#Dustin would be furious that they saw it without him

[msgexymunson]

Kickstart My Heart

Eddie x Fem!Reader

Description: Eddie's taken aback when someone makes a bigger scene in the cafeteria than him. Maybe he's finally met his match?

Warnings: Mostly fluff, smidge of angst, very very slight smut (making out/slight grinding) mentions of drug use, use of y/n twice (I try to avoid it if at all poss) use of pet names (princess/sweetheart etc) Reader has curly hair and a back tattoo and I'm totally projecting I'm fully aware.

A/N: Honestly I keep seeing Eddie with cheerleaders and I respectfully disagree. I wanted him to meet someone with similar interests and also wanted to see how he could deal with someone being a bit of a dom as well. I'm not 100% on this but it's been sitting in my notes forever. I'm thinking this would be a good mini series so let me know in the comments/reblogs if you like it enough for that! Edit, Part 2 now out!

5.2k words

Masterlist Part 2 Here

Eddie lounges on the bench in the cafeteria, his legs draped either side, tapping a tattoo on the floor with his feet. He was laying back, magazine in hand, reading out choice paragraphs to his followers, the Hellfire club. And anyone else who might be listening. "....see, they don't even realise how much of a joke they actually are!" Eddie flourishes the magazine and starts rolling it into a tube, mock conducting with his hands, pointing at the more popular kids in the hall.

The boys at the table nod make agreeable noises, knowing it's easier to just let Eddie continue when he's like this; but then something catches Dustin's eye.

"See? I told you Mike, she does go here." Hitting him on the arm.

"Where? Where?"

"Right there, walking in, that's the girl." Dustin stares at the doorway, transfixed.

Eddie laughs, still laying there.

"Don't tell me your losing your mind over a girl Henderson."

"I heard she just got out of Juvie. She showed up in my science class and threw a drink over Jimmy Clayton." Gareth pipes up, following Dustin's gaze.

"I saw her at the arcade wrecking it on Galactic Warriors."

"You should talk to her Dustin!" Mike laughed.

"Screw that, she's a senior and she's scary dude."

Eddie, now annoyed at the lack of attention, jumps up onto the seat, standing on it, knocking the gang out of their spell. "Hey sheep, this is reality calling!" He shouts to them in a sing song voice, bonking Dustin on the head with the magazine, then turns and looks around the room trying to find who they are talking about.

He doesn't have to wait long. A commotion starts two tables away, and the prettiest girl Eddie has ever seen is facing off with Jason Carver.

Long, messy curls adorn her head, wearing a faded Anthrax t shirt tied at the waist, nipping it in, and tight jeans, a wry smile on her lips.

"Get out of my face, freak!" Jason sneers at her.

"You just tried to grope me, now you don't like me sweetheart?" She shouts sarcastically back at him. She leans forward then sticks her middle finger up right in Jason's face.

Eddie has frozen, standing on his seat, mouth slightly open, magazine hanging from his hand, forgotten.

The girl starts to back away. As soon as she turns her back Jason mutters loudly, "as if anyone wants to touch you slut."

Eddie's about to jump off the chair, a fire lit in his stomach. But before that can happen, the girl spins around, and in one smooth, almost dance like motion, pulls her sneaker off her foot and throws it straight into Jason's face. Jason looks furious, his face bright red. The girl smiles, takes a bow, and just leaves the hall. Without her shoe.

Eddie is in love, he's sure of it. It's a peculiar, foreign feeling. He's warm all over. A flush begins to creep up his neck. A flutter in his stomach, mouth dry, head fuzzy. He watches those curls bounce off until the door shuts.

"Eddie! Earth to Eddie!"

He shakes his head to get a grip on reality, and realises oh yeah, I'm Eddie.

"What?" He jumps down to the floor, trying to act nonchalant.

"What was that about losing my mind over a girl?" Dustin grins at him.

Eddie's composure breaks for a second, then smiles back, with that signature Eddie grin. "That, my friend, is not a girl, that is a force of nature."

A shriek distracts him for a second. Someone had grabbed the sneaker and flung it at their friend, sending a drink flying. Another student grabs it with a look of disdain and flings it over their shoulder. Eddie watches it land on the floor a few feet away.

A smile parades across his face. He flings the magazine at Dustin and bounds over and grabs the shoe, then races back and grabs his battered metal lunch box in the other hand.

Dustin groans. "Oh shit Eddie, no, no!"

Eddie grins and winks at Dustin with a glint in his eye.

"Eddie, come on, you cant go after her." Mike rolls his eyes.

"And why not?"

"Because! Because she's basically you!"

"Mike's right, the universe might implode. Or you'll end up in prison." Dustin says, knowing its hopeless.

Eddie laughs. "Well now I gotta find out." He spreads his arms wide, sneaker in one hand, box in the other. "I bid you adieu," and leans into a low bow, turning to leave the room.

After a few minutes of searching and feeling embarrassed, Eddie's annoyed. No one should take up this much space inside his head so fast. You had captivated him and it was a wholly new experience. He'd had crushes on girls before, fleeting things, but this was different. He felt a burning in his chest that he'd never felt before. He decides the best thing to do is to get some air, have a smoke and chill out. There wasn't much left of lunch break after all.

He starts to walk over to his usual spot in the woods, inspecting the shoe in his hand in the process, turning it over and over. It's small, even for a girls sneaker, and about as dirty as his own. There's marks on the white leather, and scribbles and drawings on it in ballpoint pen. He sees 'Iron Maiden' in spiky letters across the side and his heart leaps. Oh come on, get it together Munson, you getting all excited over a shoe?

*******************

What a grade A prick you think to yourself as you lay on the picnic table in the woods that another senior told you about, smoking a cigarette.

You were seriously thinking this is a bad idea, coming back to Hawkins. You hadn't been here since Middle School and the crowds hadn't exactly improved. First that pervert in Chemistry tried to put his arm around you, now some basketball playing entitled dick gropes you in the lunch line.

You try to lay still and calm down, but your fingers were pulling at the hole on the thigh of your jeans, unravelling it more, your leg restlessly shaking.

Eddie approaches the clearing cautiously,  surprised to see someone on the table. Then his heart swells. It's her. She's laying on the table, curls spilling over the edge, one knee up and legs slightly apart, one socked foot dangling off the table. She looks so peaceful, and slightly vulnerable. Eddie suddenly feels a twitch in his pants, really Munson?

"You lose something?"

You look up, slightly startled, to this very pretty boy with messy brown hair, standing there grinning sheepishly, waving your shoe in the air.

"Only my mind." You say back, sitting up.

"Oh, is this isn't yours?" He smirks at you, a glint in his eye. His very familiar eyes. You take in his figure. Leather jacket, band t shirt and black jeans. He's lean, and tall, and handsome.

"Now that, that I didn't lose. I ejected it. With force."

He laughs loudly at that and moves towards you, holding the shoe out. You reach for it and he pulls it away, a cheeky smile on his face.

"So you want your homemade missile back or...?"

In response you stick your socked foot out to him. He seems surprised at this small but bold movement. He puts down the lunchbox he's holding and undoes the knotted laces, then slides the sneaker onto your foot.

"What do you know, it fits!" You giggle at him which makes his face light up.

"So what's your name?" He says tying your laces.

"Cinder-fucking-rella."

He grins at you, still holding your foot. You take a last drag of your cigarette and look him in the eye. There's a moment when you both look at each other, a heat in the air.

"Gonna need that back." You motion to your foot. He lets go and puts his hands up in mock submission, smug smile on his face. You jump off the table and start to make your way back to school.

"Hey- wait!"

"See you around Prince Charming." You say over your shoulder.

"See you princess." Is his quiet response.

Eddie's standing there, for the second time today, staring at your curls bounce, watching you leave.

*******************

Oh my God its Eddie Munson. You think to yourself, grinning now your back is turned, a flush creeping up your cheeks. You cannot believe it. He was the year above in Middle School and you crushed on him, hard. You nearly didn't recognise him with long hair but he smiled at you and it clicked and you nearly melted right then and there. God, since you'd been held back a year after the chaos that is your life you were sure you'd never see him again, at least at school. He must have been held back two years.

Eddie Munson. He looked good. Real good. And you just left. But he had looked so smug and sure of himself and you never like to do what people expect. Practically skipping to class, you kept saying his name in your head. Eddie Munson. You grin to yourself. Maybe this year wont be so bad.

*******************

"Late again Mr Munson?"

"Only so we can have these chats Mrs O'Donnell"

"Thin ice young man. Take a seat."

Eddie flops down in his chair, and leans back. Its last period, and his concentration is elsewhere. Chin resting in his hand, he thinks about the brief encounter with, well, with her yesterday. Whatever her name is. The princess. He smiles to himself. Not many people can surprise him. Why did she just run off though? He thought their chat was going well.

Halfway through the lesson, he feels something on the back of his head. Then again. Turning round, he sees her. Smirk on her face, balling up a strip of paper. He grins, then runs his hand through his hair, sending an avalanche of little white balls to the floor like snowflakes. She laughs silently, banging her hand against her mouth to be quiet, and looks at him with glee. Eddie's heart is about to burst, looking at her joyful face. Lost in her eyes for a second, he remembers his 'thin ice' and whips his head back round to the front. Coast is clear.

She taps him on the back, he glances round and she waves a folded piece of paper. He looks back to the front but holds his hand out behind him to take it. She presses the note into his palm with warm fingers.

Taking the note, he unfurls it with deft movements:

Meet me after class Mr Munson.

He composes himself for a moment, his stomach somersaulting, a wide smile just itching to spread across his face. So, was he right, did she like him? He turns his head briefly to flash her a lopsided grin and a nod.

The bell rings. There was the general scuffle, chair screeches and chatter that a accompanies the end of a lesson. Eddie leapt up and nearly ran to the door, hearing a soft giggle behind him.

*******************

Look at him, he's practically skipping you laugh to yourself. Seems a shame to mess with him. You were going to mess with him though. Only a little. It's not every day your childhood crush seems to like you back.

"Hey princess." Giving you a goofy grin. "Hey" you beam back, tilting your head to one side. "Can we go to the bench, I need to ask you something."

"Er sure?" He looks happy, but confused, searching your face for answers. You whip your head around and start walking briskly. He hops to try and keep up with you. I could get used to this, Eddie Munson trailing behind me.

He catches up, and you have a chat about music, passing the time. Turns out you have pretty similar taste. He points out your Anthrax t shirt from yesterday and you talk about Iron Maiden, Ozzie, Dio, Metallica. He waves his arms in the air and bounces, so excitable, like a child. You make it to the bench and you take a seat, hands steepled in front of you, pulling a serious face.

He hops down and sits opposite, head cocked to one side, giving you his full attention. God he's handsome. That hair falling around his face, those full lips, those eyes that seem to stare into your soul and beyond. Even his neck is attractive. You realise you are staring, a cough clearing your throat.

"I hear good things about you Munson."

"Well you cant be talking to most of Hawkins then, I'm a Satan worshipping weirdo!" He opens his mouth wide, sticks out his tongue and wrinkles his nose up at you. Look at that tongue.

You stare at him in mock horror, your hand flying to your mouth.

"Really, do you sacrifice virgins?"

"I would if I could find one." He winks at you.

You laugh then, so hard you snort a little, then your cheeks blush pink.  Eddie revels in the slight drop in your guard.

"Wow princess, that was really something." He smirks at you.

"Damnit Munson, stop with the 'princess!'"

"Well what am I supposed to call you, you wont tell me your name sweetheart."

Something about the way he called you sweetheart stirred something between your legs. You rubbed your thighs together briefly. It was a great feeling, but it also annoyed you a little. You hated being out of control, and you felt a flash of, wait was that fear? He'd caught you off guard. You were supposed to be catching him off guard. You smile at him lazily.

"Well maybe you need to earn it." You winked at him.

"Ah I see how it is. Hmmm. Well, what did you want from me then, dragging me into the woods."

You reach over and grab his hand, lean closer. The warmth of his hand contrasts with the cool feel of his rings brushing your palm. "I hear you can help a girl out." You say to him breathily.

Eddie's eyebrows raise so high that they disappear into his hair and a flush appears on his cheeks. You smirk at him.

"Word is your the school's supplier. Or am I wrong?" You bat your eyelashes at him.

He nods in understanding and for a second, looks a little deflated. "Well you ain't wrong sweetheart." He grabs his metal lunchbox and plants it on the table, giving you the sell.

You agree to half an ounce, and you are sure he gives you more than that, not that you are complaining. He holds it out and you go to grab it, but he snatches it away at the last minute, grinning at you. 

"Come on Munson!" You say to him, mock pouting.

"It comes at a price."

"Oh yeah? I just gave that to you!"

"Something else. I gotta know your name." His eyes near bore into your soul.

"I told you. Cinderella."

"Very funny princess. I tell you what, we can make a deal. You come to the Hideout tomorrow night, and listen to my band. Then we can forget the name. For now."

Smooth Munson.

"Maybe I will then."

"Ah ah ah princess, you gotta. Comes with the deal you see. You need to promise."

"Fine. Cross my heart. I'll come see your band."

His grin damn near splits his face apart. "I promise you sweetheart, with your discerning taste? You're gonna love it."

*******************

Eddie gets ready for the gig tonight, backstage, standing in the mirror. Maybe he spends a little extra time on his hair. So what? He's playing a gig. Nothing at all to with her. He wondered who he was trying to kid. He hadn't been able to stop thinking of her. His mind just kept wandering. She was gorgeous and feisty and everything he could ever want. It takes a lot for him to focus on the moment. He steps out, guitar in hand, and takes a deep breath. Starts playing, and searching the very small audience. She's not here.

First song of the set down, then the second. Eddie's starting to give up, glancing at the door, when a familiar head of curls bounces through. She's here. She's just late. Eddie laughed to himself. Like Mike said, it was very Eddie of her. She sauntered over to the bar and got the attention of the server immediately, tossing her head back and smiling. Eddie felt a hotness creep into his chest, almost as if he was jealous. It was only after ordering a drink she hopped onto a bar stool, turned and looked at him, legs seductively crossed. She's fucking beautiful. Her hair seemed neater, she had clearly styled it somehow, but the curls still fell around her face. Her dress was figure hugging and black, a zip running right down the front. Her curves took his breath away. Eddie couldn't help but wonder if the whole dress came undone if you pulled that zip. He nearly faltered in his playing thinking about it. Another song down and then another, then one of the waitresses came over to him, beer in hand.

"A beer from Cinderella?" She said, pointing at her. Eddie laughed, of course she would send a drink over. Shit, do I like her because she's like me? His band finish the set, and he downs half the beer. Taking a deep breath, he moves his way into the audience.

*******************

Ok he's coming over, act natural. You try to look like you are looking the other way, then start to inspect your fingernails. Eddie stands in front of you, and you look up into those deep brown eyes of his. It takes your breath away.

"Why if it isn't Van Halen, I'm you're biggest fan" you say breathily, a smirk on your face. I'm not done playing with you yet Munson.

Eddie smirks at you, "looks like you decided to turn up after all princess."

"Well, you know, I kinda promised this guy."

"This guy must be impressive if you're coming here to this dive just to see him."

"What can I say, he's got a bit of an ego but he looks damn sexy when he plays the guitar."

Eddie nearly falters, seeing you bat your eyelashes at him. He looks so cute when he's not so sure of himself. Then he takes a different tact, pointing at the beer in your hand "aren't you a minor sweetheart?"

"Aren't you Munson?"

"Well, they don't know that " another Eddie wink.

"Don't know about me either. I told the bartender I'm 35."

Eddie laughs at this, for once feeling out of his depth.

"What are you, 17, 18?'

"Try 19 Munson." He looks at you quizzically. "Yes it's not just you that's been held back."

"How do you know about that?" Shit nearly gave it away.

"Everyone knows, you're famous Eddie."

"So, you gonna actually tell me how you know that, and how you know my full name sweetheart?"

You scrunch your face a little, realising you never said his first name before. Got a little too carried away with the game you had been playing. Shouldn't have called him Van Halen either. Seems like the right time to confess. Well, here goes nothing. You take a deep breath, your heart in your throat.

"I know you Eddie Munson. I went to middle school with you. You were in the year above. My names y/n l/n."

Eddie's eyes widen. He looks at you, really looks at you. Then the words you never thought you would hear come out of his mouth.

"Shit, y/n, I remember you. You were always running around with those nerds, you wore glasses all the time. I remember you getting pulled from school!"

"And how the fuck would you remember that?" You said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Well, I remember, I remember the talent show. When you sang in front of the whole school. Hotel California. I never expected it, no one did. You were really good."

You blush a deep crimson, annoyed at your vulnerability. Eddie doesn't seem to notice, just looking over your shoulder, remembering.

"Shit I remember hearing you sing, then having to go on with my band near straight after, feeling like we weren't gonna be shit compared to that."

You blush red to the roots of your hair. "Well, your bands really good, really good Munson..  I was just, you know, karaoke singing..."

"No, honest, I thought you were amazing." He grins at you, fingers tapping on the bar next to you. That Eddie grin makes you want to melt into a puddle. Weren't you supposed to be teasing him?

You stare into those eyes. Those big, beautiful brown eyes and realise something. Maybe you had been wrong about Eddie. You strip that bravado back, that fake confidence, and he is just a kid. An overexcited, vulnerable, kid. Just like you.

He's looking at you, staring at you with those eyes of his, and you need to do something before you are his, right here and right now. You turn to the bar and wave at the bar tender. "Two tequilas, please." As you flash a comfortable smile. The bartender catches your gaze and pours out two shots, smiling at you and raising his eyebrows at Eddie. You take your shot in hand, staring at Eddie, and down the shot. You swallow with barely a flinch, waiting to see his reaction.

"You're gonna be the death of me sweetheart." He grins, then takes his shot the same way.

"You wanna get out of here?"

**************************************

I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Eddie gazes at you, your cheeks flushed, laying on his couch, your feet resting on his lap. Listening to the metal music Eddie had put on, curled up on the couch. You had been joking and chatting for an hour or so and he just felt so comfortable around you. You seemed to have the same sense of humor as him, laughing at all his jokes. It seemed a far cry from the way you had reacted to him before, building walls up. He thought it was nice to see you as you, without defences.

"So, you want a beer, or you ready to sing for me."

"Not on your damned life Munson, though I'll take that beer."

Eddie laughs and gets up, lifting your feet softly to one side, and grabs two beers, opening them by the fridge.

"So, why wouldn't you tell me your name before." Eddie asks, his head to one side, intrigued.

'Because Munson, it was fun messing with you." You smirk back at Eddie, but there's a blush to your cheeks that makes him think you weren't being honest with him.

You continue, "a lot of people know things, or think they know why I left. I just didn't want you to judge me before you knew me."

"As a victim of judgement I can safely say I know what you mean." Eddie brings his hands up, indicating to himself. He hands you a beer which you place on the table, and he does the same. He sits next to you, close, head turned towards you. 

Damn she's intoxicating. Eddie coughs, and looks into your eyes. You smile back at him, his eyes drawn to your lips.

Come on Munson, kiss me already.

You both sit, mulling in this hot silence, looking at each other, flushed cheeks and beating hearts. It's almost a stand off, each waiting for the other to make a move. You lick your lips and try and build up that confidence that you had before. Reaching out, you hold your hand to his jaw line, gently rubbing your thumb down it, coming to rest on his chin. He moves forward, expectantly, and you take that as a sign. You lean towards him, your breath on his lips, as your hand snakes into his hair. Your noses touch, the tip of your nose rubbing just to the side of his, as your lips ever so lightly graze, sending shivers of sensation through you. His mouth opens slightly, and you both press your lips to the other, tongues touching, softly, hesitantly. Your mouths open more, tongues reaching out, exploring each others mouths leisurely, deeply. His hands reach out to hold you at the hips, pulling you closer. You pull at his hair slightly and he moans into you. You break apart, both panting slightly, and stare into each others eyes. You see those soulful dark eyes pouring out feeling to you, and you know that he has stolen your heart forever.

Eddie breaks the silence. He grins and chuckles at you, "Now that was intense."

You're breathless, wordless for once, biting your lip. "Eddie..." you manage and he smirks at you. You press your lips to his again hungrily, urgently. His hands grip your hips, and you crawl into his lap, swinging one leg over so you're straddling him. His hands massage into you, and both of your hands end up in his hair, tugging at it. You are both kissing almost violently, and you break away so you can breathe. You rock your hips forward, feeling how hard he was getting through his jeans. He takes a sharp breath at that, his hands moving lower to grab your ass, grinding you into him again. You moan low into your throat, throwing your head back.

"Jesus princess you're so fucking hot." He manages to say, his voice so low and rough its almost a growl.

You lean forward again, pulling him into another fervent kiss, tongues clashing, hips bucking. He groans and bites your lip. Grabbing you by the hips he suddenly stands up and you throw your arms around his neck for balance, wrapping your legs around his waist. He carries you to his bedroom, never stopping the urgent flow of hot kisses.

He throws you on the bed and climbs on top of you, then seems to remember himself. "Sorry, you just.. you do things to me."

"You drive me wild Eddie Munson" you grin back at him. "But maybe we should, you know, take it easy. I like you, I really like you, but I mean, you barely know me."

"Not true, I know you from middle school, remember? That's years." He winks at you, then flops down next to you, on his side "Seriously though, whatever you want. We don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

You could have cried at that. His face turned to you, that look of concern on his face, his brows slightly furrowed, it melted your heart. You hold a hand to his cheek.

"I'm not saying I don't want to, you know. I'm just saying not yet. I do want to, I just, want to take my time with you Mr Munson."

He grinned at you, stroking your side.

"I've wanted you since your shoe connected with Jason's face."

You laughed out loud at that, he smiled at you, enjoying how much he could make you laugh. He pulled you in for another kiss, less urgent but still passionate, long and deep, like you had all the time in the world. The rest of the universe melted away, it was just you and him, wrapped in each others arms.

"Can I stay? Is that OK?" You stare in his eyes.

"Princess you're not going anywhere as long as I can help it."

"I meant for tonight, like sleep here." You poke him playfully in the ribs.

"Sure! Tonight, tomorrow, maybe the next one.." you giggle at that.

"Hold on let me grab you something" he jumps up and leaves the room. You hear the music stop and a small cry.

You sit up, as he walks back into the room, looking dejected.

"Eddie what's wrong?"

He looks at you with a miserable face, throws his hands in the air "we forgot the beers!!" He falls to the floor on his knees in mock anguish. You chuckle at his theatrics.

"You're an idiot Eddie Munson." You throw a pillow at him. He grabs it in the air and throws it back.

"What the hell was I doing? Oh yeah" He throws a faded black band t shirt to you. "To sleep in."

You get up with your back to him as Eddie sits on the edge of the bed.

"So yeah if you wanna just go to the bathroom you can change..."  he stops mid sentence.

You had started to unzip your dress, letting it fall to the ground, uncovering your back. You have a tattoo that covers your back, huge, black, bat like wings. Your black, lacy matching underwear is on display. Still with your back to him, you unhook your bra, and that falls too. You slip the t shirt over your head, it's big on you and reaches just to the tops of your thighs. Ok that was mean.

You turn around and look at Eddie's face. "What?" You smirk.

Eddie's broken. He's staring at you, beetroot red face, mouth hanging open, unable to speak.

"Holy shit.. You- you're... you've got...erm, wow." Eddie is speechless for once. "Cool tattoo." He manages to stutter out.

You smile at him sweetly. "Thank you."

"Jesus y/n that was really mean" He says, regaining some composure and pulling you roughly towards him. You laugh, throwing your head back, and his lips find your throat, kissing and sucking your neck. You let out a whimper, he feels so good against your skin.

"You've made me really hard, I hope you realise that you devil woman." He keeps kissing but he's digging his fingers into your ribs, tickling you. You giggle and squirm, enjoying the effect you seem to have on him.

"Sorry, I know, I'm an awful tease. Someone really needs to teach me a lesson."

"Oh just you wait princess. I'm totally getting you back for that."

"I look forward to it Munson." You wink at him.

