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crappymixtape · 1 year ago

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because of you • part three

PART I • PART II • PART IV • PART V • EPILOGUE // REQ -> @sattlersquarry ❝ an enemies to lovers fic with Steve? 💙 maybe they have to put aside their differences to fight upside down stuff and realize they actually have a lot in common 👀 • 18+ | ( 3.1k – little bit of king!steve, mostly angst with a dash of fluff, enemies to idiots in love, steve x reader )

B E C A U S E O F Y O U • P A R T T H R E E 🎶 thick skull ( re: julien baker ), paramore ft. julien baker

❝ GOOD GIRLS DON’T CRY & GOOD GIRLS DON’T LIE & GOOD GIRLS JUSTIFY BUT I DON’T ❞

“Think she’s okay?”

“Shh!”

“What? No way she can hear us back here.”

“Dustin, ‘back here’ is literally a seat behind her.”

Sat quietly at a table seat in the Winnebago, Eddie looking on worriedly across from you, you were still grappling with the fact that you were alive. That you didn’t die. That you were breathing fresh air and free from the dark and free from Him.

For now.

And as the RV bumped down the road out of Hawkins you said nothing. Felt Steve’s eyes on you constantly as he glanced at you in the rearview. Eddie’s hand still holding tight to yours after he helped you up, afraid to lose you again. Dustin and Lucas and Max all talking in not-so-hushed voices behind you about what it all meant and if El could get back in time and was this all gonna be enough?

Voice thick and choked by the sobs that had felt endless, you’d managed to tell everyone what Vecna had showed you. Told them about Hawkins, about the monsters, about your family, about them. Eddie, Robin, Nancy Steve. And no one had said anything at first. The sounds of your cries filling up the RV. Stark against the silence and heavy with the weight of your words and they knew before you’d even opened your mouth that it was going to be bad.

Of course they knew.

But now that Vecna had revealed his master plan, the efforts you were all making just felt hopeless. The munitions stuffed under the bench seats and closets and cabinets, all puny and worthless against Vecna and his army of nightmares.

A big bump in the road brought you out of your thoughts and when you glanced up your eyes met Steve’s as he snuck another look in the rear view. And instead of glaring, instead of flipping him the bird, you looked right back. Held his gaze for moment longer and he didn’t shy away until he came up on a turn-off.

“Alright, shitheads. We’re here.”

“Here?” Lucas asked, more than confused at the thick forest Steve was now driving you all through.

“Yeah, this is it.”

And as the trees slowly thinned out, thick grass and wildflower blooms took their place. Creeping out ahead of you to reveal a meadow, wide and green and lush. A haven that felt so very far away, felt safe, and as Steve parked and the engine quieted you let out the breath you’d been holding.

❝ MAYBE IF YOU JUST GOT SOME GUTS WE’D KILL ‘EM WITH A THOUSAND CUTS AND SAY WE DID IT OUT OF LOVE ❞

Everyone piled out of the RV and got after their tasks. Pretended like preparing for the end of the world was totally normal and routine. Nancy and Robin sawing off the end of a shotgun. Lucas and Erica attempting to make spears from tactical knives and broom handles. Eddie and Dustin shoving each other around in the grass with their garbage can lids full of nails at their feet and none of it instilled you with confidence, but Dustin screaming No wedgies! did manage to pull a little smile out of you.

And for a split second it felt okay.

Laughter, the sound of birds, the feeling of the wind on your bare skin and all the green around you – so unlike the cracked and bitter feeling in the Upside Down and then your smile fell.

You wished He hadn’t shown you.

Wished Vecna had just left you alone. Wished for just a moment that you hadn’t gone to Max’s trailer and put yourself in the middle of all this, but then Eddie grabbed Dustin in a big bear hug and your chest squeezed.

Your best friend.

The reason why you had gone to Max’s trailer.

The reason why you weren’t going to run.

The reason this was all worth it.

“Ah, shit.”

Sat next to you, Steve sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. The funnel in your hands slipping as you lost focus and liquid trickled down your hands and wrists.

“Hold it still,” Steve quickly tipped back his can of kerosene and set it down to grab a piece of ripped towel.

A string of curses were muttered under your breath, so much for homemade molotov cocktails.

Cheeks burning with embarrassment you went to wipe your hands on your sweater, but when you looked back up at Steve he was looking too. Eyes searching yours, unsure and tentative. Moles dotting along his cheeks and jaw like tiny constellations. Skin gold like it held summer and when you blinked away the haze of him, you realized he was reaching out to you.

“Here, get that off so it doesn’t burn,” he said a little softer. Cloth in one hand, he took yours in the other and wiped at the kerosene.

Oh, fell from your lips. Surprised. Unsure. Your skin buzzing where he touched you and you swallowed thick as you felt your pulse flutter against your neck.

“Uh–here, you can get the rest,” Steve said quickly, like he’d felt it too and hastily passed the cloth off to you, dropping your hand to wipe his on his jeans.

“Thanks,” you mumbled back.

It was quiet for a moment as he cleared his throat and picked up his can of kerosene again. You followed suit and grabbed your empty vodka bottle and funnel. Wordlessly he leaned over to hold your hand in his and once it was steady began pouring again, eyes flicking over to look at you.

“I’m an asshole,” he suddenly admitted, breaking the silence, and you had to focus really hard to not fumble the bottle again.

“I didn’t say it,” you started and he chuckled under his breath. A low, warm thing that made the air around you fizzle and crack like bonfires down at the quarry.

“Didn’t say you did,” he gently pushed back, lips still tugged up into a small, wry smile, but it faded the longer he looked at you. “Listen. I know we aren’t…well, I know I don’t have a great track record,” he said and the change in his tone surprised you. Told you he was serious and you had to look away to try to gather yourself back up again.

"No, really?" you said, all sarcasm, and he huffed another laugh.

“Hah hah,” he joked, weakly at first, and then his expression shifted more serious. “I just wanted to say that…well, that you have every right to be here it’s just–” the boy hummed around his words. Dropped his gaze down to where your hands met on the kerosene filled vodka bottle and put the can on the ground.

Talking to you like this, showing weakness and vulnerability, made him feel so exposed. Uncomfortable. Unable to find the right words and his tongue jammed into his cheek as he tried to decide just how honest he wanted to be.

With you.

“It’s just–everything about the Upside Down wants to kill you and it’s like–” he sighed heavy and carded a hand through his already messy hair. “I dunno. How many more people have to die? You know?” and then he was looking at you again. Really looking, really asking, and for a second it made you doubt everything you felt about him.

Jock. Asshole. King Steve.

No second chances, remember?

“Can I ask you something?” you heard yourself say and you could feel the muddled mixture of nerves and frustration and anticipation buzzing under your skin. Everything you’d been holding onto all this time pent up and pushing against the wall you’d built around it. Waiting waiting waiting for you to set it loose.

“Oh–sure, yeah.”

“Why are you really here?”

Steve’s eyes grew wide and he sat back on his milk crate, hands squeezing at the tops of his thighs.

“Why am I here?”

“Yeah. Do you really care about Eddie?”

Steve’s eyes darted back over to where Eddie and Dustin were hammering more nails into their garbage can lids and maybe you were impatient or maybe Steve was stalling, but you didn’t want to wait.

“Cos you didn’t care about him before.”

“B-before? I don’t–what d'you mean–”

Steve was stumbling over himself now, struggling to own the words you put on him and frustration grew warm in your chest, but you tried hard to swallow it down. Tried hard to let him prove Eddie’s theory of change.

“High school, Harrington,” you started, trying to keep your tone even and calm. “Yelled at us in the quad? Tossed people’s books in the hallway? Threw fries at us in the cafeteria.” You paused, debated whether or not you wanted to tack more on, and then you thought of Tommy and it came out all on its own, “Let your friends say really shitty things to me.”

Steve’s gaze dropped down to his feet and he didn’t say anything at first, not a word, and you kicked yourself for even bothering to think he’d be able to handle it. Of course he couldn’t.

“You know what–nevermind,” you mumbled, capping your bottle and moving to stand, but his hand grabbed yours and pulled you back down onto your milk crate.

“Wait. Please?”

And the way he was looking at you was pained, the pinch between his brows deep, and it made you pause. Was Eddie right? The way Steve cared for these kids, for your best friend, showed clearly something had shifted in him, but was it enough?

“Wait for what, Harrington? So you can show me things are different now?” your voice was softer, but hurt, “Because Eddie swears you’ve changed, but you still sound just like Tommy.”

The mention of his ex-best friend felt like getting the wind knocked out of him. He knew Tommy was wrong now. Hell, he knew it back then too. Knew how fucked up it'd been in the parking lot at the school, but he hadn’t had the guts to say anything. Couldn’t stand up to him or tell him off because he ‘had a reputation to uphold’ and what would everyone else say if he went ‘soft on a freak’?

“I–I know. I fucked up. I get it and I don’t know how I can prove it to you, but–” he started truthfully, hand still holding yours, thumb shifting softly against your palm, “–but I am. Really sorry.”

Really sorry.

Finally. After all those years. After everything he’d said and done, but sorry didn’t fix it. Or take any of it back. Was it too late?

Reluctantly you pulled your hand away from Steve’s, his fingers flexing as they fell away from yours, wanting to hold on just a little bit longer but you weren’t ready.

“You know that doesn’t fix it, right?” you said quietly, glancing up at Steve through the long sweep of your lashes and guilt settled heavy over him.

He knew it didn’t fix it. Knew all too well that words didn’t mean shit, but he would be the first to admit he was a slow learner. Crawl before you walk. Hit your head and maybe something will suddenly make sense and when it came to you? Vecna had been like a sucker punch.

You were strong-willed. Didn’t take shit lying down. Were fiercely loyal to your best friend and just wanted to try to help and it had taken Steve a minute to realize – in your eyes he was still bullshit, but he didn’t want to be. It wasn’t going to be easy, not in the least, but just like you he wanted to try.

“I know it doesn’t fix it.”

His eyes squeezed shut so he didn’t have to look at you. Tried to make it easier on himself as he pushed through the discomfort of taking responsibility for his actions. Tongue running along his bottom lip, just like it always did when his brain was working overtime, he finally looked back up at you.

“I’m not asking you for forgiveness or–or to be my friend or anything. I just want you know I really am sorry. For all of it. Okay?”

Sitting there so close to him, your hands inches away from touching, holding each other’s gaze as you listened to the words falling from his lips in sincerity – it was almost too much. The wall you’d built around yourself cracking and straining against this new feeling that had settled in your chest, but the words wouldn’t come to you as your lips parted and you tried and pull yourself together but–

“Dammit, Eddie, no wedgies!”

Dustin’s voice cut through the silence that had settled and Steve reflexively sat up. Pushed himself away from whatever it was you’d waded into together. Away from sorry and the feeling of your hands pressed together and the look you gave him through the long sweep of your lashes and the way you made his heart race. Turned away from you and played it off.

“Hey! Less dicking around, more putting shit together!” he yelled at Dustin and Eddie flipped him off without looking.

“Like you’re doing anything important, big boy!” Eddie hollered back and the way it made Steve’s cheeks grow pink made your lips twitch with a smile you had to work hard to hold back.

“Shut up,” Steve muttered at Eddie, but mostly to himself, and stood from his milk crate to put your filled vodka bottle into the box with the rest.

You watched quietly as he placed the last bottle in and folded the cardboard shut. Muscles tensing and pulling taut as he worked, moving against the fabric of his shirt and you quickly looked away for fear of being caught.

Then your eye caught his nail covered bat tipped against side of the Winnebago and the threat of the Upside Down and all its nasties wrapped around you tight like a vice.

Oh.

Right.

The end of the world.

Just a few yards away Nancy pulled the trigger on her shotgun, the sound making you flinch, and it hit you like a ton of bricks – you had absolutely no clue how to defend yourself against this. Against Him. Against an army from hell. You knew how to throw a punch and knee someone in the crotch and you’d always had an arm on you from playing volleyball, but none of that had anything to do with monsters. Or guns. Or nail covered bats.

“Uhm–” came out mumbled, more sound than word, and it pulled Steve’s attention up from the box.

“What’s that?”

“Can you–er–would you maybe show me how to swing that?” you asked and it made him turn to face you, giving you his full attention.

“What?”

Your cheeks grew hot.

“That bat,” you said shifting uncomfortably on your crate, “I don’t think–I can't shoot a gun.”

Steve’s expression softened as he remembered what it'd felt like the first time he saw a demogorgon. The first time he swung that very bat into the side of a demodog. The first time this world had been exposed to him and he knew how overwhelming and absolutely crazy it all felt.

Grabbing the bat in his hand he gave you a small smile and took the few steps back over to you.

“Sure. It’s not too hard. You know, just aim and swing.”

“Just aim and swing?” your tone was flat, all skeptics, a defensive move against his kindness and it made him chuckle.

“Well, there’s probably more to it than that, but those stupid bats are thick enough when they swarm it’d be hard for anyone to miss.”

Your eyes grew wide at the thought of swarming bats and it made him laugh again, a half-grimace pulling at his features.

“Shit, sorry. Uh–here,” readjusting his grip he bent his knees a bit and dug his heel into the ground. “Just make sure you get a wide stance, yeah? Like, hip width apart? And don’t be afraid to choke up on your hold. It’ll make your swings hit harder.”

He swung the bat and the sound it made as it cut through the air made your breath catch in your throat.

“Wanna try?” the boy held the crude weapon out to you and you swallowed thick. Stood up from your own milk crate and tentatively took it from him.

It was heavy in your hands, heavier than you thought it’d be, but smooth. You did as he said and slid your hands up a little further on the handle and tried a swing, but threw yourself off balance and stumbled forward.

“Ah, that’s okay. Here, uh–” Steve stepped in behind you and placed his hands over yours on the bat, “–try again, but follow through with your hip. Your grip’s good, just don’t throw your full weight forward.”

The warmth of his chest on your back made your cheeks burn again. Made your heart race. Hammering against your ribcage as he slowly took you through the motion again.

“Then when you get to the end of the swing, follow with your hip," his voice was much quieter over your shoulder, words falling into your ear and making you dizzy as he tried so damn hard to keep his focus. Placed a hand on your waist to guide it and toed your foot forward with his shoe as he took a step. “See?”

“Yeah,” was all you could manage, the feeling of his breath on your neck trailing goosebumps across your skin and you couldn’t help it. Couldn’t help the way the closeness of him pulled your gaze and when you looked up he was looking too.

“Does that–uh–did that make sense?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper and you nodded. A small thing that barely registered and he was so close now. Close enough his nose nearly brushed your cheek, getting closer by the second and–

“Harrington! Where are those bottles? I gotta get ‘em loaded up!” Eddie yelled from the other side of the RV and the space between you shattered. Both of you stepping away as though you’d touched a hot stove and you pressed the bat into Steve’s hands.

“Should probably get ready,” you muttered and he nodded, cleared his throat and took two big steps back to set the bat down.

“Coming!” Steve called back as he scooped up the box of molotov cocktails, bottles clinking against each other as he walked away and disappeared around the corner of the RV.

