Stranger Things - Imagines

Steve Harrington X Munson!Reader - Tenderness

A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Try A Little Tenderness by Otis Redding. Reader is Wayne's daughter/ Eddie's Cousin. I hope you all enjoy it. 

Ever since Eddie and Steve had become friends, they had been practically joined at the hip, totally inseparable, and constantly hanging around the trailer together. It had been cute at first. You were pretty certain you'd never seen the two of them interact at school, and then, suddenly, they were best friends. And honestly, ever since the stuff that had happened with Chrissy, Eddie was in need of all of the friends he could get. 

The only issue you could see was that the longer Steve hung around the trailer, the more likely it was that your tiny little crush on him would turn into something more. He was hot. You had known that even before he'd ever said a word to you. But seeing how soft and sweet he could be was really starting to make it hard to ignore just how hot he really was. 

He would help you bring in groceries from the car and take out the trash so that you didn't have to do it. He did the washing up when Eddie forgot. He scolded Eddie when he was a little too mean and often took your side when you were arguing with your cousin. And, God, the way he smiled at you was enough to make your stomach erupt in a cloud of fluttering butterflies. 

"Hey," Steve called out as you pushed into the trailer, letting out a soft sigh when you found the two of them as you often did, spread out across the couch with the TV playing shitty reruns of some show that they'd already seen every episode of. "You're later than usual," he added softly, offering you a small smile when he noticed the frown pulling at the corner of your lips. 

"Closing took longer than it should've," you uttered, immediately heading over to the kitchen and digging around in the cupboards until you found your secret stash of cookies hidden right at the back behind a collection of spices and herbs, where you knew Eddie wouldn't ever think to check. "And then my car completely died on the side of the road, so I had to just wait until someone was nice enough to stop and give it a jumpstart," you added, risking a glance in his direction as you continued frowning. 

Eddie looked totally distressed when he looked up at you, and for a moment, Steve wondered whether he was going to finally give you the space to vent that you so clearly needed. "Have you been hiding snacks from me?" he finally bit out, drawing a sigh out of Steve as your frown seemed to deepen. 

"When you start buying groceries, I'll start sharing my snacks with you, asshole," you bit back, letting out a disgruntled sigh as you marched into your bedroom, slamming the door behind you so hard that the entire trailer shook. 

Wayne had popped out of the bathroom a couple of seconds later, freshly showered and ready for work. "What the fuck-"

"Y/N's home," Eddie answered, letting out a snort of laughter. "Must be her time of the month or something."

Wayne smacked him around the back of the head as he walked past the couch. "Maybe it wouldn't kill you to try being a little more compassionate then, huh?" 

"Not my fault she's had a shitty day-"

Wayne shook his head as he sighed. "Shit, I should probably check on her, shouldn't I?" he muttered, looking to Steve for confirmation rather than Eddie. 

"She seemed pretty worked up," he answered quietly. 

"Maybe one of you two could poke your head in whilst I'm at work?" He risked a glance down at Eddie, splayed out rather inelegantly, and clearly not the right man for the job. "Steve, son, would you mind?"

Steve's mouth dropped open as his eyes darted between Wayne and your bedroom door. "I don't know-"

"Please, Kid, if Eddie does it, she might end up murdering him. That wouldn't be a great look on us right now," Wayne pressed, offering up a pleading smile. "You'd be doing me a massive favour," he added, throwing his jacket on, already headed out the door.

Steve finally nodded. "Sure."

"You're a lifesaver," Wayne uttered, patting him on the shoulder a little too roughly before heading out of the trailer to the truck. 

Steve pushed up to his feet slowly, headed straight to the cupboard and rummaged around inside until he found the hot cocoa mix. "Does Y/N drink this stuff?" He murmured, watching as Eddie lifted his head to look at the jar in Steve's hands. 

He shrugged slightly. "Dunno," he uttered, drawing another sigh out of Steve. 

"Real helpful, Man," he muttered, making the executive decision to go ahead with his plan anyway. He was quick to make up the drink, carrying both mugs to your door and knocking lightly. 

"Fuck off, Ed-"

Steve paused for a moment before clearing his throat. "It's Steve," he murmured, waiting for a moment until you appeared at the door, opening it just enough to look out at him brow furrowed in confusion. Steve held up the mugs to show you. "I made cocoa."

"Oh," you hummed, opening it a little further for him to come inside. "Thank you," you pressed on, watching him set both down delicately on your bedside table. 

"So, shit day, huh?"

You hesitated for a moment, shifting on the spot until finally caving and moving to sit in the middle of the bed. "The shittest." 

"Tell me about it-"

You nodded, taking the mug between your hands and biting down on the inside of your cheek. Of course, everyone had shitty days, why the fuck were you getting so worked up? Steve probably thought you were completely stupid, biting everyone's heads off over something as ridiculous as a broken-down car.

"What're you waiting for?" he hummed, moving to sit on the other end of the bed, mimicking your cross-legged position. "Tell me about it-"

"Oh," you uttered, swallowing down the lump in your throat. "You don't want to hear about how shit my job is-"

"Why not?"

You sighed. "Because it's dumb. I'm an adult and I was basically crying over work."

He watched you for a moment, his head tilting to the side slightly. "I don't think it's dumb," he confessed. "Think you work ridiculous hours and then come back here and end up having to look after your dad and that man-baby out there so they don't end up just keeling over," he pressed on, shrugging. "You're bound to get worked up from time to time." He watched as you bit down into your bottom lip, clearly fighting back a wave of emotion. "So, come on, tell me about your day."

"God, it was just one thing after another. One of the girls was sick, so I had to cover her section. And I had a bunch of asshole customers who ended up running me ragged and then barely even tipping. And my boss was being such a dick," your words trailed off. "And then I got out late because the guy that was supposed to take over from me waltzed in 20 minutes late with a coffee. And to top it off, the car broke down on the way home and I stood there trying to get someone to stop for like half an hour."

Steve nodded. "And then you came home, and Eddie was being a dick too, huh?" he added, listening to you sigh. 

"Yep," you confirmed. "Which totally sucks, because you were being so nice. I was on track for a better evening and then he fucking makes one stupid comment and I snap at him."

"He was a dick," Steve agreed, nudging your knee with his foot. "But you've got cookies and cocoa, so it's got to be looking up," he pressed on, smiling when you let out a soft snort of laughter. 

"It's looking up," you agreed, biting down on the inside of your cheek. "Thank you," you added, looking a hell of a lot less worked up than you had been when he'd met you at your bedroom door. "For the cocoa," you pressed on. "And for listening."

Steve sent you the sweetest smile you swore you had ever seen. "It's my pleasure," he told you, reaching forward to pat your knee before getting up, his empty mug in his grasp. "You want to come and watch a movie? I brought some in from work."

You hesitated for a moment, letting him take your mug off of you. "Maybe later," you murmured. "I'm just going to sit here and decompress for a little while," you added. 

"'Course," he hummed. "I'll see you out there whenever you're ready."

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