Getting ready for bed, you grab your bag from the living room, and make your way to the bathroom. You come back to the bedroom with your hair piled up in a bun. Eddie's in his boxers, laying on the bed. His lean figure is relaxed, a smattering of tattoos cover his torso and arms. Your gaze settles on them, unable to take your eyes off him, and drifts down to the rather clear outline of his hardness in his boxers. Now he certainly looks impressive you think to yourself, your mind wandering.

"What's on your mind sweetheart?" He smiles at you smugly.

"Nothing" you say a little quickly. He chuckles. You're enjoying this, the to and fro between you to, even if you had lost that one. He seems to be enjoying it too, his eyes were twinkling, dark pools staring at you.

You join him in bed, under the sheets, wrapping around each other, impossibly close. He kisses you softly on the forehead. "Goodnight princess."

You smile to yourself in the dark, thinking how lucky you are, to be in Eddie's arms.

@eddiesprincess86

[blushweddinggowns]

They keep their relationship secret at the start, at Steve's request.

It's not that Steve was ashamed of Eddie or anything, but he knew what his friends were like. Nancy and Robin would have an absolute field day, especially with all of the whining and pining Steve had been giving them for months. The kids would immediately be all up in their business and he would probably get at least four different shovel talks when it did come out in the open. But worst of all they would all be biting at the bit to tell Eddie every embarrassing little thing they knew about him.

Steve could accept that, he could, he would, but could anyone blame him for wanting his boyfriend to not be aware of what a loser he could be? Eddie was still on the high of having Steve save his life and watching him not get his ass handed to him for once, and all Steve wanted was to keep that image alive during the early stages of their relationship. His image could be shattered after Eddie was madly in love with him.

Plus, Steve knew that he was Eddie's first real relationship and he wanted to give him the full King Steve wooing treatment. And that was a lot easier without being heckled by six children. And in Steve's humble opionion, he was doing a damn good job of it.

Calling every night just to ask how his day went? Check. Impromptu hugs from behind that involved picking Eddie up and twirling him around? Check. Special little presents throughout the week that never failed to make Eddie wear the prettiest blush Steve had ever seen? Double check.

He was even up for helping Eddie out with his drug deals on particularly busy weekends, always waving away Eddie's worried protests. No police officer in Hawkins would ever believe that drugs were being run through the Harrington household, even if the adult Harringtons themselves hadn't stepped foot in Hawkins for a year. Besides, he always managed to convince any of his lady clients to buy at embarrassingly high prices and was more than willing to be a charlatan for Eddie's financial sake.

So imagine his surprise when he wakes up to three furious kids pounding on his door the morning after scamming Tammy Thompson out of $30 for a gram of weed. He left Eddie behind in bed, thankful that he slept like the dead, kissing his hair before getting the door.

Max, Dustin, and Lucas stomped right past him the second he opened it, wasting no time before they started yelling over each other.

"Where is she?" Max gritted out, whipping her head around the living room, "And don't even try to lie, we saw her car here last night. And the weekend before!"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, completely confused but at least aware it was way to early for him to be dealing with this shit, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We know you're cheating on Eddie, just admit it!" Dustin crossed his arms over his chest, "And after everything he's been through?"

Lucas was shaking his head, and giving Steve the most disappointed look he'd ever seen, it was cutting, "And with Tammy? I really thought you'd changed man. You have five minutes to explain yourself before we tell Mike, and he'll just kill you."

Steve just stared at the trio, his mind desperately trying to catch up to figure out how they knew about Eddie and why they thought Steve was stupid enough to throw it all away for a blonde kermit. Eddie choose that moment to sleepily wander down the stairs, eyes widening at the sight of three teenagers berating his boyfriend in defense of his honor.

It took a half hour for Eddie to convince them it was all a misunderstanding and even less time for Steve to find out that everyone knew about them from basically day one.

"When you suddenly stopped waxing poetry about Eddie's hair this and Eddie's eyes that, we just knew it had happened," Max shrugged.

"And I've seen you guys make out at the drive in like, three times now," Lucas added, "You're really not subtle."

"Not that we aren't happy for you!" Dustin smiled, immediately appeased by Eddie's explanation, "Robin just told us to give you space until you came clean, but everyone thinks it's great."

"Robin knows?!"

They all nodded, all way too pleased with themselves, "Who do you think told us?"

Steve groaned, she was never going to let him live this down when she found out about this stupid Tammy thing, let alone the fact that she had him clocked from the get-go.

Dustin turned to Eddie, still all smiles, "So now that you know we know, we have so much to tell you."

Steve watched, head in his hands as his favorite children started to regale his favorite person with all of his most embarrassing moments, debating on if he should be thankful that they managed to even wait as long as they had to spill the beans, or if he should examine just how poorly he had managed to hide his feelings.

Either way that was the last time Steve tried to hide anything from his kids.

[aliea82]

Saw this

And then this would not leave my head!

Words:3807 cw:bullying, discrption of injury, injury care.

"I am not yours to protect"

Steve stands against the side of his car as he waits for the kids to emerge from School. It was their monthly Friday night treat, Steve would take them all out for dinner and then to see a movie.

Eddie had started to join them, making the ride less cramped as he would take Dustin, Mike and Lucas, while Steve had El, Max, Will and sometimes Erica if she didn’t have plans with her friends.

As the bell rang he watched the crowds of kids leave, slowly disappearing from the school grounds until Steve stood alone still, a frown on his face.

Just as he went to push away from the car El and Max appeared running towards him, worry on both their faces.

Moving towards them he caught them both by their shoulders as they started talking over each other.

‘Wow, wow, slow down, one at a time guys.’

They both stopped, and then with a silent look at each other Max started to talk.

‘Eddie, he...he was meant to meet Dustin before coming out and when he didn’t he got worried. You know how he’s been struggling since coming back.’

‘Yeah, I do.’ Eddie was quiet about the bullying, but Dustin wasn’t, keeping Steve in the know about how the jocks still had it out for Eddie despite his name being cleared.

‘Dustin found Eddie, but he won’t come out.’

‘Okay, show me.’

El grabbed Steve’s hand while Max led them both into the school.

Steve tried to keep his cool, kept telling himself things couldn’t be that bad, that he knew Eddie could stand up for himself, had seen it, but the way Max was, the worry clear as day on her face made it hard for him to keep calm.

‘They had been at him all day.’ El spoke quietly as they made their way towards the gym changing rooms.

‘What do you mean?’

‘The ex-basketball guys, they...they kept at him all day, in the hall, at breaks, during lunch, they didn’t stop.’

When they got to the changing rooms the girls stopped, staying outside while Steve went in finding the boys minus Dustin, by the lockers.

‘What’s going on?’

‘He won’t come out, Dustin is in there trying to talk to him, but he refuses to leave and he won’t tell us why.’ Lucas explains looking towards the shower blocks.

‘Okay,’ he grabbed his keys from his jacket giving them to Will. ‘Go wait for me by the car, take the girls as well.’

He didn’t expect an argument and was almost proud as they did as they were told, leaving him as he walked into the shower blocks.

The sound of water filled the area as well as Dustin’s voice talking gently.

Dustin was stood right at the end of the long hall of shower cubicles, talking through the curtain, but stopping as he saw Steve.

The worry on the kid’s face matched that of his friends, but there was more than worry etched on Dustin’s face, there was anger also, something Steve hadn’t really seen before.

‘Eddie, Steve’s here.’

There was a reply but Steve couldn’t make it out through the closed curtain and falling water.

Dustin walked towards him, his eyes sad and furious at the same time.

‘I don’t know what they did, he won’t tell me, and he refuses to open the curtain or come out.’

‘It’s okay, I’ll see what I can do. Go meet the others at the car.’

Dustin just nods leaving Steve without another word.

Making his way down to the last stall, Steve stands quietly for a moment listening to the sound of the water before reaching out to the curtain.

‘Eddie, can I come in?’

‘Please don’t.’

Steve hesitates, his fingers curling into themselves.

‘It’s just me, the kids have gone, they won’t see.’

He waited a moment before gently moving the curtain aside, his heart hammering against his chest, bracing himself for what could be on the other side.

The sound of the water increased as he pulled the curtain back, but he became deaf as he looked down at his friend, huddled against the cubicle wall, water falling over his already soaked hair and clothes, bare feet placed on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around his legs, his face buried against his knees.

All around him were words, spray-painted on the walls, horrible, hateful words, some bleeding down the walls, colouring the water going down the drain, but most stark and vivid.

Murderer

Freak

Fag

Killer

Fagot

Loser

Steve stared, anger building, he couldn’t believe after all these months, after it was proven beyond reasonable doubt that Eddie was innocent, that this was still happening.

How dare anyone treat him this way.

Eddie was kind, gentle, funny, a nerd and a geek at his very core, someone the kids looked up to and loved to hang out with.

He didn’t deserve this.

‘Jesus,’ Steve reached out, turning off the water, wincing as ice-cold water soaked his arm.

Then, without a care in the world, he knelt before Eddie, the knees of his jeans instantly soaking up the water.

‘Eddie, can I touch you?’

Consent was crucial to Eddie, ever since the upside down and then months of hospital treatment, Eddie hated to be touched unexpectedly, but if he knew it was coming he sought it out, loving the attention, the affection. Steve would find him curled up on the sofa with El or Dustin watching TV, the two kids having formed a bond with Eddie the others hadn’t. Dustin for obvious reasons, El because as far as Eddie was concerned she deserved all the love and affection he could give after learning her full story.

When it came to Steve however, as soon as Steve asked for permission, Eddie couldn’t seem to get enough of the attention Steve wished to give him.

They had spent hours snuggled up on Steve’s bed, listening to music, talking shit and falling asleep together. Steve would spend movie nights playing with Eddie’s hair as Eddie sat at his feet, with El and Max using his legs as pillows.

But Eddie needed to give consent, it was a known rule amongst the group, one they all stuck to because they had all seen the consequences of unexpected touch.

So Steve waited, watching carefully for Eddie to give him the okay, which came in the form of Eddie’s fingers reaching out towards Steve.

As soon as Steve touched him, a sob escaped Eddie’s throat, and Steve pulled Eddie towards him, uncaring as his clothes instantly soaked through.

Wrapping his arms around Eddie, he held him close as Eddie buried his face against Steve’s neck crying hard as he clutched at Steve’s jacket.

‘I’ve got you baby, it’s okay, I’m here.’

Steve didn’t register the name he gave Eddie, he just held his friend, giving him the comfort he needed, his hand on wet curls, his other arm holding him tightly while he pressed kisses into the wet skin at Eddie’s temple.

It took a while for Eddie to calm down, his cries slowly stopping, but he held Steve as though he was a lifeline and Steve wasn’t going to let him go first.

When Eddie finally pulled away slightly, Steve pulled back as well, but only enough to look at Eddie’s face.

What he saw was heartbreaking.

They had beaten him.

His right eye was swollen shut, he had bruising around his jaw and his lip was split, blood oozing slowly from it. He was wearing a black tank top and Steve noted the bruising on his arms and the split skin on his knuckles, something he hadn’t registered before now.

‘Who?’

Steve demanded without thought, his anger overwhelming and clear in his voice causing Eddie to shrink back slightly.

Steve instantly berated himself, his face softening, his voice turning gentle.

‘I’m sorry, I’m not mad at you, I...’ he paused, stopping himself from needing to know who had done this. Eddie didn’t need to be answering questions right now, right now he needed to be taken care of.

‘Can you stand?’

Eddie looks at him with his one good eye for a moment before nodding. Steve helps him, then stops, taking him in once again.

‘Can you tell me where hurts the most.’ He was worried about possible broken ribs, even bruised ribs, he was also worried about his still-healing scars.

‘My face, they...they stayed away from my sides.’

With this knowledge, Steve assessed him again and could see what happened.

They had jumped him, he had fought back, getting in a few good punches before being caught, his arms held, before being punched several times in the face.

It was common knowledge about Eddie’s injuries, blasted all over the papers, deemed necessary to prove his innocence, that he too had almost died. Who ever had done this didn’t want to kill him, and so stayed away from his injuries, not wanting to cause what could be deadly damage.

‘Okay, let’s get you some dry clothes...where are your shoes?’

Eddie shrugged letting Steve lead him towards the lockers.

‘Did they take them?’

‘Yeah, and my rings, and ch...chain.’

Steve reined in his anger, he had to keep calm.

Together they got Eddie into dry clothes, consisting of school logoed sweatpants and hoodie, something he was sure Eddie had never worn in his whole school career. But they were warm and better than the freezing wet clothes he did have on.

They couldn’t find Eddie’s shoes anywhere so he ended up putting on a couple of pairs of socks on each foot just to warm them up.

‘Okay, so, what do you want me to do? The kids are waiting outside, you can’t drive. I can send Dustin and El in while I take the others home.’

‘I can drive.’

‘Not with your eye like that, and not without shoes.’

‘I can drive barefoot.’

‘I’m sure you can, but not today. So, Dustin and El?’

Eddie almost glares at him, or at least Steve thinks it is a glare, but with one eye swollen shut it didn’t have any intensity behind it.

‘Okay.’

‘Good, right, I won’t be long, okay?’

Eddie nods from the bench, his hands clenched together as he looks down.

Steve looks at him, before kneeling before him, his hands hovering over Eddie’s knees before Eddie nods again, and his hands fall onto his legs.

‘You’re safe now, I won’t let them hurt you, not ever again.’

‘You can’t promise that Steve.’

‘I can, and I will.’

‘What...You can’t protect me, not all the time.’

Steve sighs, his thumbs running gently over Eddie’s legs.

‘I need you to trust me.’

Eddie holds his eyes, searching them.

‘You don’t know who it was.’

‘I have a pretty good idea.’

‘You can’t do anything, I leave soon anyway, so why bother?’

‘I’m not going to let them get away with this Ed’s.’

‘I won’t tell you who did it.’

‘I already told you, I know who.’

‘What if you’re wrong?’

‘Am I?’

Eddie falls silent, his head lowering.

‘I don’t need saving, not this time.’

‘Eddie, ba-‘ he cuts himself off, knowing this time what he was about to say, ‘It’s not about saving you, it’s about making sure they understand that they can’t do this to people. What if this happened to one of the kids, to El?’

That was a low shot, El had been having problems when she first joined the school. The kids had rallied, Max and Mike especially, but it was Eddie who had put an end to it, stepping in when El had cried in his arms.

Steve knew Eddie would do anything for the kids, just like Steve would. But Eddie needed to understand that Steve wouldn’t let this go, that he would do anything to make sure he was safe.

‘Just...be quick, I want to go home.’

He stands, his hand going to the back of Eddie’s head as he leans in, his forehead pressing to Eddie.

‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

He presses a kiss to Eddie’s forehead before heading quickly to his car.

Eddie huddled in the back of the car, El playing softly with his hair while Dustin sat up front, his eyes watching the two in the back through the mirror.

Steve drove carefully, hands tight on the steering wheel.

‘He refuses to tell me who did it.’ Dustin says, his voice quiet.

‘It’s okay, I’ll sort it out.’

‘It has to been the ex team, they had been harassing him all day.’

‘Dustin, let it drop.’ He looks through the mirror, catching Eddie’s eye as he lent against El’s shoulder.

Dustin huffed, his arms crossing as he falls silent.

Steve knew he meant well, but the priority right now was Eddie, not the shit bags that had done this.

He dropped off the kids at Mike’s house, the kids gathering there for the night instead of going out.

Steve was pretty sure they would spend the night plotting.

He stopped El as Dustin went ahead, his hand gentle on her arm.

‘Don’t be stupid.’

She looks at him, her head tilting slightly. She knew what he meant, he didn’t want her to go looking, to lead the kids anywhere that could get them hurt. Monster hunters or not, at the end of the day they were still kids and humans were a whole different ball game.

She nods once, not saying a word before following Dustin into the house.

Getting back into the car, it’s to find Eddie up front, leaning his head back against the seat, eye’s closed.

‘Yours or mine?’

‘Yours, Wayne is working a double.’

‘Right.’

As they drive, Eddie stays quiet, his hands clenched, shaking ever so slightly.

Getting to the house, he goes to help Eddie out but the other brushes him off, heading to the house on his own.

Once inside Eddie disappears to the bathroom leaving Steve standing in the hall.

He waited a moment before heading to the phone and calling Robin.

‘Buckley house hold.’ It was her mum.

‘Hey Mrs Buckley, is Robin about?’

‘Hi Steve, yeah let me get her.’

Hearing her call Robin he waited, keeping his eyes on the stairs waiting for Eddie to return.

‘Hey babe, what’s up? Need help wrangling the kids?’

‘What happened with Eddie today?’

‘What?’

‘Eddie was cornered in the showers, he’s been...they...what did you see?’

‘Eddie said he had it under control, I...oh god, I should have called you. They had been at him all day, little things, but he seemed totally unfazed by it all. He was being himself and I just thought he was ignoring them. What did they do?’

‘It was the ex team right?’

‘Yeah, Andy led the charge, he’s been queen Bee since Jason... Steve, I honestly thought he was okay, I would have called if I thought it would go like this.’

‘Cover for me this weekend, I wont be in, let Keith know I’m sick or something.’

‘Sure, but Steve, promise you won’t do anything stupid.’

He was silent and he heard her sigh on the other end.

‘Look after him.’ She finally says.

‘I always do.’

He hung up and headed to the kitchen, putting the kettle on and setting up two mugs, one with coffee the other tea before grabbing the first aid kit from on top of the fridge and taking out what he needed.

Finishing up the drinks he set them on the kitchen island and sat down, waiting.

When Eddie came down he had changed into clothes of his own, as well as Steve’s own black knitted jumper, something Steve had gotten while Eddie was still in hospital, it had become their jumper, Eddie normally wearing it after Steve.

Steve found himself watching him, as he sat down, taking the mug of tea and holding it in his still trembling hands.

‘Can I check you over?’

There was a small nod, so he got up and gently reached out to Eddie taking his right hand and looking at the cuts and swelling.

‘Can you make a fist?’

The hand slowly curls into it self and Steve is satisfied nothing is broken, just bruised and sore. He did the same with the left hand before putting antiseptic cream on both and then wrapping them to help with the swelling.

He moved on his arms, gently rolling up the sleeves, the bruising obviously caused by being held, finger imprints all up his arms. He gently rubbed in ointment to help with bruising, apologising with every hiss Eddie made.

He quickly checked his sides, despite Eddie’s reassurance that they hadn’t touched him there, he just had to make sure.

Once happy he moved onto Eddie’s face, breaking a cold pack and instructing Eddie to hold it over his eye while he tended to the split lip and bruised jaw.

He then gently felt around the swollen eye, his fingers searching for the feeling of a broken eye socket, a feeling he knew well from the Russian encounter.

As he held Eddie’s face, he could feel Eddie watching him, his good eye never once leaving his face.

‘Don’t be stupid.’

Steve glanced at him, holding his gaze before going back to the damaged eye.

‘Nothing is broken, luckily, but you’re going to have a swollen eye for a while and a hell of a black eye when it settles.’

He got Eddie to place the ice pack back over his eye before gently checking through the still wet curls.

‘Back of my head. I fell, not sure how bad it is.’

Steve moved Eddie’s head down so it rested against his chest so he could search through wet strands, wincing himself as he found a deep gash and an egg sized lump.

‘Shit, okay, maybe I should have taken you to hospital. Why didn’t you tell me when I asked where you hurt?’

‘Cause you would have taken me to hospital.’

Sighing, Steve stayed quiet as he cleaned the wound as best he could, it had already stopped bleeding and the shower at the school had cleaned most of the blood from Eddie’s hair.

‘I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, you definitely will have concussion.’

‘If it means you can’t leave, I’m glad.’

Steve tensed, his hands stilling on Eddie’s head.

Eddie looked up, a smirk on his lips.

‘I’m not stupid, I knew you would leave and go off to be some stupid vigilantly hero the moment I fell asleep or something.’

‘They hurt you.’

‘I know, I was there.’

‘You should have called me.’

Eddie tilted his head, a habit he had picked up from El.

‘I’m not yours to protect.’

‘Yes ,you are.’

‘I’m not one of the kids Steve, hell I’m older than you, I can look after myself.’

Steve moved his hands to Eddie’s face as he tried to turn away, holding him in place.

‘I know you can, I’ve seen it, time and time again. But they obviously got the upper hand this time and I can’t...I can’t let that stand. I can’t let them get away with this.’

‘Again, I am not yours to protect.’

Suddenly his heart was racing, his eyes held Eddie’s as his fingers gently moved over damaged skin.

‘Yes, you are.’ He repeated, softer than the time before. ‘You...God. You have been mine for months.’

Eddie had gone still, his eye searching.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘I fucking love you is what I mean, I have been in love with you for months, and this is the worst time to bloody confess it because I will not let our first kiss be when your face is busted up, and you have a damn concussion.’

Eddie slowly smiled.

‘You want to kiss me?’

‘More than you will ever know.’

Eddie lowered the ice pack from his face, placing it on the side so he could pull Steve closer, slotting him between his legs.

‘So all it took was for me to get the shit kicked out of me for you to confess?’

‘What? No! Bloody hell. I...I wanted to tell you, to make it special, to take you on a date. Robin has been helping me plan it all.’

‘So when was this all going to happen?’

‘After you graduated, I didn’t want to distract you, I wanted you to get your diploma, and I was going to tell you then.’

‘That’s months away.’

‘I know, I was being patient.’

‘What if I didn’t want to?’

Steve felt his world drop from under him, his hands dropping to his side.

‘You...you don’t want to?’

‘Steve, sweetheart, I meant, what if I didn’t want to wait.’

‘Oh...ohhh.’ Steve smiled, his hands moving back to rest on Eddie’s shoulders.

‘You want me too?’

‘Jesus Harrington, I’ve been flirting for months. I thought you were just being nice, but then you flirted back. You let me be me, always, I feel more at ease when you are around. So yeah, I want you too.’

They stare at each other, the need for more palpable between them.

‘I still wont kiss you.’

Eddie groaned, leaning his head against Steve’s chest.

‘So mean.’

‘I know, but we have waited this long, a few more days won’t hurt.’

‘Might hurt.’

‘It really wont.’

‘Promise you won’t go after them.’

‘Eddie-‘

‘No,’ he looked up, his eye wide. ‘Promise me.’

‘I can’t.’ He moves his hand back to Eddie’s face, ‘I can’t not do anything.’

‘They are all just a bunch of ex-jocks, sore because they lost their spot due to a stupid vendetta that got their leader killed. I’m not afraid of them.’

Steve thought back to the shower cubicle, to the words written around him, to him crying in his arms.

‘I can’t let them hurt you again.’

‘I promise to never let them get me alone again.’

‘No, because like me that’s not a promise you could keep. Please baby, please just trust me to sort this out.’

Eddie smiled, and it would have been bright if not for the split lip and swollen eye.

‘Baby huh?’

‘Yeah, and stop changing the subject.’

‘Fine, but you do it with Hopper with you.’

Steve sighed, his wings being clipped with those words.

‘Fine, okay, I’ll take Hopper.’

‘Good.’

They fall silent, just looking at each other, the tension high.

‘I really don’t know how we will last, I really want to kiss you right now.’

Steve moved his thumb to Eddie’s split lip, pressing slightly causing Eddie to wince and pull back.

‘Really?’

‘Fine, you win, we will wait.’

‘Good boy.’

‘Holy shit...okay, that will not stand, when I’m healed I’ll show you that I am definitely not a good boy.’

‘Looking forward to it.'

[stoprobbersfic]

something to look forward to

for @jancyweek2022 day one: lyrics

spoon: something to look forward to

So many things we could say So many things we could let get out But let stay in instead Some things are best left unsaid 

She had a whole speech prepared.

She’s been practicing it in her head for days now, for weeks, from over the desks in the school newspaper office and to the passenger seat of the Winnebago they stole. A carefully crafted lecture about honesty and communication and how he’s not nearly as mysterious as he thinks, and they’re a team, aren’t they, whether they’re fighting monsters or applying to college.

She repeated it every morning when she woke up and every night before she fell asleep. Ready to go, so that when she saw him again – and despite all the fear and the buzzing panic of his disconnected phone line she knew, in the pit of her stomach the center of her heart, that she would indeed see him again, she would – it would be the first thing out of her mouth.

