#priest!steve harrington | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rustedhearts · 1 year

Text

Severed Lamb Part I: Blessed Be (Pastor!Steve x Fem!reader)

summary: your visit home for the summer comes with a handsome new preacher, who takes a special liking to you.

uses she/her pronouns and female anatomy.

♰ the steve collection ♰

♰ part ii: poor thing ♰

warnings: religious imagery/trauma, manipulation, abuse of power, age-gap (reader is 19, steve is 35), allusions to child abuse (you gotta squint, but the mom does some icky shit), mention of death/parent loss.

author's note: some dark stuff happening in this series, y'all, so read the warnings and take them seriously! i’m not responsible for your internet-intake. for the sake of this fic, i’ve given you (the reader) the name delilah (because 'y/n' just looks ugly and ruins my vibe). also delilah is a ballerina.

♰ Wyndgate, Georgia June 1981 ♰

The Georgian heat was insufferable.

A stiff, sticky heat that swells in your hair and bloats your cheeks. It made wading through the overgrown field of your childhood backyard a miserable task. But your mother requested fresh cherries from the tree, and you weren't one to deny your mother of her needs. You carried the old porcelain bowl, hand-painted with delicate lilacs, toward the tree in the distance, smacking off mosquitos and shooing away flies as you went.

When you reached the tree, you set the bowl on the ground and began to climb. The bark of the trunk felt just as it did when you were a child: solid, rough, mossy sandpaper against your palms. You wiped off the bark fragments on your denim shorts and began to pluck. Years of picking cherries gave you a keen eye for the ripest selections: plump, gleaming swells of red. You shoved a few into your cheeks before sliding down to fill the bowl.

The bowl was half-full and your stomach was full of cherry stem knots by the time you headed back toward the house. Birds chirped their evening goodbyes in the trees chasing the horizon line. Cicadas shook their wings and crickets rubbed their legs to make a chittering symphony. Just beyond the looming oak trees, the sun began to fade into a blur of gold and pink. The clouds looked like they were delicately etched by hand.

"Those for anybody?"

You jumped, hands slipping around the porcelain bowl clutched against your stomach at the sound of a deep voice before you. You steadied, tightened your grip, and settled your gaze upon the figure standing in front of you—a man. A handsome man. A crop of fluffy chestnut hair, a set of round copper eyes, a perfectly-sloped, straight nose, and a set of properly pink lips. Around his neck, he wore an intricate silver chain. Within the unbuttoned collar of his shirt, you spotted the glint of a small cross.

The man raised his brows, and you licked over your cherry-stained lips.

"N-No, sir, these are...these are for my mother. I got them from our tree, just there," you explained, turning to point toward your tree a few feet back.

The man followed your direction, hands tucked into the pockets of his brown slacks. Your throat bobbed with a swallow when his eyes roamed back toward you—your cheeks burned at the way they rolled over your skim-clothed body.

You weren't expecting company today, and usually the field behind your house was empty, seeing as it was private property. Nobody ventured into each other's properties...except him. Your denim shorts and thin-strapped camisole gave way to the shapes and curves of your body not suited for a man's eye. But what really caught this man's eye was not the way your breasts spilled from your top, or the way your thighs strained against the denim squeezed around them—but the cross resting below the dip in your collarbone. Gold, elegant, clearly hand-crafted for you.

A child of God. A beautiful lamb.

"Surely you can spare one for a lonesome stranger? I've traveled a long way," he cooed.

His voice was smooth and sweet. He had a way of talking and tipping his head all at once that made you feel like he was telling you a bedtime story. You found your fingers dipping into the bowl and plucking two cherries before your mind could catch up. Your hand brushed his as he collected them in his palm, and you followed his fingers as they approached his mouth.

"Mmm," he hummed around the sweet juices in his mouth. He ran his tongue over the front of his teeth and the inside of his cheek. "Sweet."

But his eyes were on you. They twinkled against the low-setting sun, golden light washing over him. You weren't entirely sure he was real, in that moment.

"I'll see you around." He passed by, curling two fingers gently around your elbow before he walked off toward the property next door.

♰ ♰

But that Sunday, you knew for a fact he was real.

The man from the field, the man that left you two cherries short and the recipient of a scolding from your mother, was standing just below the podium at the old evangelical church on Mulberry. Clasping the hands of bright-eyed women bearing crosses, bending into a gentle, respectful bow. Firmly returning the shake of balding men that were already sweating through their nicest shirts, still greased from a day's work at the auto shop. Crouching to cast a straight-toothed, dazzling smile at children not yet tall enough to reach the pews without climbing.

All the air in your lungs seemed to get caught in your throat as you approached him, arm looped through your mother's. Your Mary Janes clunked against the floor of the aisle, and your eyes sought something, anything, other than his handsome face waiting for you ahead.

"Ah, you must be Loraine."

His voice. It sounded just as it did that day in the field—sweet, smooth, like honey from the comb.

"Well now, how did you know that?" your mother giggled, reaching up to fluff her hair beneath her elaborately atrocious hat.

