#Also Dustin being mean: Sorry I can’t hang out I’ve got a date

[morganbritton132]

Eddie is live-streaming as he walks through the house, complaining about writer’s block because, “ugh, I know what I want to say but -uhhhhg, words are hard, you -“

Eddie stops, takes a few steps back, and looks at something off screen. He then pans the camera around so you can see the confusion on his face and Steve laying on the floor in the living room.

Eddie: Hey babe…what’cha doin? Having some floor time?

Steve: Thinking about how utterly unlovable I am

Eddie immediately is in the living room, phone tossed to the side. From the way his phone landed propped up against the coffee table, you can still see Eddie drop down on top of Steve like, “You’re not unlovable.”

Steve: Really, ‘cause all your fans hate me and my own mother won’t talk to me, and Dustin’s being mean to me for no reason… and my hairdresser canceled on me this week.

Eddie hums along like he’s taking all this in and then picks up his phone like, “Sorry, guys. Gotta go. It’s Loving Steve O’Clock at Casa Munson.”

[corrodedcoughin]

Hi! Previous TAZ anon again!

—-

Steve and Eddie are on the couch. They’re listening to the scene where Taako and Kravitz go in their date. Eddie’s legs are lazily draped over Steve’s lap, Steve lazily stroking over them. They’re laughing as the scene plays out and then, “Because I'm worried no one else will have me.” Steve goes rigid, head turning away from Eddie.

“Steve?” Eddie’s sitting up hand reaching out, placing it over his.

The podcast continues, “As far as anybody else knows, my career as a chef is over. Nobody wants an adventurer who's got as little experience as I'd have, going in. I can't tell any-- I can't put any of this in my resume, it'll look like scribbles! So that's out. I don't have a lot of job prospects on that front. So here I am.”

Steve leans over and pauses the podcast. Silence hangs between them.

“Oh,” Eddie knows without Steve having to say anything. Eddie shifts, straddles Steve’s lap and cradles his face into his hands, “Look at me Steve Harrington, we both know Taako is a badass. He’s fucking awesome and he can do literally anything.”

Steve’s still looking uncertain and Eddie boops Steve’s nose, “he’s not the smartest, but he’s brave. He’s loyal, he’s sexy…”

Steve can’t help but grin, “are we still talking about Taako?”

“Uh, yeah,” Eddie says, rolling his eyes playfully, “he’s the sexist one in the group.”

“Shut up!” Steve’s batting away at Eddies hand still on his nose.

“I mean it though.”

“What? That Taako is sexy?” Steve rolls his eyes.

“Forget Taako!” He’s placing a furled finger under Steve’s chin, lifting head so he’d meet his eyes, “of course I was talking about you! Steve you’re literally the best person I know! You’ve fought literal inter dimensional beings. You can do anything.” Steve still has a look of apprehension on his face, “ok, how about this? You put up with me and Dustin.”

Steve pauses, acts like he’s thinking before clicking his tongue, “you’ve got me there.”

“Right?” Eddie’s grinning, it so infectious it spread on to Steve’s face.

“Shut up and kiss me, Munson.” He says and Eddie doesn’t need to be told twice.

—-

I’m so sorry this was so long. The idea TAZ and Steddie just took me. Also I’m sorry if this is annoying!!! Also, Robin and Steve as Lup and Taako!!! And also also!!! I hope you know that your presence here is so important and I hope you stick around! <3

DONT YOU COME INTO MY INBOX WITH TAZ STEDDIE AND THEN TRY AND APOLOGISE ABOUT IT!!!! DONT!!! I AM EATING THIS AND DEVOURING IT AND IT IS GOOD FUCKING FOOD!!!!

Steve slips up and calls Dustin ‘Argo’ one day at family video and Dustin whips his head around so fast.

‘Steve’

There’s no reaction, not even an acknowledgement but Dustin is sliding up to him now, massive Cheshire-cat grin on his face ‘Steve you listened to it didn’t you?’

‘Henderson what are you talking about? Shut up’

Dustin persists ‘I know you listened to it steve. I know it’

He’s met with silence. Neither of them willing to back down. Steve avoids all eye contact with the younger boy, trying to derail the conversation when Eddie pulls up to the store, bouncing on his feet as he jogs up to Steve and starts pulling his hand

‘come onnnn Steve, I’ve been waiting all day for this! We are getting to my favourite part and taako’s best line is coming up!!’

Dustin flicks his eyes between the two of them, flings his arm out to point ‘I KNEW IT! STEVE I KNEW IT’

Steve pulls Dustin’s hat over his face ‘fine, okay fine but if you tell any of the others about this you ride privileges are gone. Got it?’

Dustin doesn’t care, just starts gushing about Magnus and Lucretia and asks how far they’ve listened.

[justburningdaylight]

The Art and the Aesthete

Eddie Munson x Fem Henderson!Reader, Best Friend Steve x Fem Henderson!Reader

Summary: The first time reader meets Eddie is also the first time she truly appreciates art.

Warnings: fluff, slight paul mccartney idolization, a LOT of art comparisons, ted bundy reference, no real ending at all (sorry guys), like one f-bomb i think, no spoilers!

Word count: 1.4k

a/n: i finished stranger things and naturally i wanted to write a lil something for eddie so here we are. p.s. requests are open come talk to me! 

You were sitting on the floor of your bedroom with your back pressed contently against your bed, silently willing your best friend to stop talking. Steve had come over to complain after what you could only hyperbolically guess was his hundredth date this month.

“And it’s like okay, it’s cool if we have similar opinions! But there’s no way you actually agree with every single thing I say! I mean seriously (y/n), I said the Beatles were better than the Rolling Stones just to see what she’d say and she agreed!”

“That’s because the Beatles are better, inordinately better actually-”

“Woah, hey, I just wanted to make sure you were listening! Please don’t give me the Paul McCartney is a god speech again.”

“I was listening, I just wasn’t sure how to reply. You don’t want to go out with her again because she agreed with you? You really dodged a bullet Harrington. I mean imagine if you had gotten serious with this girl? ‘Hey honey do you want to go out to dinner tonight?’ ‘Yes Steve, that sounds nice.’ I mean seriously? What a psycho!” You quip, making sure to use a vocal impression of him that you know Steve hates.

“You’re not funny, Henderson, anybody ever tell you that?” He exclaims, flopping backwards onto the plush fabric of your duvet.

“I do! Tell her all the time actually.” Dustin suddenly appears in your room without knocking you can’t help but notice.

Steve lets out a diminutive chuckle, unsubtly attempting to cover it with a cough.

“You know what I tell you all the time? To knock, like on my door, before you just walk in. Does that sound familiar?”

“Hmmm. No, no not really.”

“Oh? Do you want me to tell you again in a way that you won’t forget?” You threaten, trying less than gracefully to pull yourself off the floor while conjuring up the most menacing look you can and aiming it toward your little brother.

“Ooh I’m real scared. I shouldn’t have to knock anyway cause you were supposed to drop me and Mike off at Hellfire Club like five minutes ago.”

“So because I forgot, the basic concept of privacy is thrown out the window?”

“Yep! Let’s go, chop-chop! I’ve got a campaign to win.” Dustin throws haphazardly over his shoulder as he walks out of your room, knowing you already agreed to drive him and wouldn’t want to chance getting another lecture from your mother about the importance of being there for each other.

“Hey how much do you know about this Eddie guy? Dustin hasn’t shut up about him for weeks,” Steve says as you start your walk to the driveway.

“Well I’ve never actually met him, I just drop the boys off for their club sometimes.”

“You’ve never met him? And you just leave them there? That sounds right to you? What if he’s some Ted Bundy type?”

The look you give him is the middle ground between amusement and confusion. Though you’re sure a small part of him could be worried for your brother’s safety, it seems far more likely that he’s jealous Dustin has another older friend to hang out with.

“Please! If you were a killer, would you let Dustin live this long?” You’re joking, but you’re completely convinced that your little brother is far too annoying for someone with murderous tendencies to keep around long-term.

“Ha! And I said you weren’t funny,” Dustin’s voice sounds again, dripping with sarcasm, “Seriously (y/n)! If I’m late to this thing you’re gonna have to explain it to Eddie.” He’s bordering on whining now and you resist the urge to roll your eyes and take twice as long just to spite him.

“Alright!” You shout and turn back to Steve “See you later. Oh hey! Watch out for agreeable girls on your way home! You can never be too careful.”

“Alright, okay, point taken. Maybe I’m being a little too picky.”

“I’m glad you picked up on that.” You say getting into your car.

“See you later Hendersons!” 

“Bye Steve!” Dustin’s impatient form calls out waving goodbye from the passenger seat.

“Finally!” Mike and Dustin chorus in unison as your car pulls into the parking lot. You silently praise yourself for mustering up the strength not to fling an insult or two at the boys after what was one of the more infuriating car rides in your recent memory.

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up! Glad you boys found the time to fit me into your busy schedule.” An unfamiliar voice weaves its way through the crisp evening air.

“We’re sorry!” “So sorry! My sister doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the words I don’t want to be late so y’know here we are, late.” Mike and Dustin sound as they promptly scramble to get unbuckled and out of the car.

“What was that Dusty?” You question sarcastically, “Thank you for driving me even though I’ve been a proverbial thorn in your side for the entire night? Oh you are just so welcome!”

Unappreciative little-

Your internal strife is short-lived as you hear a chuckle sounding from the unfamiliar boy, who you’re now certain must be Eddie. You finally look over at him and your eyes widen emphatically at the sight you behold.

You’d heard tales of Eddie Munson. Word of mouth told you that he’s a Hawkins aberration, an unwelcome presence in a town with an already less than stellar reputation. Hearing what you have, you weren’t entirely sure what to expect. What you hadn’t expected, however, was for him to look so entirely beautiful.

His face was comparable to a work of art, an ancient roman statue permitted to be standing in a museum somewhere, as though his cheekbones could have been carved out by Michelangelo himself, dimples and all. His eyes were the purest shade of brown, tantamount to a jar of honey, warm and saccharine. Sinuous dark brown hair lay lustrously on his head, winding its way toward his broad shoulders. Perhaps he was a recently stolen work from a modern museum.

You were staring, taking in his statuesque form nearly unabashedly until you realized how impolitely it could be perceived.

You found yourself lifting your gaze back to his eyes, only to find them already looking into your own. 

“Forget about it.” He’s talking to the boys but his caramel eyes haven’t moved from yours.

Dustin furrowed his eyebrows at the interaction but muttered a quick ‘bye’ to you as he and Mike hastily dashed inside.

“So. You’re the sister huh? (y/n) right?” He asks, the beginnings of a smile leisurely forming on his delicate lips; a true masterpiece in the making. 

There’s a flicker of something in his eyes and, though you can’t discern what it is precisely, you don’t mind it for a second. Surely there was an art gallery somewhere itching to put him on display. 

“Yeah, mmhmm, yep, that’s me.” Okay. That’s definitely something you just said. Cool. “You must be Eddie.” He nods, that same ghost of a smile still perfectly haunting his graceful lips. You’re pulling it together, a coherent sentence and everything! “I feel like I should thank you or something,” He furrows his eyebrows together in a winsome display of confusion, and you hurry to continue before you make yourself appear nervous again.

“Y’know for looking out for Dustin. All of the boys, really. They’re good kids but high school can be hell and they’re insistent that it would be if it weren’t for you. So thank you, really.” You smile widely, visibly pleased that you haven’t made a complete fool of yourself in front of the perfectly composed work of art before you.

He’s smiling now. An expertly crafted smile. A smile that makes it feel as though the sun itself is rising higher into the sky. How does he do that?

“They’re good kids you know? And high school is a fuckin’ nightmare, I would have wanted somebody to do the same for me.” He’s downplaying his kindness, but you can see straight through the display.

The two of you stay like that for a while, gentle small talk flowing between you like a river through a secluded valley. His caramel eyes locked on yours and both of your faces adorned by unwavering smiles.

Reluctantly he releases a soft sigh and straightens his form out “I should probably get in there, give ‘em a little hell.”

“Yeah, go on. Have fun! Preferably kick Dustin’s ass.” 

“Always do.” He smirks at you, bowing his head in a near imperceptible nod before turning his back and walking off.

And without a moments notice, you were an aesthete.

[wheeier]

no taking back

summary: it was only fun and games. but steve had other plans.

warnings: modern au, tooth-rotting fluff i guess, little but of swearing

+ olivia rodrigo’s sour album (stream besties), the movie tangled at the end because it just radiates as a comfort movie

yes a modern au !!! i just saw this on tiktok (the sour part, but the rest was my idea!) and thought it was so cute so it gave me an idea to make it as a fic, enjoy !!!

steve harrington x fem!reader

olivia rodrigo’s new album just released and you were thrilled to listen to it and stream it the whole day.

when you finally got to listen to it, you asked your friends—robin, nancy, and the party, if they listened to it and which ones were their favorites.

robin told you that her top three were hope ur ok, jealousy, jealousy, and brutal.

nancy said she really loved favorite crime.

max said hers was also brutal.

el told you that she played good 4 u and traitor on repeat that hopper had to go into her room to turn it down.

when mike comes over to the cabin he can assure that el does indeed play them on repeat and get pissy about it (but he secretly loves the album, but he wouldn’t let her or anyone know that).

and lastly lucas and dustin are fans of deja vu and 1 step forward 3 steps back. max even told you that they would sing the bridge of deja vu on the top of their lungs.

you slightly laughed at the memory of them telling you about it.

however, there’s one more person that you haven’t talked to about it yet.

steve.

your smile faltered and faded when he came across in your mind.

your feelings for him had deepened over the time and listening to the sour album made it feel like you two had broken up, which in fact, is not true because you were never together in the first place.

suddenly, an idea popped in your head. instead of being sad about steve, you thought about texting him, although it’s almost 1AM, you knew he’d still be up.

Sailor Man

You: hey

You: u up?

Sailor Man: duh

Sailor Man: this has been our nightly routine u always bother me when i’m about to go to sleep

You: fuck off

You: don’t pretend that you’re not binge watching outer banks until 4am

Sailor Man: i’m not?!?

You: yeah right

You: anyways

You: can u do me a favor

Sailor Man: will i get free pizza afterwards

You: no

Sailor Man: k

You: what the fuck

You: fine

Sailor Man: hehe

Sailor Man: what’s the favor ;)

You: dont get me started with that winky face i swear ure so dead when i see you at the wheeler’s house tomorrow

You: have you listened to olivia rodrigo’s new album

Sailor Man: ohh the bitter album?

You: ITS SOUR DUMBASS

Sailor Man: I DONT KNOW?!?

You: I CANT DO THIS HJAGSK

Sailor Man: shut up

Sailor Man: i’ve heard some of the songs but i haven’t fully listened to them

Sailor Man: why

You: can you like

You: ask me to be ur girlfriend then break up with me right after so i can experience and actually feel the whole sour album

Sailor Man: what

You: just do it !!

Sailor Man: you’re so funny (y/n/n)

Sailor Man: okay

Sailor Man: will you be my girlfriend?

You: yes !!!

You: ...

You: hello

You: dont tell me u fell asleep

Sailor Man: i’m not doing the last part you might as well forget about it

You: wjat

Sailor Man: :D

You: wtf

You: okay steve cut it out i’m not doing this anymore u’re not funny

Sailor Man: nope

Sailor Man: go to sleep we’re dating now that’s how this works

Sailor Man: okay i dont know if you’re still reading this now and i am terrified to say this to you in person like TERRIFIED. might piss my pants if i did. so (y/n/n), my favorite dumbass, my favorite person to talk to at night even if it interrupts my binge watching marathon, you make me so happy to the point that even when i sleep you’re still in my dreams. i like you. i have like the biggest fattest crush on you. and thank you for doing that sour album thing or whatever, because of that i get to finally ask you out

you rolled on your back after you read the message, facing the ceiling as your mind processed what just happened. was he playing with you? was he actually serious about asking you out?

Incoming video call...

Sailor Man

you took a deep breath before tapping the green button and placing it back down on the bed.

“hey,” you can tell that he was tired based on his voice. “can you show your face, please? i miss you.”

ignoring the butterflies in your stomach, you hesitantly lifted the phone and shifted your position to lay on your side. “hey.”

“hey yourself.” steve grins. that stupid grin that makes your stomach turn, that grin you always want to see everyday.

“what’s..up?” you avoided looking at him and started to admire your surroundings and the posters placed on your wall. this was the only time you were glad you weren’t with him in person.

“i just wanted to see if you’re okay.” of course he will ask that. he's steve. he cares about other more than himself.

“i am, thanks.” you showed a smile that doesn't reach your ears and steve knew something was bothering you. “hey, look. i'm sorry about my confession- if it made you uncomfortable i'm sorry-”

“no,” you cut him off, looking back at his face on the screen. “i’m fine, really. you don't have to apologize. i was just, surprised.”

there was silence between the two of you for a few seconds, before you spoke again. “did you mean it?” you voice was only above whisper but steve managed to hear them. “of course,” he answered almost too quick, without any hesitation. “i've been trying to find the perfect opportunity and had been asking god for signs because i can't make a move myself-”

“asking god?” you chuckled and steve smiled hearing them, glad that he somehow lightened the mood. “well, more like begging.” he continues and you giggled.

once your laughter died you both fell into silence again. you still couldn’t believe that out of a fun joke, it would turn into a whole another situation. “so, um.. just so you know, i’m not mad, or upset, or anything. i really was just surprised. it felt like a dream because i didn’t know that you like me back and all i did was just supposed to be a fun joke but—”

“hold on, back?”

“what?”

“like you back. you said i like you back.” steve sat up on his bed and fixed his hair as his eyes widened. “i did...” you said slowly, not catching up.

“does that mean you..”

then it hit you. “oh, right. yeah. i- i like you..too.” you waited for his reaction and once you saw him smile you couldn’t stop yourself from doing the same.

“i knew it. and well, i guess that confirms it. we’re dating now. no taking back.” he smirks then laughs when your rolled your eyes. “don’t flatter yourself, harrington. i did not say shit.” you pointed your index finger on the screen, barely containing your giggles.

“based on your beautiful smile i think you don’t need to say it. i like you, and you like me. we’re dating.” steve gives you a teasing smile. you tried keeping your serious face but it won’t last longer so you finally smiled again. “alright, fine. no taking backs. we’re dating.” you said then laughed as he whisper-yelled ‘yes!’ while fist pumping the air.

he soon joined your laughter and you stayed like that until your jaw was pretty much in pain because of your smiles. when it was all quiet again, you both just admired each other’s presence through the screens of your phones. “i wish i was there with you.” he mumbles. “yeah, me too.” you hugged your cold pillow beside you, closing your eyes for a moment and imagining it as steve.

“are your parents home?”

you snorted at his random question. “i’m actually alone right now, they’re out because dad got promoted at his work so he and mom and i think a few friends went out to celebrate. they should be home by an hour or two. why?”

“nothing.” was all he said before hanging up. you were left confused but then he’s your best friend after all, so you knew right then and there that he’ll do something stupid. after you turned your phone off you suddenly felt watching a movie so you went to the kitchen to make some popcorn.

when it was finished and had been put in a bowl, that’s when you heard your doorbell rang—in a pattern which you recognize, and only one person does that.

you let out a quiet laugh when you realized who it was and set the bowl on the counter before opening the door.

“hi!” steve greeted you with a smile. “uh, hi?” you laughed nervously and stepped aside for him to go in. “i smell popcorn, are we having a movie night?” he says as he steps inside and shrugged off his jacket. “actually yeah, i’m planning on watching—”

“tangled.” he finishes off, you subconsciously smiled upon hearing your favorite movie. “how’d you know?”

steve snatches a few popcorns from the bowl as you both arrived in the kitchen. “(y/n), you have watched that movie 7 times this week and always gush to me about it.”

“well, you’re the only one that is around my age that i can talk to with that movie. robin and nancy aren’t that into it.” you replied, grabbing the bowl and making your way back to your bedroom, steve following your heels. “and you think i’m the best option to talk to about that?” he asks, plopping down on your bed and resting his back on the headboard.

“you’re not complaining.” you shrugged as you grabbed your laptop and sat beside steve.

“yeah, probably because i like you.” it came out of his mouth casually. you froze in place and felt your cheeks heat up, finally nodding your head slowly, “..probably.” as you typed in the movie in your laptop you felt steve scoot closer, making your breath hitch.

you were both in a comfortable silence while watching the movie, except for a few jokes and comments that steve makes and him explaining how similar he was to flynn rider.

“you know, since i’m eugene, you could be rapunzel.” he suddenly says. you eyes were still on the screen but your eyebrows furrowed. “why? i’m nothing like her.”

finally looking at steve, you almost screamed how he was already looking at you. “oh, you are so rapunzel. you may not have the longest hair in the world, but you are pretty much similar.” he replies, smiling and not taking his eyes off of you.

you paused the movie and shifted your body towards him, intrigued by his explaination. “how so?”

“well, first off,” steve starts, resting his hands on the soft mattress. “you’re both sweet, you’re both a huge ray of sunshine, have gorgeous eyes and smile, and eugene is head over heels over you — and since he doesn’t exist in real life, i’d like to be the substitute.” he finished with a confident smile.

after about three seconds, you burst out of laughter. you laughed. as much as he loves the sound of your laugh, he can’t help but pout. “(y/n), i’m trying to be sweet here!”

“i’m sorry!- it’s just- i can’t help but laugh at your flirting.” you managed to say between your laughs. you know he’s kidding but he looked at you like he was offended.

your laughter died down and held steve’s face. “it’s cute, sorry.” you mumble with a little laugh. when he finally smiled you turned to your laptop and continued the movie.

steve gazes at you for a few more seconds before watching the movie with you again. “thank you.” you whisper, glancing at him.

“you’re very much welcome, my rapunzel.” he says smiling before he slides a bit down on the bed so his head could reach your shoulder and rests it there.

you giggled as you heard him whisper,

“thank you, olivia rodrigo.”

[argylemikewheeler]

July 1st, 1985

what the first ep of (my) s3 would look like if the main concept was: both Steve and Will are gay in 1985’s Summer of Love and the town’s enemy is a little more human; loving friendships, very confused adults, and Will Byers Actually Getting Help

“Harrington!”

“Yes, sir.” Steve looked up from his desk. He dropped his crossword and looked to be at attention; the police station’s phone wasn’t ringing, though, so there wasn’t really anything he should have been doing. Hopper stepped out of his office, angling himself toward the door rather than Steve’s desk island.

“Do you think you’ll be able to-- Harrington, what are you doing?” Hopper caught sight of the pocket thesaurus sitting on his desk (the last name written on the inside cover not belonging to Steve, of course). Hopper fixed his sunglasses on the edge of his nose, looking over them and down at Steve.

“I’m just, uh, working on my vocabulary.” Steve said. Hopper blinked twice, waiting. Steve wasn’t going to say the truth: he was dating-- well seeing someone-- way smarter than him. This wasn’t for joy or boredom. He was studying to impress. “It’s college prep, sir.”

“The crossword?” The chief evened his stare. “This your old man’s suggestion?” Of all the things Steve’s father was telling him to do with himself, he  wished  some of it was simply pecking at a crossword over a twelve hour shift.  Fucking off  and  being a better piece of shit son  just wasn’t feasible to accomplish in one summer.

“He swears by it.”

“Okay, well. Uh, moving on from that,” Hopper grabbed his hat from the coat rack. The topic of Steve’s father always made Hopper stiffen up; it was definitely the main reason Hopper gave Steve his job at the station, but it still created more questions. Steve knew Hopper and his father went to high school together, but he never asked his father about those years-- beyond his baseball glory stories. “I’ve got plans tonight and I need to head out early. Can you handle things on your own for a while. At least until the night shift comes in?”

“I’ll be fine.” Steve made sure not to acknowledge the crossword on his desk as he nodded. He was really good at his job, he was. He was also just, unfortunately, still a pretty shitty boyfriend and needed all the vocab help he could get. “What’s the pressing story?”

“I have dinner.” Hopper was already trying to walk out the door. “So  don’t  call me. For the love of God.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Chief. I--” Steve was sure it was the cool July wind that slammed the door on the last half of his sentence. Not Hopper. “won’t... Have a good time, I guess.”

The police station was empty: it was another boring and wonderfully quiet Monday in Hawkins. There’d been some calls to break up disturbances at city hall in the past few days, but somehow everyone just seemed to agree that Mondays-- the longest shift of Steve's whole week-- was the day everyone went about their quietest day.

There were a few officers milling in and out of the back lounge and front door, casting a quick glance to Steve as he muttered and threatened fourteen down and six across. Nancy had been helping close the gaps of his post-high school education-- without knowing just what for-- but had been picking up most hours at the Post to try and elbow her way into their good graces; it put his tutoring on hold. So here he was, groaning at some clues about classical artists he’d never heard of.

There were other reasons Steve was sure the other officers thought he was odd-- things he was  sure  his father had passed along in spitting rants-- but Steve didn’t mind. No one said anything to his face.

“Hey Flo! Is, uh, is Steve here?” The question was asked with the answer already in mind.

Steve sat up in his chair, twisting around to see down the hall to the back entrance to the station. There weren’t many parking spots to fill, but he knew a certain someone who preferred it to street parking.

“Jonathan?”

