your words and push down some thoughts he’d been having about you lately. Some romantic, some not so romantic and more in the carnal sense. Both equally terrified him and made him feel a sense of guilt.

It didn’t help that your favorite lounge at home outfit was a sports bra and biker shorts you usually paired with a zip-up hoodie that you never zipped up. It was mostly that pretty silver chain necklace you wore all the time and how it would fall underneath the fabric of your bra, making his eyes and thoughts wander to forbidden places.

Something he was doing right fucking now. It was almost like getting caught in a spell of some sort, which embarrassed him greatly.

You were too distracted by the fact that he technically agreed to helping you out to notice his eyes resting on your chest area, “I can’t believe you’re going to do this for me- okay- okay you get back to work and we’ll meet up tonight?”

You were giddy, almost bouncing in your spot and Keys suddenly snapped out of his trance caused by you, and he quickly forced his eyes to meet yours, realizing you’d just been speaking and that he wasn’t listening.

“Uh- yeah- yeah totally,” he told you in an attempt to not sound like a creep. You didn’t notice though, you didn’t notice a lot of things actually, and you merely flashed him an excited grin before you turned and jogged back into your own room, for the first time being excited to do some work and actually complete it.

Keys just stood there long after you had slammed your door shut, long after you probably sat at your computer and started replying to messages or reworking some mods like you were supposed to.

He felt like an idiot. A fool. Yet another hopeless fool who developed feelings for somebody he was close to, somebody in the same friend group.

He hadn’t intended for it to happen. It had always been Millie, not that anything was wrong with you of course, he just had some odd attachment to her because for a long time he considered her to be his dream girl, but after a long hard look at himself and their friendship he knew that’s all she would ever be.

And he was okay with that…eventually. Eventually his heart stopped fluttering in his chest when their eyes would meet, eventually his mind was no longer foggy and warm when they spoke. Eventually, he felt nothing but a platonic love that would always be there to stay.

With you, he wasn’t anticipating feelings like that to come up. It honestly came out of no where one day. Millie and Mouser had left, and you decided to stick around a little longer.

Keys wasn’t used to being alone with you, as at the time you were closer to Millie only and you two were like a package deal. So when you said you’d stay, Keys suggested you two play a game of your choice as an ice breaker. You chose this shooter game, 1v1, or on a team together online. That would be his choice and he decided to go with 1v1, not wanting to deal with teammates he didn’t know as he wasn’t up for a headache or trash talking from strangers or kids who aren’t being monitored by their parents and cursing like sailors.

He didn’t catch the wicked look in your eyes when he chose that one.

Keys learned very quickly how much you liked shooter games, even ones at the arcades. Your aim was impeccable and your sportsmanship was completely out of the window. You quipped back and forth like old friends, teasing him when he’d lose, cursing him when you lost, which wasn’t as often as Keys would’ve liked.

It was fun, very fun, and you ended up spending the entire night with him, playing your favorite games, and his favorite ones. Then, you just talked and got to know each other better.

Keys had liked you before that, and it was after that he started to like you more. And when you and him moved into together- things changed. They changed a lot.

He really liked you, but like with Millie, he was probably forever going to keep it to himself because how could you ever like him in return? He was your friend, and you knew he had been hopelessly in love with your best friend- he couldn’t see that working out. Not one bit, even if it broke his heart knowing that it wouldn’t.

Like Millie was, you were just another dream girl, and like her again, he eventually learn to be okay with that. It’s what was keeping him going, honestly, but he knew it would take longer as you were around him constantly. Eventually, he told himself as he took a sip of his now cold coffee, eventually.

✦ ✦ ✦

Keys had gone to bed the minute he finished up.

He washed his face, taken off his shirt and put on his pajama pants, took off his glasses, and laid spread on his bed under the covers on his stomach. One side of his face was nuzzled into his pillow, heavy eyes shutting on their own accord, mind ready to be overcome by well deserved sleep.

Just as he felt sleep wash over him, something had weighed down the mattress from his left side. Well, not something, more like somebody had.

He opened one eye to see you on his bed, and he quickly sat up, moving away from you as he asked what the heck you were doing in his bed like this. You were taken back by his reaction, but then raised a brow before saying, “We agreed to meet up tonight, remember?”

Keys just stared at you, blinking wildly as he tried to remember if that was true. You shifted in your spot, spreading your thighs a little more so you could actually sit on his bed. He let his eyes move down for only a split second, though his vision was blurry, before forcing them back up at you.