You curled your fingers into a fist behind your back, blunt nails digging into your palm. Your dress, pale yellow and dappled with embroidered daisies, suddenly felt too tight around your waist. Your mother tied it herself in the mirror this morning, pulling until it cinched so tightly that you could practically see the waistband of your underwear. There, now you look like a young lady.

"I've heard such wonderful things about your fashionable hats." He didn't have an accent. At least, not like the Georgians did.

He sounded more like they did in Pennsylvania, where you went to school. They had a certain way about over-pronouncing their vowels that made it clear they were Yankees—

"And this must be your daughter."

His eyes set upon you, and a full-bodied shiver ran down your spine. Your stomach clenched, and your mother squeezed her arm around yours a little tighter until you turned to meet his eye. She grinned toothily beside you, leaning to press your heads together. Her soft, fluffy hair tickled your cheek. You could smell the cigarettes still on her teeth from the car ride over. The man was looking at you with a half-mouthed smile that made you swallow.

He was so handsome. Too handsome for a preacher. Too handsome for Wyndgate.

"This is my baby girl, Delilah. Ain't she pretty?" Your mother reached behind your neck to tuck your hair behind your ear. Her pink nails scraped against the nape of your neck like a chalkboard.

"She's a ballerina, up in Pennsylvania. Came back to visit her Mama for the summer. Ain't that right, Lilah?"

You let your eyes touch the man's chin. The faintest collection of stubble gathered around his jaw. A mocha-colored mole kissed his neck. He watched you intently, hands suddenly returning to his black slacks like they did that day in the field. He donned all black today, and it made his eyes look golden. Under the fluorescents of the church, he glowed like something divine. He looked so young.

"Yes," you whispered.

His hand slipped from his pocket, a gentle whooshing sound. First, he clasped your mother's hand, giving it a delicate bob—and then he reached for yours. You didn't wait for your mother to nudge you, reaching out and slipping your fingers along his palm. His thumb brushed along your knuckles and your spine straightened. A terrible ache gathered between your thighs. You hadn't felt an ache like that since prom night, when Tommy Baker kissed you against his truck in the gymnasium parking lot.

"It's lovely to meet the both of you. Everyone's been so lovely to me, welcoming me into your congregation."

He spread his arms, palms upended, and motioned toward the church. Everyone was getting seated, shuffling about in the rickety old pews, murmuring amongst themselves about the handsome new preacher and his funny voice. In your periphery, you could see the young girls fanning themselves with pamphlets frantically. Mid-morning light blared through the stained glass and cast a violet rainbow over his cheek.

A kiss from God. Wyndgate talked for weeks about how God delivered His handsomest angel to them by hand.

You slipped away from the preacher and wandered toward your designated pew, sliding in beside your mother, tucked against the end. You carefully placed your bible on your knees and adjusted your dress, just as the podium creaked against the man's weight. He spread his arms again, like he was waiting to ascend and welcome in Heaven.

"Welcome, all, I'm Pastor Steve. What a beautiful day to celebrate our Lord, isn't it, church?"

And as the pews murmured their joyous agreement, Pastor Steve's eyes cut over to you. He grinned a half-cocked grin. You didn't know, if standing there behind the podium, was a gift sent from God, or a trick from the devil.

♰ ♰

Before he died, your Daddy converted the old hay barn in the backyard into a dance studio. Floor length mirrors covered nearly every inch of the wooden walls, hand-sawed lengths of log through their middle for balance bars. He hand-crafted all of it for you as a birthday gift just before you went to high school.

When he died, it became your only solace. A place of solitude, of lulling quiet—it was the only place you could think. Twirling on the top of your pointe shoe, watching the room spin and blur while you snatched armfuls of air, fingers delicately tapped together—it was your form of relaxation.

You left the barn door open today, letting the sticky heat billow in. It breezed over your bare arms and legs like a gentle whisper as you rotated and pranced around the room. Your elegant gold cross, a permanent token fixed around your neck, swinging in the air with every turnout.

"You always dance like this?"

A shriek left your mouth like a siren. You shot your foot out to put you at a hard stop, heaving for air and staring Pastor Steve straight in the face. He was leaning on the barn door, arms crossed, the toe of his leather loafer pressed to the shiny wooden floor. His church clothes abandoned, he donned a pair of brown slacks and a blue button down—crisp, pleated, rolled at the elbows. His silver chain glimmered in the soft glow of the evening light behind him.

"You alright?" he asked.

You blinked, hands finding your hips, cheeks burning. You swallowed, bobbing your head. Wisps of hair flounced against your forehead. From across the barn, Steve's eyes licked over your pale pink attire, your sweat-slick limbs, naked and bared for him. He found the cross resting above your breast and tipped his head to admire it.

“Y-yeah, m’ alright. Can I…what are you doin’ here?”

Steve took his lip between his teeth. His chin tipped down, eyes blaring through thick lashes to watch you reach for a water bottle on the floor. Your gold cross caught the sun like a beacon. He couldn’t look away from it. It glowed around your neck. You were divine beauty, a perfect little lamb. He knew it the moment he saw you scaling that cherry tree the other day. He knew it the moment he saw you floating down the church aisle like a bride. He couldn’t stop thinking about you.

