#steve harrington imagaine

[tbrooke1230]

Yard Games

Prompt: It's Summer, your parents are hosting a backyard BBQ, and a friendly yard game rivalry brings you and Steve closer together.

Warnings: none, fluff

Word Count: 2,376

My one shots just keep getting longer and longer. My dms are always open for ideas. Enjoy :)

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Summers in Hawkins, Indiana meant families took turns opening their backyards up to the neighborhood to host a BBQ every weekend. This weekend, it was your family’s turn to host and the guests were already arriving.

Your mother and father greeted the families at the back gate, ushering them inside and towards the cooler full of drinks. As the neighborhood pooled in, you stayed back, leaning against the far fence waiting for your friends to arrive. 

You watched each family as they entered. Each mother carrying some sort of dish that she didn’t need to bring, but she felt was necessary. Each father beelining towards the cooler to grab a beer and take their designated spot around the grill.  Each child running towards the open grass where a game of tag would eventually break out. And then each teen walking in looking like they would rather be anywhere else but here. 

You recognized most of them from school. Jenny from math. Nancy from the school paper. Jonathan from English. Someone you weren’t expecting to see though was Steve Harrington. 

You had never really talked to Steve when you were both students at Hawkins High. Not that you had anything against him, you just never really crossed paths. But here he was, in your backyard, hands deep in his jeans pockets as he surveyed the scene in front of him. 

You pushed yourself off of the fence to go talk to Nancy and Jonathan. Both of their younger brothers had already run off, joining the rest of their younger friend group. You three were catching up on each of your summers when you were interrupted.

“Hey, we need one more person to play, any of you want to join?” All three of you looked over to see Robin waiting for a response. Behind her were two corn hole boards, a sheepish looking Steve, and another boy that you thought you recognized. 

“Sure, I’ll play.” You were always up for a little friendly competition and corn hole was right up your alley. You gave a slight wave to Nancy and Jonathan and joined the others at the boards.

“Yes! Thank you, Y/N.” Robin cheered. “I definitely call her to be on my team.”

“Robin! We were supposed to be a team!” Steve actually looked a little devastated. 

“Guess you’re with me then Harrington.” The other boy winked at Steve. “I’m Eddie by the way. I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” He stuck out a hand to you.

“Oh right! I think I’ve seen your band play a couple times. I’m Y/N.” You smiled, shaking his hand. 

“And that just made you ten times cooler in my book.” 

“Alright, alright. Let’s just get this game started.” Steve said from his spot next to one of the boards, hands on his hips. 

“Team mates have to be on opposite sides.” Eddie stated, gathering his team’s bags and making his way next to Robin. That left you at the other board next to Steve. 

“Rock, paper, scissors to see who throws first. Harrington, you and Y/N do it.” Eddie flicked his head in Steve’s direction. You turned your body to face Steve, fist in your other hand ready to play. 

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.” You both said the words. Steve’s fist remained a fist, but your hand went flat. You covered his “rock” with your “paper”, and his skin felt hot underneath your touch. 

“Damn it.” 

“Oh, c’mon Harrington.” 

“Oh yeah! Girls go first!” Robin wasted no time in tossing her bag towards the board between you and Steve. 

Once Robin and Eddie had both thrown all of their bags, it was you and Steve’s turn. Robin had secured the lead with her tossing, but only by two points. You tossed your first bag and it landed with a thud on the board.

“Yes!” Robin threw her hands in the air and a satisfied smirk pulled at your lips. 

Steve glanced over at you before throwing his bag. His also landed on the board, but also pushed yours off. You turned to glare at him and saw that a smirk was tugging at his lips now. Oh, it was on.

Even after a few rounds, the score remained annoyingly close. Steve was much better at this game than you would have thought, but at the same time, it didn’t surprise you all that much. 

“C’mon Y/N, we only need 3 more points to beat these dinguses.” Robin was crouched next to the board, as if being closer to the board would will the bags to land on it. 

Eddie was on the other side of the board, bent over and giving Steve his own pep talk.“Harrington, don’t let them get inside your head.You can do this, I believe in you.” 

“Yeah, alright, let’s take it down a notch. It’s not that serious.” Steve replied, bag in hand. 

You both took turns throwing your bags, glancing over at each other between throws. On Steve’s last throw, he sunk his bag into the hole, earning him and Eddie three points, and winning them the game.

“Yes!”

“No!” 

Robin crumpled to the grass while Eddie jumped up and ran to Steve giving him a hug. 

“You did it, Harrington!”

“Get off of me!”

You walked over to Robin, offering her a hand up which she took.

“This isn’t over!” She called over to the boys. Eddie was still trying to celebrate with Steve, but Steve wasn’t having it.

“Rematch later?” Steve asked, eyebrows raised. And even though he was looking in both you and Robin’s direction, it felt like he was making eye contact with you. 

“You’re on.” You replied. 

The four of you dispersed, grabbing drinks and food. The sun was starting to set and the warmth was fading with the light. You grabbed a plate of food and made your way over to the brick wall by the patio. You watched as everyone else chatted in small circles of people, sipping drinks and snacking on food. Your people watching was interrupted when Steve joined you, hopping up on the wall. 

“You know, you’re not so bad at corn hole.” He said, taking a sip of his drink.

“What, you thought I was going to be bad?” You asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“No, no, of course not, but does anyone ever look at someone and say ‘man, I bet they’re good at corn hole’?” You giggled a bit at his response and a small smile tugged at his lips. 

“No, I guess not.” You made eye contact with him, but quickly looked down at your lap, the gaze felt a little too intense. “I wasn’t surprised that you were good though.”