And then she does, and it’s not.

Not just not the first thing out of her mouth, it’s suddenly gone entirely. Her feet are dangling in the air, his arms tight around her waist, and she can’t remember a single goddamn syllable.

And she keeps not remembering. Open-mouthed like a gasping fish, half sentences and emotive squeaks and his name, she has lost all her words and she’s not sure if she is furious about it or she wants to cry.

Well. Both. Almost certainly both. And also neither, because while he’s promising her he’ll tell her everything and she’s nodding, nodding, trying to hurry up this little soliloquy that he has the audacity to be delivering instead of her, she just wants to just press her face into the dip between his shoulder and chest and breathe him in and never speak again.

Around them there is so much talking, so much noise. Her mother, admonishing Mike. Dustin, telling Will and El about Max. Steve and Robin, awkwardly introducing themselves to Argyle and making their excuses to leave. Her father, distant, wondering what the hell is going on out here.

Arms tight around each other once more, she presses her face into Jonathan’s neck; they are the only two keeping silent.

The morning after they rid Will of the Mind Flayer, they hid underneath Jonathan’s covers, sunlight cast an odd orange as it filtered through his flimsy curtains and flimsy sheets. It had made him look a little sunburned, she’d thought, as she examined the blurred shadows on his cheekbones and the slits of his eyes, still heavy with exhaustion and swollen from crying. They were searching her face, as if there was a clue hidden in her skin that he could find if he just looked hard enough.

She’d opened her mouth to say something, to assure him or confirm that yes, she had meant what had happened in Illinois, yes, she had meant what had happened at the cabin, yes, she had meant what had happened after they’d collapsed into bed the night before, but he stopped her with a thumb to her lips. Shook his head, slid his eyes in the direction of the door behind him.

In her shocked pause she heard the sounds behind the pressed wood barrier; his mother’s door opening and closing, the careless stomp of young feet to the hallway bathroom, the clatter of the kitchen cabinets. Muffled through walls and bedding, but there nonetheless. This cocoon was the last space for just them.

His eyes had met hers again and he’d smiled. And to her surprise she‘d found, perhaps for the first time, she could read that smile like a large print edition book. It was wide and unguarded, bright as the sun, practically shouting the same words that were about to come out of her mouth.

Steve had needed so many words from her. He abhorred silence, filled it up with chatter incessantly like too-long a pause would put him in danger. She had helped him fill it up without protest; maybe she felt the threat of it too. Maybe she knew, in the back of her mind, if she let the silence into their relationship it would quickly expose the great gaping gulf she felt growing between them. But she hadn’t realized how much of a habit it had turned into for her too, filing up the lonely parts of her soul that used to be filled by Barb, that she wanted to feel filled by Jonathan.

People don’t say what they really mean, he had told her the year before, when you take a picture, it says more.

And for the first time she’d understood what he meant by that.

He must have seen in it in her face that morning because that’s when he’d opened his hand, sliding his palm along her cheek and his fingers into her hair to pull her into a kiss. And she hadn’t needed to say anything at all.

In her driveway, in the cool March air, his arms loosen around her and she wants to protest, wants to tell him no, she wants to stay in this little cocoon of him, of them for longer, that she’s not ready to let him go just yet and let the whirlwind of words around them rush back in, but it’s too late, there is a small gap between him and she has no choice but to move slightly back and look up at him.

He opens his mouth, his lips curving to form the start of her name, but she moves faster. Presses her thumb to his lips, stopping him in his tracks.

His face his obviously tired, his cheek rough with stubble and the bags under his eyes deep with whatever has happened to him in the past week. And maybe whatever that has been – and he will need to tell her, yes, and she will need to tell him so many stories as well – is too distracting for him to remember. For an instant she worries that he won’t understand; that while this memory is one of her touchstones, perhaps for him it was just a passing moment.

She may not remember exactly what lecture she was planning to give him, but the worry at its core has not abated in the least.

And then a tension in his cheeks smooths out and his pupils dilate, and she knows he remembers just as well, too.

His lips are spreading beneath her touch into a smile like the one she saw that morning, and she slides her palm along his cheek and pulls him down for a kiss.

So there’s something to look forward to

[countrymusiclover]

11 - Sister Fights

Part 12

Other Hoyt’s Off Limits

Tag list- just ask to be added @stoneyggirl2 @dragonixfrye

Beau and I just froze in our places as I muttered under my breath wishing we had a way out of this. “Oh where’s Cassie with a phone call when you need her?” Because I knew my sister would be furious to hear our little secret.

Beau and I just were frozen where we stood with my sister standing in front of us. She had her arms crossed over her chest with a scowl of betrayal on her face. I knew I had messed up and I shouldn’t have kept it a secret because it would have avoided this exact moment. “Jenny before you get angry just let me explain that I have not hurt your sister since we started-“ Beau attempted to say calmly.

“Be quiet Beau!” She raised a hand cutting the sheriff off before he could say another word that she wouldn’t believe at this moment in time. “I can’t believe you went behind my back, Mallory. Was it all a load of crap that conversation we had that night after a few beers. Because I thought I was supposed to be the one helping you find love!”

Dropped my hands at my sides. I didn't know what the right thing to say was. That night I asked her to help me. I was in the most vulnerable state I had ever been in. “Jenny, I…I don’t know what to say. I was an emotional mess when I asked that of you. But now it is different. I have grown up since then. I can make the choice for myself and Beau has been nothing but a gentleman to me.”

“That’s the same thing you said about JW and we saw how that ended for you. But that isn’t important right now. You lied to me. You lied to your sister and here I thought we were always honest with each other.” She spat in my face before I turned my hands into fists at my sides.

“Is that this is coming too, Jen. Because you’ve had a fight with Cassie about sleeping with Cody and you forgave her. Then with Travis he freaking betrayed you and you still forgave him for that. So your track record is forgiving every liar on the planet.” I listed off my fingers seeing Beau give me a confused look because he assumed that she had taken care of Travis instead she let him run off to find whatever girl he was after.

Beau slowly raised his hands trying to calm down the situation before things got ugly between the two siblings. “Alright Hoyt let’s just hear her out before we jump to any conclusions about our relationship.”

“Oh I already have a conclusion you two are through. You need to stop whatever relationship this is because she isn’t someone you can just choose this job over or push around. She is my little sister and I will make sure that no low life country boy breaks her heart again!” My sister stomps her boots in the dirt getting in his face pointing her index finger harshly against his chest.

Stomping forward I grabbed my sister’s shoulder yanking her away from him not being able to take her yelling at him anymore. “Jenny, that's enough. Okay I really like him and I’m sorry I lied. Yet looking at you now maybe it was a good idea to keep it from you if this was going to happen. So you’ll just have to accept that I am not going to break up with him!”

“I can’t believe you are acting like a child over this. I am just doing what you asked me to do as your sister. And you clearly can’t see that so I’m gonna go!” She throws her hands up in the air getting in her car and drives off without another word.

I sucked in a shaky breath feeling tears starting to fall down my face watching her leave like this. My knees almost gave out from underneath me thankfully Beau noticed catching me before I could hit the ground. “Woah Mallory. Easy now I’ve got ya.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, our noses hit each other before he had me standing on my own feet.

“Thanks…I…I’m sorry for all this. I…I’m gonna go Beau.” I apologized to the sheriff, grabbing my coat and heading towards my truck. Since it would be awkward if I stayed here any longer since my sister had basically upset my whole evening.

Flinging my truck door opened I got in the driver seat about to close the door but he pressed his hand against it stopping my actions. “Hold up, Mal. Look I know you're upset and everything but - how about I take you out for some beers and cheese fries?”

“Beau…” Throwing my head back I slumped my shoulders wishing I hadn’t told him that I loved cheese fries with bacon at the bar we went to last time. Giving him a look he gives me those darn puppy dog eyes making me give in. “Fine. Hop in, I'll drive.”

He quickly snatched the keys from my hand before I could start the truck. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I made my emotional girlfriend drive? Plus I’m paying for your drinks.” He insisted so I slid over into the passenger seat letting him drive us to the place.

He held the door open for me while I got the beers and the fries, giving the bartender the money he had me seeing he had found an empty booth near the stage that usually had a band playing. Sliding in across him, taking a fry and popping it into my mouth smiling as he took two, throwing one in my direction. “Beau don’t waste the food.”

“It got you to smile, didn't it, Mallory.” He teased throwing some more until I threw some water in his face where he chuckled. By the end of this little food battle we were both covered in food and water but grinning ear to ear at the same time. Leaning back in the booth I giggled seeing Beau looking over his shoulder as some people were taking the stage.

“Alright everyone tonight we will be doing some karaoke. So if anyone has a suggestion, come up here. This is the song we will be starting with.” The announcer pulled up a song where I recognized the title Thinking Bout You.

Hitting my hands on the table I started tapping my boots on the wooden floor. “I love this song!”

“Then why don’t you go up there and sing?” He suggested tilting his head up towards the stage with a cheeky grin on his face.

Holding my hands up in the air I shook my head no feeling my face turning red like a tomato. I usually only sang when I was by myself. But otherwise I didn’t do it around others. “Hell no, Arlen. I don’t sing in front of crowds.”

“If I went up there would you do it then, Mallory.” He offered where I stayed silent until he got to his feet offering me his right hand. Slow putting mine in his he tugged me to my feet and up onto the stage with the two microphones. He took the first microphone looking in my direction when I picked up the second one sucking in a breath avoiding the gaze of the people in the audience. I never thought I would be doing something like this tonight but here we were. “Well, look who it is. Last call I thought I'd get. How's your mama, how you been? Girl, it's been too long. Saw your sister at the Circle K. Heard baby number two is on the way. Hadn't seen her since her wedding day. With you on my arm. It's good to hear from you again. Girl, what a coincidence. I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinking 'bout you."

Closing my eyes I took a breath before reading the screen in front of me even though I knew all the words pretty well. "Hey, I just gotta say I heard your song the other day. And it put a smile on my face when I started reminiscing. I been on the edge of calling you. And I'm so glad I decided to…"

Beau and I turned to face one another smiling simply before we sang the duet part together. "I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinking 'bout you. Oh, oh, I was just thinking 'bout you." I already enjoyed when he called me darling with that accent of his. So clearly he was good at singing.

"If you're ever back in town. Do what you're doin' right now. 'Cause I'm probably thinking 'bout you." Beau stared deeply into my eyes, taking my freehand in his twirling me underneath his arm, making me giggle up at the guy that was also my boss.

Squeezing my hand in his I spun him in and out of my chest before we got in the others face finishing the song together. Performing with him like this makes me forget how this evening started with an argument with my sister. "I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinkin' 'bout you. Oh, oh, I was just thinkin' 'bout you. I was just thinkin' 'bout you. Oh, I was just thinkin' 'bout you." He wrapped his arms around my waist before I threw mine around his neck rushing back to our booth feeling like we were on cloud 9.

Unknown to either of us Jenny was sitting at the bar clutching a beer bottle in her hands watching the two of us before Cassie came and sat down beside her. "Jenny, I think you were wrong about Mallory." The blonde knew she wasn't leaving the bar anytime soon tonight.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[sparklyslug]

Hmm? Oh, nothing, just thinking of date night December 2001, Steve and Eddie going to see Fellowship of the Ring midnight release.

[talesofesther]

dead channels

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie finds dead channels on a walkie-talkie to vent about his feelings and everything he goes through. One day, you happen to stumble upon his frequency.

A/N: I can't remember where I saw a prompt like this, but I knew that I had to write something about it. I think it's important to say that I know very little about how walkie-talkies work. And yes I went way overboard with this story but I truly loved how it turned out; it's a big one, the biggest one shot I've ever written, but I promise, it's worth it.

Word count: 11k

Masterlist

February 7, 1985

You were annoyed, and Dustin would hear about it for giving you a walkie-talkie without telling you what channel you were supposed to be using.

You paced in your living room, switching the frequencies, finding dead channel after dead channel. For ten minutes the only noise coming from the device in your hands was static.

Until you turned the switch one more time, and the static stopped. You clenched your fist in victory, sitting down on your couch and about to voice your frustrations to your younger friend.

"… I hadn't seen him in four years, man."

To your surprise though, someone on the other end of the connection spoke first.

A deep frown etched itself into your face when you heard the muffled voice. It wasn't one you could recognize, clearly not Dustin's. The words were laced with a distant sizzle, maybe because the person talking was too far from your location or the walkie they were using was too beat up. The tone was quiet too as if spoken without the intention of anyone hearing it.

Against your better judgment and with the help of innocent curiosity, you didn't switch channels.

"I don't know what I was expecting. Shit, I shouldn't have been expecting anything. Uncle Wayne was furious when he walked in on us and saw my bloody nose, he chased him off, yelling for him to never come back, not even caring what he needed the money for. I- I wanted to say something too but… Damnit.."

You heard what you assumed was a sniff before the stranger kept on talking.

"Dad did always make it clear that I was his biggest mistake, guess I just wasn't expecting him to come back and throw it at my face after all these years. Again."

The words were a private confession you weren't supposed to hear. There was no answer for the muffled voice. This person was using what he thought was a long-forgotten channel as some sort of diary, maybe. At least that was your first assumption.

You ran a thumb over the grey plastic of the walkie-talkie on your hands, finger hovering above the switch. Your knee bumping up and down. Should you say something? Should you change frequencies and forget this ever happened?

You changed channels, but not before memorizing the frequency.

February 19, 1985

Almost two weeks went by before you heard the lonely voice on the dead channel again. You told yourself it wasn't creepy to set your walkie-talkie to the channel when you weren't using it.

You stood in front of your kitchen counter, cutting up potatoes for your dinner. The chicken was already heating up and you sneaked tiny pieces of it to your dog when your mom wasn't looking.

The walkie rested on the dining table, you liked to keep it close these days. One never knows when the upside-down might decide to pay a visit.

"So uh, Hellfire has a new member."

You nearly cut your own finger when the static buzzed and, right after, the stranger's voice was invading your house. You turned around, carefully, as if the person knew you were listening in.

"His name's Gareth, seems like a cool guy. Honestly, I'm just happy that we now have enough people for a full campaign, I- I have all of it planned out and I think it's gonna be great, the storyline is thrilling…"

Subconsciously, you found yourself smiling. The kitchen was empty, save for your dog wagging his tail, and you were smiling as if someone had just told you the good news you were waiting for.

You didn't know this person, this was the second time you were hearing his voice, yet the almost childlike excitement that laced his tone today filled your chest with similar joy. A stark contrast to the last time you heard him.

Was it too weird to feel like you were starting to know him?

February 20, 1985

It didn't take long for you to hear from him again, not even a full day had gone by.

You had just gotten home. Throwing your car keys on top of your bed and removing your coat. On the horizon and past houses and trees, the sun was starting to lower itself, you looked at the orange rays through your window, stretching your arms.

You were rummaging through your wardrobe in search of pajamas when you heard it.

"I fucking… this school, man… Jaso-… ruined my da-"

The voice was laced with static and fading in and out of connection, the sound muffled by your backpack. You were in the process of removing your shirt as you raced towards your bag, almost tripping over your discarded sneakers.

Pulling open the zipper, you snatched the walkie and adjusted the antenna.

"… been working on that campaign for weeks man, weeks, and that douchebag just… He- he…"

You sat down on the floor of your bedroom, in nothing but your jeans and a bra; the tone of his voice slicing through your heart and making it bleed. Your eyes were unfocused as you loosely held the device, waiting for the lonely voice.

"Ripped it to pieces and threw it in the mud as if it was nothing. It's not fair. Shit, it's not fair, and I- I wanted to fight back y'know? But…"

You heard a sigh, heavy and tired.

"Yeah I froze, it's not like three against one would be much of a fight anyway."

The static came and the voice was gone. You stayed there, the wooden floor starting to become cold under your knees. Your eyebrows pulled slowly into a frown. Does this person study at Hawkins High? It's not like Hawkins had many options regarding school but still, it left you all the more frustrated that you couldn't pinpoint who it was.

Granted, your only normal year in high school was the first, and you didn't remember much about it. After that, Will went missing, and… Your mind had been a bit numb to the normal days ever since, you wouldn't be surprised if this person was a classmate of yours.

Abril 29, 1985

After a couple of months, you genuinely felt as if you knew this person.

It was odd if you so much as stopped to think about it. He opened his heart to what he thought was an abandoned channel, yet you were always there, listening; but never talking back. You knew his voice by memory, yet he didn't even know there was someone on the other end.

Sometimes — most of the time — there was a pang of nagging guilt at the back of your mind. But you'd usually think to yourself; what if, someday, something happens and he needs someone?

Well, you'd most likely be there, and if anything, the thought made you feel a little better about your curiosity.

The lonely boy on the walkie-talkie became your secret. A secret, for the sole reason, that he also became your comfort. These days your house was mostly always empty. You slept with the device resting on your bedside table. If you closed your eyes forcefully enough, you could almost feel as if he was there with you. He became a constant presence in your day, even when he didn't speak, you knew he was there. Knowing there was someone else out there made you feel less alone.

Sometimes, when the sizzled voice coming from the device was too shaky, laced with tears and sorrow; the guilt made itself more present, you wished you had the courage to speak up. To tell him that you were there too, that you could be there for him if he wanted you to, the same way he involuntarily was there for you.

After a long Thursday, you were sleeping, the rain outside had lulled you to an easy slumber tonight. However, when your bedside clock hit 2:08 AM, a distant voice started pulling you away from dreamland.

The sound was distant to your ears at first, waiting for your body to fully wake up. You opened your drowsy eyes with a frown, looking around your bedroom that was still engulfed in darkness, with only the street lamps making the raindrops on your window shine.

And then you heard the familiar voice again, quiet, molding itself into the night.

Maybe it was a bit foolish of you to leave the walkie on during the night, but these days, you couldn't help yourself.

"… and Wayne found a picture of my mom. He says I have her eyes."

He continued, apparently. You pushed yourself up with your elbows, the covers pooling at your waist. You wondered how much of his monologue you had missed.

"I don't…"

The tears staining his voice were pretty noticeable tonight.

"I don't remember her that well anymore, I wish we'd had more time… Shit."

And that was all. Static, and then he was gone again. It was fast, part of you wishing you hadn't slept at all.

July 4, 1985

You took a deep breath in, bracing yourself for the pain. With one hand grabbing onto the bathroom sink, you draped the antiseptic-covered cloth against the wound in your abdomen.

The paramedics at the mall did a good enough job, but some cuts still needed a bit more attention.

It had been one hell of a week and you barely had time to breathe between being trapped in a Russian elevator, finding a Russian base, being drugged and tortured by said Russians, and for the cherry on top, fighting a human flesh-based giant monster.

You were heavily considering a vacation from Hawkins.

Biting into your lip, you carefully closed the bandage over the wound. The white sink of your bathroom was covered in blood, as were the tip of your fingers and parts of your clothes. Tonight, you thanked the heavens for your mother's busy schedule, providing you with an empty house and plenty of time to clean up the mess.

Steve, the ever-sweet boy, offered to stay with you and help with… whatever you might need. You said you were fine, which, was a lie, but he had enough pain of his own to take care of.

You discarded your shirt to the bathroom floor, looking at your exposed skin in the mirror with a grimace. Long sleeves and sunglasses would be your go-to for a while if you wanted to avoid questions. You were popping open the buttons of your jeans when the crackle and static of the walkie-talkie made you jump. The warm voice of the stranger buzzed through right after.

"Starcourt just burst into flames."

You placed a hand over your racing heart, tightly shutting your eyes before reaching out for the walkie that rested against the tub.

"Yeah it's- it's crazy, the new town mall just burned to a crisp, at least that's what the news is saying. But I don't know man, I was making a deal near there when I heard the ambulances, there were so many of them; I mean, they said a lot of people died, so…"

You sat down on the edge of the tub, holding the walkie tightly between your hands as you listened intently.

"But still, I walked up to see what was happening and the place was filled with cops, army even, and well, ambulances. I had never seen something like that. And the weird thing is that there were some people from school there, Harrington for one, I also saw some kids from middle school and… Y/N was there…"

A chill ran up and down your spine when you heard him say your name. This person, the one you've been listening to in what was supposed to be a dead channel, the one who chased away the cold feeling of loneliness; knew you. Your lips hung open in shock, he said your name with such ease. He saw you there, he recognized you from a distance and under the blinking lights of the ambulances. Your chest constricted around your heart, squeezing tightly up towards your throat. You wanted to know him too.

You felt guilty for not being able to pinpoint who he was. Okay, the sound of a voice through a walkie-talkie is not the best or clearest. Still, if he knew you so easily, he definitely went to the same school as you, had the same classes, walked the same hallways.

Raising a hand, you rubbed your eyes and clawed at your hair. Urging yourself to think of someone, anyone.

"She- I saw her, she was sitting by herself in the back of an ambulance and I think she was crying. I'm not sure but, she looked so beat up, and- and hurt and I was walking, I mean, I was going to walk up to her to see if she was okay but a cop didn't let me. Maybe for the best, would just end up scaring her more I guess. To be honest, I don't know why I'm talking about it, I just felt like… Nevermind."

Scare you?

Your unfocused eyes stared ahead for long seconds. The cold from the tiles seeping through your body because of your bare feet.

One person came to your mind.

You hugged yourself, arm closing around your abdomen, feeling the cold, bruised skin underneath.

You thought of soft and unruly brown curls, tattoos, metal band t-shirts, and leather jackets.

You had never talked with him, shared maybe one class, literature; he rarely said anything then too. You passed by each other in the hallways, and you once caught him watching you in the cafeteria, he had been so flustered when it happened that you found it adorable. You then started shooting him small smiles here and there, and he reciprocated with big ones of his own.

Robin told you about him once. The School's Freak, she said people called him.

______

There was no way for you to be completely sure it was him, it's not like you could walk up to him one day and ask about it.

But you did start paying more attention to him, Eddie. It was hard when you only had him in the same class as yours one time, and other than that, only bumping into each other in the hallways didn't leave much room to observe.

You could walk up to him and talk, he seemed sweet. You didn't have all that courage yet though.

So you kept on listening, and your eyes kept on searching for him in the crowds. A few months went by like that, and you grew attached to someone you had never talked to.

December 6, 1985

Cold wind was raging outside and you were glad to have a working heater in your house. No amount of it felt enough though, as you sat on the carpet in front of the lit fireplace.

Your dog lay beside you, as you annoyed yourself by trying to set up the Christmas tree; it was a bit too big for the flower pot you had at home.

Slowly letting go of the branches, you said a quiet "yes" when the tree didn't topple over.

You started with putting on the blinking lights, turning them on to bathe the room in a multitude of colors. And as you rummaged through the trinkets, your ears caught in with the familiar static;

"So, I felt like setting up a Christmas tree this year. It's in the kitchen and it's not big, but it's there. I- I even bought some lights and there were some ornaments tucked away in a box that I found…"

The walkie was resting on top of your couch and you found yourself yet again smiling alone because of the pure happiness that came from your unusual companion.

"Christmas was never a very… happy holiday for me but, maybe this year will be better."

"I hope it is." You caught yourself answering back quietly, for no one to hear.

January 3, 1986

Winters could be pretty harsh on Hawkins. The break was over and it just so happened to be pouring rain on the first day back to school.

The skies were grey, heavy drops of water hitting the pavement as you turned the wheel into the parking lot. Of course, it was packed with cars, no one wanted to walk when it was raining.

You groaned as you pulled up in one of the farthest spots from school. Closing the zipper of your jacket, you grabbed your backpack and a small yellow umbrella you always had in your car.

The little thing didn't do all that much in keeping the rain from reaching you, with help from the wind, the only part of your body you managed to keep dry was your head. With one hand holding the umbrella and the other a strap of your bag, you took quick steps towards the school; walking forward with purpose when actually you should be paying attention to the puddles and many leaves the wind knocked down last night.

Water splashed around your boots, but before you could even get annoyed at that, your foot was slipping on brown leaves; the motion sent you falling back and you could only think of your backpack being submerged in the puddle.

It never happened though. You closed your eyes bracing for the impact, and instead felt two arms around your waist, your back hitting someone's chest instead.

