Don’t Sneeze (Or Do?) Stranger Things // Steve + Nancy

[ToastedBagel]

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4*

Hello everyone!! I had a really good idea for a sneezefic and I knew I wanted it to include Steve. After watching Stranger Things 4 (Which I binged in, yes, 1 whole day) I really fell in love with the idea of Steve and Nancy as a couple again and thought that I would give a swing at writing about their love life (with sneezes, of course, don’t worry). My whole idea behind this is that it takes place after season 4. I know we aren’t sure exactly what the ending is as there are 2 more episodes coming out in July but I’m going off of pure imagination. I wanted to go for kind of a denial type situation where Steve gets sick, knows that he’s sick but doesn’t want Nancy to think he’s weak or for her to see his vulnerable side so he toughs it out and basically denies the whole illness when he’s in her presence (with fail, of course because who doesn’t want a vulnerable, sickly, sneezy Steve?) Annnnyways, I will quit jabbering and get right to the story. I hope for this story to be a longer one! So grab your popcorn and your favorite drink and enjoy!!

 

Everything was right in Steve Harrington’s world since they defeated Vecna and released Hawkins of the horrible “curse” that had been lurking over it for what seemed like forever. His whole life at least. He had a stable job at Family Video with his best friend, Robin. He was renting a decent apartment. He had his friends around him. And Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. He had a lot of history with Nancy. And by a lot I mean a lot. More than what most people would ever have to go through. He was so grateful to be able to have the love of his life back. At one point he didn’t think that it would have been possible. But here he was.

Steve finally willed himself to get out of his comfortable bed, knowing he had to start getting ready for work. He stumbled sleepily into the bathroom, half blinded by the light peering in through the window.

“Damn it, where the hell did I put my toothbrush?” Steve mumbled to himself. How one could lose their toothbrush so easily, no one would know. He grabbed the green one out of the medicine cabinet, squeezed a tiny bit of toothpaste on it and strolled towards the kitchen, still only in his boxers. He stopped in the doorway when he noticed Nancy in the kitchen. She was cooking breakfast. He glared at her beauty and the way her oversized t-shirt lay on her curves. She turned to put the dishes she had dirtied in the sink, facing him. She noticed him in the doorway and gave him a small smirk, but it quickly went away when she realized something.

“Steven Michael Harrington,” the brown haired girl said sternly.

“What?” Steve replied, the toothbrush hanging out of his mouth.

“That is my toothbrush! And that’s so disgusting!” Steve took the toothbrush out of his mouth so he could properly respond to his girlfriend. “What? We swap spit all the time! Why is this such a big deal?”

“Steve, you know how different that is, it’s.. you know what nevermind. Go put it back,” Nancy said, frustrated. Steve threw up his hands playfully and started back down the hall towards the bathroom. Nancy shook her head a bit. Steve wasn’t Harvard material. But he was hers. All hers. Steve came back out wearing jeans and his favorite yellow sweater. He made his way to where Nancy was and wrapped his arms around her waist. There was bacon sizzling in the pan and it smelled delicious. Nothing could ruin this moment. Except one thing. A sneeze. The bacon aroma triggered an intense tickle inside of Steve’s nose. One that he couldn’t ignore, at least not for very long. His nostrils started to flare uncontrollably, his breath hitching. He knew he had lost his battle. Twisting away from Nancy he brought up his arm and covered the best he could, while still keeping his left arm around her body. He let out a wet sneeze. Hestchehsheweww!! Just as he regained his balance and nuzzled his face into the back of Nancy’s neck, another wet sneezed escaped him. He barely turned away in time to avoid sneezing all over Nancy. And the bacon. Heschsheewww!! Phew. That was intense.

