#ghost!steve harrington

[kookygranger]

Ghosts, Grimoires and Gigs

Ghost!Steve Harrington x Witch!Reader It was a mistake. The ghost of Steve Harrington wasn't supposed to appear in your house, but now he was here and he couldn't help watching you in your space and falling a little bit more in love every day. AKA The story of music journalist witch reader and the lovesick ghost of Steve Harrington told through a series of blurbs.

This is a love letter to the magic of @storiesbyrhi, especially that created in the world of Burning Yarrow ✨💌

Masterlist

✨ The Original Appearance ✨ He Came From Hawkins ✨ Notes On Progress ✨ Sparks Fly ✨ Let Touches Shake ✨ And He Was

Warnings: death, witchcraft, fem!reader, swearing, ghosts/mentions of the afterlife

[quixoticall]

The View Between Villages

Summary: Steve Harrington offers to be your ghostly tour guide after your mysterious, unexpected death.

AN: Hiiiii, if you’ve been wondering where I’ve been then, first of all thank you for thinking of me, and secondly, I have been sick with bronchitis for weeks. Tbh I never understood in Regency novels where they would make such a huge deal about someone being sick until now. That shit took me out. Anyway, in my convalescence I watch the show, School Spirits and I couldn’t help but see the similarities between Wally and Steve—both men of the 80s, hot labrador retriever jocks with a compulsive need for parental approval? So, that’s how this lil piece was born. I would love to continue writing in this universe so please, if you have any requests, send them in! In the meantime, I am hard at work on This Could Get Ugly and a lovely lil Eddie number inspired by another Noah Kahan song.

Warnings: School Spirit!AU, Major Character Death, talks about own death, brief mention of violence and death, angst, this is sad! Ghost!Steve and Ghost?Reader

Pairing: Steve Harrington x f!reader

WC: 2K

It’s Steve Harrington who first declares you dead. Admittedly it takes you an embarrassingly long time to realize, it wasn’t like they sent out notices for these types of things either, as convenient as a note would’ve been:

To Whom it May Concern:

We regret to inform you that on February 12 of this year, you will unfortunately perish under unclear circumstances in the city of Chicago, Illinois at Northwestern University. Please make sure to get your affairs in order before the set date.

No, none of that, instead you had attended three whole lectures before noticing that no one was acknowledging you—not your professors when you raised your hand; not your classmates when you asked if they could loan you a pencil; not even your best friend when you ran into him in the hall. You thought it could’ve been a weird prank. Then the news began to spread, you were missing. Reported by your roommate after not having come home from a late-night study session at the library. And then they found traces of blood in the boiler room of the library’s basement.

Still, you thought to yourself, maybe you were having a really long terrible dream. Or maybe you were in a coma. Or doing one of those VR headset things. Or maybe you were dead and cursed to spend the rest of eternity haunting the very campus where you died.

Your friends were never the gym type, which is why you end up at the school’s pool in an effort to avoid the pain and desperation you feel every time you see their tired but still-hopeful faces.

That’s where you see him. Or, more importantly, where he sees you. You first spot him sitting at the edge of the pool, observing the ongoing swim team practice and are immediately struck.

Sure, you may be stuck in some weird reality where you may or may not be dead but you can still appreciate a hot person. Especially one as handsome as Pool Guy who’s striped swim trunks sit low on his hips and he has a smattering of dark hair trailing from his belly button almost up to the base of his neck. Thick, chestnut-colored hair swoops in his handsome face in golden-touched waves and gracefully frame a pair of honey-hued eyes. Of course you were going to stare.

You’re sure you stare for an indecent amount of time, but it wasn’t like that mattered, you remind yourself, you’re invisible to him like you are to everyone else.

Except you’re not invisible to him because Pool Guy was making eye contact and worse, he was waving, solidifying the fact that he is very aware of your presence. He can see you.

“Hi, you must be new here. I’m Steve Harrington, class of ‘86,” he introduces himself, with way too much verve once he swims over to where you’re still frozen in place.

“You can see me?” You ask, once you find your voice, “How can you see me?”

You reach out to grasp his offered hand and to your shock, your fingers don’t go straight through his, like it would with anyone else’s. Instead you’re enveloped in the warm solid grasp of his hand.

