Fandom: Stranger Things
Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson! OC
Prompt: "I'm tired of hiding this from our friends."
Warnings: fluff
Word count: 2057

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LOUISE HENDERSON was the sort of girl that every man and woman wanted but couldn't have. She was funny, intelligent and pretty - but she had what was referred to as the Henderson curse - she was obnoxiously sarcastic. More so than her little brother, Dustin. In fact, her sarcasm was most likely the reason why she couldn't keep long term relationships. The other person just got sick of her attitude, unable to tell if she was joking or not, so would end it off. Of course, it hurt Louise. Just because she was sarcastic doesn't mean she's heartless. But she'd cover the pain up with an attitude or with awful jokes, like a peeling bandaid, waiting to be removed.

She put up a good front but if you dare ask if Louise Henderson is okay, then you've got to be prepared for the flood of emotions coming your way. When her best friend, Robin Buckley, asked, Louise couldn't stop crying in the girls' toilets for the entirety of lunch. Looking back on it, Louise would be embarrassed to be so butthurt over some short semi-serious relationships, but it wasn't like she could help it. Here, Robin made a suggestion that would change Louise's life; 'why don't you just do flings for the meantime?'.

The blonde's reasoning was that if they were purposefully meaningless relationships, then Louise shouldn't get attached, therefore she wouldn't get hurt. And Robin was right. At the start, it was all going perfectly to plan. Louise simply hooked up with anybody she wanted to. It was a win-win situation; Louise never got hurt and the other person got to experience a small portion of what it would be like to be with Louise without all the sarcasm.

That was until the king himself, Steve Harrington, came into the equation.

Neither meant to hook up - it was never planned for them to end up making out in Louise's bed when her house was empty. It just happened. The first time was mid-October 1984, Steve was going over to the Henderson residence to pick up Dustin to take him to the movies. However, Dustin wasn't home - he was at Mike's house, like usual. Steve must've just forgotten one day.

When he knocked on the door and Louise opened it, he was a bit taken back. Sure he had seen and heard about her, but he had never really given her much notice until she was standing in the door frame of his best friend's house. She wasn't wearing anything close to pretty - a pair of hideous green shorts and a baggy Ghostbusters shirt. Her long curly hair was messily tied up in a ponytail and she had a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. If she had opened the door to anyone else, they would've thought she looked disgusting and unladylike. But Steve believed she looked perfect.

He had never seen a girl dress so carelessly before, yet still, be beautiful. If Louise didn't invite him in to wait for Dustin, then it wouldn't have happened. Steve only complimented her shirt as she passed him a cup of hot chocolate then 10 minutes later, the shirt was thrown to the floor by her bed. They didn't do anything too reckless, knowing that either Dustin or her mother would come home any minute. But it was enough to get both of them hooked.

The brunette felt stupid for dismissing her best friend's advice so quickly. It was now the start of February 1985, and Steve and Louise were still seeing each other. Whatever they were wasn't a public matter, it only existed in Louise's bedroom or Steve's empty living room. That was until Valentine's Day arrived.

Steve approached the Henderson household with a bouquet of red roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates - he knew that it was incredibly cliche and cheesy of him, but also knew that Louise wouldn't be able to stop smiling at the sentiment.

He spotted Dustin's bike lazily parked next to the garage so contemplated his next move. Securing the chocolates under his arm and the bouquet between his teeth, he began to climb up the tree beside Louise's bedroom window. Being careful, he peeped above the window frame to see Louise laid on her bed, listening to music and flipping through a magazine. With a smirk, he loudly rapped on the window.

Lousie nearly screamed at the sound, clinching the magazine in her hands in fright, ripping a few pages. She turned her head to the window to see a snickering Steve. With a huff, she dropped the magazine and stormed over to the window and slid it open. She blocked his entry, staring down at him with crossed arms, and twitching lip - she wasn't angry - Steve could tell. The girl was only trying to be, but the small twitch in the corner of her mouth told him that she was forcing back a smile.

"What do you think you're doing?" She tapped her foot, expectedly. Steve pushed himself up on the window ledge, sitting awkwardly to turn to her. He raised his hands to show the squashed chocolate box and nearly rocked flowers, all with a big grin.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Lou," Steve wiggled his brows, swinging his lanky legs through the window and standing in front of her.

Like Steve hoped, Louise grinned, taking the flowers and chocolates from him. "Thanks, Steve, but you didn't have to do anything. I mean, we're not a thing, you know?"

She didn't see it but the light seemed to vanish from his eyes as she said that. He knew she was right. Neither of them had made the move to make them official - Louise didn't see the need to if they were happy already and Steve just didn't have the guts to.

"But I'm glad you did," Lousie continued. "Makes what I'm about to do next a whole less awkward," She carefully placed the flowers and chocolates on her vanity desk and walked over to her closet. Steve took a seat on her bed, his back hitting the headboard. His head was tilted as he watched the smaller girl try and reach for something on the top shelf of her wardrobe.