“I seriously don’t remember, just-“

“God relax,” you suddenly said, a smile starting to grow on your lips, “You’re so nervous by a girl being in your bed.”

You were teasing him again, and he coughed into his hand before he shook his head and said in an attempt to change the subject, “I told you it might take all day, we can’t start tonight we’ll be up for hours.”

You frowned now, “Then why’d you agree tonight? You said ‘yeah totally’ I remember.” You pointed at him, and Keys suddenly recalled that he did say that to you- he had just been distracted that he didn’t know what he was agreeing to.

He cursed under his breath, knowing that you weren’t going to go away at all, but thinking he should keep his word as well, especially when you titled your head and gave him what could only be described as puppy dog eyes. You even fluttered your lashes and stuck out your bottom lip.

“Fine, get everything set up-“

“Already done,” you replied, already moving to stand, and you gestured him to follow you as you took long strides out the door. Keys could only grab his glasses, forgoing a shirt, so he could keep up with you.

Everything was set up, the game, the laptop with the games codes there- he was sure you made sure IP addresses couldn’t be tracked as the last thing your guys new gaming company needed was a scandal that involved one of the key founding members hacking into a game made by a separate company. Why on earth did you want to do this? It was insanely risky.

You moved to sit on a stool you had brought in from the kitchen, leaving your vibrant teal gaming chair to Keys. He sat in it, eyes glossing over the game and he asked you for clarification what it was you wanted him to do exactly.

“I’m having trouble with the items- okay so every time you buy one the price goes up and it goes insanely high- insanely that it makes it impossible to buy more,” you explained, “So I need you to either keep the prices from going up, or to give me infinite items or coins. That one sounds great.”

Keys ran his hand through his hair and laughed at your request, and said teasingly, “You know you can just earn all those coins by being a better player.”

He felt your hand lightly smack his shoulder, “I’ve been on this for weeks, Keys, and I’m desperate. This boss is kicking my ass and I’d like an infinite amount of healing potions.”

Rather than going to the coding, he actually moved to the game instead, starting it up and waving you off when you asked him what he was doing.

“I just want to see which boss is kicking your ass so much that you want to cheat,” he told you, and you started to protest, knowing that this was one the games he actually introduced you to and would definitely tease you when he found out which one it was.

Keys promptly ignored you as he loaded up to your last mission, and as his eyes danced around the screen, taking in the familiar surroundings and music even, he started to laugh and shake his head- doing exactly what you were afraid of.

“Alright yeah laugh it up-“

“No, no I actually don’t blame you,” he said with another shake of his head before he pushed his hair out his face, “I think I stopped playing for a while because of this fight. Have you gotten asked to play easy mode yet?”

He was looking at you now, and you moaned in distress before nodding. Keys laughed, remembering how this particular boss battle had humbled him and other players who thought they were god at video games greatly. He leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands together and resting them over his chest.

“It’s a bad idea,” he told you again, this time more firmly, “Also I’m sorry- I’m not going to let you cheat. We’re beating this guy here and now.”

He was turning away from you to look back at the screen, and you groaned.

“Keys there’s no way- no fucking way we’re going to beat him- you said even you had trouble,” you tried, “Just let me go the cheating route.”

You grabbed the laptop, but Keys had taken it from you swiftly, shutting it and setting aside as you grumbled at him.

“No you’re going to beat this guy fair and square, we just need to replay missions, get every objective checked off…” he trailed off as he started moving the character away from the boss battle zone. You just sat beside him, dreading the idea of having to go back to do all that.

“Keys…” you moaned in complete despair, “That’ll take too long.”

“It won’t, I’ll help you,” he replied back, and dropped your head on his shoulder while he grinned, amused by your reluctance to replay any of this.

“Fine, fine, we’ll take turns,” you said, lifting your head up so you can look at the screen. Keys agreed to these terms.

A few hours had passed, you and Keys switching off who plays and who watches- and Keys was a much better player than you were at this particular game, getting through past battles you also had trouble with and barely passed with ease, slicing through the bosses like butter, and going on his merry way. You were almost embarrassed honestly whenever it was your turn, but he sat beside you on that stool, and just helped you.

Normally, whenever you played together or watched the other play a single player game (a sort of ritual you two had every other night when you were both available) you’d go hard on each other for every little mistake.

“Uh triangle is the top button Keys? Need to study the controls a little longer there big guy?”