He cracks a smile at this, “because I’m dead too. Which, I totally get you’re probably wondering how someone this good-looking could’ve died so young but i will—“

“Dead?” you squeak out.

“Sorry,” he says with an awkward grimace, “I know not everyone likes that term, um, how do you identify—?“

You cut him off once again, “I didn’t know I was dead.”

It’s his turn to be confused.

“Really? Most people are really quick about putting it together. When they see their body the memories all come back. I mean even I put it together and I was never the smartest even before the accident—oh, shit. You’re the missing girl. The one from all the flyers.”

Clearly he’s referencing the myriad HAVE YOU SEEN ME? flyers with your face on them that paint the campus. Up until now, you had been categorically missing not dead, and now that someone has spoken your fate out loud, you’re certain it is all but sealed.

“Listen, I am so sorry. Let me go get someone who’s way better at this than I—“ you cut off his apologetic rambling,

“I need to leave right now.”

Before he can say anything else you’re running in the opposite direction as quickly as you can.

You don’t go back to the pool after that.

Being dead wasn’t so bad. Sure, you had spent a solid five weeks distraught over the loss of the life you had once lived and mourning everything you will never get to do. And yeah, it was a uniquely painful type of loneliness getting to see all your friends and never getting to interact with them, especially during those first few weeks when your disappearance was hot on everyone’s lips and heavy in the hearts of your friends. But outside of all that, being dead was okay. At least, you didn’t have to submit any more papers or do laundry.

After your encounter with Steve Harrington, class of ‘86, you decide to hole up in the library. You desperately convince yourself that if you search the shelves enough you’ll be able to find something in one of the many books that talk about the afterlife that might provide you some clarity about your newfound ghostly status. Surely there’d have to be something helpful. Anything. A ghost manual, perhaps or some graduate research paper about being stuck in between realms. You’d easily settle for a Chicken Soup for the Ghostly Soul.

Or you think traitorously to yourself, a tour guide to the afterlife, someone who has experience with being dead and a great set of abs. Every time you’re close to convincing yourself to go back to the pool, the embarrassment of your mortifying first encounter pulls you back. No way you were going to see him again. Just because you were dead didn’t mean you’d lost all your dignity.

Your internal back-and-forth ends up not mattering because he ends up coming to you.

You spot his well-coifed head maneuvering through the tall shelves from where you’ve holed yourself up on the fourth floor mezzanine and watch as he weaves through the unassuming crowd, completely unnoticed, just like you.

He’s wearing clothes this time, which both disappointing and surprising since you haven’t quite figured out the mechanics or social expectations of how often ghosts should be changing clothes. In a pair of snug-fitted jeans with a Northwestern Athletics sweatshirt and a pair of high top Nikes, he takes the winding steps up to your unofficial perch two at a time . If this is what he looks like some 40 years dead, you can’t imagine what he looked like when he had a pulse, it must have been like staring into the sun.

“Hi,” he offers tentatively when he approaches, like he’s sure you’ll run off spooked.

“Hi.”

“Sorry to bother you, it’s just, well, my friend Robin told me she saw you here and I wanted to come by and apologize for what happened. At the pool. I truly had no idea, sometimes I just say things without thinking, which I am working on, trust me.”

You smile, appreciative but defeated, part of you was hoping he was coming up here to tell you that there had been some sort of mistake.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault, it was just a bit of shock, is all. I guess I’m still adjusting to this whole being dead thing,” you joke weakly.

“Yeah, about that, if you ever need help adjusting or learning the ropes or anything like that, I—we are always happy to help. There’s a few of us that band together and we’d love to have you. Truly,” he claws nervously at the back of his head as he makes his offer the tip of his sneaker digging into the worn library carpet.

“Thanks,” you say, genuinely, “I really appreciate that.”

He looks at you now, finally, and his gaze is golden, warm honey and it’s like a shot to the chest. Like you’ve promised him the moon. A hand is extended towards just slightly, a twitch, and you realize he’s expecting you to take it.

“I can’t right now, though,” you say, lamely and you watch his smile waver. Quickly you add, ”I need some time, I think, before it becomes permanent. If I go with you, I’m dead. Alone up here, I’m still just missing. Does that…make sense?”

He nods, furiously, “It makes total sense. You can come find me by the pool whenever you’re ready. I will be there.”

