#Stranger Things Season 3 AU

[hunnystufff]

Morning Starship

read from the beginning

< Pages 97-103 - 104-108 - Pages 109-118 >

Well- after not uploading here for a looong while I AM BACK! I had a huge load of work swallowing most of my days the last few months which lead to me prioritizing only Patreon and sometimes uploading on IG-

But now I have more time!! - I also want to accept less Design- and Webdesign Jobs and focus a bit more on my art! (If I can make that possible, that is - but I want to try!)

So if you want to support me with that:

I opened Pre-Orders for the second batch of "Morning Starship VOL 1" You'll be able to order it until the 01.12.23!

I also have a Patreon where you can support me!

I aaaalso accept Commissions from time to time, so just ask me if you are interested and I'll give you all the information! (Soon you'll even be able to book digital and also physical commissions directly in my shop!)

Uh yeah- enough of advertising myself :') I hope you all enjoy the new pages! ❤ More will follow soon, because I'm way ahead of posting pages on IG-

(And thank you all sm for still sharing my work and commenting on the old comic pages! ❤ That's honestly always such a huge motivation-boost!)

[afewproblems]

A little snippet of something new for y'all:

"You gonna order something or what?" Steve grumbles, ignoring the slight furrow of Eddie's brow.

He reaches for the metal scooper in the warm water bucket next to the till and taps it on the lip of the bucket, removing the excess milky water from the scoop. Steve wrinkles his nose as a few droplets hit the top of his knees.

God this job is gross.

Eddie follows Steve's path and steps towards the display case, laying both hands on the glass. He doesn't take his eyes off of Steve's, maintaining eye contact as he smiles wolfishly.

"Sample of rocky road if you please," Eddie says smoothly, tapping his ringed fingers against the glass, the surface of which Steve spent the better part of his morning cleaning fingerprints off before Robin left for her first fifteen.

Steve sighs and puts the metal scoop back before turning around to snatch one of the paper cups and blue sample spoons from the shelves behind him.

He bends down slightly to grab it from the bottom before standing back up and turning around just in time to see Munson flush pink and lower his gaze to the ice cream which…huh.

Steve looks around the food court curiously, trying to find whoever it was that would make Eddie Munson of all people blush like that.

The food court is dead for the most part, besides the people already working, and apparently Eddie, there's no one here.

Steve scoffs under his breath, leave it to Munson to play some kind of 'made-you-look' at their age.

"Do they train you guys to move at a glacial pace or is that some of the Harrington flare I've heard so much about?" Eddie sighs, his sneaker tapping against the tiled floor.

He's still smirking, and Steve wants to be annoyed by Eddie's jabs. If it were Tommy he'd have left the counter by now. For God's sake, it's nearly identical to something Carol would say but the venom is missing, the heat, leaving the words softer. More of a tease than a taunt.

Steve and Eddie hadn't really crossed paths much while he was still in school.

By the time Eddie had really begun to lean into his freakzoid persona Steve was already hanging from the bottom rung of the social ladder. Avoiding the metal-heads derisive gaze and Tommy's vitriol as best as he could, by mostly sticking with Nancy and Jonathan during that last year.

Honestly Steve hardly remembers speaking more than a word or two to Munson.

Steve jabs the little blue spoon into the tub of Rocky Road and scrapes the sides, careful to avoid any of the marshmallow pieces or nuts -what can he say, Steve is nothing if not a little petty.

He hands the sample to Eddie who takes one look at the dessert and laughs.

And not one of Carol's fake tinkling laughs or Tommy's sneering scoffs. This seems to catch Eddie off guard with surprise delight.

Steve can't stop his own small smile that pulls at his lips as Eddie takes a bite, still chuckling and shakes his head.

"You're a trip Harrington, I'll be back for the customer service," Eddie says, tapping his knuckles against the glass display as he turns on his heel and makes his way to the main part of the mall.

Steve shakes his head, still smiling slightly, marveling at the interaction.

He blames it on the boredom.

Yeah, that has to be it.

[hippielittlemetalhead]

So season 3. Let's do this!

This took so so so long and is not quite where/what I wanted it to be soooo... I am so sorry 😅🥲 this will most likely be 2 parts cause... Yeah, just life man.

Actually some dialogue in this one? Sure, a line or two, as a treat.

(Part1) (part2)

Steve had been working at Scoops Ahoy for a few weeks now and he feels like he's built a decent rapport with his coworker Robin. She's witty and snarky and opinionated and when Steve wears a more tinted lipgloss than he intended resulting in a customer clocking it and saying something rude that he can't help but smile his dead-eyed customer service smile at, she clocks out for her lunch early (and takes an extra 15 minutes) and comes back with a full face of makeup and shoos him into the back with the mascara she bought from the shop a couple stores over. They both start coming to work with at least mascara, eyeliner and lipstick and Steve loves it. He compliments the hand-drawn designs on her shoes and she asks where he got his rainbow heart pin. They mostly disagree on music they listen to -she still lets him drag her to a couple live music nights at The Hideout with him and Billy every now and then anyway- but their politics and basic life philosophies line up pretty well.

He could do without the 'You Rule / You Suck' board, especially when Billy gets in on it and adds tallies from a little notebook he starts keeping when he and Steve hang out outside of kids and work. And the jokes about his kids (and occasionally Billy) when they come through for free passage to the movies. And the jabs about his parents' money like he still has access to that or their house.

He doesn't tell her that he was cut off and disowned and kicked out. He doesn't tell her that he had to get a job to help pay for his community college courses because he was a disappointment that couldn't get into a pre-approved 4-year university and that meant no college fund and he was still a few years away from being 21 and having access to the trust fund his grandparents set up for him when he was still just a lump of forming cells. And even then anything in that will probably be blown on buying himself his own permanent place instead of just a hand-me-down trailer in the middle of the woods so he needs to save for things like bills and a mortgage.

He doesn't tell her that the reason he lets the kids get away with so much is because they're *his* and they've already seen more fucked up shit than the cops in this town (save Hop) and he'll be damned if they don't get to just be kids. He'll be damned if they decide he's someone they need to hide from and sneak around like they hide and sneak from Joyce and Hop cause that's how they didn't know about half the shit the kids got up to while the adults were doing their best to take care of things themselves. He doesn't tell her that he's paying "rent" to the chief of police (it's way less than he should be but it's all Hop would take).

He doesn't tell Robin a lot of things.

Then sometime after Robin finally warmed up to him but before Dustin comes back from camp, Eddie Munson walks into Scoops Ahoy, his metalhead nerdy entourage in tow. He orders a plain scoop of vanilla with sprinkles in a cup and one of the others also orders something small and simple (while longingly eyeing their diabetes-inducing, horribly artificial tasting, bubblegum flavor when Munson turns away) before all of them are squeezing into one of the largest booths, emptying out messenger bags and backpacks of overstuffed binders and scuffed up versions of very familiar looking textbooks. It's like looking at an older -slightly grungier- version of his kids.

"Gentlemen, now that 🎶school's out for summer🎶-" There's a musical lilt as he says it that sounds vaguely familiar to Steve, "-and it has been confirmed that I will in fact be held captive for yet another stint in the hell they call Hawkins High School it is time we confer and conspire for the next year of Hellfire and the little sheep that will be joining our flock." He kinda loses track of it after that because then his kids are rushing in demanding tasters of everything and edging towards the lifting part of the counter with a look in their eyes that speaks of mischief. He puts up the initial fuss about them only visiting him for his backrooms access and that they promised to only come over when there were no customers around. He lets them through anyway.

He notices Munson eyeing him as he puts the partition back in place shaking his head and Robin laughing at him as she washed their ice cream scoops. The one that's vaguely more familiar looking than the rest and reminds him of a taller, angrier, Dustin with a better hair regimen isn't quite glaring at him but is definitely paying more attention than the rest of Munson's posse and seems more suspicious than Eddie's curious.

The metalheads are still there when Billy shows up stinking of chlorine in clothes that are damp where they cling to his frame. The group loosens up a little when he shoots Steve his signature smug smirk as he shrugs on his denim jacket that -like Steve's own jacket hanging out of sight in the staffroom- had begun accumulating patches and pins since Neil's incarceration. Unlike Steve's, Billy's has homages to bands like Mötley Crue, Deff Leppard, Twisted Sister and Guns N' Roses with little trails of shakily embroidered flowers and constellations on the collar and hems and filling the spaces between the patches and pins. Billy also has a small pink triangle on the lapel where Steve has a rainbow. Steve pretends not to notice the way the group goes a little quiet as Billy starts his usual routine of sunnily demanding tasters of all the available flavors and then again with sprinkles to "-really get an idea of their ✨nuance✨, prettyboy" before deciding on a scoop of double chocolate with a scoop of raspberry vanilla in a cup with sprinkles and one of their fresh waffle cones on top. Like always.

"Really branching out there aren't ya, tough guy?" Steve keeps his face as stoney as possible but he can't help the humored edge to his voice.

Billy just winks at him running his tongue over his teeth as he gives Steve an exaggerated leer, "Gotta keep you on your toes, handsome." Robin fake gags and Steve laughs and Eddie Munson turns red as he stares at the two joking jocks. Billy goes quiet as he stares at his ice cream and Steve recognizes the look on his face, tells the blonde to go sit down in their usual booth and he'd be taking his break soon and they can talk about whatever's bothering him.

What's bothering him is Neill getting parole for 'good behavior', Jim only telling the Mayfield-Hargroves almost a week after he was let out because that was actually the same day he himself found out. Billy found out just before a summer basketball practice session and thinks he snapped at an underclassmen he's been trying to get to open up about what Billy is 90% certain is going on in the kid's home, but he knows that cops can't do much if the victim(s) refuse to trust in those trying to help them. He's worried about the kid he snapped at. Worried about Susan and Max. Worried that even with the restraining order Neill will try something. Billy tells Steve he had thought he saw Neill around the outskirts of town during errands or during his turn to haul the kids around a couple of times before Hop told them and now he's sure it wasn't just paranoia. Steve tells him they'll figure it out, reminds him he's not alone in this

That makes Billy smile, small and tired but real and grateful. His shoulders are still tense and there's still a wariness in the smallest crease between his eyebrows that makes Steve ask if there's anything else. They talk about some of the weird dreams Billy's been having that makes Steve encourage him to talk to El. Just to make sure Billy isn't going through what happened to Will the last alternate-dimension-go-around.

They make plans to head out to see the two Hoppers after Steve's shift. Come up with a basic timeline of when and where Billy thinks he saw Neil so they have something to start with for Hop. Put together an idea of how involved Billy wants to be in whatever plan Hop comes up with. They're interrupted by a group of girls swanning into the shop and Steve being yelled at by Robin to get himself back to work. As he gets up from the table Steve levels Billy with a look that makes the blond think about the way Max and the kids described Steve when they talked about how he fought off the pack of demodogs in the junkyard, planting himself between them and snarling snapping danger like Galahad himself.