King Steve turned Steve Harrington.

Steve Harrington turned something else.

Something more.

Something you thought you’d written off.

Something that held you so tightly now it made you want to run, but at the back of your mind, somewhere soft and warm, you couldn’t help wondering what might happen if you didn’t.

[ NOTE: THIS IS PART THREE OF A – POSSIBLY – FIVE PART SERIES, PART FOUR AND FIVE TO COME SOON ]

crappymixtape™ • steve harrington masterlist // stranger things masterlist♥️ reblogs and comments keep me going, friends! ily! ♥️

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louloulemons-posts · 1 year ago

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Touchy-Feeley

Steve Harrington X Reader

Summary : Steve’s always touching you, but it’s totally platonic right?

Word count : 1.5k

Warnings : not proofread, pure fluff, idiots in love, pining, petnames, kisses, don’t think there’s any use of Y/N or descriptors of physical features, this was written at 4am lol.

A/N : This is my first fic for Steve! I can’t believe it’s taken me this long, but I saw a tiktok and it inspired this. I hope you enjoy it 🤍

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

You and Steve had been best friends for a while now, becoming even closer after everything with the Russians at the mall went down.

You’d met through Robin, she’d dragged you into the back of Scoops begging for you help to figure out the code they’d heard.

Well that ended up in you, Robin, two kids called Dustin and Erica and strangely, king Steve Harrington.

You weren’t his biggest fan in highschool, seeing the way he treated people. People like you and Robin. That night changed everything, the way he kept all of you safe, eventhough he didn’t really know you.

After that you’d become friends, not as close as him and Robin or yourself and her, but friends no the less.

There was something else you’d learned about Steve during this time. He was someone who loved physical touch.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Walking into Family Video you waved over to Robin, “Hey.”

“Hey! Please tell me you bro-” Sliding her lunch across the counter she clasped her hands.

“I love you so much, did you know that?”

“Mhm. I’m using your discount, just so you know,” you spoke and walked away down the aisles to look for a movie or two.

Zoned out whilst you read the back of a case, you jumped when you felt arms wrap around you. “Sorry babe I did call you, but you must’ve not heard me.”

“Hi Steve.”

“Watcha thinking of getting?” he asked, now resting his head on your shoulder. “Not sure, this sounds interesting. It’s called Labyrinth.”

“It’s only been put back out today, it’s meant to be really good.” You hummed in acknowledgement. “Hey maybe we could watch it together?” he suggested.

Tapping your fingers on his hands that were linked around you, “Sure sounds good.”

“Great.”

He let go, but took your hand instantly, pulling you towards the counter. Rubbing his thumb against yours. Things like this had become normal to you now, it was stranger when he didn’t touch you.

Taking the VHS from you, he put it through, putting in his details so you’d get a discount. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Shush. I’ll be watching it too.”

He then pulled out his wallet and put a dollar in the till. “Steve!” you scolded.

“Shush!” Rolling your eyes playfully, you took the movie from him.

“When do you get off?” you asked.

“Like 5, gotta drop Robs home.”

“Do you wanna come over at 6:30 then? Or is that not enough time?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll bring some snacks.”

“Great, I’ll see you later then.” Giving one last squeeze to your hand, he smiled, “See you.”

Shouting goodbye to Robin, you waved as you headed out. The shorter haired girl appeared in the doorway. Fork in her mouth she mumbled, “You’re so in love with her.”

“Shut up!”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

The door knocked just after 6:30, quickly answering it, you smiled. Steve dressed in a yellow sweater, a bag in hand. “Hey.”

“Hi,” you smiled, letting him come in.

“So I brought candy and popcorn, and I thought we could get a pizza?” he said, as he placed the food on your kitchen counter.

“Sounds great. My mom and dad are at some reunion thing so we don’t have to share,” you laughed.

He smiled at that, you laugh. It was the most beautiful sound, making butterflies erupt in his stomach.

He knew you were going to be a big part of his life as soon as he lay his eyes on you. He didn’t think it would be in this way. He was scared of getting hurt in all honesty.

After everything that happened with Nancy, he was happy to be playboy King Steve for a while. But then he saw you smile at Robin as she teased him and Dustin in Pig-Latin and knew it was something more.

“Steve,” you voice snapped him back to reality, “lost you for a second there, you okay?” Your eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Sorry, so do you want to order the pizza now and then watch the movie?” he asked.

You let out a laugh, “That’s what I just asked you, silly boy,” you smiled, shaking your head. “Tell you what, you take the snacks into the living room and I’ll call.”

He nodded, pecking your cheek as he walked past you. He didn’t notice how your cheeks flushed when he did. They always did. He had that affect on you.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

With pizzas half eaten and movie playing, Steve spoke, “Come here,” he said, opening his arms up to you.

You grinned as you leaned into him, arms wrapping around you. “I missed you,” he mumbled into your hair.

“Steve you saw me this morning.”

“Too long!” he groaned.

“Well you’ve got me now,” you said, leaning up to leave a soft peck on the his jaw.

He shivered slightly at the feeling. Your eyes went back to movie, head resting on Steves chest, hearing his heart beat.

He could only hope it wasn’t too loud. He felt like it might explode, the way you kissed him could’ve killed him.

He whispered your name, “Yeah Stevie?” Now that, that could kill him. “Did you ever think we’d end up like this? Me and you?”

“Honestly, no. Not in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself having a pizza and movie night with King Steve.”

He let out a noise of dislike at the name, “I don’t wanna be like that again.”

“You won’t be. Don’t think me or Robs would let you, or Dustin.”

“Yeah I’m stuck with the nerds now.” Letting out a scoff you pushed up off him, “You’re calling me a nerd?” your eyes were wide, in mock offence.

“Well … yeah a bit.”

“How rude! How am I a nerd?”

“Well you’re the biggest book worm I have ever met, you’re great at all school subjects-”

“Am not!”

“Are too. You love sci-fi, you’re fluent in Pig-Latin out of all things, the list goes on and on babe.”

“You’re horrible to me, you know that?”

“Ah yes, the guy who brought you this movie.”

“Using your discount!”

“How horrible, and got you pizza and snacks.”

“I’m not talking to you anymore,” you said, moving over to the over end of the couch.

“Hey come back!” he laughed, pulling on your ankle.

“No! I’m clearly too nerdy to sit next to the great King Steve,” you huffed, trying to pull out of his grip.

“I’m not King Steve.”

“Who are you then?”

“Just Steve.”

“Just Steve?”

“Mhm, and you’re just you. My favourite nerdy person ever.” You rolled your eyes. “That’s it, I come over. Give you wonderful company, feed you and you call me King Steve and roll your eyes at me.”

He got closer to you, “You called me a nerd!”

“And am I wrong?”

“I … Well if I’m a nerd you are too!”

“No!”

“Steve your best friend is a 14 year old genius.”

“Rude. Also you’re my best friend and so is Robin.”

“So a child nerd, a band nerd and a just me nerd?”

“Exactly!”

“Wow.”

He was now next to you again. “Forgive me,” he said, giving you puppy dog eyes. “Stop it!” You laughed at his pouty face.

“Not until you forgive me, I’ll do anything,” he said, wrapping his arms around you once more. “Please forgive me. You’re my favourite nerd.”

“Let me go!”

“Not until you forgive me.” He squeezed you as you tried to wriggle away. Pulling and pushing him, you were on the end of the couch and almost out of his grip.

That was until you fell on the ground, Steve following after. “Jesus are you okay?” he asked, genuinely concerned, pushing up off you.

Unable to answer as you fell into a fit of giggles, “You’re crazy,” he smiled fondly, leaning over you.

Calming yourself you met his eyes, matching his soft smile. He heart thumped against his chest, while your tummy did somersaults.

Leaning down slowly, as to give you time to stop him, but you didn’t. You couldn’t. You wouldn’t.

Soon enough his soft lips met yours, moving together, as if they were made for each other. Your hand went to the base of his neck, playing with the hairs there.

Smiling into the kiss, Steve pulled back, giving you a few more soft pecks. “I wanted to do that for so long,” he whispered.

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because I didn’t think you liked me like that.”

“Steve have you ever seen me let someone touch me the way you do? Even Robs?”

He tried to recount a time, there’d been one occasion he’d seen Robin hug you and you not squeal pushing her away. The night at Starcourt.

“Oh.”

“Yeah oh. I’m not a touchy-feely person. But for you, I am. I love it.”

“I love it too.”

“Then don’t stop, hold my hand, hug me, kiss me.” He lent down to do just that.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any requests 🤍

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torakowalski · 5 months ago

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Apols for the delay but Swimmer Steve is back and pretty much exactly where we last left him.

(part one | part six)

"Fuck," says Steve. "Fuck." He hasn't said much of anything else since he came out of the changing rooms, still damp and kind of stunned-looking.

"Fuck," Eddie agrees.

Steve looks at him, a smile starting to spread across his face, going on and on like it might be endless.

God, he's handsome.

God, Eddie is stupid in love with him.

"Olympics, baby!" Eddie crows. They've already hugged; Steve got a hug from everyone, as soon as he emerged. Eddie wants to hug him again, but that would probably be too much.

"Fuck," says Steve and sits down on the floor between their two beds.

Eddie shrugs to himself and sits down with him.

They've only come back to the hotel so Steve can get showered and changed before the celebration dinner that the kids have planned. Or, actually, Steve has come back to the hotel for that; thinking about it, Eddie's not sure why he came with, except that it just felt natural.

Either way, looks like they're going to take longer than expected.

"All good?" Eddie asks, just in case.

"Jesus Christ," says Steve, which is a change from fuck and laughs. He lifts his hands up to cover his face and when he lowers them again, his eyes are wet. "The Olympics, Eddie."

Eddie nods, can't do anything but smile stupidly back at him. He doesn't think he's ever seen Steve this open and relaxed and delighted. "The Olympics, Steve."

Steve rubs at his eyes with his fingertips, mostly just making his eyelashes damper and darker from his happy tears. "You know when you've wanted something your whole damn life, but you never really thought you'd get it? It feels fucking wild to get it."

Eddie thinks about his guitar, his band, how badly he wants to stand on a stage looking out at thousands of people who all want to hear what he has to sing. Then he reminds himself that this is Steve's moment.

"I bet," he says. "Congrats. You've worked damn hard and you absolutely deserve it."

Steve leans over and bumps their shoulders together. "You're coming with me, right?"

Eddie blinks. "Where?"

"... the Olympics," says Steve, like it should be obvious.

Eddie blinks some more. "Steve. Sweetheart. Steve. The Olympics are in Korea."

"Mm," Steve agrees, "but the war's over, it's totally safe there now."

Eddie loves and hates that Steve thinks that might be the only thing putting Eddie off.

Eddie stretches his legs out so they disappear under Steve's bed and hopes there's nothing really gross under there that'll stick to his jeans. "Look, the literal only reason I've been able to afford rocking up and down the country with you is government hush money and the fact you keep buying all my meals. There's no way I can stretch to plane tickets, and I'd need my own hotel room, right? 'cause you'll be living in the athletes village?"

He could have kept going, obviously he could have kept going, but he stops there because Steve is waving a hand at him.

"What? Don't say you'll pay. There's no way you have that much extra cash, either."

"Nah," Steve says, "but my dad does. And I will be fully, fully back on the credit card, after he finds out about this."

Eddie makes a face. "But we hate your dad?"

"We really do," Steve agrees, smile not even dimming. "But we love spending his money on shit he'll hate." He drops a hand to Eddie's knee, giving it a squeeze and a shake. "You'll come, right?"

"... You should take Robin," Eddie tries, one last attempt to be a good person. "Or the kids. God, the kids would shit."

Steve leaves his hand on Eddie's knee, like that's just a place where it goes now. "I'd take them all, if I could... Plus like, all their parents to keep an eye on them, but they'll all be back in school by the time the Olympics start. None of them can take like, three weeks out."

"I bet Erica could wrangle it," Eddie points out.

Steve makes a guilty face. "Love Erica, but I don't think we have the kind of relationship where we hop over to Asia, just the two of us. You know?"

Eddie wants to ask, And we do? But they do. He knows they do.

"I don't know," he says. It's a big fucking deal. He's never left the country before and he'd love to, but he really does hate Steve's dad and all he chooses to be. The idea of being beholden to him for that big a favour sits wrong in his gut, even if Mr Harrington never actually knows about it.

"Eddie," Steve says, like he's prepared to wheedle for what he wants. Then he stops, takes a breath, shakes his head. "I know it's a big ask and obviously you don't have to, if you really don't want to. I kind of just, I can't, I can't imagine doing this without you."

Eddie claps a hand to his chest. "Right in the flattery gland, Harrington."

Steve slides his hand up Eddie's leg and squeezes his thigh. Is this going to be a thing? Is Eddie going to have to get Robin to have a word with him about this soon?

"You're the whole reason I've got this far," Steve tells him, all close and sincere. "If you don't want to come, that'll suck, but it's okay. I just wanna make sure that you know I appreciate everything you've done."

Eddie knows every mole on Steve's face, but Steve's close enough now to reveal a few previously unknown freckles.

Eddie chuckles weakly. "Personal space?" he suggests.

"Overrated," Steve says and then.

And then.

And then he presses his lips carefully against Eddie's.

"What?" Eddie croaks. He can feel his breath dance off Steve's mouth.

"Thank you," Steve says and kisses him again, a little firmer, a little damper this time.

"I..." Eddie is a goddamn fucking hero because he makes himself lean back. "Don't. You can't. Don't kiss me to say thank you. That's not... Don't. Please."

He's expecting Steve to sit back, blush and apologise and explain he had to best of intentions. Instead, Steve lifts the hand not on Eddie's thigh and touches his cheek. "Can I kiss you 'cause I can't imagine not kissing you?"

The centre of Eddie's chest throbs. Even he doesn't know what that means. "You don't want to kiss me," he manages.

"Kinda really do," Steve says. "So? Can I?"

(continued here)

#stranger things #steve harrington #swimmer steve #steddie #snippets #eddie munson #olympics au

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worth-the-chaos · 1 year ago

Text

Adventures in Babysitting - Steve Harrington x female!reader - Chapter 8

Chapter Summary: Well, the five of you do get in that secret room, but the problem is you can’t quite find a way out. Tensions rise as you realize the gravity of the situation, the forced proximity revealing hard feelings between you and Steve.

Content Warning: swearing (per usual), angst, mentions of the upside down, scary Russians and violence

Word Count: 7.2k

Author’s Note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Sorry it took me longer than normal to get it written! Message me if you want to be added to the taglist to get notified when the next chapter is posted! :)

Series Masterlist | Chapter 7 | Next Part

***

The four of you crouched on the roof while you waited, the door to the secret room in sight. At this time of night, the room was no longer guarded with the mall being long closed by now. Steve was crouched right beside you, and you could feel his warm breath against your neck.

“Erica, do you copy?” Robin asked over the walkie talkie.

“Mmm hmmm, I copy. You nerds in position or what?” She shot back over the radio and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, we’re in position. It’s all quiet here so you’ve got the green light.”