“Oh, I hear him. Thanks-- hey!” Jonathan hurried out from the hall, his camera bumping against his stomach and bag slapping against his leg in the same rhythm. He’d gotten a new haircut recently: semi-wonky bangs and a closer cut in the back. All thanks to Steve’s peer pressure and Mrs. Byers’s kitchen shears.

“What are you doing here?”

“Sorry to stop by your work like this--” he lowered his voice as he stopped at the corner of Steve’s desk. “I know we said we wouldn’t do that, but we got an extra muffin in the lunch order and I know you’re always starving after a Monday shift so.” Jonathan produced a folded brown paper bag from his satchel. “Here.”

“Oh, thanks.” Steve wanted to say so much more, but had to settle. No more. None of what they’d decided they wouldn’t say. Not until the summer had ended. They wanted to see if they lasted longer than the convenience of loose summer schedules.

“Won’t I see you, uh, later, though?” At eight, when Steve got sent home he always drove straight to Jonathan’s. Jonathan started late on Tuesdays and Steve had off; they had the time to waste. “Or is this your way of telling me to stay home?”

“No! No we’re still... hanging out.” Jonathan had gotten really good at cooking and treated Steve to weekly dinner. It was a nice gesture at first, but Steve started growing fond of the company. They both did around mid-June. “But, I think Mike’s going to be over so. Be  cool , alright? Keep it cool.”

“Cool, got it.” Steve leaned back in his chair. He moved his papers to leave a corner of his desk for Jonathan to sit on. No one was in the main office; it was a harmless invitation.

“I have to get going...” It sounded like an excuse, a dive for safety. “And I’m sure you have, um,  puzzles  to do?” Jonathan pretended not to be endeared. He tried, he really did. He  failed , but Steve pretended he didn’t notice.

“Don’t want to sit and help me figure out the title of Mozart’s last opera?” He patted the desk, daring to be more direct.

“I really have to go.” Jonathan was genuine, looking at his watch. “The Post only let me out early today because I have to go pick up Will from his doctor’s appointment.”

“Wait.” Steve put the cap back on his pen. “Isn’t Will’s therapy on Wednesday?”

“Yeah, but with Mom’s schedule and the store being all weird-- we had to move it to today. And you know we typically have a family night after-- so he feels okay, you know-- but we  can’t  . So,  that’s why Mike’s coming over. Hopefully they’ll be idiots and tire Will out and he’ll sleep okay.” Tension rose in Jonathan’s voice quickly, explaining his day as if going over a laundry list; never rehearsing it but having it memorized.

“I can stay home if you need time, Jonathan.”

“No, really. I want you to come over.” Jonathan sighed and placed his hand on the emptied spot on Steve’s desk. “Besides, you can’t break tradition after a little over  one month , then it was just a weird habit.”

Steve Harrington did not consider his summer fling a w  eird habit . If anything, it was the most sensical thing he’d done in a very long time. Even after getting rejected from all his colleges, and never hearing the end of his father’s lectures, 1985 had been very kind to him. And that was mostly due to Jonathan’s inherent nature to be the same.

“I’ll see you after eight.” Steve smiled and reached for his hand-- but averted to grab a piece of memo paper by the phone.

“I’m sorry to leave in a rush.” Jonathan hitched his bag up, checking his watch again. “I just, I really need to get going.”

“Don’t worry. The muffin is  more  than enough.” Steve said. “And seeing you wasn’t too bad either.”

“Slow day, huh?” Jonathan said. The corner of his mouth quirked with a flattered, embarrassed smile. Steve tried to act nonchalant, like he wasn’t so goddamn relieved to see a familiar and happy face. Especially  his  familiar and happy face. “Well, good thing I have another surprise for you.”

“You can barely fit your camera in that bag, what could you possibly-- hey!” Steve missed grabbing Jonathan’s arm as he walked away, heading for the front door. “Where are you going?” Jonathan kept walking, checking his watch the whole way. “Hello?”

“Delivered right on time.” Jonathan pushed the front door open to the station-- but was nearly knocked over as a green  dash  barreled through it.

"Steve! Steve! Steve!” The dash was suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders. “You got the job!”

“Henderson! Oh my god! You’re back!” In an unlikely impulse, Steve grabbed Dustin in a hug, taking advantage of the change of height. “Holy shit, I nearly forgot! First of the month!”

“See you, Steve.” Jonathan walked across the room to the back entrance again. His hand braced the back of Steve’s chair, brushing across his shoulders.

“O-Okay! Yeah, see you!” Steve sputtered, losing his reminded  cool  in an instant. “Bye.”

Dustin pulled away slowly. “What was that?” It looked like  everyone  was too smart for Steve.

“Nothing. He brought me a surprise lunch-- which was an  obvious decoy to the main event! You! How are you, buddy? How was camp?”

“Oh, it was fantastic. Steve, I  have  to show you all my inventions! Camp was the  best  four weeks  of  my  life .” Dustin hopped up onto the corner of his desk. His heels tapped against the empty metal drawers. He was jittery, nearly uncontainable, but still so composed-- if only to be focused all on Steve.

Steve held his hands out, letting him start. “Lay it on me, Henderson! I want to hear everything. I missed you like crazy.”

“Well, first, obviously. I have to tell you about my girlfriend--”

“Whoa! Whoa!  Girlfriend  ? That fast?” Steve hadn’t been expecting any of his dating advice to work. It had been coming from such a poor and confused part of himself, Steve figured it was destined to fail. Apparently, it was just  Steve  that was-- when flirting with women at least. “Damn, there’s something in you after all!”

“She’s  super  smart, Steve. I’ve never met any girl like her. She’s a genius and she’s so pretty. God, I miss her already-- and I  just  saw her.”

Steve looked over his shoulder. He knew the feeling. “That’s great, man. I mean, I’m super happy for you. Like, that’s  crazy . That’s freaking awesome.”

“So what about you? How are the ladies? I mean, you work for the  Chief  now. All the ladies you could need and more, am I right?”

Steve used to be really good at this part of the lie, but with Dustin it felt cheap. He didn’t need to lie to him, but that was the deal; no matter how much that person was Steve’s best and most beloved friend, their secret was a dead-bolt, vaulted secret.

“Eh, not too great. Only girl my own age I see-- besides Nancy, really-- is the night-shift girl, Robin. But she’s not really-- we’re just friends. She’s alright. Leaves me weird drawings in the memo pad.”

“Ooo, she sounds cool.” Dustin raised his eyebrows. “Do you know her from school?”

“Yeah, we didn’t really run in the same crowds but-- it’s not like that, man. It’s really not.” Steve started unwrapping his lunch. “It’s so not like that with Robin.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m not...  looking  at the moment.”

Steve had originally decided to not go looking for trouble. After he and Nancy split in the beginning of his senior year, he didn’t start looking for an immediate replacement. The illusion of thinking he was in love with Nancy-- capable of being in love with Nancy-- was a hard thing to have come crumbling down. Steve needed time to get his own bearings, to put his feet firmly on the ground, and have them lifted off when his father grabbed him by the lapels and--

Steve hadn’t gone looking for trouble. Hadn’t gone looking for love either. But somehow, both seemed to find him.

Jonathan was late. He usually wasn’t but Will was trying not to be worried. It was a different day than usual and he knew how awful Jonathan’s boss and co-workers were. Will tried not to be worried-- he wasn't. It was just that he had spent an hour talking about the night his father left their family; standing outside the doctor’s office was a bit nerve-wracking. It felt too familiar, even with all the talking and note-scribbling.

Finally, Jonathan’s car pulled into the lot. He was speeding, as much as his car  could  speed: he knew he was late, which made Will feel a little bit better. No one had forgotten him. It was just traffic or his bosses or maybe just hitting all the red lights. As Jonathan stopped in front of the curb and waved Will in, Will could see he was jittery-- he was  upset  that he was late. Will felt bad for counting the minutes.

Not that he did it out of impatience or anything. Will just formed the habit after getting his new watch. It matched Mike’s. Completely on accident, of course.

“Hey, buddy! Sorry I’m late. I was-- I had to run an errand really fast. How long were you waiting.” He moved his bag and threw it onto the backseat. Will would’ve held it on his lap.

“I wasn’t keeping track.” Will said, climbing into the passenger seat. Will wanted to ask if his bag had Jonathan’s camera in it. If everything was okay. He didn’t. It seemed like Jonathan had been in his therapy with Will, just as shaken up. “It’s okay. Thanks for getting me.”

Jonathan waited until Will put on his seat belt. “Of course. We’re always here to pick you up. Therapy is important; you have to go.”

Will laughed before he could stop himself. “You sound like Mom.”  Why?

“Because she’s right.” Therapy was still kind of weird to Will-- since  no one else  in his grade had to do it-- but he humored his family. It was helping, if he had to admit it. But it was still embarrassing sometimes.

His therapist, Dr. Bright--  Rose Marie, as she insisted on being called-- was a send-out from the Lab, but disguised within a private practice just outside of town. She was able to listen to Will talk about what he saw and felt during his time with the Mind Flayer without trying to commit him. Almost nothing was off limits. Almost nothing.

Will checked his watch again.

“Are you excited to see Mike tonight?” The question was pointed, but Will wasn’t sure why it made him nervous. “I mean, I feel like I haven’t seen him in a bit.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s always with El.”

Will was sure they  weren’t  dating. El was just on a year-long stint of self-discovery and, besides Max, Mike was the person she trusted the most to help make as many helpful mistakes as possible. He bought her books to read and new music to try. It was really sweet, seeing Mike take such big strides toward helping their friend. But there was also a part of Will that felt dejected:  his  sort of help had to be prescribed and couldn’t be replaced with a warm laugh from one Mike Wheeler.

Will was sick while his friends were growing.

“Is there something wrong?” Jonathan used to ask the question like Will was one trembling lip away from crying-- but this time, he asked it like Will had his hand on the door, seconds from jumping out. “Will, are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Will nodded. “I’m fine. Just-- I talked a lot today and I’m tired.”

“Do you want to cancel with Mike--”

“No.” Will had been looking forward to having time with Mike--  just  Mike-- for a whole week. He wanted to sit on his floor with his best friend and be a kid again. Just for the night-- maybe draw some of Mike’s old campaigns or sketch out an idea for his own. He just wanted to remember something good about the past four years. After his hour with Dr. Bright, it all felt painful. Like his childhood naivety had been broken and every conversation he overheard in his house dripped with venom and disdain.

Will didn’t like picturing his house that way. It was a place that loved and raised him, a place he felt safe. He didn’t like thinking the conversations he heard being screamed through the walls were trapped in the drywall.

His arms felt heavy and his chest felt like it was made of metal-- he kept tasting it in his mouth. Will leaned back against the seat and reached for the radio. Jonathan turned it down before Will had even changed the station.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I just want to see Mike.” Will said, his mouth too honest and his mind shrouded in guilt. “I just want to see my friend.”

“Okay. Okay.” Jonathan nodded somewhat somberly. “I understand. Let’s go pick him up. He’s at his house right? Not El’s-- o-or The Sinclair’s or anything?”

“No. He’s at his.” Will crossed his arms and tried to find the loose string-- the thing that could uncoil Jonathan’s still-tightening anxiety. “Are you still dating Nancy?”

Jonathan turned to look at Will, nearly crashing the car. That was the wrong string. “What?”

“Nancy? Are you still dating her?”

“I was never dating Nancy.” Jonathan laughed, shaking his head. “I’m not dating Mike’s sister, don’t worry.” The clarification was strange and felt off-topic. Like Jonathan was trying to talk about something else.

“I thought you were. You guys hung out a lot during school.” Will heard her voice through the walls too. Always gentle, never yelling. Except when she was losing at playing cards. Then she shouted.

“She was helping me pass chemistry. That’s all.” Jonathan turned the radio up a little. Will checked his watch. “And then she helped me apply to the Post internship-- she’s great at writing papers, did you know that? A real wordsmith. Is Mike a writer too?”

He was, he  really  was. Grammatically, Will ran out of red pens trying to help, but creatively? Will envied Mike’s ability. “I don’t know. We don’t really talk about that kind of stuff like you two do… Since you two are dating.”

“We’re  not .” Jonathan laughed. Will took advantage of an upcoming stop sign to lean forward and look at his brother’s crimson face. “We’re not, Will, okay? We’re really not. I’d tell you.”

“You’d tell me?”

“Of course! I’d tell you if I… I had a girlfriend. Which I don’t!” He stayed at the stop sign for a bit too long. “Do you?”

There was an option to play dumb, to make Jonathan ask more directly:  do you have a girlfriend, Will ? but it sounded far more painful than being honest, than being as lonely as he was.

“No. I don’t.”

“And you’d tell me. If you were dating someone?” Jonathan looked at Will, hopeful but scarcely so. “You’ll tell me if anything big happens in your life?”

“Yeah.” There wouldn’t be anything happening at all that summer, that was for  damn sure . “Absolutely.”

Steve had about seventy percent of his puzzle done-- fifty of which was because Dustin was an unstoppable genius with no tolerance for Steve’s careful pace. It was just about quarter past seven, and Steve’s back was getting sore from sitting in his chair all day. He only liked sitting when it was in his car, on his way to the Byers's House, careful, of course, to obey all traffic laws.

Steve was packing his crosswords and pens up in the top drawer of his desk when something clattered the back door open. Steve grabbed a pen and whipped around in his seat, as if to wield it like a weapon.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hey dingus.” Luckily, Steve couldn’t even see Robin yet-- or rather, she couldn’t see him or his emphasized eye roll. She could hear him groan though. “Hey, shut up and quit whining. I’m sending you home early.”

Her head popped out from the hallway. Robin’s ponytail was high on her head, the hair flopping over and getting caught in her stringy bangs. She flung her backpack out from behind her and tossed it toward Steve. She wasn’t in her uniform yet, only wearing the buttoned up shirt-- unbuttoned and showing her torn and dyed shirt underneath. She was wearing jogging shorts, her knees torn up and covered with Band-Aids. They reminded Steve of the ones taped to his face after getting a plate smashed into his forehead. Deceivingly cheerful.

“What are you doing here early?” Steve stood and followed her, holding her backpack awkwardly in his hands. “You’re  never  early.” Eight on the dot. Every time.

“I figure you want to get out of here tonight.” She didn’t even stop to look at Steve as they walked into the back room. “Probably want to see your boyfriend.”

Her words weren’t sharp, but Steve still recoiled. He let his arms, and her bag, hang by his sides.

“Who? Jonathan?” The only way Jonathan and Robin had ever met was in the hallways of Hawkins High. She definitely never saw them interact at the station-- or on any of their nights together: they were always indoors. “He’s  not my boyfriend.”

“First off, I didn't even say a name." Shit. "Second, he came in the other day looking for you.” Robin started buttoning her shirt up, fixing the collar as she finally turned to see Steve. “He was really upset-- didn’t even know what time it was to know you weren’t working.”

“Upset?” Technically, it wasn’t Steve’s problem. It was the deal; they didn’t  have  to care about each other’s lives. It was just summer. It was just like any other summer.

“Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.” Robin sounded extremely sympathetic despite beginning to change her pants. Steve whipped around, covering his face. “You should go see him. Make sure he’s okay. Be a good boyfriend... shithead.”

“He’s  not--”

“Steve, I’m the last person you should be arguing with.” Robin laughed-- and it was only momentarily threatening. Until, of course, Steve realized what she meant.

Like all good secrets kept at Hawkins PD, Steve kept his mouth shut and nodded even if she wasn’t looking.

“Yes, sir--ma'am-- Robin.”

“So, are you going to go or what, dingus?” She tapped him on the shoulder. “Get out of here-- and tell me all about it Wednesday.”

Steve blinked at her, holding out her bag. As if it was enough thanks to give her back her own property. “Are we… friends, or something?”

“No, of course not.” She winked, slapping his arm. “Just looking out for one of my own.”

After picking Mike up from his house, they drove home in uncharacteristic chatter. Jonathan was the only one speaking, humming along to the radio. Will was exhausted beyond performative small talk; the type that had to be done between two best friends when a third party was present. Mike was great at just sitting with Will in silence, but Jonathan didn’t know that. Instead, the three of them passed around quiet jokes and laughter, answering questions about their friends for Jonathan’s upkeep of information.

Once they got in the house, Jonathan let them wander off into Will’s room as he started pulling pots out of the kitchen cabinets. He wouldn’t bother or pester them about any summer work, either. They would be left alone in their own coupled silence.

Mike was sitting cross-legged on Will’s floor, twisting one of Will's crayons between his fingers. Will needed new ones but he felt funny asking for them as a near-freshman in high school. He liked the glide of wax on paper compared to the scrape of colored pencils. Well, that and the fact he ruined half of his crayons the year prior making a full map of Hawkins in a fugue state and only had two crayons able to be used normally.

“You had doctor stuff today, right?”

Will was digging under his bed for his emptier sketch book. “Yeah. Therapy.  Doctor  doctor stuff was two weeks ago.”

“How was it?” Mike let his hand still and rest in his lap. “Like, what do you do in therapy? Just start talking?”

“Yeah, but it’s more than that. You have to think about stuff too. Doctors ask you questions, sometimes.” Will pulled back and drug his old drawing supplies along the carpet. He sat back on his heels and was able to see Mike over the top of the bed. He didn’t know Will was looking. “You have to have answers.”

“What do they ask about?” Mike kept looking at his hands, unaware of Will. “Upside down stuff?”

“Sometimes.” Will shuffled back around to Mike's side of the bed. He could feel the tiniest bit of rug burn starting. “She asked me about my dad today.”

Mike looked up, almost immediately. “Can she do that?”

“Why can’t she?” Will popped the lid on the retired Tupperware, now his art bin. “I talked about it.”

“I thought you didn’t like to.” Will had never said those words which meant Mike had gathered it from just observing him. “Did you… like talking about it?”

“Not really.” Will laughed. He found a few extra crayons, but of all the wrong colors. “She had this big speech afterward about learned helplessness that I… really didn’t like.” Will tried to keep laughing.

Mike put the crayon back in the bin. “Are you okay, Will?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the same old stuff.” Will shrugged. “Sometimes it just bothers me more than other days.”

Mike bit the inside of his cheek, picking at his words carefully. “You never talk about your dad, Will.”

“Why would I?”

“Because it bothers you. You can talk about anything you want-- I… I would listen.”

“You don’t have to listen to it just because it happened to me, you know. My therapist says you don’t have to experience things with me for them to be real.”

“But I want to know.” Mike looked insulted, almost crushed and collapsed as he sat back on his hands. “That’s your dad,” he said. “And you’re my friend.”

They sat in silence for a while. Mike went back to studying a new crayon, picking at the wrapper. Will felt something forming in his throat. A bubble that was hot, thick and sticky. Not vomit, but not impending tears either.

“I don’t get why he left.” Will said. “I don’t know what happened to our family.”

“Nothing happened. Maybe he just… wasn’t good at being your dad anymore.”

“But then why? What did I do?” Will didn’t want to ask Mike, make him feel responsible for answering, but Will was desperate to ask the universe again.

“Nothing.” Mike said. “I just think he…”

“He what? My dad got tired of me? Didn’t want to raise me?”

“Maybe he actually learned how to take a hint and knew he wasn’t good enough for you and Jonathan-- or your mom.” Mike wanted to be hopeful, to be positive, so badly. He ached, his smile tight and weak. He didn't have the answers, and who was Will to put him in the position to come up with them.

“So he gave up.” Will said.

“That’s not what I meant--”

“I know. I know… That’s just how it feels.” Will shrugged. He smiled at Mike, accepting his help and his warmth. It hurt knowing that Mike was wrong, but still. Will could always pretend a little longer. Anything for Mike.

“Hey! You monsters hungry?” Steve clapped his hands together before gently tapping the door. “Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

The door was open. Steve didn’t have to knock. He wanted to, just to prove he wasn’t  too  comfortable, but he also knew Mike was over. And knocking would announce his entrance rather than letting it just be something that just  was  . Rather than being  cool .

Awkwardly and with a lot of weird, throat-clearing fanfare, Steve opened the Byers’s front door and poked his head inside. Jonathan called him in from the kitchen without even needing to say hello, or being surprised by his walking in:  In here, Steve! Dinner’s almost done .

Steve walked through the living room carefully, as if he’d disturb it. There was a tape playing softly-- some band Steve’s never heard of, but didn’t hate. He’d grown to like the way that every song played in the Byers house was always moody and melancholy. The music was always the opposite of how he felt stepping into the kitchen.

Jonathan was at the stove, stirring a pot of something that smelled delicious. He had what looked to be tomato sauce stains on the front of his shirt-- where he wrapped his hand up to open the sauce jar. Steve was able to hide his smile as he shouldered off his uniform jacket and toed off his shoes, claiming a chair at the kitchen table.

“How was work?” Jonathan didn’t stop stirring. He moved like the stove was turned all the way up and he was afraid of burning the food. He spoke that way too.

“It was fine. Not a whole lot.” Steve didn’t want to have anything seem bigger than whatever upset Jonathan-- and seemed to still be upsetting him now. “How was your day?”

“Fine. Will and Mike are in the other room.” He was checking things off his list. Steve stepped up to Jonathan and stood even with him at the stove. He was making one-pot pasta. It really did smell fantastic. Steve was so hungry, even after his lunch.

“How was… the other things in your day? Develop any good pictures?” Steve covered how stupid he sounded by placing his hand on Jonathan’s lower back.

Jonathan stopped stirring and looked at him. Steve tried to keep cool, tried not to show his motives-- his attempt to calm something he couldn’t believe he’d missed spinning out of control, even if he didn’t know what it was. “Nancy walked into the dark room today-- she’s actually the one who gave me the muffin-- and she exposed the photos to light too early. So no, actually.”

Steve really was a bad boyfriend. Even when he wasn’t one yet-- or at all.

“Okay… how was. Everything else?”

“You don’t have to ask about my day, Steve. It’s okay.” Jonathan sighed and spoke evenly. “I’m just a little tired. Really. We don’t have to do the whole…  thing .”

The whole thing where Steve was explicit about how much he really cared about Jonathan and admitted he was sincerely and terrifyingly in love with Jonathan.

“I was asking because I was curious. Not out of obligation.” Steve clarified. His hand slid to rest on Jonathan’s hip. He moved closer, lips aiming to place a commitment-less kiss on his cheek.

“Steve! I said to keep it  cool .” Jonathan ducked back, placing a hand on Steve’s chest. “I don’t want Will to see us.”

“Your brother?” Steve was surprised; of all people Jonathan explicitly wanted to hide from Will seemed kind and forgiving-- not that there was anything  to  forgive, but it was something Steve often checked for. Steve was sure that one of Dustin’s friends would be… like Steve. Or like Jonathan-- maybe. All of them seemed prepared to deal with any of their friends suddenly being different. Far more prepared than Steve ever was.

“Yes. My brother.” Jonathan snapped, banging the spoon against the edge of the pot. “I don’t want him to learn I’m not dating Nancy but  instead  seeing her ex-boyfriend in the same day.” he whispered.

“Wait, what? He thinks you’re with Nancy?” Steve wasn’t sure where they went wrong. They were trying to  obscure  the truth, not lead everyone to a different reality. “D-Do you think Mike does too?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t want to ask and seem weird.” Jonathan sighed again. He sounded tense again. “I told Will I’d tell him if I was seeing anyone… And he promised me the same.”

Steve knew not to press the obvious question-- well   are  you seeing someone, Jonathan?  -- but also didn’t want to touch the obvious implication that Will  needed  to share a secret with Jonathan. Instead, he placed his hands into his pockets and turned to lean against the counter.

“Dinner smells really good, Byers.” There was another name that began with “B” that Steve wasn’t allowed to use, but always wanted to. Byers Byers Byers. Baby baby baby. “Thank you, again, for cooking for me-- for us.”

“You think I’m going to let you starve?” His stirring slowed; the stove cooled down. He nudged Steve’s arm with the spoon. “You coming home late and trying to cook? You mean half-drinking a beer and falling asleep face down on your bed in your uniform, half unbuttoned.”

“You picture that often, Byers?” Steve lifted an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Jonathan’s lips quirked into a smile again. “But, if you’d like a beer, I think there’s one in the fridge. No one in the house is going to touch it.”

“I can go ask Will if he wants it.”

“Shut up-- do you want it or not?”

“No.” Steve didn’t like drinking when they were together. He’d never really heard the full story about where Mr. Byers went, but he had a father of his own to make those blank spaces fill pretty fast. “But thanks. Don’t want the habit of needing a beer to forget how boring my job is.”

“I thought you liked your job?” Jonathan took a piece of pasta out of the pot and held it out for Steve to test.

He chewed and answered. “I do! It’s nice to have normal hours-- and I’m happy to help have replacements as Flo gets ready to retire but… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels  boring .”

“Would you rather be chasing down a four-legged monster without a face?” Jonathan let out a bubble of genuine laughter, playfully glaring at Steve.

“Frankly, yes! At least we’d all have something to do. I feel like I don’t see everyone anymore.”

“Then throw a party. Don’t wish for anything bad to happen.” Jonathan said firmly. “Let the record show my brother is a very strange magnet for all this… weird shit.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Steve said solemnly. He put his hand on Jonathan’s forearm. “I wish we were all safely doing something exciting. It felt nice to be needed, even if no one knew it was us.”