God sent him to Georgia for you.

“Your mother,” Steve said, straightening up. He’d been staring too long. “I heard she’s the only woman in town that knows how to fix my robe the right way.”

You nodded along in agreement. Your mother was a talented seamstress—she could fix even the worst tear and make it look brand new. But you didn’t see a robe with him, and as your eyes flickered around to find it, Pastor Steve cracked a smile.

“It’s in my car,” he said.

You flashed a small, tight-lipped smile. Your cheeks swelled with more heat. His voice was so smooth and soft. It tickled your ears like a melody.

“Oh,” you murmured meekly.

Silence filled the barn. In the yard, birds twittered, and the chickens in your neighbor’s pen a few yards down clucked nosily. Steve continued to tip his head and inspect you. You swallowed again, bringing your hands to clasp together behind your back, and tapped your ratty pointe shoes together on the floor. Your good shoes were back at school, on rental for the semester. You scrubbed floors and cleaned the mirrors every night after class just to afford to keep them. Without the scholarship you earned, you wouldn’t be able to afford to dance at all.

“Um, I should probably head inside,” you piped up, rising to the tops of your toes only to press back down again.

Steve watched you closely for another moment. Everything about the way you moved made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It was thrilling, the way you spun and twirled, the way you walked like you were airless. You were graceful, just like a swan.

You clutched your water to your chest and shuffled toward the corner where your sneakers waited. You opted to hook your fingers in their soles instead of changing—something about the way Pastor Steve followed your every move made you tremble and squirm, and you were desperate to get into the cool confines of your room and avoid his pretty stare.

You lifted your head and cast another small smile that had him clenching.

“Have a nice day, Pastor.”

Oh and your voice. Hushed, delicate, meek. You always sounded like you were delivering a line written by Shakespeare himself. It sent shivers down Steve’s spine, that voice.

You brushed past him in a breeze—a whiff of sweet sweat and rose soap—and Steve broke out of his daydream to catch a glimpse of the nape of your neck. With your hair pulled away from it, your neck looked enticing—a patch of clammy skin, braced with the fragile, glimmering golden rope of your necklace.

“Mhm,” Steve hurriedly hummed, lifting off the door of the barn as you sweepingly turned the corner toward the house. “See you inside.”

And as hard as you tried to avoid it, you did see him inside.

You hurriedly showered and scurried into your room as your mother extended her southern hospitality—soon, the lace dining cloth was covered in glasses of freshly-brewed sweet tea and bowls of cherries.

You sat down at the cushioned stool of your vanity and smoothed cream over your damp face, listening carefully to the murmur of your mother and Pastor Steve’s voices on the other side of the wall. Her laugh was over-joyous and sickeningly sweet, and you heard your name mentioned far too frequently for your liking.

Dressed in a breezy sundress, you settled down on your bed beside the open window, letting in a warm wind that fluttered your drapes, and cracked open an old favorite from your tiny shelf—Anne of Green Gables. You turned to the bookmarked page, letting the breeze from the window and the wind from the ceiling fan cool down your skin, still buzzing with thrumming warmth from your spinning in the barn and Pastor Steve’s heavy gaze.

But every turn of the page came with a glimpse of his eyes in your mind. A hazel color, big and round and penetrative. They followed you like they were pinned to the back of your head. You felt the weight of that gaze all through Sunday’s sermon, and again while you fidgeted in the barn. He was always watching. And something about the way he looked at you made you feel…special. Special in a way you didn’t feel back at school, or anywhere previously in Wyndgate where all the girls who got attention were slender and blonde and giggly.

But to Pastor Steve, you were something worth looking at. And a man of God’s approval, his praise, mattered most of all.

“Lilah! Lilah, come set Pastor Steve a place for dinner!”

Your mother’s voice washed over you like a cold drip, and your book fell from your hands to your floral quilt. Your cheeks bloomed with heat again, cursing under your breath as you shuffled toward the edge of the mattress. Bare legs dangling over, your hand flew to your chest to rub the cross between your knuckles in search of comfort. In the living room, the deep rumble of Pastor Steve’s voice made your stomach squirm.

“Oh, Lord,” you whispered pleadingly, eyes turning toward the portrait of Jesus in a frame above your bed. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to me.”

Don’t make me go out there. He’s so handsome.

“Lilah Anne! I’m not callin’ you again,” your mother’s voice was just on the other side of the door, and a harsh knock followed after.

The door flew open, and you bounced off the bed. Flustered, you watched your mother sigh and ease the door into a crack behind her. She tiptoed toward you, checking over your appearance as she went.

“Lilah, he’s a very important man. I want you to use our nice plates. The ones with the bluebells, alright?”

You bobbed your head furiously. The back of your dress started to cling to your spine. You reached behind to pluck it away, give your skin some air to breathe, and your mother grabbed your arm. She leaned in close, and you knew by the purse of her lips what was coming next:

“Make yourself real pretty, alright? Pastor Steve is such a nice man,” she gushed.