“Green light, roger that. Commence Operation Child Endangerment,” Erica’s voice rang out through the receiver. You quickly snatched the walkie talkie from Robin, pressing down the button to speak.

“Can we maybe…not call it that?” You asked. You had a reputation to uphold and you’d be damned if you were going to let the sassy Sinclair girl change that.

“See you on the other side, nerds,” Erica’s voice was thick with attitude. Robin took the walkie talkie back from you while you and Steve shared a look. Erica wasn’t necessarily wrong in viewing what she was doing through that lens. If you were being totally honest, it probably was damn near child endangerment. Steve could tell you were worried, placing a hand on your shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze for reassurance.

It had been a while since you heard her over the radio and your mind started to dart to all of the worst case scenarios. What if there were still evil Russians there? What if they had found her? What if she had gotten stuck and had no way of getting out?

“That’s it. I’m going back inside,” you started to stand, but Dustin reached around Steve and yanked you back down.

“Y/n, you’re going to blow our cover. Just give her a second; I’m sure she’s fine,” Dustin attempted to convince you, but it wasn’t doing much to quell your concerns.

“Alright nerds. I’m there,” the walkie talkie finally came to life again, and you finally let out the breath you’d been holding, as one of your anxious hands went to worry at the collar of your shirt, tugging on the fabric as you tried to calm down.

“Do you…do you see anything?” Robin asked.

“Yeah I see those boring boxes you’re so excited about.”

“Any guards? Booby traps?” You asked, snatching the walkie talkie from Robin once more, trying to get a feel for how safe this room was.

“For starters, no; there aren’t any guards. Secondly, if I could see them, they’d be pretty shit traps, wouldn’t they?”

“Thank you for that,” you muttered through the transmitter, rolling your eyes. You were about to press the button down on the walkie talkie to speak, to give her further guidance on what she should do now, but before you could, her voice crackled through the radio once more.

“I’m in,” She announced and your heart stopped in your chest. That wasn’t the plan; she wasn’t supposed to do anything else other than scope it out so you could make more plans together. The little shit was going rogue.

“Oh god,” Steve breathed out, running his hands down his face, clearly not pleased with Erica’s complete disregard for authority.

He didn’t have to be worried for too long though, as the doors began swinging open seconds after she had said it as she strolled out, unbothered as she put a hand on her hip.

“Free ice cream for life,” She emphasized, and you had to give her credit. The girl really deserved it. The four of you looked between each other, shock and excitement registering on your faces as you quickly got up to go join the girl at the door she had just opened. You weren’t quite as giddy as Dustin and Robin, and as you all descended the stairwell from the roof, you pulled Steve aside on one of the landings.

“Steve, I don’t think we should go in there,” you said quietly, the intensity in your voice making your unease blatantly apparent.

“What do you mean? Y/n, we’ve spent hours translating that damn code, we can’t just bail right before we figure everything out. Chances are it’s probably nothing anyway,” Steve assured you, putting a gentle hand on your back as he attempted to redirect you, guiding you towards the next set of stairs. You didn’t budge as you planted your feet, your hand darting out to grasp the railing.

“Steve, I’m serious. I have a really bad feeling about this,” you pushed the issue. Too many times you had pushed aside your intuition, leading to life threatening scenarios, and you were tired of it. “I just don’t think it’s the right move to have those kids in there, it’s not safe. Please, Steve,” you begged, trying to get him on your side.

The look you shot him was enough to break his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to just agree with you, to take you home with him and kiss you like all was right with the world, but he knew that he couldn’t. “Y/n, the way I see it, we can leave. If that’s what you really want, we can walk out to the parking lot and just go home…but you know as well as I do that if we leave, the kids aren’t going to come with us. So we can either leave them behind or be there to make sure they’re okay.”

He was right and you hated it. You sighed, pushing past him and continuing down the stairs as you met up with Robin and Dustin. You all swiftly exited the mall, finally coming face to face with Erica, a self-satisfied smirk painted on her face.

“That shit—,” she said, pointing over her shoulder at the open room, “—was easy, so next time you nerds can figure it out yourselves.” She turned around entering the hidden storage room. You rolled your eyes but joined the rest of your friends as they filed in after her. Steve pulled the doors shut behind you so that if anyone happened to walk by, they’d be none the wiser to the fact that five misfit kids were solving imaginary mysteries in there.

Dustin handed Steve a pocketknife, which he gladly accepted, cutting open the tape on one of the Imperial Panda shipments, tearing the box open to reveal a metal case. You all looked at each other hesitantly, not quite sure what you were supposed to do with it. Steve shrugged, reaching to grab the metal handle, twisting it to cause air to hiss out the sides as the lid unlatched.

You all stared confused at the four metal canisters nestled neatly in the case, unsure of what to say. In a way, some of this had all felt like just a game you were playing, a puzzle to pass the time. Seeing the cold hard evidence that there was something shady going on completely shattered what remained of that facade, as your heart stopped in your chest. Steve finally broke the silence, speaking up to say “that is definitely not Chinese food.”

He went to remove one of the canisters, but stopped before pulling up on the handle. “Uh, maybe you guys should, you know, stand back.” He was saying it mostly for your benefit, hoping that demonstrating an abundance of caution would ease your nerves. He knew that what they were doing was risky, and as you all uncovered more and more shit that didn’t add up, he couldn’t help but feel like the risk was increasing dramatically.

Robin, you, and Erica stepped back cautiously, giving Steve a wide breadth of space. Dustin, on the other hand, planted his feet responding with a simple but resounding “no.”

“Dude, just step back,” Steve reiterated.

“No, I’m not backing up.”

“Dude, I’m serious, just back up.”

“No! If you die, I die,” Dustin shouted, his tone far more serious than it needed to be. Sure, you thought what you were doing was dangerous, but you were pretty confident that this little metal canister wasn’t going to kill you.

Steve stared at him for a second before shrugging with complete nonchalance. “…okay,” he responded as he turned back to the task at hand. You rolled your eyes, unimpressed with the way Steve immediately gave into Dustin’s dramatics, before pulling Dustin back by the collar, stepping in front of him, right back into the “danger zone.”

You ignored Dustin’s protests, as Steve turned the metal handle, slowly pulling it out, revealing a glass tube filled with some sort of green liquid. You looked at Steve who was staring at it with a furrowed brow, all of you just as confused as to what the substance could be.

“What the fuck is that?” You breathed out, your heart sinking in your chest as your suspicions were confirmed. This wasn’t just some elaborate conspiracy theory that your bored minds had construed; it was real, and you desperately wished you could go back to a week ago when you were just unhappily scooping ice cream, unaware of all of this shit.

“What the hell?” Steve whispered, holding the canister up at eye level to further inspect its contents. Before he could get a super close look at it, the room slightly shook and you jumped, grabbing onto Steve’s arm as your heart raced in your chest.

“…was that just me or did the room move?” Dustin asked hesitantly, eyes darting around to meet all of your concerned faces.

“Booby traps,” Erica whispered. Her voice was usually so sassy and strong and full of life, but this time it seemed weak and scared and your shoulders tensed as you braced for the worst. A mechanical whirring sound rang out through the room as it continued to shift.

“You know what? Let’s just grab that and go,” Robin spoke up, jumping into action as she ripped the canister from Steve’s grasp, moving to unzip Erica’s backpack and shove it in there. Dustin rushed over to the control panel on the wall, pressing the button labeled to open the door but nothing was happening.

“Which one do I press, Erica?”

“Just push the damn button, nerd!”

The fear permeating through the small room was palpable, and you were no longer able to take a deep breath. You kept trying to force air into your lungs as you began to hyperventilate. You felt like you were choking as your eyes began to water.

Dustin and Erica continued to yell at each other, and Steve was quick to grab your shoulders. You were blinking rapidly, your eyes darting all around the room as a tear slipped down your cheek.

“Y/n, look at me,” Steve spoke up, moving his hands to either side of your face to force you to focus on him, “you need to breathe.”

“I-I-I just…I can’t!” You choked out, more tears streaming down your face as a sob escaped your lips.

Steve, turned towards Dustin, shouting at him to hurry, desperate to get the doors open to calm you down. You were getting more and more upset by the second, and he couldn’t bear to see you like that anymore. “Just press the other button!” Steve yelled, pulling away from you momentarily to start pressing buttons on the control panel. He needed to get you out of there…ASAP.

Suddenly, a metal door dropped in front of the double doors you had entered, sealing you in further. You all stared in disbelief, as the reality of the situation slowly started to sink in.

You were trapped.

The room jolted again, shaking violently. Screams and shrieks broke out among all of you, as you fell to the floor, unprepared for the sudden movement. Steve rushed to your aid, quickly pulling you up to stand, hugging your shaking form to his body. You buried your face in his neck as he gripped you tight to him, one of his large hands on the back of your head to protect it as the room continued to shake.

Suddenly and without warning, you felt a dropping sensation, and you felt unease settle deep within your stomach as you realized the room was plummeting. You all screamed, as you cried out into Steve’s uniform shirt. Dustin continued to press all of the buttons on the control panel, yelling in frustration at the fact that none of them did shit.

“Just press the button!” Erica screamed, moving over to the control panel.

“What do you think I’m doing?!” Dustin screamed back.

“Come on! Just press something! Just press the button!” Steve shouted, and you could hear the fear in his voice, which deepened the sinking feeling in your chest. Steve usually managed to stay relatively calm, all things considered, so knowing that he too was terrified, scared the everliving shit out of you.

Finally the room screeched to a halt, causing everything in it to violently shift. Steve fell backwards to the floor and you toppled over across his chest. His hand instinctively wrapped around your waist, as one of the boxes fell on top of you both, pinning you to him as you groaned under the weight of it.

“Help! I can’t move” You choked out, as Dustin and Erica swiftly moved to pull the heavy box from your back. Surely that is going to bruise, you thought, as Steve slowly groaned and sat up, still holding you to his body, as you sat nestled in his lap.

He looked you over frantically, making sure you were okay, noticing the way your lip was split open. You must have hit something when you fell earlier, and he reached his thumb up, dragging it across your bottom lip to wipe away some of the blood that had began to drip. You stared wide eyed at him, your chest heaving as you tried to regain control of your breathing.

He helped you to stand, as Robin finally spoke up. “Is everyone okay?” She asked, clutching the back of her head, which she must have bumped in the fall.

“Yeah, I’m great now that I know Russians can’t design fucking elevators!” Steve shouted, sounding angrier than you had ever heard him as all of his chill disappeared, his calm facade he had kept up to keep your anxiety at bay shattering under the circumstances. He swiftly pulled away from you, shoving Dustin out of the way as he began pushing at all of the buttons on the control pad hoping that one of them would do something, anything, to get you out of that goddamn room.

“I think…I think we’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work,” you stammered out, your voice weak as you tried and failed to regain your composure.

“They’re buttons! They have to do something!” Steve shouted back at you.

“If we had a keycard,” Robin spoke up, when Steve looked at her confused she continued, “it’s an electronic lock, same as the loading dock door. If we don’t have a keycard, it won’t operate, meaning—“

“We’re stuck in here,” you breathed out, finishing her thought. Your heart sank as the reality of the situation sank in, your eyes locking with Steve’s, his worried expression matching yours.

You were going to die down here.

***

You had discussed your options, realizing that there truly was not much you could do at this point. Dustin had considered the fact that you could climb up the elevator shaft, but upon realizing you had plummeted way too far for that to be feasible, that idea quickly fizzled out.

“Code red, I repeat this is a code red. Does anyone copy? We are innocent children and we are trapped under the Starcourt Mall. The Red Army has infiltrated Hawkins and if we are found they will torture and kill us—“ Steve cut off Dustin’s transmission, climbing out into the elevator shaft to join him.

“Hey, gotta take it easy on that thing; gonna drain the battery,” Steve warned. Dustin’s walkie talkie may be their only hope for an escape and if that dipshit blew their only chance to avoid certain death, Steve would personally kill the boy himself.

“The mall just opened,” Dustin replied, frustrated that Steve was telling him what to do.

“So?”

“So, someone could be in range.”

“What do you think, Petey the mall cop is gonna rappel down here and save the day?” Steve asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he made the rest of his way onto the roof of the elevator. It was just the two of them out there, all the girls inside, still considering options for escape.

“Why are you such a cranky pants after getting to spend the night with y/n?” Dustin asked, whispering the last part and Steve immediately shushed him.

“Shhh! Will you just give up on that creepy dream already? Besides, it’s not like she hasn’t spent the night at my house before—something you clearly already knew—and I would have to say, my bed is much more comfortable than the floor of some creepy ass Russian death trap,” Steve grumbled, realizing he made a very significant error when Dustin’s eyes lit up.

“Your bed? As in like, you and y/n have been sleeping in the same bed when she stays at your house? I thought she stayed in the guest bedroom?”

“I meant beds…plural,” Steve attempted to backpedal his previous statement but it was no use. The small detail had already sparked more conspiracies in the boy’s mind and Steve knew he was just going to run wild with it.

“Whatever you say,” Dustin replied, his tone indicating that he didn’t believe a word that Steve was saying, before adding “that still doesn’t explain why you’re in such a shitty ass mood.”

“Well, while you children were sleeping, we were trying to figure out a way to open the damn door. After eight hours, we’re still exactly nowhere, which is, you know, probably just a little bit of the reason why I’m feeling just…a tad cranky,” Steve replied, turning away from Dustin and walking to the edge of the elevator, unbuckling his belt.

“What the hell are you doing?” Dustin asked incredulously.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking a leak, look away!” He shouted back.

Meanwhile, you and Robin were at the control panel, still trying to determine a way out of this hellhole. You had been able to remove part of the panel, exposing some of the wiring, but despite how much you messed with it or attempted to rewire it, nothing worked.

“Can you redirect your stream please?” You asked in disgust before turning back to the panel in front of you. Erica began banging the glass canister against a barrel, and you immediately sprung into action, “woah, woah, woah, careful! We don’t even know what that is” You shouted, running to grab the vial from her before she could do irreparable damage to it.

“Exactly, it could be useful,” she shot back, clearly unhappy that you had taken it away from her. When you looked at her confused, she continued, “we can survive a long time down here without food, but if the human body doesn’t get water, it will die.”

“I hate to break it to you, but this is not water,” Robin emphasized, taking the canister from you and shaking it to get her point across.

“Yeah, but it’s a liquid, and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink,” she smiled her sassy little smile up at Robin and you rolled your eyes. Erica snatched the canister back, and Robin didn’t put up much of a fight as she quickly darted to the heavy metal door, pressing an ear up against it with a quizzical look on her face. After a brief moment she turned to you and Erica, wide eyed.

“We’ve got company,” her words rang through your ears and your heart began to race, you quickly reorganized the room to make it look like you hadn’t just spent the night in there against your own will, and you quickly boosted Erica to the roof before you and Robin followed, relaying the message to the boys. You all crouched around the grid pattern cut out on the ceiling which housed the light as the door opened, watching as two men speaking Russian collected boxes. Dustin looked up at Steve, gaping and Steve quickly put a finger up in front of his mouth, looking between all of you to serve as a reminder to be quiet. He didn’t want to find out what these men would do to all of you if they found you.