He makes a move to leave and you register the paper in his hand for the first time. It’s a flyer with your face on it, different than all the ones before.

“Wait, what is that?” You ask, fingers skimming the plush of his sweatshirt to get his attention.

“Oh, um,” he swallows thickly, “they’re having a vigil for you tonight, I wasn’t sure if you’d seen or if you were going, but if you were going, I was going to see if you wanted some company. “

His voice is small now and the regret is etched thickly on his face.

Fingers shaking, you extend a hand out for the flyer. Steve sighs but gently places it in your trembling grasp nonetheless.

It’s true, what he said about the vigil, you had no clue. You’re not sure how long you spend staring at your own face, long enough for the words to stop making sense, but not long enough for them to stop meaning anything.

Steve stays the entire time and when you sink to the floor, tear tracks heavy on your cheeks, he sinks with you. You cry, and he stays.

“I can’t go,” you admit, and then, in the same breath, plea, “How can I go?”

Next to you, Steve lets out a shuttering sigh.

“When I died, they did something similar, my parents came down from Indy and everything. I couldn’t bring myself to go either. But shit, maybe if I did, I would’ve gotten what I needed to move on from here. Closure or whatever. Or maybe not, who knows? But I will never know and I would hate for you to never know.”

It’s still too hard to go you decide, but you can’t pretend it’s not happening. Instead, the two of you sit on the roof of the library, feet dangling over the ledge watch a river of candlelight flowing through the center of campus. You can hear, faintly, as your friends make speeches talking about how kind you were, how good, how funny and undeserving until their voices fail from holding back tears.

You cry the whole time, but you don’t regret it.

The two of you stay sitting there far past the end, Steve’s arms wrapped around you, holding the pieces of you together.

After, when you’ve had enough of it all and the last candle has gone out, you turn to Steve and say, “thank you, that did make me feel better. You were right.”

He chuckles wryly.

“I don’t hear that I’m right very often,” he admits before cracking another smile, “but I could get used to hearing it, especially from you. Now, what do you say about getting some ice cream? No offense, but that thing was a total downer.”

You laugh, genuinely, not only at his joke, but the absurdity of it all before playfully shoving his shoulder. In response, Steve pretends to lose his balance and almost fall of the ledge and you both know it’s silly but it makes you smile so it’s worth it.

Dying is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to you, but at least you are not alone.

[l0velysmut]

family: “why are you just sitting in ur room smiling at ur phone?”

me who’s been reading smut about fictional characters for the past 6 hours:

[itshelia]

Taking anti-depressant pills?? Seeing a therapist??? Journaling???? No need babe, my fav writer just dropped another x reader fic.

[mymoonsight]

Reposting a comment I made on a post and adding to it

x Reader fics need to handle writing “reader” better sometimes

As a 6ft afab person who’s built like a man and has never been super feminine and has a more unique haircut that’s shorter I hate to read about “readers” petite, small, pale body and her “long flowy straight hair”, etc.

Reader is meant to be ambiguous!! And if it’s important to the plot please mention it at the beginning!!! If it’s not important to the plot why is it being included???

Some people who are reading may be tall, fat, skinny, short, or even somewhere in between. The readers could have a hijab, 4c hair, locks, braids, long hair, short hair, wavy, no hair and even more.

Stop making all readers so sweet and innocent, I want a reader who’s petty and sassy sometimes. I’ve noticed also that so many readers are either too baby to do anything or over powered.

Personally I also hate reading about obviously toxic men and relationships that the reader goes back to because they are “so in love”, like no please let me deck that sucker and leave them in the dust and be happier.

Also, if you label your post with the tag “___ x reader” or titled with “___ x reader” and then make descriptions and then ADD A NAME!!! It’s not an x reader fic and I heavily want to block you.

Edit:

Hey hello! I just wanted to add that I heavily respect and love fic writers! So many have a talent that I will never reach or have and I appreciate your content being put out at all! I made this post as a 5 am ramble and was half delirious lol

People can write as they please and I’ll ignore it if I’m not interested or I’ll make slight internal edits to fit me if I am

[ffuscous]

There are ghosts in Hawkins...