She pinched your cheek and patted the skin, and your chest tightened as the back of her head disappeared through the door. When it closed, you spun around and walked toward the mirror, standing tall in the corner of your room. There you stood, pulling at your pale blue dress, frowning at your bare arms and legs. But Mama would want them like that, on display for Pastor Steve to see. Just like all those times when her friends came over. She’d bring them home from the bar and introduce you in the living room, and you always sat in a chair in the corner, pretending not to understand what it meant when they kept calling you “a sure thing.”

But Pastor Steve was different. Pastor Steve was a man of God. He’d never stray from God’s guidance.

So, you neatly plaited your hair and swept it over your shoulder. You rubbed strawberry chapstick over your lips and nose, and delicately placed your unfinished book on the nightstand for later. The ceiling fan hummed absently over your empty bed.

You gathered the plates—the gleaming porcelain with the hand-painted bluebells—from the china cabinet, and cleared the clutter from the table to fix it for dinner. All the while, as you bent to place silverware beside each place, you gazed beneath your arm over toward the living room. Pastor Steve stood, arms out, in the center of the wood-paneled room. Your mother knelt before him, working her needle through the hole in his deep, swampy green robe. The crosses embroidered on the fabric were golden and shiny.

His head turned, a strand of hair catching over his eye, and you ducked away toward the fridge. Yanking it open, you relished in the cool air blowing from the vent in the buzzing white light of its confinement.

"...should be all ready to—Lilah Anne, what on earth are you doin' in there?"

You hurriedly slammed the fridge closed, rattling the bread box on top and the glass condiments on the inside shelf—and standing on the other side of the table, was a furrow-browed mother and a perfectly well-stitched Pastor Steve. The latter flashed you a boyish grin, and your cheek burned as you looped your fingers together behind your back.

"I set the table like you said, Mama," you murmured softly, tipping your head toward the wooden table, adorned with its white lace cloth and bluebell plates.

Steve followed your gaze, admiring your organized layout. Your mother merely glanced, otherwise focused on the neatness of your braid. She swept the end of it over your shoulder to drape down your arm as she passed by, heading toward the fridge to grab yesterday’s chicken.

"I was just gonna heat up some of this chicken, is that alright, Pastor?"

You turned to the man anxiously, teeth pulling at the loose skin of your bottom lip. His loafers clunked against the tiled floor sharply, and you followed them all the way to the chair at the head of the table, a place set just for him. He placed his hand on the back of the chair—your Daddy's old chair—and set his eyes on you: neck bent, arms tucked behind your back, a picture of obedience and grace.

"That sounds wonderful, Loraine."

The chicken plate clattered on the counter. The tinfoil rustled and crinkled. The stovetop clicked, the pan sizzled. The kitchen became stiff with hot air, and the window squealed when your mother pushed it open. Outside, the cicadas were still chittering furiously. And you stood, exactly where you were, staring at the tops of your bare toes against the linoleum tile.

"Delilah, come sit with me."

Your head snapped up. Pastor Steve stood from the table and stepped to the left, pulling the chair from the table. He motioned toward it with a sweeping hand, and with a glance over your shoulder toward your nodding mother, you took small, timid steps over. You sank down, breath hitching when Pastor Steve came behind you to push the chair back in. His stomach firm against the back of your head, his hands big and warm on either side of your shoulders. They grazed your shoulder blades before he sat back down, and your body tingled with shivers.

A mere foot away from you, Pastor Steve was the closest he'd ever been. He placed his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. The round face of his watch glinted in the low-setting sun, a warm yellow light. The band of it was brown leather, like his shoes, and fit him well. His robe was gone now, folded neatly and placed on the stool beside the door where you sat to take your shoes off. But he didn't seem concerned about it—his eyes were set on you.

"Your mother tells me your father passed a few years ago."

Your heart squeezed. You paused, eyes turning toward your mother's figure at the stove. She didn't like to talk about your Daddy very much. When she did, her words were usually biting and cruel. To her, he was a "lazy, no-good son-of-a-bitch." But to you, your Daddy was the sun and moon.

You nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. When I was fifteen."

Pastor Steve hummed.

"That musta been hard, especially at that age. I lost my father, too."

Your head tipped up. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of your eyes, peeking through your lashes, blinking up at him. Your cheeks were the loveliest shade of pink.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Mhm. I was twelve."

Your lips instinctually pulled into a frown. Before you could reply, your mother squawked from the stove:

"Oh, Pastor, I'm so sorry for your loss," she drawled.

But Pastor Steve's eyes never left yours. In fact, they were glued to you. And his hand, cupped around his jaw, fell to the table with a quiet thump. Your eyes flittered toward it, watching it slither across white lace. It came to a stop beside your plate, flipping to place his knuckles against the table, palm upended.

"I understand your pain, Delilah," he murmured.

Taking a deep breath in, you slipped your fingers into his waiting hand. It closed around your knuckles, holding your fingers to his palm in a soothing embrace. You met his gaze cautiously, heart thumping in your throat. Pastor Steve's eyes were soft and round like a puppy-dog's, brows furrowed in shared sympathy.