Your mind was working double time trying to figure out what you should do when you saw a look of realization flash across Steve’s face, his eyes fixed on Erica and the metal canister she was still holding in her hands. He quickly snatched it from her giving you a look that said “trust me” as you waited with bated breath until you heard the sound of a vehicle driving away and the mechanical whirring of the door beginning to drop again. Your heart raced at the thought of being stuck in there again, but Steve quickly dropped down back into the room lunging across the floor and blocking the door from shutting all the way with the canister.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Steve yelled, and you and Robin quickly helped the kids down back into the elevator before following them, watching as Steve helped them slide through the small opening before Robin shimmied through followed by you. As you passed under the heavy door, you noticed the glass of the canister beginning to crack, fissures forming under the pressure.

“Steve! Hurry!” You cried out, as he began to slide his way under the door, eyes wide as he realized his time was limited. He rolled out of the way, fingers barely clearing the gap before the glass gave way, shattering as the door slammed shut with a heavy thud, the green contents of the vial spilling. The liquid hissed and sizzled as it began eating through the floor, caustic like an acid.

You all quickly backed away, attempting to avoid the splash zone of the dangerous mystery fluid, Steve muttering out an “oh my god.”

“You still wanna drink that?” Robin asked Erica, a smirk on her face as the small girl rolled her eyes. Steve looked over at you confused, and you just shook your head and gave a tired smile. This babysitting gig was rough and kids were stupid sometimes. You and Steve had been through enough shit together to know that that might be the most fundamental truth humanity had to offer.

“Holy mother of god,” Dustin exclaimed, and you all turned to look at what he was going on about. Your breath hitched in your throat as you stared down the long hallway. It looked as if it never ended, and your hand instinctively went to grab Steve’s as he interlocked his fingers with yours. You all stood there staring speechlessly for a moment before Steve’s hand dropped yours, as he began to push past Dustin to the front of the group.

“Well, hope you guys are in good shape…looking at you, roast beef,” he added as he patted Dustin on the chest, making his way down the infinite hallway. Everyone just stared at him before he looked back, motioning for you all to follow. “Let’s go, come on.”

You shook your head to refocus as you joined Steve, the rest of the crew following close behind you. You guys had a long way to go. To find what? You weren’t exactly sure, but you hoped that it ended with a way out of this hellhole.

You had been walking for a while, glad that the hallway was deserted and that you didn’t have to dodge any Russian guards. It would be kind of difficult, you presumed, with the way you were all dressed in nauseatingly bright colors, you, Robin, and Steve looking especially out of place in your Scoops Ahoy uniforms. You were glad you at least all got the opportunity to ditch the hats.

Dustin and Erica were ahead of you, constantly bickering and arguing about stupid shit. The three of you that remained had been walking in a comfortable silence. You stared at your feet, tired and ready to go home. Robin noticed and her heart broke for you. Besides all of this shit, she knew you also had your weird undefined relationship with Steve on your mind, most likely eating away at you. Robin quickly elbowed Steve in the ribs, and clearly not anticipating it, he groaned before grumbling out “Robin? What the hell?”

She cleared her throat, glaring at him before doing a small nod in your direction. Steve may be dumb, but he was not too stupid to connect the dots. “I’m gonna take a stab at this whole babysitting thing you guys seem to be either experts or incompetent at—I haven’t quite decided,” Robin spoke up before quickly leaving the two of you alone to talk through all your shit.

“Right now, I’d probably go with incompetent,” you sighed. You didn’t know how to wrestle with the disappointment you felt. “I should’ve stopped all of this way before now. I mean, I-I…I should’ve stopped Dustin from even attempting to translate that tape. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to him or Erica down here. Never,” you spiraled. All of this was just too much. Yeah, the upside down shit was scary, but these were people who potentially wanted to hurt you, and that would always be far scarier. The demogorgons had never known humanity; these people had.

“Y/n, hey! This is not your fault! You couldn’t have known that this was going to happen. Never in my wildest imagination would I have guessed that the room we were in was going to turn out to be a fucking elevator! Like what the fuck, you know?” Steve attempted to comfort you but it wasn’t working.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing…I should’ve known better. When does anything we do ever turn out good. Nothing that has happened when we’re together has ever been good. It is all just chaos and carnage and bullshit.”

Steve stopped in his tracks. His mind flashed back to Nancy’s words at Tina’s party last year. He could at least give her the benefit of the doubt when she had said it; she was fucking wasted and couldn’t even remember it the next day. You—on the other hand—you were stone cold sober. He felt his heart breaking all over again in his chest.

“So that’s all this has ever been? Everything about this has been completely awful fucking bullshit?” Steve asked incredulously, anger seeping into his voice as he gestured between the two of you.

You laughed an exasperated laugh, feeling misplaced hate settle in your chest. “Can you really blame me, Steve? Can you really blame me? Because as far as I’m concerned the only reason we’re friends is because we almost fucking died together. You wouldn’t have been bothered to give a shit about me if it hadn’t been for what happened in Jonathan Byers’ fucking living room two years ago. And then—surprise, surprise—you weren’t there for me! You fucking dropped me for a whole fucking year until you needed help with your dumbass college essay.”

“That is what is complete and utter fucking bullshit, y/n. You never once have really believed that I could change. I’ve spent eight fucking months showing you how much I care, but it’ll never matter to you,” Steve seethed. He didn’t know what else you wanted. He couldn’t fix what happened in the past, but he had been desperately trying to make up for it, but it was clear that his efforts didn’t do jack shit.

“Oh, right! How could I forget? You, Steve Harrington, have been so incredibly kind as to let me sleep in your bed so that you’re not fucking lonely while you go out and fuck other girls. I’m so sorry I haven’t been properly grateful for that,” you shot back, sarcasm dripping from your tongue as you spat the words at him. “Forgive me for being unappreciative of the fact that I’m just another one of your girls.”

“If that’s all you think you are to me, then you’re a lot dumber than I thought you were,” Steve replied, his voice small and hurt as he turned away from you. You turned to watch him, hot angry tears falling down your cheeks. As you watched him walk away, you saw the way his shoulders dropped as he ran a hand through his thick hair. He was clearly upset and it had been your doing. You felt your heart drop in your chest as you realized that you likely ruined what you had.

You had been wrestling with yourself all this time, waking up in the morning to his gentle kisses wondering whether it was worse to have him like this—him never truly being yours—or to not have him at all. You felt a lump form in your throat, realizing you had finally answered your own question.

***

You had walked for what felt like miles, and still there was no change in scenery from the long ass hallway you had been in. You had all decided it was safer to stay in a group, so you made sure you were as far away from Steve as possible, avoiding any interaction as much as you feasibly could.

Robin looked at Steve questioningly, wondering what had happened when she had left him to smooth things over with you. He just shook his head, his lips set into a scowl and she realized that her attempt to push the two of you together had likely been the driving force that ripped you two apart.

“I mean, you have to admit, as a feat of engineering alone, this is impressive,” Dustin spoke up, attempting to clear the awkward air that had enveloped the group.

“What are you talking about? It’s a total fire hazard,” Steve replied.

“Yeah, there’s no stairs, there’s no exit, just an elevator that drops you halfway to hell,” you chimed in. Even though you were frustrated with him, you couldn’t help but agree with his sentiment. You both made eye contact, an unreadable expression painted on his face before he broke your gaze, looking away.

“They’re commies,” Erica spoke up, “you don’t pay people, they cut corners.”

“To be fair to our Russian comrades, I don’t think this tunnel was designed for walking,” Robin added, “think about it. They developed the perfect system for transporting that cargo.” Your mind quickly flashed to the tunnels from last year, and the way that Steve had held you close to him as you buried your face in his neck as the demo-dogs darted past you. You shook the thought away as Dustin interjected.

“It all comes in the mall like any old delivery.”

“And then they load it up onto those trucks and nobody’s the wiser,” Robin finished. You did have to admit, it was a good system. It was terrifying that it could all happen right under your noses, but it was a good system nonetheless.

“You think they built this whole mall so they could transport that free poison?” Steve asked.

“I very seriously doubt it’s something as boring as poison, it’s gotta be something much more valuable,” you rolled your eyes, tired of hearing Steve’s voice.

“Yeah, like promethium or something,” Dustin interjected.

“What the hell is promethium?” You and Steve asked in unison. Robin rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. Why couldn’t you shit birds just realize you were perfect for each other?

“It’s what Victor Stone’s dad used to make Cyborg’s bionic and cybernetic components,” Robin explained.

“You’re all so nerdy it makes me physically ill.” Erica’s face twisted into a look of disgust as she said it. You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t really argue with the sentiment. Other than Steve, you all were into some pretty nerdy ass shit.

“No, no, no, don’t lump me in with them. I’m not a nerd, alright?” Steve spoke up and you rolled your eyes again. If you rolled your eyes one more time, they were going to get stuck back there.

“Why so sensitive Harrington? Afraid of losing cool points to a ten-year-old girl?” You spat, ever frustrated with his constant focus on being cool. When was he going to realize that none of that shit mattered?

“No, I’m just saying I don’t know jack shit about Prometheus.”

“Promethium,” you corrected, “Prometheus is a Greek mythological figure.”

“Whatever,” Dustin chimed in, wanting to end the bickering between the two of you, “all I’m saying is, it’s probably being used to make something.”

“Or power something,” Robin suggested.

“Like a nuclear weapon,” Dustin responded.

“Totally,” you agreed. It was pretty damn feasible.

“Walking towards a nuclear weapon, that’s great. That’d be…that’d be just great,” Steve grumbled, and you couldn’t really fault him for it. You weren’t super jazzed to be in this hellhole either.

“But if they’re building something, why here? I mean, Hawkins. Seriously. Of all places,” Robin wondered, something clicked in your head, and you noticed the look of realization flash across Steve and Dustin’s faces too as the three of you fell back as Robin continued. “At the very best, we’re a toilet stop on your way to Disneyland, but maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s our very…” Robin’s voice trailed off as her and Erica got farther and farther away from you.

“You think the Russians know?” You quickly and quietly cut to the chase.

“About the—?” Steve began asking, not wanting to say it, afraid of speaking the words into existence.

“They could,” Dustin answered.

“So it’s connected?” Steve asked.

“Maybe,” you replied, looking at him with worry etched across your face.

“But how?” Steve pushed the question, wanting to be damn sure before you all jumped to any conclusions.

“I don’t know but it’s—“ Dustin began.

“Possible,” you all finished in unison. You and Steve made eye contact, your previous argument long forgotten as you considered the terrifying possibility that this did have to do with the Upside Down.

“I’m sorry, is there something you three would like to share with the class?” Robin called out as she turned around, realizing that the three of you had fallen behind.

The three of you looked between each other, trying to figure out what, if anything, you should tell them. Before you could speak, static hissed from Erica’s backpack as she darted to fish out the walkie talkie. You all crouched down beside her and listened as Russian filled the silence, the familiar words ringing out through the desolate hallway.

“It’s the code,” Robin confirmed.

“Wherever that broadcast is coming from—“ you started.

“It’s close,” Robin finished your thought, “if there’s one thing we know about that signal—“

“—it can reach the surface,” Dustin chimed in, realizing that this could be your way out. Smiles broke out on all your faces as you considered the possibility that your hours long ordeal may finally be over.

“Let’s go,” you breathed out, quickly standing. You let out a laugh. You were going to get out of here.

If only you had known how naive that sentiment truly was.

***

You were pressed up flush against Steve’s back, and you tried not to blush at the predicament. You had all shimmied through a tight corridor, pausing at a junction while he checked to make sure the coast was clear. Even though you were mad at him, you couldn’t help the way your heart still skipped at his touch. You leaned forward slightly, attempting to reach your head around to get a visual on the hallway, but he reached his hand back, grabbing your wrist as a warning to stay put. The two Russians that had been passing as you reached the junction continued down the hall, oblivious to the gaggle of teenagers and children that were infiltrating their secret hideout.

“Okay, clear,” Steve whispered, turning the corner and pulling you gently behind him, his hand still around your wrist. When no one else followed, he let go whispering again, “clear, come on. Let’s go.”

“Okay, that was close,” Robin whispered, stepping quietly out from around the corner.

“Too close,” Dustin agreed, speaking up.

“Relax! Alright, relax. Nobody saw…” Steve’s assurances trailed off as you turned another corner, the hall opening up into a larger room with bustling activity. Your eyes darted around, mouth agape, as you took in the sight of Russian scientists in lab coats, soldiers in army uniforms carrying large guns, and men clad in hazmat suits. Your stomach dropped realizing that this was all a far larger operation than you could have conceived in even your wildest imagination.

“Shit!” Steve exclaimed quietly, realizing that you were out in the open and easily visible as you all darted to hide behind a big red metal cart.

“I saw it. First floor, northwest,” Erica suddenly spoke up.

“Saw what?” You asked, unsure of what the girl was talking about.

“The comms room!” She whisper-shouted.

“You saw the comms room?” Steve asked, unsure of how she could have noticed anything with the pure chaos that was the mess of people they just saw.

“Are you sure?” Dustin inquired, wanting to be certain before you guys made your way to the room. One wrong move and he had no doubt that you all were toast.

“Positive. The door was open for a second, and I saw a bunch of lights and machines and shit in there.”

“That could be a hundred different things,” Dustin replied.

“I’ll take those odds,” you turned to look Steve in the eyes. You were desperate to get out of here, and Steve’s eyes darted across your face, taking in your expression of certainty before sighing and peaking around the side of the cart. You all followed suit, looking and calculating how you could possibly get from point A to point B with the amount of Russians the place was crawling with.

You all sat back, and Steve looked at everyone carefully before speaking. “Alright, we’re gonna move fast, we’re gonna stay low, okay?”

You all nodded in agreement and Steve took off, you following close behind as he darted to hide around another corner, slowly but surely making his way towards a door on the other side of the room. A Russian wearing a white lab coat pushed the door open, focused on the clipboard in his hand as he exited, the door swinging slowly shut behind him.

“Let’s go!” Steve whisper-shouted, quickly moving to grab the door right before it shut. “Shhh, come one!” He whispered, motioning for all of you to enter as he held the door open for you.

You should have been more careful, turning around to be met with a confused looking Russian soldier, turning away from the console in front of him as he swiveled in his desk chair, ripping off his headset. He stared at you wide eyed and his hand began to reach for the gun holstered on his hip. Your breath hitched in your throat as you pushed Erica and Dustin behind you while Robin stepped forward, reciting bits and pieces of the code, the only Russian she knew.

The man responded with words you didn’t understand. You all held your hands up to show that you didn’t mean any harm as Robin continued speaking Russian with her limited vocabulary.

Continuing to perceive the five of you as a threat, the soldier continued his reach to unholster his gun and suddenly Steve was yelling out, sprinting towards the man as slammed into him, knocking him off kilter. He threw Steve against a console behind him, going to throw a punch that Steve dodged. Steve turned towards the console, elbowing the Russian soldier in the gut to create some space, before grabbing a telephone and spinning around, swinging it hard as it made contact with the soldier’s face. The soldier groaned as he stumbled, hitting his head on the desk in the process before falling to the floor with a sickening thud.