“Bless you,” Nancy whispered turning her head towards his. She gave him a worried look mixed with sympathy. Nancy had been with Steve long enough to know that he never sneezes. Nothing ever bothered his nose. Not pepper or pollen or any other thing that could cause a person to sneeze. Unless he was sick. It’s like Steve’s body flicks a switch on when he’s caught even the slightest of colds and then it’s like everything sends him into a tickly, sneezy, sniffly mess. And when one comes, the rest just follow. Steve hated this about his body because even the smallest cold leaves him feeling exhausted and under the weather for days. And Nancy knew. She knew what was starting and what they were in for the next few days.

Every time Steve caught any illness he tried to convince Nancy that he’s fine, which always somehow seemed to fail about a half a day in. Something about the weakness and vulnerability that came with being sick didn’t sit right with him. He was a man, right? Not a baby. He would push through it. So once again, he attempted to make an excuse about why he wasn’t coming down with anything, even though both Steve and Nancy knew the truth. He was coming down with something.
Nancy escaped his grasp and swung around to face his muscular body. “Maybe you should should just take the day off,” she suggested.

“Nance, I sneezed. Twice. How is that any reason to stay home?” Steve said calmly, keeping his eyes locked on Nancy’s.

“You never sneeze. Unless you’re sick. We both know how this is going to go down.”

Steve wasn’t going to budge. He had to keep his denial going. He tried to convince himself that maybe it was just a sneeze. That his head wasn’t going to be pounding or his nose red and runny by noon. If he believed that himself maybe Nancy would believe it too.

“I’ll be okay, I promise,” he reassured her, reaching behind her to grab a piece of bacon off of the counter before slipping away from her grasp and heading to the door to leave for work. Nancy grabbed his keys off the counter.

“These might be helpful,” she said, tossing them towards her brunette boyfriend. Just as Steve noticed his keys falling towards him the smell of the bacon twinged at his sinuses again and he unexpectedly doubled over in a violent sneeze. Hehehsschshewww!! A sneeze so violent it caused him to miss his keys leaving them to hit the floor next to his feet. He bent down to pick them up, fighting off another sneeze, his breath hitching sporadically the whole time. Congestion started to set in. He glanced at Nancy.

“I’m okay. I will see you after work. I’ll bring pizza,” Steve comforted. It seemed to work a little as Nancy gave him a small smirk. “Love you,” he smiled, as he closed the door behind him. He had a long day ahead of him.

Part 2 will be out soon! I had so much fun writing this. There weren’t too many sneezes in this part but just you wait. I have ideas. Hehe.

[jem]

THIS IS FANTASTIC! I loveee Steve. It’s crazy how clearly I could picture the scene. Your writing is good! I’m really excited to see the next chapter. Thanks for sharing! 

[ToastedBagel]

Here is part 2 for you guys! I know there wasn’t a horrible amount of sneezing in the first part and for that I do apologize. I wanted to be able to explain the background behind it more than anything. So enjoy part 2 and let me know what you think!

 

Nancy stretched her legs out onto the bed, laying her head down on the soft pillow behind her. Just as she had gotten comfortable she heard the front door open. She waited for Steve to come around the corner into the bedroom. That’s where he always went after getting home to change out of his work clothes and into something more relaxing. Nancy always loved watching Steve do even the most minimal tasks. It made her stomach fill with butterflies. She heard shuffling and the clanking of Steve’s keys hitting the console next to him.

 

Hehsccheww!! Hescshsxxxt! He- Hehshschscheww!

 

She pulled herself up from the bed and went through the hallway to Steve’s location. When she caught sight of her boyfriend she felt a twinge of sadness. His nose was raw and red, his eyes watering. He did not look like he felt well at all, which is exactly what they both expected. Steve was struggling to get to the counter to set the pizza box down. He could barely see, his nostrils flaring and his breath hitching constantly, not to mention the fact that his head was pounding and his body felt so weak that even the pizza box he was holding felt like 1000 pounds.

“Hey, hey, come here,” Nancy said as she grabbed the pizza box from his hands and gently laid it on the counter next to them. Steve brought his sweater up to his face and sneezed desperately into it, almost losing his balance. He-heh hehschhschewww!! He took a deep breath of relief. He made his way to the couch and slumped down. This is the first time since this morning that he was able to sit down, aside from the car ride there and back.