"God understands your pain. And though loss may lead us astray, we must stay strong, and put our trust in the Lord," he preached, voice smooth like whiskey. When a small smile touched your face, Pastor Steve mirrored it. "He'll take us exactly where we need to be."

The last sentiment was whispered, a shared secret between the two of you. His smile slipped sideways, another boyish image of the man before you, and a burst of endearment flooded your chest at the sight of him in your father's chair. You found yourself clinging to his words, replaying them in your head, etching them into your memory to grasp onto forever. And while you pondered, wading in the charming ease of his demeanor, Steve brought his hand under the table, and ran the length of his knuckles across your knee.

During dinner, he conversed with your mother about the historical society, the women's church group, the annual fundraiser at the end of the summer. Every few moments, his hand would brush your knee beneath the table. Each time your head turned to question it, he passed you a lopsided smile. It was comforting, that handsome smile. God will take you exactly where you need to be, Delilah.

Your mother packed him a Tupperware container of cherry pie to take home, and he gathered it atop his sewn robe as he headed toward the door.

"Thank you again," he cooed to your mother, whose smile was blinding.

"Oh, don't mention it, Pastor, we're lucky to have you. Lilah, why don't you walk Pastor Steve out, it gets real dark out back this time a' night."

Your mother pinched the back of your arm when you turned to protest, and you hurriedly stepped toward the door to obey. Pastor Steve flashed a tight-lipped smile at your mother, and swung the door open. The screen door groaned on its rusty hinges when he pushed it, and the sticky heat instantly sought home in the kitchen. You floated through the open doorway past his waiting figure, hands clasped behind your back once more, bare feet scuffing over the chipped paint of the porch.

You walked languidly, but with a refinement to your posture and an upturn of your nose that Steve adored. He watched you as you trailed along beside him, rustling through the grass like rabbit, quiet and small. His car was waiting in the drive around the barn. The license plate was from Indiana.

"Why'd you move away from Indiana?"

You don't know why you asked. The words came tumbling from your mouth like they were exorcised, wretched from somewhere deep inside. It must’ve been the Southern meddler swarming inside you. But Pastor Steve just smiled that boyish, sideways smile, and shrugged.

"I wanted a change of scenery."

You nodded approvingly, coming to a stop at the hood of the car. Pastor Steve scuffled to a halt right after, turning to gaze down at you, still clasping his chicken and green robe. You swallowed, and he watched your face twist with worry. He frowned, brows furrowing.

"What's wrong, Delilah?"

You chewed on the inside of your lip, gazing down at the tops of his shoes.

"Mama...did she say anything cruel about my daddy? They...didn't always get along."

Steve inhaled deeply. Your father. That was your soft spot. Like every fruit, you had a bruise—a soft spot, where he knew, if he pushed with just the right amount of pressure, you would burst.

Pastor Steve took a step closer.

"Don't worry, Delilah, I don't believe a word. I can see how much you loved him."

You nodded, tipping your head back to find his gaze again. His lips were plump and red from the pie.

"You know," he said, cocking his head again. "If you ever need to talk or just get out of the house, you can always come visit me at the church. I'm a great listener."

You grinned shyly. "Thank you, Pastor. I...haven't been to confession in...too long," you admitted lightly.

Steve shrugged airily.

"Oh, that's alright. God leads us exactly where we need to be, remember?"

You nodded quickly. "Right."

The sky had darkened to an inky indigo. In this great big clearing, flanked with bushels of dense oak trees, the stars were on full display. Steve could take count of every single one if he wanted to. But all he could do, in this great Southern expanse, was look at you.

His tongue flicked out to wet his lips, and your eyes followed.

"You're a beautiful dancer," he mused.

You flushed, ducking bashfully. In the back of your head, your mother's voice rang: men like weak and fragile. Men like women that bend to their will. Maybe if you bent, if you weakened, Pastor Steve would see how good you are, and in the eyes of the Lord, that was all that mattered.

All that mattered was that you were good, and kind, and lovable. That's all you wanted.

"Thank you, Pastor."

Pastor Steve's watch caught the moonlight as he brought his hand to your forehead. There, he swiped a stray wisp of hair from your lashes, shaken loose from your braid. He guided it behind your ear, where his hand slipped to fondle your delicate braid. The length of it glided through his palm like a snake. He watched it fall through his grasp while your breath became shallow.

"God's finest work."

Your heart pounded wildly in your ears. You beamed at the praise, glowing beneath his approving gaze. Steve, noticing the way you perked at his gentle, murmured tone, how you leaned into his coaxing validations, gave it a little push. His hand came to your chin, which he cupped in a gentle hold to pull you up. You allowed him to guide you, bringing your forehead to his mouth. There, he placed a gentle kiss.

When you settled back down on your heels, you gazed up at him dazedly.

"You are blessed, Delilah. God has a very special place for you in his heart."

Your throat bobbed with another swallow. His thumb pressed into your chin. His eyes roamed your parted lips.