Jonathan put the spoon down on the counter and pivoted to be looking only at Steve. There was something resting just on the tip of his tongue, just under the surface of their conversation. It would’ve been a digression-- Steve could tell by Jonathan’s tense and furrowed brow-- but he would’ve listened.

“Jonathan?” Steve squeezed his arm, lifting his eyebrows. “What is it?”

“I--” He clenched his jaw, trying to swallow his words. “I think--” Steve knew there was no end to Jonathan’s sentence; merely starting it meant there was trust between them. A careful admission through omission. Steve knew Jonathan was looking at his shoes and wouldn’t be seen as he took in the secret flinches of Jonathan’s face. The crinkle by his left eye, the twitch of his mouth, double blinking--

They both jumped apart as the phone started ringing, practically shaking on the wall. Jonathan stepped away from Steve and left everything unsaid. Again.

Jonathan tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder as he turned to lean against the wall.

“Hello? This is--” His face changed sharply, his eyebrows furrowing. “I told you to stop bothering us. You’re lucky she’s not here to pick up the phone-- I don’t  care !” Jonathan cleared his throat and looked at Steve in a flash of uncertainty and anxiety. “I have the police here right now and if you don’t stop calling me I will send them to your house-- it’s not a threat if you’re the one bothering us. Stop. Calling.” He slammed the phone down and braced his weight against the wall with his other hand.

“Am I considered ‘the police’ now?” Steve said lightly. It was his way of letting Jonathan know he was listening, but not asking direct questions. “I’m not even allowed to have a badge.”

“It counts.” Jonathan said, letting his arms fall down by his sides. Steve stepped over and kept stirring dinner.

“Who was that?”

“No one. Can you go get the boys in the other room? Dinner’s ready.” Jonathan pushed Steve aside to hunch over the stove again.

“Sure.” Steve nodded, knowing he wasn’t seen. “Hey! You monsters hungry? Jonathan’s got dinner on the table.”

Dinner felt weird.

Will couldn’t help but feel like he and Mike had gotten into a fight. Talking about his dad made anything feel sticky, feel like it was violent or volatile. A second from snapping or tearing off, bouncing around the walls and echoing in Will's body. A small conversation between friends-- actually a little  understanding  between  best  friends-- felt like it had been a screaming match, all because it was cut off. There was no apology from Will. He didn't have the chance to tie it all up with an  I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, forget I said anything.

His plea sat heavy on his tongue as he talked to Steve-- who had arrived without notice-- and let Mike make him laugh so hard he nearly shot water out his nose. Will let it all happen under the tremor, the ache, of an apology. And maybe, if he was the best brother and friend he should’ve been, no problems or therapy, it would be enough of an apology.

He wasn't hungry and only ate half his serving of pasta, even though it was usually his favorite of Jonathan's recipes. He did apologize for that though, and it felt right to say aloud. Even if it was misdirected and no one heard it.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm so so sorry. Please come back--

Mike wasn’t tired, Will knew, but he still wanted to go to bed right after their horror movie ended. It was clear Mike hadn't been paying attention to the movie; the entire plot was that dreams were a new horror-scape for monsters to get teenagers. It wasn't too scary to Will; it just felt familiar. The villain looked different, more human, but Will knew what it felt like to dream while wide awake. To watch and be unable to do anything but scratch at the surface--

Convincing Will to get ready for bed, Mike said they’d have all day in the morning. He said that maybe he could convince his mom to let him stay over again if they don’t get all their fun in. Will knew Mike's mom probably would, if only because she felt bad for Will. But he would take the pity. A sleepover wasn't the worst thing to get from pity.

Will could still hear Mike fidgeting in his sleeping bag. He was rubbing his feet together like a cricket and twisting his wristwatch. The plastic scratched the sheer material of his sleeping bag rhythmically: back and forth. back and forth. backandforthbackandforth. It was like Mike was counting the ticks of his silent digital watch. Will began to play with his own watch, keeping it on in bed only because he'd noticed Mike hadn't removed it when they were brushing their teeth that night; apparently the watch was too good to part with.

Time though, was something Will wished he could separate himself from. He could hear the seconds scraping by now. Every moment he kept his friend awake and bored because Will was too weak or (rather and) too  everything  to stay up late again.

Therapy hadn’t even been that bad. Not really. Maybe it could be exhausting but it didn’t count because Will sat in the same spot for an hour. It wasn’t real work. It shouldn’t have counted. Will should’ve been able to hang out with his friend until sunrise, getting in trouble with his mom for being up so late. He should’ve still been a stupid, carefree kid, not a by-gone troubled teenager.

Maybe his dad had seen that from the beginning. Will's dad was always gambling, betting on baseball games he had these incredible "feelings" on. Sometimes he was wrong, but when he was right it was an amazing prediction; having the foresight no one else had. And maybe that was what it was, leaving them when he did. Maybe he saw Will wouldn’t be the second son he wanted after all. Maybe he knew of all the damage that would be done to him, the damage he would cause. Probably saw it from miles-- years-- away. And he left without a single warning to any of it.

What if his father had known? Could've known where he was when he came back into town two years ago? Not gone forever just in the lights. Just out of reach, just through the wall, Dad. What if he had known, been able to see, able to know, but wanted to leave Will Down there being possessed and enveloped and consumed and--

Will felt a chill scurry down his back. The feeling almost had legs. Too many. He felt ice cold, his body going blank-- not numb, but  blank -- for a second. He couldn’t feel his fingers, but could still feel every inch of his body, suddenly pulsing and seizing.

"Will?" Mike asked, sitting up. He gripped the end of the bed and pulled his face closer to Will's. He squinted in the darkness, feeling for Will’s hand. Will couldn’t answer, his jaw tense and breath rattling out of him. "Will, what’s wrong?"

After a (thankfully) non-awkward dinner, Steve and Jonathan washed all the dishes and let the boys watch whatever movie they wanted. Steve didn’t pay attention to what tape he put in the VRC. He was too busy thinking about the hands hidden in the warm soapy water in the kitchen sink. Neither Mike nor Will seemed too bothered by the  disgusting  amount of blood or the scary blade man on the TV. He felt no regret letting them go to bed right after the credits rolled. Jonathan had looked exhausted after putting the last dish away, and dozed off during the climax of the movie-- even slept through the high-pitched screaming.

They waited for the sound of Will’s door closing over before they got into bed.

Jonathan flopped onto his back, a pillow resting between his chest and crossed arms. Steve laid on his side, bracing his weight on his elbow. He poked at Jonathan's furrowed eyebrow lightly.

"What's the problem, Byers?"

"Nothing."

"You are not a really great liar, you do know that right?" That and Steve could still hear Robin's blasé recounting of Jonathan's distress.  Yeah. Crying, sniffling, snot-- the whole nine, man.

Jonathan sighed and turned to look at Steve. He hated being called out. "It's about Will."

"What's wrong with Will? He seemed alright at dinner."

"Yeah, but," Another sigh. "Steve, I think my brother’s gay."

Steve's first response was swallowed and he nodded. "Okay. Okay. And, um, what's the issue with that?" He adjusted himself on the bed, hoping there was more subtlety in that.

"I can't talk to him about it. I mean," Jonathan smiled and reached to touch his face. "This is a very different thing than being fourteen and confused."

"Who says he's confused?"

"I don't mean with himself-- the rest of the world is so confusing, Steve. You see the news... I can't talk to him. I didn't grow up like that. And being with you is... Different. We dated girls before. Will... I don't know. I think he knows already."

"You think he's got feelings for--"

"Oh absolutely." Jonathan nodded, closing his eyes. "Oh, I'm so glad it's not just me who sees it."

"Hopefully Wheeler does too."

"Hey, keep your voice down, he's only a few rooms over ."

"Sorry. Sorry. Me and my big mouth " Steve rested his head on Jonathan's shoulder. "Shut me up, maybe."

"Not until my mom gets back." Jonathan said, rolling up onto his side too. "If I catch her when she comes in the door, she won't come into my room to say good night. I can't have you distracting me until then."

"Your mom is on a date. She's an adult and so are you." Steve kissed Jonathan's shoulder. "You are a working man who just finished a long day at work-- I think you can cuddle up with your boyf--" Steve choked on his own stupidity, feeling his face go red and charisma die on impact. "With me."

"I will. Once my mom is back." Jonathan kissed Steve, as if a parting promise. Only to backtrack on his words immediately. He tucked Steve’s hair back behind his ear, his hands trying not to hold his face. “No--  no . Steve, not until my mom gets back.”

“I can keep an ear out--” As Steve spoke, the power in his bedside lamp dimmed. The power hummed quietly before flickering back up. Jonathan tensed and pushed himself up in bed.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah, it was just the light, Byers. It’s windy out tonight, maybe a tree brushed a powerline.” Steve pushed Jonathan back down to his pillow-- and back into his own skin again. “It’s  nothing  . What if I turn out the light? Your mom won’t even  see  us in here.”

“No. No, I have to wait for her.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

“What!” Jonathan jerked upright again.

“I  meant  what if she’s at Hopper’s or something?” Steve shrugged. “She’s an adult.”

“Steve, that’s my  mom .” Jonathan hissed, swatting at the hand resting on his shoulder.

“I  meant  because she drove there on her own. If she had some wine, maybe she stayed somewhere and is being a smart, responsible parent.” Steve soothed. “Something you don’t have to be right now. You’re not Will’s parent and you aren’t your own. Lay down, will you?”

Jonathan was reluctant, but let Steve ease him back down again. He pulled the pillow tighter to his chest and sighed, his crossed arms sinking deeper. Steve laid down beside him, nose gently touching the end of his shoulder. As he breathed, his short exhales tickled Jonathan’s skin and got him giggling. It was Steve’s secret trick; something that always worked because Jonathan didn’t know it was a pattern-- didn’t know he was ticklish.

“Sorry I was weird today.” Jonathan said suddenly. He wasn’t even grinning.

“What?” They didn’t apologize. There was no need. “You’re worried about stuff-- it’s okay.”

“No, I like our dinners. And I was so uptight. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Okay.” Steve didn’t know what to do with the sentiment. “Apology accepted?”

Jonathan sighed again, blowing it out slowly between his pressed lips. “Lonnie called today.”

“L- your  dad ? Is that who was on the phone?” Steve wasn’t sure what came over him-- or his body-- as he placed an arm over Jonathan’s waist and pulled them together. There was something unspokenly intimate talking about abusive fathers while being nearly sutured together in bed, but Steve pretended he was just having problems hearing Jonathan correctly.

“Yeah.” Jonathan turned, his nose brushing Steve’s. “Said he wants custody of Will. He doesn’t trust Mom, he said.”

“How is he-- He can’t do that.”

“He’s going to try. I don't know where it came from. He still thinks he can win a case because the news says Will just  disappeared into the woods . Like he ran away from us or something.”

“Everyone knows that’s not true.”

“A court might not.” Jonathan sighed, ducking his head down. Steve resisted lifting his chin to hook it over Jonathan’s head, nestling him into his neck. He laid still, listening to his breathing and the gentle creaking of the house--

Jonathan's door was thrown open, both men sitting up quickly, ready to defend themselves and their actions. It was Mike, in his pajamas with his hair sticking out in wild curls. Will stood just behind him in the hallway looking far more awake. Stilted and untousled.

"Mike?"

"Jonathan, quick!"

"What is it?" Jonathan swung his legs around and motioned both boys to come in. "Will?" Mike pushed him into the center of the door frame, although he remained in the hallway, in the light. Will’s hand grabbed at the back of his neck. His face was blank and his eyes were distant.

"Something's wrong." Will said slowly, blinking to focus. "I feel him."

"Feel who?" Jonathan kneeled in front of Will, holding his shoulders. "Feel who, Will?"

"Dad."

[kaypeace21]

i'm losing hope of byler being an endgame :( milevens say that we are invalidating mileven, besides having several scenes that they show "passion/love". they make fun of us, besides always giving reasons why mileven is an endgame, and disrespecting other people's ship, and maybe actually Will will be with another boy right?? idk but I really hope I'm not being deluded

lol  lets not focus on byler for a sec and mostly discuss mileven. what scenes show mileven’s  ‘passion/love’? Because the show invalidates mileven constantly-why they’re so aggressive/afraid of us.THEY KNOW IT’S DOOMED (they live in head canons and nothing else).  I’m going to try keeping this short by doing bullet points.

-The writers in s3 threw in a telemarketing joke just for Mike to say “El. no. sorry not interested” and hang up the phone. 

- Flo  in s1: “only love makes you that crazy and that damn stupid.”

Mike: “if we’re both going crazy. we’ll go crazy together right?”will: “yeah, crazy together “ *smile and stare longingly at eachother *————————————————————-Mike: “they do say it makes you crazy”El: “what makes you crazy?”(the exact opposite of crazy together as she continues to be confused over every explanation he gives of love 😂)————————————————————-During the byler fight  Mike says “el’s not stupid!” After this, Will calls himself “ so stupid “ 4x .  rips up photo where they said they’d go crazy together and cries . But, El after fighting with mike happily says: “there’s more to life than STUPID boys .”  El’s catchphrase being “not stupid” which she says in s2 before going to see Mike at the school. And Nancy before Mike says he loves El / Mikeduring the byler fight (about mileven) say “El’s not stupid!”

original gifs  sources

-the s3 stobin confession parallels mileven’s s3 shop confession (full analysis in link). Both El/Robin have bandages on their legs and both pairings sit together (on the floor) during their confessions- and are interrupted by Dustin. And in both straight baits- the guys use the terms “stupid/crazy” but subvert the expectation of it being romantic-as both girls say they’re not “crazy” or “stupid” for the guy. El saying “what makes you crazy?” in response to Mike. And Robin saying she was not into Steve’s “stupid hair” (similar to El saying there’s more to life than ‘stupid boys’/other saying she’s not stupid.”Also the song ‘the first i love you’ only plays twice in s3. During Steve’s romantic confession and robin rejecting him because she’s gay & El’s romantic confession and awkward kiss with mike (where Mike doesn’t reciprocate). Cause Robin/Mike are both gay and will reject the romantic confession.

- Erica making he-man and barbie kiss: “Hey , They’re in love!”Lucas (livid- and standing right next to a rainbow forcing them apart): “No, actually,  they’re not. they’re not even from the same planet.”  El even watches he-man in s1! Mileven is not in love!

Cue El and mike being compared to ET and Eliot -WHO AREN’T FROM THE SAME PLANET (by the Duffers in multiple interviews and in the pilot script ) .   And then there’s the  old euphemism of “girls come from Venus, and boys come from Mars”.  The Duffers saying mileven isn’t in love cause they’re not from the same planet (aka the same gender) -is just them telling us Mike is gay so he can’t fall for El-who is a girl/diff species. They literally have Will say to Mike “welcome to my world” as a contrast. So El telling mike he should ‘stick with his own species’ (aka boys) is another gay hint.

In s2 they even had El wear the same shirt as a 1986 movie character (staring Winona Ryder). The movie is called coincidentally “lucas”- and he’s in an unrequited romantic relationship with a gal named maggie. And he later says him and Maggie are  from “different worlds.” El being movie-Lucas in a unrequited romance, in this scenario. And the other easteregg is the Duffers have st-Lucas  say the “planet/worlds” similar to movie-Lucas.

some milevens also attribute romeo/juliet to mileven cause Dustin mentioned it while mileven was out of shot. But romeo & juliet weren’t actually in love-it was just kids in infatuation. And also used to describe the unrequited infatuation of Lucas/Maggie.

-Also when dustin in s1 says el is “like a wizard” (like Will.) Mike corrects dustin and says “more like yoda”. Really hammering down the alien references- which the Duffers reference to el in interviews all the time-by comparing her to et . In the pilot they even said mike and el are like “Eliot and et.” They said they made el dress like a ghost cause et did so- and then for the extra burn they made mike a ghost hunter/buster. And they also said that EL’s makeover in s1 was like et’s in the movie. And sorry ... who compares the girl they “crush on” with a green gross alien (yoda)- kind of shows how he sees her more as this foreign superpowered entity rather than a girl/crush. And on what planet is et /Eliot romantic??Answer is -it’s not. 

- In contrast, They have Mike and Will parallel  Diane and Venkman. In ghost Busters, Mike -is Venkman- and Will -is Dana Barret- who Venkman flirts with shamelessly until she is possessed. Dana finds a demon-dog in her fridge, and hires the ghost busters. And right before Venkman goes on a date with her she is possessed by the big-bad, Zuul, and is transformed into the gate-keeper (who controls demo(n)-dogs). Venkman proceeded to try to talk to the real Dana , ignoring her possessed form and eventually realizes how serious her condition is, is forced to sedate her. Eventually with the help of his team, Venkman closes the gate to Zuul’s dimension, rescuing Dana in the process. And Venkman plants one on Dana before riding away in triumph. While, El is a ghost and Mike is a ghost hunter XD

Notice in the same season lucas says mileven is ‘not in love’ and compares mileven to he-man and barbie .  Dustin has a  he-man & Et next to each other (along with a ghost buster sign above them, and the ghostbusters-trap next to et). This just reinforces the mileven eastereggs I’ve already talked about -  and how they want you to make the connections  about mileven not being in love. They showed et/barbie next to he-man, had El watch he-man, compared El to Et (who had a barbie-like makeover/ghost costume), so the next he-man ref of ‘not being in love’  cause rhey’re from different planets would connect in a more obvious way to mileven.  Same with Et next to the ghost trap and ghost busters sign (and El dressing as a ghost and Mike as a ghost buster-as an extra burn).

- Mike dehumanizing El is hammered down again when they compare s1 mileven to s2 dart /dustin (a demo dog) , to further show how un-romantic it is. Fin even said the duffers told him Mike saw el (OFFENSIVELY) as a “puppy’ (right after s1).  And of course millie accurately said “what a horrible way to describe me!”But the parallels are there: Dustin/Mike sharing sweets ( nougat vs eggos) for breakfast and saying they’ll have to wait for them to come home from school. And having mike annoyed, say  “a bond? cause you shared nougat?!” is dissing milevens who think the ego thing is cute/romantic. Dustin/Mike saying they ‘promised’ to take care of them and that they ‘trust’ dustin & mike. Dart killing a cat and El almost killing a cat. Dustin/Mike trying to convince Lucas- Dart & El aren’t bad. The boys thinking both El & Dart were bad guys causing both to end up running away because of that. Mike even admits in s1 he doesn’t like eggos and told El she doesn’t have to eat “like a dog” anymore.  it’s ironic when Mike says to Dustin “she’s not a dog” cause he treated her as such. Why El says in s3 angrily , “am I your pet?” It’s because he did/does unfortunately treat her this way to some degree. 

-They Parallel Mileven to Hopper & El (since mileven isn’t actually romantic)!

*teaching the meaning of promise vs com-promise. And making “promises” to eachother is not some super romantic thing- for just mileven.

* Telling her to eat “real food” vs eggos

* saying her new look is “cool”and saying it’s “bitchin” after El says the look is.

* Saying others are “corrupting her” and in response gals say neither respect her ability to make “decisions” in regards to romance. Hopper not accepting Mileven together (want them to break up)  and Mike not accepting she dumped him.

* Max saying to not let Hopper/Mike control her

*El saying “you lie” to both of them

ok , back to listing other points

- they dance to ‘every breath you take’ a break up song about a stalker ex who can’t accept he is now with her friend. The writer of the song also has said many times “it’s NOT a love song.” The duffers obviously knew that. Lumax also danced to it and Lucas was called a ‘stalker’ . El also stalked Mike in s2 (all that stuff milevens found romantic- El watching him without him knowing. Mike says he was not ok with it in s3). And in s3 he said not to do that and she just says ‘i make my own rules’.Plus, sting (the singer) mentions it’s supposed to sound romantic but the lyrics are sinister. And that the ambiguity/deceptive happy -romantic tone was intentional. Kind of like how people think mileven is healthy and in love when the show (ambiguosly says ) that it’s not -and the “opposite”.Just like the song being misinterpreted as romantic because of its deceptive packaging -mileven is the same . Mileven got popular cause everyone missed all the warning signs it wasn’t healthy (cause it was packaged as ‘cute’ and ‘ in love’) when behind the surface it was shown to be the opposite and not healthy.

 Not to mention Nancy teaching Dustin how to dance is a direct parallel to Mike teaching El. 

Mike also tries to act like Dustin, and  forces Will to dance with a girl (who’s wearing a rainbow hair clip). Trying to be a good sport like Dustin is about lumax. And right after this we see Dustin look sad about Max/Lucas dancing and Mike (next to Dustin) look sadly at Will/girl dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. As they switch between these 2 shots to emphasize their sadness/jealousy.Then they both sit down (mirroring each other) on the verge of tears before Nancy and El show up to comfort them and distract them.  As El once again (presumably) wears Nancy’s dress. Mike after El asks “will you be my brother?” “you cant go  (to the snowball) with your sister... i mean you can but it’d be really weird.” 

- before their first kiss in s1 she asked if he would be like her brother (after being compared to a cousin, and being compared to Holly, and wearing Nancy’s dress.) In s2 they even make a direct parallel to Luke &Leia (who were siblings who had a weird romantic relationship/kissed before realizing they were related). Mike (as Leia) saying “it’s a trap” to El (Luke). 

- Mike in s1 writes a d&d story for Will inspired by star wars.  in ep one Will tells Mike “it was a 7, the demogorgan it got me.”At the end of the season Mike writes a whole story of him and his friends killing a 7 headed monster, and showing the decapitated head of the monster to king Tristan (Will). Similar to how at the hospital he tells Will to not worry cause “it’s dead now”. This is right after Will rolls a 14 (cause Mike and Will are 7s together). And Mike who is a fan of starwars has King Tristan give them medals after killing the monster. Cause he wants Will/king tristan (instead of Leia -a girl) to present him with medals and be his romantic love interest (and praise him for being a hero).

- They had Dustin call mileven “bullshit” just like stancy (who were never in love). And in s3 for almost every single character in the show to dislike mileven . if that isn’t a cry for help from the writers idk what is XD

other stancy parallels: Making out on a bed to cheesy music. stancy wasn’t in love but they kissed the most in the series and nancy and steve (similar to mileven exchanged ‘i love yous’) but weren’t endgame and it was never love. Mike and Steve sing to their gfs and neither girls are fans and cut them off.In s1, both Nancy/Mike slap Steve and El and then both yell “ What is wrong with you?!”  Stancy/mileven are compared to Karen/ted who according to Nancy “never loved each other”. El is a fan of ted’s lazy boy. (Karen in s3 looks at Ted in the chair when the lyric “I should have walked away “ plays). And Steve and ted continuing to eat chicken as their gf /wife storm off from the table upset , and they do nothing. After the mileven and Karen/Ted fight- Steve says while eating “what did I do?what did i do?” And mike while eating says about el after their fight “what did i do wrong? what did i do wrong?!Steve and Ted both tell Mike to “stay on the bench/you’re on the bench.” Karen/ ted that they “never loved each other” (just like mileven and stancy which are “bullshit.”) All 3 wheelers were with people cause it seemed like the rational choice ( rich guy/ popular guy/ girl). Not to mention mike said “ I don’t remember” ( in reference to saying he loved el ) . And doesn’t say it back when el says “I love you”. Which mimics Nancy in s2 saying “I don’t remember ” (saying the stancy relationship is bs) . And she is also unable to say she loves Steve when he says“say you love me.” And Steve and el walking away as both wheelers stand there in silence. Unable to say “I love you” back.  Also, when stancy officially breakup it also pans to mileven on the porch as another parallel.And 11byers mentioned (at Christmas)  jancy has a moment but despite stancy’s issues she goes back to Steve where she looks sad over the decision .  Similar to how Byler have a moment , but then after , mileven talks about christmas  and they have that awkward kiss. In s3, steve when talking about stancy and trying to be popular even says “dustin’s right it’s all a bunch of bullshit.” (meaning Dustin’s right about mileven). Steve even says “everything people tell you is important that you’re supposed to care about- it’s bullshit.” (same season Mike mimics Lucas’ words from s1 about El being the “most important thing”.

-They also had Mike tell Max “i don’t hate you. I don’t even know you.”  Aka he can’t hate Max or love el cause he knew both for a week-and doesn’t know them. The amount of mileven burns that were in s2 -were insane XD.

other direct contrasts between Mileven & byler 

besides the ones already mentioned. 1) ‘crazy together/so stupid’ vs ‘what makes you crazy?/el’s not stupid/more to life than stupid boys & 2) ‘they’re not in love they’re not even from the same planet’ vs byler’s ‘welcome to my world’

3) Mike has drastically different expressions after the byler/mileven fights and the difference in weather and music selection ,convey how Mike is feeling. He looks regretful with Will, and almost annoyed with El dumping him.  Mileven breaks up to upbeat music on a sunny day (the break up being in front a crowd and a joke) vs the morose music and the storm shown (with just Mike and Will fighting ). We are supposed to take the byler fight seriously and the mileven one as a joke.They had Mike apologize to Will immediately. But with El he says “what did i do wrong?’ (Kind of like how ted, after pissing off karen says “what did I do?”)And then had Mike wait by the phone for her to apologize- says sexist stuff about her. Then have mike laugh/burp and talk about cheese and El to laugh about the break up/high five max and immediately oggle a pic of another boy/male celeb (unlike Will who looks sadly at the pic of Mike after their fight). And then after staring at the  teen-male celeb,  El says she’s not sure if  Mike’s a good kisser cause he’s just her “first boyfriend” and she has no other boys to compare him to (implying she’s thinking of other boys in the future).  Contrasted to Will who said he thought him & Mike would never get gfs but just spend the rest of their lives together. El after all these events, then happily reads comics  as Max says she shouldn’t hang out with Mike all the time. VS Will having him sadly read his comic to distract himself  only to throw his comic on the ground right before he looks at the pic of mike from Halloween (where they said they would go ‘crazy together’), calls himself stupid (unlike El saying there’s more to life than stupid boys/mike saying El is not stupid-aka in love ). And then destroys castle byers /crIES after the their fight. These events were perfect opposites.