Steve looks him in the eyes and says "I swear Billy, we're going to get through this, we'll take care of it and keep you and the girls safe. Hop knows what's going on and even Callahan can't get away with letting that piece of shit fall through the cracks after what he pulled." He leans in close and bites out probably louder than he should for the amount of people in the shop, "And if that fucker gets near any of you I've got Darling in Baby's trunk and I am not afraid to use her on a human shaped monster instead."

Author's (rambler's) Notes:

So, that's all I have for season 3 rn I am so sorry. 😭 I'm working on the next bit but I am so burnt out recently and now I'm unemployed cause of the ceiling at my job caving in which does not help the stress. So I unfortunately do not have a timeframe for you. 🥲 A couple of folks asked to be tagged so... Here you are? To be fair I'm not making any promises in regards to the taglist in the future, I will do my damnedest and y'all will have to bear with me.

I'm glad people are liking this and tbh this has gotten more attention than I expected so thanks? I appreciate the appreciation of my ramblings. Feel free to scream at/with me about this au in my asks box and I'll respond when/as I can. I'm just glad people are enjoying this. 🙃

@heartsong18

@knightofthieves

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Paper Flowers & Hearts Made of Glass

A/N: Warning, Karen does do some inappropriate things with Billy. It doesn't go into detail. If you don't like it, don't read it. It sheds a light on how weird Karen's attraction to Billy was. It's a big of a long one-shot. Also, anti Billy Hargrove, but Karen was the adult in this situation. She should have known better.

Summary: Pre-season 3 Au, After Nancy walks in on Karen with Billy, Nancy struggles with the fallout and the change in her family dynamic. Luckily, Jonathan and Steve are there to help her.

Nancy huffed as she checked for the batteries in her purse. Jonathan tapped his fingers in time to music as he waited for the light to turn green.

"We have to go back," Nancy said.

"What? Nancy, we're going to miss the movie," Jonathan said. "You wanted to go, right? Write about the Hawk Theater because it's close to closing, get some attention, and hopefully, Tom will finally put one of your articles in the paper."

"Okay, first of all, I don't care if I get attention in the paper. I care that yet another local business is in danger of being closed because that stupid mall went up," Nancy said. "I care about the truth, and second of all, I left the new batteries for my walkie on my dresser."

"We'll only be gone a couple of hours, Nance," Jonathan said.

"And you know as well as I do that a lot can happen in two hours," Nancy said. "The walkie is dead, and my house is closer than yours."

"Wait a minute . . . If you hate the mall so much, why did you go last week?" Jonathan asked.

"Holly needed a new dress, and mom was busy," Nancy said.

"Right, Holly needed a new dress," Jonathan scoffed.

"What?! She did!" Nancy exclaimed.

Jonathan knew exactly why she went. She wanted to catch a glimpse of Steve in his Scoops Ahoy uniform. It should have made him jealous, and if it hadn't been for him picking up Will from the mall a couple of weeks ago, he probably would have been. The wind had been picking up quite a hit that evening, the clouds darkening with hints of the arrival of a storm. Jonathan had been waiting in the parking lot when Steve came out of the mall in full uniform with the hat and everything. He almost started laughing until his eyes caught sight of the shorts that hugged his thighs just right and the very high socks that completed the look. It should have been just as ridiculous, but Jonathan had liked it. A little too much.

He then proceeded to watch as the hat flew off his head, the winds whipping his hair and his shirt furiously. Jonathan had seen the sliver of skin that showed as his shirt was pulled by the wind. Steve yelled and went after the hat. Jonathan laughed. He couldn't help it. Finally, the hat stopped, and Steve bent down to get it. The shorts hugged him tighter, and Jonathan couldn't help the thought that flew through his mind. Steve’s ass looked really good in those shorts. Steve set the hat back on his head and caught sight of Jonathan. He grinned and wiggled his fingers at him just as Will slid into the car.

"Jonathan!" Nancy's voice broke through the memory.

"Right," Jonathan gulped.

How could he explain to his girlfriend that he was having non-straight thoughts about her ex-boyfriend? It wasn't a conversation that Jonathan was ready to have yet. The light turned green, and he started driving back to Nancy's house. When they pulled up to her her house, they were too focused on their thoughts to notice the car parked down the street.

"Are you coming in or staying here? We both know Mike and Will are Lucas's. Holly is having a playdate over at the Simons'. You don't have to worry about my dad. He's out of town for work," Nancy said.

"Why would I worry about Ted?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem like you two have a lot to talk about," Nancy said.

"He's just a man of few words, Nance," Jonathan said. "I like that about him."

"You don't have to say that," Nancy said.

"I'm really not, and he did try to show an interest in photography when you were with your mom. It was awkward, but then again, so am I, and if anyone understands what it's like to be afraid of putting your foot in your mouth that sometimes, you just say nothing, it's me. Also, he actually has really good taste in music," Jonathan said.

"That's true," Nancy said softly and looked at him fondly.

She kissed him and got out of the car. She walked into the house, a smile on her face. Nancy hurried up the stairs and rushed to grab the batteries. She shoved them into her purse and left her room. She stopped when she heard her mom moan loudly. Nancy peddled back to look through the open gap of her parents' bedroom door and froze at the sight. Her mother was writhing and bouncing naked on a man who was most certainly not her father if the blond hair was any indication. She couldn't see his face. . . At first. The man's head moved up, catching a glimpse of her and giving her a good view of his face. Billy Hargrove. Her mother was in the throws of passion with Billy Hargrove. Nancy felt sick and then grew angry when Billy smirked at her. She turned back towards her room and grabbed a bag before quickly throwing clothes into it. She wasn't going to stay here tonight. Nancy had been doing it so quickly that she hadn't realized she had been doing it loudly as well. Suddenly, her mother was bursting through the door wearing a robe.

"Nancy! You're home. I thought you were going to a movie," Karen said, and Nancy glared at her, making her realize that Nancy had seen. "Nancy, it's not - "

"Don't," Nancy said sharply and brushed past her.

Nancy ran down the stairs, racing past Billy sprawled out in her mother's bed smoking. She heard Karen chasing after her.

"Nancy, your father and I haven't been happy for - "

"SHUT UP!" Nancy yelled.

The anger in her heart grew along with the nausea in her stomach. Billy was the same age as Nancy. His mother might have been pregnant at the same time Karen had been with her. How could she do that? How does that not immediately turn someone off? Nancy burst out the front door, gripping her bag as a wave of dizziness took over. Nancy vomited all over her front lawn, and she was vaguely aware of Jonathan getting out of his car to approach her. She had seen more disgusting things than this, but yet, this made her vomit. Maybe it was because their mother had done it right there in their home. . .the place where her kids her slept. . .in the very bed that she had conceived her kids with her husband.

"Nancy?!" Jonathan asked.

She wiped her mouth and straightened up, grabbing onto Jonathan as tears welled up in her eyes. Karen walked out the door.

"Nancy - "

"I hate you."

Karen stepped back as if she had been slapped. Billy chose that moment to lean against the open front door wearing nothing but her father's pajama pants. It looked ridiculous. Her father was a lot taller than him, so he had to roll up the bottoms.

"Who's your daddy, Nancy?" Billy smirked.

It didn't take much for Jonathan to put two and two together. His stomach churned.

"Bring me to your house. Please," Nancy said.

He didn't have to argue with her. He helped Nancy to the car and quickly pulled out of the driveway. No one was home when he pulled up to his house, which he was thankful for because it meant that Nancy could cry as loudly as she wanted. . .scream as loudly as she wanted to. Thirty minutes later, Nancy had cried herself to sleep in his arms without saying a word. It was at that moment that he heard his mom walking through the doorway with Hop complaining loudly about El and Mike. For once, though, they weren't glued at the lips which he was thankful for. Jonathan pulled himself away carefully and walked into the kitchen. Whatever they were about to say, it stopped when they saw Jonathan.

"I thought you and Nancy were going to see a movie," Joyce said. "It's not over already, is it?"

"No, mom, we never went," Jonathan said seriously. "I was wondering if Nancy could stay here a few days."

"Now, Jonathan, I don't know if her mom would be okay with that," Joyce said.

"Fuck her mom!" Jonathan blurted, scowling.

"Jonathan!" She exclaimed, shocked.

"Did Karen do something to Nancy?" Hopper asked.

"Well. . . It's more like Nancy walked in on her mother doing something to someone else," Jonathan said.

"So, she walked in on her parents having sex? It happens," Hopper laughed.

"Hop. . .Ted's out of town," Joyce said.

"Goddamnit," Hop cursed and then his face softened. "Poor kid."

"It's worse. . ." Jonathan trailed off.

"How?" Joyce asked.

"She slept with Billy," Jonathan said.

"You mean, Billy Graham from the hardware store?" Hopper asked and then frowned. "Never thought he would be the kind of man to cheat on his wife, but then I didn't think Karen would cheat."

"No, not that Billy," Jonathan said.

"Billy Burke? That old firefighter?" Joyce asked. "I don't think he can walk. Let alone. . ."

"No, I wish," he muttered.

"You know, I think there's a Billy on the force. He just started. A bit young," Hopper said.

"Nope!"

"Okay, well, the only other person that I can think of is Billy Hargrove, and Karen wouldn't be that stupid," Joyce laughed, and then she saw Jonathan's face. She gasped. "No!"

"Oh! For fuck's sake!" Hopper exclaimed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Doesn't she know that he's the same age as her own fucking daughter?"

"I don't think she cares," Jonathan muttered. "Mom? Can Nancy stay?"

"Yeah, sure, is she here now?" Joyce asked.

"She's asleep in my room," Jonathan said.

"Okay, I'll call Karen, and then I'll call Sue," Joyce said. "You should go be with her."

Joyce hugged her son tightly and smiled at him softly. Jonathan shuffled off back to his room.

"Well, I'm going to get out of your hair," Hopper growled. "You have your hands full."

"Hopper! You can't beat up Karen!" Joyce yelled and paused. "But I can!"

A couple of days later, Nancy hasn't really said anything about it. She was still going to the paper and doing her job, but she was quiet throughout the day. Normally, she would complain about Tom and the others but not this time. Although there were times when he woke up and he found her talking with his mom at the kitchen table. It was a good thing. A mom was what she needed right now, and his mom was always good at making someone feel better. Mike and Holly were staying with them too, but they weren't sure why. Joyce had gone to his house and gathered some clothes for them. She had also gone to talk with Karen. When she came back, her face was sad but also angry. Jonathan didn't know what to say to Will or Mike whenever they asked what was going on.

"I have to tell Mike," Nancy spoke.

They had just gotten home from the paper. Nancy was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at him.

"Are you sure?" Jonathan asked.

"I don't want to keep lying to him, and he's just going to keep asking," Nancy said and stared at the spot on the floor.

"Nancy?" Jonathan asked.

She got up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you for being here for me," Nancy said.

"Always," Jonathan said and kissed the top of her head.

"Mike in Will's room?" She asked.

"I think they're coloring with Holly," Jonathan said.

Nancy sighed and pulled back a little to look at his face.

"I hate her for doing this," Nancy said.

"Me too," Jonathan said.