“Haha- if you’re just going to be so critical the door's over there…”

All would end with a laugh and you leaning back on his bed as you continued to watch him, teasing him within the next few minutes.

Right now though, he’d still occasionally tease here and there, but it wasn’t condescending or serious enough to irritate you. You actually liked it, liked him sitting next to you, leaned in slightly so he was closer to you and the screen, telling you directly in your ear what to do, when to trigger your characters power, what weapons you should go with- you liked him being so close, and especially liked it when you did good and he praises you.

It really urged you to play well, wanting to hear those words again.

Then, you got to the boss you’ve been having so much trouble with you wanted to cheat your way into beating him. By now it was past midnight, closer to 1 in the morning, and you have both been at it for at least another hour or so- switching spots again and again as you did your best to fuck the boss up. He was the only one who got closest and you at least got farther than you normally would…more than half of his life had been down before you were taken out.

“Yup- I’m dead,” Keys said with a sigh. He leaned back, pressing the back of his head on the gaming chair and you grumbled, knowing you were next to try.

“Don’t even move,” you said in a gruff voice as you moved from the stool and sat onto his lap. Keys eyes widened when he felt you there, hands moving to grasp your hips almost instinctively but quickly dropping them as if it was a crime to hold you.

“What are you-“

“I’m going to die real quick, so you moving would be a waste,” you said, shifting slightly before you restarted the mission. Keys just say there staring at the back of your head, trying to fight the heat that was overcoming him.

You weren’t putting your weight fully down on him, your own feet touching the floor and holding yourself upright as you clicked away at the keyboard, too concentrated on the game to notice Keys having a slight panic attack underneath you or how tense suddenly became.

Curse words were slipping through your lips toward the game, and you shifted in your spot again, making him hold onto you once more, deciding to look over your shoulder now and focus on the game and not how you felt on his lap.

You were doing pretty well, actually, dodging with precision, getting well aimed hits on the boss. Your characters power bar was growing drastically, and when the bar was full you managed to trigger it at the perfect time.

“You know, for somebody’s who not even trying you’re doing pretty damn good,” Keys mumbled, leaning forward so his head was over your shoulder. Focusing on the game had been successful in distracting him from your current position.

You merely hummed in response, acknowledging his compliment, and the villain’s health bar was so low- it was in the red and Keys said, “Holy shit! You almost got him!”

He held his breath, and also you, as he watched you dodge some his quickest attacks that you struggled with before triggering your character's power again and putting the boss to sleep with one final blow and a final scream.

You just stared at the screen, in pure disbelief, and perhaps a dash of denial that you’d finally beaten this fucker who had been haunting you for weeks now, taunting you every time you looked at your computer screen. You did it, you beat him - or did you?

"Did...did I actually beat him? Or did I fall asleep watching you play and this is a fever dream? Please tell me this is fucking real-"

“It's real! You kicked his ass!” Keys was practically hugging you from behind and you threw your hands up and shouted with excitement, the smile on your lips wide as you really took in that you finally beat him.

"See! You didn't need to cheat," Keys told you from behind, making you laugh and move to stand, making Keys let you go as you did. He stood up too, and you were turned around to hug him tightly, which seemed to have taken him off guard.

Keys settled into your tight embrace, returning it by wrapping his arms tightly around you before you tilted your head up at him with a wide grin on your lips.

He looked down at you, “He wasn’t worth hacking into a game, right?”

"I mean if we cheated it wouldn't be almost...2 in the morning right now," you joked, making him laugh, his lips pulling into a sweet smile as his brown eyes held your gaze, "But...no you're right...totally not worth that."

He nodded, happy that you agreed with him.

"Thank you, Keys, I mean it...just thank you, I know it's just a video game but you know...this stuff is basically our life, so just...thanks," you told him truthfully.

Keys sucked in a tight breath before he nodded, "You're welcome, anything for you honestly...except you know...hacking into a beatable game."

He made you laugh, again, and because he was pretty sleepy right now with the adrenaline rushing off, he couldn't really hide the way he was looking at your lips.

There was little light in the room, with only your bedside lamp and the light emitting from your computer screen behind you. It reflected back at you slightly, courtesy of those cute glasses Keys wore, but you could see his eyes weren't on yours.

You honestly don't know what compelled you, the adrenaline that still coursed through your veins from the win, or maybe the fact that you were still holding each other like a separated couple reunited- you couldn't really pinpoint it, but you were starting to lean forward as if you were going to kiss him...well...you were going to kiss him.