4) When Mike says in the pool shed she’s the “most important thing in the world” to him. she cuts him off and says Hopper is right about them spending too much time together. But when Mike in the shed says asking Will to be his friend was the “best thing he’s ever done” (it was practically the cliche of true love breaking the curse) XD.

When Mike says to El  “you’re most important thing to me” in the pool shed. El doesn’t even acknowledge the comment (and neither should the audience- cause the words were empty). The framing of this mileven scene was not cinematic or heartfelt, and neither was the delivery from Mike. He’s not crying, trying to reach her with proclamations of his genuine feelings. There’s no dramatic music, framing, lighting or shot composition (and the scene was incredibly short).And El just responds and cuts his supposed ‘true feelings’ off- only to agree with Hopper and says “ what if he’s right”  . I didn’t speed this up FYI.

Juxtaposed to the MUCH longer byler shed scene. A literal single tear falling down his cheek as Mike , recounts the first day they met. This whole monologue is only of tight shots of just their faces (their bodies aren’t shown like in the pool shed scene). With contrasting colors of light and shadow.This is a personal moment between them and them alone- and the fact we zoom in on their faces (expresses this to be important emotionally) . And when we see Will’s reaction to Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”. We just see Will’s face only- no music is playing and all we hear is  Will’s whimpers and Mike crying in the background.*

5) Max in s2 at Will’s house questions how Mike can still trust Will now that he’s a spy for the mf . Max (in s3) at El’s house: says that Mike doesn’t trust El- and Mike mentions that her spying is why he doesn’t trust her.  in s2, Mike: “if anyone could stop them it’s Will“. Max: “ I thought we couldn’t trust him that he’s a spy for the mf now?” Max in s3 calling Mike out  : “El has saved the world twice. And Mike still doesn’t trust her.” Mike: you want to talk about trust really?! after... Eleven spied on us! I guess girlfriends don’t lie they SPY!”

Not to mention - the fact is... El has “saved the world twice but Mike still doesn’t trust her” to fight the mf. Yet he 100% believed Will could defeat the mf -despite Will being possessed/a spy for the mf . And despite the fact Mike  thinks Will has no powers - unlike El ( but we all know he does , though :P). And, Mike even says Billy is dangerous cause  the “mf is in him ...Billy’s mind is sick, diseased” (but with Will possession -Mike still trusted him).  Max rolls her eyes and stares challengingly at Mike cause she remembers what Mike said about Will in s2- and the hypocrisy . And she finds it annoying how little faith he has in her compared to his almost unmoving-trust in Will (who at the time was possessed) . Mike has 100% trust and faith in Will-but simply doesn’t trust El.  And MAX KNOWS IT! Cause she’s paying attention. Like her facial expression/raised brow, at the end, is a challenge- you think non-superpowered Will could defeat the mf but not El with a history of fighting monsters? You say Billy possessed by the mf is dangerous- but still have more faith in Will possessed by the mf- than your own gf?! tbh El couldn’t defeat the mf (so technically him trusting Will over  El was proven to be correct). He wasn’t right about the El ‘giving up’ bs and he was still wrong for not respecting El as her “own person” with her “own free will” : not believing in El’s ability to make decisions like breaking up with him/ not believing El made the idea to spy on him, etc . But, Team work has always been what saved the day in s1-2, so over-relying on El to do it all and acting like she was the messiah ( like most of the st fanbase) was a poor plan . It’s not the El-show (it’s an ensemble cast with several mains). When they relied on her only ,to be the chosen one- she lost her powers, 30+ people d*ed, and they had to save her.

6) ) El and Will both calling for “Mike” alone in the upside down . And Mike “never giving up” on them.In the exact same ep (s2 e2) , both call for Mike from the upside down. El saves herself without Mike’s help. But Mike rushes to save Will crouching to comfort Will (whose body language mirrors El’s but who was alone in the forest after she sees mike and he did nothing). 

in s2 ep 1, both call for Mike ,but Mike only comes for Will -not el. It was like how Nancy in s1 called for Jon, and jonathan pulled her out of the upsidedown.  And as Jonathan and Mike both pull Nancy and Will back from the upside down , Jonathan says “I got you”. And Mike says “I got him “ twice. But mileven is like how barb while in the upsidedown called for Nancy (but nancy didn’t hear her screaming her name-cause it shows symbolically Nancy does not return Barb’s romantic feelings). Just like mileven.

Mike even saw Will’s dead body but the second he heard his voice he convinced everyone he was alive. Mike deep down assumed El was dead he brushed off seeing El as seeing things (like how Hopper described seeing Sarah). He even tells Max “ they took her just like they took bob” who was dead. Then a few minutes later lies and says he “never gave up” on her when she appears alive (which was a lie cause he just said she was dead). When El goes to his house Mike doesn’t ever go the forest to find her (unlike how Mike went into the forest in the pouring rain twice for Will). The truth is the only person he ‘never gave up on’ was Will.

7) They have El & Will have pics of Mike on Halloween (same night of the ‘crazy together’ speech). El only has a pic of Mike being miserable  and Will has pics of Mike staring at Will, and smiling next to him- despite the joke Mike never smiles in photos , this isn’t the case when mike is next to Will (he always smiles with Will). Cause being crazy with Will makes him happy - unlike his relationship with El who he fakes being ‘crazy’ about .

zoom in of Will & El’s pics of Mike: Will’s pic on left vs El’s on right . XD

8) Millie said El is “obsessed with Mike” so she has Mike-themed stuff all over  her room. She has a drawing with a heart that says mike on it/random heart pics, mike pic, dice that spell out mike, mikes’ stuff. So, It’s funny that mike has nothing relating to El at his place. In contrast to this, he still has 5 d&d drawings from Will on his wall (that he’s kept on his wall for 3 years despite removing an old poster from that same wall-which he gave to El). Mike even put up a 6th Will-drawing in s3- next to his new poster. And he never put a single 1 of her many drawings on his wall-just Will’s).

back to other points...

- They compared mileven to karen/billy. El in s2 , mimics Erica Kane who m(in the ep she is watching) rushes into a relationship with a writer named Mike Roy. (That relationship is not endgame-and  literally ends with one of them stalking and sabotaging their next relationship, but eventually accepting it’s over). This, also parallels Karen/ Billy. Before she meets him in s2, Karen is reading a romance book that has a guy that resembles Billy on the cover. The Duffers even mentioned they changed the cover to show the resemblance between Billy and the fictional book character. And we see Karen reading the sequel in s3 before Billy appears. Both El and Karen don’t/didn’t love Mike or Billy- they just projected onto them fictional characters they were infatuated with. El being into Mike roy- but projecting her crush on to Mike wheeler.

-They had El’s whole s2 arc be destroyed to show mileven is bad for her. “friends don’t lie” to let me lie to my friends so I can kiss mike and ditch them. lucas even said “they’re lying (about her curfew).”And lie to Mike about hearing his confession. Then in s2 trying to leave the cabin to experience the world and see my friends and fam again. To literally ignoring them all for 6 months and never leaving the cabin-despite Hopper letting me leave the house in s3.

- El in s3 says Mike treats her “like a pet” and “garbage”.

-In s1 Mike referred to her as a ‘weapon’  to help get Will back. smacked her when he thought she lied about Will being alive and said Lucas was right about her all along when he thought Will was dead and he couldn’t use her anymore. 

- They had El never apologize for spying/stalking . And  Mike never apologize for lying -despite it being the cause of the breakup . And had mike not reciprocate the kiss/ or say ‘i love you ‘ back  and had his eyes open while the same exact song plays that robin came out to: called ‘the first i love you’). These are the only 2 times the song plays in s3. The ‘first i love you’ also sounds like ‘the first lie’ - that song played when jancy said they were just friends. it sounds the same cause jancy lied about it not being romantic while mileven lied by saying it was.  He never apologized for lying cause the love is the lie- like Max said “boyfriends lie ALL THE TIME”. And it’s why the camera panned to Will when Lucas asked why Mike lied to her. And he never answers El’s question of ‘why do you lie?!’ (he just looks up silent and guilt ridden).This awkward kiss all happens in Will’s room too while Mike is in front of an open closet (while El is holding Will’s old bear).  

Plus he also fought with Hopper in s2 (’about El’) in Will’s room too. He wasn’t actually calling Hopper the liar he was calling himself “a stupid disgusting liar”out of self hate .  That scene was foreshadowing his lying to El in s3 (about his feelings for her). He blamed Hopper for his feelings for Will cause he told himself it wouldn’t have escalated if El had been around to ‘fix him’ . “I BLAME YOU! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK. YOU STUPID DISGUSTING liar, liar, liar, liar”.starts crying.

- Mike says “i never gave up on you (to El). “ When moments earlier he says “it took her just like it took Bob.” HE’S LYING AGAIN. He always thought she was dead -he was just hoping she was alive so he didn’t have to blame himself. He felt bad for treating her like a “weapon”. Mike saw El and didn’t even bother looking for her in the woods cause he assumed she was dead and was hallucinating. Mike saw Will’s dead body- but heard his voice and got him from another dimension (for El he couldn’t even bother to walk into the woods). Despite going into the woods in the pouring rain 2x for Will in s1& 3. El and Mike both call for Mike in the upside down (Mike in the same ep only comes for Will).

- They barely spoke to each other and all they did was makeout for 1 ep (while Mike put a drawing of ‘Will (the fire wielding) wise’ on the wall to help him kiss her/ with rainbows pic everywhere in the room to signify he’s gay and lying).  All while listening to a mixtape Will gave him as he kisses El.As Mike moves her hands off him (and sings a song from ‘boy in the box’) and El says to Max later she doesn’t know if mike’s a good kisser . And Mike rushes to one of his many established double-dates with Will and lumax  (x). And Mike in s3 when dating el, removes the sign of the heart being propelled by a rainbow (which he had before meeting El in his basement) .BUT it follows him symbolically ,as a drawing of a heart being propelled by a rainbow (in el’s room- cause no matter how much he kisses el there, he can’t escape his rainbow/being gay.)

-as mileven kiss in s3 e1. We zoom in on the drawing of Will the wise (the lyrics over the pic are “a little more time can open closing doors”). And then Mike continues to sing this song from ‘boy in the box’ (cough closet).Will in s3e1 says he won’t fall in love and the song then a diff song plays “love that was new to you , you open up the door.” mileven at the end of s3 kissing in front of Will’s open closet door with Mike’s eyes open not kissing back , and saying he doesn’t “ remember “ the love you and just says it was “in the heat of the moment”. The mike song being from “boy in the box” (closet). And they make out to “I can’t fight this feeling” which the singer says is about wanting to admit your feelings to your friend of many years and being afraid it’ll ruin the relationship. Aka even when kissing El he’s thinking of Will and admitting his feelings and not being able to fight his feelings

- Mike saying about Max “awesome? you don’t even know her.” Dustin says “ i don’t have to i mean look at her.” El was said in s1 multiple times to look like a boy (specifically Will). So Dustin and Lucas had no interest in her -only Mike did. BUT when max (a girl who looked like a girl) arrived- they as straight boys  were smitten. And Mike was not interested at all (cause he’s gay). The fact people don’t realize Mike was rude to her because he thought Will liked her too makes me laugh - he even was 1/2 honest in s3 saying he was jealous of her  XD 

why in s3 (when she looks like a girl) the compliment to her look is almost the same as Hopper’s comment to her makeover in s2. Paralleling Mike to her dad is the opposite of romantic!

-people say in s3 Will saying “a day free of girls” is gay coded but everyone ignores Mike in s3 saying “BOYS ONLY”. Same energy.

-MiKE has more rainbows than Will: Mike’s rainbow bedroom blinds, the rainbow-heart wooden sign in the basement in s1, the rainbow heart drawing that says Mike in s3, a rainbow sticker in his room, byler standing behind a rainbow poster in s2. And Will with the rainbow ship and the girl he danced with having a rainbow hearts-hairclip.

- People mention Mike saving El in s3 was romantic ( when he hit Billy). But when Billy slapped max he charged in to save her too and tried punching him (despite their beef). that moment wasn’t romantic (unless you think madweheeler is- which no). Mike is just a good person- he also risked his life for dustin. He’s brave and will defend HIS FRIENDS. 

- we’re almost to the end for those not keeping tract mileven is compared to stancy, ted/karen,  karen/billy, stobin, Dart/Dustin, max &mike, barb/nancy, nancy & dustin, siblings & cousins & a parent/kid dynamic. And contrasted to byler.

- Finn, after s1, said the duffers told him,   Mike thinks of her as a “puppy/ “et” , and that Mileven was a  “first summer love thing”- foreshadowing what was mileven’s downfall during the Summer (aka s3). He repeats this “first summer love” phrase 2x.  Millie when he mentioned what the duffers said, rightfully thought the puppy thing was “awful”, but Finn was clearly told mileven doesn’t last -very early on.Summer love” by definition fails-as it only lasts during the summer.  

-It wasn’t a break it was a breakup. Like Max and Will said in response to Mike  “ she said she dumped your ass! That doesn’t sound like a break?!/ it wasn’t!’ Or El knocking all the candy out of the machine, except the kit kat Mike wanted. Slogan of kit-kat “ having a break , have a kit kat.” In other words, it was NOT a break. It was a breakup. Difference is - in s4 it’ll be El who can’t accept this fact , not Mike. Max having to correct El that Mike is her “ex boyfriend” after the breakup (in s3) foreshadows this.The other couples in s3 who fought -were always still paired together in framed shots (jancy/ lumax) were on a break (but got back together- by the end of s3,  not confident about their futures together, but they still have a distinction from mileven-based on such framing). That mileven didn’t get back together. El in s3 was always on her own and Mike was paired with Will (while the other couples were in frame). 

this could go on and on honestly. there’s so much other stuff proving mileven is not going to be endgame. Not to mention all of Mike’s queer coding (x) XD   

[tropicalsuki]

Ugly Needs - Billy Hargrove x Hopper!reader

request: “One where the reader is Hopper’s daughter and dating Billy, and he starts getting abusive? Like maybe it starts with her coming home and him and El notice the bruise/s but she lies and then EI, and Max and the rest of the gang figure it out and try to help her bc she’s in denial bc she loves him. I was just thinking some girl power and maybe some protective Hopper haha” - anon

warnings: fem pronouns, cursing, lots of angst, abusive relationship, physical assault and implied sexual scenes, making out, slight fluff (between reader and family)

word count: 3,640

A/N: I really loved this request! Despite the not fun subject, it was fun to write. I’ve seen up close the denial that comes with abusive relationships, so it was interesting writing about Billy from that point of view. I got a few other Billy request but I decided not to do them because they painted him as a good dude. Also, the title is based on the song Ugly Needs by Miniature Tigers. I highly recommend giving it a listen!

Update: PART TWO

 ----------

The lights were still on when you got home.

You hoped that meant your dad fell asleep watching tv and forgot to turn out the lights. 

You feared it meant your dad was up, waiting to make sure you got home safely.

Making your way onto the porch of the small cabin, you slowly turned the knob and pushed open the door, cringing as it creaked loudly. Hopper was passed out in his reclining chair, snoring loudly. You let out a sigh of relief, closing the door behind you and tiptoeing to your bedroom which you shared with El. 

El was up, reading a comic book under her reading light. She glanced up as you entered and gave a slight smile before quickly returning to her story. You walked over to your dresser and pulled out a t-shirt, glancing at El to make sure she wasn’t looking before attempting to strip off the dress you had on. 

It hurt to lift your arms high enough to take it off, so you struggled with the fabric for a moment, catching El’s attention. As you tossed the dress onto your bed, El eyed the giant bruises on your arms and back. It wasn’t the first time you’d come home like this. 

“You’re hurt.”

El’s words made you freeze.

“What? Oh, it’s nothing. I just fell off my bike on the way here,” you said quickly. 

“I think you’re lying,” El narrowed her eyes. You mimicked her expression, “I think you’re nosy.”

“Where were you?” 

“I told you and Hop before I left. I was out with Billy.”

“Did he hurt you again?” 

You were starting to get upset with all her questions, “again? there never was a first time! And seriously, Eleven? You sound like Dad. You hate when he asks about you and Mike, so just let it go? okay?”

El realized she had made you mad and just nodded, silently going back to her comic book. You sighed, pulling a large t-shirt over your head and collapsing on your bed. Sleep didn’t come easy; your mind replaying what happened with Billy earlier in the evening.

You followed Billy into his house, laughing at something he said. He closed the door behind you, cloaking you both in darkness, before pulling you into a kiss. 

“Is any of your family home?” you asked quietly, letting him back you against the door.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Billy whispered in your ear, making you shiver. Despite how you felt, you knew it was a bad idea to do anything while his dad or sister was in the house and most likely still awake. 

“I should head home. My dad doesn’t want me out too late,” you said, gently moving him away, but he came right back, trailing kisses down your neck. 

“Can’t you stay a little longer? I’m sure no one will mind,” he said. 

You let out a breath, trying to control your thoughts. “I really can’t, Billy. But I’ll see you first thing tomorrow,” you assured, going to move past him, but he suddenly grabbed you and roughly shoved you against the door.

“Billy-,” you winced as a pain shot up your spine. 

“No. You’re staying. And don’t try to argue with me,” Billy stated in a hushed tone, his breath hot on your neck. 

“Please, I need to go,” you spoke lightly, trying not to upset him. 

Billy’s grip on your arms tightened and it felt like he was crushing you. “You want to stay, Y/n,” he said, “don’t you?”

You decided he wasn’t going to change his mind, so you stayed, and let him drag you into his room. 

-

The next morning, El was at Mike’s house, the entire party hanging out in his basement. Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Mike were arguing over something involving Mortal Kombat, but El wasn’t listening. 

“Max, can I ask a question?” she asked. Max looked over at her and nodded, “yeah, what’s up?”

“It is about Y/n. She came home last night covered in bruises. She says she fell off a bike but I think she lies,” El told Max, who listened carefully. 

“Was she with my brother last night?” Max asked. El nodded.

Max sighed, “I don’t think it was a bike accident. She’s probably just too embarrassed to tell you the truth. If she was with Billy, then don’t worry about it. It’s normal,” she answered, hoping El would understand what she was trying to say. 

“You mean Billy hurts her?” El looked upset. 

“No! I mean, not like that. Uh, you remember when I told you about happy screams? Well, there’s happy pain too. I hear Y/n and Billy in his room, like, all the time,” Max explained awkwardly. 

“Happy pain?” El frowned. 

“Yeah. Um, I’ll explain it better when we’re alone,” Max said.

-

You woke up to the smell of pancakes. It was uncommon your dad got up early enough to make breakfast, so you jumped out of bed and changed clothes, doing your hair and makeup as fast as you could.  You passed by the mirror and froze, realizing the dark purple marks on your arms were very noticeable. Looking around quickly, you threw on the closest sweater and walked into the main room. 

“Hi Dad,” you greeted, walking past him to grab a plate.

“Hey. What time did you get home last night? I tried to stay up but you took so long,” Hopper replied as he sipped his coffee. 

“Around 12... where’s El?” you asked, realizing she wasn’t home. 

“With Mike,” your dad answered grumpily, making you laugh. 

“Of course she is,” you smiled and sat down across from him with your plate full of pancakes, “so what made you decide to be a good father and cook for once?” you teased.

“ouch,” Hopper acted hurt, “well, it was El’s idea, actually. She told me you weren’t feeling well when you got home, so I hoped this would cheer you up.”

You wanted to smack El, but unfortunately she wasn’t around. You forced a smile on your face, “that’s sweet, but she’s overreacting. I was just tired.”

“You sure?” your dad eyed you carefully. 

“I’m sure.”

Hopper just nodded, watching you finish your breakfast. You got up, dropping the plate in the sink, “well, I’m going to the mall to get Billy a present, our one year anniversary is tomorrow,” you reminded your dad happily. 

Hopper did not share in the happiness. “I see. Have fun,” he nodded simply. 

You sighed, knowing he disliked Billy even more than he did Mike. 

“I’ll see ya,” you patted his head as you passed, quickly grabbing your bag and heading out the door. 

-

Since is was the opening summer of the Starcourt Mall, there was rarely a day when it wasn’t packed with people. You pushed your way through the crowds towards the clothing stores but stopped when you saw Steve behind the counter at Scoops Ahoy. 

“Steve!” You smiled, walking into the shop. 

Steve returned the smile, “Ahoy, Y/n! What brings you here to our voyage of flavor?” he said jokingly, making you laugh. 

“I’m here getting a gift for Billy. Our anniversary is tomorrow,” you explained. Steve’s smile dropped, “oh, right. You’re still dating Billy... the guy who beat me up.”

You rolled your eyes. “That was ONE time,” you teased. 

“Whatever you say... what are you gonna get?” Steve asked. 

“I don’t know yet. What do you recommend?” you asked back, leaning against the counter. 

Despite his loathing towards Billy, Steve loved being around you, and so he milked this opportunity to tell you all about his favorite stores, throwing in some jokes to see you laugh.

“Alright, that was actually really helpful! Thanks, Steve,” you smiled and said goodbye before heading out and towards the escalator. 

You always felt bad whenever Steve or the kids brought up what Billy did to Steve. You didn’t understand why they hated him so much for just one mistake. Underneath the hard exterior was a kind soul, and Billy was never violent towards you. Well, not until recently. He had always been physical, but that was just how he expressed himself. Over the past two months, Billy had gotten worse; he would hit you when you made him mad, and would force you to do things you didn’t want to. But you still loved him... he was just going through some things. 

Your friends called that a bullshit excuse, but it was the truth; he wouldn’t hurt you for no reason. 

After an hour of walking around the mall trying to decide what to get, you settled on a new Walkman and a few cassettes of a band you knew he loved. As you headed to the front entrance of the mall, you glanced up at the giant clock and realized you were supposed to get lunch with Billy at 11. It was currently 11:45. 

You knew he had probably left the restaurant by now, so you ran to the closest phone booth and dialed the number to his house. It rang for a few rounds before you heard his voice, “hello?”

“Billy! It’s Y/n. I’m so so sorry... I lost track of time at the mall and I truly didn’t mean to stand you up,” you explained quickly, scared he would be upset with you. 

“Hey, calm down. It’s ok, I understand. Why don’t I come pick you up?” Billy said through the phone, making you smile and lean against the wall with relief. “Yeah, that would be great,” you answered. 

You waited for Billy outside and quickly stood up when you saw his Camaro come around the corner.  He stopped by the curb and waved to you as you ran over and dropped into the passenger seat. 

“Hey! Thank you for picking me up, I really am so-,” you started with a smile but was cut off by him slapping you hard across the face. You let out a small noise, your hand flying to your cheek. It stung like mad and you looked at Billy with wide eyes. 

“That’s for making me look like an idiot sitting at the diner for half an hour,” Billy stated simply as he shifted gears and sped away from the mall. 

You just nodded, not wanting to anger him any further. A few minutes passed before Billy glanced over at you and sighed, reaching for your hand and making you involuntarily flinch. He frowned and grabbed your hand in his, “hey, look at me.”

You slowly looked over at him as he stopped at an intersection. Billy turned to you, “I love you. You know that right?”

You nodded, “I know.”

“Come here,” he shifted closer and leaned in to kiss you. You hesitated before meeting halfway and pressing your lips to his. 

The light turned green and he pulled away, not letting go of your hand. You watched him for a moment with a small smile, the pain in your cheek ebbing away, “I love you too.”

-

The following evening was your one year anniversary with Billy. Your father was out working all night and El was at a sleepover with her friends, and so you invited Billy over to your place for the evening. 

You set up a fancy dinner with candles and a playlist you made for the occasion, as well as your favorite movie waiting in the VCR. There was a knock on the door at exactly 9, and you ran over to answer it. 

Billy was waiting on the front porch, leaning against the post with a cigarette between his lips. You couldn’t help but admire how good he looked. “Billy,” you breathed with a smile. 

“Y/n,” Billy smiled back as he pushed himself off the post and over to you, “you look beautiful.”

You blushed at his words, “thank you... come inside! I made dinner but I suck at cooking so we could always just order pizza,” you rambled as you pulled him inside. 

“I’m sure it’s amazing,” Billy replied, setting a small box down on the table.

You closed the door and turned to him, “but we don’t have to eat right now. In fact, I’d rather not.”

Billy smirked at you, “what would you rather do?” 

You just made your way over to him and backed him against the wall, “whatever you want.”

Billy immediately pulled you into a passionate kiss and you wrapped your arms around his neck. He lifted you up and set you down on the kitchen counter, not breaking the connection. 