"But she's my mom, and I still love her," Nancy said softly. "It's weird feeling both of that at the same time. I'm not ready to forgive yet, but. . .there's a part of me that wants to."

"Whenever you're ready. I'll be here even if you decide to never forgive her," Jonathan said and paused. "I think you will, though."

"Why?" Nancy asked.

"Because she's your mom, and you love her. And you forgave me after what I did," Jonathan said.

"Yours wasn't intentional. Besides, karma came in the form of Steve breaking your camera, and then you made up for it by risking your life against that demogorgon. You and Steve both," Nancy said. "He fucked up too with the Hawk and what he said. We forgave him too. I just need time with this because this feels bigger than all of that, but at the same time, it doesn't. I don't know! I just don't know!"

Jonathan kissed her forehead and rubbed her shoulders as she sighed.

"How about we take the kids out for ice cream after we tell Mike?" Jonathan asked.

"To Scoops Ahoy?" She asked.

"Yes, I know seeing Steve in his outfit will make you feel better," Jonathan said.

"What?!" Nancy exclaimed with wide eyes, and she blushed. "I don't - "

"Don't lie to me, Nance," he said in amusement.

Nancy deflated. Frowning, she collapsed back on the bed.

"Okay, so, maybe I still having feelings for Steve," Nancy said. "Shouldn't you be upset about that?"

"No, and there's a reason why, but I'm just not ready to say it outloud yet," he said.

"Okay?" She asked, and then she sighed. "I'm a terrible person! I'm just like my mom, and you're just okay with it. You're better than me."

"This isn't a contest, Nancy, and our situation is different. For one thing, we're all the same age and two, we're not married. Although this is a relationship. You haven't cheated on anyone yet. . .I mean, there was some overlap between me and Steve but that was a weird situation. Another thing is, we're young and we're going to fuck up but clearly having feelings for Steve was never a mistake and me getting into your head about it was the wrong thing to do because in reality, I also - " Jonathan cut himself off.

"What?" Nancy asked.

Jonathan opened his mouth again, trying to say the words that would reassure Nancy. His stomach fluttered like there were a thousand butterflies eating away at him.

"I, uh - "

Suddenly, Nancy's eyes twinkled with understanding. She got up and touched his cheek with her hand. Jonathan sighed and leaned into her touch.

"Whenever you're ready," Nancy said softly and kissed him.

"I love you," Jonathan said and then frowned. "I don't know why I'm having trouble saying this outloud."

"I love you too," Nancy said and hugged him tightly. "It's okay."

Nancy and Jonathan walked into Will's room. The three of them were lying on the floor, coloring and drawing. Will and Holly were teaming up together to tease Mike about his artwork.

"It's not that bad!" Mike exclaimed, but even he couldn't even stop the smile from spreading across his face.

Nancy really hated to interrupt this moment, but it needed to be said sooner rather than later.

"Hey, Holly, why don't you color in Jonathan's room? I need to talk to Mike. If you do that, we'll go out for ice cream," Nancy promised.

"Yay! Ice cream!" Holly shrieked, and she ran out of the room.

"Do I need to leave too?" Will asked.

"You might as well stay, Mike's probably going to tell you anyway, and it's better that you're here," Nancy said softly.

"Does this have anything to do with why we can't go home yet?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. . .the other day, Jonathan and I were supposed to go to the movies, but I had forgotten something at home. When I got there, I saw mom. . .I saw mom having sex with another guy," Nancy said.

"What?! Mom cheated on dad?!" Mike yelped and he jumped up. "No, there's no way. . .I mean, I know things have always been strained between them, but she would never do that!"

"I'm sorry, Mike," Will said softly as he stood up as well.

"I saw it," Nancy whispered, tears in her eyes.

"Do you know who she slept with?" Mike asked as he began pacing.

"Yeah," Nancy said.

"Who?" He asked.

"Well. . ."

"Nancy, who was it?" He asked.

He stopped pacing and turned to face her. Will was looking at her now. Nancy bit her lip.

"Billy Hargrove," Nancy whispered.

"No," Mike said, horrified. "There's no fucking way that mom would sleep with that racist abusive piece of shit!"

"I'm sorry," Nancy said.

"No way! You're lying! You're lying!" Mike yelled at her, his voice breaking.

"I'm not," she said.

Mike turned away from them all and placed his head in his hands. Will placed his hand on his shoulder, and Mike shrugged it off at first, before turning around to hug Will tightly. Mike's heavy, stuffy breathing slowly began to calm down, and he pulled away. He sniffed before turning towards his sister and hugging her. As Nancy held her brother, she realized she had to stand on her tiptoes to do it. When the hell did her brother get so tall? Mike pulled away.

"I'm sorry that you had to see it," Mike said.

"Me too," Nancy said.

"Ugh. . .Billy's the same age as you," Mike realized and screwed up his face.

"Yeah, I threw up on the lawn when I left," Nancy said.

"What are we going to do?" Mike asked.

"I don't know, but Jonathan and I figured that we would go get ice cream. Are you too upset to eat ice cream?" Nancy asked.

"I am never too upset to eat ice cream," Mike said.

"Are we all going?" Will asked.

"No, we all took votes and decided that everyone but you would go out and have fun," Mike told him, smirking.

"Asshole," Will said, his face splitting into a wide grin as he shoved him.

Everyone laughed as they walked out of the house, Holly wrapping herself around Mike's leg. He laughed and peeled her off his leg, holding her tightly.

"Are you upset, Mikey?" Holly asked.

"Better now that we're getting ice cream," Mike said and kissed her forehead.

When they walked into Scoops Ahoy, Jonathan and Nancy were both disappointed to find that Steve was in the back dealing with inventory. Robin was nice enough, though. Also, Max and Lucas spilled in not long after them. Mike led them to another booth to fill them in what happened. Max cursed more than Lucas, of course, and then tried to apologize for Billy. Mike wouldn't let her, though. It wasn't her fault that Billy was an asshole. After that, Holly moved from Nancy and Jonathan's table to Mike's, where she became enamored with Max's red hair. Nancy ate her ice cream as she played footsie with Jonathan under the table and jumped when Robin yelled.

"Hey, dingus! It's your break time. . .also, your children are here!" Robin yelled.

"Jesus, again? Weren't they just in here?" Steve asked from the back.

He complained loudly, but he hurried out of the back quite eagerly. His eyes lit up for a brief moment before hiding it behind annoyance. Nancy and Jonathan shared an amused look before turning back to Steve. If anyone was a cat in human form, it was Steve. It was a no and a sarcastic comment before he proceeded to do exactly what someone he cares for asked him to do. . .well, mostly. Nancy never blamed him for being scared of going up against the lab. She knew it wasn't just the monsters in the dark and the gateways that they came through, but people who were in positions of power with money much like Steve’s father, who could hurt whoever they want with it and cover it up. He never talked much about his father, but when he did, he always made him sound shady.

"Well, for whatever reason, your children either like this place or they really like you," Robin said.

Nancy watched as Steve took off his hat, ran his fingers through his hair, and rolled his eyes. There was a hint of a smile on his face, though. It told Nancy that this kind of back and forth happened on a daily basis. She got up and leaned against the counter, watching his eyes light up at the sight of her.

"Well, I know one who is clearly in it for Steve’s hair care secret," Nancy teased.

"Nancy! Hey!" Steve exclaimed. "And Jonathan's here too!"

"Come join us," Nancy said.

"Okay," Steve said.

Nancy pushed him to slide in next to Jonathan before sitting down next to Steve. He was now wedged in between them. He didn't even question it when they started playing footsie under the table with him.

"So I'm guessing you guys didn't come here to get into the theater?" Steve asked.

"What? Why would you say that?" Jonathan asked.

"No reason," Steve scoffed and didn't meet his eyes.

"Well, we came here for the ice cream to cheer us up," Nancy said. "Seeing you here was just an added bonus."

Steve smiled for a moment and looked at Jonathan, who smiled shyly back at him. Steve turned back to Nancy with a frown in his face.

"Wait, what did you need cheering up for?" Steve asked.

"Well. . ."

And Nancy proceeded to tell him everything, from walking in on her mom to now. Steve sat in silence and stared at her.

"Fuck. . .Nance, I'm sorry. . .," Steve sighed and then scowled. "Fucking Billy of all people! I unfortunately know what it's like to walk in on one of your parents doing something like that."

"You do? Of course, you do! You told me!" Nancy exclaimed and slapped her forehead.

"I told you my father's a cheater. I didn't tell you that I was eight when I walked in on him. My mother was with me too," Steve said. "It wasn't the last time that we would walk in on him either. It happened a lot. It almost seemed like he was doing it on purpose. I think the fucker got off on it."

"Jesus," Jonathan muttered.

"Yeah," Steve said.

"It fucking sucks," Nancy said with tears in her eyes.

"It does," Steve said, taking her hand. "My father is different than your mother, though. I don't think she's the kind of person who would hold something like this over your heads or to intentionally hurt you. I think she just got lost, and I'm really hoping that this was a one-time thing."

"Why do you have so much faith in her?" Nancy said softly.

"I don't know. . .she's your mom," Steve said. "I didn't think she would ever act on something like this."

"What does that mean?" Nancy asked.

"Well, sometimes she could be a little flirty, but it was harmless," Steve shrugged.

"What the fuck? She flirted with you when we were together?" Nancy asked.

"I mean, it was just things about how handsome I am and how if she was several years younger, she would steal me from you," Steve shrugged. "It's just weird things older adults say."

"You know, she always hugged me a little too long, and she always said how lucky Nancy was. . .very, very lucky," Jonathan would say. "And she would stroke my collar whenever she straightened it. She'd say shit like to me, too."

"I can't believe it!" Nancy shrieked.

"Shit, Nance, I'm sorry - " Jonathan started to say.

"I can't believe that neither one of you told me that my mom is a pervert!" She yelled before storming out of the ice cream parlor. "I'm going to talk to mom."

"We should go and apologize," Jonathan frowned.

"Man, I don't think it's us she's mad at," Steve said.

"Still. . .should we buy her flowers?" Jonathan asked.

"Ooh, even better," Steve said. "She's a writer. We're going to have to make flowers."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Of course, Nancy wasn't mad at them. All of those situations sounded harmless. . .or did they? Was Steve wrong? Was this who her mother was? Maybe the thing with Billy was just a one-time thing. Nancy had ended up walking right out of the mall and marching right towards home, not caring about the glaring beating down upon her. By the time she got to the house, Nancy was drenched in sweat. She barged into the house to find her mother sitting at the kitchen table with Billy.

"Unbelievable," Nancy scoffed.

Billy stood up suddenly. The chair he was sitting in came crashing to the ground. He brushed past her.

"You got what you want, princess," Billy scoffed, tears in his eyes.

"Don't tell me you actually had feelings for her," Nancy said.

"And if I did?" Billy scowled.

"I wouldn't believe you even if you weren't an asshole," Nancy said. "I don't like you, but my mother was the adult in this situation, and I'm not saying that you can't make your own decisions but my mom was old enough to put her foot firmly down and told you no."