"Woah hey, careful. That would've been a disaster."

You clutched your sorry excuse of an umbrella, slowly standing up and removing yourself from the embrace that caught you. His voice reverberated through your body in the form of a shiver, making your heart pump blood faster. The tight grip you had on the umbrella was mimicked from the one in your lungs. You couldn't breathe, because you knew that voice.

Turning around, you met the chocolate brown eyes you had been secretly wanting to see this up close for months now.

Eddie looked down at you with the ghost of a smile, he wore a black hoodie to protect himself from the rain; still, some droplets of water clung to his hair and eyelashes, shining.

And your silence must have sent him the wrong message because he stuffed his hands in the hoodie's pocket and took a few steps away from you.

He cleared his throat, eyes moving to look at something over your shoulder. "Yeah, sorry. I just didn't want you to fall, didn't mean to overstep or anything."

You internally kicked yourself multiple times for being a weirdo. "No, you didn't overstep, at all. uh- thank you." You breathed, managing a reassuring smile. "Really, you saved me from a massive embarrassment and from being cold all day."

You quickly maneuvered your umbrella to cover both of you, moving to stand beside Eddie. "Come on, let's get out of this rain."

Eddie's cheeks flushed pink at the unusual kindness. He walked side by side with you, bodies close under the yellow umbrella. Butterflies fluttered inside his stomach because he finally talked to the girl who held his heart's affection.

Once inside the school, Eddie headed to his art class whilst you walked to your science one. He waved a shy goodbye at you and that was it.

Even if you tried, you couldn't possibly concentrate on what the teacher was saying or the notes you were supposed to be taking. Eddie Munson was the lonely stranger who had been keeping you company over the last year. Seeing the clear picture now, you were frustrated for not putting two and two together sooner.

You were fidgeting with the pencil on your hands, biting your tongue until you almost tasted blood because now the person who spoke over the static of the walkie was suddenly so real, so tangible. And if anything, knowing it was Eddie only made your heart swell harder for him.

January 23, 1986

Friday nights were your nights, the time you always gave yourself to simply relax. You'd pick up a movie at Family Video, taking the opportunity to hang out with Robin and Steve at their new place of work for a while; then get home and change into your most comfortable pajamas, make some popcorn, and lunge on the couch. Just as you are now.

You lazily stroked your dog's fur, who was passed out beside you. The lights were off and the only thing illuminating your face where the images on the TV.

Last time you checked it was around 8 PM, but after a long week, your eyes slowly started to drop with tiredness. That is until the walkie-talkie inside your backpack started buzzing with the familiar static, and you were suddenly more awake than ever.

You scrambled to grab it, quickly raising the antenna before throwing yourself onto the couch again. You lowered the volume of the TV, waiting.

You heard a pained grunt first and then;

"Jesus man, they got me good today. Ugh shit- I feel like a truck ran me over or something."

Concern etched itself into your face instantly, you grabbed your blanket closer to yourself, praying for some kind of elaboration from Eddie.

Eddie. It still felt so foreign to have a name for the lonely voice now.

"I should- I should be used to it by now but… I just want it to stop. Whatever man, I'll just strap a band-aid to it and sleep it off."

"No, no, no. Don't do that." You mumbled to yourself. You ran a hand through your hair, stomach twisting in anxiousness. Running over every possible scenario in your head, even with most of them Eddie hating you in the end, you decided that you wouldn't leave him alone today.

You took a deep breath, bracing yourself for what you were about to do, crossing your fingers for it to not be a mistake.

You pushed the button on the walkie. "You should clean the cut first."

Silence, there was silence for a long time. His voice was smaller when he spoke again, hesitant.

"I- I'm sorry I thought this was a dead channel… No one ever answered, I'm- I didn't mean to.."

"It's okay," you closed your eyes, interrupting him. "It was a dead channel, I think; I just stumbled upon it a while ago — not long, promise — and I heard you, and, I don't know it felt like you could use some company I guess. But then, I- I never really said anything."

You bit your lip, nerves making you tap your knee incessantly. "I sort of just, hung around in case you… I wasn't listening like a creep or something just- I'll switch channels in a minute okay? I just need to know, are you hurt?"

You let go of the button and groaned audibly, facepalming because of your own words.

"A little, yeah."

His quiet voice was a relief, part of you expected him to leave you hanging. You leaned back on your couch. "Okay, uh listen, if it's a cut, you need to clean it up, if you don't have antiseptics just use water. And if it's just a small one, it's best to leave it open, so it can heal on its own."

"You have a lot of experience with this stuff?"

You smiled. "Yeah, you could say that."

Eddie was surprisingly chill about your whole predicament. You walked him through patching himself up. From what he told you it wasn't that bad, just a few punches here and there that would leave him sore for a few days. It still made you feel sick to your stomach though.

Talking with him was easy, the way his voice addressed you made you smile. About an hour had passed when you deemed he was taken care of.

"Hey, I'm sorry for never telling you there was someone else on this channel. It was a shitty move, I just never managed the courage to speak up I guess." You told him before ending the call. "But I promise I'll never switch to it again."

You held the walkie between both your hands, the movie on your TV had long since been over.

"It's okay. Anyone could've found this random frequency, I'm glad it was you. I uh- usually change them, from time to time. But this one was always silent, so I figured I'd stay."

Picking at a loose strand from your blanket, you pressed the button again. "I'm sorry." You mumbled again. "It was never my intention to intrude. Just so you know, I wasn't always listening, to you, I mean… Sometimes it happened but, like I said I thought that maybe one day you might need someone to talk to or something."

Eddie must have heard the worry in your tone because his next words calmed you;

"You don't need to apologize, it's okay. To be honest I don't know why I started doing… this. I guess I just wanted to pretend like someone cared to listen to my whining. It feels- it feels nice to hear a voice answering back for a change. You don't need to leave."

And so you stayed.

______

The routine that you both created was different, to say the least. You didn't realize how much you were dreading having to leave his channel on the walkie until he said you could stay and you felt the weight being lifted from your shoulders.

Now, you were actually talking to each other. You felt like a thirteen-year-old with her first crush each time you heard Eddie's shy voice calling out for you over the walkie-talkie. He was always hesitant, always a bit too quiet in the beginning. But he seemed to enjoy the company just as much as you did.

You saw him at school every day, sharing nothing more than a few 'good mornings' here and there. Maybe he knew it was you who he talked to on the supposedly dead channel. Maybe he suspected it could be you, just like you did in the beginning. Either way, he never asked.

And you didn't either. It was a silent mutual understanding that names didn't need to be exchanged. You knew he felt more comfortable this way, after all, he was sharing his heart out with what he thought was no one before you spoke up.

You let Eddie set the pace, this was his safe space. When he felt ready to talk in person or ask about you, you'd be there.

February 4, 1986

"Come on guys it's no fun if you just stay sitting there," Max complained, before dropping her skate to the ground and making her way to the ramps.

You and Steve sat on a blanket under a big willow tree, one of the few shadows surrounding the skate park. The day was sunny and the place was filled with teens.

"Alright, I think I'll go then." Steve got up, stretching his limbs and picking up the rollerblades. "You coming?" He turned to you.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute." You smiled at him. He shot you a smile back before making his way to the cement slopes in the park.

You closed your eyes, breathing in the fresh air of the trees around you.

"Hey, um, you- you there?"

Hearing the sizzled voice coming from the walkie near your backpack, you stretched an arm to grab it; pulling the antenna up and pressing the button. "Hi, yeah, I'm here."

"Cool, is this like, a good time, am I interrupting something?"

You smiled with Eddie's voice, your eyes following Steve's wobbly movements on his rollerblades. You laughed when Max had to rush to him so he wouldn't fall.

"No, it's perfect," You told Eddie.

That was the day you held your first normal conversation with him. He had called just for that, to talk; and your heart just about melted. You told him where you were, told him how a friend of yours was kinda bad at skating and the younger one was a pro. And Eddie told you about going to lunch with his uncle, how the man sometimes was the dad he never had.

March 12, 1986

"And then he just ran over the living room, dragging mud everywhere. God, I was so mad." You giggled, laying down on your bed and holding the walkie over the pillow next to yours.

A soft static came and Eddie's voice followed. You heard his laugh first, making your smile widen.

"I can imagine the mess. But it's so cool that you have a dog, man. I've always wanted a cat, or a dog too."

You turned around, eyes fixed on the pillow beside you, a tiny part of you hoped to see Eddie staring back at you. Outside your window, you caught a glimpse of the evening sun, orange and pink rays announcing its departure for the day. "Yeah, he's good company. Makes me laugh even if I get mad first."

Silence followed after. You closed your eyes, conjuring up an image of Eddie raking his mind over what to say next. It was cheesy. You didn't care.

"You know, I- I've been learning a new song, I play guitar, and I've been learning this new song. It's pretty sick, it's not perfect yet but… Do you- do you wanna hear it?"

You pushed yourself up on your elbows, breathing out a chuckle. Your heartbeat was drumming against your ribcage, happy that he was slowly becoming comfortable enough to share more things with you. "I would love to."

"Okay, here goes…"

You could hear the smile on his words, and as he started strumming the cords on his guitar, you decided that you loved hearing him play.

March 22, 1986

You'd never wanted this to be the way for you to see him again.

After calling a bunch of people and searching up every Rick in town just to find Eddie, then finally getting a hold of him in a secluded house at Lover's Lake and sort of filling him in about what was potentially happening; your friends were now deciding how to continue.

"Are we just gonna leave him here?"

"I mean it's not like we can walk around town with him."

"Then we can, I don't know, stop at a market by morning and bring him some food."

Dustin, Steve, and Robin talked amongst themselves, their faces illuminated by flashlights and the moonlight seeping through the shack's windows. You were leaning against the iron wall in the far corner, gaze trained on the swaying boat but not really focused.

To put it lightly, things went to shit. The upside-down was showing its claws again, but your main concern is that Eddie was being accused of murder.

Slowly, your gaze found him, and the mere sight tore your heart into two. He was slumped down in the opposite corner of the small shack, hugging his knees to his chest and shaking violently; his cheeks had tear tracks on them, no doubt his mind was reliving what he went through.

You wanted to go to him. Hug him close and tell him everything would be okay. But things weren't so simple. Until now, you still hadn't spoken to him in person again. You didn't know where boundaries started or ended.

"Okay, it's settled then." Steve decided. "Hey man, we're gonna bring you something to eat by morning yeah? Until then just… Try and get some rest." He addressed Eddie, who could only look at him.

One by one, your friends exited the fishing shack, walking out into the night, your gaze switched between the door and Eddie's small figure against the wall. You took slow steps to the door but stopped by the threshold.

"Steve," you called for your friend, hand resting on the doorway, "I think I'm gonna stay too, it's not good for him to be alone."

Steve walked back to you with a frown, his sneakers crushing the leaves underneath. "Are you sure?"

You nodded, reaching out a hand to squeeze his. "Yeah it's alright, I don't want him alone."

The look in your eyes didn't leave much room to argue. Steve left with a reassuring smile and the promise of food by morning.

As the car sped off in the distance, you closed the door behind you and turned to Eddie. He hadn't moved, his eyes were clouded with dread.

You took careful steps towards him, wincing at how the old wooden floor screeched beneath your feet. You moved to sit down in front of him, leaning your back on some wooden crates.

"You didn't have to stay." Eddie forced out, with a quiet tone that broke in the middle. His gentle brown eyes were glistening under the fading moonlight.

Gulping down a lump in your throat, you managed a smile. "I wanted to."

Eddie's gaze drifted from yours, the curl on his lips was bittersweet. "It's you, isn't it? Who- who I've been talking to."

You could hear your own heartbeat. "Yeah." You breathed out.

Eddie bounced once in his seat, leaning forward with a real smile. "I knew it!"

His excitement made you chuckle. You thought about how this would happen, you never imagined it this way though. Yet somehow, sitting with him in an old fishing shack in the dead of night while hiding from authorities, felt weirdly right.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, I just didn't want to…" You trailed off.

"Mess it up?" Eddie finished for you and you nodded.

He picked at a loose thread on the rip of his jeans. "Yeah, me neither. I mean, I had a feeling, that it was you, I thought your voice was familiar but… I never had the balls to ask."

Eddie looked up at you then, pupils blown as he took you in. You, the person who became his safe space. The one who could take his breath away with just a simple 'hello'.

Since the first time you shot him a dazzling smile at school his heart had been entranced with you. People rarely spared him the time of day, yet you graced him with a genuine smile every day. And Eddie wholeheartedly meant it the day he said he was glad it was you who found his channel on the walkie.

Back then he didn't know how much he was hurting, aching for someone that would care about him, about listening to him. And that day, when your voice came through the once dead channel, his lungs took a deep breath of fresh air after weeks, months of drowning in murky waters, alone.

Eddie counted the minutes to your conversations each day, it was the best part of his day, the one he looked forward to the most. Talking with you was easy, he became addicted fast, and fell even faster.

You decided that it wouldn't be a problem for you both to sleep inside Rick's house, it's not like anyone would come looking, and sleeping on hard wood or inside a boat was less than ideal.

The house was a mess inside, looking like it had been abandoned for some time. Dust covered the surfaces, most things being out of place and haphazardly thrown around. You searched around for rooms with Eddie close behind you.

There were two bedrooms, you stood in the hallway between both doors. "I can take this one and you take the other?" You pointed to one of the rooms.

Eddie nodded hesitantly, he was fidgeting with his rings, uneasy. You could tell something was bothering him, and you had a feeling about what it was. "Or, we could just take the same room."

"Yeah," Eddie let out a relieved sigh instantly, "please." He was dreading the feeling of being alone. Even if you were in the other room, it was too far.

You both removed shoes and unnecessary layers of clothing, laying down on the bed with a reasonable distance between you. The bed smelled… old, like it hasn't been used in some time, but it looked clean.

Eddie was as stiff as a rock beside you, even not touching him you could feel it. You turned to him, adjusting the covers over you. "Try to relax Eddie, you need to rest."

He breathed out, lower lip wobbling with the motion before he turned to you as well. Eddie clutched the covers closer to his chest, a cheap attempt at seeking some kind of comfort. "You know I didn't do it, right?" He tentatively raised his gaze to yours after he spoke, barely being able to make out your face in the darkness of the room.

You frowned, for a split second wondering what he was talking about until the worry in his voice caught up to you. "Of course I do. Eddie, I- I know you, and I know you would never hurt anyone. It's just not who you are. You're good." In a bold move, you reached out and took his hand in yours, squeezing and running your thumb over his knuckles.

Eddie felt his whole body filling with goosebumps at your touch, air getting stuck on his throat as he savored the feeling. He scooted closer to you, only a little, and didn't let go of your hand through the whole night.

March 24, 1986

After Max figured out she was most likely next on Vecna's list, you had to leave Eddie's side to help your friends.

Steve's car was waiting on the side of the road for you to get in, a breeze was flowing through the grey sky, rustling green and brown leaves.

You put on your jacket and prepared to leave Eddie's hiding place, walking to the front door of the neglected house, with Eddie right behind you. You turned to him before you walked outside. "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"

Eddie stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around the house. "Yeah, I don't think anyone will come looking here. Plus, your friends need you."

"You're my friend too." You told him quietly, tilting your head as your eyes remained on him.

Gentle brown eyes found yours, Eddie pursed his lips before taking half a step towards you. He was about to reach out for you but hesitated, clearing his throat awkwardly before lifting a hand to the back of his neck and extending the other for you to shake.

His attempt at pretending he wasn't about to give you a hug made you giggle. You closed the gap between you with a smile, pulling Eddie to you and holding on tightly.

His arms went instantly around your waist and he lowered his head against your shoulder. "Be safe, yeah?"

After being separated from Eddie; Nancy, Robin and you took a trip to Pennhurst, managing to speak with Victor Creel just in time to save Max's life.

March 25, 1986

Between saving Max and finding Victor's abandoned house, only now do you and your friends have time to check up on Eddie.

Your knee was bouncing incessantly the whole car ride there, your stomach was twisting with a weird bad feeling like something wasn't right. And sure enough, when you finally arrived at Rick's old house, it was surrounded by cops, nosy civilians, and the town's reporters. Yellow tapes blocked the access to the area and you just about felt your heart dropping to your ass at the sight; surely going a few shades paler at the thought of anyone finding Eddie.

Luckily, he seemed to have gotten away. Your fists balled in anger when you heard the chief of police making Eddie's name public as the prime suspect of the damned murders.

"Dustin? Can you hear me? Y/N?"

You had never been so relieved to hear Eddie's voice through the familiar crackle and static of the walkie-talkie. Before Dustin could even think of answering, you were already snatching the walkie from his backpack and taking a few steps away from the crowd to answer.

"Eddie? Thank god, you almost gave me a heart attack, are you okay?"

From the other end of the frequency, crouching under a massive rock in the middle of the woods, Eddie dropped his forehead against the walkie held between his shaky hands; a single tear escaping his eye.

"Not really, sweetheart. But shit, it's so good to hear your voice through this thing again, you have no idea."

You smiled, tension leaving your body in waves for the very same reason. "Where are you? I'll come find you."

"Skull rock, you know it?"

"I know where it is," Steve told you, all of you already making a beeline for the car.

The woods you were walking through to find Skull rock were dense, everywhere you looked sort of seemed to be the same place and you could only pray that Steve and Dustin knew where they were headed.

All you could think about was finding Eddie, making sure he was okay, and then never leaving his side again. Leaves and branches crushed beneath your sneakers, Robin and Nancy spoke softly behind you, their voices mixing with the birds singing around the forest. Despite the situation, you found yourself smiling because of the unlikely bond you had formed with the long-haired boy.

Steve squeezed his way past dense bushes with a huge grin, revealing the giant rock. "There she is Henderson, Skull rock. In your face man." He said happily, apparently winning whatever discussion he'd been having with Dustin.

"Doesn't make sense," Dustin said beside you, making you turn your head to him with a soft frown.

"Yeah, even with it staring you right in the face, you can't admit it. You just can't admit that you're wrong, you little butthead." Steve shrugged, lightly mocking the teen.

A loud thud came from behind you, then. Making you jump on the spot and quickly whip your head around.

"I concur, you Dustin Henderson, are a total butthead." Eddie took a deep breath in, hands resting on his hips.

Your lips turned up with a relieved smile, you didn't waste a second before walking the remaining steps towards him. You pulled Eddie to you with a stronger grip than before, closing your eyes to just feel him, there and safe.

"I was so worried, thought they got you." You mumbled against him.

Eddie held you back with the same intensity, one hand running up your spine and to your shoulder blades. "Yeah me too, sweetheart." He squeezed a little tighter, basking in the feeling of comfort only you can give him.

______

You could safely say that being in the upside-down was not on your bucket list. Yet here you were, swinging oars at cursed bats that decided to feast on Steve's torso. The sight was nightmarish, it was your Hawkins, only much darker, with a never-ending red storm in the sky, dust particles that made it hard to breathe, and gross vines crawling everywhere.

And only after — sort of — winning the fight against the bats and losing the creatures with help of the forest; that you finally felt the nagging pain in your leg.

You were walking beside Eddie, who was still freaked out. Steve, Nancy, and Robin just a step ahead amidst the looming trees. It started with just a distant pain that had you limping, then you felt wetness running down your ankle and soon enough you were light-headed, some trees doubling themselves in your vision.

You didn't register you were falling until Eddie was scrambling to catch you.

"Y/N? Shit, don't do this to me. What happened?" He was already on edge and right now it'd be safe to say he was on the verge of panic. He had both arms under yours, maneuvering you to sit on the ground with your back against his chest.

His voice alerted the others, who came running back.

Nancy crouched in front of you, concern evident on her face as she checked for injuries. "I think she was bitten on her leg."

She lifted your jeans slowly, causing you to groan with the sharp pain shooting up and down your leg. You could feel Eddie squeezing your hand, his chin coming down to rest on your shoulder as you heard his soft voice telling you you'd be okay.

Using Eddie's bandana, Nancy managed a tourniquet around your leg. The bleeding ceased to a minimum, and you allowed yourselves at least five minutes to breathe given that you and Steve had been hurt pretty badly.

Eddie rested his back against a nearby tree, and even if you asked, you didn't think he'd let you go. So you remained in his arms, comfortably resting back onto his warm chest.

He had his arms wound around your abdomen, grip never wavering. You brought a hand over his, brushing over his knuckles.

You felt him tense momentarily behind you, then he started lazily playing with your fingers. "Getting back at me for making you worry earlier?"

A chuckle escaped you, leaning your head back on his shoulder. "Something like that, yeah."

Several heartbeats passed before you felt Eddie turning his head, his lips grazed your hairline. "I can't lose you, man. I just- can't."

His voice came out quiet and broken, if you weren't literally feeling his breath against your ear, you wouldn't have heard. Goosebumps filled your body, you grasped his hand in yours.

"You won't." You promised.

March 26, 1986

It was almost bittersweet, the momentary peacefulness of the green fields, when you knew what you would be heading into soon. The place was gorgeous, a hidden treasure maybe. The blue of the sky contrasts with the endless grass plains, with numerous trees surrounding the clearing.

You sat by the trailer Eddie and Steve stole, preparing molotovs with Robin. You opened one of the bottles, pushed the cloth inside, and heard a familiar laugh in the distance; looking up, you saw Eddie wrestling with Dustin, both boys running around on the green field with smiles on their faces.

"How's your leg?"

Robin's voice from beside you made you aware of your own smile. You tried to hide it, focusing back on your task, but not before stealing a last glance towards Eddie. "It's better. Bothering a little but nothing I can't handle."

When Robin didn't answer, you glanced up to meet her eyes. She had a shit-eating grin on her face, making you raise an unimpressed eyebrow.

"You two are adorable, y'know?" Robin mused, smile persistent as she put another finished molotov to the side.

"We're friends, Robin." You grumbled, feeling your cheeks heat up.

"Oh yeah, you totally are."

From far away, Eddie swung his newly made shield around, with an excited bounce on his feet. "Hit me, Henderson."

Dustin jabbed the makeshift spear into Eddie's shield, both of them smiling when both weapons held up well.

Twirling the spear in his hands, Dustin rolled his eyes when he noticed Eddie sneaking a glance towards the stolen trailer for the thousandth time. "When were you going to tell me about her anyway?"

Eddie's head snapped towards Dustin, and he straightened in his stance, both hands holding the shield to his chest. "What are you talking about, man?"

Dustin spread his arms and pointedly raised his eyebrows as if to say 'seriously?'; "you and Y/N obviously, when did that happen and why am I always the last one to know?"

"There's nothing to know and nothing to tell, alright? We're just friends." Eddie told him nervously, pushing away strands of hair that the wind had brought to his eyes. "She deserves much better anyway." He grumbled to himself.

The incredulous look on Dustin's face would have been comical if he hadn't all but shouted his next words; "spare me, dude, everyone can see it, you like each-"

"Jesus christ, shut it Henderson." Eddie sprinted towards him, shield pointed at the boy who had no other option than to stop talking and defend himself.

______

The moment you crossed the portal back to your Hawkins, and Eddie hesitated, you could swear you felt your heart freezing in your chest. Before he even cut the rope, you were already begging him not to do it.

The makeshift rope fell on your hands and he might as well have plunged the spear right into your heart. Eddie was looking up at you from the upside-down and your throat was already closing with dread, you were screaming at him, words you couldn't even remember. When he walked away from the portal with the promise to come back, for the first time, you didn't believe him.

Everything had happened in a haze, you told Dustin to not dare move as you managed a way up and back through the portal. The wounds on your leg were stinging with each of your movements, more so as you hit the ground on the cursed side of Hawkins.

Your pain hadn't been a concern then, the sole thing on your mind was to find Eddie. You had thrown open the trailer door and ran out into the upside-down world as fast as your legs could carry you, not stopping once, sneakers thudding against the grey ground.

When you saw the swarm of bats circling only one spot, in a hurricane-like manner, hundreds of them going from the ground and up to the sky; you knew Eddie was there, in the eye of the storm. With no regard for your own safety, air stuck in your lungs in a mix of fear and adrenaline, you ran to him.

You could remember the particles in the atmosphere clouding your throat, the blood flowing down your leg.