“We can go to my room,” you suggested between kisses. Billy shook his head, “there’s no reason. We can stay right here.”

And so you did. 

-

El was with the party at Will’s house, hanging out in his living room. The six kids were sat in a circle, a piece of paper with a list of names placed in front of them. 

“Are you ok with this, El? We don’t have to play,” Mike worried as Dustin spun a pen and watched as it landed on Mr. Clarke’s name.

El nodded, “I’m fine.”

“Mr. Clarke?! He’s so boring,” Lucas complained. “Yeah, spin it again,” Will said. 

Dustin spun the pen again and it landed on Billy. 

“Uh, we don’t have to do him. He’s no fun. Plus, he’s with Y/n right now so you might, like, see something gross,” Max said quickly, not wanting to know what her brother was up to. 

“Come on! It’ll be fun to see what they’re doing!” Dustin insisted. The other boys echoed their agreement. 

Max rolled her eyes, “whatever, go ahead, but don’t blame me if El sees something weird.”

“It’ll be fine,” El assured, grabbing her blindfold and tying it around her head while Dustin turned up the static radio. 

They all watched her carefully, waiting for her to tell them what was happening. 

El opened her eyes and was surrounded by nothingness. A couch appeared a ways away and you and Billy were sitting in your underwear and talking with one another, both sweaty and tired.

“They’re just talking,” El said, unaware at what had just taken place. 

“About what?” Lucas asked. El shook her head, “I don’t know. I need to get closer.”

El walked closer and their works became more clear. 

“I can’t believe it’s been a year,” you said happily and kissed him before getting up to retrieve the hot chocolate you made out of the microwave.

“The best year of my life,” Billy smiled, watching you carefully and taking in the view. You grabbed the two mugs and started back to the couch, but as you got close, your foot caught on the rug and you tripped, sending the scalding hot chocolate to spill all over Billy. 

“Shit!” Billy yelled, jumping up and grabbing the closest blanket to wipe it off, his face going red from either pain or anger. 

“Billy, I’m so so sorry! Let me get you some water,” you started quickly towards the kitchen. Billy suddenly picked up the mug and chucked it in your direction. You ducked and the mug shattered against the wall behind you, making El flinch. 

“What? What happened?” Mike demanded. El didn’t answer him. 

You slowly stood back up, turning to Billy and backing away as he started towards you. You backed right into the shattered mug, stepping on the shards.

“Billy, please, I’m sorry!” you pleaded, cringing at the pain in your foot. 

Billy grabbed your arm roughly, “look at my chest! I probably got third-degree burns from that shit!” he said angrily. 

You looked up at him, scared, and tried to pull your arm away but he dug his nails into your wrist, making you cry out in pain. Tears were building up in your eyes, “Billy, please.”

Billy lifted his other hand and El ripped off her blindfold as soon as he made contact.

“What happened?!” Mike asked again, worried by El’s scared expression. 

“See, I told you they were gonna be doing something gross,” Max started but El shook her head. 

“He hurt her!” She said angrily, wiping the blood from her nose. 

“What?” Will and Max asked at the same time. 

“Billy. He hit her. Threw things at her,” El told them, getting up off the floor. 

“Woah, slow down. You need to tell us everything that you saw,” Lucas got up with her and the others followed. 

El quickly told them everything that played out, and soon the whole group was just as pissed as she was. 

“I don’t understand. You said she’s been coming home with bruises for over a month. Why hasn’t she told anyone?” Mike asked, not getting why she would lie about it. 

“Maybe Billy threatened her,” Max suggested. 

“We need to tell Hopper,” Dustin decided. 

“No! Absolutely not! Hopper is batshit insane and we need a voice of reason,” Mike said quickly, knowing Hopper would freak if he found out. 

“What about my mom?” Will spoke up and Lucas nodded, “Ms. Byers will know what to do.”

The six kids ran to Joyce’s room to wake her up and tell her what happened. 

-

An hour later, Max and El showed up at Hopper’s cabin with Joyce waiting in the car. They decided it would be best if just the three of them went, and so the boys stayed behind. El opened the door the find you sitting alone on the couch, watching a movie in a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. The room was exactly as it was before El left and nothing seemed out of place. The dim lighting made it hard to see the black eye growing on your face.

You looked up and frowned at the two of them, “El? What are you doing home so early?” 

“Where’s Billy?” El demanded. 

“What? He left like 15 minutes ago. Hop said he couldn’t stay past midnight,” you explained, not knowing why they were all here. 

El reached over and turned on the lights, making you wince at the sudden brightness.

“Your eye,” El said, looking at you sadly. 

You quickly tried to think of an excuse but Max cut you off, “we saw what happened.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” you stood up, eyeing the young teens. 

“El spied on you and saw what Billy did,” Max stated. 

You turned to your adopted sister, a mix of fear and anger washing over you, “you WHAT? You spied on me! Are you psycho?!”

“Billy hurt you. He’s been hurting you,” El said, ignoring your raised voice. 

You looked ready to cry, not prepared to face what was happening, “you have no right to spy on me like that!”

“You’re avoiding the real point, Y/n. Billy is abusive. I know what it’s like,” Max said softly and you shook your head, backing away.

“We want to help,” El said, walking towards you but you held up a hand to make her stay away. 

You were at a loss of words, not knowing how to explain to them why you didn’t need help, and so you said the first thing that came to mind, “please don’t tell Dad.”

El and Max didn’t respond to that. “Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why did you lie?” Max questioned. 

“Because... because I love him! I love him so much, and he loves me. And I know he wouldn’t hurt me for no reason. He’s just struggling with some things and he needs me,” you explained, fighting back tears. 

Max couldn’t help but be annoyed, “bullshit! Billy doesn’t love anyone. He’s manipulative and cruel and he doesn’t love you!”

You glared at her, “yes he does! You two have no idea what it’s like to be in a serious relationship! You can’t say shit!”

El had made her way close to you during the conversation and placed a gentle hand on your arm; you flinched at the touch. El frowned, “what has he done to you?”

You pulled your arm away and froze when you heard a car pull up to the cabin, fear evident in your eyes. 

“Please, please don’t tell Dad,” you begged, running to the window and watching as Hopper got out of his car and was stopped by Joyce. 

“What is Ms. Byers doing here? What is she telling him?” you demanded even though you already knew the answer. 

“Y/n, you need help,” Max said gently. 

You saw your dad glance towards the window and nod at something Joyce said before started towards the door. As he entered, you looked at him with wide eyes, scared he would be mad at you. 

But instead of being, Hopper just quickly made his way over to you and pulled you into the warmest hug you’ve felt in a long time. He didn’t say anything, but the way he held you tight made you feel so safe, and all the tears you’ve been bottling up for the past two months came out at once. 

You sobbed into Hopper’s arms as he hugged you close. It was hard for him not to drive directly to Billy’s house and beat the shit out of him, but Joyce insisted he went to you first. 

“Hey, we’re here now. I’m here,” your dad said gently, not knowing what else to say. 

You clung to Hopper, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You don’t need to apologize for what happened to you,” he assured. El came over and laid a hand over yours, saying nothing. 

Hopper felt like it was his fault for not noticing the signs earlier, but looking back on it, everything made sense, and all he could do now what comfort you.

And beat the shit out of Billy, which he was definitely going to do.

-

End. 

PART TWO

[thehelleniclunarwitch]

Obsession (Billy Hargrove)

Billy Hargrove x Reader

Prompts: “They’re coming! Kiss me!” & “You’re mine to own, do you understand?”

Requested by: @fandomfaery

                                               -------------------

Billy Hargrove scared the absolute shit out of her. He transferred in as the new kid at the start of the school year last year. He was quick to try and dethrone, your best friend, Steve Harrington, as the king of the school. Billy also intrigued her. He was completely different from anybody else at the school. 

Steve and Billy were a year ahead of you. So you were grateful to spend your senior year not being tormented by Billy, but you missed Steve. Throughout the school year, it had become your thing where Steve would pick you up and the two of you would do whatever the two of you got up to. 

When summer finally came, Steve tried getting you to take a job at Scoops Ahoy, but you had always been a lifeguard. On the first day of your shift, you wished you had taken Steve up on his offer when you saw that not only was Billy working as a lifeguard but the two of you were paired up on the schedule together. 

“Hey, you got it easy,” Heather said. 

You looked up at her as you finished applying your sunscreen. 

“What do you mean?” You asked her. 

“Billy stays to himself. I worked with him last summer. The old ladies fawn over him and he’s a bit of an ass, but he comes in does his duties and leaves. He never flakes out or makes you do all the work,” Heather explained. 

“Oh,” You said pushing your sunglasses up into your hair. 

Heather continued to go on and on about Billy. You stared at her with wide eyes. You could tell that she was definitely crushing on him. 

“I mean if he’s that good of a partner we could switch,” You offered. 

Heather beamed at the thought of your idea. 

You jumped when an arm fell around your shoulders. You looked up to see Billy standing there with a huge grin on his face. 

“Now, why would I allow that to happen? I’ve always wanted to get to know Harrington’s prized possession,” Billy teased. 

Heather giggled. You rolled your eyes. 

“I’m not his prized possession,” You scoffed pushing his arm off you. 

Sensing an argument about to happen, Heather wished you luck and jogged off to meet up with the others before CPR training. Billy stared down at you with his piercing blue eyes. 

“I know I’m an ass, but I’ve always been kind to you,” Billy said. 

This time it was you who laughed. “Right, teasing me all through my junior year and beating up my best friend is a great way to show how nice you are,”

“Hey, Harrington deserved everything he got,” Billy pointed out. 

“Right,” You said as you rolled your eyes. 

As you turned away from him to go and join the others for training, Billy grabbed a hold of your arm. You turned back to look at him. 

“I think I deserve a chance,” Billy said. 

You furrowed your brows in confusion. 

“Chance for what?” You asked him. 

“To get to know you. Take you out on a date,” Billy said. 

Your mouth fell open. 

“Wait, what? I thought you hated me,” You said in utter confusion. 

Billy’s eyes hardened. “Why would you think that?”

“Billy,” You said softly. “You teased me, taunted me, called me names, and told everyone the only reason why Steve was friends with me because he had hoped to get in my pants,”

“I was saying those things to get a rise out of Harrington,” Billy told you. 

“Yeah, well those words hurt me, Billy. I became fearful of you,” You said honestly. 

Billy let go of you in shock. 

“You’re scared of me?” Billy asked. 

“Hey, you two! Come on training is starting soon!” Heather shouted. 

“You’ve given me plenty of reasons to be scared of you,” You said before finally walking away from him and joining Heather. 

All through CPR training, you could feel Billy’s eyes on you. You did your best to ignore him. You stuck by Heather. She talked enough for the both of you. Tomorrow was the first day of the season. You were on the closing shift with Billy. 

At the end of the day, you were walking out of the women’s locker by yourself. Heather, Kate, and Zoe had already dressed and went to hang out with Adam. You were searching through your bag for your Walkman and headphones when you slammed into something hard. 

“Oof, sorry,” You mumbled as you looked up to see Billy smirking down at you. 

“I was wondering when you’d be coming out of there,” Billy said. 

You stood frozen in your spot. 

“What do you want from me, Billy?” You asked. 

“That right there is a loaded question, but for now I’d like to finish our conversation from earlier,” Billy said. 

“There’s nothing else to talk about,” You replied. 

“Sure there is. I’d really like to know why you won’t even give me a chance?” Billy asked you. 

“I, uh,” You stumbled over the right words. 

“Is it because of Harrington?” Billy asked. 

“What?” You said. 

“Are you Harrington a thing?” Billy asked. 

“No! God, I’m sick of people thinking that. You know a boy and a girl can be best friends without there being any romantic feelings,” You snapped. 

“Okay, fine, if it’s not because of Harrington then why not?” Billy asked again. 

You stood there unsure of what to even say. 

“They’re coming! Kiss me!” Billy suddenly shouted. 

“Wait, what?” You said in confusion. 

“You idiot,” Billy hissed as he slid his arms around your waist and pulled you in close. 

You didn’t even have the chance to fight him off or to yell at him. His lips connected with yours. Both of you closed your eyes, you felt yourself sinking into his touch. As you eased up, Billy pulled you in closer and you had no choice but to wrap your own arms around you. 

There was giggling and then everything around you went quiet. 

“Oh, he was serious,” Zoe said. 

“Heather said she wanted to switch shifts,” Katie said. 

“Maybe she wanted to keep their relationship private,” Zoe said. 

Katie sighed. “I guess we’ll have to tell Heather,”

“Come on before he catches us staring,” Zoe said pulling her friend away. 

When Katie and Zoe had disappeared around the side of the building you finally pushed yourself away from Billy. You stood in front of him with wide eyes. Billy stood there heaving as he tried catching his breath. 

“What was that!” You exclaimed. 

“Just me securing my chance with you,” Billy smirked. 

“You piece of-” Your insult was cut off at the sound of Steve honking his horn. 

“Harrington is here for you,” Billy grinned. 

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Eat shit,” 

You scooped up your bag that had fallen to the floor and quickly dashed away from Billy. Billy watched you run through the parking lot to where Steve sat parked. He had one of his sister’s annoying friends in the back seat. Billy clenched his fist as he watched you jump into Steve’s arm with a big hug. You ruffled Dustin’s hair before running around to the passenger side. 

Billy knew you like the back of his hand. Steve would drive you home where you’d shower and change then three of you would be off to Starcourt Mall and that’s where Billy planned on making you finally realize who you belonged to. 

Across town at your place, Steve sat on your bed flipping through some of your comic books while you sat at your vanity brushing your hair. Dustin was admiring vinyl record collection. 

“I saw you with Hargrove. Everything okay?” Steve asked. 

Your hands were busy braiding your hair as you turned to look at your best friend. 

“He wants to take me out on a date,” You answered softly. 

The room went dead silent. 

“And he also kissed me,” You admitted. 

Steve finally sat up. “He’s dead,”

“Steve,” You and Dustin said in a warning tone together. 

Steve jumped off the bed, began pacing and ranting. Dustin and you sat there stunned watching him go ballistic over what you had told him. 

“Steve,” You said once more. 

Your best friend stopped pacing and looked over at you. 

“If I didn’t want Billy to kiss me,”

Steve cut you off. “Don’t. Don’t you dare finish that sentence,”

“Come on Steve,” You began. 

“Dustin, let’s go downstairs so Y/n can finish getting ready,” Steve said. 

You opened your mouth to argue, but Steve and Dustin slipped from your room shutting your door. Sighing, you flopped down on your bed. Billy Hargrove scared the shit out of you. He intrigued you. And you hated to admit that that kiss made you feel butterflies and sent shivers down your spine. 

You couldn’t deny that there was something there. That Billy made you feel something. You shouldn’t even have to have Steve’s permission to go on a date with Billy. He was your friend, but he was your best friend and you wanted him to approve. You would just have to work on Steve you of all people could get him to change his mind. 

Slipping on a pair of teal leggings you grabbed your long gray sweater and pulled it over your head. You snagged the neon pink belt that Nancy had gotten you for Christmas and wrapped it around your waist. You added a matching pink bow headband to your hair before pulling on your white converse. 

Grabbing your bag, you headed down the stairs to meet up with the boys. Steve said nothing to you, but Dustin broke out into a conversation. You were thankful that you wouldn’t have to sit in a silent car all the way to the mall. 

At the mall, Dustin made a beeline for Scoops Ahoy to check in with Robin. You grabbed Steve’s arm. He turned back to look at you. 

“You’re not mad at me because you're in love with me, are you? I can’t handle a love confession from you,” You asked. 

Steve couldn’t help but start laughing. A smile cracked on your face at the sound of his laughter. 

“No, I promise no love confession from me,” Steve said. 

“Good. I know that you have your issues with Billy. And maybe nothing will come from this date, but I kind of want to say yes to him,” You explained to him. 

“Billy is such an asshole,” Steve complained. 

“Hey, you had the title of an asshole for a while, you know,” You reminded him. 

Steve chuckled. 

“I don’t need your permission to agree to this date, but it would make me feel better knowing that you approved,” You said. 

Steve sighed. 

You squeezed his hand trying to reassure him. 

“Fine, but if he pulls anything then I get to kick his ass,” Steve said. 

“Harrington, hell would have to freeze over for you to be able to kick my ass,” Billy said from behind them. 

The two of you looked over to where Billy stood. 

“Hargrove,” Steve snarled. 

“Go,” You whispered. 

“Y/n,” Steve began. 

You gave him a look and he threw one last nasty look to Billy before heading towards Scoops Ahoy. 

“I knew you’d come around,” Billy said. 

“Or I knew you wouldn’t take no for an answer and figured just to get this done and over with,” You told him. 

“Ouch. That hurt,” Billy said. 

“Am I wrong?” You asked him. 

“I think I’m going to prove you wrong,” Billy said. 

“One date, Billy. I don’t think you’re going to be able to change my mind in just a date,” You said. 

Billy leaned in super close to you. 

“I think you underestimate just how crazy I am for you and that I will stop at nothing to have you as my own,” Billy said. 

You gulped as you stared into his blue eyes. 

“This is just one date,” You whispered. 

“Oh no, sweetheart, this is just the start of us,” Billy said. 

You took a small step back away from him, but one of his arms caught you around your waist. 

“Billy,” You said softly. 

“I hate the saying ‘if a boy teases you that means they like you’, but that’s exactly what was happening between you and me,” Billy said. 

“And beating up Steve?” You asked. 

“Jealousy. I know it happens to the best of us, but I thought you were crushing on Steve,” Billy admitted. 

“But I’m not. He’s my best friend,” You replied. 

“I know that now,” Billy said. 

“And what if this date doesn’t go so well?” You asked him as he slowly lowered his lips towards yours. 

“Then I will have to keep making it up to you until you realize it,” Billy said. 

Again you furrowed your brows in confusion. 

“Realize what?” You asked him. 

“That you’re mine,” Billy growled. 

“I belong to nobody,” You said defiantly. 

Billy juggled you in his arms bracing you tighter so you had no way to escape. 

“Y/n,” Billy said making you look at him. 

“Billy,”

“You’re mine to own, do you understand?” Billy asked. 

There was a good chunk of you that was yelling at you to run. To kick him in the ball and run as far away as you possibly could get. But there was that bigger part of you that felt excited at the thought of being Billy’s. To kiss him whenever you wanted, to hold his hand, cuddling up in front of the TV, date nights, the whole thing. It excited you but it also scared you. 

“Answer me, Y/n. Do you understand?” Billy asked again.

You remained silent. 

“I will not ask again,” Billy said shaking you slightly. 

“I-I understand,” You stuttered. 

Hearing those words finally come from you sent shivers of excitement down Billy’s whole body. He finished leaning in and kissed you. His lips were dominant. He was in full control. That small voice in the back of your mind that had screamed at you to run was being silenced. For some odd reason being in Billy’s arms weirdly felt like being home and you really didn’t want that feeling to ever go away. 

[cherrybracelets]

why [s. harrington x henderson!reader]

song inspo | steve playlist | masterlist

word count: 3.7k / warnings: none really, mostly fluff, alcohol mention

an: hi guys!!! i kinda went off on this one oops!!! please check out my masterlist for more fics if you like this one, and i always appreciate feedback and a reblog! ❤️

“God, Dustin, if you don’t get out of that bathroom in the next five minutes I’m literally going to kill you!” You screamed, slamming your fists on the wooden door for the thousandth time this morning.

“Relax, (Y/N), I’m almost finished! God you’re so annoying!” Your little brother, Dustin, yelled back. You groaned loudly and stomped back to your room, desperately needing to finish blow drying your hair before the party.

You heard the bathroom door open, and Dustin walking over to your room. He popped in your doorway with a devilish grin, his hair slicked back with hairspray.

“Bathrooms all yours, sis. Make sure you wear that one red lipstick, I think Steve will love it,” Dustin said, winking at you.

“Ew, Dustin. How many times do I have to tell you, me and Steve will never happen. Get over it. We’ve hated each other since middle school, and that’s not gonna change!” You stood up quickly and stomped to the bathroom, Dustin following behind you, frowning.

“C’mon! Give him a chance, (Y/N)! He’s a good kid!” Dustin has been pleading for you and Steve to date since the first time they fought Dart together. Dustin saw Steve as an older brother, and if you two ended up together, Steve would literally be his brother (in law). That was Dustin’s dream- and he reminded you of it every day.

“Jesus, you are so annoying. Why don’t you just shut up and make sure you have Wills’s gift ready!” You slammed the bathroom door in Dustin’s face, making sure to lock it so he wouldn’t barge in. You took a few deep breaths, trying to ground yourself from screaming out of frustration. You plugged your hair dryer on and began styling your hair, using the noise of the machine to drown out your frustration.

You had never really liked Steve, but it became especially frustrating when he decided to informally adopt your brother. Dustin thought the kid was a god, and that did not help Steve’s already overbearing confidence. You understood that Dustin only had you and his mom, and he needed a male role model, but you wished it was anyone but him.

You and Steve had a long- and very negative- history. You guys used to be friends, way back in the day, when life was simple. But that all came to a firey halt in seventh grade. You had a huge crush on one of Steve’s friends, Tommy, and you made the mistake of spilling that to Steve.

Steve took it upon himself to tell Tommy, and they apparently though it was hilarious. You hadn’t really developed yet, so you weren’t as ‘pretty’ as the other girls in your grade. Even though, let’s face it, it was seventh grade, and no one was attractive. But your self confidence was especially low, so when Steve apparently dared Tommy to fake ask you out in front of the whole school- you were crushed. And rightfully, you have never forgiven him.

It haunted you all the way up until you graduated. People never seemed to forget, and every one in a while you’d get reminded of the most humiliating day of your life. And it was even worse having to see the man who orchestrated the event around all the time. You never told Dustin about it, because you knew he looked up to Steve, and you didn’t want to take that away from him. But it was hard when you constantly had to hear how amazing he was.

You were feeling yourself get worked up just thinking about it, your breathing get quicker and your cheeks getting hot with stress. You tried to shake the memory out of your head, tousling your curls as you moved. You put a light lipstick on, double checked yourself in the mirror, and headed out of the bathroom. Dustin was waiting eagerly with a poorly wrapped gift in his bedroom.

“I got Will this super cool new edition of D&D! He’s gonna freak,” Dustin said excitedly, hoping up from his bed and following you down the stairs.

“Super happy for you nerds,” you groaned, grabbing your purse from the kitchen counter and rustling around for you keys.

“You’re gonna regret being so mean to me one day when I’m super rich.” Dustin raised his eyebrows at you, and you just rolled your eyes, walking out the front door to your car.

“You’re gonna regret being such a brat when I sacrifice you to the demodogs,” you said, laughing as you unlocked your car.

“That is not funny! Don’t joke about that!”

“Oh, relax Dustin, don’t go crying to Steve about it.” You hopped into your drivers seat and waited for Dustin to get buckled up before starting your car. He was excitedly fiddling with the bow on his gift, hoping that no one else got Will the same gift.

“I still don’t understand why you hate Steve so much, anyways,” Dustin mumbled, leaning his head against your car window.

“I’ve told you a million times, we just have a history, okay. It’s none of your business,” you snapped, raising your voice at him. “Besides, I’m going on another date with Andrew this weekend.”

“Ughhhhh,” Dustin groaned, rolling his eyes obnoxiously. “That guy is seriously the worst, (Y/N). He is super boring, his hair sucks, and he doesn’t know anything about the upside down. You can’t actually date a guy who doesn’t know what you’ve seen!”

“I don’t care about his hair, Dustin! That’s not a priority to me!”

“Well, it should be, okay? I don’t want my nieces and nephews having dweeb hair.”

“Don’t talk about my future children like that, idiot.” You punched Dustin lightly on the shoulder, and he screamed loudly, clearly faking pain to try and get on your nerves. You just pushed him again, and continued driving to Wills. The rest of your drive was spent listening to Dustin tell you about the new rules of his game, and you trying your best to pretend you were interested.

When you finally got to Wills, you recognized Steve’s car and instantly felt nauseous. You really did not want to spend time with him, but you also knew Joyce was excited to see you today, and you couldn’t let her down. You parked your car grudgingly and took a few moments before getting out. Dustin had already ran inside to his friends, showing off his wrapped gift.

You walked into the house quietly, not wanting to distract anyone from the birthday celebrations. Joyce ran to you, excitement on her face, and greeted you with a warm hug.

“(Y/N)! It’s so good to see you, you look beautiful,” she said, cupping your face in her hands and looking at your outfit.

“Sorry we’re late, Dustin is a brat and takes forever to get ready,” you responded, rolling your eyes and giggling a bit.

“There’s drinks and food in the kitchen, help yourself. Everyone else is scattered around somewhere, I’m sure you’ll find them!” She kissed you on the cheek before walking away and finding her son. You walked over to the kitchen, hoping to get a few seconds of peace and quiet. To your disdain, you were greeted by Steve, standing alone and pouring himself a drink.

“Hey, sorry if I’m in your way,” he mumbled, moving from the counter and spilling his drink on himself a bit.

“It’s fine, I’m just gonna grab a beer and go say hi to the kids, anyways,” you responded, pulling a cold bottle out of a cooler. You tried to twist it, but couldn’t manage to get the cap off.