"You're acting like you're better than her when really you're no different. Keeping both Byers and Harrington on the leash. . .playing with both of them. . .what makes you better than me. . .better than your mom?" Billy asked as he got close to her, practically spitting in her face.

"It's different," Nancy said.

"How?" He asked, and she couldn't think of anything to say to that. "That's what I thought."

He stormed out of the house, the front door slamming loudly behind him. Nancy whirled around to face her mother. She looked ashamed and extremely sad. Her face was red and puffy. She had been crying. Was she sad that her weird twisted relationship with Billy was over, or was she upset that she hurt her children? That this would hurt Dad?

"Dad didn't deserve this," Nancy said.

"I know," Karen said softly.

"You know, there were so many better ways that you could have relived your youth. I mean, I hope that's what you were doing," Nancy said. "Because if it's not, then Mom, you have a bigger problem."

"I think that's what I was doing," Karen said. "I don't know."

"You had to use Billy to do it?" She asked.

"You don't understand, Nancy, I was so young when I married your father - " Karen started to explain.

"Sue and Charles were young when they got married, but Sue doesn't regret marrying him," Nancy snapped. "Nor does Sue want to fuck the guy who tried to kill her son."

"It worked for them!" Karen yelled. "I thought I was in love with your father. I thought I knew what I wanted then."

"What do you want now?" She asked.

"I don't know. I was flattered by his attention. . .it was thrilling, and I just stopped thinking," Karen said. "I thought he was what I wanted, but I know now that he was a mistake."

"Was Dad a mistake too? Were you ever in love with him?" Nancy asked.

"There were times when I got close," Karen said.

"When?"

"When you kids were born and he was in awe of you. He never wanted to let you guys go in the beginning. So, I decided that I wanted to go to work when you were born and he would stay home with the kids. He really loved you, but I also missed you, and he saw that. He went to work, and I stayed home with you then with Mike, then with Holly. He hates working so much and being away from us. He always loved me more than I loved him, and I didn't know how to deal with that. When he got too tired to show his affection with me, I didn't think I would miss it so much," Karen said.

"I do remember when he was around a lot. He was really great," Nancy said softly. "He wasn't afraid of letting me practice putting make up on him."

"He's a great dad," Karen said. "I'm just a shitty mom."

"You're not a shitty mom. A shitty wife, maybe," Nancy sniffed, with tears in her eyes. "Is this thing with Hargrove actually over?"

"Yes, it was a mistake," Karen said. "I never should have started it."

"No, you shouldn't have," Nancy said. "I just don't get Billy of all people. He's the same age as me, mom! Not only that, he tried to kill Lucas and nearly killed Steve!"

"He told me about that. He was looking for his sister," Karen said.

A white fury filled Nancy. . .just as she was close to maybe forgiving her mom. She wasn't there for the aftermath of Billy. Nancy and Jonathan had come in to check on the kids while Joyce had gone with Will to the hospital. The kids were conversing about what to do with Billy while Steve sat on the couch, barely conscious. He had looked so bad, especially when he was struggling to breathe. Nancy and Jonathan had taken care of him and managed to convince him to go to the doctor just as Hopper walked through the door. He had taken care of Billy while they had taken Steve to the hospital. It was so bad that Steve had passed out again, and it had scared the shit out of Nancy. Jonathan, too. Nothing justified the damage that Billy had done to Steve. . .whether or not he cared what happened to Max. Nancy doubted he cared about her at all.

"I didn't think you were stupid enough to fall for his bullshit. Sleeping with him for his looks. . .as shallow as it is. . . I get, even if you can somehow manage to get past his ugly behavior which I can't," Nancy said.

Of the things that Steve and Jonathan had done, they would never do what Billy had done. They would never harm a child, and the thing that's also drastically different from Billy was how much they were both willing to learn from their mistakes. Despite both of their awful fathers, Steve and Jonathan had both managed to not continue their circle of abuse. It was the one thing that made her realize that her situation was different from her mother's and thankfully so. She would never fall for someone like Billy Hargrove.

"You don't understand, Nancy," Karen said.

"I don't understand?! You don't understand!" Nancy exclaimed and then paused as she looked at her mother. "Oh my God, are you in love with him?"

"You can't help who you fall for," Karen said softly. "You know that."

"Are you talking about Jonathan?" Nancy asked. "I can't believe you're throwing that in my face."

"It wasn't my intention to hurt Ted or to fall for Billy, just like it wasn't your intention to hurt Steve and fall for Jonathan," Karen said.

Like we're in love?

Bullshit.

Tell me.

What?

That you love me!

She remembered the way she laughed because, didn't he know? Shouldn't he just know how much she loved him? But she had also loved Jonathan. Nancy was angry. Technically, what Karen had said was right. She never meant to hurt Steve. Hopefully, that will be amended soon if Steve had the same feelings that Jonathan did. It should have happened back then. . .if she had just talked about how much she wanted both of them. In that way, she was like her mother. She had been too afraid to talk about her feelings.

"You hit on my boyfriends!" Nancy blurted out.

A feeling of excitement shot through her as she called them both of her boyfriends, even if it was only for that moment.

"Steve and Jonathan?! I would never! I mean, sure, I thought they were handsome, but I would never do that to you," Karen said.

"Why don't I believe you?" She asked.

She wondered if maybe they had been just thoughts that her mother never would have acted upon. Maybe that's why she did what she did with Billy. She spent so long keeping everything in and trying to be perfect. Suddenly, the sound of the front door startled the two women, and they both heard Ted come in. They heard the loud thumping sound of him throwing his suitcase down, and then he appeared in the kitchen.

"I couldn't stay there another day with those assholes. I told them I was going home to my family whether they liked it or not," Ted said with a heavy sigh, and then he looked at them. "Okay, usually it's hard for me to read a room, but it seems like you guys are upset. Did I miss anything?"

Suddenly, Nancy was throwing herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. They weren't normally huggers, but this called for a special occasion. Nancy hadn't realized how much she had taken her dad for granted or how much she really didn't know about him. How hard did he work just so he could come to them. . .only to be exhausted by the time he did? How many times did he enjoy the sounds of Nancy and Mike arguing or Holly curling up against him to tell him all about a story she had made up? How many times did he fall asleep comforted by the sounds of his family and not tell anyone? Nancy vaguely remembered the times she had a nightmare and the couple of times that she felt a comforting hand in the darkness on the back of her head, like he was doing now. She recalled a deep voice, reassuring her that she was okay and that she was safe. Did he get up in the middle of the night and hear her in distress? How many times did he do that? As Karen watched them, she burst into tears. Because of her own unhappiness had she unknowingly projected it onto her own kids and put a wall up between them and their father? Nancy might have been wrong. Not only was she a shitty wife, but she was a shitty mom, too.

"I missed you," Nancy said and she really did.

"Oh, I missed you too. I would have thought people would have been glad I was away," Ted said as he tried to pull off his self depreciation as a casual joke.

"No, Daddy, of course not," Nancy said and pulled away. "We love you."

"What's going on? Why is your mother crying?" Ted asked and moved over to her. "Karen?"

"Are you going to tell him or should I?" Nancy asked Karen.

Meanwhile, Jonathan had taken the kids back to his house after Holly had fallen asleep. He had waited a long time for Nancy to call and say that everything was alright, but she had taken too long. She hadn't even come back even when Mom came home from work.

"Where's Nancy?" Joyce had asked.

"She, uh, went to talk to her mother," Jonathan said.

"She didn't want you to go with her?" Joyce asked.

"Well, she was kind of mad at me and Steve. I don't think she wanted us to follow her," Jonathan said. "I'm supposed to go over to Steve’s house later to make flowers. . . Whatever that means."

"What happened?" Joyce asked.

"We kind of implied that Billy not might have been the only one that Karen had hit on. I don't think she was comforted when we said that we didn't think she was ever going to act on what she said or did," Jonathan said.

"Who else did she hit on?" Joyce asked, and he paused. "Jonathan?"

Just as he was about to say something, the front door opened, and Nancy came into the kitchen with tears in her eyes.

"I fought with my mom just as my dad came home early. My mom told him what happened. They fought about it, but they've decided to get a divorce. Now they're arguing about who should move out. Dad volunteered to do it but mom said she should because she's the one who fucked up. I had to get out of there," Nancy sniffled.

"Oh, sweetheart," Joyce said softly.

Nancy cried and hugged Jonathan tightly while Joyce rubbed her back soothingly. After a while, Nancy pulled back and smiled gratefully at them.

"I'm sorry," Jonathan said softly.

"It's been a long time coming," Nancy said. "I just didn't expect it to come like this."

"You look exhausted. Do you want to go lay down?" Joyce asked softly.

"Yeah. Jonathan?" Nancy asked.

"You don't even have to ask," he said softly. "After our nap, do you feel like going over to Steve's? I sort of told him that I would go over there and that we would make flowers to make it up to you."

"You guys don't have to do that," Nancy said softly. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Well, we want to do something nice for you," Jonathan said. "I told him to keep the uniform on too."

"That's really nice," Nancy laughed. "And completely unselfish of you."

"What are you talking about? There's nothing at all in it for me," Jonathan teased, flashing her his dimples.

Nancy laughed as she fell into bed with him, curling up on top of him.

"I love you," she whispered, promising herself that she would tell him more and mean it.

After she had a much needed nap, Nancy got up with Jonathan. She fixed her hair and makeup before threatening Jonathan with her eyeliner. She chased him around the room before trapping him on the bed and holding it over his eye. They were both laughing, and she could feel his laughter through her legs that were straddling his stomach.

"Please?" Nancy pouted.

"Fine," Jonathan laughed.

She knew why he was saying yes, but Nancy would happily take advantage of that, and so, she did. She giggled as she put eyeliner, blush, and lipstick on him. Nancy really couldn't believe that he was letting her do this. Once she finished, she sat back to admire her work. He looked pretty, but that was true either way. She stared at him, and her heart warmed at the sight. He would be beautiful to her no matter what gender he was. His heart had always called out to her, just like Steve’s had. As she thought about it, it really was the same with Steve, too, or with anyone. Nancy leaned down to kiss Jonathan, but he stopped her with a grin.

"Nancy, you're going to ruin my pretty makeup," Jonathan said.

"I'm going to ruin you," Nancy said and attached her lips to his neck.

"We do not have time for this," he said.

"Fine," she said and playfully rolled her eyes as she got off of him. "You going to take that off?"

"And ruin all that work you did to make me look pretty?" Jonathan asked.

"Just say you like it," she said teasingly. "And for the record, you're always pretty."

They walked out of Jonathan's room, giggling and into the kitchen where Joyce sat with the kids.

"We're going to Steve’s," Nancy announced.

"Why is Jonathan wearing makeup?" Mike asked.

"Because he loves me," Nancy beamed and Joyce laughed.

"You look beautiful, Jonathan," she grinned. "Have fun, you two."

"You look like a pretty princess, Jon!" Holly exclaimed happily.

"Thank you, Holly," Jonathan said in amusement as everyone laughed.