Steve panted, running his hands through his hair, his heart racing a million miles a minute. Dustin suddenly spoke up, drawing his focus away from the Russian on the floor as he made eye contact with the boy. “Dude! You did it! You won a fight!”

Steve chuckled slightly, realizing the boy was right, self-satisfied with the way that he had been able to protect all of you. Suddenly another force slammed into him, knocking him slightly off balance as you ran to hug him, wrapping your hands tightly around him as you buried your face in his chest. He was surprised by this, after your argument in the hall earlier, but he felt his heart skip a beat as he reciprocated, gripping you tightly as he rested his chin on your head, swaying from side to side.

“What were you thinking?!” You exclaimed, the anger in your tone throwing Steve off, a sharp contrast to the loving way you were clinging to him. “You could have been shot! You could’ve died! How could you just run at him like that, unarmed?!” You pulled away and shoved at his shoulders. You were fuming, and reasonably so.

“Y/n calm the fuck down! If I hadn’t we all would’ve died,” Steve responded, anger leaking into his tone as well.

“Don’t ever do that shit again.”

Dustin rolled his eyes at both of you, moving swiftly towards the guard and snatching his keycard off his belt.

“What are you doing?” Erica asked.

“Getting us our ticket out of here,” he responded, holding up the keycard as if it was obvious.

“You want to walk all the way back?” She questioned in disbelief.

“Well, we can hang out for a little bit, relax, have a picnic maybe,” he replied, sarcasm dripping from his mouth. While they continued to argue, you realized that Robin had made her way up the steps. She stopped momentarily to look through the small window on the door before sprinting back down the stairs to the rest of you.

“Guys! There’s something up there,” she breathed, a look of shock across her face, you all darted to follow her, quietly walking through the door, pressing yourselves against the glass. You couldn’t believe what you were looking at.

Beyond the control center that you were looking through there was a huge machine, pulsating with energy. A man in a hazmat suit loaded it with one of the green canisters not dissimilar to the one you broke earlier, as it continued to spin, shooting out a stream of bright blue light. You followed it to see the fissure forming on the wall directly across from it, as a sickening cracking noise rang out. You and Steve looked at each other, panic registering on both of your faces.

“The gate,” you both whispered in unison, as you sucked in a deep breath. Your heart sank in your chest, as Steve grabbed your hand, just as much to comfort you as it was to ease his worry.

It was happening again.

***

a/n: thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I’m looking forward to writing the next one. Remember to message me if you want to be added to the taglist! Please reblog if you feel so inclined! It really helps motivate me to write more :)

taglist:

@season4steve @sassyheroneckgiant @tangledinthegreatxscape @maeve-wileyy @palachannie @chaerfull @usaguisenpaisblog @emilieluckwood @sabrinadelreyy

#stranger things #steve harrington #netflix #joe keery #friends to lovers #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington friends to lovers #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fluff #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x you

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ladykailitha · 2 years ago

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All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 9

Hello! Here we have Edie pumping Robin for info like she always planned. Eddie makes an effort and Edie is a little shitTM (affectionate) about it. Also Eddie would totally use text speak. Steve? Not so much (like me!).

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

***

Edie didn’t have a chance to sit down and talk to Aunt Robin about Dad and Eddie until the night before she left with Viv. Viv was upstairs packing and Dad was in his office talking to someone in Wales.

“I’m not asking to break the NDA or whatever,” Edie began, “but you have to have some insight about how they were before Mr Munson got a record deal. Because I’m sorry, I highly doubt he would have asked Dad to come with him California if he didn’t have some indication Dad would have gone with him.”

Robin sighed. “I think that if the record deal had been after school started, I think you dad would have gone with them.”

Edie shifted on the sofa. “What do you mean?”

“Look we both know your dad is the biggest protector on the planet, yeah?” Robin asked. Edie nodded. “After the earthquake it amplified. By a lot. We had these ridiculously large walkie-talkies and Steve would constantly be checking in on people, making sure they were safe.”

“Makes sense,” Edie agreed. “Remember how he was after broke my arm after falling off my bike when I was eight?”

Robin nodded again. “Now imagine that turned up to eleven.” She snickered briefly and Edie raised an eyebrow. Robin cleared her throat. “Sorry, that’s an NDA joke I can’t explain.”

Edie threw her arms in the air.

“Anywho...” Robin said. “All I’m saying is that if Eddie had wanted to ride off into the sunset with Steve, September or October would have been better. Dustin, Jane, Lucas, Max, Will, Mike, and Erica would have started their sophomore year. Uncles Jonathan and Argyle and me and Aunt Nancy all would have been at college. Your dad would have felt at a loose end and gone with him.”

“What makes you say that?” Edie asked with a frown.

Robin took a deep breath and let out a shuddering sigh. “Because that’s when your grandparents came back and started throwing pretty girls at him.”

“Oh.” Just hearing about her grandparents sank like a stone in her stomach.

“I’m assuming you at least know about the witch hunt that Eddie went through?” Robin asked.

Edie nodded. “Enough, I guess. Dad won’t let me look it up and Harri doesn’t talk about it much either. So I guess it was pretty bad.”

“Oh yeah,” Robin agreed. “The whole town got together a lynch mob.”

Edie’s jaw dropped as she recoiled on her self. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Robin shook her head and pulled her knee up to her chest. “Even months later, he had a hard time walking down the street without someone giving him dirty looks.”

Edie sank back against the cushions of the couch. “Fuck. So when he got the record deal he was in hurry to get the hell out Dodge.”

“Yeah,” Robin said. “And look, I’ve been assuming that Eddie said something more than ‘run away with me’ because Steve was gutted when he left, but your dad says no.”

Edie shrugged. “No more gutted than when you went to college, I’ll bet. He doesn’t have a lot of friends his age, and Uncle Dusty and them are all four to five years younger and while that doesn’t matter now that they’re older...”

Robin sighed. “Yeah. Losing us all once must have been so hard on your dad. So yeah.”

Edie nodded. “I just worry about him, you know?”

Robin pulled her in for a hug. “Me too, Miss Thing, me too.”

Steve stood in the hallway listening to his daughter and best friend talk about him. He knew he should have walked away, but he was too curious. He smiled because they earnestly cared about him.

Robin was also right. He probably would have run off with the band had the offer came later in the year. But it was too soon. He couldn’t leave so soon after Vecna. The kids needed him. And yeah maybe he should have said that instead of being an ass.

He slunk back to his office and sat down at his desk with a sigh. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have Eddie’s number. He couldn’t explain or apologize for the hurt he caused.

Suddenly he was getting a text message from an unknown number. He picked his phone with a frown.

-Hey this is Eddie I got ur # from Dustin hope thats ok

Steve scrambled to save the number in his phone. His phone had the slide out keyboard because his fingers were too clumsy with the little buttons on the number pad. He typed out a quick message.

-Eddie! No its great to hear from you

-You want to grab lunch tomorrow?

Steve stared at the message for a couple minutes in shock.

-Yes!

He hit his head on his desk. He sounded too eager damn it.

-I mean, sure. Sounds great.

He threw his head back and groaned. That actually sounded worse.

-lol CU tmrrw @ 1 Tonys

Steve blinked. Tony’s? That old pizza joint was still around? Holy shit.

-Yeah. See you then.

Steve looked up at the ceiling in wonder. He had a hard time believing in a god when his life had been one horror after another for five years in a row. But he was willing to start up again if Eddie came back into his life as permanent fixture.

Hell he’d take passing acquaintances at this point. He just needed to see Eddie again.

Steve pulled up into the parking lot of Tony’s Pizzeria, feeling a little shocked. Robin and he used to come here all the time whenever she would be visiting from college. He didn’t know that Eddie was familiar with it, too.

He got out his car and looked around the parking lot, trying to figure out which one was Eddie’s, if any. He spotted the most likely culprit. Sitting three spots away from Steve’s Beemer, was a sleek black 1970 Pontiac Firebird. He chuckled, shaking his head as he walked into the restaurant.

Steve winced at the music. It was a little loud. He reached up and turned down his hearing aid in a little in hopes of avoiding a migraine.

Eddie waved from a nearby table and Steve pointed him out to the hostess. She smiled and let him past to go sit with Eddie.

“Stevie!” Eddie cried out. “You made it, man!”

Steve’s knot of anxiety loosened and he flashed a smile. He could be normal about this too. He slid into the seat across from the former metalhead.

“Hey!” he greeted warmly. “I haven’t been to this place in ever. Does it still have the best pepperoni pizza?”

Eddie’s face lit up with the biggest grin. “Yes! I already ordered, is that okay?”

Steve nodded. “Sounds great.”

The pizza came shortly afterwards and they dug in.

Steve was halfway through his first slice when he realized Eddie had said something.

“Shit,” he swore. “Sorry I didn’t hear that.”

Eddie cocked his head to the side and signed, “The music too loud?”

Steve nodded with a sigh of relief. He had forgotten that Eddie had signed to him that first night in Steve’s bathroom. So he set his pizza down and signed back. “Yeah. I turned down my hearing aid and forgot about conversation in the face of good food.”

Eddie laughed and Steve smiled back. “Fair enough,” he signed.

Signing was bit hard with finger food like pizza, but they made due. Steve learned that Eddie had recently retired from the music industry and came back to Indiana to be closer to Uncle Wayne.

Eddie learned that despite all of Steve’s concussions he was a hot shot in the business world but donated most of his money to charities for hard of hearing deaf kids and to concussion awareness in school sports.

“I got lucky,” Steve signed. “I had a genius teenager willing to create a better a hearing aid and that we could capitalize on it. But most people don’t have that.”

Eddie smiled softly. He tapped his ear. “That the reason you never made it out to any of my shows?”

Steve nodded with a wry twist of his lips. “Was going to go to the one in Evansville, but Robin wanted me to get my hearing checked first.”

Eddie winced. That was early in their tour, like their third or fourth stop. “Shit I didn’t know.”

Steve shrugged. “I didn’t want you to. I was so sure you’d be upset that I couldn’t go. That I just...didn’t.”

Eddie slumped in his seat because Steve was right. Eddie would have been upset, maybe even tried to pressure into Steve coming anyway. Which would driven a wedge between them just as effectively as Steve staying away did.

“I get that.”

They finished their food and Eddie paid. They walked outside and Steve turned back up his hearing aid.

“This was fun,” Steve said brightly. “Though maybe next time let’s go somewhere where the music isn’t so loud.”

Eddie scoffed but smiled softly. “There going to be a next time?”

Steve ducked his head and looked at him through his eyelashes. “I’d like there to be.”

“Same time next week,” Eddie said with a grin. “You pick the place.”

Steve’s face lit up and he grinned back. “You’ve got a deal.”

“See you on Wednesday,” Eddie said with a wave.

“Wednesday?” Steve asked cocking his head, puzzled.

Eddie laughed. “I’ll be picking Harri up from band practice, right?”

Steve’s face cleared and he chuckled. “Yeah, man. See you on Wednesday.”

Edie came home from school to the weirdest sight imaginable. Her dad was singing “Prisoner of Your Eyes” by Judas Priest in the kitchen as he made the pasta for lasagna.

“I didn’t know you had even the barest passing familiarity with metal,” she said tossing her backpack against the end of the island counter and slid into one of the bar stools.

Steve laughed, bright and sweet. “Despite what people thought in school, I liked all kinds of music. Yes, I tended toward alt and hard rock for the most part, but I liked all kinds.”

Edie eyed him warily. “Uh-huh.”

Steve just laughed again.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” she said when he handed her a sandwich.

He blushed. “It’s been a good day.”

“You going to tell me what happened to make it such a good day?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Steve chewed on his lip and blushed a deeper.

Her other eyebrow shot up, too, a smile growing on her face.

“Shut up,” he groused.

Edie laughed. “I didn’t say anything!”

“I could hear you thinking from here,” he said, turning back to toss his freshly made noodles into the pot of boiling water.

“You went on a date!” she shrieked.

“I did no such thing,” he growled. “I just went to lunch with a friend.”

Edie waggled her eyebrows. “And this ‘friend’, he wouldn’t happen to have long, beautiful hair in dark waves around his face with deep, dimpled cheeks, and soulful chocolate button eyes, would he?”

“No!” Steve yelped. “And what the hell is up with that description anyway?”

Edie just cackled gleefully.

***

Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Epilogue

Tag List:

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @thylatrek @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU #ladykailtiha writes

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francesderwent · 5 months ago

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Hi Cate if you get bored in the next 8 months (unlikely) here are some Stranger Things questions I have:

1. What is the thematic relevance of Russians to this story?

2. What's your take on the Mike/El relationship (first season up to present)?

having a Bad day at work, lads and lasses, so I’m gonna start answering this ask!