“Can I help?” Steve asked, reaching out to take the bottle from you. You handed it to him without saying a word, and he took the bottle to his lips and bit the cap off with his teeth.

“Jesus,” you cringed, the thought of that against your teeth making you shiver.

“Little party trick I learned back in high school, I forgot some people get freaked out by it,” he laughed, handing you the bottle. You took a big swig, realizing Steve’s lips had just touched the mouth of your bottle. The thought made you a little uncomfortable, thinking about his lips on yours. He did have beautiful lips though, soft and pillowy. And he was always wearing this vanilla chapstick- you figured he kisses would taste like a milkshake.

Why the fuck are you thinking about kissing Steve? God, Dustin has really got in your head. You thanked Steve and walked out of the kitchen before your brain could dive any deeper into those thoughts.

The living room was packed with all the kids, eating chips and drinking soda. They were laughing over something Mike had said, and you smiled at Dustin, seeing him so happy made you warm inside. He had been through a lot- they all had- but seeing them all here, laughing and playing like kids are supposed to do, it made you feel good.

“(Y/N)!” Max yelled, running up to you and giving you a tight hug. El quickly followed her and hugged you as well.

“You two look absolutely gorgeous- new outfits?” You asked, tugging a bit on Max’s new shirt.

“We went to the mall this weekend!” El responded, putting her hands on her hips and posing for you. You laughed at the two girls, happy to see them enjoying things. You had felt a need to protect them, especially, knowing how hard it is for girls at that age.

“Could you teach me how to curl my hair later?” El asked, running her hand through your soft curls.

“Of course, lady. I think you’d look gorgeous!”

Mike had yelled at them to come see something, and they said they’d talk to you later, before running off back to their friends. Nancy and Jonathan were hanging on the couch, watching Will and the kids having the times of their life. You sat down next to her, making small talk with them for a few minutes before Joyce walked into the room.

“Alright, I have to run up to town and pick up the pizzas. Are you guys all good here for a bit?” She asked, keys in hand. She looked at you and Nancy, a look that said ‘If anything happens, I’m blaming you two, since you’re clearly the most responsible ones here besides myself.’

“We’ll take care of them, Joyce. No worries,” you responded, smiling kindly at her, letting her know you wouldn’t let anything happen to anyone. She smiled back, and headed out the door.

“Alright, now the real party starts!” Lucas yelled the minute Joyce closed and locked the door.

“Woah- woah. What are you talking about?” Nancy asked, standing up quickly and putting on her mom voice.

“Oh relax, Nance. Just a friendly game of truth or dare,” Mike responded, raising his eyebrows at the group around you. “And you all have to play, too,” he said, looking at you, Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve, who was now standing behind you.

“No, no. We’re just here to supervise, we’re not playing any games,” Jonathan responded in a stern voice.

“Please!! It’s my birthday!” Will whined, making a fake pouty face to try and get you all to feel bad for him.

“What’s the harm, right? They’re just kids,” Nancy said, putting a hand on Jonathan’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t trust any of them- they’re evil geniuses. One of them even has super powers!” Steve said jokingly, eyeing El and making her laugh.

“Fine, we’ll play for a bit, but everything stays PG, got it?” You said, crossing your arms and the group and raising your eyebrows. They all nodded in agreement, smiling at each other, happy that you all agreed.

“Okay, first things first, everyone write your name down on a piece of paper and put it in this bowl,” Lucas instructed, pointing to a small blue bowl that was sitting in the center of the coffee table. You all did as you were told, passing around a pen and notepad until every name had been put in the bowl.

“Then, we’ll go around in a circle and pick a name, so it’s not biased. The person you picked gets to give you your truth or dare,” Mike quickly said, shaking the blue bowl around with his hand.

“Sounds easy enough,” Jonathan answered, sitting forward in the couch.

“And once everyone goes, you put the names back in the bowl and start again!”

Everyone nodded in understanding, the older group just wanting to get this over with. You sighed loudly, waiting for someone to start. Steve came and sat next to you, his knee slightly touching yours and you all squished on the couch together. You felt a heat growing as his skin touched yours, wanting so desperately to move away, but feeling physically unable too.

“I’ll start!” Max said, happily, pulling a name out of the hat. She giggled a little when she read the name of the piece of paper. “Lucas!”

“Alright, truth or dare?” He asked, jokingly making faces at her and making her laugh.

“Dare, obviously!”

“Alright...” he said, thinking intently on what to do. He looked over to the kitchen and smiled devilishly. “I dare you to eat a spoonful of mustard!”

“You know I hate mustard, you ass hole!” She crossed her arms and pouted at him.

“Exactly. And you have to do it- a dares a dare!” Lucas looked around for approval from the other guys, who were all nodding in agreement.

“Fine!” She responded angrily, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. She came back a few moments later with a spoon piled high with mustard. The though even made you a little queasy. She looked at Lucas with a smile, before shoving the spoon in her mouth and swallowing.

“Ewwww!” The kids all said in unison, looking away from her as she did it.

“Oh god, it’s so gross. Someone get me water!” She yelled, reaching out around her for a drink. Steve handed her his water bottle, and she chugged it with a disgusted look her face. The kids were laughing in hysterics as she struggled to get the taste out of her mouth.

“You guys are evil!” Steve said, laughing as he shook his head in shock.

“God, I am so going to get you back for that, Sinclair,” Max said, her face still scrunched in disgust.

“Steve, your turn,” Mike said, pushing the bowl towards him.

“Oh god. I am not letting any of you little shits make me eat anything gross, got it? I’m an adult!” He said, pulling a piece of paper out of the bowl. He looked at it and groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m in for it now. I picked Dustin.”

“Hell yeah!” Dustin said, excitement glowing on his face.

“I’m picking truth, because I especially do not trust you, Henderson!” Steve laughed, sitting back and crossing his arms.

“Oh come on! Don’t be a pussy! It’s Wills birthday, have a little fun for his sake. Pick dare!” Dustin looked at Steve seriously, widening his eyes at him. Steve sighed and shook his head.

“Alright, fine. But be real careful with what you say next, kid,” he laughed.

“Easy. Seven minutes in heaven- you and my sister.”

You looked at Dustin, shock and embarrassment running through you. You felt your cheeks heat up, you knew you were turning a bright red. You looked over at Steve, who was also clearly uncomfortable.

“Absolutely not, we said to keep it PG!” You yelled, crossing your arms and shaking your head at Dustin.

“Yeah, for us! You guys are adults! Don’t act like you haven’t kissed before!” Dustin said back.

“I am not kissing Steve!” You yelled, floored with embarrassment.

“A dare is a dare!” El said, shrugging at you. You looked at her, disappointed that she wasn’t on your side.

“Cmon, lets just do it to please the kids. It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Steve whispered to you, the scent of vanilla chapstick flooding your senses.

“Fine. Dustin, I hope you know I am going to murder you later,” you said, standing up and walking down the hall to the bathroom. Steve followed suit, and you heard the kids giggling as the two of you went off to ‘Heaven’.

Steve came into the bathroom behind you, shutting the door as he did so. You wouldn’t look at him at first, too embarrassed to make eye contact. Finally, he put a hand on your shoulder, causing you to jump a little in shock.

“Sorry, just wanted to make sure you’re okay, you seem upset,” Steve said, quickly removing his hand.

“I am. This is ridiculous. I can’t go a day without Dustin shoving the idea of me and you together down my throat,” you muttered, sitting down on the sink counter and crossing your arms.

“I’m sorry. I know it sucks, but he’s just a kid. He doesn’t mean anything by it,” Steve said, pushing his hair out of his face.

“I know, but he doesn’t know about everything that happened between us, and I don’t want him to hate you so I won’t tell him.”

“What happened between us?” Steve asked, laughing a bit awkwardly. He looked genuinely confused, which offended you, because that meant he didn’t remember what he did.

“Are you serious? Seventh grade, you telling Tommy to ask me out in lunch as a joke? That ruined my whole life, Steve.”

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn’t tell Tommy to do anything like that. I didn’t even know about it until it was happening!” Steve responded, clearly upset about the accusations you were making.

“What do you mean Steve? Don’t lie to me! Mark told me it was all your idea!” You pouted at Steve, confused and upset, feeling yourself tearing up as you were recalling the event.

“Mark is a lying sack of shit, (Y/N)! He told you that to save his own ass! It was all him and Tommy- I swear to God!” Steve was defensive, pacing up and down the bathroom in frustration.

“But I told you about having a crush on Tommy, not Mark!”

“Okay, that part was my fault. The thing is, I sort of had a crush on you back then, and Mark knew... but when you told me about Tommy, I got upset and told Mark... but I swear, if I knew he was planning that I would’ve never told him! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Steve was upset, his face red and his eyes watery as he pleaded for you to believe him.

“You really had a crush on me?” You asked, completely blown away by the fact that he even noticed you back then.

“I kind of always have... I always tried to talk to you in high school but you never gave me the time of day. Now I know why,” he said, sounding defeated and broken. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub, shaking his head and staring at the floor.

“Honestly, Steve... I had no idea. I thought... all this time...” you looked at the man sitting in front of you, falling apart in front of you. You sat down next to him, putting a hand on his, trying to comfort him.

“I’m so sorry... I never meant to hurt you... you didn’t deserve that...” Steve mumbled.

“I’m sorry too, I just believed him and I never let you explain... I’ve been such an ass to you for years for something that wasn’t even your fault!” You started laughing, an uncontrollable giggle that was just rolling through you. For years you had pushed away a sweet, funny, and handsome guy for a lie someone told you when you were 13. Unbelievable.

“Why are you laughing?” Steve said, also starting to laugh himself.

“Because, I just can’t believe this. And it took a dumb game of truth or dare to find this out... I’m just shocked, I guess.” You stood up, wiping tears from your face as you continued to giggle. Steve stood up too, quickly wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you towards him. He kissed you, the kind of kiss that he had been waiting for all his life. A kiss that you felt everywhere in your body, his lips moving intricately with yours. And you were right, kissing him was like tasting a vanilla milkshake.

Steve’s hands were locked on your waist, pulling your body closer to him every second. You had wrapped your hands in his hair, the soft locks melting through your fingers. He finally let go of your waist and his hands trailed down to your butt, squeezing slightly. You giggled a bit at his touch, and felt him smile through your kisses.

“Times up- OH SHIT!” You heard your brother yell after he swung open the door. You and Steve quickly jumped away from each other and stared at Dustin. “IT WORKED!” He yelled, running down the hallway to the living room.

“Dustin!” You yelled, running after him. Steve followed close behind.

“They kissed! It worked!” He exclaimed to the group, a proud toothless smile plastered across his young face.

“Finally!” Max said, shaking her head and laughing.

“Was this.... did you guys do all of this just to get me and Steve to talk?” You asked in shock.

“You little shits are unbelievable!” Steve yelled, hands on his hips.

“It worked though... didn’t it? You like her, she likes you... I was right!” Dustin was ecstatic, and you felt yourself blushing again as you looked over to Steve.

“I mean... I guess I do kinda like you...” You avoided his eyes, but he took your hand in his and smiled at you.

“Yeah, I kinda like you, too.” He squeezed your hand tightly, his smile making you melt, thinking about kissing him again.

“But you’re still dead, Dusty, you understand that? I’m going to kill you for real this time!” You laughed, ruffling Dustin’s hair and shaking your head at the kids. As much as Dustin annoyed you, he really did want you to be happy. And he was right on this one.

[ughkeery]

everlasting arms | steve harrington

request: can you write something where steve has had a really bad day and when he sees you he immediately just hugs you because it’s all that will make him feel better?

word count: 2.6k

a/n: when i got this request i immediately thought of the ICONIC hug between nick and jess on new girl. (you know… that one?!) so just picture that while you’re reading this! this is also lowkey angsty as heck but oh well. :-)

The house phone rings two hours before it’s supposed to.

Steve calls you every night at eight o’clock, but tonight the phone in the kitchen starts going off right around six. Dustin hops up from the dining table so excitedly that he accidentally bangs his knee against it.

“I’ll get it!” he shouts enthusiastically, half-limping and half-running towards the phone.

“Dusty, sit down,” your mother scolds from her recliner in the living room, never taking her eyes off the knitting needles in her hands. “It’s quiet hour.”

“Mom,” Dustin whines, his hand hovering over the phone.

“Dusty.”

“Why don’t I answer the phone?” You chime in, hoping to put a stop to your family’s incessant whining. You emerge from the couch, casting aside the magazine you’ve been reading since quiet hour began. “It’s probably for me, anyways.”

“If Y/N and her boyfriend can talk on the phone during quiet hour, that means that I don’t have to do my homework, right?”

“‘Boyfriend’?” your mom repeats, her eyebrows shooting upwards.

Dustin wanders back from the kitchen, giving you a small smirk from the doorway.

“Steve is not my boyfriend,” You say with an incredulous huff, shooting your little brother a harsh glare. “If anything, he’s just the little twerp’s babysitter.”

“Exactly.” Dustin agrees in spite of your insult. “So he’s probably calling for me, which is why I should be the one who answers the phone.”

“What did I just say, you two?” your mom asks, glancing up at Dustin with a motherly look of disapproval. “It’s quiet hour. Nobody is answering it.”

As if on cue, the ringing stops.

You let out a breath of relief, falling back onto the couch. Dustin throws his hands up in the air in defeat, then goes back to doing his homework. For a minute, the only sound that fills the house is your mother’s knitting needles tapping against each other, moving at a fast pace to finish the sweater she’s been working on all day.

When the phone starts to ring for a second time, your mother throws her knitting project onto the coffee table in such defeat that it’s almost amusing. However, you know better than to laugh.

“For Pete’s sake, doesn’t anybody respect quiet hour anymore?” She exclaims, crossing her arms.

“I’ll get it, Mom.” You stand back up, giving her shoulder a small squeeze as you pass by her recliner on your way to the kitchen. “It’s probably just a prank call.”

As you enter the kitchen, Dustin is already leaned against the wall right next to the ringing phone, smiling from ear to ear.

“Have fun talking to your boyfriend,” Dustin teases, wiggling his eyebrows.

You nudge him away from the phone with reddened cheeks, rolling your eyes. “Shut up.”

Dustin continues to grin as he leaves the kitchen, taking his homework with him. You wait until he’s completely out of sight to pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“Y/N,” a familiar voice breathes. It is Steve. To be honest, you only partially expected it to be him. He’s never called the house this early in the evening before.

“Harrington, what are you doing?” You curl your fingers tighter around the phone, leaning your weight against the wall where Dustin just stood. You glance up at the clock hanging above the stove: it’s 6:15 on the dot.

“Y/N, listen -”

“We agreed on eight o’clock because that’s when my mom is at bingo, remember? And now, thanks to Dustin, she’s even more suspicious about us.”

When your mom caught you and Steve making out on the couch last week, you spent days trying to convince her that it wasn’t what it looked like - that you were just helping him with his English homework. You love your mom, you really do, but you know that she would rather you drop out of school or move across the country than date somebody before you get to college.

Especially if that ‘somebody’ is Steve Harrington, the guy you had formerly referred to as “Hawkin’s Reigning Douchebag” before he got close with Dustin and you realized he wasn’t so bad after all. Especially as more than a friend.

“I know,” he says, letting out another slow breath. “I’m sorry. I just - I really needed to talk to you.”

“It’s alright. What’s going on?” You pause, knitting your brows together in confusion. “Wait, aren’t you in Fort Wayne for your basketball championship?”

“Yeah. I’m there right now, actually. The last game just finished.” He audibly swallows into the receiver. You’re able to pick up the sound of shifting feet and voices being carried by the wind in the background. It seems like there are lots of people there.

“Y/N, we… we lost.”

Your heart immediately plummets into your stomach. Steve continues breathing heavily into the receiver - presumably out of breath from playing such an intense series of games - but all you can do is stand there in stunned silence.

“Oh, Steve,” You whisper, because it’s all you can think of to say.

Steve has been relying on winning this championship for weeks. Other than his never-ending list of complaints about the newest Star Wars movie, it’s practically all he’s talked about. No school in Hawkins has ever made it to any kind of sports championship. When the local newspaper covered the story, Steve made the very front page, beaming as his teammates congratulated him for making the winning shot.

This championship has been an especially big deal to Steve because it’s statewide, meaning that tons of coaches from universities all over Indiana are supposed to be there, looking for a new batch of recruits. Basketball has never exactly been Steve’s passion, but according to him, this championship was his last resort at getting a full ride to a decent college.

“… and that son of a bitch just grabbed the ball right from my hands and missed the final shot,” Steve explains, snapping you out of your bewildered trance.

“Who?”

“Who do you think? Hargrove.” He says the name with such bitterness that it makes your own blood boil. You’ve always disliked Billy, but now you find yourself hating him for more than just his short temper.

“What the hell?” You clench your fist without even meaning to. “Aren’t you all on the same team?”

“I guess he thought that getting credit for the winning shot would be more important than all that.”

You shake your head, deciding that comforting Steve is more important than all of the vile things you could probably say about Billy right now. “Steve, I’m so sorry,” You say quietly.

“Don’t worry. Coach ripped into him in the locker room about it. Hargrove was humiliated. It was awesome.”

You smile briefly, shifting the phone to your other hand, letting the cord dangle across your torso. “No, I mean… I’m so sorry, Steve. I know how important winning was for you.”

Steve sighs shakily into the phone, and this time it’s not because he’s out of breath.

“Is there anything I can do?” You ask, letting your voice fall back into a steady whisper. You suddenly remember that your mom is in the other room, and this isn’t exactly a conversation you’d be having with a prank caller.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Steve replies. “I’m royally fucked, Y/N.”

“That’s not true. Didn’t your dad offer to help you pay for college?”

“I’m not gonna spend the rest of my life paying that asshole back for some loan I should’ve gotten from somewhere else.”

You press your lips together, willing yourself not to let the lump in your throat from getting any bigger. As angry as you are, you can’t imagine what Steve must be going through. Probably some kind of emotional hell.

“Remember how we promised we’d never lie to each other?” he asks you suddenly.

You nod even though he can’t see it. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I’m gonna need you to break that promise just this once, Y/N.” He pauses, his voice getting even shakier. “I want you to tell me that… that everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Steve -”

“I know that it’s bullshit, but I just… I wanna hear you say it.”

The anger that you’ve been feeling rubs awkwardly against the yearning that is slowly overtaking you. You want nothing more than to be there with him, standing outside the stupid locker room of the stupid school and telling him that it’s all gonna be okay. In person.

“It’s not bullshit. It’s the truth,” You say, hoping that if you oversimplify the situation it will make things a little better. “Everything will be okay.”

“Bullshit,” he repeats. “It’s bullshit.”

“No it’s not.”

“I’ve gotta go.” Steve sniffs loudly, clearing his throat. You can feel your heart sinking deeper and deeper.

“Please don’t do this,” You say, letting your voice waver.

“Don’t do what, Y/N? Be the reasonable one in this situation? How else would you describe all of this?”

All you can do is stand there in another wave of shock, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. This wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go. Not that you really had a plan to begin with.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Steve says, his voice cracking his sentence in half.

“Don’t do this,” You repeat. “I know everything sucks right now, but it’s gonna work out, alright? You always find a way to make things better.”

“I wanted to hear your voice,” he says softly. “And I’m glad I did. But now I’ve gotta be alone for a while.”

“Okay,” You reply, because what else can you say at this point? Whenever Steve gets angry, you let him lose his temper because that’s all he knows how to do. Unfortunately, the only person he knows how to take his anger out on is himself.

But this isn’t anger. This is something else, and you’re unsure of how to handle it.

Steve says goodbye, but even after the two of you hang up, all you can do is stand frozen in dismay.

When eight o’clock comes around, the phone doesn’t ring, but the doorbell does.

“I’ll get it!” Dustin announces, and this time your mother isn’t there to stop him from answering something. She left for bingo about ten minutes ago, just after reminding you two for the hundredth time tonight that quiet hour must always be taken seriously. That means no phone calls allowed.

If quiet hour were a game, you think after she’s left, I would be winning right now.

Ever since your conversation with Steve, you’ve been laying in complete silence on your bed, flipping through your magazine or listening to music because it’s all you can do to keep yourself from thinking about it. Still, the worry and guilt and sadness you feel for him continue to creep further and further into the forefront of your mind.

You would do anything to ensure that he’s alright, but he seemed pretty adamant about wanting to be alone. So for now, all you can do is hope that he gets through the bus ride home without beating the hell out of Billy Hargrove.

“Y/N, it’s for you!” Dustin suddenly screams.

You can’t help but groan at the sound of your little brother’s loud voice echoing down the hall. “Okay!” You shout back, rolling off the side of your bed.

You assume it’s your next-door neighbor asking to borrow some sugar like they always do, or one of your friends asking you to come with them to a party. Either way, you plan on saying no, slamming the door, and crawling right back into bed.

However, when you reach the front door and realize that it isn’t your annoying neighbor or even one of your friends, the lump in your throat reappears.

“Long time no see, Steve-o!” Dustin chirps from your side, smiling widely. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Hey, kiddo,” Steve says, a forced smile appearing on his lips. He doesn’t take his eyes off of you, even as he’s talking to Dustin. “I’m actually, uh, here to talk to your sister. Hope that’s okay.”

Dustin sighs, stepping aside to let Steve in with a dramatic eye roll. “Figures. Just make sure you stop making out before Mom gets home this time.”

“Dustin!” You chide, too distracted by Steve’s presence to really be embarrassed. Dustin simply shrugs and heads into his bedroom.

Once the door is closed and silence settles around the two of you, you can really take in Steve’s appearance. He wears a denim jacket and a worried expression, his hair still wet from a recent shower. Now that it’s just you two, he refuses to look anywhere but into your eyes, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

“What are you doing here?” You ask. He looks cold, having forgotten the scarf your mom knitted for him last month.

“I just…”

He lets the sentence end on a dliffhanger, but you’re sure that whatever he wanted to say to you is revealed through what he does next.

He hugs you, because Steve isn’t good with words, but he’s good with gestures. He hugs you, snaking his arms so tight around your waist that you feel impossibly close to him. All the yearning and worry you’ve felt for him the past couple of hours are instantly released when you drape your arms around his shoulders. If you could pull him any closer, you would.

He buries his face into your neck, his lips warm despite the cold outside. “I hate this.”

You’re not sure if he’s referring to the tension between you two or the event that sparked it all, but you still keep your arms locked around him for as long as he’ll let you.

“I was a complete ass on the phone.”

You laugh at his bluntness, pulling back just enough to look him in the eye. Your arms are still wrapped around each other, refusing to let go.

“Maybe,” You admit, bumping the tip of your nose against his teasingly. “But you had every right to be.”

“No I didn’t. I made it seem like everything was your fault when in reality I should’ve been taking my anger out on Hargrove.” He frowns, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” You whisper, your eyes suddenly burning. 

He must take notice, because his hand appears on your cheek instantly, thumbing away the tears that slip out from your eyes.

“Sorry? What the hell are you sorry for?”

“I don’t know, that Billy Hargrove goes to our school?” You suggest, letting out a watery laugh that Steve shares with you. “Or, you know, the fact that Hawkins lost the game and all.”

“Y/N -”

“I know you’re gonna say it’s not my fault, but let me have this one. It’ll make me feel better.”

“Fine.” Steve chuckles, bumping his nose back against yours. “I forgive you.”

“Thank you very much. And Steve?”

Steve blinks at you with warm eyes, waiting for you to continue.

“What I said is true,” You assure. Standing here in his arms, with him hugging you like you’re his entire world, you’re absolutely sure of it. “You’re gonna figure this one out, Harrington. Just like always.”

Because this is the boy that makes you feel fireworks when you kiss him; who shamelessly treats your dorky little brother like he’s his best friend; who goes out of his way to save people he barely knows because that’s just the kind of boy that he is. If anyone else were stuck in this situation, they wouldn’t even know where to begin. But not Steve.

“Only if I have you by my side,” Steve says with a wink, and when he leans back in to your former embrace, you feel something more than fireworks explode deep in your chest.

[that-terrible-writer]

You Never Know

I literally had to go to my phone’s hotspot just to get this gif. I like that I also promised more writing but a friend came up from Osaka to see me and we went to get some of the new GU Sailor Moon collection. So, I am terribly sorry that you have this sad piece and not more Steve in your life.

Also, thank you again for the messages. Still, mean everything to me!

Part 6

Part 1 2 3 4 5

| Steve Harrington x Reader |

Requested: ‘so here's the thing: i was just looking for gifs and stuff of my babe steve and i found "you never know" AND i just loved so much??? i didnt see that coming omg i'm suffering for steve, the reader and i wanna punch billy aaaa if i can ask, can you add me to your tag list? i just dont wanna miss the next chapter and sorry if i said something wrong my english is not the best but i try. also you're an amazing writer ;)’

‘I’m so happy I came across your account. You write for the stranger things characters so well! I feel like those are situations and things that the characters would actually say!! Keep up the great work!!!’

‘You Never Know is absolutely wonderful. <3 <3 I've been in bed with the flu for a few weeks and its been great to read.’