You had found him there then, tears collecting on the bottom lid of your eyes. You didn't stop though. Eddie was on the ground, with the tail of one of the bats around his neck and a few others trying to claw at his abdomen.

What lasted about five seconds felt like an eternity. You had spotted Eddie's spear, grasping it tightly in your hands and slicing the bat's tail clean off its body, aiming for the ones attacking Eddie next.

When Eddie stumbled up beside you, wobbly on his feet but still standing, shield in his hands; you had already felt a faint relief.

Not even a minute after, all the bats surrounding you were falling from the sky as some sick resemblance of rain. Dead. You thanked whoever did it. Dropping down to your knees — to catch the first real huff of breath ever since the rope had fallen heavily in your hands — you looked Eddie over, who had also been breathing heavily beside you. He was hurt, yes; a few bites and scratches here and there, but he was okay. No air seemed to be enough for you though, almost like the beginnings of a panic attack that you tried to chase away.

Eddie had extended a hand to you, you had seen the worry in his eyes that no doubt were mimicking yours.

And that had been the last look you gave him. You had pushed his hand away weakly, standing up on your own, with legs that almost didn't have enough strength to carry you. Your chest was going up and down with difficulty. You had dropped the spear to the ground with a thud, slowly limping back to the portal on the trailer. Eddie followed, you didn't look at him.

Now — after Steve, Nancy and Robin had found their way back through the portal as well, and you all but collapsed into Steve's arms because your body had simply given up — you sat on the couch at the back of the stolen trailer. Steve was driving, telling everyone all about the fight with Vecna, Nancy sat on the passenger's seat and Robin sat with Dustin near the front, along with Max, Lucas, and Erica after you picked them up.

And Eddie, given his home still sported a portal — a slowly retreating one, but it was still there — sat beside you. You put a distance between you both though, pressing yourself against the end of the couch and looking out the window.

You could feel the way his eyes hardly left you, most likely wondering why you were so quiet. Thing is, you couldn't bring yourself to look at Eddie, or talk to him. Anger was bubbling inside you because of what he did, because of how reckless his actions were. You knew the raw fear was lingering too, however.

"Hey guys, where should I drop you off?" Steve looked at you through the rearview mirror.

"I'll go to uh-" Eddie started, but you spoke over him.

"My house, he's coming with me."

"Yeah that- that's exactly what I was going to say." Eddie agreed quickly, his hands incessantly fidgeting with the hem of his green vest.

Your house arrived quickly, you said goodbye to your friends with a tight hug to each of them, making them promise to take care of themselves whilst they made you do the same.

The night was cold as you slowly limped your way up the stone path that lead to your front door. The lights on the house were turned off, you weren't surprised. It was late, you didn't know how late but the whole town seemed to be asleep already, unaware of the evil that had once again been defeated just minutes ago.

Eddie walked close behind you, one hand lingering against his stomach as the other stayed ready to catch you if you stumbled.

You hadn't bothered to lock your front door and for once you were happy about it, your guard dog came running to greet you, making a beeline for the stranger behind you.

"Hello to you too." You grumbled to your dog and turned on the lights in the living room.

"Oh, it's your dog, hey dude." Despite his wounds, Eddie was happy to crouch down and shower your dog with pats. Huge smile on his face as he bit his lower lip, fingers disappearing amongst the fur.

From your place in the hallway, you stole a glance at them. Instantly, tears were prickling at the back of your eyes.

Shaking your head, you walked to your bathroom. Turning on the lights, you winced at how the white tiles reflected the brightness. Bracing yourself on the sink counter, you met your own eyes in the mirror. To say you look awful would be a massive understatement. You had a rather big cut on your cheek that you didn't even know was there before now, droplets of blood and dust covered a good part of your skin, your hair all over the place, and not even counting how your whole body was complaining in pain.

You definitely needed a vacation.

Eddie slowly appeared behind you, brown eyes finally being able to find yours through the mirror. You saw how his hand reached out for you, and how he pulled it back before he could touch you.

"Are you- are you okay?"

And his voice was so gentle, so soft that you wanted to grab him and not let go, ever. You closed your eyes, lowering your head with a sigh and gripping the edge of the sink until your knuckles turned white.

Eddie shuffled, now standing beside you. He was confused, worried. His body was screaming at him to just hold you, but now, he was afraid of overstepping. "Are we just… not gonna talk?"

"Just sit down." You told him, voice steady.

He nodded, gulping down his feelings as he sat on the edge of the tub and you grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink.

You opened the small box, rummaging through mainly for antiseptics and bandages. You silently motioned for him to take off his shirt.

Eddie tried to do it on his own, but when the movement of raising up his arms elicited more than one pained grunt from him, you stepped in, carefully lifting his shirt above his head.

Seeing the gashes on his skin got your breath stuck in a massive lump in your throat. It wasn't too bad, but there was still blood and he was still hurt. In the back of your mind, you thought about the first time you answered him on the walkie.

"We can count this as progress right?" Eddie tried, a tender smile gracing his lips, his eyes looking up at you with blown pupils. "Last time you were giving me instructions, now you get to do it yourself." Apparently, he remembered it too.

His words made the tiniest smile come to you, which made his only get bigger.

You treated Eddie's wounds with the utmost care. Cleaning them up the best you could and closing the bigger gaps with white bandages that would soon be painted a slight red.

You didn't notice the unsteadiness of your hands, how they shook over his wounds; or the permanent frown on your eyebrows, or the lone tear that escaped your eye and slid down your cheek when Eddie hissed when you touched a particularly sensitive spot on his skin.

Eddie noticed.

Leaving the small cut on his jaw for last, you crouched in front of him, biting the inside of your cheek and raising a hand to clean his face.

Eddie's gaze was heavy, dark eyes fixated on you. You could see the turmoil going on inside his head.

He winced slightly when the wet cloth made contact with his skin, you mumbled an apology. Being so concentrated on what you were doing, you jumped a little when you felt his fingers gently grazing your cheek, over the dried tear track.

A shaky exhale passed through your nose, you met his eyes and saw they were glistening under the bathroom lights; swimming in the feelings he kept guarded inside his chest.

"Talk to me sweetheart, what's wrong?" Eddie asked tentatively, dry lips hanging open, waiting for an answer that never came. "Please." He tried again, quieter.

As much as you might want to, you couldn't bring yourself to do it. You let your hand fall to your lap, avoiding his eyes, you were basically sitting on the floor now.

Eddie pushed a stray hair behind your ear, his eyes roamed your face for a minute and then he was standing up and left the bathroom.

You frowned, but didn't follow after him. You heard as he walked back, your back was still turned to the door and you focused on the sound of his movements.

Eddie sat down against the wall to your right, hissing sharply at the cold tiles, his knees tucked close to his chest. Wordlessly, he reached out and gently dropped the walkie-talkie on your lap, before hugging his knees with one hand, the other holding onto his own walkie.

The grey device on your hands was nothing but a blur through your tears.

You heard the familiar crackle and static. You almost broke down then and there.

"I know you don't wanna talk right now, at least not with me. I just hope you know that I'm here, and I'm- I'm gonna be here whenever you feel ready."

You heard his voice, both from the walkie and from right beside you.

"And… I also hope you know that you're like, the most important person in my life, I think you don't even know how much you've helped me. You're the one thing that takes my mind off of all the bullshit this town has thrown at me… Shit, you make me happy, and maybe you're much more than anything I'd ever deserve; but I'm here for you too, so if you could just- just give me a sign that you're okay, I'll give you peace, or space, or whatever you need. I just need to know if you're okay, please."

Eddie finished, voice growing quieter by the end. He let go of the button on his walkie, making the device sizzle with static.

The tears in your eyes were on the brink of spilling over, chest impossibly tighter. You chanced a glance to the side, to him.

Some tears clung to Eddie's eyelashes, and a few others made their way down, collecting on the end of his chin or stopping at the corner of his lips. His eyes were pleading, burning a hole through your soul.

Running your tongue over your lips, you carefully raised the walkie to your lips. You pressed the button, hesitating only a split second.

"I'm okay, as… okay as one can be after that, but…" You started slowly, each word following a beat of your heart. "Damn it, Eddie, I thought I lost you."

Throwing away the walkie-talkie, you turned your body to him. "Do you have any idea, of the panic I felt when you cut that damn rope? What were you even thinking?"

Eddie put down his own walkie, opening his mouth to answer. You didn't let him;

"It was so- reckless." You uttered out shakily, running a hand through your hair, brows scrunched in anger. "I mean you- you could have fucking died for those damn things if I hadn't gotten there in time, and for what? A little extra time?"

You didn't register you were crying, you didn't register the sobs; and when Eddie reached a hand out for you, you slapped it away. "You don't get to tell me to be careful, or- or say that you can't lose me when you do stuff like that. This goes both ways for fucks sake." Your tone was louder, wobbly, mixed with sobs and tears as you groaned in frustration and hastily wiped your cheeks.

You only noticed that Eddie had successfully managed to grab you when you were pressed against his warm chest. Your head tucked against his neck as both his arms closed around you tightly. Both your legs became a mess of tangled limbs, Eddie lowered his lips to the crown of your head, squeezing you to him and mumbling countless "I'm sorry" and "I'm here" and "it's okay".

His skin was warm under your hands. Your ear, resting just above his heart, allowed you to hear the constant thudding; the reassuring sound slowly but surely calming your trembling body and ragged breathing.

"I never wanted to hurt you. Promise." Eddie spoke against your skin, fingers tracing lazy patterns over your body. "I- when I saw the bats, breaking through the door, all I cared about was keeping you safe. I knew I had to draw them away from you and Dustin. Maybe it was selfish but, I couldn't risk them getting through that thing to reach you."

Shaking your head, you pulled away only enough to look at him. Finally being able to take him in, he was just as much of a mess as you were. The sight made you chuckle.

Eddie felt his heart bursting with warmth at the sound of your laugh, a small smile coming to him as well.

You reached up, thumb carefully tracing the outline of his lower lip, engraving the image of him to your heart forever. He leaned towards your touch. You almost kissed him.

"Just, please promise me you won't do anything this reckless ever again."

Eddie hummed, his hands around your waist tentatively pulling you towards him. "For you, I'd do it again in a heartbeat." His words held a playful tone, accompanied by a cheeky grin. They also held the truth.

"And I'd go after you in a heartbeat." You raised an eyebrow at him, your hand burying in his hair.

"Good, then we got each other's backs on our reckless decisions," Eddie mumbled, his breath ghosting over your lips.

He glanced down to your lips with a silent question, a plea. You answered by closing the gap between you, both hands cradling the back of his head and pulling him to you desperately, urging for closeness.

Here, with your body flush to Eddie's, his lips mapping yours in a motion of love; you couldn't be happier for having stumbled upon him on that dead channel.

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Thank you for reading this story. It was one that took weeks of writing, rewriting, and editing, so feedback and reblogs are very much appreciated so I can keep bringing you these stories. <3

Eddie’s taglist: @alicefallsintotherabbithole @boooil @science--hoes @cherrypieyourface @tssf-imagines @daph-505 @astream-ofconsciousness @fentyreligion @fantasylovestoryme @justabeautiful-letdown @crazyrapunzel @yessica41 @dancing-hillary @bakugouswh0r3 @hehehehannahthings @jakebasement @zervopoulouu @forverdaydreamer-blog @fromthedt @oeuryale @mcueveryday @palah @witchbinchstories

@call-me-magpie @loveshineslikethesky @luvmybbies @tvserie-s-world @agirlsguidetolove @hallothankmas @ribyourtoplip @sweetpeapod @harringt8ns @forsaken-letters @hazydespair @fangirling-4-ever @electric-cabaret @ollyoxenfrees @linkpk88 @twinkofmydreams @paola-carter @masterlistmanic @xceafh

[writing-imagines]

Jealousy // Steve Harrington

Summary: after hearing you talk about Eddie for weeks, Steve finally loses his cool and tells you how he really feels

Request: henderson!reader starts hanging out with eddie after they take lucas' place during the match, and steve starts to get jealous because he likes them. maybe they keep mentioning him at work (family video)? and steve just keeps getting peeved until he confesses or smth like that

Pairing: Steve Harrington x half-sibling Henderson reader

Possible warnings: swearing, Steve snapping at the reader

It was a slow Sunday at Family Video. You and Robin had already taken the week’s inventory, leaving Steve to do the cleaning while you caught up with Robin.

“Oh and Eddie can play the guitar! He played all my favorite songs last night.” You announced with a hint of pride, playfully swinging your legs while sitting on the front desk.

“Wow, Eddie does sound fun. How did you guys end up being friends anyway?” Robin put down her magazine and gave her full attention to you.

“Dustin begged me to take Lucas’ place for their stupid D&D game. After the game ended, Eddie offered to walk me to my car and I found out he’s pretty cool. He’s nowhere near as weird as we thought.”

“Hm, maybe you should invite him to Steve’s party this weekend.” Robin shifted her gaze to Steve sweeping a little too hard. She knew that Steve had a crush on you and your recent taking to Eddie was slowly driving Steve insane.

“What do you think about that, Steve? Can y/n bring Eddie to your party?” Robin asked using her ‘reserved for difficult customers’ voice with an innocent tilt of her head. You looked over your shoulder to see Steve sweeping fast and shrugging his shoulders.

“Whatever. I don’t care.” He practically mumbled, not looking up from the floor.

“Okay, I’m sure Eddie would like it.” You said with a smile before looking back at Robin.

“Believe it or not, Eddie is a sweetheart.” You whispered with a grin.

“I can believe it and I can’t wait to see it.” Robin said, sporting her own grin.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh nothing.” Robin picked up her magazine and continued reading. Meanwhile, you continued to swing your legs and thought about how good Steve looked that morning.

When it came time to close the store, Robin won the coin toss and got to leave early. You and Steve were left alone in the store. Usually, you wouldn’t mind being left alone with Steve, but he had been acting weird all day.

“Have you ever watched Halloween?” You asked Steve as he checked the cash register.

“Of course I have, everyone has seen that movie. It’s a classic.” He said nonchalantly while counting the money.

“So it’s good? Eddie was thinking about renting it so we could watch it together.” Steve slammed the cash register closed as soon as you finished your sentence. You jumped at the loud and sudden noise.

“What the hell, Steve?!” You screamed like you were in a horror movie. Steve quickly turned to face you and he looked furious. You had never seen Steve so angry, it freaked you out a little.

“I’m so tired of hearing about Eddie! He’s all you’ve talked about the last three weeks!” He yelled loud and hard enough to make the veins in his neck pop out.

“I didn’t realize talking about my other friends upset you so much…” You mumbled and looked at the ground, too uneasy to look at Steve. Without another word, you slid off the counter and removed your work vest.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to yell.” He said this time in a much softer and kinder tone, more like the Steve you knew. You forced yourself to look at him and immediately saw the regret written all over Steve’s face.

“I think I’m going to go. I’ll tell Keith to cut an hour off my check.” You began to walk around the corner, but Steve’s gentle grasp on your wrist stopped you.

“No, please don’t go.” Again, you could see regret and sorrow in Steve’s features. Even though he just scared the life out of you, you decided to stay.

“Why are you being so weird?” You questioned softly, worried that Steve might yell again. He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair.

“Because…”

“Because?” You echoed, wondering what the hell had Steve acting so strange.

“Are you really going to make me say it?” Steve briefly looked up from the ground and to you.

“Steve, you’re confusing the hell out of me right now.”

“I-I like you, okay? There, I said it.” Steve uncomfortably crossed his arms and shook his head. Even though Steve was annoyed, you were beyond shocked.

“You like me?” You gawked at Steve with a small smile. He nodded and finally dropped his arms to his side.

“Yes, I like you a lot and I hate hearing you talk about how great Eddie is.”

“Steve…”

“I know, I just ruined our whole friendship.” Steve let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his hair again. Your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. Steve, your long time crush, just admitted that he liked you.

“I like you too.” You said with a huge smile. Steve instantly perked up when he realized what you said. A small quickly spread across Steve’s face.

“You do?”

“Of course I do! Do you really think I like movies enough to work here every weekend on the same exact shifts as you?”

“Well, yeah.” He said with a shrug.

“Oh my god.” You shook your head in disbelief. You were both completely clueless.

“So, now what?”

“I’m kinda hungry. Do you want to grab a quick dinner at the diner?” You asked with a hint of shyness.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” He said with a smile that was typically reserved for flirting.

You both worked faster than normal to close down the store. As you stood outside watching Steve attempt to lock the door, you felt butterflies in your stomach. After years of crushing on Steve, you were finally going on a date with him. You knew Robin and Eddie would tease you endlessly, and Dustin would likely protest you dating his best friend, but you didn’t care. All you cared about was your first date with Steve.

[flamingo-writes]

Fade to Black (part 2) — e.m.

Eddie Munson x Wheeler!Reader (she/her pronouns)

(Prequel)(Part 1)

A/N: I know Henderson!Reader’s fics are very common and popular, but something about Eddie dating the oldest Wheeler is so appealing. I love writing Wheeler!Reader fics samskdkdc I also love this man. This is fluffy I swear. Im gonna keep writing fix it scenarios, to keep coping with that ending 💀 Also, I gave Eddie a tattoo on his ribs.

Title based on the Metallica song by the same name.

Summary: Coming home from college for the spring break, you find yourself tangled in whatever messy situation Mike’s friends are involved now. However, you’re not expecting to find your ex, Eddie Munson, involved in it as well. Things take a bad turn, and in a stupid heroic moment, Eddie ends up terribly wounded, and you’ve got to do something soon, and taking him to the hospital is not a viable option, as he is wanted for murder.

Warnings: vol 2 spoilers, mentions and descriptions of wounds and blood, cursing, mentions of reader having an active sex life,

Genre: hurt/comfort, angst, fluff

Word count: 2.8K

Tag list: @daydreamin1220 @fangirling-4-ever @theeblackbarbiesworld

I love this man, I don’t ever want my Eddie brain rot to end. Pls.

"We need to get him to a hospital" The doctor said.

"No hospitals!" You snapped. "He is gonna get arrested! He was framed and is wanted for murder, but he is innocent!" You yelled.

"We have to take him–"

"No! Proving his innocence will be very fucking hard, and the entire town hates him!" You cried.

"What the hell do you intend to do, then?"

"I don't know! But I'll figure it out. I can improvise here, keep him here for a day or two and then move him and hide him elsewhere" You said.

"Hopper's place! That place is abandoned!" Dustin said.

"We've got a pulse!" One if the paramedics said, turning to look at the doctor.

"I'm trusting you on this, I'm going to let you keep him here, as long as he's stable. If something happens, you take him to a hospital, you hear me?"

You stared into the doctor's eyes, clenching your jaw as tears kept slipping down your cheeks. You nodded hesitantly.

A loud rumbling, followed by a strong earthquake shook the trailer. Dustin freaking out, as the entire paramedics team cursed, but remained glued to Eddie, exchanging terrified looks, but without actually letting go of him. The trailer shook for several seconds, as you cried out Eddie’s name, his safety first thing on your mind rather than your own. Your heart beating nervously in your head as you

And when finally the earthquake stopped, the two paramedics exchanged looks and confused questions before they both snapped back and continued attending Eddie.

The doctor gave instructions as you guided them to Eddie's room, managing to improvise a decent set up. His mattress on the floor, next to the closet doors, hanging from the handle the IV therapy, you watched anxiously from a corner as Eddie lied unconscious, IV going into the back of his hand, and one of the paramedics was giving him meds through the plastic IV tube.

Dustin explained everything that had happened to the paramedics, as they every so often looked at Dustin incredulous and asked questions. Only believing him because of the gate they all saw upon entering the trailer.

Dustin’s explanation was cut short when Steve's voice echoed.

"Henderson!"

"Shit! Sorry doc!" Dustin said rushing to the living room.

"Henderson! What the hell happened to our way out?" Steve asked furious, as Dustin stuttered and started telling them what happened, as some of the paramedics followed Dusting, their puzzled looks only growing wider in horror as they saw people abnormally standing on what would be the roof.

"Eddie cut it"

"What?!" He barked.

"He bought more time for us and cut it once we jumped back, and left to fight the bats!"

"What?! Where is he?"

"What the hell is going on here?" The doctor said, interrupting Dustin and looking up at the ceiling.

—

You remained in Eddie’s room. Now, everyone looking a lot calmer, as you kept your eyes glued to Eddie. He was looking slightly less pale, as he slept, perhaps high on morphine and other pain killers.

"Hey," One of the paramedics, a guy named Rick, called your name softly. "He's stable now, the morphine will keep him knocked out for a long while, got somewhere to write down? I'll tell you the instructions of his treatment…and I'll leave you some morphine and penicillin…okay?"

"Thank you, Rick…" you said as you stood up weakly and grabbed one of Eddie's notebooks lying around and the first pen you saw.

"So, the infamous Eddie is the Eddie you always told us about when you were on call with us?"

"Yeah, that same one…"

"Is he seriously innocent?" You glared at Rick.

"He is innocent, that I'd take the blame for the murders for him, as long as it clears his name, even if I end up in prison…"

"You love him"

"You've got no idea" You said opening the notebook in some random blank page. "Okay, treatment…"

Rick proceeded to list medications and instructions, when and how much of which medication to administer. He asked you to keep the wounds clean and dry, change the bandage at least once a day, and to check his vitals every hour at least until he woke up. You wrote everything down as Rick handed you the meds and a couple of syringes, some more IV fluids, gauzes and bandages.

"Thanks Rick" You whispered.

Before Rick could reach the door, you saw the rest of your friends rushing in the room, looking at both of you. Eddie passed out, shirtless and covered in bandages, and IV connecting him to the volume expander bottle hanging from his closet door, hair disheveled on the pillow. And you, sitting on the floor next to him, your eyes swollen and red, as you had a couple of cuts on your arm.

"Is he alright?" Steve asked, as you nodded.

"He's stable for now…" Rick said. "Anything happens, you give us another call, yes?"

"Thank you guys…" You purred. "Tell the doc," You sighed. "I'll…call him tomorrow morning after Eddie wakes up, and…I'll pay for…everything. Please tell him to not tell my parents…" You purred.

"They don't know you're back with your murderous boyfriend?" Rick joked, managing to steal a chuckle from your throat.

"They never knew. They would've never approved of Eddie, even though he's the best to have happened to me…"

"Yeah, I guess you must think highly of him if you're willing to go to jail for him…" Your friends all turned to Rick, confused and alarmed by his joke as you nodded. "Excuse me, guys…" Rick said moving along and leaving the bedroom.

"Hey," Robin said, as you looked up and met her stare. "He's going to be okay," She assured you.

Nancy walked and knelt besides you, hugging you. She knew what Eddie meant to you, and she knew how hard it was breaking up with him after you moved away, trying to keep a long distance relationship, while trying to get into med school was rough. She was the only one who knew Eddie had been your first many things, first boyfriend, first love, firs kiss, first time; and the good 3 year relationship you had. And she could only imagine how rough it was for you right now looking at Eddie like this.

You sobbed silently against her shoulder, clinging to her for comfort. While you were considerably calmer now, you still were hurting from seeing Eddie in such a state. Wishing you could speed up time until he woke up.

After a while, the paramedics had left, having to attend more emergencies after the unexpected earthquake, Steve, Nancy and Robin told you what happened. Eventually, Erica came to the trailer, letting everyone know what had happened to Max and that her and Lucas were on their way to the hospital.

"What?" Steve snapped at the news.

You spent the night at the trailer, barely letting Eddie out of your sight. Dustin and Nancy stayed with you, keeping you company, and offering to take turns to keep an eye on Eddie and check his vitals. However, the anxiety was keeping you awake, knowing that you wouldn't be able to fall asleep until Eddie woke up, or something else happened.

You kept track of time to check his heart rate, pulse, temperature, and breathing every hour, but you didn't really kept track of how long it had been. You felt stuck in a never ending cycle of obsessively looking at him, waiting for something to happen, almost as if you were watching the grass grow. It made you sick, and more often than not, you sobbed, scared that he might not wake up at all.