"Can we have a tea party later?" Holly asked.

"Absolutely," Jonathan laughed.

"And after can we play Reporter? I port like Nance, and you can be my sistant?" Holly asked.

"Yeah, whatever you want," Jonathan said and kissed the top of her head.

Nancy smiled softly at him as they said goodbye to everyone else. They sat in comfortable silence all the way over to Steve’s house. When they did arrive and Steve opened the door, wearing his Scoops outfit. He looked surprised to see Nancy. Jonathan had forgotten to call ahead. Steve’s eyes moved from Nancy to Jonathan. Steve smirked.

"You look pretty, Jonathan," he said.

"You're just saying that because I'm wearing makeup," Jonathan replied, his facing heating up.

"Yeah, no, I always think you're pretty," Steve scoffed. "Come on in."

Jonathan touched his shoulder gently on the way past to thank him silently. He squeezed it and let go. Jonathan and Nancy followed Steve into the kitchen, where there were stacks of paper waiting for them. There were also stacks of snacks.

"So, are we making flowers with paper or with food?" Nancy asked in amusement.

"With paper because you're a writer," Steve said.

"Thank you, Steve," Nancy said.

"It's not a problem," Steve said. "I just wanted to do something to make you feel better. I'm sorry I never told you about what your mother told me when we were together."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Nancy said. "It was my mother who I was mad at."

"I figured, but still, you're upset, and I wanted to do something," Steve said.

"You're very sweet," Nancy said and squeezed his shoulder in the same way that Jonathan did. "So, how many are we going to make?"

"As many as you want to," Steve said as he sat down to show them how to make them.

"How do you know how to make these?" Jonathan asked.

"I got bored in class one day. We were reading To Kill a Mockingbird, which I've already read," Steve said. "I was playing around with a sheet of paper, and then it just sort of happened."

"You already read the book?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, I enjoy reading every now and then," Steve shrugged.

"I didn't mean to sound so surprised," Jonathan said.

"If that surprises you, you should see him in his glasses," Nancy said.

"Nance!"

"Okay, I'm going to have to see that," Jonathan said and widened his eyes. "Please?"

"Put those eyes away, I'll have to take out my contacts," Steve said and left the room.

Steve came back wearing a pair of round thin gold frames. Jonathan felt his chest grow warm, and he blinked rapidly.

"Sexy," Jonathan blurted out, and he sliced his finger on a sheet of paper. "Fuck! Paper cut!"

Steve pulled a first aid kit out of one of the cabinets and grabbed his hand. He held eye contact with Jonathan as he stopped the bleeding and put medicine on the cut. After he wrapped it, he placed a kiss on the band-aid.

"Better?" Steve asked.

"Better," Jonathan gulped.

"You really think so?" Steve asked, blushing suddenly. "The glasses?"

"Yeah, definitely," Jonathan said. "You should wear them all the time."

Nancy smiled at both of them. Steve had always been insecure about his glasses, despite what she told him, and that was clearly still the case.

"I don't know," Steve shrugged.

"Do I have to get on my knees and beg?" Jonathan laughed, and then he realized what he said. "I mean . . . You know these paper flowers aren't going to make themselves. . .shut up, Nancy."

It only made her laugh harder, and for Steve’s smirk to widen. Jonathan flicked on the stereo that was on the counter, hoping it would drown out their amusement. He was having a hard time hiding his own, though. Steve wedged himself in between them and started making more flowers. Steve hummed along to the music and swayed his hips. Nancy and Jonathan glanced at him every so often, smiling. She really was enjoying making these flowers. The company certainly helped. The three of them made plenty of flowers, but they didn't want to stop as the music flowed through them. Nancy knew they were done, however, when a Bob Seger song came on. Steve immediately dropped his unfinished flower and picked up a finished one. He put it behind his ear and began to sing. Jonathan was surprised when Steve slipped his hand into his and pulled him into his arms to dance. Jonathan was stunned at first and wasn't sure what to do, so he just let Steve lead the way. Eventually, he started laughing when Steve had them dance wildly about the kitchen.

"Still like that old-time rock 'n' roll! That kind of music just soothes the soul! I reminisce about the days of old! With that old-time rock 'n' roll!" Steve sang.

Jonathan and Nancy laughed harder when Steve dipped him. The last few days had been nothing but heartache for Nancy, and she felt lighter than ever as she watched her boys dance around the kitchen. Jonathan eventually pulled away, and so, Steve turned on Nancy. She laughed and shook her head.

"No, absolutely not!" Nancy giggled.

She didn't stop him, however, when he pulled her into his arms. She tilted her head back and smiled, letting some of the things that had burdened her fade away. She wasn't pretending that things weren't complicated, just letting go of some of the things that she couldn't change, the things she didn't have any control over. Life was short, and she wanted to live while she could. The song changed into a slow one, and as Steve started to pull away, she pulled him back.

"I'm sorry," Nancy said.

"For what?" Steve asked softly.

"You deserved an apology back then for what happened. You didn't deserve that. I should have talked to you about how I was feeling," Nancy said. "I just didn't know how. I should have told you that you weren't a shitty boyfriend."

"I wasn't exactly good at talking about how I was feeling either," Steve said.

"Maybe we were both just stuck in a shitty situation," Nancy said.

"It's certainly a lot for people to handle, let alone teenagers, isn't it?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I think the fact that we managed to get this far is a miracle," Nancy snorted.

"On top of having screwed up parents too," Steve said.

Nancy used to think that her and Steve were drastically different people. He was a jock and she was a nerd, but there was a lot more there, wasn't it? Both of their parents lacked proper communication, one of their parents had an affair, and their distance from each other had unknowingly caused a strain on their children. There's nothing Steve and Nancy wouldn't do for their little found family. The difference between their parents, though, is that Nancy had faith that her parents, while not together, would still come through this on top as a family. Just because you're divorced doesn't mean you're still not family. . .right? Nancy hoped that was the case. She could see that Steve had the same hope for his own mother, maybe not his dad, but for whatever reason, Nancy was glad that she had someone there who understood. Even Jonathan understood, even though he lost faith in his father a long time ago. She was glad they were both there.

"Thank you," Nancy said softly and kissed his cheek.

"For what?" Steve asked.

"For everything," she said softly.

Jonathan had been watching them, his heart growing with fondness for the both of them. Nancy wrapped her arms around Steve before yanking Jonathan into the hug as well. He laughed. He had a lot to be grateful to Steve for as well. Jonathan moved to kiss Steve’s cheek like Nancy did, but of course, Steve had to move his head at that exact moment. Jonathan and Steve's lips bumped together. They both froze for a moment before Steve started to move his lips against Jonathan's. He didn't waste a second returning the kiss. His lips were perfectly plump, and they felt just as right as Nancy's did. Their arms were still wrapped around Nancy as they kissed, and a jolt of arousal shot through Jonathan when she made a soft moan at the sight of them. The sound had spurred Steve on as well because he deepened the kiss and slipped his tongue inside Jonathan's mouth. This time, it was Steve and Jonathan who were moaning as well as they gasped eagerly into each other's mouths. They pulled away at the same time, breathing heavily.

"That was . . . ," Steve trailed off.

"Great!" Nancy exclaimed.

"Yeah," they agreed.

Jonathan stared at Steve, the sight of Jonathan's lipstick smeared on his face. Now he knew why some people wore lipstick. The sight of Steve’s swollen lips with something Jonathan had worn spread across them was definitely doing something to him. Steve looked throughly kissed, and it was because of Jonathan. It had done something for Nancy too because a moment later, she pulled Steve in for a kiss. They were both eager, but while Steve went in soft, Nancy went in aggressively. It wasn't like before he saw them kissing in the hallways at school. There was no jealousy this time. Maybe the jealousy back then hadn't been because Jonathan wanted to be in Steve's place, but because he had wanted to be with both of them. Nancy pulled away.

"I still - I've always loved you, Steve," Nancy said softly. "I just never knew how to tell you that I loved Jonathan too."

"I still love you," Steve said and paused. "Both of you."

The three of them held each other in a comfortable silence. Nancy swallowed.

"Can we stay?" Nancy blurted out and looked at Jonathan. "Do you want to?"

"If Steve wants us too," Jonathan said, swallowing thickly.

"Please, stay."

The next day, Jonathan brought some of the flowers home for Joyce, Holly, Will, and Mike after dropping Nancy off at her house. She wanted to see how her parents were doing. When Nancy walked in with a paper flower in her hand, she found her father sitting at the kitchen table. His glasses were off, and his face was in his hands.

"Dad?" Nancy asked softly.

Ted looked up. His eyes were puffy and red. Nancy hated how sad he looked.

"Was there anything that I could have done differently?" He asked.

"I think you could have tried your best, and it still wouldn't have been enough. She may not have known what she wanted, but I think she always knew that she didn't want you . . . I'm sorry, that was harsh," Nancy said.

"No, it's the truth," Ted said. "I didn't do my best."

"Maybe, but I think it might because you both knew on some level that it was over. I think you might have been waiting for her to leave, and she was waiting for you to tell her to go. As unhappy as she was, you were safe for her. . . Comfortable, and she had been afraid of stepping outside her comfort zone. . .the both of you, I think," Nancy said softly.

"I got so lucky with Karen," Ted said. "I never would have found someone like her. She's stronger than I ever was."

"Not strong enough to tell you the truth. You both deserve to be with people who are actually in love with you. . .someone appropriate, that is," Nancy said, and Ted laughed.

"Oh God, why am I laughing?" He asked.

"Because sometimes that's the only thing you can do," Nancy said.

"You really believe that there's someone out there for us. . .you don't think it's too late?" Ted asked.

"It's never too late to build something new," Nancy said and placed a paper flower in front of him.

"That's pretty," Ted sniffed.

"Steve helped me and Jonathan make it," she said.

"Steve back in the picture?" Ted asked.

"Yeah, Jonathan still is too," she admitted.

"Something new, huh?" He asked. "They make you happy?"

"Yes," she grinned.

"Good," he said with a smile. "And this is something you know you want?"

"More than anything," she said.

"Okay. . .so, show me how to make these flowers," Ted said.

"Promise me one thing," she said.

"Anything," he swore.

"Everyone in this family has just awful communication skills. . . Promise we'll work on them together?" Nancy asked.

"Promise," he chuckled and paused. "You know, just because we're no longer together, your mother will always be a part of my life even if you don't want her to be. I hope that's okay."

"More than okay. We still want her to be a part of our lives, too," Nancy said softly.

"Good," Ted said and wiped his eyes before putting on his glasses.

They worked in silence as Nancy made another paper flower with her father. She smiled when an idea hit her.

"You know, Claudia Henderson is still single," Nancy grinned.

"Claudia?" Ted asked and paused. "She is cute. . .but I don't know, I never know what might spill out of my mouth. I couldn't do that to her."

"If she can handle Dustin at his worst, then she can handle you," she teased.

"True," Ted said.

"Besides, worst things have come out of Mike's mouth," Nancy pointed out. "I think he gets that from you."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Ted said dryly, and Nancy laughed.