‘you never know is fucking amazing you could drag it on for fifty chapters and I’d read all of it’

"This is the other girl?" Nancy had asked while the both of you stared at the wall. The four of you chose to skip the rest of the day, to retrieve back into the Wheeler's basement to discuss further about Eight or rather: Kal. Steve thought it would be better to talk about it without Mike and the rest of the Scooby Doo gang around to dispute on what to do.  Nancy bit her thumb, tapping her foot as she grew worried, "Is she―" Nancy turned to look at you but her eyes would dart back to look at the clippings, "Is she like Eleven?"

"Kind of. She has a different power apparently." You answered, looking back at Nancy but your eyes wondered a little to look at Steve while he talked to Jonathan. "She can mess with people's minds and make them see what's not there." You pointed to Eleven's drawing of Kal and her apparent group of misfits, "She has a gang, where they have been going around killing those who worked for Hawkin's."

"Is she going to come here?" Nancy asked, "Can she find people? Channel them?"

You shook your head, "No. She used Eleven to locate one guy. That's when Eleven left Kal to come back here." You pressed your lips together, crossing your arms, "Mike wants to find her―"

"No way!" Nancy yelled, surprising you. You held one hand up to stop her instantly.

"If you let me finish," You sassed her. You waved your hand for her to see you motioned to Steve, "Steve and I shut that idea down real quick. Once we learned what she has done, we weren't going to let them pursue it or even go near her." You explained, trying to give her some piece of mind. Nancy gave you a small pout but that changed to a sigh of relief. Her eyes flickered to yours, having a hint of curiosity to them.

"Speaking of you and Steve," She trailed off, having a small smile appear, deciding that now was the best time to be mischievous to you. You walked up close to her, pointing your finger at her chest.

"Nancy, shut up." You harshly whispered. Your heart began to race with just the mention of Steve's name, shutting your eyes to calm yourself down; you had to finally admit that your little crush on Steve was growing more into a problem. Nancy grabbed your hand, pulling it down to your side.

"Relax, you can like him." She assured you. You shook your head a little, taken back from her statement, "I'm perfectly fine if you two date."

"No, no, no." You said rather quickly, "There's nothing between the two of us." You explained.

"That's not what it looked like at school." Nancy couldn't help but smile bigger, "Steve was very worked up about Billy."

"That's what friends do." You mumbled, narrowing your eyes at Nancy, "Unlike you just standing there."

"Hey, Billy's a scary person," Nancy said in defense. You ran your hands through your hair, pacing―circling―in place. You bit your bottom lip, you covered your mouth with your hands: shaking your head lightly. Your eyes soften, looking back towards Nancy.

"I have to go explain myself to him," You stated. You went over to the sofa, grabbing your backpack. Steve had looked over after picking up what you just said. He was baffled at the words that had come right out of your mouth. He felt his anger build up just thinking about what Billy had done to you. Before you reached for the doorknob, Steve had grabbed your wrist: just like this morning.

"You can't be for real, Y/N," He doubted but when you remained silent, it gave him the answer that he didn't want to hear. Steve took a deep breath, still holding onto to you, "What he did to you at school, there's no reason to say sorry when it wasn't your fault!" Steve yelled. You furrowed your brows together, a little pissed at Steve.

"I didn't ask for your help, Steve!" You barked back, trying to rip your wrist away from him; trying to take control of this, now, argument.

"Because you were doing such a swell job handling it?" Steve eagerly snapped back, lightly pulling you closer to him. You glared at him, not standing down from his harsh words, seeing either a passion of anger from him or some other kind of emotion. It was getting more and more difficult trying to figure him out.

"Well, how would you feel if the girl you liked wore another guy's sweater?" You shouted back.

"I don't have that issue!" Steve yelled.

"Really?" You mumbled, a mocking smile coming across your face, "You would have no issue at all? That's a load of shit." A chuckle left after you spewed your last word.

"No," Steve's grip got loose, releasing you from his hold, "Because the girl I love is wearing my sweater!" His eyes turned immediately soft as he confessed those words to you. He realized what he had said and there was no going back. He didn't regret it. He wanted to say those words to you and it had felt that a ton of bricks had left him; making him feel as light as ever, floating on a cloud. You felt your eyes widening, the heat rushing to your cheeks as your mouth began to hang open. Steve couldn't stop staring at you, rubbing his mouth with his hand while the other rested on his hip. "Say something," He weakly got out, "Please."

"Come on, my parents aren't home." You heard a faint voice: Mike's voice. You, Jonathan, and Nancy looked up to the basement door. The door opening revealing Mike and his gang at the top of it. Mike locked eyes with his sister, "Why aren't you at school?" He questioned.

"Why aren't you?" Nancy asked, crossing her arm, glaring at her younger brother. Mike rushed downstairs, pointing at the wall.

"We were going to talk about Eight." He explained, only to have his sister shake her head: rejecting his idea. "This is none of your business anyway!" Mike turned his attention to look at both you and Steve. Mike pointed his finger, shaking it at you then at Steve, "You told her!"

You glanced over at Steve to see that he never drew his attention away from you. Both his hands rested on his hips, pressing his lips together, refusing to say anything. He was interrupted at the worst time. Telling you how he felt, wanting to hear you saying the same thing back to him but that is what he worried; that he was dreaming this entire scenario. Giving himself too much hope and that he would be crush to see you running back to Billy. You looked back at Mike, putting both your hands up, "She had the right to know." You calmly said.

"No, she didn't!" Mike lightly shoved you. It caused Steve to move from his spot, he stepped in between the two of you, pushing Mike away from you.

"Cool it, Wheeler!" Steve yelled. Steve looked over at the rest of the kids, puffing his chest out: taking charge, "If you want to go looking for Eight, you need more people to help you. If anything, we need to tell Cheif Hopper this." Steve layed out.

“We can take care of her on our own!” Lucas shouted.

“Yeah, that’s a ‘no’.” Steve rebuttled.

"No!" Eleven quickly interjected. She looked scared, shaking her head, "He can't know." Her voice shook, she brought her hands up clutching to her chest as she grew worried, being on the verge of tears.

"You're worried Eight will hurt Hopper." Jonathan figured out. Eleven nodded her head, shutting her eyes as she tried to draw away from that thought. "El, we need to warn him about Eight. She's a dangerous person."

"He's right," Nancy agreed, walking over to Eleven. Nancy rested her hands on El's arms, giving them a rub as she smiled to El, "Hopper is a strong man. He has fought off demodogs and the upside down; he can handle Eight."

Dustin looked over at Steve, narrowing his eyes at the senior, "What's with you two?" He asked, his voice hinted with curiosity. He noticed how close Steve had gotten towards you and you had noticed it. You immediately took a few steps back away from Steve which caused him to turn to look at you. His eyes changed from the softness to a hint of pain that you would react that way.

"I―I should head home." You stuttered, trying to shake the feeling of nervousness away.

"I'll drive you," Steve offered. His voice perked up making your heart to go back to that unrealistic rate. Your mind was filled with just thoughts about Steve, nothing couldn't be clearer that you just needed to go with him.

"Dustin!" Your mouth had another idea though. You turned to look at Dustin, who looked at you bewildered. "Time to go!" The moment you said that you shut your eyes, annoyed that your mind just couldn't stop thinking differently than your heart.

"What―" Dustin let out but you added another.

"Let's go!" You yelled. You caused Dustin to stir around a bit in fear with your tone, rushing out the door to head to Steve's car. You readjusted your bag over your shoulder, looking at Nancy, "I'll call you later to talk about," You quickly took a chance to look at Steve but it was foiled when you saw that he was already looking at you, confused by your recent actions, "Our Halloween costumes." You seemed pleased with the excuse you came up with, giving yourself a small smile.

"Yeah, totally." Nancy smiled back at you, already putting every piece of the puzzle together like the Nancy Drew that she was.

You walked out of the Wheeler's basement to head to Steve's car as you saw Dustin peek out of the door. You had stopped walking, giving yourself a deep breath to at least tell Steve an answer. When you turned, you were taken back at how close Steve had gotten to you. You placed your hand up, lightly having it shaking due to your nerves coming back. You felt the blush returning to your cheeks, your mouth getting dry, "Ste―Steve," You had to play it cool, you were trying your best to. You glanced up to see Steve looking down at you, smiling at you.

"Y/N," He cooly said. His eyes were filled with love which just made you more disoriented with your thoughts. The feeling that your stomach was giving you felt like you were just on a roller coaster, giving you those drops that felt scary but nice all at the same time.

"I―I," You tried to collect your words, your thoughts, together. Trying to think before you spoke, "I still have to talk to Billy." You confessed. Rather then Steve being upset hearing that coming from you, he had to ask you one thing. He wanted at least a hint that he had the best shot with you. That he didn't just risk everything he had with you.

"To end it?" He hoped.

"I don't know." You answered.

Steve never knew how powerful three words would be until he heard yours, causing his heart to stop in fear.

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[creativeashproductions]

Uniform Romance 02 // Steve Harrington

Summary: Young and in love Reader and Steve make an impulsive decision that has lasting problems. Years after separating they come face to face with a challenge between them and lost feelings. But what happens when they meet agains years later during a time of crisis?

Characters: Reader x Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson (mentioned), Nancy Wheeler (mentioned), Chief Jim Hopper (mentioned)

Words: 2318

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or the characters involved. Nor do I own any images or gifs that may appear.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, young romance, heartbreak

Author: Caitsy

A/N: Part two of three short blurbs. Based loosely on a Hallmark movie I watched a few days ago.

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“Officer Hargrove.” You stated from the entry of your office, “Did you attend the anger management classes?”

“No sweetcheeks. I don’t have the time.” Billy smirked collapsing into the chair in front of your desk with a smirk. His teeth holding a tooth pick in his mouth while the sleeves of his blue uniform were rolled up.

“We talked about this.” You sighed looking up at him, “I can’t have you on the force if you’re going to snap at suspects. You pulled a gun on a kid that looked at you wrong.”

“I’m the best.” Billy chuckled.


“You’re suspended.” You blankly stated stamping one of the sheets of paper before getting out of your chair, “Place your gun and badge on the desk.”

You strolled out of you office into the busy room with a few desks and workers sitting at their desks. You ignored the greetings before stopping at the the receptionist desk where El was reading a book.

“Miss Hopper.” You spoke as the younger girl lifted her head up with innocent eyes and a wide smile.

“Chief Y/L/N.” She grinned with a pair of rosy cheeks.

“Can you mail this?” You asked passing the paper over to the girl. She nodded before you started towards your office again.

Hopper took a leave of absence, he was tracking Martin Brenner, leaving you in charge of six officers, and a up and coming detective. You were usually working or training high students to understand the physicality of being an officer. You vividly remembering joining the force and watching your father train Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers and Max Mayfield. Out of all of them only Max and Lucas continued on.

Max was a well respected detective, a feat everyone was jealous of, and the youngest one in history. She was often out helping other counties while also training officers driving techniques. You were hesitate with Max and Billy working together.


“Morning Officer Sinclair.” You nodded at the man before inconspicuously gesturing to your office.

“What’s wrong?” Lucas questioned once your door was shut tight.

“Have you heard from Hopper?” You questioned quietly. Lucas and Max were often the ones in charge of the less…normal side of Hawkins. Patrolling the pumpkin patches was a frequent job they did.

“No.” He spoke confused.

“He must be still out of service.” You sighed shaking your head before releasing Lucas from the door, “If he contacts you let me know.”

You spent the rest of the day doing paper work and calmly telling elderly Flo that her cat wasn’t something you were able to heal. You pointed her in the direction of the local veterinarian but for some reason they two never got along.

You were bored and tired when you got home to the childhood house your parents still lived in with your fiancé also. You were greeted with a kiss from him as he walked you to the kitchen where the food was already on the table.


“Thank you.” You sighed cracking your neck. The phone rang just at that moment leaving you to sigh, “Y/L/N residence. How can I help you?”



“I’m Mr. Shank.” Your family lawyer spoke, “I got your file and I’ve found that your still married to a Steve Harrington.”

You choked on air remembering the brown eyes and well kept hair. You were shocked to know this development. You hadn’t really thought of the boy you had married so young for years now.

“It’s annulled.” You hissed from the living room, “I’m getting married! I can’t be married already!”

“I’ve got in contact with Steve and I just need you both at the hall tomorrow morning.” Mr. Shank replied before mumbling off the phone to his wife, “I have to go. Mary is trying to put her finger in the socket again.”

You chuckled remembering the mischievous toddler Jason Shank had with his wife Angela. You went silent when he hung up and kept your phone against your ear. You knew you would have to at least tell one of your parents, most likely your mom given the way your Dad reacted, of your absence tomorrow.

“Babe?”

“Coming!” You exclaimed hanging up the phone and removing your uniform jacket.

The dining room was set up with small papers of different fonts and colours in front of your mother and fiancé. You nearly groaned at the sight of the piles deciding you’d rather get shot then sit through planning the wedding.


“This is a more elegant font.” Your mother explained to one of the huge amounts. You sighed leaning back in your chair gazing longingly at the living room.

“Simple. We decided simple.”

You ignored the conversation going on between the two of them to remember the times of fun and love you had with Steve Harrington. It felt like yesterday when you sat and remembered everything. The suitcase was tucked away in the back of your closet too full of memories to be properly put away.

“Y/N.” You snapped to attention hearing the exasperated voice of your mom.

“Sorry. Bad day at work.” You shook your head clearing it to focus solely on this wedding. You had been engaged for two years and has just chosen the date to work mainly for your parents and his.

“We can come back to this.” Your mother sighed, “What’s another two years.”

You winced watching her retreating back before locking eyes with him and glanced away when you saw Steve’s eyes instead. It made you uncomfortable how you were seeing parts of Steve in this relationship just because of that call.


“You should probably help her.” He admitted, “I’ve been avoiding the living room.”

“Go.” You softly spoke sending his sulking to watch some sports game he hated. You wandered into the kitchen seeing your mom holding a cup in hand staring outside.

“What really happened?” She asked.

You glanced over your shoulder before gesturing her to follow you outside of the house. You kept silent until you were inside the greenhouse she had kept for the last few years. The door closed before you turned to her.

“Mr. Shank called.” You spoke.

“And?”



“Apparently I’m still married to Steve.”

“What?” Mom spat shocked, “Your dad sent the papers in years ago!”



“I know. He told me. You told me. I signed.” You sighed leaning against a wooden box, “No one but you and Dad know we got married!”

“We can’t ask your dad.” Mom shook her head sighing along with you, “The doctor explicitly told us no stress.”

He had his third heart attack in the last nine months striking fear into the family and taking more of his independence away. He was on disability while your mother was working full time again. He was a shell of the laughing man you remembered and you were truthfully getting married so soon because he was all excited to walk you down the aisle.

“I guess I have to go tomorrow and see him.” You sighed shaking your head as stress built on your shoulders.

“You can do it.”

A new day with the sun breaking over the landscape was how you spent your time having gotten little sleep. You were on a tight schedule today with the approaching meeting and the atmosphere in Hawkins changed overnight. It was reminiscent of the Upside Down in 1984 and you were more than nervous it was coming back.

Hopper was AWOL leaving you in charge and with no ability to contact him…well you could say you felt unprepared. That meant all hands were on deck, even with Billy’s suspend ass, so you were going to the meeting wearing your uniform. Way to knock Steve on his ass with your mature changes.

The outside of the office matched in the inside with the white drab paint and dull coloured clothing on the employees. You felt the judgemental eyes on your Chief jacket and the femininity you displayed.

“Chief Y/L/N.” Mr. Shank jovially spoke as you slid into the office allowing him to take your jacket and hang it up.


“Morning Mr. Shank.” You smiled staring at the picture frame of his happy family, “Wher-“

“I’m here. Sorry I’m late.” The winded familiar voice spoke from behind you, “Am I in the wrong?”



“Mr. Harrington.” Mr. Shank spoke with a grin, “Been awhile. How’re you doing?”



“I’m…holy shit.” Steve gaped as you turned to look at him, “You’re an officer-“


“Chief.” You firmly spoke flicking your eyes over his body keeping aloof.

Steve wore black slacks paired with a starched white button down and loosely kept tie but the one thing that didn’t change was his hair. It was kept just as short as it was when you last saw him and some minor changes to his face and muscle definition but other than that nothing was different.  

“Wow.”

“Can we get on this? It’s a busy day.” You spoke turning your attention to Mr. Shank.

“Okay so I went through the paperwork that I could find. However the meaty part must have been lost in the mail. Meaning you’re still legally married to each other.” Mr. Shank said glancing through some papers neatly stacked, “Now I have a court time for later to-“

Your phone broke his sentence loudly, El and Lucas were the ones to integrate the cells into off duty, earning looks from both of them.

“Sorry.” You winced answering it, “Chief Y/L/N.”

“We got a problem Chief.” The frantic voice of Lucas spoke.

“What’s the matter?” You sat up straighter. God you recognized that tone of voice from years ago.

“There’s something odd.”

“Are we talking…?” You trailed off ignoring the looks from Mr. Shank.

“Max and I think it’s back.” Lucas spoke. You froze feeling icy terror crawl up your back and through your veins.

“Shit.” You groaned, “Tell El. I’m on my way.”

“Sure thing.”

You strode to the coat hanger grasping your jacket tightly before slipping the phone into the holder on your holster. You checked your gun and badge on your shirt before opening the door with a singular goal in mind.

“What’s going on?”



“Rain check the court meeting!” You called out over your shoulder slamming the outside door open before heading for the police truck.


“What’s going on?!” Steve called close on your heels with Mr. Shank.


“Chief! We need to clear this up for you to get married!”

“What?!” Steve exclaimed as he slid in front of you and your door, “What the hell is going on?!”

“Police business.” You spat reaching around to unlock your door.


“I can help.” He spoke.


“Bullshit.” You huffed stepping closer, “Move aside before I put a bullet in you.”

“Why can’t I help?”



“You ain’t police.”

“I’m a detective. Newly minted.” He spoke softly. You bit your lip before nodding towards your truck. He kept quiet on the way to the station glancing over every once in a while, “So you’re engaged.”

“And still married apparently.” You muttered shaking your head. He opened his mouth but El, Max and Lucas all flew out of the station towards you. Once they were inside Lucas was throwing out directions.

“Steve?”

“Lucas?” Steve asked surprised to see him in uniform.

“Been awhile.” Lucas spoke looking at him, “How’ve ya been?”



“Pretty good.” Steve awkwardly returned looking at Max, “So you’re an officer.”

“Detective.” She spoke earning another gaping expression, “Went to Indianapolis but hated it. Prefer Hawkins so I came back.”


“You’re so young!”

“I work hard.” She rolled her eyes while El kept to herself playing with the simple necklace she had received a few years back from Mike.

“So what the hell is going on?” You asked Lucas.


“I was on patrol on route thirty six of the hundred and twenty Hopper ordered a few years back. I heard this groaning sound so I check it out and I swear to god a tree was oozing this goo.”

“Shit.” You spoke groaning.


“What the hell is going on!?” Steve exclaimed, “Where is Hopper? Why is there two detectives on the force in a small town?”



“Because Lucas and Max deal more with the events that residents aren’t aware of.” You replied, “Hopper’s away on business.”

“Works out in our favour.” Max shrugged slouching down, “Don’t like one of the officers though.”

“He’s your step brother.” Lucas chuckled placing his hand on hers, “Of course you don’t like him. Besides he hates that you can order him around now.”

“Billy is an officer?!” Steve exclaimed, “How in the hell did someone let him join the force.”



“His impeccable aim.” You spat unhappily, “The ass toes the line more often than not but he knows what he can do without getting kicked off.”



“I’m shocked.” Steve grunted leaning back.


“He’s suspended until he takes anger management classes for the act he did recently.” You sighed coming to a stop at the abandoned pumpkin patch.


“Why are we-“

“Because the Upside Down is rearing its head again for the fifth time in the last five years.” You grunted moving to the back of the truck where Hopper had inserted a hidden compartment. You tossed a shotgun to Lucas and Max before grabbing the last one. Once loaded you started towards the woods.

Steve hung back before catching up. He left his gun in the safe in his car with his badge also. He was empty handed and severely out of his element. It had been more than fifteen years since he had dealt with the Upside Down.

“What have I missed?” Steve muttered to himself.

“Y/N’s getting married.” El softly answered him with a smile, “They bonded over you leaving town and Nancy leaving for college after a fight with Jonathan.” 
Steve froze blanking for moment.


“She’s getting married to Jonathan.”

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[daryldamnson]

Steve Harrington Headcanons: confessing his love

Request (anon):  headcanons for steve harrington confessing/asking someone to date him? thank you!! <3

I’m such a sucker for confession imagines – especially when they’re friends-to-lovers so obvs that’s what I’ve done.  Hope it lives up to your expectations!

 Steve was acting weird

Like secret-keeping weird

And you loved secrets

You’d never tell anybody when you were told a secret – you weren’t a gossiper – you just loved to know things

So of course, normally you would’ve badgered him about it

“aw, come on, Stevie,” and he’d roll his eyes because he hates that nickname “since when don’t you tell me things?  Come ooonnnnn!  What is it?  Your parents?  School?  Dustin?  A girl?”

“for fuck’s sake, Y/N” and he’d sigh and tell you

But not this time

This time he seemed to be trying to tell you – he wasn’t actually keeping the secret, just finding a way to tell you, you could see that

So you didn’t mind waiting (even if it was frustrating as hell)

The first time he’d tried to tell you was in the library at school

You were supposed to be doing homework, but of course instead you were messing around

Playing Hangman, or Guess Who – a game in which you’d list bad characteristics someone in the school had and the other would have to guess who it was

You’d bagged on Nancy a lot after the whole party debacle

Mostly it was because you were pissed at her for stringing along your best friend who’d loved her with his whole beautiful heart

But it was also because it helped to put the smile back on his face as he tried to convince you that “she’s not all that bad"

You’d been laughing at his description of who was clearly supposed to be Billy Hargrove when he started looking at you weird

Just watching you laugh with a small smile on his face

“what?”

“nothing, nothing; just…  I don’t know…”

“whatever.  It’s Hargrove, right?  Though I’m not sure you’re right with the description ‘ugly motherfucker’ cause let’s be honest he’s really pretty”

His face suddenly darkened; smile gone and eyes no longer shining “you like Hargrove?”

“no, of course not, he’s a dick, I’d rather cut my tongue out of my mouth than let his anywhere near me, I’m just saying he’s not exactly unattractive”

Not letting it go, he kept brooding, so you leaned over and cupped his face in between you hands, trying to appease him “I promise you, Stevie, you’re much prettier than him.  Especially with that ugly ass mullet.  Okay?  Trust me, you’ll always be my favourite person”

“Y/N...  I-” he’s cut off by the end of lunch bell ringing

You remove your hands from his face and start packing your things, resuming regular conversation, completely oblivious to the fact that Steve is cursing himself, the world and any deity he can think of for preventing him from telling you

The next time he tries to tell you is in his bedroom

The house was parentless and you were listening to some new record Steve had bought the week before

You just looked so damn beautiful, frowning slightly in concentration as you focused on the music and biting your lip, that he couldn’t help himself

“Y/N, I need to...”  You looked up at him with those big bright eyes and his brain just stopped.  And then it started working in overdrive.

He couldn’t do this

You were Y/N

His best friend

You’d never see him like that

And if he did tell you, you might never want to see him at all

He wasn’t sure he could survive that

In the deep recesses of his mind he starts to hear a voice - your voice

“It’s bullshit.  You’re bullshit.  It’s all bullshit.”

They weren’t your words...  But they could be if he took this risk

No, he couldn’t do it

“I need to get a drink; do you want one?”

You nod and just like that Steve’s heart sinks.  But at least it doesn't break

The final time Steve tries to tell you is at a party

It was unideal - you were slightly drunk and surrounded by people - but neither of you would take it back for anything

You’d gotten quite a few drinks into you before Steve began to get The Look™

The Look™ he’d get when he started to get anxious about your state of drunkenness

Ever since the Nancy debacle he’d been a little sensitive when it came to drinking, at parties especially

He’d had one drink to your five and was acting as your sober conscience

Until he went to pee, and lost you

He wasn’t particularly worried (or at least he tried to tell himself that as he searched for you)

He found you in the garden, fresh drink in hand, leaning against the fence and looking up flirtatiously at...  Billy?!  Fuck that.

“Y/N!”

Both you and Billy turn to see him jogging towards you

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Billy butts in before you can answer.  “She’s having a good time, Harrington - I’m surprised she’s not forgotten how to after hanging around with you for so long.”

“Billy.  Stop.”  you put your hand on his chest, skin on skin due to his lack of done-up buttons and watch as Steve‘s eyes burn holes in that exact spot  “Steve, I’m fine, just...  Go back inside.”

He doesn’t.  He just keeps arguing with you; saying that you don’t really want to do this - “you can’t even fucking stand Hargrove!” - and how you should go with him

But why should you?  You’ve been waiting months for Steve to make a move, and he just hasn’t.  You should be allowed to take your mind off it with a hot distraction like Billy.

“How could you possibly know what I want and what I don’t?”

“Because I know you, Y/N!  You’re my best friend!”

“Exactly - I’m just your friend, so why do you care so fucking much?!”

You don’t even have time to process your slip before he’s yelling back

“Because I’m in love with you, you blind idiot!”

The beat of silence seems to stretch out forever as you stare at each other in shock

“what?”

Your voice is barely a whisper and Billy’s loud laugh makes you jump

“Aw, poor little Harrington, pining over his best friend.  I almost feel sorry for you.  C’mon, babe.”