(1) my first instinct was “nothing”, because the appearance of the Russians under Hawkins in season three throws me for a loop, like, tonally. in s4 when Erica’s like “so what does this have to do with the Commies?” and Lucas goes “NOTHING”, I always feel sympathy for Lucas. but after my last rewatch, I noticed that they mention the Russians even very early in season one��because Stranger Things takes place during the Cold War and whenever anything goes wrong some frightened people assume that it must be a plot by the Russians. they’re afraid El is a Russian weapon. Murray initially assumes the Russians must be behind the atrocities of the lab. Mr & Mrs Wheeler are convinced to do what the lab says because they’re good, patriotic Americans.

so the Russians are thematically relevant because they represent the fear of what is Other—the fear that everyone different from us has to be planning to annihilate us. as a show, Stranger Things is trying to caution us against this kind of fear. El is just a frightened child. we do not have to be afraid of her because she’s different. Will is just a gentle little boy. his difference shouldn’t make us hold him at a distance. Eddie is just another victim. making him the scapegoat will not make you safe.

that said, I think it’s therefore pretty stupid to then say “and guess what—if the Russians found the Upside Down or a demogorgon they TOTALLY WOULD try to use it against us!” I think it muddies things. “don’t be afraid of what is Other—unless it’s the Russians. they’re evil. obviously”

(2) this one is HARD (they’re both hard). I think the Mike/El relationship plays the best onscreen in seasons one and two, because that’s when they’re most closely matched and when their arcs are most entwined. El is encountering the real world and trust and friendship for the first time, and she’s encountering it through Mike. and it’s clear to me at that point that Mike’s fascination with El isn’t because she has powers—his arc, actually, is not about discovering stranger things. he was just as excited about finding a girl in the woods before she slammed the door with her mind; he treats her powers like a bonus. the wonder of El is that she’s different, but it’s not that she’s a superhero: it’s that she’s a girl. Mike seeing El in the Benny’s diner tshirt could almost have given the cry of Adam: “this, at last!” that encounter awakens something in Mike. the Mike who’s calling El on the radio every day in season two has, in a way, discovered what his life is for. he tells Will, “El would have understood.” he felt seen by her in a way he wasn’t even seen by his friends, and he can’t let go of that. meanwhile, El is starting to ask what her powers are for, and eventually comes to the conclusion that they are for those weaker than she is: for Mike. they discover each other, they’re torn apart, and they fight their way back together. he feels intuitively that he ought to welcome her into his home and make sure she’s fed and safe. she wants to be a part of the world because he’s in it, and believes the world is therefore worth defending. so far so good.

it’s no secret that I don’t much like season three. it doesn’t do anyone any favors, except Robin and maybe Steve, but the characters it most throws under the bus are anyone who had an established relationship that was working. Hopper and Joyce. Jonathan and Nancy. and definitely, Mike and El. and Mike and El aren’t even given the dignity of having conflict on their own, their conflict is literally manufactured by Hopper, and so it doesn’t tell us much about them as people. what I really don’t understand is this season seems to have a very dim view of teenagers and their emotions. Mike and El’s actions are only silly, and moreover, they’re barely real actions, because they can’t help it. they’re teenagers, of course they’re gonna make out! how ridiculous for Hopper to be worried! of course the girls are gonna bicker with the boys! but back in season one, Nancy’s actions were allowed to be serious choices with consequences; when she kissed her boyfriend, when she chose to spend time with her boyfriend over her friend, when she fought with her boyfriend—this stuff was given the weight it felt like it had to her. season three suddenly laughs at what feels like life or death to teenagers—and it’s so busy laughing that the story goes on without any development. we get that little mini-arc where the show asks whether Mike is overprotective, which should dovetail with Hopper’s similar attitude—but since Hopper’s issues are played for laughs, El’s forays into independence are thematically confused by making them a boys versus girls problem, and the whole thing becomes a moot point because it was just an excuse for Mike to inelegantly blurt out his love—the show never lets the question breathe. Mike doesn’t really succeed in convincing El that his love for her should be a factor in whether she risks herself, that he should get to protect her the same way she always protects him; El just does what she wants, because that’s what the plot needs her to do.

which brings us to season four. the overall arc of the season is obviously not about Mike; he’s usually off doing his own thing with only the barest relevance. and El’s arc is also not about Mike. it’s about her own history and her own notion of right and wrong. I’d argue Mike doesn’t even become thematically important to her arc at the end in the same way he did in season 2; the plot doesn’t need his “you’re my superhero” speech in the same way that it needed El to find out he was in trouble and set out to save him in season 2. El had plenty of motivation to fight Vecna anyway, because she loves Max. you could even argue that Mike’s arc isn’t really about El either—all his insecurity is only there to quietly move Will’s arc along. I think all of this is at least part of the reason why their relationship falls very flat in season 4. the show has fixed its tone problem, mostly. but they’re not growing together; they’re irrelevant to each other until the massive tell-don’t-show-fest of the speech. Mike is worried that El is going to realize she’s splendiferous and leave him. El is worried that she’s fundamentally a monster who hurts people. Mike realizes El needs him because Will tells him, which the audience understands is really Will talking about himself and may or may not be true of El. El discovers a bigger monster and so feels comfortable staying cast in the role of hero. is it realistic that teenagers would have terrible communication? sure. but it feels like it’s the writers talking past one another and not the characters, like they failed to pull their plot threads together. again: it’s different than the strained communication between Nancy and Steve in the first couple seasons, which is written realistically and with great gravity.

and I feel like I’m cheating, giving a Watsonian reading of the first two seasons where I like Mike and El, and a Doylist reading of the second two seasons where I don’t like them. but it is the hardest thing in the world to give a good-faith Watsonian reading of a story that you think was written poorly!! because whatever effect the writers were trying to create in order to have the characters come off as real people—they did a bad job and so I can’t see the effect! but I’m gonna give it a shot anyway. applying a similar Watsonian lens to all four seasons I’d say the relationship looks something like this:

the embodiment of childhood innocence discovers the first hints of the romance at the heart of creation. a child with a broken heart comes to learn she can be loved for herself, not for what she can do.

nightly phone calls to the void are baby’s first fidelity. his fidelity gives her a reason to go on, and gives her a reason to return to the world.

teenage girl learns to experience love in the wider world, not just from her boyfriend—teenage boy discovers that his feelings for her are love. (even when I put it this way it’s clear that their arcs are imbalanced!! they are not on the same page in s3!)

teenage boy learns to offer love courageously even if he’s not sure if it will be reciprocated or if reciprocation doesn’t feel deserved. teenage girl comes full circle to once again learn she can be loved for who she is, not what she can do.

it’s now six hours past when I started writing this, and my day has gotten better.

#asks #meta whine and rant

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atimeofyourlife · 1 year ago

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Whumptober day 20

Steve had never really felt at home with his family. Right from when he was a child it had felt more like he was an ornament for his parents to bring out and show off whenever they wanted to impress their friends and associates. It never felt like they cared for him as their child, just what he could do for their image. When he was still young, they could talk him up all the time. He was handsome, obedient, athletic. His father would always talk about raising him in the mold to become the perfect candidate to rise through the ranks of the company and even take over one day. His mother would dress him up in tailored suits far too expensive for a child so young and drag him to her ladies lunches, where everyone would coo over how sweet and polite he was. She would jump between talking about how he would grow up to be a lady killer, a total heartbreaker, and insisting that she would raise him to be a better man, a better partner than his father was.

But of course, neither of them actually raised him. They were too busy caught up in themselves and their own lives and affairs to raise him. Instead choosing to leave Steve with his grandparents or a nanny when they weren't home and couldn't see a use for him to be around. Steve tried to convince himself that it wasn't about him, but the way he was still left in the care of a babysitter or a nanny when they were around spoke volumes.

And then there was the way he was ignored any time he tried to get the attention any kid needed from their parents. Anything he did or achieved was overlooked. Or he was told that he could have, should have done better. The most attention he got was if he did something wrong. Getting in trouble was the only way his parents seemed to make time for him, so he started to use that. Deliberately messing up in school, or committing petty crimes to get caught by the police. Anything to get his parents to pay attention to him, for them to realize he needed them around.

But it backfired. Anytime his parents got a call about his grades or behavior, their reaction was explosive. Yelling and belittling him over the phone, even over a minor infraction. If they were home, or in the area, it would be physical discipline. Spanking, first by hand then by belt. If Steve tried to fight back, the belt would be used freely across his body, even one time catching him just below the eye. They would limit the amount of food he had available, or the amount of money they left for food. Even locking him in a closet for almost a full day.

It left him in fear of his parents, but he couldn't tell what was worse. Being ignored, never hearing from them or seeing them, or having them around when all they would do was hurt him. He could see no way out of it, but he just wanted to experience the unconditional love other kids seemed to get from their parents. Something he'd never experienced.

The first time he truly experienced familial love was after the second round against the Upside Down. The bond he couldn't explain with Dustin. The little brother he never thought he would have. And with Dustin came the sometimes a little overbearing motherly love from Claudia Henderson. Both welcoming into their home, into their lives, into their hearts. Giving him the love that he'd never received from his parents.

And his found family quickly grew. Gaining a younger sister figure in Max, her trusting him to be a safe older brother figure away from Billy. Lucas asking him for advice, and also asking for help to practice for basketball, wanting to try out for the team when he started high school. The battle at Starcourt brought more in. Erica always coming to him whenever she needed something, or if she wanted to demand ice cream. Robin becoming the other half he'd never knew was missing. Becoming the close confidant, something that felt more than any other relationship. It was more than just best friends or familial, but without it being romantic. It was the closest possible bond any two people could have, and Steve knew he'd never experienced anything like it before, and never would again.

After everything with the Upside Down was over, Steve's found family was bigger than he'd ever imagined. Dustin, Max, Lucas, Erica, Mike, Will, El. Robin and Eddie and Nancy and Jonathan and Argyle. Claudia Henderson, Mr and Mrs Sinclair, Joyce and Hopper. At times he didn't know what to do with himself having such a large family that loved him, when for the first eighteen years of his life he had none. And despite the fact that it took multiple almost apocalypses to get the family he deserved, he wouldn't change it for the world.

#whumptober2023 #no.20 #found family #stranger things fic #steve harrington #steve harrington whump #robin buckley #platonic stobin #stobin #dustin henderson #atimeofyourwrites

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hilarychuff · 2 years ago

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“So, um, how did you two meet?” Chrissy asks as they hit the highway. Robin looks over at Steve, and she can tell how smug he is about all of this from his side profile alone. He’s the most annoying boy in the world, a total dingus, but God, she loves him. She wouldn’t be in the backseat of a car with Chrissy Cunningham without him. If someone had tried to convince the Robin of one year ago that she’d be sitting with the reigning queen of Hawkins High in its fallen king’s BMW, she’d have told them to eat glass, but somehow he’s made it all happen. Not that she’ll tell him that. Now that he’s getting dates again, he’s already got a big enough head. He doesn’t need to try to claim all the credit for every girl she talks to, too. Still, he’s her favorite person. And if she’s honest with herself, she’s pretty sure that started way before the fourth of July. “I know you said you’re not dating,” Chrissy continues, looking between them, “but I don’t remember you being friends at school last year.” “Oh, we weren’t,” Robin says cheerfully. “I hated Steve’s guts because he was always eating something messy in Mrs. Click’s class. And I ranked too low in the social hierarchy for him to even know I existed. But then last summer we worked together at Scoops Ahoy at the mall and — well, with the whole Starcourt burning down thing —” “What did Erica call us, Rob?” Steve asks, catching her eye in the rearview mirror. “Trauma-bonded freakazoids?” “Something like that. Anyway, we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.” It’s close enough to the truth, at least. Chrissy doesn’t need to be burdened with the fact that their codependency is less related to a fictional fire and more to the reality that they were drugged together, tortured together, that they nearly died together maybe five times over in a 24-hour span. That they faced down Russian spies and the Mind Flayer and won themselves matching concussions when they’d crashed their car into a possessed classmate. “We’re at Family Video now,” Steve adds. “Robin’s a total film nerd — that’s how she knew about Desert Hearts coming out this weekend. How’d you hear about it, Chrissy?” “Oh, um…” Chrissy ducks her head, pulls her shoulders in again like she had in the theater. She picks at the skin around her left thumbnail, and Robin has to stick her fingers under her thigh so she doesn’t reach out and grab Chrissy’s hand. “Jason’s parents were pretty upset about it at dinner the other day,” she eventually admits. “I guess they heard about it from someone at their church who has family in the city.” Robin watches as Chrissy stares hard at her lap, avoiding looking at either Robin or Steve. She lets out a feeble little laugh before continuing. “I’m pretty sure my mom would literally kill me if she knew I was here, but I guess I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about for myself,” Chrissy says in a small voice. “I mean, it’s just a movie. It’s not going to hurt anyone.” Robin can’t help it. She caves. “You’re right, it’s just a movie,” she repeats, reaching out and grabbing one of Chrissy’s hands to pull it away from the other. “It’s not going to hurt anyone.” Robin laces their fingers together and gives Chrissy’s hand a squeeze. When she tries to let go, Chrissy hangs on, so Robin does, too. “People need to learn to mind their own business,” Steve spits from the front, and Robin can hear the defensive, protective heat in his voice. “Who cares what kind of movie someone likes? Or whatever else they like? That’s no one’s business but yours.” “Well, your secret’s safe with us,” Robin promises. “As far as we know, Chrissy Cunningham was studying at the library all afternoon on Sunday. Or whatever it is you want us to say. We just happened to drive past you on your walk home and offered to take you the rest of the way. And maybe, uh — maybe don’t tell Jason that we saw Desert Hearts either.”

all the best people see you (all the best people know), chapter 1, a stranger things au where two lil lesbians get to go see some lesbian cinema — happy pride!

#buckingham #chrissy cunningham #robin buckley #chrissy x robin #robin x chrissy #robin buckley x chrissy cunningham #stranger things #stranger things fic #my writing #my graphics #inadvertent desert hearts movie date au

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ronancexists · 1 year ago

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Hi everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for Ronancetober in a little while, but I've kinda been in a depressive state lately because it's coming up on one year since we put our dog down 🥺. Anyways, I just wanted to apologize and explain why I haven't posted anything. I'll be posting Day 7 and Day 8 today so I'll be back on track for Day 9 tomorrow, so keep an eye out for those! Without further ado, here's day 7 of Ronancetober!

Day 7: Under the Sea

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Robin murmured to Steve, arms crossed over her chest defensively.

“It's too late to turn back now,” he argued in a low tone so no passerby could hear.

“Remind me why we agreed to this?” she asked, eyes swiveling every which way, looking for anyone who might cause them trouble.

“We didn't. King’s orders.”

“And we always follow the King’s orders, right?” Robin inquired sarcastically, disdain clear as day in her voice.

Steve sighed in exasperation, looking over at his friend with a frown prominent on his face. “You know that I don't like this anymore than you do.”

“I know,” Robin said, also lowering her voice so they wouldn't be overheard lest they attract unwanted attention. “I just…I don't want to live this way anymore. I want to be free to be myself and go wherever I please.”

“Me too, Robbie. More than anything,” Steve whispered, reaching over to tangle their fingers together, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

“Let’s get this over with,” Robin said, having softened a bit after Steve had locked hands with her.

With an exchanged nod, the two of them cautiously approached the surface of the sea by the docks in Hawkins. Their heads were barely visible underneath the cover of the night as they quietly swam below the docks, their tails not even making a peep as they cut through the currents that were under the sea with ease. They lifted themselves up to peek in on the people who were at the docks through the slats in the wood that made up the pier.

Their assignment was to observe the humans up above and report back once they had figured out how exactly they were managing to get so close to the discovery of their underwater kingdom. It was a mission that required the utmost stealth, which is something Steve and Robin only possessed in spades. They knew it was doomed to fail from the start, but they had no choice in the matter as they had disobeyed the king’s orders to remain in the palace until they could decipher what the humans were up to and why they wanted to get to their kingdom.

Robin and Steve ducked under the surface just in time for a pair of eyes as blue as the very sea they were in to peer through the slats of the boardwalk. Despite not needing to, Robin held her breath, swearing those eyes were staring directly at the spot she was currently hiding in. They seemingly stared at Robin’s spot for a few more moments before they disappeared. Robin and Steve waited for a few seconds to be safe, and when they were sure the human was gone, they resurfaced.

“We’re totally dead meat out here,” Steve whispered frantically as more and more people began walking above them, the wood creaking under the force and the chatter rising to an almost unbearable volume.

“No, we aren't,” Robin said, reaching for the egg-shaped necklace that laid against her chest.

“Absolutely not. Nope, don't want to hear it. We’re not using it,” Steve protested sternly, worry filling his eyes at the prospect. “You know that magic is the only thing keeping you here, right? The more you deplete it, the less likely chance there is of you surviving that curse.”

“I know my curse,” Robin scolded. “But what does it say about me if I kept it for selfish reasons rather than using it to help protect the kingdom? Rather than using it to help you and Max and Dustin and Lucas and Erica?”

Steve ran a hand over his face in resignation. “I still don’t like it.”

“Neither do I. It’s like you said. We don’t have much of a choice.”

“Alright. But If there's any sign of you changing, I'm getting us out of there. Understood?”