"And I think," Steve whispered, chest heaving, "he sent me here to make sure of it."

♰ ♰

#rolly!#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x y/n smut #steve harrington x female reader smut #steve stranger things #steve the hair harrington #priest!steve harrington #pastor!steve harrington #joe keery #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #dark steve harrington #dark!steve x you #dark!steve harrington

742 notes · View notes

officerrrfriendly · 3 months

Text

The Taken, 'All I Think About Now'

stranger things conjuringAU! priest!steve harrington x demonologist/clairvoyant!fem reader.

"And what did he say?" you poke nervously, leaning forward into your desk as you await a reply from the timid girl in front of you.

"Well he...uhh...okay so-agh," she groans, shaking her head before continuing "you're not gonna be pleased with me, well- you'll be pleased with me but not my answer to your current query-"

"Just spit it out, Robin." you shoot her a suspicious glare as you wait for her reply. She looks like she is about to explode into a poof of smoke, her face red and flustered with heat.

"He's on his way right now andhewouldn'tletmereplysoi-"

"WHAT?!" you would openly admit to anybody who asked that perhaps, at that moment- you had been unnecessarily loud and angry at poor, nervous Robin...who now stood frozen before you, eyes wide and fearful. She tries to ease your stress by joking "I would say April fools but you know boss, it's October!!...that and I'm not really kidding but- he's coming over because he's worried about you! isn't that sweet? yeah? that's...okay that's not- yeah that's clearly not helping you." she rambles, pacing back and forth around the room whilst you spin in your chair to look at yourself in the mirror behind you.

You almost gasped, an army of rollers currently situated themselves within your hair, a booger-green clay face mask piled thick onto your face and an ugly curtain-like patterned robe tied tightly around your waist, covering your person.

"Okay...this is-okay," you take deep, regulated breaths -just like your therapist had recommended - and turn to face your very apprehensive assistant once more, you question "Did he say when he was coming?"

DING-DONG!!

"About that..." Robin retorts, high-pitched as ever. She grimaces, bracing herself before you even respond.

"FUCK!!"

.•.•

You move at an inhuman speed as you scrub the clay mask off your face, not pausing to take any breaths. "Get off of my face, slimy bastard." you groan, using the flannel (or washcloth) to get the remaining contents off of your face, scrubbing with an endless amount of vigour.

Fortunately, it worked. You pat your face dry using the towel hanging on the rack beside you and quickly make work of removing the rollers sitting pretty in your hair. You knew you only had so much time to do so, as Robin could only distract him for so long. Ignoring the aching pain of ripping out the rollers from your head, you are onto the last one. This is the moment where you consciously decide that luck, is indeed not on your side today. It gets stuck, deeply embedded into the archives of your head. "Oh fuck!" you shout, slamming your hand on the bathroom sink.

The loud noise could be heard from the lower floor of the house, where Father Steve stood in the doorway whilst Robin rambled on about something he stopped paying attention to about ten minutes ago.

He immediately panics, as the loud shout is met with a deafening silence after. Politely moving himself past the dazed assistant in front of him he begins to run vigorously up the stairs without an ounce of hesitancy. He reaches the top of the stairs and calls out your name anxiously.

'Great, just fucking great' you mumble, tugging harder on the stubborn roller that sticks to your hair like it's superglued there. You sigh, deciding to not be a total asshole you reply, easing his concerns. "I'm fine Father Steve!! I'll be with you in a second."

.•.•

A short eternity later, you join Robin and Father Steve downstairs after successfully winning the fight against the tenacious nylon roller. And surprisingly, you didn't look like a total wreck...thank God. Now, you are sitting in your living room with Father Steve as you try to explain the situation at hand with the Byers family and how his assistance is required in this situation whilst Robin prepares some tea in the kitchen.

Notes of all different sizes and colours are scattered all over the wooden coffee table along with the polaroid of the young Byers child, smiling happily whilst holding a replica of a proton gun from Ghostbusters. The picture had been what had drawn you to take on the case in the first place. His smile held such child-like innocence, radiant joy...you felt anger in knowing that an evil entity had taken advantage of this blameless, pristine boy with a bright future ahead of him.

"I can see why this concerns you, I mean...this seems all too similar to...you know..." Father Steve mutters, hands clasped tightly together as he squeezes them, anxiously. And you did know, you knew all too well of what he was referring to. It had been all you'd thought about for months now, even heavier on your mind since visiting Maxine at the hospice. The sound of bones snapping, blood spewing, screams tearing through your earbuds and inhuman mumblings spoken from the tongue of the devil himself.

It makes you shiver in dread. You nod at Father Steve's implications before you return with "I'm going to visit Joyce, his mother, tomorrow to look at the house and possibly speak to Will. I need to gather some evidence to get permission from the Vatican for an exorcism...hence why I need your help. Please." You explain, tone rich in desperation as your sentence nears its end.

Your pleas don't fall on deaf ears - they never do when it comes to Father Steve - as he nods, lacking any form of reluctance. "Yes, of course. You don't even have to ask," he says your name softly before he proceeds further, "you know I'll come running whenever you call." As he speaks, he places one of his hands on top of yours- they're warm.