"You need any help, small fry?" Steve chuckled as Louise seemed to have finally managed to get her hands on whatever she was getting.

The brunette scoffed. "Not everyone can be an Amazon, can they?" The two had a constant battle of heights. Even though Louise was of average height, Steve was still a good amount of inches taller than her. Thus the nicknames came into play. Louise particularly loved her nickname for the large-haired boy. Dustin accidentally told her that Steve used Farrah Fawcett Hairspray and Louise couldn't stop the laughing.

As Steve rolled his eyes at the comparison, he didn't have time to counter back as his eyes were trained on the large, perfectly wrapped, pink and red box in Louise's hands. She plopped on the bed beside him, her legs crossed and leaning forward as she placed her box on his lap, a grin over her face. "Well, what are waiting for! Open it!" Louise was very excited for Steve to see his presents.

Steve smiled but narrowed his eyes at the girl, tapping his slender fingers at the seam of the wrapping paper. "There's not a snake in here, is there?"

Lousie gasped, offended. "No! I'm totally heartless, now open it, please!"

Steve chuckled at her behaviour. He had never really seen her so enthusiastic about something before. Curiously, Steve began to rip the paper to reveal a regular cardboard box. He lifted the lid and was shocked at the contents. In there sat a Ghostbuster shirt (exactly like the one Louise has that he loved), a mug that said 'Mother of the Year', two cans of Farrah Fawcett Hairspray and his favourite box of chocolates. If he wasn't in love before, then was certainly head over heels for the girl next to him.

"Lou..." Steve whispered, looking at all the presents he had received. "This makes the presents I got you look shit!"

Louise snorted, leaning her head on his shoulder with a smile. "No, never! I love them. You know I love roses."

Steve moved the box to the floor so he could turn towards Lousie fully. He leant his head on the headrest, allowing him to admire the girl on his side. His arm was wrapped over her shoulder lazily, his fingertips tickling the bare skin on her upper arm. "I have another present for you, Lou," Steve uttered quietly.

"You didn't have to, Steve," Louise shuffled close into Steve's side. "The chocolate and flowers were plenty."

The boy smiled but shook his head. "Nope. I don't wanna hear it. I'm giving you your next present," Steve sat up, unfortunately making Louise sit up as well.

Lousie smirked. "And what if I don't want it," she smugly spoke.

Steve dug around in his jacket pocket and brought out a small gift-wrapped box. Louise squinted her eyes as she fiddled with the pink bow of the box. She pulled the lid off and goosebumps rose over her arms at the sight. Sat amongst the blue velvet was a rose gold necklace with a simple crown pendant. "Steve! I love it, thank you!" She flung her arms around Steve's shoulder, bringing him into a hug. Steve gently took the necklace and clasped it around her neck.

"Can I admit something to you?" Steve asked, moving a strand of Louise's unruly curls behind her ear with a lovestruck smile over his mouth.

Louise nodded, leaning into his touch. "Sure thing, Steveo. Spill."

The brunet boy snorted. "I really like you, Lou. I wanna be your boyfriend. Officially. I wanna show you off in public. I wanna kiss you whenever I see you. I'm tired of hiding this from our friends," Steve gestured between himself and Louise. Johnathan, Nancy, Robin and Dustin had all been trying to pair them up with different people, obviously clueless to their own secret relationship.

Louise wanted the same thing as Steve but she was scared. "I want that too, Steve, but I'm scared of getting hurt again," her voice was quiet. After 2 months of frequently seeing each other in secret, Steve had walked into her crying her eyes out in her room - so Louise opened up about her heartbreak stories, and Steve, being a perfect human being, comforted her. That was when Louise knew she wanted to keep Steve around longer - wherever it so official or not.

Steve clasped his hands on the sides of Louise's face gently, his dark brown eyes staring deeply into her hazel ones. "I would never ever hurt you, Henderson. I love you too much to do that to you."

"You love me?" Lousie whispered, her eyes watering. None of her past relationships had ever said that to her. Hearing it felt foreign but also familiar. Like the words felt right coming from him and only him.

"Of course, I do," Steve breathed out, a goofy grin over his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, clarifying any doubts that may have been flying around in her head.

She could've cried, honestly. The pounding in her heart rang in her ears, loud enough that she was sure Steve could hear. Her cheeks burned red as she said her next words. "I love you too," she whispered against his lips.

Steve grinned, putting the ache in the cheeks to back of his mind so he could focus fully on the oldest Henderson child. "Does this mean we can stop being a secret?" He asked hopefully, tilting his head slightly.

Louise giggled and nodded her head. Steve fist-bumped the air excitedly, rushing up from the bed and out of the door. Confused, Louise followed him, leaning against her doorframe to watch Steve barge into Dustin's rooms unannounced. "Henderson! I'm in love with your sister!"

Louise cackled at the loud declaration, watching as Steve ran back up to her and trapped her in his arms, twirling her smaller figure in a circle, pressing a thousand kissed to her face.

Before the romantic exchange could last, Louise's younger brother's loud voice blared from his room. "You what?!

THE END