He laughed a little. “Well, I mean I hate to brag, but I am pretty good at putting things in holes.” Your eyes shot up from your lap to him and the stupid grin he had on his face.

“Steve!” You laughed, slapping him on the arm. 

“Oh don’t go there. I was obviously talking about corn hole. You’re the one with the dirty mind.” You were both laughing at this point and a slight blush had tinged your cheeks. 

“Whatever.” Your eyes went back to the yard of people. You noticed a couple families, especially those with younger children, had started to head home for the night. The ones who stayed were still gathered in groups, just many more of them were sitting at this point. 

“So, you still up for a rematch?” Steve asked. You looked over at him again and the eye contact made your stomach flip. “Or are you scared to lose again?” 

“You’re on.” 

………………………………………

“Ok, that’s cheating.”

“What?”

“You’re cheating.”

“No, I’m not.”

You and Steve stood across from each other, each next to a board. You were doing your best to try to keep score, but Steve had a new rule every five seconds. 

“How am I cheating? I’m just standing here.” 

“You’re trying to distract me.” He replied, bag still in hand that he had been trying to throw for what felt like ages. 

“No, I’m not.” You crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m literally not doing anything.”

“You’re being distracting.” Steve straightened up from where he had been leaned forward.

“Ok, should I turn around then?” You asked and turned your back to him.

“No, that’s even worse.” You laughed a bit at his remark.

“Steve, just throw the damn bag.” You turned back around and watched as he slightly bent over again and tossed the bag. It landed just short of the board in the grass. 

“See! I told you, you were trying to distract me. And it worked.” You rolled your eyes at him, picking up the bags and getting ready for your turn. Just about everyone else had left at this point, even Steve’s family, but he told them he was going to stay. Your parents had even gone inside, instructing you to turn off the outdoor lights and lock the doors when you came in. 

“I think you’re just coming up with excuses because you’re losing.” You said as you tossed your bag. It landed on the board and slid til it fell in the hole. 

“That’s it.” Steve said and then came running at you.

“Steve!” Your eyes widened with fear and your heart jumped as he came barreling towards you. 

You took off across the yard, not really sure why you were running or why Steve was chasing you, but you were laughing hysterically. Of course, he was much faster than you and caught up to you with ease. His arms reached out, attempting to wrap around your waist, but one of his feet knocked against yours causing you to trip and take him down with you.

You landed on the grass with a hard thud and braced yourself for Steve to fall on top of you, but thankfully he caught himself with his hands, his body stopping right above yours. Another fit of laughter escaped you as you looked up at Steve. His eyes switched from concern to amusement as he began to chuckle along with you. 

“Sorry, that’s not how I expected that to go.” He said, breaking eye contact and letting his hair fall in front of his face. 

“It’s ok.” You laughed, grabbing his arm in reassurance. His eyes darted to where your hand was and then back to you. You quickly removed your hand. “But can you maybe get off of me now?”

A blush dusted his cheeks. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” He rolled over so he was laying next to you, you both looking up at the starry sky.

You both stayed quiet for a minute, but you were still very aware of how close Steve was to you. Although he wasn’t touching you, you could feel the heat radiating from his arm that was inches from yours. You turned your head slightly to look at him and your breath caught in your lungs a bit when you saw his eyes were already on you. 

“How did you expect it to go?” You asked.

“What?” His brow furrowed a bit.

“You said that falling on me isn’t how you expected chasing me to go. So how did you expect it to go?” Your eyes remained on his. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it  just wouldn’t have ended with me tripping you.” You let out a soft laugh at his words and his lips turned upward in reply. 

“I can’t even imagine what you must have had in mind.” You said and brough yourself up onto your elbows. Steve mimicked your movements, both of you looking up at the night sky. 

“Well, I did have something else in mind.” He said a bit sheepishly. You looked over at him but his eyes remained on the stars above. 

“Are you going to tell me? Or do I have to win another game of corn hole to earn it?” You asked mockingly. His gaze whipped over at you and you couldn’t stop the smile pulling at the corners of your mouth. 

“Yeah, like you would win another game anyways.” He said, rolling his eyes. You smacked his arm.

“I was just taking it easy on you earlier. Wanted to be a good host and let the guests win.” He shook his head, but you could see him fighting a smile. 

A comfortable silence settled between you. You diverted your gaze from his once again to look up at the sky, but you could still feel his eyes on you. You felt him lean in closer to you, close enough where your arms were flesh against each other. 

“Look at that.” Steve said and you followed his arm to see he was pointing at a shooting star. 

“That’s so cool.” You commented, trying to ease the way your heart was beating a bit quicker at the close proximity. He was so close and the cool night air was suddenly hot around you. His arm dropped from where it was pointing and he brought his hand to your chin. Gently caressing your face and turning you to him.

“Is this ok?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper. Your faces were inches from each

other. So close that you could feel his breath fan across your lips. 

“Yes.” You didn’t mean to sound so breathless. Who knew Steve Harrington would have this effect on you. 

He closed the gap between you both. Hand still lightly touching the side of your face as your lips touched. The kiss was feather light, almost to the point of where you weren’t sure if it was actually happening, but you knew it was. Your body was lighting up like the starry night sky.

Steve pulled back, much too soon for your liking, but his hand remained on your face. His thumb slowly stroking back and forth across your cheek. 

“That’s what I was expecting.” He said, voice still a bit quiet.

“What?” You weren’t sure if your brain was working correctly. All you could think about was Steve’s lips on yours.

“That’s how I was expecting chasing you to end, but I think it went much better this way.”