wires, steve harrington

twenty.

meadow eventually sank onto the floor, resting her head on the wall behind her and draping her arms over her legs. "you okay?" steve asked softly, sitting down next to her in a similar position.

she nodded silently, looking up at him. "yeah. but, considering everything that's happened in the past few years, i didn't think i'd die of starvation in a secret russian elevator." she teased, making steve lightly chuckle.

"yeah, well, i'm not letting you die down here." steve told her, looking down at her with fond eyes. meadow smiled at him, kissing his cheek and resting her head on his shoulder. "i'm serious. you can eat me if you're seriously about to die." she laughed at his comment, snuggling into his side. "are you tired?"

meadow let out a soft 'mhm', feeling her eyes involuntarily shutter closed. she then suddenly shook her head, waking herself up. "no, i'm not tired." she lied, making steve shake his head fondly. "i wanna talk to you." she said, taking one of his hands into hers.

"what do you wanna talk about?" steve asked, squeezing her hand lightly.

"something happened.. with billy." steve's ears practically perked up at her words, and he almost got into defensive/protective mode, thinking billy had specifically done something to her. she noticed the look in his eyes and immediately held up her hand. "no, no, no. we, uh.. well, me, max, and eleven think he may have potentially killed my coworker."

steve blinked twice. "what?"

meadow shook her head. "i know it sounds insane, but they found a bloody whistle and some of her belongings in billy's bathroom. not to mention the fact that we already know he's a creep who would one hundred percent do something to someone if provoked." steve shook his head in disbelief. "also.. dustin told me what you said. i had no idea you felt that way."

steve shook his head again, looking down at his hand, which was holding hers. "it's just.. it's hard to not feel insecure about myself when i'm dating the most beautiful girl alive." meadow shook her head, silently telling steve to be serious (which he was). "i saw billy take my school status immediately, and i don't want to see him take you away, too."

"steve." meadow said quietly, lifting his chin so that he was looking at her. "i love you. and nothing billy hargrove does will ever change that, okay?" as she smiled, a smile reluctantly broke into steve's face. "okay?" she repeated.

"okay." steve replied with a soft nod, looking down at her. meadow rested her head on his chest, their legs entangling from their seated position.

"and, for the record," she continued, "you have absolutely nothing to be insecure about."

he chuckled, shaking his head. "you're just trying to flatter me. it's fine, it's just sometimes i get worried, i get in my own head. it's like my father's voice is screaming at me, but it's masked as my own."

meadow frowned at his words, though she understood what he meant. "if you ever start to feel that way, please know that it isn't true. i don't think i've ever met someone as pretty as you, genuinely." the words slipped out before she could stop them, and she saw steve's eyes go wide. "steve?"

he was seemingly malfunctioning as a wide grin spread across his face. "you think i'm pretty?" he said after sitting in shock for a few more seconds.

"yeah?" she said as if it were obvious, which she thought it was. "pretty boy harrington." she mumbled sleepily into his shoulder.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

meadow didn't know when she fell asleep, only that she woke up to steve's soft snoring, feeling his arms both wrapped around her. at her slight movement, he woke up, which made her guess that he had gotten barely minutes of sleep.