[deunmiu-dessie]

he misses you. he misses you like a flower misses the sun. like the desert misses the rain. like you are the entirety of his being. as if you hold the key to his fierce, thumping bloody heart within the palm of your hands, like he is nothing without you— and perhaps he isn't. he doesn't feel like himself, no, in fact, he feels empty. like a shell of the man he used to be before you. he feels as though the world has lost its color, its meaning, and it makes him feel bare— it makes him feel.

he misses you. he misses the warmth of your perfume, a sweet and spicy blended aroma of saffron and sugared lavender. he misses your smile, all wide and pretty— genuine and charming, and always all for him. he misses the sound of your laughter, raw and boisterous, but sometimes soft and breathy, intimate. he misses your kisses, shy and cloying— yet fierce and angry at times as well. he misses the small things, like the scatter of moles across the expanse of your body that he finds himself counting when he can't fall asleep. or the way you fuss over him, mumbling curses and your love for him all in the same sentence.

he is nothing without you, and he knows it all too well.

the soft jangle of your keys in the lock makes him look up from his journal, the door swinging open. and despite himself, he finds that he's softened underneath your warm, loving gaze. ah, he also misses the sound of your voice, euphonious and soft, a tone you use for him specifically.

❝why are you looking at me like that?❞

he can feel his heart dance within his chest, pounding fiercely as you slant your hip to the side, the very same hips he adores holding onto when swaying with you to music. your eyes, which always seem to sweep him under with their intensity with no fail, are glittering with mirth, it knocks the breath from his chest. ❝ i adore you,❞ he utters— he sounds like a fool in love, and he doesn't particularly mind it. your cheeks flush with color and you playfully roll your eyes. that's alright, you don't need to say it back, he knows.

❝help me with the groceries?❞

he? ⸺ SIMON, gojo satoru, DAMON SALVATORE, soap, older!TANJIRO, scott mccall, GAZ, clark kent, EMMETT CULLEN, leon kennedy, STEVE HARRINGTON, giyu tomioka, JOHN PRICE, loran, ULYSSES, rick grimes, KÖNIG, dick grayson, SPENCER REID.

honestly it can be anyone you envision.

[shelbybyr]

When you run out of fics to read

[cinnamoodles]

you did not kudos? you left the fic without a reblog? oh! oh! jail for reader! jail for reader for One Thousand Years!

[forrestfantasy94]

The second an x reader fanfic describes the hair and eye colour and they don't match mine

[userchai]

[nsfw thoughts 18+ only please]

Him sinking into you for the first time, his jaw clenched tight as you grip around his cock. The wetness from you running all the way down his shaft mixing with the pre-cum from when he’d stroked himself for you just moment’s ago. Your eyes widen as he only thrusts one time, his feral moans sending shockwaves all over your body as he cums inside of you quickly, his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. You shush him and promise that it’s the hottest thing you’ve ever seen. You stroke his back gently as he lays himself against you, still inside of you, now harder than ever, willing himself to move again. The both of you coming undone just a few moments later, blissed out.

[kookygranger]

And He Was

Ghost!Steve Harrington x Witch!Reader

Series Masterlist

900 words

“This is crazy!”

Steve barrels into the apartment after you.

You’d spent the rest of the train journey staring at each other as Steve held on tightly to the hand that stroked his arm. It wasn’t until a grumpy late-night commuter walked passed the both of you with a muttered get a room, that his attention was lost.

They could see him.

He tested out the waters of this new revelation with every person you passed on the way back to your apartment. Smiling and waving at the ticket attendant barely paying attention, leaning down to pat a dog belonging to a disgruntled runner that was forced to stop, opening the door for a woman who lived in your building and telling her to have a good night even through her suspicious look.

Steve Harrington could be seen again. He could greet people and help them through doors. He could touch things.

But he hadn’t bothered to touch you in the 23 minutes since he’d discovered this new development.

“Yeah it–“

“I mean what the hell?!” He paces franticly around your apartment. Smiling giddily at the feeling of your records under his fingertips, chuckling when he can pick up your teapot. “Want me to make you some tea?”

“Maybe later.”

His face falls at the lack of excitement on yours.

“What’s wrong?”

Why haven’t you jumped at the chance to touch me? You kept trying to when you couldn’t, doesn’t it matter anymore? Will you leave now that other people can give you attention?