“Understood,” she echoed, the two of them diving under once more to head to a secluded cave near the shore they used to change to their human form. It was something only the two of them did and only when they were absolutely sure they could do so without the king’s knowledge. If he were to ever hear of it, they would be banished from the merkingdom for good.

“Ready?” Steve asked after they had gotten dressed, looking mildly uncomfortable that Robin was using her magic to transform them into humans.

“Ready.”

With that, the two of them set off for the shore, extremely wary of the fact that any one of the humans could spot them emerging from the ocean at any second. They shared a look of tentative triumph when they reached the beach, quickly shucking on their sandals so they didn’t stand out by not wearing shoes. After all, they had done this multiple times before, so they were quite familiar with the ways humans dressed and interacted.

“That pub is probably our best bet,” Robin said, ignoring the urge to gag as people kept complimenting her and Steve on being such a cute couple as their hands were interlocked with one another. It was their cover whenever they were traipsing alongside humans. They were a couple who had been together for years and were on their honeymoon which consisted of taking a road trip around the world.

“That pub is filled to the brim with pirates. You sure you want to risk being in there?”

“Nope,” Robin replied definitively, pushing the door open and gesturing for Steve to go in, causing the smell of ale and the loud chatter to spill through. “But we’re going in anyways.”

They shared a look of uncertainty as they wove their way through the crowd, sidestepping servers and brushing past drunken pirates. Robin froze as a hand shot out and gripped her wrist tightly, pulling her towards him.

“Such a pretty thing. Would ya be interested in coming te me ship with me? I can make it worth yer while.” He said, a dangerous smile combined with a lustful look in his eyes. His crew was cheering him on, hooting and hollering and causing a ruckus.

“No thank you,” Robin said, tugging to try and free herself from his grasp. Even if she was interested in men, he would be the last on her list. His beard was scraggly and fell down to his chest, his hair was entirely too greasy, and he was quite the unattractive figure with yellow teeth and a pot belly. Not to mention the way he reeked of ale.

His eyes darkened as he stood up, towering at least a good few inches above her. “I asked if ye would be interested in coming te me ship with me.”

“And I said no,” Robin repeated, staring at him defiantly, ignoring the pang of fear that shot through her as Steve was nowhere in sight. He’d probably gone ahead to scout an empty table for them.

“So yer a feisty one, eh? I love me a feisty woman,” he said, licking his lips.

“Let me go,” she demanded.

“No. Yer coming with me,” he growled, beginning to tug her out of the pub.

“Let me go!” Robin screeched, eyes looking around desperately for anyone who would help.

“You heard the lady. Let her go,” a voice from the back of the pub stated.

Robin noticed how the entire pub seemed to come to a stop at the stranger’s voice. She turned to see where it had come from, tilting her head in curiosity as the figure began approaching the two of them.

“Stay outta this, you wench,” the man sneered, eyes widening fearfully as the mysterious woman finally looked up from underneath the brim of her hat.

“I won’t repeat myself again,” the woman said, anger dancing in her beautiful blue eyes that were illuminated by the fire roaring nearby. “Let. Her. Go.”

Robin’s breath hitched in her throat. The mysterious woman was gorgeous. She cut a lean, intimidating figure in her outfit, which consisted of brown trousers, a white linen shirt that cut off at her elbows, displaying her taut muscles and showed a hint of cleavage, a brown belt with a sheath which the handle of a sword was visible (which one of her hands was resting on) attached, a classic black pirate hat resting atop her head, the brim of which was red and the front held an insignia Robin didn’t recognize. A dark red cloak with a gold chain that fastened across her chest tied the outfit together.

Curly brown tresses framed her face perfectly, showing off the sharp lines of her cheekbones. Brilliant blue eyes which sparkled as fierce as the sea on a stormy day, danger lurking within. Freckles were lightly scattered across her cheeks, seeming to shine against her fair colored skin. Thin lips that looked as though they would be as soft as a flower petal if a kiss were to be placed upon them.

It was safe to say Robin was instantly enchanted with her rescuer.

“C-Captain Wh-Wheeler, it’s such a pleasure to see ya. I wasn’t expectin to run into ye today,” the pirate stammered, loosening his grip on Robin significantly.

“Then I suppose today is your lucky day,” Captain Wheeler said, a satisfied smirk tugging on her lips. “Release the lady at once. That is, unless you’d like to challenge me for her.”

“Sh-she’s all yours,” he said hastily, practically shoving Robin into Captain Wheeler’s arms, who easily caught her with one hand around her waist as the other continued pointing her sword directly at the pirate.

Robin swallowed heavily at the feeling of the captain’s hand resting on her hip in a protective manner, a tingling sensation shooting from the other woman’s fingers all over Robin’s body.

“Now, apologize to the lady and leave this place at once. And please, refrain yourself from harassing any other women, regardless of my presence.”

“Y-y-yes Cap’n. I apologize deeply m-ma’am,” he stuttered, bowing deeply before running out the door with his tail tucked between his legs, his crew hot on his heels.

“Are you alright?” Captain Wheeler asked once she had sheathed her sword, turning her attention to the rather attractive woman in her arms. She couldn’t help but to let her eyes briefly travel down the young lady’s body in admiration. She looked up to meet a pair of striking blue eyes. They were duller than her own but still managed to sparkle within the dim glow of the pub.

“Yeah, I am. Thank you,” Robin said, internally celebrating as she hadn’t stuttered or rambled in front of the very pretty pirate captain.

“You’re quite welcome. I’m sorry to say I never caught your name.”

“Robin Buckley. And you’re Captain Wheeler. You seem to have quite the reputation around here.”

The captain smirked. “Indeed I do, but you may call me Nancy. Tell me, what’s a ravishing lady like yourself doing alone in a roguish place like this?”

The mermaid cursed the insanely attractive pirate in her head as she blushed so fiercely the tips of her ears turned red. “I’m not alone, actually. My best friend is around here somewhere.”

“Robin!”

Nancy let go of the hold she had maintained around Robin’s waist the entire time as Steve reached them and practically tackled Robin into a hug. Both women felt a pang of disappointment at the loss of being pressed so close to one another, though they didn’t show it.

“Are you alright? You aren’t hurt, are you? I ought to beat the living daylights out of that nasty, good for nothing—”

“Steve,” Robin interrupted, placing her hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “I’d like to introduce you to Captain Nancy Wheeler. She’s the one that stopped him.”

Nancy tipped her hat in greeting. “You must be the best friend.”

Steve nodded. “I’m Steve Harrington. Thank you so much for helping her. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he had managed to get away with her.”

“The pleasure was all mine. Though, if you don’t mind my saying so, you two don’t look like pirates. What business do you have here?”

Robin and Steve hesitated, exchanging looks with one another that only they could read. “We—uh—well you see—the thing is—umm—”

“We need an escort,” Robin blurted out.

Captain Wheeler arched an eyebrow. “An escort?”

“Yes,” Robin said, nodding rapidly. “You see, we’ve heard that the king is searching for the merkingdom and is offering a hefty amount to those who bring the discovery to him.”

“Yes, and we wish to be the ones to bring that discovery to him,” Steve added, putting on his brightest this-is-total-bullshit-but-I-can’t-do-anything-except-go-along-with-it-so-I-need-to-be-convincing smile.

“You two wish to find the long lost underwater Kingdom of Hawkins?” Nancy inquired, looking between the two of them disbelievingly.

“Exactly.”

Captain Wheeler grinned a rather dangerous grin, one that made Robin want to swoon and collapse into her well-defined arms. “Sounds like quite the adventure. When shall we set sail?”

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mxrggo · 2 years ago

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~In the middle of the night~

(Steve Harrington x Female Reader)

Summary; You return home after a long day fighting for your life with the upside down, demobat and demodog matters. Somehow, you are praying because of the nightmare but being interrupted by “Steve the Ninja” at your bedroom window.

Warnings; Languages, Only fluff

A/N; Hi, this is my first short story with Steve Harrington. Enjoy and if you like it please reblog, amor!

✧─── ･｡ﾟ★: *.✦ .* :★. ───✧

[At Byers house]

You rest your elbow on Robin’s shoulder. Each of you takes out the heavy breath that has been holding on for too long since weeks ago. Hawkins has been invaded by stranger things, literally mind your blown when you learned from Robin. It was so sudden and all you knew is that you and your friends have been fighting these monsters.

“This is over right? Is it possible they came back- I mean while we are sleeping, I don't want to die in sleep-” You grab Robin’s shoulder and convince her that all has ended. You aren't sure yourself but for some reason, you always had this sense to protect Robin. She's been your best friend since elementary school.

“All of you, go back home safely and shut your mouth. Remember, do not discuss this matter with anyone!” Hopper reminds us in a stern voice. We agreed simultaneously. You help Nancy unload whatever you called it, or weapons from the car. Jonathan offered to drop off the Wheelers including you and Robin.

“Hey, you-um you guys okay?” A soft voice from our back called. We switch our attention to the owner of the voice. “We’re fine, Steve.” Nancy answers with a small smile. You simply nodded as to agree with her. He spots something on your right arm.

“You sure?” His forehead wrinkled at your answer. You check the arm, it may be a cut from slipping when running from the demodog. “Don't worry, I will treat it as soon as I'm home.” You assuring him. Steve wants to continue the conversation when you guys heard Dustin shout from Steve’s passenger seat.

He insisted Steve send them home quickly. “You got some angry kids to be sent to their bed early. You have to go, momma Steve.” You chuckle watching Steve roll his eyes. “Always the goddamn babysitter!” He shakes his head in disapproval.

“Steve!” Now the group (Dustin, Lucas, Max and Erica) is yelling at once. “Steve the hair Harrington always had his time to flirt with girls.” Lucas let out. Steve dismisses himself and you just watch him go. “Okay, what was that?” Nancy teased. You lift your shoulders.

“You guys totally flirting!” She exclaimed with joy. “No, we just try to ease our nerves, Nance.” You start to blush somehow. Deep down you kinda want to admit that you had a little; maybe just a little crush on Steve.

You met Steve through who else if it's not Robin Buckley. Since that day, you started to be friends with the other too. “What did I miss?” Robin appeared from the house. Didn't want to entertain Robin’s question you just get into the backseat of the car.

[At your house]

As soon as you reach home, you lit the vanilla-scented candle and set warm water in your bathtub. You take a deep look in the mirror and saw a dirty girl with messy hair. You sigh when you realized the cut Steve mentioned, the scratches are kinda long but luckily it's not that deep.

After tossing the shirt, you immerse yourself in the warm water completely. A glimpse of these monsters did give you goosebumps. It feels like they are still here traumatizing you. Now you start to feel the body aches from all the physical you've done; the perks of being non-athletic kids at school.

You get the bandage and clips under the sink cabinet, cover them around your arm after applying the antiseptic. Now that you already put the pajamas on, you climb to the bed. Shutting down the light, suddenly the dark brings you to the creep thoughts about those incidents.

Your breath shakes and becomes faster than usual. Immediately, you turn on the bedside light while you try to control your breath back. After a few good minutes, you decide to be on your knees beside your bed, eyes closed and both hands close together on the mattress. Why yes, you are trying to pray.

“God, I know I'm not that good but please hear me. Please protect us from the bad things. May Eleven’s effort sealing the door is successful and this nightmare will end, beautifully.” You whisper slowly and full of hope. You are about to express more but are interrupted by the sound of your window opening.

A figure climbs up and went through the window; not just any figure, it's your friend, Steve Harrington. “Didn't know you were religious. Am I interrupting your praying session?” He sounds sarcastic. Actually this is not the first time he climb through your window.

His first here in your room was during last summer break when you called him to help comfort Robin to the fact she saw Vickie kissing her boyfriend. Steve was good at it as he managed to cool down Robin. You admit that both of them are like platonic soulmates.

You discovered after they worked together at Scoop Ahoy, that bonds between them are growing. So as you and Steve but sometimes it's slightly awkward. Just because you have this passive-aggressive relation type with him.

Steve has this urge to protect you girls and he can be really annoying sometimes. Who are you going out to date with, Steve puts so much effort into getting involved somehow. You had no idea if he was actually into you or just being a cautious slash caring friend.

“Are you lost, Steve? Robin's house over there.” You point to your window indicating you have less interest in silly jokes. Steve lifts both hands to cool you down. “Whoaa, hold up. I'm here to check on you.”

“Checking on me? I'm more than fine dingus.” You slightly raise your voice. "Are you sure? You know you can tell me anything right? I'm always here for you guys." There's a comfort and worried in his voice. You hate when Steve starts to play victim, of course you can't resist his golden retriever aura.

You start to wander back and forth trying to explain the situation that replayed in your mind. "Hey, calm down. Look at me." Steve stops you by holding both of your shoulder. They are stern as you could remember. "I am terrified, Steve. When I'm alone it starts to haunt me." You gulped.

"I'm not lying either. Sometimes, I had this worst nightmare that I barely sleep." Steve confessed. "But I believe this time it's all over. No more monsters, no more darkness." He then assured. You walk away from him, lean on at your study table. It is clear that you are still in denial, looking by your expression.

"Fine. No more sweet talks, only the truth. We don't know when they will appear again but all I could say as long as we stick together, we have that chance." He cross his arm while leaning at the wall. He gives that look again, full of comfort and protection.

You sighed then give him a small smile indicate that the uneasy feeling in the tip of your stomach starting to flatten, for now. And that's when you noticed his red neck and scratch all over his face. "Steve we need to treat you too." You voice out your concerned.

"It's fine. I'm getting better." Not believing him, you make your way to him and check, especially on his reddened neck. "You know, a hero also need help. Consider me your healer." You direct him to sit on the edge of your bed while you find your first aid kit.

You did not wait for Steve confirmation to touch his face. You just naturally treat him as you feel need to take care of him. The wet soft cotton were pressed on his face gently. "Why with that face?" You noticed his peculiar expression. "Umm..No....thing." He blink his eyes and look away.

"Eyes on me, Harrington!" You cup his chin and direct towards you. In your comforting touch, he fully surrender himself to be treated by you. The nervousness in you start to build up as you can feel his eyes piercing into your cold skin.

This is not the Harrington you knew because Steve babbling all time but right now only silence fills the air. "Ouchh..." Steve groaned when you slightly put pressure on the wound around his neck. "Oppss..my bad." You chuckle as to cover the tension between you.

"You owe me banana split at Scoop Ahoy this time." You said standing up and wrap up all the dirty cotton on the floor. "Just that? No worries, I can give you all ice creams in the world." He murmured. You rolled your eyes to response him. "Hey! Thank you...sincerely." He grab your arm before you could go to the bathroom.

"Of course." You clear your dry throat. This time he strongly pull your arm towards him and it's all blury when you feel his soft lips on yours. You back up and immediately walk away when your head become clear. "Hey, I'm sorry." Steve called you and you swiftly turn around.

You just froze there, don't know how to react. Your heat rises and suddenly Steve looking extra hot. "Fuck, I'm a mess." Steve cursed under his breath when he stand up and rush to you. He cupped your cheeks and savour your lips. The kiss was sloapy and full of mess.

