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#mrspellcaster
mrspellcaster · 2 years
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THE BEE AND HER FLOWERS
- Steve Harrington x Nancy’s childhood bsf F!Reader
summary: reader is nancy’s childhood best friend that is returning to Hawkins after a few years. Hawkins is slightly more handsome than she remembers word count : 2.9k
warnings: intermediate mommy issues for reader (mom disappeared), karen wheeler <3, me pushing my ronance agenda, angst for a moment, swearing, use of “baby” non romantically, just pretend with me here
a/n: thank you so much for the love on the first chapter of this series it truly makes me so happy i can’t express my appreciation, i’m sending everyone all my love and good wishes. thanks for reading !
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That same Wednesday in August you met Steve you also found out your new home was adjacent to Max Mayfield’s. It was your assumption the reason you hadn’t noticed the fiery haired girl with a temper to rival yours, was because she, also like you, was an unsanctioned member of the Wheeler household.
You liked her. She was bright, fierce like Nancy with a similar level of composure. Max also had a similar dynamic with her mother as you and your father, with the parent always working but a pair inseparably tied together by loss and love.
The next morning you again found yourself at the Wheeler residence.
At this hour you decided it would be better to use the front door, which just as you assumed was unlocked.
You closed it gently behind you and caught sight of curly blonde hair, bigger than you remembered, bouncing around the kitchen. Karen Wheeler.
She turned around at your quiet hello, so very beautiful and so very happy to see you.
More quickly than you would’ve thought possibly she has you wrapped in her arms. “Oh my dear!” She rocks you side to side. “Nancy told me you were coming back and I am just so glad to see you.” She leans backward to look at you, “And good gracious aren’t you gorgeous.” You turn sheepish under her fawning eyes.
Karen’s eyes shine as she places a delicate hand on your cheek,”I know your mother would be so proud of you.”
There it is.
Karen Wheeler was one of the few people who knew of your mother’s disappearance. Of course when you and Nancy had become friends your mothers’ bonded, you’d both made sure of it.
Your mom was always the unconventional one. A self proclaimed medium who you whole heartedly believed in. Who you knew loved you and saw you. And maybe that wasn’t anything magic beyond a mother’s intuition but she was everything to you.
Her break came in the form of many visions. Children hurting, hurting others, some great unknown evil. Pain in Hawkins, a terrible danger looming overhead, or perhaps underneath.
She couldn’t take it. Not in the town she decided to call her home, where she decided to raise a family, to raise you.
You remember the night she came into your room when you were sleeping. It was too dark to tell but you knew from her voice she was crying. She had whispered I love you over and over again, I’m sorry.
You always wondered what would’ve happened if you’d done more than sleepily tell her you loved her back. Your father never let you blame yourself, when you went downstairs the next morning he hid his tears and within the next month you moved to the city.
Mrs Wheeler took another long look at you then swiftly turned around to dab at her eyes. There was a brief pause as she collected herself, placed her hands on the front of her apron, then she decided to go back to the eggs she was frying. “Breakfast will be ready in a second if your hungry. Nancy hasn’t been down yet so I think she’s still sleeping but she shouldn’t mind you waking her. The boys are still asleep in the basement.”
You hope your voice is half as grateful as you feel right now. “Thank you Mrs Wheeler.” Its a moment where you wish you were better with your words, but at her look you understand she sees exactly how you feel.
You get up a few stairs before you hear her voice again,”Baby I hope you already know but this house is your home whenever you want it to be.”
The love you see in her, the patience and kindness. What a woman. “Thank you Mrs. Wheeler, you’re too good to me.” Her laugh is like music.
When you reached the top of the stairs you were hit with a wave of immense deja vu, so much you felt like staggering backwards. The hallway you ran up and down over and over as a kid, the door leading to your safe space, the carpet where you scrapped your knees.
You knock firmly on Nancy’s door and hear her groan, “Leave me.” In your head you can imagine her face half buried in a pillow and are met with that exact sight as you open the door.
Gently you close the it behind you, Nancy lifts her head, all bedhead and rumpled clothing at the soft noise. She gives you a tired smile and places her face back into the pillow, “Beee.”
There’s a beat before she rolls over to make room for you on the bed and your comfortable enough to climb under the covers next to her.
You look around her room, the Tom Cruise poster you got her, the still pink walls, her dainty bed frame. A large sigh escapes you and Nancy turns her head to peek one eye at you. You fill the silence as you stare at her ceiling,”I missed your mom.”
“I know. She missed you too.” She comes to rest her head on your shoulder. “Not as much as me though Bumblebee.” You snort a laugh. “How are you feeling? About being back and all.”