There's that funny feeling again. That one where your insides twist and slide about. It's sickeningly sweet, yet uneasy.

And before you can thank him, Robin waltzes in holding a fancily patterned tray you didn't even know you owned, holding three cups of perfectly made tea. You both quickly separate your hands from one another. "Who wants some tea, folks?" she asks in a fake British accent, raising her eyebrows up and down repeatedly with a smug smirk.

.•.•

July 4th 1983, The Hargrove Residence.

The wind swirls like a category 4 hurricane outside the diminutive white-painted house with the dull blue roof. Billy Hargrove groans deeply as he sits, tied to a wooden chair pulled straight out of the kitchen with some rope his father had lying around in the shed. His complexion was as pale as the porcelain vase stuffed with pink tulips that sat contently in the kitchen, blissfully ignorant of what was occurring in the next room.

Father Steve grips his bible like a vice, determined to exorcise the evil out of this boy. Lucas and Max are standing coyly behind you in the living room, holding hands. Billy's father Neil, furrows his brows, apprehensive of what's to come with Max's mother, Susan on his arm- shaking. And you...you are standing your ground.

A bead of sweat trails off of his forehead and falls onto the top of his thigh- staining his tight jeans with a circular wet dot. The inhuman-looking black veins in his arms grew darker- if that was even possible and he cried out, "Untie me fuckers!! fucking untie me now!!"

You sigh in frustration and walk over to the heater on Billy's right, dialling up the heat...but not without wincing before doing so. "Aaghhh! You fucking bitch!" and as he screamed, you could hear more than one voice spit those venomous words at you. The floor began to shake, like that of an earthquake- but you keep your composure. Father Steve goes to step forward with his bible- but you get to Billy first.

"No, you listen you son of a bitch!" you began to speak, leaning down in front of the taken one who sits before you, now face to face. "You are going to free this boy of your evil! Whether you like it or not, with the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I condemn you from carrying out your devious intentions!" you spit out, with just as much venom in your tone and as soon as you uttered those very words he began to cry in agony.

This time, he doesn't look at you- he looks at someone behind you with pleading eyes. "Max, please!! You have to help me, you have to believe me, Max!!" he cries, his bottom lip violently wobbling with 'sadness' but in his eyes held no tears. Lucas steps in front of her, protectively, glaring at the boy bound to the chair in front of him.

You glance back at Max briefly, shaking your head "Don't believe a word he says, Maxine!" you warn. She gets up from her original position- leaning against the wall - Lucas grabs her arm softly, and she gives him a look of reassurance before mouthing 'It's okay.' She begins to walk in your direction. And for a moment, you think she's going to untie him...but she doesn't.

Instead, she moves the other heater and dials it up all.the.way. She looks at you and nods with sincerity- drowning out 'Billy's' cries of pain before moving her left hand to her forehead, swiping off a trail of sweat that began to moisten the top of her forehead.

The shaking of the floor intensified and items on shelves around the living room began to fall and shatter on the ground. You look to Father Steve and he nods his head, flicking to a certain page in the bible and you grip the bottle of blessed holy water that sits in the crevice of your cardigan pocket, itching to be opened.

But before you can act something unexpected occurs. Something sinister...the beginning of the end. Max is suddenly thrown to the other side of the room, her back hitting the wall on Billy's right. Susan screams and goes to run to her daughter's aid but Neil grabs her by the waist, stopping her. You're frozen in time and apparently so is Father Steve but not Lucas.

Lucas sprints to the other side of the room where Max was tossed and gets about halfway before an unknown force suddenly pulls him back. "No! Max, no!! Let her go, you asshole!" he roars in fury, storming over to the chair-bound devil. Father Steve holds an arm out to stop Lucas before he begins to read out of the bible. Max slowly finds her footing, standing up.

"I command you, unclean spirit, whoever you are, along with all of your minions now attacking this servant of God, by the mysteries of the incarnation, passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the descent of the Holy Spirit, by the coming of our Lord for judgement, that you tell by some sign your name and the day and hour of your departure. I command you, moreover, to obey me to the letter, I who am a minister of God despite my unworthiness; nor shall you be emboldened to harm any way this creature of God, or the bystanders, or any of their-" Steve stopped reading when he saw the horrified, pale look on your face. He turns to look at what you're seeing.

Max is floating in the air.

Susan becomes scared and tells Father Steve, "Please stop this!! I can't lose my baby!! Please!" she kicks and cries.

You utter to Steve, "Carry on, we have to get this out of him." as you pull out the much-awaited bottle of holy water, popping open the corked lid and begin splashing some at Billy. The floor began to violently shake and objects began to fly around the room, the wind picked up even heavier outside.

"-Possessions...they shall lay their..."

A blood-curdling scream rips through the entire home before a thud shakes the floor. When you look back at Max you gasp, feeling all of the breath fall out of your lungs. You run over the frail, weak girl and scrape her into your arms.

You look at her face, it's not a pretty sight to see.