“Nothing.” You shake your head, motioning to the teapot in his hand, “I’ll take care of that. Although I don’t think it’s gonna do you much good.” You walk towards him, “Whatever this is still doesn’t change the fact that you’re–“ He stops you from taking the pot with a hand on your arm, and you swear you still feel a zap even when there isn’t one.

Steve looks down at his hand and smiles softly when he feels the warmth of your skin under his moving thumb. He puts the pot down on your table, his now free hand moving to your waist. He leans in slowly and you can feel the inhale of his chest against your arm, that can’t be right, before his lips leave a soft peck on your cheek.

You're burning fiercer than you ever have under his gaze.

“Hi.”

You barely get the reply of a h out before he’s shifting you in front of him properly, one hand enveloping the side of your jaw while the other squeezes your waist as he presses his lips to yours.

There’s a shiver that runs through your whole body at the contact, like stepping into an ice bath, but then it’s all warmth. That familiar tingle spreads through you as his lips move against yours with a desperate pull. You flinch back before you’re lost in the feeling altogether, eyes shut and head shaking.

“I feel like this is crossing a line of delusion. I can’t be kissing a ghost! This is insan–“ Steve cuts you off with another deep kiss, hands confident in their attempt to ground you.

“You worry too much.” He mumbles into your mouth and you open your eyes, breaking your lips apart.

“Shouldn’t you be more worried? Steve, you're dead.”

He smirks, “Which means I have nothing left to worry about. Besides,” your lips click as he presses quick, sweet kisses to you between talking, “I don’t feel like I’m dead. ‘Cause I can feel again, you know?” He leans back, hazel eyes searching deep within your own, “I feel things when I’m with you.” His thumb strokes your cheek softly, “I can touch you for god’s sake.” He laughs in disbelief, “Babe, you’ve brought me back.”

You frown under his gaze of awe, “Steve that’s not possible.”

“Okay, maybe not back back, but you’ve done something.”

“I haven’t used any magic I swear.” You shake your head.

“No, not with magic. I think it’s just you.” He smiles, before licking his bottom lip, “I was content with my death when it happened you know. I got to say goodbye thanks to your friend, and I saved the people I loved with my sacrifice. Then I met you and I knew I couldn’t go. That it wasn’t really my time because I would miss out on a life with you.”

“Steve.” You whisper, eyes stinging.

“I’m serious. I don’t think it was an accident that led me to you. I think it was fate.”

“I don’t believe in fate.”

He frowns, “Isn’t that a witch thing though? You read tarot cards.”

“I use them more as guidelines on what to look out for. How to avoid bad things–”

“Whatever, I don’t care.” He shakes his head, before squeezing your hip again. “I know. You’ve done this to me.”

Tears are threatening to spill over your lash line now.

“I’m sorry.”

Steve smiles at the whisper that leaves you, “Don’t be. Best thing that’s ever happened to me. Gave me no choice but to find a way to be with you forever.”

You let him lean his body into you, giving up on fighting against your own when his lips find yours again, melting against him when he licks into your mouth. Steve Harrington was still dead, but his form appeared entirely real. How? At this moment you did not know, but you couldn’t find it in you to question it.

Because, well…you’d fallen in love with a ghost.

[quixoticall]

MASTERLIST

18+ mdni IN-UNIVERSE REQUESTS ARE OPEN

STRANGER THINGS

Look at us Now

Everybody knows famous 80s pop rock band, The Downsides, but no one knows the reason behind their mysterious breakup at the height of their success. Rumors of love triangles, infidelity, drug addiction and more than one onstage fight have swirled around for years following the band’s split in 1989. Years later, one determined journalist is uncovering it all through a series of interviews that will finally reveal the truth.

Pairings: Eddie Munson x f!reader, Steve Harrington x f!reader, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler x Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson x Chrissy Cunningham

View Between Villages

Steve Harrington offers to be your ghostly tour guide after your mysterious, unexpected death.

Pairings: Steve Harrington x f!reader, one sided!Eddie Munson x f!reader

To Hell I Go

He was supposed to be dead and you were supposed to be married off to some new money oil tycoon in Carlsbad. Instead, you and Steve Harrington end up on the opposite ends of a pistol duel—you as the outlaw that he’s been tasked with bringing to justice and him as the Sheriff’s Deputy come back from the grave. Or the Wild West!AU.