"Steve, wait. Stop." You pull off while catching your breath. "Friends don't kiss each other." You let out while maintain the eye contact. "Can't you see? I don't want to be your friends. My heart is beating for you." Steve took your hand and put right into his heart.

You didn't believe this would happened. He likes you back? All these time, it's just not a one-sided feelings. "You are tormenting me when you are not around me. I hate those guys that wanted to try you. You are mine...at least in my head." He slowly voiced out and embarrassingly look away.

"Ohh, my Steve. We're sucker for each other." You cupped his face softly, raised your heels and gave him a meaningful kiss. You gave him butterflies, the way he reacted towards your kiss; he pulls the kiss deeper until both of you out of breath. "Robin not gonna approve this." You inhale the oxygen.

"That's what concern you right now? Sweetheart, you should worry what I can do to you right now." He smirked. "Nope. I'll pass." I defend myself; backing up. "I'm gonna eat you." He catches you, give a big hug from behind, plenty of kisses around face;neck. You laugh (slowly not to wake up others). The amusement he shared with you. You wanted to explore more with him.

Later that night, you both fall asleep peacefully; the monsters that haunting you these past days, vanish into the thin air. The dream in your sleep right now is all about Steve Harrington :)

#steve harrington #stranger things #fluff #steve harrington smut #window breaking

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drowsyr · 1 year ago

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hihihi friend anon here! i live for your stobin headcanons don't apologise for it being long!!

my friend and i make friendship bracelets for each other every year for our birthdays, but because we were born like two days apart we just end up making them together and swapping. i remember one year i made us matching ones in the colours of the upside down (blue, red, orange, black)!

also yes stobin closet jokes. dustin says something about a coat hanging in his closet for winter and robin laughs so hard, like giggling, that she has to down an entire glass of water.

oh aro stobin is my favourite thing <3 idk if you've read the "aro stobin cinematic universe" series (2 works so far, they're phenomenal) but it was sosososo good!!

steve's parents definitely own a bed that is very big so sometimes stobin have their sleepovers there and jump on the bed like little kids. not like mr and mrs harrington will find out anyways!

also dustin finding it so cute that stobin dyed their hair to match..... he takes a million photos on his mom's camera :O

steve and robin take hair curlers and shit and have a proper spa day one day and they look fabulous after <3

also i love your friendship bracelet headcanons they are so sweet 😭😭

stobin house sitting for the hendersons and breaking into claudia’s hair curlers and making facials… steve is a career cat sitter for claudia i know this is true

erica does make fun of them for being dorks and matching their hair but also she totally idolizes robin so she’s like mocking them to their faces but laying out a full legal defense to her mom about why she should be allowed to dye her hair and getting brutally but lovingly shut down

also yes i know that the harringtons have like a california king and robin makes so many innuendos about why but steve will literally plug his ears + go lalalala. i feel like they use steve’s parents room when they wanna pamper themselves like for a spa day but otherwise sleep in steve’s or even at robins place just bc they’re cozier <3 i know robins twin bed is a safe space for them.

i haven’t read rebel robin but i’m actually obsessed with her hippie parents and i love when people hc the buckleys as suspecting that robin is gay and trying to be supportive of her relationship with steve but also very confused by it (shoutout to findafight’s recent post obvi).

to me the buckleys are a jello family and i think steve tries so hard to be casual about it but he hates it like jello is an evil texture. i’m torn bc i can so clearly imagine robins parents loving jello but i feel like she would think it’s a bad texture as well… but also the idea of steve over for dinner at the buckley house and mrs buckley sets down like one of those awful intricate 70s jellos in the center of the table and everyone digs in and steve is sitting there like yeah🤢😃thank you mrs buckley😃🤢this is great🤮😃

#all this while wearing friendship bracelets #stobin #robin buckley #steve harrington #ask #also i fs have to check out the aro stobin stuff… seen a few posts floating around but is the cinematic universe a full fic!#<- pretend that’s a ? i don’t wanna retype #i don’t actually have an ao3 acct tho so if it’s restricted i’m shit outta luck lol #erica looking up to robin is so sweet to me…

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cosmorom · 2 years ago

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who i think can/can't die in st5 and why (long post):

eleven: it's pretty plausible she could die like a hero with a sacrifice, when she'll fight against henry again, but i simply don't believe it because it dosen't make sense? for all her narrative we see how she dosen't want being compared to a hero, she doesn't want to be a hero. el wants to be loved for who she is, not because she's cool with powers and she saved the world like 3(?) times. she wants to be loved like el, not 011. if in s5 they don't finish her story arc and put her at peace with herself, duh her death will just be heartbreaking and unfair. i would like to see that in some way, at the end of everything, she'll lose her powers (like in s3) and she just be in peace with her family and friends. however, this doesn't mean that the probability of her death is low.

will: well he just can't die because 1) the previous seasons will be like useless? the whole story starts because will is alive and has to survive (talking abt s1). 2) will is literally the only one who never had his happy ending at every end of the seasons. and he suffered enough. just give his happy ending with the boy he is in love with and with the love of his family. obviously, knowing him, if his intervention (even risky) is needed to kill vecna, he would not think twice and would immediately offer to die for the others, as he has already demonstrated. i just can't think about the fact that he will suffer more in the next season until the end (bc he will). give him a BREAK.

max: well the situation is actually complicated. she can die as she can't. i think if they wanted to kill max they killed her in s4. so i'm not totally sure about her. i mean clinically she was (or is she?) dead...her mind is lost (in vecna's?). i don't know. i have doubts. i hope she won't leave us for good.

lucas: i don't think he'll die duh, he won't

dustin: recently, after, some declarations by the actors... i have a lot of doubts about dustin. pratically there's a lot question and theories that he could die with steve ("if you die, i die"), and this totally makes sense. yet dustin is devasted about eddie's (and max's) deaths, and we will see this much more clearly in the next season. i don't know if he will tolerate even steve's (we'll talk about him later). i don't know, i'm scared about him. i'll explain better later.

mike: so, i think they'll do something with mike like vecna'd but he won't die. just sayin': what would be the happy ending for will if mike died? yeah, this is a pretty selfish example, but it's the truth. and mike just can't die, he deserves some happines in this somewhat dark period for him. i swear i will punch someone (a lot of dudes) if he dies.

erica: nah she's a girlboss she just can't die

suzie: no

nancy: she's a girlboss too but i'm not sure she's totally safe rn, it's not sure that she won't die, that's it.

robin: there's not any reason for killing her, facts.

argyle: duh???

jonathan: doubts. many doubts. too many doubts. he could. duh i don't want this.

steve: 99,9% he's fucked. listen. it's too obvious. in the next season he will (finally) understands and accepts that he dosen't need romantic love in his life to be happy (reminds me of someone or am i wrong? right, el?) and he will probably die like a hero or something. he's the only one with (almost) full character development, when jonathan still has many things to solve. and the fans love steve. he'll die. and if dustin will die with him i'd- anyway...talking again about dustin. i'm scared about the fact that when (not if) steve dies, he will die in dustin arms (like someone else, his name starts with e and finish with ddie munson.) my boy dustin will be so fucking tired.

eddie: "he seems pretty fucking dead to me" lmfao i'm sorry

vickie: nah

joyce: she can't right????

hopper: he already cosplayed Jesus, that's enough

murray: probably.

enzo: also probably.

lonnie: yes because he deserves it.

vecna-001-henry: yes.

#byler #< target audience #stranger things #stranger things 5 #st theories

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thesaintofnevergettingitright · 2 years ago

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Oh thank god, I actually came up with an idea for the steddie bigbang. I was so scared I was gonna sign up and then freeze.

(brainstorm word vomit beneath the cut if anyone’s curious lol)

it’s not fully flushed out yet, but I’m thinking of going with an

~*~Orpheus/Eurydice Retelling~*~

I feel like the whole “drag your one true love out of hell but if you look at them you’ll both DIE” thing has very Steddie energy, ya know??

BUT I want Steve to be motivated mostly by Dustin and Lucas’s grief (at first)

cuz I think that Dustin would take Eddie’s death HARD. Like harder than the end of the last season would have us believe

especially since I’m thinking that, after Dustin tells him that Eddie’s gone, Wayne leaves Hawkins because he can’t stand being alone in the familiar place with all the memories etc. (which is very fair and valid)

but I think losing that one connection to Eddie would be the last straw for Dustin’s poor traumatized soul

Meanwhile Max isn’t snapping out of her coma and with every day that goes by, Lucas gets more and more withdrawn.

It gets to the point where Lucas isn’t talking to ANYONE and is spending every waking moment in the hospital. It’s unhealthy.

and so both Dustin and Lucas are getting more and more consumed by grief and Steve can see it happening and feels totally helpless to do anything

so he gets more and more desperate to find a way to FIX IT because the only thing he’s ever been able to do right is to TAKE CARE of these kids and now he’s FAILING

and the harder he tries to help, the harder Dustin pushes him away and the further Lucas retreats into himself

until finally Dustin lashes out in some way and blames Steve for everything that went wrong and says something hurtful (cuz he’s a deeply traumatized and grief-stricken child.)

and Lucas stops eating or sleeping and starts sneaking out of the house to spend even MORE time at the hospital

no! I lied! actually what Lucas starts doing is spending more and more time sleeping and no one really understands why (other than standard grief reasons)

finally Erica gets so worried that she goes to steve for help

So steve and erica (and robin because she and steve are a package deal) research the upside down and mythology and D&D and theoretical science and whatever else they can to try to find a way to make everything BETTER (I think Steve is claiming that he’s mostly focused on Max and getting her back, but he’s fully willing to do whatever it takes to get eddie back for dustin, including fucked up magic or sacrificing himself or WHATEVER)

this results in them adding eleven and will to the research crew cuz they need Upside Down experts

(I was thinking nancy might be a part of the research team, but actually maybe the wheelers leave town? In fact I think Nancy herself might pressure her parents into leaving for they sake of Holly’s safety? And mike would probably flat-out refuse to leave and end up staying with the Byers-Hopper clan, but I think Nancy would be haunted enough by Vecna’s vision that she’d do whatever it took to keep her family safe)

And they keep coming up empty on the research until Steve finds Eddie’s D&D notes for the campaign he was planning on running after they defeated Vecna

it was going to be a home-brew based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, but tweaked to fit better into D&D rules/logic, where the goal of the campaign was to save a god and a goddess who were trapped between worlds

Eddie based his version on the orpheus/eurydice myth, d&d lore, and some satanic rituals he’d found while searching for new ways to antagonize the entire town lmao.

so robin/erica/steve end up retracing eddie’s steps in all of this research and suddenly Steve “The Hair” Harrington easily knows more about Satanism and like pagan magic than anyone else in Hawkins, probably INCLUDING eddie

somewhere in the middle of all this, steve starts dreaming about eddie and, at first, he thinks it’s just because he’s been thinking about him so much from retracing his steps. But then he starts feeling like the conversations he’s having with dream!eddie are feeling more and more real....

anyway they discover that the main difference between the original myth an the version Eddie came up with is that it would take TWO people to save each trapped god: a rescuer and an anchor

the anchor would help keep the rescuer connected to the “real”/mortal/whatever world, and the rescuer had to have a strong bond with both the person getting rescued AND the anchor

in the campaign, the “rescuer” was going to be determined by prophetic dreams getting sent to specific players, but they all write that off as just part of the game and figure all that’s needed is a strong bond.

so the plan is to send in El to rescue Max with Will acting as her anchor

they all wish they could do something to save eddie, but the focus is on max right now because she’s the one they KNOW is stuck between worlds

and steve and Erica both feel unsure about this plan, but Steve is used to trusting that his friends are smarter and doesn’t even know why he’s so unsure so he’s willing to go along with it...

but it turns out Erica was less willing to just go along with it and has essentially tattled to Dustin about the plan so before they can start the ~ritual~ or whatever, Lucas and Dustin burst through the door yelling incoherently

they’ve discovered two things:

1) it turns out that Lucas has been sleeping so much because he’s been having the same kind of dreams Steve has, but about Max

this prompts Steve to share his dreams with the group, saying that maybe this means that Eddie is actually alive, which Dustin agrees with and adds

2) it’s not just “any” strong bond that will work for the rescuee/rescuer/anchor bonds. Eddie’s notes were right, the rescuer has to be the person receiving dreams about the person stuck in the in-between, and the rescuer/anchor bond has to be FAMILIAL

so this means Eddie is out there and savable, because Steve is having dreams about him. No one really seems to understand WHY that bond manifested between Steve and Eddie, but they just have to roll with it

Lucas and steve are officially the Rescuers(TM)

then dustin gets this stricken look on his face cuz he realizes that Erica can be Lucas’s anchor, but there’s no one to anchor steve cuz his family sucks. so dustin starts insisting that steve shouldn’t go in cuz he’d just get lost along with eddie and that’s not what eddie would want and dustin doesn’t think he’d make it through losing steve too and and and and.....

and then steve shuts him up with a big hug and says something like “what are you talking about? I’ve got my whole family right here, including the world’s most annoying little brother.” *cue dustin sobbing*

just to be safe, both robin AND dustin step in as steve’s anchors

*insert emotional trip through the In Between (which I’ve decided is the name of the place Max and Eddie are stuck in)*

they make it out and there are a lot of very emotional reunions etc. etc. but for some reason eddie is avoiding eye contact with steve

That’s right we’re not done! now it’s time for part 2: just miscommunication and falling in love

so things are kinda awkward and tense between steve and eddie, especially when it’s determined that the smartest thing to do is to get eddie out of town while hopper works on clearing his name and creating a story for How Eddie Munson Isn’t Dead

Which means it’s time for my favorite trope: Road Trip to Murray’s!

Steve insists on coming along with Eddie, not trusting eddie not to disappear again, plus he wants to know why eddie’s been so weird around him ever since they got out of the In Between, plus it makes the most sense: he has a car, and his parents are never home so no one will notice that he’s gone for an extended period of time

When he finally demands eddie tells him what’s going on, turns out eddie is furious that steve risked his life to try to save him. like FUMING. and steve is so confused and distressed because he thought they were really connecting, hell he even thought he might be catching feelings for him....

then eddie doesn’t want steve to feel like he’s responsible for him or like he owes him anything etc. etc.

basically eddie is doing everything he can to push steve away, seemingly under the assumption that steve is there out of obligation

finally, Murray reveals that he’s been snooping through eddie’s stuff and whips out a piece of paper. It’s an as-yet-unknown secret missing page from Eddie’s D&D notes that the gang never found. Turns out the twist of the campaign was going to be something Eddie discovered in his research: the bond/the dreams only work between soulmates (ohmygod the were soulmates)

turns out eddie’s been functioning under the assumption that the soulmate bond went one way, cuz steve is straight (obvs), and thinks that the rescue only worked because he was so pathetically in love with steve, it made up for the deficit

Murray points out that this is stupid

steve also points out that this is stupid

they make out about it

some other stuff happens but that’s the most important parts

the end

#steddie #stranger things #steddie big bang #mine #don't mind me I got an idea in my head and I wasn't gonna be able to function until I got it out

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