You finally felt your soul return to your body, as you were dozing off, leaning against the wall, next to his mattress. Eyes closed and breathing deep, and slightly asleep, although every single noise would make you flinch wide awake and immediately looking at Eddie. This time, what made you snap out of your sleepy state was Eddie’s voice.

"Babe?" His voice was deep, husky, even tired.

Your heart skipped a beat and raced instantly as you looked at him. Your stomach twisting with a tickling euphoria as tears immediately filled your eyes.

"Eddie," You whispered happily, as you leaned on your elbow against the mattress besides his head as you kissed his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm…" He hummed closing his eyes, and grunting, "Funny…"

"It’s the morphine…"

"Oh, I’m on morphine?" His voice was coarse "Nice, I always wanted to try it…" He purred, making you chuckle softly.

"Well, your sense of humor is intact, so…that’s good…" you chuckled and kissed his forehead again.

"What’s the damage, doc?" He muttered weakly as you sighed and leaned back, looking at him. The blanket he had over his body was mostly covering him from his waist down, as he lied shirtless, and covered in stitches and clean bandages.

"Well, that sexy tattoo you’ve got on your ribs and the one on your chest are ruined…but you can get them redone after you’ve healed…the one in your arm and your bats are mildly compromised, but don’t worry, your Metallica tattoo is fine…" You joked, feeling your chest lighting up as he chuckled.

"The Metallica one is my favorite, so, I guess not everything is lost…" He murmured looking at you and smiling.

"You’ve got pretty gnarly wounds…but, I’ll help you get them clean. You’re currently on morphine, and will stay like that until tomorrow, a few more painkillers, antibiotics…Oh and you needed a plasma expander…"

"That sounds nasty…" Eddie sighed.

"It’s a kind of an IV fluid that’s a wannabe blood transfusion basically…" You explained as he frowned softly.

"Oh shit, it was that bad?" He said trying to sit up, groaning.

You immediately stopped him, resting your hands on his chest.

"N-no, baby. Lay back down…" You murmured, gently pushing him back on the mattress as he sighed defeated and rested his head against the pillow again. "E-Ed…" You purred. "At some point I thought you were really going to die on me…" You whispered, your voice shaking. "Your heart rate got so low, I gave you atropine, but…I should’ve done that earlier…I gave you CPR because your heart sounded pretty…slow and far away…"

"Oh…" He sighed softly, noticing the way your voice faltered and your eyes teared up slightly.

"Yeah…" You sighed as he reached up to cup your cheek in his hand.

"I’m sorry," He mouthed.

"N-no…don’t apologize…" You sighed, a tear managing to escape your eye as Eddie wiped it away with his thumb "I told you I was going to tear the world apart if I needed to, in order to keep you alive"

"You said that?" He inquired.

"You don’t remember?"

"I don’t remember a lot of things…" He began "I remember something about Blondie…And…verbs? Did we talk about school or some shit like that?" He asked, smirking as he kept looking at you.

You chuckled softly and leaned forward, kissing his cheek.

Truth was, he did remember that bit. He remembered telling you he couldn’t see himself with someone who wasn’t you, and how you’d told him to not use verbs in last tense. He just wanted to see you smile, and that soft chuckle, warmed his heart, making it beat strong.

"I love you, Eddie" You muttered,.

"I love you too, sweetheart" He purred. "Thank you…I’m here thanks to you…"

Your eyes teared up again and you shook your head. Leaning closer, your lips met his sweetly. Gently melting against his, as he moaned in surprise and instantly kissed you back. Lips locking shyly for the first time in a long time. Sure, your last proper kiss was the last time you came over to Hawkins for the summer break and went out with Eddie, reliving good times, going to the drive in movies, and making out at the back of his van, only to return to his place and finish what you started. But every kiss with Eddie felt like the very first one. The way you were so deeply in love with him, made it hard for you to lay eyes on anyone else, even after breaking up. His lips were soft and warm, and tasted like every good memory you both shared. The butterflies were still in your stomach,me even after all this time.

Breaking the kiss, you laid on the mattress. You snuggled next to him, slowly, trying not to hurt him as you rested your head against his chest and he wrapped his arm around you, keeping you close to him as he kissed your head. You ran your hand gently over his exposed skin, avoiding the bandages and the bruises, as he hummed, hypnotized by your touch.

"Hm, this is nicer than the morphine…" He murmured. "I missed you a lot, princess…"

"I missed you too, Ed…" you replied, kissing his chest, right next to the wound over his tattoo.

"It kinda sucks that we had to…see each other under these circumstances…but hey, I’m alive because of it" He added brushing his fingers delicately on your scalp.

"I know we both agreed to break up and perhaps try again after you graduated, but…it still sucked being away from you…" You whispered looking up at him.

"I mean, when you came over for the holidays we'd see each other…"

"I mean, yeah, but we’d hang out as friends" You chuckled as he raised an eyebrow and gave you a cheeky tired smirk.

"You do that with all of your friends? And do you kiss them goodbye? Damn, and I thought I was special…" He teased watching you roll your eyes.

"Shut up," you giggled. "You are special,"

"I know it’s not the best timing, and that I’m wanted for…god knows how many crimes by this point…but let’s get back together, babe…These two years have been…not the best…And when I’m with you, everything’s better…" He sighed.

You looked at him, and cupped his cheek.

"Your timing has never been the best, Ed. But that’s alright, it’s one of the reasons why I'm still in love with you…" You chuckled.

Looking into his beautiful black eyes, he smirked, winking at you. You leaned forward, kissing him again. Sweetly, slowly, the kind of kiss that made you melt with love and tenderness, making you think that you'd never be as happy with anyone else but him.

Surprised that the freak outcast metal head nerd Eddie Munson could captivate the heart of the straight A’s goodie two shoes you were. Despite the both of you being do different from one another, you two got along just perfectly. He reminded you to loosen up every once in a while, and humbled you down, reminding you how different backgrounds put you into a predetermined path, or made your life simpler or more difficult in certain aspects. You on the other hand, helped Eddie to keep his feet on the ground, and that sometimes enduring things that might be boring or too complicated, in the end rewarded you greately.

Nancy and Dustin knew Eddie had woken up when they heard the both of you talking. Wanting to go see him, but at the same time respecting your space, Dustin and nancy waited outside his room, as they had caught a glance of the both of you kissing, meliting into the sweetest kiss.

"I didn't know they were together…" Dustin sighed.

"Everyone in school knew…but she never talked about it outside of school…mostly because of our parents…" Nancy explained. "You've heard the things my dad says about Dungeons and Dragons…"

"Yeah…" Dustin sighed. "How long were they together?"

"Three years…" Nancy said "They actually had a reputation together. Eddie was the outcast, she was the sweet girl everyone got along with, and despite Eddie’s reputation, no one could deny they made the cutest couple…" Nancy explained.

"Why did they break up?"

"They tried keeping a long distance relationship…But because she wants to go into medical school, she spends a lot of time studying…And from what she told me, she felt like she was keeping Eddie from experiencing other things while staying loyal to her…They broke up, but I've never seen Eddie even in the slightest interested in seeing other women…"

"Yeah, Eddie never really showed interest in anyone…" Dustin sighed. "I'd never seen him like this. These last days, I mean, ever since we went to Skull Rock and they saw each other…He also said, several times, that he was going to move to Indianapolis after graduating…"

"Because she's there…Yeah. She told me…" Nancy sighed.

They looked back at the both of you, as you were snuggled together, foreheads bumped together, staring into each other with endless adoration.

The door was pushed open, Steve storming in, as Nancy and Dustin flinched lightly and looked at the door.

"Hey," You heard Steve’s voice echoing, followed by loud steps approaching the room and calling your name "How’s Ed— Oh," Steve stopped poking inside the room, as he saw you two cuddled on his mattress, his IV going from the back of his hand to the bag hanging from the closet handle.

"Hey Steve…" You murmured.

"Hey, man…" Eddie sighed.

"It’s good to see you awake, man" Steve said.

"Thanks Harrington…How did it go? Did the little bitch pay?" Eddie asked, as you felt a bitter taste in your mouth. Steve's face dropped.

"Yeah…about that…" Steve sighed and leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms over his chest. "We’re fucked…"

[cafesinlecheperoconproblemas]

"Don't you dare"

Not me spontaneously writing an angsty oneshot about Kas!Eddie featuring Dustin and Steve after my friend fuckin bombarded me with fanart. This was hella fun to write, but now I feel like punching a hole into the wall. What these characters do to me, goddammit.

“Fuck. Shit, fuck, shit, shit, fuck, shi–” “Henderson!” Steve’s echoing, sharp voice rang out into the dark, cold room. Dustin’s eyes were a shade of red Steve had never before seen in another human being from desperate tears running down his cheeks, and he made continuous attempts at preventing himself from shaking like a leaf by leaning downwards towards his knees while taking shallow breaths, though it was all for naught. Steve’s wavering somewhat seemingly calm posture was at risk of falling apart, and as he involuntarily glanced down at his hands, bloody, scratched and swollen from holding the iron chains he had been holding not an hour before, he could swear he saw stars for a moment. Putting his hands on his hips as a way of not staring at them, he turned back towards Dustin, 

“Dustin, you’re the only one who can do this. You know that, right?” The teen’s eyes shot up at the remark, 

“And what if I’m not? What if I fail? What if I fail at this the same way I failed at keeping him safe in the first fucking place? He’s supposed to be dead, Steve! I know all I asked for for months on end was for that to not be true, but I didn’t mean it like this!” his shot his index finger straight at a door not four meters away from the pair of them, focusing with every fiber in his body on Steve so as not to hear the shrieking, rattling of chains and occasional outbursts that echoed from within the room behind the closed wooden door, “Not like this.”

He repeated, hand falling down towards his side once more. Steve took one step closer as he looked into the teen’s eyes, both of them scared beyond shitless. Realizing that no amount of encouraging words would be enough to reassure and calm the boy in front of him, he instead slowly got down on one knee, and reached for the boombox he had carried with him. Dustin cautiously took half a step backwards as Steve held it out for him to take, a million thoughts running through his head uncontrollably. 

“Henderson, it’s the only way. This was your idea, and granted I’m not always the best when it comes to listening to your ideas. But you know what? Every single time you’ve been right. Every single time. So don’t you dare turn your back on this now. If not for you, then for him. And if not for him, then for me.” he took a sharp breath in as he realized he had raised his voice slightly more than he thought he had. Dustin let out a deep sigh, and seemed to ponder for a moment. 

“Well…” Dustin walked up to the young man he had come to proudly call his mentor figure, “you better not be wrong about me being right.” and with that, Dustin grabbed a firm hold of the boombox, marched up towards the wooden door in front of them, and opened it with a deep inhale. 

Leaving Steve behind, his shaking hand closed the door behind him, and it took everything in his willpower to look at the sight in front of him. Eddie Munson had always had frizzy hair that he was indeed very proud of, but now it just looked dirty and unkept. His once so clean Hellfire shirt was bloody, torn, and barely recognisable, and his trousers even more so. What Dustin could barely do without shedding a tear though, was to look upon the young man’s face. His once lively, vivid and warm brown eyes were now a shade of furious blood red that somehow managed to look colder than ice. He had wounds upon wounds scattered all across his face and arms, and the chains holding him back from attacking Dustin there and then continued to echo into the mostly empty and dark room.

“Eddie–” the boy began, but was interrupted by what could only be described as a hateful growl, 

“I know you’re in there somewhere. I don’t know what it’s gonna take to bring you back, but this isn’t you, Eddie.” sitting down upon the dark wooden floor, he carefully brought his finger up towards the boombox. Forcing himself to never give up the eye contact he had established with what was left of one of his best friends, he firmly pressed play. Eddie began to wince and seemed to almost want to crawl down into the floor as the song began playing. It had taken a while, but ultimately Dustin knew exactly what might just bring the old Eddie back, if even for just a second. The electric guitar making itself heard, the beat of the drum echoing into their ears. 

“All this time we thought you were dead, Eddie. We mourned you, I mourned you, for months. Do you even realize how many tears I’ve cried for you? How many tears your uncle has cried for you? And now you expect me to just accept that this is what you’ve become? I don’t fucking think so, buddy.” his voice remained firm and clear, blending into the music as he watched Eddie’s body tense up, his head banging down onto the floor in desperation, “You once told me to never change. You made me promise you. So don’t you dare change Eddie, don’t you fucking dare. I miss you. I miss our D&D sessions, I miss your humor, I miss your confidence, I miss the way you never made me feel like I was worth less than anyone else, I miss… I miss you, Eddie. I miss my friend.” the choking from the built up tears began as he finished his sentence, the song still playing in the background. He had barely noticed Eddie’s body going limp, as he laid on the floor on his side, facing Dustin. The tears fell down the boy’s cheeks freely as Eddie’s eyes flickered open, and Dustin couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes for a moment went from bright red to deep brown. Carefully, and with utmost caution, he slid slightly closer to the still form in front of him, and felt his entire soul tense up as Eddie’s eyes locked onto his own, the young man’s voice naught but a weak whisper, 

“Henderson…?”

[easily-infatuated23]

Over Protective

Request: Could do image were she dating Dustin in secret and her sibling is Steve Harrington. She sneaks out to see Dustin and then she come back to see Steve sitting on her bed then Steve spots a few hickeys on her neck and he asks her about and she denies it. Then Steve calls robin because he freaking out. He invite her over and Dustin for like a dinner then he see them on Dustin’s neck. Then start being like an over protective brother and talking to them about it. ~anonymous 

a/n: thank you so much for your request anon! it’s my first request so i hope you enjoy! i also aged up Dustin to be 16 bc i felt weird writing this with him being like 13. enjoy!

pairing: Dustin Henderson x Harrington!Reader x Steve Harrington

word count: 1.9k

summary: Steve is overly protective of his little sister and when he sees a hickey on her, he’s furious

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Y/N hated sneaking around. When she and Dustin started dating, Dustin had suggested they keep it a secret. It’s not that he was embarrassed or wanted to hide it but they didn’t want their friends to tease them (especially Max and Lucas), but also because of Y/N’s brother. Being Steve Harrington’s younger sister meant that he was super over protective, especially when it came to dating. Steve knew what guys could be like so he made sure that he kept boys away from her. “I’m sixteen now Stevie” she began. “I am old enough to start dating. Besides, you didn’t act like this when Mike and Eleven got together” she finished, crossing her arms angrily. “Thats different!” Steve replied. “You are my baby sister and I don’t want anybody to…corrupt you!” Y/N laughed. “Corrupt me?! You are worse than dad!” “No boys until you’re thirty, and thats final!” he said, pointing an accusatory finger at her. She rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door after her. No matter how annoyed she was, even an argument with her brother was not going to ruin this day for her. It was her and Dustin’s two month anniversary. Although it wasn’t a super long time to be with someone, it was still a big deal for her because it was her first relationship.

“Hey I procrastinated doing my English essay for Mr. Hartman so I’m gonna be in my room trying to do it so don’t bother me” Y/N called down the stairs to her brother. “Yup got it” Steve replied, not looking up from the TV. Brilliant. With Steve distracted and her alibi set, she could sneak out to go meet Dustin. She ran back up to her room and changed into her favorite pair of jeans, t-shirt and a red sweater, and sneakers. She carefully opened her window and climbed out, standing on the sloped roof beneath her. She propped the window open with her Science textbook and climbed down. She then hopped on her bike and rode to Dustin’s house. When she was half way there she realized she had forgotten to lock her door. “No matter,” she thought. “Steve is so engrossed in his TV show he won’t check on me for at least four hours”.

Once she arrived, she hopped of her bike and climbed up to Dustin’s window. She knocked on it lightly. Moments later, the curly haired boy appeared at the window, smiling. He opened the window for her and helped her climb in. Dustin turned on the radio and the two began laughing and talking, simply enjoying each other’s company. After a while, the two began to get a bit hot and heavy and started making out. They hadn’t gone much further than this and Dustin respected her decision to wait. Besides, he was enjoying being with a girl as beautiful, smart, and funny as Y/N Harrington. “You are incredible, you know that?” he said to her as they pulled away. She smiled and shook her head. “How did I get so lucky?” The two smiled at each other for another few moments before Dustin’s face dropped. “Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit I’m sorry” he said, panic filling his voice. “What? What is is?” Y/N said, sitting up. “I left a pretty obvious mark on your neck. I swear I didn’t mean to” he said. She stood up and went over to a mirror on the other side of his room. Sure enough, a purple mark was appearing on her neck. She pulled her shirt down and counted two more, each more purple than the last. “Shit” she said. “I can hide the ones on my chest but this guy,” she said pointing to the love bite her neck, “no way”.

She turned to face the boy and started to laugh a bit. “Why are you laughing?! If Steve sees it he’ll kill you! Oh my god what if he finds out it was me?” he said, even more panicked than before. “He probably will babe, but, you aren’t exactly mark free either”. He went pale and joined her at the mirror, examining his neck. “I’ll just wear a turtle neck tomorrow or cover it with makeup. It’ll be fine” She looked at her watch. 8 o’clock. Damn. “Hey I gotta get home. I only give Steve like a four hour window of focus on that TV before he comes to check on me. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow” Dustin said, giving her a hug and kissing her sweetly. Little did Y/N know, Steves focus had worn off much sooner than she had anticipated.

At 7:30, Steve got bored of whatever dumb program had started, and decided to go check on his sister. She usually talked to herself when she did homework and it had been unusually quiet in her room. He walked up the stairs and knocked on her door. There was no reply. He knocked again. “Hey Y/N, you alright in there?”. He was puzzled. He opened her door and was shocked to find her room empty. “Are you trying to play a prank on me? Are you gonna jump out of the closet or something?” Still no response. Then he spotted it. The textbook in the window. A classic Harrington move. Steve couldn’t believe it. His little sister had really snuck out and he hadn’t noticed! He decided he would sit on her bed and wait for her to sneak back in. He waited about thirty minutes before he heard the breathless girl climbing up the side of the house.

When she reached the window and opened it, her heart dropped into her stomach. “What do you think you are doing?” Steve said, pulling his little sister back into her room. “What are you doing in my room?” she retorted. “My question first” he said. Thinking on her toes, Y/N came up with a lie to explain her disappearance. “I wanted to hang out with Max and Elle without you breathing down my neck okay!” she said. She suddenly remembered that her hickey was visible above her sweater and covered her neck with her hand as casually as possible. “Hey, hey what are you hiding?” He moved her hand and felt his face go red. “What is that?!” he boomed. She pushed him away, trying to come up with another lie. “Get off! It’s just a curling iron burn! The girls were curling their hair and when I went to try I burned myself!” That made sense right? Steve squinted at her suspiciously. He knew a hickey when he saw one. “I am gonna find out who did this and I’m gonna kill them” Steve said. “I told you it’s a burn! Now get out of my room!” She yelled, pushing her older brother out of the door. “Just tell me his name!” Steve shouted. She slammed the door in his face. Steve was fuming. They had the boyfriends argument before but this was a new level. Steve did the only thing he could think of. He called his best friend Robin.

“Hey Popeye” Robin said. “Whats going-” “No time Robin, we have an issue” Steve interrupted. “What is it Harrington?” she said. “I caught Y/N sneaking back into her room through a window and she had a hickey! What am I going to do?! I need your help to figure out who the hell did this to my baby sister!” There was a moment of silence and then laughter from Robin. “First of all, relax. It’s just a hickey. You were probably like ten when you had your first one so get some perspective” “I was twelve” he said. “Don’t interrupt me” she continued. “Secondly, why do you care? She’s sixteen now. You have to loosen up.” Steve sighed. “I guess you’re right”. “Also I know who she’s dating”. “What?!” Steve shouted. “Tell me now!” “Fine fine don’t get your panties in a twist” Robin said. “But you have to promise not to do anything drastic.” “Fine fine I promise just tell me”. He said. “Henderson” she said. Steve was silent. Henderson?! Of all people she chose Henderson! I guess it wasn’t as bad as he had expected, after all, he liked Dustin. “What are you gonna do Steve? I can hear your brain exploding” she said. She was met with more silence. “Just invite him over and talk to him or something. Just don’t make it weird.” “Right yeah thanks Robin. I’ll see you tomorrow” he said, hanging up the phone. Thats what he would do. He would invite Dustin over tomorrow and interrogate him.

The next day he called the Henderson house. “Hey Dustin it’s Steve” “Oh uh hey Steve, what’s up?” Dustin’s voice was squeaky. Got him. “I need your help with something and I need you to come over.” “Oh yeah uh sure I’ll see you in a few hours and-” “No,” Steve interrupted. “I need your help now, I’ll see you in twenty minutes.” “Okay”. Dustin’s voice was quiet and his nervousness could be felt through the phone. When Dustin finally got to the house, Steve met him at the door. “Henderson, I’m so glad you could come over” Steve said coldly. Dustin didn’t speak as he entered the house. Steve glared at him. “So what did you need my help with?” Dustin asked cautiously. “I need help understanding what the hell you are doing with my sister.” Steve said. His arms were crossed and he stood blocking the door, blocking any hope of escape for Dustin. “Hey Stevie who’s at the door?” Y/N asked, having heard the knock from her room. “Oh hey Dustin what’s up?” she said casually. “Oh no no you aren’t fooling me” Steve said. “I wanna know what’s going on here” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Did you call Robin last night? Damn I knew I shouldn’t have told her.” She finished walking down the stairs and stepped beside Dustin, clasping his hand in hers. “No no no, none of that” Steve said, trying to break them apart. “Steve relax seriously, you are way too worked up about this” Y/N said. Steve sighed. “I just don’t want you to get hurt” he said. She let go of Dustin’s hand and put her hands on Steve’s shoulders. “I know that but this whole over protective brother act is suffocating”. Steve nodded. “If it helps, I have no intention of breaking up with Y/N and honestly, the past two months have been some of the happiest months of my life” Dustin added. Steve looked up at him suddenly. “TWO MONTHS??” he yelled. He lunged at Dustin, Y/N stepping between them before they collided.“Woah Stevie, chill take a deep breath”. She pushed him back.

“Okay okay I can deal with this, this is fine” Steve muttered under his breath. “But, we need to make some ground rules. No closed doors and no sneaking anybody in anywhere. You come in through the front door and make your presence known!” Steve said, pointing towards the door. The two teens nodded. “Okay…” Steve ran his hand through his hair. “I think I can get behind this but I’m gonna need some time to process.” He lowered himself down onto the couch. Y/N and Dustin looked at each other with smirking expressions. “Okay Steve…you just take your time. We’ll just be upstairs.” Y/N said, slowly leading Dustin upstairs. “Yeah…okay…but I want that door open!” He yelled after them. The two teens laughed and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Steve shook his head. “Crazy kids” he said, chuckling a bit as he realized he was glad that if his sister had to date anyone, it would be Dustin Henderson.

[passivenovember]

And Everyday was Overcast.

Part One : Hammers and Nails

Billy needed someplace to go when the grave was desecrated.

When his eyes unglued themselves, peeling off eyelashes in their wake, when the earth was overturned, torn and left hanging like shreds of old fabric; Steve had been there. By some miracle he had been consumed like he always was, sat thinking by a plot that had grown yellow flowers to blanket Billy in his eternal sleep. And maybe it was those small visits sheltered between morning runs and eight hour shifts stocking the horror section that Billy had come back.

From the grave. From the brink.

The Earth started vibrating, spidery cracks turning volatile, and Steve was met with ocean blue. Red rimmed eyes locked on his face, hands reaching and gripping. Nails digging in as Steve wrapped Billy's grime covered shoulders in his own jacket. Rubbed the chilled skin of his arms, looked in his eyes, and took him home.

Someplace Billy could wash the day from his skin.

--

The blonde haired boy who had turned from human to creature and back again deserved something more than what he was left with. He deserved warm meals, and sunshine on his skin, and soft bed sheets that opened like a celestial sky when Billy felt like shelving the enormity of what he had discovered. What waited after death.

Steve wanted that for him.

Not happiness, not closure, exactly, but something close to it.

At the root of it all, Steve knew Billy should feel safe. Welcome and warm and comfortable, in the house that Steve’s father had built for his mother all those years ago when she was plump and round with child. Steve felt like his father that day as he carried the last box over the threshold and took in the rigid, tense line of Billy’s shoulders.