Pairings: Steve Harrington x f!reader,

[unspecifiedfigure]

like a lazy ocean hugs the shore, hold me close🌅

[blckbrrybasket]

Odd!Reader who doesn’t fully pick up on social cues, but yaps away

They could be in the middle of fucking and as he’s thrusting in they mumble, “My clit. Play with it, can’t cum without it.” Not a moment later his fingers are rubbing circles against their clit, but they just don’t stop talking.

As he’s fucking them (supposed to be fucking them dumb) they keep rambling on, into a full spiel of why you have to pay attention to the clit; how the clit is made up of tons of nerves - “That’s also why the g-spot right there! feels so good. Actually- ah researchers think that it may be connected to the clitoral network.”

“Uh-huh?” He continues his ministrations, more focused on how his cock is sliding in and out of them, a creamy ring forming around his base. They spare a glance down at the mix of liquids with a shaky moan. “Uh-huh. D-did you know..?”

[ghost-proofbaby]

the tik tok trend of flashing your boyfriend unexpectedly would have both eddie and steve like 😵‍💫🤤😵‍💫

oh my god.

but hear me out. yes, both boys would absolutely drool, but they’d also react just a little bit differently.

(i got carried away beneath the cut my fucking bad minors dni)

with steve, i can see you doing it during a fight. he’s saying something like “it was your turn to do the dishes, baby-“ and then you’re suddenly yanking up your t-shirt that had once been his and he’s just blanking. rapidly blinking, mouth agape and brows slack before furrowing them up. “what’s the matter?” you’d tease him.

and he just starts huffing in frustration because “no. no way. nope. not fair. you still have to do the dishes.”

and so you’d jump a little, smirking at the way his eyes are widening before he just starts pacing and you’re being even more of a fucking tease.

“are we sure about that? can’t we renegotiate terms, baby?”

“renegotiate? reneg- fuck off. fuck right off. i-“ and he’s tugging at his hair, torn between continuing the small argument that he can hardly recall the premise for now as you continue to grip on the hem of your shirt and smirk so proudly at him. “fine. you wanna renegotiate, honey? let’s renegotiate.”

you think you’ve won until he’s suddenly grabbing you up and taking you to the bedroom, treating you like the brat that you are. and by the end of the night, he’s just smirking at you and your chest littered in flowering bruises as he says, “guess you’ll have to clean the sheets instead now, baby.”

but then…. but then with eddie. oh dear god.

it’s not over a fight. no. it’s not a distraction — it’s your attempt to gain his attention. he’s been paying attention to planning a campaign or his guitar or just anything but you the entire day. and by the end of it you’re just so damn needy. it was either this or full on climbing into his lap, and flashing him was just the easier of the two options.

“hey, eds?” would be your innocent start to it, but honestly? he’s not even listening. he doesn’t even hear you as he’s focusing on his damn notebook.

he doesn’t even notice when you raise your shirt, or when you huff with annoyance as he continues to be so fucking oblivious.

“eddie.”

no response.

“edward.”

still no response.

“edward munson-“

when he finally hears his full government name you have half his attention, but not enough of it. he wouldn’t even glance up from his notebook as he says, “just a minute, sweetheart. i just figured out this new NPC and really need to-“

“how the hell do i have my tits out and you’re still talking about that fucking game?”

that would get his attention for a few reasons — the promise of tits and your tone of voice for starters — but even more so, the fact that you rarely lose patience or understanding when it comes to his hobbies. he’d be looking up in an instant, you could probably have heard a crack from across the room at how intensely he’s suddenly snapping that damn head up just to catch you dropping the shirt back down.

“wait, no, wait- what? where’d the boobs go?”

“sorry, only boyfriends who pay attention to their lovers get boobs.”

he’s never tossed that fucking notebook to the side so quickly as he spins around his chair, full focus on you entirely now, “who said i wasn’t paying attention? i’m paying attention, sweetheart. i’m paying so much attention.”

he’d prove just how much attention he’s paying to you when his head is buried between your thighs, only pausing on rare occasions to breathe and sometimes spout out new ideas for that stupid campaign, which only makes you tug harder on his damn curls and cut him off with his own moans before he returns to giving you his full attention.