Another big breath. “I don’t know how to describe it. I know it’s stupid, but it was easier to imagine my mom stayed in Hawkins when we moved. Like she would always be here on the other side waiting for us, for me.”
Nancy takes your hand and you huff away the your heartache. “Anyway, tell me why was Steve Hairy Harrington in your basement last night?”
You feel her hushed laughter on your neck, “It’s “the hair” Bee.”
“Oops.” You couldn’t care less.
She chooses her words carefully, “It’s not- I’m very grateful for him you know? He’s been very helpful with the kids always watching their backs making sure they’re safe. It wasn’t any bodies fault we broke up, there were things, big things we couldn’t have expected or known how to deal with. But he’s a friend, he’s always gonna be a friend to me.”
An inexplicable weight on your chest is lifted, you try not to think about it. You push her lightly,” So what I’m hearing is Nancy Wheeler is on the market.”
She is silent for a moment and you look down to find her blushing furiously. You turn so suddenly you knock her head from your shoulder. “You have a crush! Nance that’s the best news I’ve gotten since they decided to make a sequel to a new hope!”
You didn’t know it was possible for someone to turn so red, but there was a sadness, a shame in her eyes that made your heartache return tenfold.
Your voice becomes much quieter, softer. “Nance?”
She looks up at you with big watery eyes. “Do you think you could ever hate me?” Your heart breaks into a million pieces.
You wrap her in your arms and hold her tightly to your chest with a tone of voice that leaves no room for doubt. “Never. I could never hate you Nancy, not now not ever.”
“Even if I liked girls?” Her voice is so quiet.
“Oh baby no, I will always love you, always. I love you so much, I would walk through hell for you. Fuck I would fold paper 8 times for you.” She laughs, it’s watery, and you can’t help but hold her tighter. “You’re my best friend Nance, I’d probably still have your back even if you killed someone.”
She holds you tighter back. “I love you.”
You smile brightly at her, “I know. What else is new?”
Nancy shoves you gently with her shocking strength and counts off a ridiculous list, “I shoot guns, I’m probably on a government watch list, I fought a giant monster made of flesh and bones.”
You laugh and she smiles at you. Again her voice goes quiet, “The girl from the basement yesterday, Robin.”
“She’s gorgeous.” Now probably wasn’t the right time to say you’d clocked them as soon as you saw them in the same room.
Nancy’s head falls back dramatically on her pillow. She sighs dreamily, “Isn’t she?”
“I think she likes you too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I saw the way she was looking at you Nance.” The way they both blushed under the others stare, the way they spoke each-others names.
You’re smiling at each other so brightly, a battle of two suns.
Nancy’s expression turns more playful, an eyebrow raises, “And I saw the way Steve looked at you.”
You bite your lip to keep your expression neutral. “Isn’t that like girl code or something?” For some reason you can’t meet her eyes.
She’s laughing at you, “You guys are like my best friends. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t want to see you happy?”
You turn back to her, “Nance, I think he’s the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen.”
Nancy smiles smugly,” And he’s a great kisser.”
You whack her with a pillow.
————-
The second time you see Steve Harrington you’re sitting on the top of your house. He was pulling into Max’s driveway in his pretty maroon BMW and you spotted Robin in the passenger’s seat.
You watched them bicker about something animatedly before Robin noticed you, abruptly stopped talking; Steve didn’t. You watch her say his name, once twice until she got his attention, and his eyes followed hers straight to you.
His mouth opens slightly and you’re betting what little money you have the sound that escaped him was a soft, “Oh.”
You climb down using the back porch and see Max at the same time locking her door. She takes off her walkman when she hears you call her name.
Steve rolls his window down when you both reach the car and places his elbow on the frame. “Hi- Hey! It’s good to- It’s good to see you! Here, where you live.” You lean over him with a hand on the roof of his car when Max climbs in, and he blanks. “At your house.”
Robin slaps him on the shoulder
and he yelps. “Smooth.” He glares at her and she raises her hands in defense,”No seriously Romeo, I think this is some of your best work.”
Steve frowns and tries again, “We’re gonna drop Max off at the arcade on our way to work. You should stop by, to see us sometime, If you want, no pressure, I just, you know, would like to see you. But don’t feel like you have to-“
“Okay I will.” His big eyes blink up at you and your easy response.
Maybe you were wrong. In the daylight his eyes looked more hazel than the brown you’d first thought they were. You think it would be nice to spend a long time picking out the different shades in them.
“I’ll be seeing you, Steve.” You lean in closer to the window to say your goodbyes, “Bye Robin, bye Max.”
You take a step back. It takes him a minute but at both Max and Robin’s responding waves he says bye back airily. Steve wonders when he got so breathless.