"Plus, Claudia's an animal lover too," Nancy said.

"A boy owns one hedgehog as a kid," Ted said with a shake of his head.

"Please, you know you would have tons of animals if it hadn't been for Mom's allergies," Nancy said.

"Maybe," Ted said, and Nancy laughed. "I just don't think I'm ready for that, Nance."

"Whenever you're ready, I'll support you," Nancy said softly.

A few days went by, and the Wheeler kids were back in their home. Karen had moved out after wearing Ted down. Nancy was awkwardly talking to her mother, but Mike had refused to do so. For him, it was hard, Karen had slept with a man who had hurt his friends. Now that Max was a part of their group, he did it out of loyalty to her, too. Nancy wasn't going to pressure him into talking to her. He would talk to their mother when he was ready for it. Holly didn't know exactly what her mother did, but she knew enough, and like some kids, she was quick to forgive. Nancy wished it was that easy for her and Mike. Meanwhile, the kids were learning more about their father than they ever did, and he was spending less time in that chair. A weight he never knew had been carrying had been lifted off of him. Nancy realized he had always been a good dad. Perfect? Certainly not.

More days passed as June started to turn into July. Word had quickly spread about Karen's affair with Billy, word that Nancy was sure had been spread by the young man himself. Karen had quickly become the town pariah. It was what had started to thaw the ice with Mike, and he had quickly set out to defend their mother even if he was still a bit chilly with her. Meanwhile, Ted had garnered some sympathy with the ladies, and their attention had made him quit uncomfortable. It had amused Nancy and Mike to no end until Ted encroached on his territory.

"No, dad! You can't hide out in the basement!" Mike exclaimed.

"Well, why the hell not?" Ted asked. "I'm just following your example, son."

"Because. . .El's here!" Mike hissed.

Meanwhile, El was giggling at her boyfriend's expense.

"Dustin is right. He is funny," El said.

The doorbell upstairs continued to ring. Ted hid by the stairs.

"Oh God," Ted mumbled, and Mike couldn't help but laugh at him. "It's going to be another goddamn casserole. Why is it always a casserole?"

"You're such a chicken shit, dad," Mike said.

"Hey, you watch your mouth," Ted said. "I mean, you're right, but still. . ."

Ted had eventually put on his big boy pants and told everyone off, leaving a sign on his front door as well. Despite the fact that he and Karen were still getting divorced, both of them were going to therapy together. They wanted some sort of relationship to come out of this even if it wasn't going to be romantic. Because of the kids, they were always going to be connected. Ted was slowly finding that this relationship was becoming better than their other one ever was, even if he was a little sad that it could never be romantic. He was happy that Karen wanted to be a part of his life still, and that was making it easier to let go of their former relationship.

When Nancy wasn't trying to figure out a balance to their new family dynamic, she was spending time working on the paper and spending time with her boyfriends. Ted had casually mentioned that she could invite them over one night for dinner, and Nancy had gladly taken him up on his offer. She enjoyed the look on Mike's face when she told him she was dating both Steve and Jonathan.

"You know, I just realized that Dustin doesn't know about any of this," Mike said.

"He's certainly in for it when he gets back from camp," Steve said and laughed with Mike.

"Too bad Dad's not ready to date. Can you imagine Dustin's expression if he came back and our dad was dating his mom?" Mike snickered.

"Michael," Ted said softly, but he was smiling.

"Sorry, Dad," Mike said, the corners of his mouth turning up.

Nancy watched throughout the dinner as Steve and Jonathan interacted with her family. Steve happily chatted with her dad about sports while Jonathan talked with him about photography and music. Steve also ended up talking with Ted about his love of hedgehogs as well, which surprised Nancy. That was something she hadn't known about Steve. She also didn't know he liked comic books, something that surprised both Mike and Jonathan as well. Of course, Holly had them both wrapped around her finger and dragged them off to play Reporter Princess as she so named the game. It left Mike, Nancy, and Ted to clean up the kitchen.

"I'm proud of both of you," Ted spoke up as they washed dishes. "You're handling all of this so well."

"I could be better," Mike muttered.

"You'll get there when you're ready," Ted said.

"I'm just so angry all of the time," Mike muttered, tears in his eyes.

"Well, that's understandable in a situation like this," Nancy said. "Just don't try to shove it down or pretend that it doesn't exist."

"And when you're ready, talk about it. I'll try my hardest to do my best. This whole talking thing isn't my strong suit either," Ted said awkwardly. "I'm working on it."

Nancy and Mike shared a look. There was one thing that they weren't telling their father. . .the things they wished they could tell. . .if only he knew.

"We're proud of you too, dad," Nancy said sincerely.

A few days later, they were all supposed to go to the fair as a family. . .Ted, Karen, Holly, and Mike. Nancy was going to meet up with them with Steve and Jonathan. It was supposed to be the thing that would slowly begin their healing process, but the other kids never showed up. Ted, Karen, and Holly had waited. They waited some more until finally the time for the fair had ended. Ted and Karen paced, waiting by the phone as Holly drifted off to sleep, blissfully unaware of what was going on. She was also very disappointed that she didn't get to go to the fair. Karen ended up calling the police but the only answer she got was that they were looking into it. Neither one of them got sleep that night. The next morning, both Karen and Ted were watching the news, discovering that Starcourt Mall had burned down.

"Oh God! They were both so mad at me. . .what if they were caught up in the mall. . .what if they can't identify the bodies?!" Karen exclaimed. "They can't be dead. . .I need to make this right, Ted."

"Alright, get your coat. We're going to Starcourt and searching for our goddamn kids," Ted had said.

"What about Holly?" Karen asked.

"We'll drop her off at Claudia's," Ted said.

"Claudia! I didn't think to call her!" Karen exclaimed.

"I don't think any of us were thinking straight last night to call anyone but the police," Ted muttered.

Karen had called Claudia only to find that Dustin was missing too and that she had called the Sinclairs only to find out that Lucas was missing along with Dustin. Karen had hung up and burst into tears. Ted hesitated before putting his arms awkwardly around his soon to be ex-wife.

"It's okay, Karen," Ted said. "We're going to bring them home."

They were just about to walk out the door when the phone rang. Karen had practically dove for it and picked it up. She burst into tears again when she heard her daughter's voice.

"Mommy?" Nancy sobbed.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Nancy and Jonathan were waiting to see their boyfriend. Steve had been admitted almost immediately when they came in, along with Robin. They had both fallen asleep waiting to see him after his wounds had been tended to. Now they were awake, and Nancy was thinking about how Hopper was dead as well as Billy. She hated Billy for everything that he was and everything that he did, but she hadn't wanted him dead even right after she found him in bed with her mother. Her mom. . . She could have been one of the Mind Flayer's victims if Flayed Billy had been able to go after her. She could be dead now, and suddenly, everything was put into perceptive. She wondered if Mike was thinking the same thing. He was currently with El as they looked at her leg, checking to make sure there wasn't any permanent damage. Nancy had called their mother and plopped back down to think. She was so tired.

"Nance?" Jonathan asked and startled her out of her thoughts. "We can go see Steve now."

When did someone stop by to talk to them? Nancy didn't really care. She followed Jonathan to their boyfriend's room. They had both moved as quickly as they could. Jonathan was also injured, and Nancy's body was sore from what they endured. It wasn't really all that fast. They arrived in Steve's room to find him sitting up in bed and looking rather bored. His face lit up at the sight of them. His hazel eyes sparkled, and he smiled so wide that he was showing all of his teeth. Even with his face bruised and beaten, Steve was so unbelievably beautiful and very much alive. Nancy crawled into bed with him and peppered his faces with kisses before pressing her lips to his gently. She straddled Steve’s waist and moved back to let Jonathan lean over Steve to kiss him as well. It was at that moment that Robin came in.

"Can you believe they wanted us in separate rooms? Don't worry, I fixed it. I flashed so many people my ass - woah!" Robin yelled, and Jonathan pulled away quickly. "You left something out."

"Well, Dustin burst in before I could you that I'm still in love with Nancy and also very much in love Jonathan!" Steve exclaimed.

"Well, I guess you're forgiven," Robin said.

Nancy laughed as she slipped off of Steve and the bed.

"Nothing to worry about, I hope?" Nancy asked teasingly.

"You shouldn't, I'm a huge lesbian," Robin said as she plopped onto the empty bed and flashed them a grin. "Not a straight person in this room."

"Well, I don't know about me, but I suppose I never did care about gender," Nancy said thoughtfully.

"Well, even if you were strictly into dudes, you'd still be queer I think, because you're in a relationship that conservatives hellbent on forced conformity would definitely frown against, especially with your boyfriends being in a relationship with each other. So, yeah, even if you only like men, which it sounds like you are open to liking women as well, your relationship is still queer," Robin said as she thought about it. "Although, I'm only familiar with the ways of lesbianism. I am not an all-knowing queer god."

"That would be cool though if you were," Steve said, snapping his fingers at her.

"It would," Robin said.

Nancy was about to ask Robin some questions when her parents and sister came rushing into the room. Nancy moved immediately toward her mother, throwing her arms around her and hugging her tightly. She had never seemed more relieved to see her. Suddenly, what happened didn't seem to matter as much right at this moment. She was just grateful that her mother was alive and she was here.

"Mommy," Nancy sobbed.

As she was hugging her mother, she felt a comforting hand on the back of her head and her father sniffling behind her. Suddenly, she saw Mike run into the room, breathing heavily.

"I thought I saw mom and dad," Mike said.

"Mike," Karen said, relieved to see him.

"I'm sorry, I know I've been an ass . . . " Mike said.

"You had every right to be upset. I'm so sorry for all of it," Karen said softly. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay," Mike said, his voice breaking. "Hopper, he died. He saved us. He saved us, mom."

"Oh honey," Karen said.

Mike was pulled into the hug with Karen and Nancy while Holly wrapped herself around his leg. Ted, as usual, was awkward about hugging, but he put his arms around his family anyway. Family, Nancy thought with a silent laugh. There was no such as a thing as a perfect family. Realistically, families were messy and complicated, but they were also there when you needed them. When you were in a crisis, they were there to drop everything to be someone you could depend on even after they let you down. Maybe things couldn't be the same as they were before, but maybe things would be better now that Ted and Karen were more honest with each other. With her boyfriends there with her and wrapped in the arms of her family, as uncomfortable as it was, Nancy felt like she could get through this. . .could get through anything.

[fifthnailinstevesbat]

thinking of a new steddie fic/au hmmm.

It’s just the classic, Steve buys weed from Eddie in season 1 era, he and Tommy meet him at the bench in the woods behind school. Steve and Eddie have some playful banter and clearly get along, but it’s dismissed as just a drug deal and they go on about their lives.