Until he was leaning away, causing you snap out of it. Your eyes widened as they snapped upward to rest back on his. He looked so very confused and your felt your cheeks heat up immediately with embarrassment, feeling like an idiot that you just about almost stole a kiss from him without asking.

“What...what was that?” Keys asked you, attempting to keep his voice as steady as possible as he felt his heart start to race and his stomach between to twist and turn with nerves.

You were pulling away then, saying in an exasperated tone, “Nothing- sorry- I think I just got too caught up in the moment.”

You were trying to laugh it off, make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal what you were about to do and you stumbled backwards, wanting to shut the game off for the night and lay under your covers in your own embarrassment.

Keys just watched you, piecing together exactly what you were close to doing- how close you had leaned in, how your eyes had looked- were those what they call kiss me eyes?

His heart nearly swelled in his chest and he grasped your arm gently, making you turn to meet him with a curious expression and he asked, “Were you about to…kiss me?”

Your expression turned horrified.

“What? No,” you said, panic rising in your voice before you cleared your throat and continued to say, “I wasn’t- no- did it…did it look like it? Because I wasn’t...”

He blinked a few times, knowing that you were lying. He knows what he saw, and he knows you and your tells, the way you refused to keep eye contact, and would press your lips together as if conflicted. You were lying, and you were embarrassed. He didn’t like that you were.

"Well! Anyway! Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it and uh- we should totally do this again. Well we probably will but-"

“No wait I wasn't finished," Keys said, making you pause and look up again to meet his gaze. He looked serious now, less shocked and more...determined. You didn't know what to say or do, just standing there and waiting for him to finish.

"Just..if you were trying to kiss me…I’d be totally okay with it,” he said, his voice a little softer. Your eyes widened softly at this statement.

"Really?" you asked, and he swiped his tongue across his bottom lip before he nodded.

Things had suddenly grew tenser, the room quieter and darker, more intimate. You hadn't ever expected to be in a situation like this with Keys, sure you sometimes thought about Keys romantically, but you quickly stopped those because you had always known Keys was in love with Millie.

He was cute, he always had been, you had thought so since you first met him. He was funny...smart, the best video game partner, and roommate, coworker...friend, it always struck you as odd that Millie never saw him the same way he saw her.

And here he was, looking at you how he looked at her, except it felt like something even more and he was basically asking you to kiss him. And you wanted to, you wanted to so bad suddenly, but conflict raised in you because of the fact you thought it was always Millie he loved, wondering in these split seconds if he was suddenly into you because he couldn't have her.

He must've seen this, your hesitation, and he swallowed thickly before starting to speak, "I've actually...liked you for a long time now, you asked me when I lost feelings for Millie and...I think- now I know...it was when I met you because...yeah...it's you."

He trailed off awkwardly, and you watched as his cheeks dusted pink and his eyes shifted away from you. You couldn't really believe what he had just said, but when he finally got the courage back to look at you...you knew he was telling you the truth.

And you were leaning in, tilting your head upwards so that you could press your lips gently against his. You practically felt his breath get taken away as your lips touched his, just before he returned your gentle, almost shy kiss.

You both leaned away at the same time, your heart pounding in your chest and your eyes fluttering open as your eyes met. A small smile had returned to his lips, and suddenly you felt his hand in your hair as he grew more confident and you both leaned in to kiss a second time, this time the kiss was longer, your lips melding together tenderly as you titled your head to deepen it.

Then, things went further...because of you mostly. Your hands planted against his bare chest as you made him walk backwards, your lips never leaving each others and he was on your bed with you settling into his lap, straddling him.

Keys looked up at you through his lashes, his hands placed onto your waist, in almost the same way they were placed moments before when you on his lap playing and defeating the boss. His body felt so warm against yours, and you were sure your body was just as warm against his.

You moved your own hands to his hair, and said, "Do you want to keep playing, Keys? Or do you wanna keep doing this?"

He seemed taken back by your suggestion, but laughed breathlessly as he said, "Yeah...yeah let's keep doing this."

#ngl this was inspired by the feeling i got when i couldn't beat the first boss in devil may cry #didn't have a cute boy to beat it for me #just my sister LMAO #keys x reader #walter keys mckey x reader #keys imagine #walter keys mckey imagine #walter keys mckey #free guy #free guy imagine #joe keery

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