His car pulls out slowly, stuttering on the turf road and you watch as it disappears behind a corner, out of sight, heavily in mind.
————
Steve hasn’t stopped pacing for the past 30 minutes. Not since he invited you to Family Video, his job, where he works.
Or maybe he didn’t invite you, maybe he did the opposite, maybe he was too insistent on the idea that you did not need to come. Maybe he should’ve been more selfish, left it at he wanted to see you. Curse his big dumb heart.
Robin’s guess was that your definition of sometime was different than his; which in his head he could make sense of, his heart on the other hand couldn’t.
It was 5pm, their shift started at 11:45. That had to mean you weren’t coming “sometime”, now was sometime wasn’t it?
But Steve was just as afraid you would show up. That you would see him and his five a’clock shadow, him too tired and restless for his usual charm. He tried to make peace with himself that you weren’t coming, and that was okay, and his heart had no business aching quite as it was right now.
Still when the store’s bell rang he nearly broke his neck only to greet a hobbling elderly couple.
The second time the bell rang Steve was turned around, organizing the same few tapes for the twelfth time that day, he didn’t want to turn around. He didn’t want to turn around to see someone that wasn’t you.
Whoever it was they rang the desk bell, something Steve was unaware they had and he was forced to turn around. “Hi. Welcome to family video-“
You.
“Hi.” You. Smiling at him so beautifully. Steve thinks the room has grown ten times brighter, he wonders if the weather can explain it, maybe the clouds opened up for a moment to bathe you in a halo of light. Probably.
Steve wasn’t lying about the vest, if it’s possible you think it makes him even more handsome, it compliments his skin tone, his warm eyes.
All the air leaves him in one rushed breath, “You’re here.”
“I’m here.” You look down at your hands you’ve placed on the counter. “I’m sorry it took so long- I, I took uh, Mike’s bike here and I wasn’t exactly sure where here is.”
“No, no I’m just- I’m glad your here.” And you smile at him so brightly he feels his heart flutter in his chest.
Robin comes out of the back room,”Steve are you still pouting she’s not-“ Her eyes widen into saucers when she sees you. “You’re here.”
You nod still smiling,”I’m here.”
She sighs in relief, “Thank god I was afraid Steve was gonna start crying like a baby.” You laugh, and Steve rolls his eyes but the tips of his ears redden.
That’s his favorite sound he thinks, your laugh. He thinks it’s a shame he went most of his life without hearing it.
Robin comes around the counter to wrap you in a quick hug. “Let me know if you need anything, or just want a break from this idiot.” You nod again and watch her return to the back room.
“You see how mean she is to me?” Steve tries to keep a straight face but your smile is so contagious he can’t help himself. He shakes his head still grinning. “Here I want to show you something.”
You follow him as he leads you to one of the few isles. He’s warm, you feel it radiating off him in waves. You like standing next to him, it feels like the right place for you to be; a moth to his flame.
Neither of you are sure who’s fault it is the two of you end up standing so close together. And neither of you want to move away.
Your shoulder brushes his arm every time you breathe. He smells so good, something fresh and clean and woody and undeniably Steve.
“I thought you would appreciate this.” You look away from his face, hoping he didn’t notice your staring. He did, it’s half the reason he’s blushing so hard.
The Science fiction isle, it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your life, or now maybe the second. Blade Runner, The Star Wars trilogy, ET, The Terminator, Back to the Future ..Weird Science?
You pick up the tape, squinting to read the back synopsis.
Steve’s already looking at you when you look up at him, staring at you so intensely you feel warmer than you should inside the air conditioned store.
He cocks his head playfully offended,”Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it.”
You bite your lip and dark eyes follow the movement, “I haven’t seen it.”
It’s hard for him to pull his eyes away from your mouth. But he does, only to take the tape from your hands, big warm fingers brushing yours, and hold it next to his head.
“This, this is peak cinema. It’s a classic I don’t know how you haven’t seen it.”
You take another look at the cover, “Peak cinema huh.”
“You gotta trust me on this one.” Something flickers in his eyes. “Or you don’t. You could come over and watch it sometime if you want.”
“You must really want me around Harrington.” Steve likes the way you say his name, likes the way you’re grinning at him.
He leans over you, grinning back,”Maybe I just want to prove you wrong.”
Hot breath fans over your face, Steve can feel yours on his neck. Neither of you mean to go quiet, but neither of you can think to speak when you can hardly breathe.
A large crashing sound comes from behind the counter and the spell is broken. You take a step away from Steve and he wants to chase you, chase your warmth.
Robin stands there sheepishly and nobody is safe from the embarrassment.
Her voice is a few pitches too high,”Did I hear someone say movie night?”
part 3
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