Next time they meet is when a frantic Steve comes and finds Eddie after he’s just fought off the demogorgon for the first time. He’s rattled, and skittish, wearing a nasty black bruise on his eye, and just overall not acting like himself. He snaps at Eddie multiple times to just ‘hurry up’ and ‘get him his stuff’, and sure he’s being an asshole, but more than anything Eddie is just concerned. He has never seen The King Steve Harrington lose his cool like this. So Eddie cautiously gives him the weed, making sure not to give too much, and lets him go about his day, but not before asking if he’s alright. Steve clearly wasn’t expecting this and brushes it off defensively, but that doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about it for the rest of his week. How the hell did Eddie Munson notice something was wrong, when his own parents didn’t? Nor his “friends”?

They cross paths again a year later, the beginning of season two. Steve is still with Nancy and has freshly dumped his old douchebag crew of superficial friends. He is still sitting quite comfortably on the higher ranks of popularity, but there is no denying his status is not what it used to be. He comes to buy weed from Eddie in the first week back at school, and it’s a casual interaction. He’s still as charmingly stuck up as he ever was, but now without Tommy there to judge his every move, he seems a little more at ease when making casual conversation with Eddie. Eddie doesn’t mention the year before and Steve is so glad for it, secretly very embarrassed that he went to Eddie for some refuge after arguably his most traumatic experience to date. He gets his stuff, giving Eddie a smirk when he notices he’s dropped the price significantly for Steve when it’s just him alone. Eddie gives him a challenging smile back, almost daring him to call it out, but he doesn’t. They both just laugh and part ways.

The next run in is tina’s halloween party. They notice eachother when Steve first arrives, making eye contact and giving a polite nod. Maybe Eddie lifts his drink up to Steve in a silly salute. They don’t speak at all or make any effort to hang around eachother. That is, until Steve storms down the stairs in a rage after he’d gone up there with Nancy Wheeler. But then are those- tears? Eddie was standing on the front porch smoking a cigarette, trying to discreetly hide from one Billy Hargrove to avoid having to sell him anything, but staying visible enough that he won’t lose all chances of making any money tonight. Steve storms right past him and hits his shoulder. Eddie whips around and is about to call him a dick before he sees who it is.

Steve tries to quickly wipe his face, he won’t make eye contact with Eddie, and he’s clearly trying to get out as fast as he can. Eddie doesn’t let him, though, since he’s obviously not thinking very clearly and is most likely about to do something emotional and stupid. He asks if Steve’s alright, and his answers are all short and rushed, so he’s definitely not. They’re not really friends, but Eddie’s not an asshole.

— “Did you drive?” Eddie asks

“Yeah”

“Well, you’re drunk, Steve. You can’t get behind a wheel right now. And if I knowingly let you, then that makes me an accomplice. I’ll take you home.”

Steve tries to protest, attempting to push past him, but Eddie interjects. “Yeah, yeah, alright! Don’t thank me yet, Steve’o. This is not for you, see, I’m not trying to get a criminal record, here. I cant go to prison, Steve. Do you know what they’d do to a pretty guy like me in prison? Nope, let’s go hot stuff.” —

Eddie takes Steve home. They don’t talk much. By the time they reach Steve’s drive way and Eddie has put his van in park, Steve is making no attempt to exit the vehicle just yet. Eddie doesn’t know what to do, he didn’t really plan this far, so he’s just tapping away awkwardly at his steering wheel while Harrington stares down the dashboard so clearly lost in thought Eddie fears his head might explode. Steve tells Eddie what happened, says it’s ‘relationship troubles’, and he’s not quite sure what compelled him into being so honest with Eddie Munson, but he’s blaming the alcohol. Eddie wasn’t expecting that. They chat for a bit, Eddie makes Steve laugh and considers the whole night a success after that. Then they start cracking jokes about their shared hatred for Hargrove, and Steve looks and sounds a bit more ok to go inside. He thanks Eddie, quite sincerely actually, and it throws him a bit. He stutters a ‘yeah, for sure. It’s no problem.’ And Steve goes home.

After that, it’s a little different. Steve, doesn’t actually really have anyone, anymore. When they go back to school he’s now greeting Eddie here and there in the hallways, making conversation when they find themselves alone together, in the lunch line or at the bathroom sink. He doesn’t approach Eddie when there’s too many people around, though. As much as he’s grown, Steve Harrington still carry’s some prejudice in him about how certain things may make him look. But it doesn’t bother Eddie too much. It’s not like they are really friends, they’re just like, strange acquaintances. And Steve would never deny that they get along, that really Eddie’s ‘not so bad’. So that’s a win.

Steve finds Eddie again not long after the party to buy some more weed, a plan that sparked purely out of boredom. Eddie says yes, of course, but tells him if he wants it today he will need to wait till after school and meet Eddie at his place, since he was busy. So Steve takes a trip to the Munson trailer to make his deal. Eddie invites him inside and they sit together on the couch as he gets Steve’s bag ready. They end up making quite pleasant conversation, joking around and ultimately finding they are really enjoying each other’s company. They enjoy it so much so, that Steve ends up smoking there, with Eddie. So now they are kind of like, hanging out? And it’s fun, so they do it again. Still they’re not, friends friends, they just get along. Eddie just sells Steve weed sometimes and they keep it civil.

He doesn’t hear from Steve for a while, and the next time he sees him it’s from a distance, in passing. The man has the most roughed up face Eddie has ever seen, bruised and swollen in multiple areas, stitches and bandages all over. It’s really, concerning? completely metal, but alarming. This is the second time Eddie has seen the guy all beaten up like that. He knew that boys fight, but surely not that bad? As worried as he was, Eddie doesn’t approach him to ask questions, because they don’t know eachother like that. So he goes on about his day, and he doesn’t see Steve again after that for quite some time.

Then it’s summer, Eddie isn’t graduating again, and he’s not really sure what to do with himself over the break. The new mall has just opened up, and there’s a cool music store up on the second floor that he likes to visit sometimes with his band friends. And wouldn’t you know, working at the Scoops Ahoy located directly across from his favourite store, is Steve Harrington. The guy hasn’t come to Eddie for any weed since last year, and then there was that sighting where he looked like he’d just fallen face first into a flying fist or two, so it’s been a minute since Eddie’s seen him. And he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a nice surprise. He only goes into scoops once. He’s curious, okay? Sue him. And, he knows the girl who works with him, Robin. So he plays it off like he had no idea he’d see Steve there. And to his surprise, Steve actually acknowledges him. He doesn’t act like Eddie is a total stranger just because they’re not in school anymore. The interaction is quick, they make very casual conversation, Eddie says hi to Robin, grabs his milkshake and goes home. That’s all. He doesn’t go back, and he doesn’t really plan to. Steve’s nice, and he knows Eddie’s around if he needs to buy from him again, and that’s really as far as their relationship goes. That’s all it ever was. It’s been fun getting to know Steve Harrington a little bit better, even if it was just for a short time. Eddie liked having the chance to see in past the quaffed hair and pressed polo shirts to learn that Steve was really just a person under it all. He never thought he’d say it, but Harrington wasn’t so bad. It was a nice little eye opening experience for Eddie.

Eddie was ready to write off his little blips of interaction with Steve Harrington as a thing of the past, no hard feelings, and move on with his life. That is, until he gets a knock at his front door in the middle of the night afew days after the big mall fire. And it’s Steve on the other side. And he looks awful, his face is the worst Eddie’s ever seen it. And he wasn’t really knocking, more like pounding. He says he needs Eddie’s help.

What the fuck?

[sp0o0kylights]

Eddie was all about desecrating corpses. 

Particularly, the huge ones--and nothing was larger than the burnt out husk of Starcourt. 

Yellow caution tape, muddied and ripped from its time in the weather still decorated parts of the doors. 

The place used to be crawling with security, but that had eased off now, the job returning to a local outfit rather than the smooth and swift guards who previously haunted the joint in pairs. 

It was easy as two days spent camped out in his van, watching the main entrance and a few side doors. In no time at all, Eddie had schedules memorized, points of entry selected and even three possible escape routes should things get dicey.

He didn't expect them to. 

Not when he’d already rolled his checks and came up with a number that, were this an actual D&D game, would make him a happy man. 

It was always a point of contention between him and his Pa. This perception. The natural ability he had that good ‘ol dad just didn’t seem to possess. 

The one that made him patient long enough to get a feel for a gig. 

To know instinctively how hard a job might be, and how to go about doing it safely. 

(Eddie personally doesn't believe much of it is talent. Thinks it is in fact, forcibly learned, due to the nature of his upbringing. 

Grandma and Grandpa Munson, bless their dead, departed souls, had at least given something of a shit. Tried to keep family things family and work things work, even when said work was illegal as it gets. 

They understood things like appearance and public reputation. 

How that kept the pigs off your back and food on your table.)

His Pa had never cared for any of that. 

Eddie didn’t grow up with family meals, or even food in the house let alone on the table. He grew up watchful, forced to learn or take a hit meant for an adult in the process. To weigh the risks against the benefits, and how to charm the pants off an unsuspecting target while doing so. 

It was how he’d escaped his own prison sentence when his Pa finally got eyes too big for his abilities.

Eddi had gotten lucky in that situation. 

Or rather--he’d gotten Wayne. 

Wayne, who gave up his own room, his own bed, for his nephew. Had bought him his sweetheart on his sixteenth birthday and a van on his eighteenth. Both things were used, and a little battered around the edges, and Eddie had almost thrown up the day he accidentally found out Wayne had used his life savings for the damn car, but they were above and beyond anything he had any right too. 

Eddie would be damned without him. 

But he knows his uncle needs help. 

Can't pay for himself and Eddie. Never really could, and so has been giving his nephew literally everything he has in an effort to make up for it until Eddie could help pay his way. 

Not that a singular soul would trust a teenage Munson with such a precious thing as a part time job, and so Eddie had turned to the familiar. 

The mall fire, and the resulting flood of federal agents had really put a damper on his income the past few months. Drugs were risky, and getting riskier with them sniffing about, and things were getting tight again in a way they hadn’t in a long, long time. 

(All it had taken was finding the hidden stack of bills. 

Big ol’ words stamped in red topped every one. Bold letters screaming ‘Overdue’ and ‘Payment Missed’ and ‘Late Fees.’ 

One single letter had panicked Eddie more than any other, the one that clearly said Wayne had been talking to the payday loan place down the street, and he’d be damned if his shortcomings made his Uncle willingly walk into a debt pit so few climbed out of.) 

Growing up like he had, Eddie was trusted in certain circles. Had access to places many didn't as his sole inheritance, because he was known.

 Someone who didn't rat, who could be trusted with given tasks. Who kept to the criminal code, and was good about not backstabbing you if caught.

He’d hit up a few old connections, dropped some hints. Put out “feelers” as one might say. 

Got a nibble and soon enough, Eddie was back in business, getting called up and offered a few small tasks for decent dough. 

Sometimes it was fetching information. 

Sometimes it was ferrying an item.

Today, it was a retrieval.

There was something someone wanted in the ruins of Starcourt--and they were offering an insane amount of money to get it.  

The plans hadn't made sense, not at first. The instructions Eddie had been given sounded outlandish, if not outright total bunk. 

Like the existence of a multi level basement under Starcourt? How the hell had no one caught that being built? 

Or that the security systems down there could possibly still be turned on? After four months? 