One of her eyes had been gauged out, a stream of blood pouring out, whilst the other eye bears a long diagonal slash across it, the cut deep. She cries, "help me...please help me."

"It's going to be okay, honey...It's going to be okay I promise you that. Lucas!" you comfort, before calling to her boyfriend who you realise was right behind you this entire time. He shared the same look of utter, and sheer terror with you. You get up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Stay with her, okay? Stay." you give him a look of sincerity before handing him the bottle of holy water. "Protect yourselves."

The lights began to flicker in the living room. The shaking of the floor is so intense that it makes you feel sick to your stomach- but you know that that isn't the only reason.

Steve sighs in apprehension before he continues with the prayer- this time he speaks it with more fire in his tone, and determination.

"And by the power of God, I condemn you back to Hell!!" he demands with a furious yell. Just as he nears the end of his sentence, the old clock in the hallway outside the living room chimed four times.

The lights go out completely for a moment, but the physical darkness of the room was shortlived as the lights jumped back on.

Billy Hargrove lay limply in the wooden chair, lifeless.

His head hung low and his eyes, nose and mouth poured with blood. His throat had been slit.

So.much.blood.

.•.•

You hadn't realised you had been daydreaming until you clock that a finger is mere centimetres away from your face, snapping constantly. "Oh, there she is!! She's back. Hi!! we missed you...you haven't touched your tea yet, Psychic Sally." It's Robin, her tone burns with amusement but her gaze is full of concern.

You manage a dry laugh, shaking your head. Before picking up the cup of tea and bringing it to your lips, taking a sip.

"Sorry...sorry yes- yeah just got distracted, s'all." you lie, placing the cup down onto your favourite 'The Beatles' coaster. And if there was one thing about the people who had spent enough time around you to actually know you, it was that they knew when you were lying.

He knew.

He would ask you about it later, he had decided. But as of right now, he would remain professional. Right now, he was Father Steve- but after you've discussed tomorrow's plans...he would just be Steve.

A 'friend.'

"So...let's make a plan then, I thought it oughta be best to be more prepared this time because- well you know..." you suggest, face scrunching up in frustration at your inability to even utter words about that night. Father Steve nods knowingly, before smiling at you with reassurance. You glance back at him and realise that this is the first time in a while, that you have been able to properly look at him.

That dirty blondish-brown hair of his was styled perfectly into a short mullet, it was longer than it was the last time you had gawked at it- more unkempt. And even though it was fall, he still had that sunkissed glow on his skin like aphrodite had kissed it herself, and that smile- that goddamn smile. Pardon your French, sorry God.

Robins looks between the two of you as she takes a gulp of her tea, hiding her smirk in the crevice of the cup. She will heavily quiz you on this later. Why hadn't you both talked sooner?

The phone in the hallway began to blare out receptive 'brrrlliingggg's and Robin sighed, getting up from her spot on the couch before she turned to you both. "I'll be back, lovebirds."

You huff, trying to avoid the heat you feel travelling towards your face. He does the same, chuckling lightheartedly. You missed that sound, you didn't get to hear it a lot.

It was admittedly, very nice to hear, the nicest.

Whilst the two of you began to arrange meeting times for the morning, Robin made it to the kitchen to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Robin answers, twirling the wire of the landline around her finger whilst she anticipates an answer.

"Oh...um...hey, I think I may have the wrong number- I'm looking for," she says your name, nervously, and there's a silence after that ensues for only a short period before Robin intervenes. "Oh! no not at all, she's just in the living room...hold on," she covers the phone with her hand and shouts your name followed with "phone!"

To which you excuse yourself from Father Steve, who is sitting looking through the file you had written earlier that night regarding the Byers' case.

You arrive at the kitchen and thank your lovely, yet sometimes painfully annoying assistant as she hands you the phone and you say, "-Hey there, who's calling?" whilst propping yourself up against the kitchen counter.

"It's Max, we need to talk...like- right now." She quietly whispers, sighing. You stop leaning up against the counter and stand up, concerned. "Yeah yeah, what's...what's up?" you ask, unsure of what her answer will be.

"I had to whisper for a moment, sorry. My carer was just here- she helped me dial- doesn't matter...But it's happening again...isn't it?" Her voice wavered with fear, and full of solemn dread you muster up a reply.

"How do you know that, Maxine? How do you...?" you blurt out with a mixture of confusion and fear coursing through your veins. You hear her sigh on the other end of the phone before she shuffles around in what you assume is her armchair.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Max," she jokes, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere. You sigh, not in a joking mood when it comes to her safety and involvement in the situation at hand.

She huffs... before she speaks again.

"Joyce Byers called me today."

.•.•

HEY!! sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, had a super stressful and jam-packed week!! but things should be back on schedule now! thank you all so much for the support and thank you to @stveharringtn for being there for me so much!!

taglist: @stveharringtn, @be-the-spark-bitch, @ravenhellfire86 , @kitdjarin1 , @sage-glowstick

let me know if you would like to be added!! i’m posting some extra bits today, like pictures of readers house, pictures of maxine’s home at the hospice, etc!!

47 notes · View notes