“Bless you,” Nancy said somberly, “do you want anything, like, tea? I can make you some chamom--” but before she could finish her sentence Steve cut her off.

“Nance, hun I’m fine. I feel fine. Definitely not sick.” Smooth, Steve. Smooth. That’s probably what a sick person would say. He knew that wasn’t true though. Along with his headache his chest was burning and he felt a slight chill go down his spine.

Nancy rubbed circles in Steve’s back, giving him a stern look.

“I’m not s- heh- sick!” he repeated, his breathiness proving otherwise.

 

Heschschehww!! Hehhschhewww!

 

Steve’s hair wobbled with each sneeze, making it look disheveled. He ran his hands through it in hopes it would make him look a little more put together. The tickle had subsided, but only a little. It was only a matter of time before he was pitching forward to catch another sneeze in cupped hands. Hehschhewww! Nancy grabbed a couple tissues from the box off of the side table and handed them to Steve just in time for 2 more sneezes to escape his now trembling body. Steve tried to stifle them but it just made his body ache more.

 

Heshxxtxch! He- Hehscxxt!

 

“Bless you, again,” Nancy spoke while combing her fingers through Steve’s brown hair. She felt how warm his head was. He had to be running a fever. Steve, still leaning forward, blew his nose loudly into the tissue that just caught his sneezes seconds ago. Doing so brought on a pretty harsh and violent coughing fit that left him feeling lifeless. His throat already burned before hand but now it felt like someone was scraping a razor blade across his neck. Maybe it was finally time to admit to his worried girlfriend that he might be sick.

“Alright. I might be sick.”

“Steve, I already knew that. It wasn’t like you could hide it.”

“I just hate being so vulnerable in front of you.”

Nancy leaned in closer, scoffing slightly.

“You and I are a team. Plus, there are much more vulnerable sides of you I’m sure I will see.” She pecked his cheek ever so slightly, making Steve’s stomach flip and turn. Grabbing Nancy’s face, he pulled her back in. She made an attempt to kiss Steve on the lips but he stopped her.

“I guess since I’m sick I shouldn’t kiss you. I wouldn’t want you to catch this crud. It’s not very enjoyable, ya know.”

“I’m literally inches from your face, Steve. I’ve probably already caught it. Now shut up and kiss me.”

Steve pushed Nancy down onto the couch, gripping her body. They’re lips reunited but not more than a few seconds in Steve pulled away into another coughing fit followed by a sneeze.

“Why don’t we just get you into bed to rest, we can finish this later, you know. We can grab the pizza and pop in a movie.”

Steve nodded groggily and followed Nancy back to the bedroom.

 

Halfway through the movie, with empty plates and tons of used tissues later, Steve’s eyes started getting heavy. He leaned his head on Nancy’s shoulder. It relieved the pain and pressure of his headache a bit and he was finally the most comfortable he’d been in hours. He finally was on the brink of sleep when that familiar tickle came back. He quietly stifled into his sleeve, not even moving away from Nancy. Heschcsxxxt! He was so tired and delusional that he was basically asleep the moment he lowered his arm.

“Bless you,” Nancy whispered as she kissed Steve’s feverish forehead, “Get better soon.”

[jem]

SO CUTE 

[beau34]

I. LOVE. THIS. hoping for some contagion in the future? 😊

[Elle]

I'm crushing hard on Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson this season. Thank you for writing some excellent sneezy Steve sickfic!

[Sneesee]

I love Steve, and this fic!!! Thank you! 💜

[ashes__]

I also am crushing hard on Steve Harrington so this was a wonderful find!

[Seeker]

This was great! Very much enjoyed 

[ThatSneezyGirl]

This is so cute 🥺 I’m obsessed with them together 

[BCCLX]

💗💗💗