He let the moment rest. Let it breathe, as his father always instructed. “Do you think you could feel safe here, Billy?”

The air sat heavy. Cold and wet and warm, somehow, like the morning after a night of heavy rain. Billy sucked in a sharp breath and pivoted slowly, face reverent, as if standing barefoot in a cathedral among gods and heroes. Met with divinity.

Instead he got Steve.

Just Steve, trying not to stare at the lone curl hanging over Billy’s forehead when he offered a tight, controlled smile. “It’s fine.” Billy said, only.

Steve tore his eyes away. Focused on the second story banister to stop his gut from falling through the floor. ”Fine? As in, I would rather eat my own toenails than live here, fine or, like. It's okay, I don't mind it here, I might even like it someday, fine?"

Billy adjusted the strap across his shoulders. “It’s just what I expected it would be.”

Steve shook his head. “What’s that mean?”

"Relax, Harrington, it's." Billy turned again, eyebrows scrunched together. “Its. Pastel. And huge. Obscenely decorated—“

”My mom had it professionally done before they—“

”It was built for a happy family with lots of kids. Lots of love, but now it's. It feels. Lost.”

Billy had started saying things like that.

Heavy, saturated, impossible things that left Steve scrambling. Wishing for the intelligence to absorb the meaning rather than question it. Steve rested the box at the foot of the stairs and offered a smile to the second story. Runoff for the pools of blue that looked on.

"That's a lot of adjectives. I can get you a hotel, maybe. Or an apartment. I could cosign, I know they gave you a pretty penny and you could probably afford your own, but. I could. I would." Steve said harshly. "For you. I would."

"It's fine here. It's okay."

Steve felt like a science experiment. Egg boy with three heads and ten legs or something. Suckers on the tips of his thumbs, the way Billy studied him. Steve counted the freckles on Billy's nose--one, two, three, four--trying to stay afloat.

--

Dinner was made every night though Steve never saw it happen.

The cookbooks sat alphabetized over his mother's antique bar cart on that little periwinkle blue shelf. He'd come home, every night, at six on the dot, to a set table. The mixing bowls were always clean and put away, counters wiped and ingredients stored neatly on the shelves his pantry, but the wooden spoons spelled it out for Steve, still shifting from dark to light as they lay drying on the dish rack.

"You don't have to make dinner, you know." Steve took another bite of Salisbury steak, furious that it tasted so good. Like love soaking into his skin.

Billy shook his head. "I want to."

"I know, I'm saying it's okay if you decide not to, one day. Like if you get caught up reading. Or if you can get Max to drive you to the history museum, or if you--"

"It's the least I can do."

Steve hated that. He let his fork clatter to the table. "I'm not expecting repayment for this."

"I'm not a freeloader."

"And I'm not an asshole." Steve deadpanned, lifting a finger that sewed Billy's smug lips together. "Don't say it."

"Say what?"

"Whatever you were thinking, with that clever glint in your stupid blue eyes."

Billy cracked his knuckles, clearly fighting a smile. "Never thought you noticed the color of my eyes, Harrington."

"Yeah, sure." Steve stood, gathering the plates and forks and knives from the table, his own eyes counting primary threads. "Can see those things from space, Jesus." He finally looked up, at Billy's curiously pink face.

Pink lips, cheeks, nose.

Steve gripped ceramic. Swallowed against a swell of guilt. "You don't owe me anything, Billy. I like having you here. I want you here."

Billy gave a simple, controlled nod.

Steve got used to it.

--

The shack wasn't built until the doctor told Billy that he'd probably wouldn't remember all of what happened. The big things would stick out, neon greens and blues against the forest head, but Billy shouldn't be too hard on himself if the important things got thrown away.

And some of those jagged little pieces were there. The bad things. Anger and hatred, both for self and world, left hanging on the cliff of who he was now. Everything that had formed Billy Hargrove--the person he was, the person Steve had pretended not to notice--were packed away. Soft, silky emotion covering knives left dull and rusted in their drawer.

Billy remembered like flashes of lightening across the summer sky--sudden and then gone. Here and away. He remembered Hawkins high and Max who'd grown six inches in three years. Dustin who had been wearing that stupid shirt when the mall burned down.

And Steve.

Always Steve, sat next to him. A foot away at first and then holding his hand, later, when Owens said Billy should be kind to himself. Gentle.

He wasn't.

And he didn't come out of his room for three days after that, after the wall was placed in front of him. The crack under Billy's door always keeping Steve at bay. Trapped behind the starting line. He paced around on the carpet, lifting his fist and letting it fall again, never breaking up the silence.

Billy was crying.

Billy never cried, anymore, but he cried that night and Steve felt helpless. Pathetic and stupid and useless, locking himself in his father's study and trying to formulate a plan, just like Owens had told him to when the sun fell on a world without Billy Hargrove and then suddenly rose again, set anew.

Set crooked when Billy stormed from the hospital room, slamming doors that echoed like rolls of thunder in his wake.

Figure out a way to help him.

Sterile, eerie white walls stared back at him as Steve shrugged his shoulders on the third day, aluminum hospital chair groaning beneath his weight.

I'm not sure how to do that.

You don't have to do anything. Owens said. Just help him get the emotion out. Let him write, draw, sing, dance, whatever he needs to assist in telling us his story.

--

Potato casserole and red wine bore witness to Steve's leap of faith. Billy turned away from the novel he had tucked under his arm when Steve got home from work that day, eyes curious. "Spit it out, Harrington."

"I'm not sure what you--"

"You've been giving me the side eye since you got home." Billy turned the page in his book, still managing to read both it and the room as he urged, "Tell me what's wrong."

And nothing was wrong, and.

Everything was wrong. Steve leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Do you want to come with me to the art store tomorrow?"

Billy frowned. "I don't need anything from the art store."

"It's not always about what you need," Steve reasoned, patting his mouth with a napkin. "We could get stuff you want. That's all, just pretty things. Nice things. It could be a treat."

"Paper and scissors are considered a treat?" Billy cocked an eyebrow. "I do love touching shit, it's one of my favorite hobbies."

Steve scrubbed at his mouth, swallowing down against a big, fat, crooked smile dripping with affection. "C'mon, it'll be fun. We can get whatever you want; clay, oil pastels, acrylics--"

"I wanted to check out the library tomorrow."

"You go everyday, blue, you're a regular bookworm."

"So?" Billy demanded, taking another bite of casserole. "I like to read. Just 'cause you can't doesn't mean the rest of us have to hold back." He grinned, low and slow. "Don't let your jealousy turn you into a tyrannical landlord, pretty boy."

"God, you're the absolute worst."

Billy turned back to his novel. "The art store will just inspire me to paint nudies."

"So paint them." Steve challenged.

Bait. Hook and line.

"You gonna pose for me if I let you buy out the joint?"

Steve shrugged. "Maybe once, if you look at the easels while we're there."

"No shit?" Billy leaned forward, biceps flexing in his cutoff as he stuck a polaroid of a smiling blonde woman between the pages of his novel. "The fuck is this about, Harrington?"

"I'm worried."

"That you'll take me to a crafts store and I'll put you out of house and home? Reasonable concern, I guess."

"About the diagnosis, dipshit. About you." Steve gulped down the rest of his wine. Made sure every last drop had seasoned his words before any were said aloud, where they might do damage. He let the glass rest on the table between his fingertips, stem rolling from pad to pad. He took a deep, steadying breath. "You haven't been the same since--"

"I got hijacked by a space demon or crawled out of my own grave?" Billy shrugged, picking at something in his teeth. "Be more specific."

Steve fiddled with the handle of his fork. Hand picked his words. Refined the meaning. "Yes, and. Both."

Billy didn't say anything for a while and the room finally settled. Falling fast asleep, thick with inertia and silence until the book was opened once more and Steve went back to digging through his casserole, picking at the spring onions.

Letting the moment breathe.

Until, finally. "I feel like I could crawl out of my own skin."

Steve tripped over himself to get those blue eyes on him once more. "That's understandable--"

"I feel fucking useless." Billy snapped, voice cracking in two, and. Suddenly Steve couldn't look at him. Couldn't bare to see his face. "I'm trying to replay what happened. Every second, I'm trying to figure out why. Why me."

Steve counted the primary threads in the table cloth. One, two, three. "You can't go on asking yourself questions like that."

"I can do what I--"

"It wasn't your fault, Billy. Any of it."

"I'm not talking about the Fourth of July, I'm talking about. Death. I'm talk about what comes before and what comes after and how they're the same." Billy turned the page in his novel furiously, eyebrows scrunched together. "I never thought they'd be the same. It's like I've started over."

Steve couldn't possibly understand, but.

He watched pools of blue scan the page. Took measured breaths, never pushing until Billy was ready to share more. Until he tossed the book on the counter and sighed, head buried in his hands. "I don't understand how I got here."

"Easy," Steve whispered. "That's easy. You were born from love--"

"My parents aren't in love anymore."

"But they were, once." Steve shook his head. "When you were made. They loved each other, and they loved you, and your life was full of love that never made sound but it was still there." Steve willed Billy to look at him. Willed the skies to turn blue again.

They didn't.

Billy sighed, low and slow. "Did love bring me here again?"

"I guess so."

"Who's love?" Billy demanded, leaning forward into the table and crushing his novel where it lay against light oak tabletops. "Who loved me enough to bring me back here? To wish for me."

And.

There were a lot of things Steve wanted to say. Lines he wanted to map out, directions that lead from A to B and back again, but it didn't seem useful. Didn't rest important, as Steve took the novel from its place on the table and smoothed worn pages, tucking the polaroid in its place. "I'm sorry things feel weird for you." He said softly.

Billy grabbed the book, staring down at his casserole. "'S not so bad, I guess."

And, for Steve, that wasn't good enough.

--

Billy worked mostly in charcoal. He painted nightmares, and doorways into the past, delicate, swirling lines telling a story that made Steve's heart ache to see. To hear, with every drag of material across fruited canvas'.

Steve asked him about it, once. Over dinner, with the lights turned low. "Why do you paint such horrible things?"

And Billy had smiled. Bright and true. "How's that?"

"Y'know. Black scabs and eyeballs melting out of skulls and sliding down the ridge of people's faces, and--"

"It's what I see." Billy replied, voice soft. Measured. "It's what follows me around."

So Billy spent every hour locked in his shed, curls tucked over a growing body of work. Fingers turned rotten with charcoal soot as he made sense of what happened.

Steve liked to watch him work.

Liked to see the tension ease more and more from the strong shoulders that travelled beside him up the stairs each night. Steve felt the dig of each pencil in the crevice between his ribs when Billy finished masterpiece after masterpiece.

Still, it wasn't enough.

Along the ridges of creation, therapy lay half buried in the sand. It was state mandated, that Billy go and learn how to deal with the things charcoal couldn't straighten out for him. Like the nightmares, and the migraines that kept him from eating dinner at the table when June gave way to July.

Steve worried. Constantly, fervently, but Billy refused to go, always wiping his hands on the powder green apron Steve got for him at the art store, and insisting, "This is a form of therapy." Billy gestured around the room. To the mountains of loose sketch papers and half finished canvases that lay strewn across every surface. "This is how I cope."

And it was.

And it happened the same way every time.

Things got bad for him and Billy would disappear into his shed. Steve would come home from the office to find that his mother's prized Thomas Kincaid collection had been replaced by Billy's work. It was haunting. Sick and twisted and so, so beautiful.

He found himself standing and staring at it for hours, eyes tracing over the swirling lines of purgatory.

It made Steve feel helpless, but.

Still, Billy refused to go. Still, he buried himself in his work. Still, he painted himself into a hole.

The path toward recovery was littered with charcoal drawings until it wasn't.

Until Steve came home one afternoon to find Billy talking with a little boy who had his throat cut open.

[paperbodiesamongthestars]

Day 20: Breeze

Part 1 of 2. We’re taking a hard left into angst today, so brace yourselves. TW for suicidal ideation/attempted suicide. 

Steve stood at the top of the bluff, looking out over the ocean. The sun was setting over the water, and a light breeze stirred his hair around his face. He smiled. This was so much better. 

He had done this at the quarry on five separate occasions over the past two years, stood at the edge of the drop and stared out over the water. Ultimately, it wasn’t a desire to live that had prevented him from taking the last step, over the edge and down. It was a combination of things. He didn’t want Hopper to have to deal with the fallout. He didn’t want any of the nerds involved. And, most importantly, Hawkins had taken enough from him. He didn’t want to give it this, too. 

Here, though. Here was so much better. The view out over the ocean was spectacular. No one he knew was going to be called out to deal with it. He looked out at the waves crashing below; if he was lucky, no one would have to deal with it at all. He would just disappear quietly under the waves, never to surface again. 

Dustin was going to be furious, obviously, but he would recover. He was resilient—they all were. And they were headed off to bigger and better things, eventually. Robin too. She had gone off to Berkeley for school and was thriving. She had invited Steve to come with her, but he wanted her to live her life without worrying about him. She had looked at him uneasily when he had told her that he was coming here. He just wanted to see it, he had lied, and she hadn’t protested. 

The truth was, he was tired. Tired of being a disappointment to his parents. Tired of waking up screaming, visions of flower-faced monsters in his head. Tired of being so afraid, all the time, that the door to hell was going to open again. Tired of pretending that he was keeping it together. Tired of pretending that he hadn’t lost his—

Well. They had never put a name to it, and Steve had been too afraid to push. It had been a secret, obviously, and Steve was maybe most tired of hiding. Of grieving alone, because he hadn’t told Billy’s secrets while he was alive, and he wasn’t about to start after he died. So he kept his mouth shut, and he sat with Max whenever she was willing to let someone else see her in pain, and he listened to her talk about Billy, and he kept it together because it wasn’t about him. And then she left and he went upstairs and screamed until he couldn’t breathe. 

They all knew something was wrong. It had been two years, and Steve still had dark circles permanently etched under his eyes. He was too skinny, and he zoned out too often, and his laugh rarely reached his eyes, but he lied every time someone asked about it because half of it wasn’t his secret to tell, and maybe he couldn’t do anything else about this whole completely fucked-up situation, but he could refuse to betray Billy that way. 

And now he was just so goddamn tired of all of it. He was ready to let it all go. He took a deep breath of cool ocean air. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze on his face for a few long moments. He inhaled deeply, and smiled a little to himself. He felt like he should say something, maybe, but nothing came to mind. So he exhaled and stepped forward. 

Only he didn’t actually move forward, because something jerked him back, hard, away from the edge of the cliff. He let out a shocked breath as his back collided with a warm, familiar chest, and then there were hands on his arms, turning him around, and he was staring into Billy Hargrove’s face. Billy Hargrove’s very angry face. 

Billy gave him a single hard shake. 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Harrington?” Billy growled at him. Steve closed his eyes, hard, wondering if this was a hallucination his brain was providing as he plummeted toward the rocks below. He quickly decided that if he was making this up, Billy would be significantly less angry. He also wouldn’t be shaking him again. Steve opened his eyes. 

“You’re dead,” he blurted out, and then his body caught up and he shoved Billy backwards, hard. Billy clearly wasn’t expecting it, and he took one step back. As he did, his hand shot out to grab the front of Steve’s shirt, like he was worried Steve was going to lunge for the cliff again. He wasn’t—at least, not until he got some fucking answers. After that, he could reassess. 

Steve looked down at the hand in his shirt and then back up at Billy’s face. Billy was still scowling at him. He glared back. They stood there like that for several long moments. Finally, Steve couldn’t take it anymore. 

“You’re a lot less dead than I was led to believe.” His voice was short, clipped, his tone icy. “You want to explain that?” Billy sighed, but didn’t let go of Steve’s shirt. 

“That’s a long story,” he finally said. Steve nodded slowly; it was clear from Billy’s expression that it was also a painful story. Steve was tempted to insist, to lash out, to scream that Billy owed him an explanation, but he knew that was the fastest way to make Billy shut down completely. Billy had clearly changed since he died (and wasn’t that a wild thing to have to think), but Steve was guessing he hadn’t changed that much.  

“Fine,” Steve said. “We can come back to how you’re alive, and why you didn’t think that was worth mentioning later.” Billy flinched a little at that, and Steve saw an expression that might have been guilt pass over his face, but it disappeared quickly. He might have felt bad about pushing, but he knew that if he let in anything other than pure, icy fury right now he was going to start screaming and never stop, so he shoved it down ruthlessly. “Why are you here?” he asked in the same clipped voice. Billy sighed. 

“El reached out to me.” Steve just stared at him. “Apparently her powers came back to full strength two weeks ago, about the same time you stopped returning everyone’s calls. She discovered that I wasn’t actually dead—“

“How?” Steve asked, and Billy shrugged. 

“I don’t know. I asked her, and there was a very long pause and then she changed the subject. Anyway, Dustin mentioned to Max that he was worried about you, and Max asked El to check in. She reached out and whatever she found worried her enough that she contacted me. She just told me to be ready.” Steve was still stuck on the first part of that.  

“So everyone else knows you’re alive,” Steve said flatly, and Billy shook his head. 

“No one besides El knows I’m alive,” he said. “It took some convincing, but she agreed not to tell anyone.”

“How?” Steve asked again, and Billy knew he wasn’t asking about Billy’s powers of persuasion. He grimaced and looked away. 

“She hijacked my car radio. Which is fucking unnerving, by the way. Today she just gave me a location and told me I needed to hurry.” He shrugged again, trying to seem casual, but Steve saw that his hands were shaking a little. “I guess I’m glad I ran a few stop signs on the way.” He looked back at Steve, frowning. “What the fuck, Steve?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Steve shot back, and Billy winced. 

“Okay,” he finally said, “but can we talk about it somewhere other than here?” He tugged lightly on Steve’s shirt. “Standing this close to the cliff is making me very nervous.” 

“Fine,” Steve said after a long beat, and he led the way back down the trail toward the parking lot.

[secret-engima]

Snippet of Wayward Heart (Welcome Home)

(a snip of another one-shot in the Blood of My Blood verse! Both because I felt like sharing and also as thanks to @mokulule for the lovely bby Dyn art)

...

     The new, confounding relationship lasted three months under their tentative watch before the next earth shattering revelation hit. Ignis had just finished reporting to Regis on the latest development of Noctis’s friendship with Prompto while Gladiolus babysat Dyn —babysitting the boy on Noctis’s behalf so he could hang out with Prompto in person had become a once-weekly event— and then returned to Noctis’s suite to check on the pair in the guise of bringing snacks —Monica and Dustin were both just outside the door, and Noctis could absolutely defend himself against a civilian boy, but after what had happened, none of them felt like being lax in their protectiveness—. He was just coaxing the pair into pausing their game to eat —and then hopefully talk Prompto into going home soon, as Dyn tended to get upset when parted from his father for too long—, when the door to the suite opened and Monica’s voice drifted through in a panic, “-not gone home yet!”

      Little feet pattered across carpet as Dionysus ran into the suite ahead of Gladiolus’s frantically grasping fingers, straight into the legs of the startled Prompto.

     Ignis stopped breathing, mind a blur of horror and the desperate hope that maybe he could reach Dionysus in time to pull him away and save Prompto’s life as Noctis went deathly still. In his mind, Ignis was seeing over a dozen incidents replay before his eyes. Moments when unfamiliar servants or Crownsguard —or in one very disastrous case, a nobleman— had gotten too close to Dionysus and Noctis went from being calm and doting to violently protective. The servants usually escaped with just a bad scare and migraines from the screamingly furious magic that slammed into their bodies in warning for getting within a dozen feet of Dionysus. Two Crownsguard had not been so lucky, having gotten within arm’s reach of the boy without Noctis’s permission and getting either knocked out or an arm and several ribs broken during Noctis’s explosive response.

     Now this boy, who Noctis was oddly fond of but had only known for three months, was actually touching Dionysus. Through no fault of his own of course, but-.

     Prompto didn’t seem aware of the massive impending danger, just crouched down to gently steady Dionysus with his hands as the toddler bounced off his legs with a noise of surprise, “Whoa there, Little Guy! Where’d you come from?” Dionysus cringed away from Prompto’s touch and Ignis and Gladiolus both rushed forward in the hopes of stopping imminent bloodshed as Noctis unfroze-.

     Crouched down next to Prompto and gently pulled Dionysus into his arms with a faint, nervous smile, “This is Dionysus. He’s my son.” Prompto gaped, so did Ignis and Gladiolus, but for different reasons as, instead of screaming or raging or pulling blades from his armiger like he had against trusted Citadel staff, Noctis just ducked his head to kiss his son’s hair and then nervously glanced at Prompto for a reaction. The magic tied to Ignis’s soul didn’t hum with fear-protectiveness-rage, but instead a heady mix of longing-nervousness-hope.

     Prompto slowly plopped down from a crouch to a sitting position on the floor, staring first at Dionysus, then at Noctis, “I … I didn’t know you had a kid,” he managed with a squeak.

     Noctis swallowed and the nervous hope in his magic grew, holding Ignis and Gladiolus in place, silent witnesses to an impossible scene, “We’ve kept it quiet. I … the media was already going crazy over my return. I can handle it, but Dyn is just- he’s only two. He’s gonna be three in a couple months but-.”

     Prompto nodded, “That would be a nightmare for a toddler.” The blond looked unusually solemn as he shifted his gaze to Noctis’s face, “My lips are sealed. I won’t tell anyone about him, I promise.”

     Noctis smiled weakly, “You don’t … you’re not freaking out?”

     “Over the fact that you have a kid? Dude, I am absolutely freaking out,” Prompto said with far more calm than his words implied. Noctis started to flinch but Prompto kept going, “But that’s more because if he’s almost three, then that means you definitely had him while you were kidnapped and I’ve seen a lot of really bad movie plots along those lines that nobody should have to live through. Let alone my friend.”

     A shaky breath from Noctis, “We’re … still friends?”

     Prompto lightly bumped Noctis’s shoulder with his fist, “Of course we are, man!” Prompto’s expression softened to something devoted, something warm but with a core of steel that Ignis usually only saw in a mirror or in Gladiolus’s eyes, “I’m your friend for as long as you want me to be.”

     Noctis exhaled and nerves turned to a flood of relief that made Ignis feel weak kneed just from glimpses of. He smiled and the expression was far more genuine, almost teasing, “If that’s the case, then, fair warning, but you’re gonna be stuck with me for a long time.”

     Dionysus, who had been watching his father interact with Prompto, interrupted whatever Prompto was about to say next with a tentative, “Da? Safe?”

     Noctis ran his fingers through his son’s hair, and even though Ignis shouldn’t have been shocked by his response, not after what they’d just seen, he was still floored, “Absolutely safe, Dyn. This is my friend Prompto. He’s as safe as Iggy or Gladio, okay?” A gentle tug at violet-red hair, “Can you say hi to Prompto?”

     Dionysus considered Prompto with solemn eyes while Ignis and Gladiolus exchanged wild looks because since when was a random civilian teenager Noctis had befriended three months ago as “safe” as Noctis’s own Retinue? While they struggled with that, Dionysus held out a shy hand and smiled, “Hi, Prom. ‘M Dyn.”

     Prompto took the tiny hand in his own with a gentle sort of reverence and shook it up and down, “Hi, Dyn,” Prompto parroted back with a lopsided, soft smile, “It’s nice to meet you, little buddy.”

[dacreshoney]

chapter 2 things in common

chapter 2 of my new stranger things/billy Hargrove x reader series

summary: The new kid on the block billy Hargrove, the two baddest kids in Hawkins catch each other eyes, billy realises he might not want to just f**** and chuck Y/N and some serious tension between the two 

warnings: flirting/smut, swearing and actions some people may not agree with - mentions of abuse and drugs

Drink driving - do not do 

(I do not condone any behaviours)

read to find out more

(sorry to skip a few) a few weeks into the story - you and billy had started to get to know each other a little more, both of you didn't really want a relationship, well that's what you told yourselves anyway. You and Harrington had made up after your summer fling, you both decided you were better as friends after he had told you about him getting closer to one of the kids in your neighbourhood you babysat, dustin - demegorg story (will go into detail in a few chapters later) 

You and billy had made your way to some cliffs in Hawkins and made yourselves comfy in Billys camaro watching over the cliffs as the sun sets, you had been talking for hours and hours. The past few weeks billy has been your getaway when things got rough and him to you, with neither of you really going into detail about what, you just clicked together like a missing puzzle piece. 

after a few hours you set off back to your house and billy spoke:

“ I like you, first girl in this sh** hole that hasn't fell at my feet or will do or say anything to please me” billy uttered to you as he placed one arm over the chair behind your head. 