Billy wraps his arms around your waist and you don’t even think before pushing him off, still staring at Steve

“Fuck off, Billy”

“What? I-”

“Fuck off, Billy” you say it with a little more force, turning your head to look at him “preferably before I detach your balls from your body”

You can see the anger in his eyes, but fortunately he just leaves, throwing a curt “fuck you, slut” at you as he goes

“Steve?”

You step towards him, searching his face for answers to all the questions shooting around in your brain

“I’ve been trying to tell you - I wanted to wait until the right time, and this obviously isn't it but it just came out.  I’ve tried to tell you before but I chickened out, or that damn bell went off and interrupted me and then I just started thinking what if you think it’s all bullshit?  I mean, I know you’re not Nancy, but what if it’s me that’s the problem?  What if-”

His awkward, adorable ramblings are cut off as you step forward, lean up and kiss him in one smooth move, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck

He freezes but quickly reciprocates, leading to you being pressed against the fence, legs wrapped around his waist as you kiss

Five minutes later you pull away for longer than two seconds in order to tell him something

“I love you too”

Jesus, that took a long time to write.  And it is totally not just headcanons.  Fuck me, it’s like half headcanon half imagine, oops, I got a bit carried away with description.

This did not turn out the way I had in mind when I read the request, or even when I started typing but oh well, it is what it is.

Also Billy is super OOC bc let’s be honest that dick would not have just walked away.  The description is 1000% accurate though bc Dacre is hawt af.

I really enjoyed this, I wanna do more headcanons - send me some pls.

[thedarklightwithinus]

Another Life | Two

A/N; WOW! What did I do to deserve all this love? This started as a request and it’s turn into so much more... I decided to do a little something with Max as I love her character! Max and Dustin are my fav’s from the kids.

Summary; When her mother’s work gets in the way, just how will Y/N cope with trying to figure out what to do. Not my gif.

Pairing; Billy Hargrove x Reader

Words; 2K??? Wow.

Part One | Part Three | Part Four

The silent treatment in which Y/N was receiving from Billy was intense. After muttering that his dad was going to kill him, he stared blankly at her for a few moments before leaving. He had not spoken to her since that moment. Though she herself had not tried to approach or talk to him in any way, she had noticed he seemed to be everywhere she went within Hawkins High.   Whether she be exiting her car in the school parking lot or retrieving her belongings from her locker, he was always there, watching. It didn't take her long to notice his presence. She had also noticed that many of the students seemed to walk a little farther away from her and not once had she been accidentally nudged on her way to class.   The days passed by, turning into weeks. Due to her mother being a midwife and having influence in the hospital, she had gotten her daughter a date for her first scan. Though ultra-sounds were not commonly used, her mother had insured Y/N that it was perfectly fine and no harm would come to her baby.   The morning of the scan, Y/N had fallen out with her mother. Though she had tried her hardest not to feel let down, she couldn't help but feel that way. Miss Y/L/N had all but stated that she would be there for Y/N and attend the scan with her. However, she had been called out to the nursing home a town over due to one of her patients health.   "This is important!" Y/N had exclaimed from her spot at the kitchen table. "You promised I wouldn't be doing this alone!"  

"I know I did, sweetie..." Her mother sighed, grabbing her bag from the table and throwing her coat on. "But Mrs. Whittle is a fragile lady. If I'm being honest, I don't think she'll make it through the day. Why can't you ask a friend to go with you?"   "Because I haven't told anyone!" Y/N called out as her mother made her way to the back door.   "I'm really sorry!"   With that said, her mother had left the house. Y/N knew she was being a little insensitive. Though she had never met this Mrs. Whittle, she most probably had a family who were sat around her, hoping she survived. No longer than half an hour later did Y/N find herself sat in her black Ford Thunderbird, outside the last house she had thought she'd end up at that day. Billy Hargrove's. She had already told him about the pregnancy and look how that had turned out? She was by no means about to tell anyone else.   Though he heart was beating abnormally fast, she plucked up the courage and swung the door to her car open before exiting and closing the doors behind her. Pulling her coat tighter around her, she made the short walk up the path to the small porch before knocking on the front door gently.   At first, no one answered. She was slightly praying no one was home and she'd just have to go home and tell her mother she had missed the appointment. However, luck had not been good to her lately. The front door was pulled open while Y/N sighed deeply.   It was a child. Well, more of a teenager really. Y/N had been expecting Billy to wrench the door open but instead a red-headed girl had pulled the door halfway open and poking her head out. The girl raised a brow at Y/N who smiled softly.  "Max, right?"   "Uh... Y/N? You're a friend of Mike's sister."   "Yeah, I am... I was just wondering if Billy was in?" Y/N asked, trying to keep a small smile on her face.   "He went out this morning." Max informed her, pointing to the driveway where Y/N frowned. Was she really thing stupid? The boy went nowhere without his car.   "Oh, right." Y/N nodded, looking back at Max before giving her another smile. "Sorry to bother you... Have a nice day, Max." She spun around, making her way back down the path towards her car.   She should have known to check for his car. When had he ever been apart from it? It took him everywhere and anywhere he wanted to go.   "Are you okay?" Max called out, causing Y/N to stop and glance back at her. "Billy's a dumb ass and I'm sorry if he's done anything, I know what he's like... Did you need anything? Maybe I could help?"   "I'm fine." Y/N told her, smiling for effect before she raised her own brow at Max. "Shouldn't you be out with friends? It's the weekend."   "I'm not welcomed by all of the group." Max informed her, sighing for dramatic effect. "They think I'm trying to take someone else's place."   "Oh..." Y/N felt bad for the redhead. By no means was it fair that she was treated as an outcast by anyone. She had not been in Hawkins for longer than a year and she was already being treated as if she was here to overtake someone's place. Maybe it was because she related to the girl slightly, but Y/N couldn't help offering. "If you're not busy... I could use a friend right now?"   "So you're not okay?" Max asked, moving to the side as though inviting Y/N in. "I knew it!"   "No... But I will be." Y/N told her before nodding to her car. "I've got an appointment at the hospital, could use a hand to hold.   "Just let me get my shoes!" Max almost shouted, spinning and running through her house. 

"Is that an actual baby?" Max asked the midwife in awe.   The car ride to the hospital had been one of the most awkward and strangest conversation Y/N had ever had in her life. She had not woken up that morning with the intent to have a conversation about the baby growing inside her with its father's thirteen-year-old step-sister.   However, Max had taken it well. She understood the Importance of keeping it to herself and knew that Y/N really didn't want it getting out. Max's bright blue eyes began to sparkle as she told Y/N of her love for babies which shocked her slightly as Max did not seem like the type of girl to like babies.   "It sure is!" The midwife replied, chuckling at the enthusiastic girl who leaned close to the monitor.   Though the picture was by no means great, A baby was defiantly growing within Y/N and in that moment, she knew it was for real. Her baby was real and she loved it unconditionally.   "The baby is growing perfectly." The midwife informed Y/N who let out a breath of air. "Heartbeat is steady... It looks to me as if you're carrying one baby." Y/N frowned slightly, she hadn't even thought of there being more than one child. "I'm just going to write down the measurements and print your picture and then you're done."   "Is it a boy or girl?" Max asked, tilting her head at funny angles in order to take in the baby from every perspective.   "Well, it's too early to tell." The midwife told her, writing the measurement onto her clipboard before moving to a beat-up printer that sat in the corner of the room. "With the next appointment, we will know."   "Will you tell me?" Max asked Y/N quickly. "What it is?"   "Of course." Y/N replied, chuckling at the girl's enthusiasm. She was suddenly happy that she had invited the red head along.   "Here we go." The midwife handed two pictures over before smiling and escorting the pair out of the room.   Max and Y/N followed after the nurse, looking down at the pictures in awe. It was much clearer to see when the picture was still and not moving on a screen. The black of the picture forced the white and greys to enhance themselves which showed the pair the outline of the baby.   Once they had made it back to the car, Y/N started the engine. She took a deep breath and looked at Max from the corner of her eye. "Thank you."   "Your welcome, Y/N." Max grinned before frowning slightly. "I know it's not my place to ask you this... But you came to my house for Billy. I know the two of you don't hang out and since you were going to the hospital... Is it his?"   "Mhm."   "Wow..." Max whispered. "He never told us... But then again he doesn't really tell us crap."   "It's okay." Y/N smiled softly. "If he wants to carry on the way he is, I don’t need him."   "You have me!" Max was quick to point out, grinning brightly at the fact that she could help.   "I know." Y/N replied, plucking one of the pictures up and handing it to her. "Here."  

To say thanks, Y/N had taken Max out for a bite to eat. They had sat opposite each other in a small booth to the back of the diner, talking about anything and everything. From school to home life to friends and towards the end, Billy.   However, all good things come to an end as Y/N had decided it was time to get Max home. Her parents had no idea where she was and she didn't want to worry them.   "Promise we can hang out again?" Max asked as the pair sat in the driveway of Y/N car that sat a little down the road from Max's house due to the other cars lining the street.   "Course we can!" Y/N exclaimed, grinning at the girl as she exited the car.   Max followed and the pair walked up the street towards the house, muttering about the things the could do. The pair were rudely interrupted when a car came speeding down the road, music blaring as it came to a stop next to them.   Y/N sighed deeply, pulling her coat tightly around her as she took a glance at the car. The all to familiar blue Camaro was parked beside them, a glaring blue eyes Billy staring Max down. "You little shit."   "Hey!" Y/N exclaimed, moving forward as she stoped in front of Max slightly. "Talk to her again like that and I'll make sure you're eating your balls for the rest of your days!"   "Where have you been?" Billy demanded, ignoring Y/N as he glared Max down. "I've been driving all over this piece of shit town trying to find your ass! Even had to speak to those little friends of yours!"   "If you've hurt them I'l-"   "She was with me." Y/N interrupted, raising a brow as though daring Billy to speak to her the same way he had done Max.   "Get your ass inside." Billy grumbled, never once looking away from Y/N.   Max grumbled as she said a soft goodbye to Y/N before stomping her way up to her front door. Billy waited for her to be out of sight before exiting his car and glaring at Y/N slightly. "Why was she with you?"   "I had an appointment at the hospital and didn't want to go alone." Y/N muttered, avoiding looking in those piercing blues. "So you asked a thirteen-year-old instead of me?"   "I didn’t think you'd want to go!" Y/N exclaimed, frowning as she sighed deeply. "Believe it or not, I came here this morning to ask you but Max said you were out... I didn't want to go alone and she seemed like the only person around. She's mature for her age, Billy. She's a cool kid... You haven't spoken a word to me since I told you so why start now?"   "Bit hard not to when you turn up here." Billy told her, pointing to his house as he tried to keep his voice down.   "I was taking Max home." Y/N told him, narrowing her eyes. "You didn't have to stop and talk to me!"   "I'll come to yours tonight."   "Wha-"   "I'll come to yours tonight." Billy hissed, watching his house closely. Y/N went to turn around but Billy stopped her, putting his hands on her shoulders and forcing her to face him. "Go... We'll talk later."   "Okay..."

[xxsteveharringtonxx]

Him & I [Steve Harrington x Reader] pt 3

Plot: You’re Carol’s best friend, but naturally you’re close with Steve seeing as neither of you are really bad people like Tommy and Carol are. Things never got romantic between you and Steve purely because you were afraid to tell him how you feel, and you didn’t really tell anyone because even your best friend is a bit of a bitch. However when Steve starts dating Nancy and literally drops you and the others you cant really help but feel abandoned once you realised you weren’t putting up with Tommy and Steve because of Carol you were actually putting up with Tommy and Carol because of Steve. Set after season one.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Him and I

Part Three

“So, my question is, how have you managed to survive a whole year with Carol and Tommy without snapping already?” Steve asked knowing it would make you smile, the two of you were sprawled out on his living room floor as you picked at the pizza you were sharing. 

“Well I pretty much avoided them as much as possible outside of school, so guess it wasn’t that hard to get over the fact that they are complete ass holes. The worst part is people just hating me by association you know?” You asked looking up at him as he nodded along chewing on some pizza. 

“Totally understandable, you’d be surprised what people really think of you. Everyone knows you were in too deep I wouldn’t worry about it.” He reassured as you sent him a tight lipped smile.

“I’m more worried about what they’re going to do. I’ve had a drink thrown at me, Billy calling me a slut because I won’t sleep with him, I mean where even is the logic in that?!” You exclaimed making him chuckle but look at you pretty seriously. 

“I can talk to him? Or at least try to. It’s not cool what he’s doing to you.” Steve tried to talk you into it again, he mentioned it earlier too. 

“No Steve, honestly I know how they work. They’ll get bored soon enough I just need to keep my head down and stay out of their way.” You said in the bravest voice you could muster as he watched you with slight admiration.

“Don’t you think you’ve put up with enough of their shit?” He asked as you smirked up at him.

“Sure I have, so a week or so more won’t kill me. I’ll be fine. Just gotta get used to finally being my own person. It worked out for you didn’t it?” You asked as he sighed. 

“Yeah totally but I had Nance, it was different. But you have me now so I’ll look out for you just like old times I promise.” He stated holding out his pinky and you chuckled as you wrapped your smaller one around his and shook it for good measure. 

“Hey, I’m sorry about Nancy. I heard what happened and uh I suppose you’ve got me now too so if you ever need to talk I’m your girl.” You told him honestly, and maybe getting close again might stir up all those old feelings but you were his friend first. 

“Thanks but I’m okay. It hurts a little but I knew for a while it wasn’t right. Jonathan-” You cut him off shaking your head, he was fiddling with his hands and you knew he did that when he was either nervous, angry or sad and right now you couldn’t figure out which one it was but you knew he didn’t want to talk about it just yet. 

“You don’t have too, the whole school has been talking about so if you’d rather not right now, just know whenever you are ready I’m here.” He sent you a look you couldn’t decipher, and one he’d sent you a few times years back but never got to the bottom of. You were cleaning up the plates in Steve’s kitchen when you heard a pounding on the door, and urgent one making you flinch. 

“Dustin, what the hell?” You heard Steve burst as a bundle of curls came into your vision from the kitchen sink.

“Steve, thank God your home I need your help!” The young boy yelled making you raise an eyebrow.

“Look dude-” The boy hadn’t seen you yet and cut Steve off with another breathless rant. 

“I haven’t got anyone else okay? I have a baby demogorgon in my basement and I need your help! Everyone, and I mean everyone down to Nancy and Jonathan are no where to be found you were my last option believe me.” He said grabbing Steve’s coat and throwing at him before heading back towards the front door when he finally noticed me.

“Hi.” I mumbled making the boy look back at Steve. 

“Son of bitch Harrington, I swear Nancy is out of the picture for two seconds and-” This time you cut him off by interrupting. 

“We’re just friends it isn’t like that!” You told him making Steve’s shoulders deflate at little from the rigid stance he’d gained at the boy’s mention of Nancy.

“Okay well can your friend go?” He asked Steve offending massively, maybe it wasn’t intentional but you felt the stab anyway.  

“Hey dickhead, you were the one barging in here like you own the place no she can’t just go!” Steve defended but you shook your head. 

“No, no I can it’s fine my car is right out front.” You rushed as you grabbed your coat. “Wait did you say demogorgon? From Dungeons and Dragons? Are you playing some kind of game?” You asked as everything processed in your brain and suddenly the boy broke out into a grin.

“Hey she’s pretty cool, good job Steve.” He was slowly starting to redeem himself as he warmed up to you before realising what was really going on.

“Hold on, she’s got a point are you being serious? Like actually serious?” Steve asked suddenly growing impatient. 

“Yes! You think I would ride my bike all the way over here if I wasn’t serious!” He yelled at Steve making you frown. 

“You guys are taking this game way too seriously.” You mumbled making Steve look increasingly worried.

“Maybe you should head home Y/N, and I’ll call you in the morning?” He suggested making you nod as he helped you put your coat on. 

“Okay sure? Erm have fun?” You said as more of question seriously confused as to why they were taking a game so seriously, this town was weird but sometimes the people were weirder. 

It took Steve pretty much all morning to finally call you and when he did you didn’t expect him to invite you out with him and Dustin. 

“What? Really? Am I part of the game now?” You asked half teasingly and half really confused making him chuckle. 

“It’s a pretty long story but me and the kid need help and well out of everyone in this town I trust you the most, so pick you up in 20?” He asked making you blush and smile. 

“Sure, uh yeah okay sure I’ll be ready.” You stated ready for whatever today was going to throw at you. 

“Awesome. Do you have an axe or crow bar by any chance?” He asked seriously making you think back to your dad’s old tool shed and envision the axe hanging on the wall that he used for hunting.

“Yeah I have an axe.” You replied.

“Perfect. Bring it.” Raising your eye brows as you heard the dial tone it took you a second to jump into action and run out to the shed where you plucked the axe off the wall and shoved it into a backpack and bag into the house to put on your jacket ready for Steve. 

Sitting out on the front wall where you’d always wait for him to pick you up you involuntarily smiled at the sight of his red BMW, climbing into the back with a sigh you glanced up at the two boys in the front who were already looking at you. 

“So, where are we going?” You asked before remembering the axe. “Oh and is this okay?” You asked holding it up to see Steve smiling proudly at you as Dustin looked a little shocked.

“You were right Steve, she’s awesome.” He announced making you chuckle and put the axe back.

“So are you going to fill me in?” You asked again hinting that you were still totally confused on where you were supposed to be going and Steve caught your eye in the mirror as Dustin turned to you with a smile. 

“It all started last year..” 

***

“So let me get this straight you kept something you totally knew was dangerous to impress some girl you’ve just met?” You asked avoiding the chunks of meat Dustin was throwing behind him as Steve looked at you sharing a look of honest disbelief.

“Alright Y/N that’s grossly over simplifying things.” He fought back as Steve backed you up.

“Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?” He asked making you look at Dustin for a response. 

“An inter-dimensional slug? Because it’s awesome!” He defended making you shrug a little. 

“I mean I’m a tiny bit interested to see it I guess.” You chimed as Steve shook his head at you with a chuckle.

“Well even if she thinks it’s cool, which she doesn’t.” He gave you a look and you shrugged once again falling into step next to Dustin. “I don’t know I just think you’re trying way too hard man.” He advised as you looked up at him not agreeing, the kid was thirteen, an inter-dimensional slug is as exciting as it gets at that age. 

“Not everyone can have your perfect hair okay?” Dustin then said as your heart broke for him, he’s only young it’s tough at that age.

“It’s not about the hair man, the key with girls is just I don’t know acting like you don’t care.” Steve told him as you kept your mouth shut not wanting to ruin their guy time, however you still disagreed with what Steve was saying.

“What even if you do?” He asked the older boy innocently. 

“Yeah exactly it drives em nuts.” Steve said which automatically made you zone out, you didn’t particularly want to listen to him preaching about girl logic however wrong it was you weren’t interested. 

Until you heard your name.

“Yeah she seems pretty special, what about Y/N?” Dustin asked making you look up to Steve who knew you wasn’t listen and he smirked at you. 

“Y/N, she’s different. There are some girls who see right through your shit, and when you know, you know.” Smiling at him Dustin turned and looked at you with a huge grin which made your heart melt as the little curly kid started to grow on you. 

“And when your hair is damp, not wet! Damp, then you use four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray...” Scoffing with laughter at Steve’s words he glared at you as Dustin also shared an amused glance with you.

“Farrah Fawcett?” He questioned with amusement and curiosity laced in his tone. 

“Yeah I mean she’s hot.” Steve hummed looking back at you and winking as you blushed red remembering your Halloween costume from just a few nights ago. Maybe hanging out with Steve today wasn’t such a bad idea, regardless of whether or not you really were hunting inter-dimensional creatures you still weren’t entirely sure existed. 

[thesestrangeimagines]

The Source of Dustin’s Rage(the 25 days of steve imagines: day 10)

Steve Harrington x Reader

request

So I had a prompt idea, hear me out. Maybe the reader is an artist and dustins older sister and Steve has a crush on the reader. So Dustin invites Steve over to decorate for Christmas and the reader doesn't participate but does sit at the table to spend time with her family and ends up drawing different things (decorations, her brother putting up stuff, etc.) And she draws Steve and Steve asks to look through her sketchbook and finds a bunch of drawings of him and just fluff?? Please and thanks

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Steve’s POV

Earlier in the day Steve got a call from Dustin with a simple request, to go to his house to help decorate because his mom wouldn’t be home to help and his sister, Y/N, never helped. Steve knew Y/N from school, she was always quite, never spoke much in class, unless it was required, which was polar opposite to Dustin, but they were similar in one respect. They were both crazy smart. Whenever Y/N did speak in class it was to say something profound. Something that, Steve thought, that no one had ever said before. She got amazing grades on everything, she was at the top of her class. Steve also knew that she had taken art for the last 4 years, as he had also taken art. Steve only knew that because he had taken art for all of high school as-well. He did it to goof off. The art teacher was super chill and let everyone do their own thing. There was a super simple project once a week, and that’s what you were graded on so why bother doing anything else. He did notice that she was always drawing, sitting at one of the tables towards the back with a pencil in her hand and a calm look on her face. He never paid too much attention though. All of these observations were gathered over many years of casual interactions, classes together, and bits of information that came up in casual information with others. Compared to most other people in Hawkins, she was still a big question mark. The last thing about her, that made this whole thing even more intriguing, was that she was gorgeous. Not in your typical way, not in the way all the popular girls are pretty, she didn’t care what anyone thought and still killed it. She could be wearing a garbage bag and every guy in school, steve included, would still want to hookup with her, but no one tried, because no one had ever been successful.

Steve headed over to the Henderson household later in the afternoon, armed with nothing but a smile and a Christmas music mixtape. Steve approached the front door, and just as he was about to put his knuckle to it, the door flew open to reveal Dustin, holding an armload of tinsel. “Finally,” Dustin said, walking away from the door and back into the depths of the house.

“So what do you need me to do?” Steve asked, walking into the living room, shutting the heavy wooden door behind him.

“I need you to help me decorate this tree, hang this garland, and generally christmasify the house,” Dustin said, gesturing all around him. “Oh and don’t mind Y/N who’s going to sit on her ass and do nothing the whole time,” Dustin complained, directing his comments to his sister who was smirking on the couch with a pencil in hand, drawing lightly on the pages of her sketchbook.

“I’m here aren’t I?” She said in a condescending tone, not pausing to look up from her work.

“I mean yeah but you could help,” Dustin grumbled, dropping his tinsel and heading for the garland.

“Hi Y/N” Steve said, before getting to work on the half done tree.

“Hi Steve,” Y/N replied, and for a moment looked up at Steve, but only for a moment as she flipped her page and began a new drawing.

As time passed, Steve slowly spaced ornaments out around the tree to the quiet soundtrack of light scratches on paper and after about 25 minutes, the crash of a page being turned. It was soothing, Dustin was also making notice from other rooms, shouting profanities every once in a while, but Steve decided to ignore those sounds.

“So,” steve started awkwardly, “What are you drawing,” stepping away from the tree and taking up a place behind Y/N on the couch.

“Oh nothing, just sketches,” Y/N answered, quickly flipping the page to a drawing of a super detailed flower, a rose. She flipped a couple more pages and some of the pictures were ornaments, and garland, and bows on piles of presents. The last page she flipped to was a exact likeness of her brother. It was spectacular, she was a fantastic artist.

“Do you mind if I?” Steve asked, reaching lightly for the sketchbook, taking the seat on the couch next to her.

“Oh not at all,” she answered, passing the opener book to him.

He slowly flipped the pages, examining every page and drawing. She had everyday objects, Christmas decorations, people, and then he found a picture of himself. He looked up at her and her face started turning red, “sorry I just draw what I see and-“

“No no, it’s awesome,” steve assured, and continued flipping. The next couple pages also contained images of himself.

“Your hair, is so difficult, the swoop is strange, not normal hair. It’s not quite a curl,” Y/N rambled.

“You’re an amazing artist,” Steve said, unable to spit out the words he wanted to. Just at that moment, Dustin came barreling in.

“Why are you sitting?” He asked, appalled.

“I was just talking to Y/N,” Steve answered.

“If your not christmassing, your just as useless as Y/N, maybe I can’t kick her out, but I can kick you out,” Dustin reasoned, as he began to shoo Steve out the door.

“Fine,” steve said, making his way out the door, hearing it close behind him. Steve was nearly at his car when he heard the voice from the door, “hey Steve,” it was Y/N.

“Hey Y/N,” he answered, making his way back to the door.

“Sorry about him,” she said, desperately trying to continue their conversation, but Steve had other plans.

“Hey, do you maybe wanna go out sometime?” Steve asked bluntly.

“Like-like on a date?”Y/N clarified.

“Exactly like a date, So is that a yes?” Steve pressed.

“Uh Yeah” she reasoned. She room a deep breath and took a step towards Steve, kissing him gently on the cheek. “Bye Steve,” she said, rushing back into the house and closing the door.

—————

I HO HO HOPE YOU ENJOYED!!! This has been day 10 of the 25 days of Steve Imagines!!! If you have any ideas, like this lovely human, feel free to drop it in my ask box(link in my bio) and if your wanna read anything else I’ve written, feel free to check out my masterlist(link in my bio!!) have a lovey day!

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