“that sure of yourself hey Hargrove?” you laughed as you pulled up outside your house and looked into his eyes, you noticed your dad had just arrived back to the house in his sheriffs car, you tried your best to avoid eye contact with him.  you hadn't gone into much detail about who your dad was or what he did, didn't want to scare the poor boy off. 

“dads the sheriff huh? best stay clear then” billy laughed as he removed his arm from the back of the chair. 

“the sh*****t one going, so you don't need to worry a pretty hair on your head”  I claimed 

Billy looked at you a little concerned to the tone of how you spoke about your dad and asked “not so keen on your old man I've gathered?” 

before you knew it, words just started to blurt out, you felt comfortable with billy and you had an inkling he would have a very similar response. 

“to be honest, he's not much of a great old man, really needs to search the word dad up in the dictionary” 

Billy looked a little confused at first, but could link two and two when it came to dysfunctional relationships and he spoke gently “you know, I know what you mean with the not so good on the daddy department, but you know Y/N if you ever need anything, my blue little Camaro is only a block away” 

You giggled at billy, he always knew what to say to make you drift out of those depressing episodes, you lent over and gave him a peck, your lips touching slightly, you both had craved just that little bit of touch for a few weeks, but you'd never want to admit it. You both just looked dat each other, taking it no further and you replied: 

“ thanks billy, you know I really do appreciate it, not so mr tough guy after all huh?” you smiled as you stepped out the car giving billy a quick wave as you headed towards your house. 

You entered your house to then be bombarded with questions and a drunk dad raising his hand to the right of your head, slamming the door shut, he shouted 

“ who the f**k was that you little sl*t” 

“ nn.. no.. no one dad” you said whimpering as you tried to move away, he pushed you against the door and held you by the throat and shouting again, spitting in your face; 

“don't you lie to me you wh**e, I saw you with that piece of trash from round the block, you know I've had one or two complaints from his house, I should of known you'd be involved with him, huh so what is it? hmm..” he pressed on to you, getting right into your face as you had tears coming to your eyes, you had officially had enough of the sh**, your dad continued to hound you “ ANSWER ME you cu*t”  he shouted one more time, breaking his glass bottle and catching your arm with it, trying to teach your a lesson, your neck has started to bruise a little from the pressure of his hands. Then that was it, it just released, you scream in which it pushed him back into the sofa, like a wave of Ange and power forcing him off you, and screamed “ I said, get the hell off me” .. 

you ran to your room, locking the for behind you, you went to your wardrobe , finding anything you could to put in a bag and on, you couldn't stay there any longer than you had to. You fixed yourself up, tried to hide the bruising and cuts but you were chugging down the vodka you had in your room so you really couldn't tell what the hell you was doing. you knew where you were heading and that was heathers party. 

||outfit choice below||

As much as you ached, you looked sexy and you knew it, you would of took the jacket off but then people would see the cuts and bruises. You jumped out your window and headed towards your car, where you couldn't even function the key fob you were that pissed. The engine started and let’s say, its a good job you were the sheriffs daughter because that driving was not road legal. 

You arrived at heathers, you jumped out your car which you attempted to park, in which you failed miserably. Making your way through the crowd, stumbling a little you spotted him, that's right, Billy Hargrove with his left arm raised and leaning right over Tammy’s head, most likely flirting. you locked eyes straight away and he could tell you were pissed at him, you rolled your eyes and stormed off to find Steve. Steve was leaning against the kitchen island and you slurred to him “hey babe, fancy pouring me a drink” as you lent your arm over his shoulders, Steve hesitant at first as he could tell you were drunk but then he gave in as you gave him your famous puppy dog eyes that no one could every day no to. You and billy liked to play games with each other, that was your thing, at least sober you could handle it or at least pretend to handle it, you played each other and tried to make the other jealous. It sure as hell had worked, you knew you were starting to fall for him, but you could never admit it to yourself. Both of you were so alike, but you would never admit that. 

‘ songs playing next are - rock you like a hurricane scorpions - no one like you by scorpions and running up that hill Kate bush’ 

Billy saw you dancing with Steve, so he then grabbed Tammy by the waist and started dancing with her, slightly grinding at her waist. He knew this would send you over the edge with him, but he just wanted you to come over and admit that to him. You were going to flip, until you knew exactly what to do to piss him off, there was one thing billy and you had done together and he knew how you were when you were on drugs, flirtatious, forward and completely let loose. you headed towards Tommy who you knew would be right near billy so he could overhear you.

“hey Tommy, you want to do a bag?” you stumbled towards Tommy, leaning against him with your hands on his shoulders. Tommy looked straight at billy, those two weren't on the greatest terms at the moment so he obliged with Y/N request. Tommy placed his c*ke onto his finger in which you sniffed in one, billy was furious and stormed over to the kitchen. The c*ke had hit and you were completely in a haze, now for phase two of pissing billy off, no care in the world you got up onto the pole stand in heathers living room, her mum did pole so everyone loved her for that. You started to dance seductively on the pole, more eyes heading your way as you started to tease and take off your jacket, not realising you still had the cuts and bruises. 

No one like you scorpions playing: 

There's no one like you I can't wait for the nights with you I imagine the things we'll do I just want to be loved by you

Billy’s POV:

you had had it, Y/N was up to her usual tricks tonight, you wish shed had just come up to you when she saw you with Tammy, if only she knew what you were talking about. No flirting involved, but typical Y/N jumping to conclusions yet again. 

.....

soon as Y/N asked Tommy for a bag you knew you had to watch her every move, only you two together had experienced that, the free emotions and movements you had with each other, the way you felt with each other, it was only meant for you two. Billy had turned to find Y/N dancing on the pole in the living room, his blood started to boil as he watched her start to tease he had to do something, he realised there was blood on her arm, he paced over straight away, dragging her outside before anyone else could see. This was his girl and no way in hell would he let anyone take advantage of her. 

Y/N POV: 

“I swear to god billy, get your f*c*ing hands off me” you screamed as billy dragged you by the arm to the outside porch. billy faced to turn you, his veins popping out his head when he gets angry and shouted 

“im not fu*c*ing letting go until you tell me what the f*ck you are playing at, first dancing with Harrington, then sniffing and don't get me started on the pole.. and lastly you wanna explain these cuts on your arm?” 

“why do you care hargrove huh? you basically were in Tammy hem brooks fu*c*ing pants early, go back and fu*k her, but thank you for noticing and pretending to care about my welfare” you hiccuped as you tried to walk down the porch. Billy chased after you and shouting right back 

“no I fuc*ing wasn't, if you actually had come up to me instead of playing easy with Steve, you'd of found I was turning her down because of you”

You harshly turned round to face him, without wanting to throw up with how fast you spun around and said “ don't you dare call me easy and two sorry to ruin your whoring, make sure you go apologise to Tammy for me, sorry I'm not one of these girls billy that jumps straight into your bed at the drop of a hat”

the screaming and shouting carried on for a few minutes, you ended up screaming right at billy, unknowingly letting loose of some of your powers again, some of the street lights shattered: you had made a larger crack in the gate to the upside down. Billy placed his hand on your throat in which he instantly regretted and you said “get your hands off me now billy, don't you ever touch me like that again I swear to god” billy shook at what he just witnessed and two the fact he had done something he never thought he would do and that was raise a hand to someone he loves. 

“you ever raise a hand to me like that again billy and you are dead to me, you got it” you moved your body away, your eyes tearing up. Tears streamed out of his eyes and anger hit when he restored his eyes back to the cuts and bruises,

“ who the fu*k did that to you Y/N?” he questioned with worry, billy had told you about his dad Neil and what he did to billy, you had never really let on about your dad because you tried to be there for him as much as possible without going into your own problems. 

“ not the only one with an abusive dad now are you billy” you sarcastically replied. Billy tried to ignore the sarcasm and instantly felt concerned and worried for Y/N safety. 

“I will kill him Y/N and the lights, what the f*ck happened there?” 

“don't pretend you care billy please, I don't need you lying to me, if all you was is to get me into bed then you can f*ck right off” I stormed off 

“ i’m not lying Y/N, ffs why don't you believe me?”  he chased after you 

“then why billy huh? why do you care?” you questioned laughing as you walked off

“because I fu*c*ing love you Y/N god dammit” and there it was, billy had finally let loose of his feelings for the first time in his life since his mother left. You both paused and looked each other in the eyes, the arguing had sobered you up a little and you realised what he had said. 

“I love you billy” 

You both jumped at each other passionately, leaping into one another arms and you touched lips, wrapping your legs around his waist, not leaning the kiss. You both had made your way to your car, rustling about to find your keys and open the door. You made yourselves comfy in the back seats, taking off each others clothes, all billy could could do was stare and admire your body, tracing his finger tips over the scars all the way down your belly. He then placed kissed from your breasts to the lining on your panties. You let out a moan in which sent shivers down billy’s spine at the thought of pleasing you. 

“you like that princess?” billy asked, kissing and licking your lining as he looked you straight in the eyes, all you could do was moan his name and plead for more

“yesss billy, uhh please”

“please what princess, huh? what do you want from me” billy muttered, his head between your thighs, placing kisses along the slit of your parts, gently edging his tongue to your clit.

“fu*k billy, fu*k me please” you pleaded with him, edging your head up to push him on the other side of the seat, placing yourself between his legs for a change, kissing his torso: training scratch marks down his belly with your fingernails, this man was yours and you were going to make sure he and everyone knew it. Billy was loving every second, you placed your mouth on the tip of his cock edging your tongue out and swirling it around the tip driving him wild. He grabbed your hair with his hand and tugged your head bag with dominance and said 

“don't play with me baby” billy smiled, biting his lip

“or what huh, what you going to do to me” I played on the words. After that billy pulled you up onto his lap, placing you on his bulge and pressing his body into yours ready in position. “

you sure you wanna do this baby? its not your first time is it?” billy asked, searching for a condom in his wallet, you placed your hands on his cheek and gave him a soft kiss and muttered 

“more than ready billy and no its not my first, does that bother you?” you asked, billy smiled and kissed your forehead and claimed 

“nothing you do would ever bother me, besides I like a woman with a little experience” 

you smiled at each other, then both ready he edge his tip slightly into your core, soaking wet you Mae his access a little easier with how tight you were around him. “f*ck Y/N, ride me baby, show me I'm yours” billy moaned into your ear, every motion edging him further. You continued to ride him, picking up your pace, getting a little rough you made scratches on his chest and placed your hand on his throat, choking him a little as you neared your peak. Billy gave you a smirk as you choked him as he grabbed your ass and clenched it as he starting pumping his cum into you. both reaching your climax you both panted into each others necks slowly releasing from each other. 

“ I meant what I said you know” billy spoke softly, holding your chin upwards to face him, “I love you Y/N Johnson”

you gave him a kiss in which you replied “and I love you billy hargrove” 

[strangerthingsharrington]

Can’t Fight This Feeling

-16-

I wasn't sure how long I had been locked in the room with the guard before someone else came in. I assumed hours, but there was no way to actually be sure. I sat and stared ahead of me at the wall, not daring to make a noise or move. I kept replaying in my head what I was going to say when I, eventually, was asked why I was down here.

When the second person walked in, the guard that had been in there with me seemed to stand more at attention than before. I knew this new person was the real authority.

The new man slammed the door shut and walked over to me, standing right in front of where I was sitting on the cold metal bench.

"Who do you work for?" he asked through his accent.

I shook my head, "I don't work for anyone," I explained, "I'm a student. Still in high school."

He grinned down at me before bending over so his face lined up with mine.

"Don't lie to me," he warned, "who do you work for?"

"No one," I replied back simply.

He chuckled lowly before turning his head to look at the guard, who shared in the small chuckle, before the man turned back to me and grabbed my throat tightly.

My eyes widened as my head was pushed back against the wall, instantly it became harder to breath.

"How did you find this place?" he asked.

I tried to respond but he kept his hand tightly wrapped around my throat. I was only able to make some noises and kick my legs around, I lifted up my cuffed hands but I couldn't pull his hand away.

"Don't be difficult like your friend," he spat before he let me go roughly.

I leaned forward and began gasping for oxygen. I was trying to get as much into my lungs as I could.

"I was in Scoops Ahoy," I croaked, "he-my friend was waiting for a delivery that didn't come, we went to the dock and ended up in the elevator and ended up here," I said, taking another deep breath of air.

I looked up at him and saw his eyes had narrowed.

"Do not lie to me," he reiterated, "you're friend lied to me many times. I'm not afraid to do to you what I did to him."

My stomach dropped. What did he do to Steve? Hearing that was all it took for me to almost give in to him and tell him everything about the transmission and the spying and everything.

If he hurt Steve...or worse...that would be beyond devastating.

But, from what I was hearing...Steve hadn't given in, he didn't turn on me and there was no way in hell I was going to turn on him. We were in this mess together.

"I don't know what else to tell you," I breathed, "we were waiting for a delivery. I'm a high school student. These are the facts."

The man looked away from me to the original guard and spoke to him in Russian. Without a second glance, the man walked out of the room. My original guard walked over to me and stood in front of me.

"Up," he demanded.

I didn't want to be transferred from this room. I had no idea what else could be waiting for me in another room of this facility. But I needed to find Steve. I had to. But I needed a plan, I needed time.

I silently stared at him. I saw his jaw clench just before he grabbed right above my elbow and pulled me up roughly. I hit my calf on the way up on the bench and bit my cheek to keep from making a noise.

"Let me go," I demanded.

He leaned in extremely close to my face, "No."

He squeezed my arm so tightly I knew it was going to bruise badly. He opened the door and began walking me down the hallway past several rooms, but I refused to look anywhere but ahead of me.

He stopped suddenly and opened a door next to me and pushed me into it.

Within seconds I saw Steve hit the ground in front of me before the man who was holding me pushed me into the ground forcefully where I landed on my side, groaning from the sudden pain.

I looked over to Steve's still body, "Hey," I said, scrambling to get to him, "Steve," I whispered.

I got on my knees and put my bound hands on Steve's shoulder and shook him lightly, "Steve? Steve?" I saw the side of his face and it was red with blood, his lip was cut and his eye was dark and swollen.

I heard the door open and looked up to see the man who had questioned me walk in.

"What did you do to him?" I demanded, "What the hell did you do?"

He raised his open palm and brought it down, slapping my face. It was the most instantaneous pain I had ever felt. It took the air right out of me, as I hit the floor.

I let out a small groan of pain as I tasted the blood in my mouth.

The man spoke in Russian, and then the other guards were standing over Steve and I, lifting both of us up off the ground.

"Don't touch me," I snarled, kicking out my legs, trying to make contact with any part of the man who had grabbed me.

They shoved both of us into back to back chairs and wrapped another, longer, leather strap around the two of us.

"Shit," I whispered, there was no way I could've slipped out, they had guards on each side of us.

"Steve," I called, trying to look over my shoulder at his unconscious body, "get up, please get up."

I saw the man lift Steve's head up and click his tongue. Anger burned through me.

"Don't you touch him," I snarled, "leave him alone!"

"I think your friend needs a doctor," the man expressed, "good thing! We have the very best," he said in mock sincerity, causing him and the other men in the room to laugh.

I was furious. My blood was running so hot because of how uncaring they were. I wasn't sure if Steve was okay or not, I needed him to wake up. He had to.

When the man looked back at me after having his laugh with his comrades, I did the only thing I was able to given the fact I was tied up. I spit in his face while he was laughing.

The laughter stopped and the smile was wiped from his face. He purses his lips and took a cloth out to wipe his face. I stared in his eyes when he looked back at me.

He was angry but I didn't care. I knew that I was angrier than he could ever be.

"You are going to regret that, you little bitch," he seethed.

He stood back up and spoke to the other men in Russian, he took one more look at me before I heard a buzzer and they began walking out of the room.

"Where are you going? Let us out of here!" I demanded.

Once the door slammed shut again, I felt like I would be sick. My stomach was twisting and my head was throbbing. I didn't know what to do.

I let me head drop, "Shit," I whispered, "shit, shit, shit, shit."

"Help!" I shouted, lifting my head back up, "Someone help us!"

I knew no one would. But I was hopeful that someone might be a normal or rational human being and let us out.

"Help!" I yelled once agin.

"Lou...why do you keep yelling?" I heard Steve ask lethargically.

"Steve!" I exclaimed, relieved that he was up, "Steve, are you okay?"

I could feel that his head was hanging low as he answered me, "My ears are ringing, and I can't really breath, my eye feels like it's gonna pop out of my skull. But you know, apart front that I'm doing pretty good."

I sighed, "Okay...okay. They said they're gonna bring in a doctor," I explained trying to keep him from freaking out, even though I knew it wasn't going to be the type of doctor he needed.

The weight of the whole situation hit me like a ton of bricks. More than ever...I didn't think Steve and I were getting out of this. I was relieved that Robin, Dustin and Erica had gotten away. But I wasn't sure what my mom was going to do. I wasn't sure if Steve and I would ever be found.

I wasn't going to see my family again.

At that realization my eyes filled with tears. I had a guilt weighing on me that I needed off.

"Steve?"I whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I...just...thank-you for being a friend to Dustin...I've tried to do everything I could for him. But I guess there's certain things you need an older brother for," I said with tears in my eyes.

I heard him sigh, "He's a good kid, Lou. You and your mom did a good job with him."

I sniffled and shook my head slightly, "Can I tell you something that I've never told anyone?"

I felt him shift his body as best as he could to turn to me, "Yeah of course."

"I just need to get this off my chest in case something happens to me...us," I said bitting my lip, "when my mom told me she was pregnant...I was so angry at her. I was happy when it was just me and her and dad...not that that mattered because they got divorced like, two years later.

"But I remember thinking how badly I didn't want a little brother. I didn't want him and I wanted him to go away. I-" I let out a small sob, "God I'm the worst person...I wished that when she had him that she wouldn't like him and he would go away.

"But when he was born and they found out about his condition...I felt awful," I said as the tears flowed steadily down my cheeks.

"I thought it was my fault...sometimes I still feel like it is, ya know? I've never forgiven myself for that, but I'm so sorry for it."

"Hey," Steve started softly, "Dustin's fine, you didn't cause anything. You shouldn't feel guilty for that. And you're a great sister to him, that kid loves the hell outta you!

"Who can blame him though?" he asked quietly, "you're really awesome, Lou."

I breathed out a small laugh, "You're not too bad either, Harrington," I said softly, "I'm sorry that Dustin got you involved in all of this too," I told him, leaning my head back to try and stop the tears, "I wish he would have just come to me about this...about Eleven...the demogorgan....dart...all of it. I'm sorry that he pulled you into this."

I felt him lean his head back, situated next to mine, but I could only see his forehead, not his eyes or anything else, "I did ask him where you were when this was going down last time," he said with a small laugh, "he told me that I was forbidden from mentioning any of this shit to you."

I rolled my eyes but laughed a little, "Oh, Dustin."

"He kept telling me that he needed to keep you safe because you've always kept him safe," Steve added softly.

I squeezed my eyes shut trying to contain the tears but that didn't work, they began stream down the sides of my face towards my ears.

Steve cleared his throat behind me, "Lou?"

"Yeah?"

"Listen...I'm really, really sorry about high school. I wish I could go back and change everything about who I was. I wish that I wasn't so...focused on being this guy that I thought I should be," he told me quietly.

"I know, Steve," I tried comforting him.

"I wish that I would have paid attention to the people around me...not just myself and trying to keep up this image of King Steve or whatever. I wish I would have seen Robin because she's so smart and funny and she's going to be a best friend of mine for life now," he confided, "I really wish I had seen you, Louise. You're awesome and just...you're amazing, Lou. And I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for being part of any bad memory you have."

I smiled as more tears began building up in my eyes, "It's okay, Steve. You've made it up to me the last few days," I reassured him.

"No," he said quickly, "I'm going to spend the rest of how ever long you wanna hang around me making it up to you. Even if it's the next ten minutes because I dont know what's going to come through these doors."

"Thank you, Steve," I told him, trying to even out my voice so it didn't sound like I was on the verge of sobbing even though I was.

I lifted my head and looked around again, trying to think of something...anything to help us. The silver glint caught my eye. Scissors? If we could get there and knock it over...holy shit that might work.

"Steve," I said breathlessly, "look to the right."

I could tell he looked to the opposite side, I bit back the grin, "The other right," I explained.

Once I knew he was looking where I needed him too I started the explanation, "See that? The scissors? If we can get over there, maybe I can knock the table over into your lap and you can use the scissors to get out."

"Then get you out. Holy shit, they left scissors out, what are they? Morons?" he said, with a small hint of excitement in his voice.

"Right? Morons?" I agreed with a watery laugh, "On three we're gonna jump over there."

We counted down together and used our legs to push ourselves into as much of a jump as we could. And we landed it.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed with a laugh.

"We're gonna do it!" Steve cheered.

We counted down again, and kicked off. But we lost it. We tumbled over on our back to back chairs and landed on the floor with a slam.

My shoulder began throbbing painfully. It was official in my eyes, we weren't getting out.

I was going to die. In an underground facility tied to Steve Harrington.

I laughed. I couldn't stop laughing.

"Are you crying or laughing?" Steve asked me.

I shook my head, "Laughing," I answered through the smile, "I just...I can't believe this is how I'm going to die. Tied to Steve Harrington in a Russian facility."

"Lou...we're not gonna die," he said confidently, "we're gonna get out of here. We'll think of something."

I shook my head, "Steve...we're tied up...on the ground."

"Just let me think," he told me, "I'm gonna get you out of here, Lou. Please trust me."

"I trust you," I said instantly.

I couldn't believe that had come out of my mouth. But it was true. If I had learned anything over the past few days of all this shit, it was that I could absolutely trust Steve.

I sighed and rested my head on the flooring next to me, "I used to really wanna be like you, Steve. All of you...you, Tommy H., Carole...all the popular kids. Even when you guys would pick on us losers...when everyone would pick on me, I still wanted to be popular. I thought that would make me happy. I thought becoming popular would make all the problems go away," I told him softly.

He sighed deeply behind me, "Lou...it's not all it's cracked up to be. Honestly...everything that everyone says to you about it-it just baffles me because it's all really just...bullshit. It doesn't make you happier, it doesn't take problems away. I would kill to have your family. Popularity couldn't change that for me," he said quietly, "it didn't change how my parents treat me, how much my dad hates me. I would trade every drop of popularity I had to have a mom like yours. Where I wouldn't come home to my parents saying how much of a disappointment I am. Doing anything-going anywhere to not be around me.

"I can't understand where you're coming from wanting the popularity, Lou, because I wasn't on the outside. But looking back...I would have done anything to be on the outside looking in with you," he murmured, "but I guess you gotta mess up to figure things out."

I bit my lip and nodded, "I hope so."

I grinned and turned my head as best as I could to look over towards Steve, "I feel like my life so far has been one big error," I said with a small laugh, "like a choose your own adventure story that I majorly messed up on to have ended up in an underground lair." 

Steve chuckled behind me, "Yup."

I hummed with a smile grin, "At least it can't get any worse than this."

Steve cleared his throat, "I really wish I had hung around with you during school," Steve said, sighing, "maybe I'd be going to College instead of this."

I smiled, touched by the sentiment, "I would happily be helping you get ready for college instead of being here."

"For as bad as this is though," he breathed, "I'm at least happy to know you the way I do now. That's made all this worth it to me."

My heart stopped at his words. I wasn’t sure how to respond. But I knew I felt the same way.

Before I could tell him that, the buzzer went off and the door opened back up. I looked over and saw the head guard walking back into the room with other men following behind him.

He slowed his pace down when he saw us on the ground. He chuckled lowly at us.

He shook his head with a small sarcastic grin, "Well, where were you two going?"

——

Title credit to REO Speedwagon and gif credit to owner