Who was even paying for it? 

Eddie had heard stupider things though, and the pay for this little jaunt was good. Too good to pass up. 

"They want a local in case something happens and the rescue squad comes running in. That way, it's just a little trespassing fun. The town deviant getting his kicks in the big scary mall, and not what they think it is." His connection had told him, meeting with Eddie in a Mcdonalds the town over. 

The place had a play palace, big enough to host a number of screaming rugrats. It made for a great cover as they pretended to be just two men in overalls, getting burgers on their lunch. 

Not a soul could hear a sound over the kids screaming, and if a blueprint sat between them then, well, if it looks like a maintenance worker, and it talks like a maintenance worker…

People never did look twice.

"And what else exactly would they think this is?" Eddie asked, munching on the food he got for free as part of even entertaining the offer. 

"A retrieval, Double D." 

Eddie hated that nickname.

"Some rich kid bit it in the fire, and his parents are paying out top dollar to get a few of his things, seein’ as the feds wouldn’t let anybody back in after they condemned the place." The guy, whose name was Mickey said. 

He idly traced a finger along the lines of the blueprint, the path he was wanting Eddie to take. 

(The path Eddie would later ignore, on grounds that it was going to get him caught.) 

 “Specifically a signet ring and car keys.”

“Car keys?” Eddie had asked, mostly in a bid for more information. Mickey was the kind of guy you could breadcrumb into giving more information than he intended to, if one played their cards right.

And Eddie was a damn good poker player. 

“Yup. Goes to a BMW--which they want you to drive to a safe place. Parents think he lost it somewhere around,” Mickey’s finger stopped, before tapping the blueprint twice. “Here.”

Something had niggled in the back of Eddie’s head. The first whispers of recognition, of a fact that he knew something about this--something he couldn’t yet recall. 

He wasn’t stupid enough to ignore it. 

“Who's the kid?” He’d asked. 

Mostly because he was curious, partially because it was a way to ease in the real questions he wanted to ask.

Like what a rich kid was doing four levels down in Starcourt the night of the fire. 

“Does it matter?” Mickey said, but dug into his pockets anyway. Retrieved a little 2 by 3 wallet photo, done in the traditional High School Picture Day style. 

He’d tossed it on the table, and Eddie didn’t react. 

Kept his face perfectly blank, even as his stomach contracted and his breath caught in his chest. 

Carefully pulled the picture to him, to make a show of examining it. 

“Don’t know him.” He lied after a moment, fighting to get his breathing back under control before Mickey figured out what was up. 

“Told you it didn’t matter. What matters is that you get the shit. And hey, while you’re down there…” 

Mickey talked a bit more, and idly, Eddie listened. He knew this little B&E was going to have more components than just retrieving a few things. Had long figured out that this entire front of retrieving “some rich kids keys” was just that--a front. 

Word on the street was that Starcourt was hiding something--something a lot of very powerful people were getting increasingly interested in. He’d rolled his eyes when he caught wind of the first little rumblings, the rumors and whispers that the thing was shrouded in Government secrets and conspiracies, but hadn’t been able to ignore the shit that had come after. 

Likely, the people who had hired him and Mickey understood they had to act now, before someone else did, to see if anything worthwhile was actually down there. 

The real question is why the hell they were using Steve Harrington’s death to do it--when Eddie knew for a fact that Steve Harrington was alive. 

Or alive as anyone could be, at two am at a Shell gas station. 

“Alright.” Eddie said finally, pulling the blueprint towards himself before rolling it up, making sure to casually roll up Harrington’s picture with it. “You got me interested. Half up front and I’m in.”

Mickey grinned at him. “Knew you would be, kid.” 

One hand shake and a hefty envelope later, and Eddie found himself on the way to Starcourt on his very first stakeout. 

It was that first initial look that confirmed it--Harrington’s prized BMW was in fact, still sitting in the parking lot.

Abandoned by rich assholes who absolutely could have paid to have it towed.

Which led to a domino effect of stakeouts, late nights and confrontations, up to and including his present position, counting down the minutes before he could break into Starcourt.

“Ready?” He murmured, and one could be forgiven for thinking he was talking to himself given how quietly he said it.

They would be wrong. 

“Yeah.” The not-so-dead rich kid drawled from the passenger seat.

Eddie tossed a grin at Harrington, who rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Come on, Stevie.” He purred. “Let’s go find out who impersonated your parents, and why they want that ring you supposedly own so badly.” 

“Honestly dude I just want my car back.” 

“That too.” 

Part Two

[kennahjune]

Teen Dad AU

Part 7!! (??)

I’m losing track.

More Steddie interactions (kinda?)! Plus Steve and Louie and the kids :))

I’m so excited for this one aaahhhhh!!!!!

I’m starting this on my 15th bday lmaoooo

(Update it is now 2 months after my bday, HAPPY pride month everyone!!)

Tag list:

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.

Steve didn’t want to leave the kitchen.

“Get the hell out there, Harrington!” George scolded him. “It’s a bunch of middle schoolers!”

Yeah, Steve refused to serve a table of middle schoolers. Because they weren’t /just/ middle schoolers.

They were his middle schoolers.

Accompanied by Miss. Byers and Jonathan.

Steve internally groaned. He had been completely avoiding and refusing to tell any of them where he worked and had sworn Hopper to secrecy. Dramatic? Sure. But valid? Absolutely.

Those kids were menaces. Even Will in his own way, giving Steve one of those sweet smiles of his to get him to give them rides almost whenever. Ugh.

The point is; Steve didn’t want to the Brat Bridge to know where he worked. Because then they’d come just about everyday to harass him.

But a teasing comment about “Scaredy Steve” from Mason had Steve punching Mason in the arm and marching out into the actual diner.

Gwen walked past him into the kitchen with a tray of dirty dishes. She clapped him on the shoulder with a sly smile. “Good luck, they’re a loud bunch.”

Steve sighed. “Trust me, I know.”

Five kids, one teen, and one adult. Steve would be fine. It’d be totally fine. He sees these people like every goddamn day—

“Steve!”

He’s been spotted.

Steve gave a strained smile to Dustin, who was actually bouncing in his chair between Mike and Max, who were both looking at him like a freaky big they’d never seen before.

“What are you doing here?” Lucas chirped, across from Dustin, grinning ear to ear. Will sat quietly next to him but smiled at Steve when they made eye contact.

Steve crossed his arms and popped his hip, a small grin of his own plastering his face. “I work here, Sinclair. Now what does the Brat Pack want?”

A chorus of shouts of different menu items flew at Steve all at once. He chuckled quietly, and then groaned louder— just to be a dramatic shit.

“One at a time! You learned how to take turns in kindergarten, didn’t you? Or are you guys still there?”

Dustin and Mike immediately protested, Max making a dig at Steve’s “elementary school IQ”. While the three of them argued with a not-listening Steve, Steve turned his attention to Will and Lucas.

Orders were placed quickly after. Steve turning to Jonathan and Joyce after the kids.

When he gave the paper to Mason the raised eyebrow he got back held thousands of questions. Questions Steve ignored with a smirk and wave of his hand.

.

His shift that day was rowdy and filled with teasing and laughter. Not much different than usual but it was warmer. More comforting. The kids didn’t leave with Miss. Byers, opting to stay behind with Jonathan and wait until Steve’s shift ended.

Allya and George waved Steve off about closing, insisting they’d get to it themselves.

So, Steve and Jonathan split the brats up between their cars; Lucas, Mike and Dustin with Steve, Max and Will with Jonathan.

“Steve can we go to your house? Please?” Dustin begged, hanging off of Steve’s arm while they all walked to the cars. Steve pretended to think about it, already knowing full well that he’d give in and let them storm his trailer.

He sighed dramatically, just for shits and giggles, before agreeing. Because he’s a giant push over.

Steve and Jonathan split the kids up and Jonathan followed Steve all the way to trailer park.

“Hang on—“ Dustin slapped Steve’s arm from his seat in the passengers side. “Don’t you live in Loch Nora?”

Steve huffed, his irritation flaring at the reminder. He quickly tramped it down, refusing to be angry at Dustin for being curious.

“Used to. Moved out once I got Louie.” He explained, barely even a lie.

Mike and Lucas shared a glance in the back seat. Steve narrowed his eyes at them before quickly returning his gaze to the road. He’d have a talk to them later about trying to play detective.

Jonathan and Steve pulled in side by side in the driveway. The kids got out one by one, rushing to the porch and waiting impatiently for Steve to open it for them.

Steve smiled a small smile at the antics, before catching Jonathan staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

Steve turned to him with a confused raise of his eyebrows. Jonathan raised his own eyebrows and looked pointedly to the trailer before back at Steve.

So it wasn’t Lucas and Mike playing detective, it was Jonathan.

Steve rolled and eyes and made a very pointed and obvious “later” look before pushing through the kids and unlocking the door.

The kids discarded their shoes haphazardly and spread out in the living room, looking at everything.

“I’ll be right back. Break anything and I’ll break your asses.”

Max and Mike rolled their eyes, disappearing with Will down the hall to no doubt look around more. Dustin and Lucas stayed in the living room.

“Where are you going? And where’s Louie?” Lucas asked suspiciously.

Steve rolled his eyes fondly. “Wow ok. More interested in my kid than me, Sinclair?” Lucas spluttered a reply, but Steve waved him off with a chuckle. “I’m kidding, doofus. Louie’s up at Gran— er, Margaret’s, because I had work.”

Lucas deemed this an ok answer and let Steve go.

He knocked on Gran’a door three times before she opened, Louie on her hip and the twins right behind her. Noah and Casey immediately ran out the door to hug Steve on the small porch, each hanging off of a different leg as Steve reached out to take Louie from Gran.

“Heya, baby!” Steve greeted the now teething infant. Teething, as Louie immediately stuck Steve’s shirt collar in his mouth to chew on.

Steve smiled at Gran, letting her know the brats were over but that they could still have dinner together that night if she was ok with an extra five kids (and Jonathan).

Grab waved him off. “The more the merrier, dear.”

Noah and Casey followed Steve home, Gran having to go run some errands and taking advantage of Steve finally being home. Steve didn’t mind.

He’d just made it to the bottom of his porch when something caught his eye across the street; leaving his own trailer was Eddie Munson, his hair thrown half-up-half-down and his shirt and jeans ripped to basically scraps. He was grinning and talking while walking backwards, supposedly to the old man standing in the doorway.

Eddie turned around just in time to make eye contact with Steve, raise an eyebrow, and grin devilishly. He stuck out his tongue, and Steve and Louie both giggled.

Steve broke the tension-filled eye contact to look down at little baby Louie, who was still chewing on his shirt. Louie grinned back at him, his little teeth nubs shiny. When Steve looked back to Eddie, the van was gone and the pretty metalhead was nowhere in sight.

“Steve! Why are you withholding the child?” Max demanded.

Steve snapped back to reality just enough to glare over his shoulder at her.

.

IM SO SORRY FOR THE SLOW ASS UPDATES BUT I CANT PROMISE ILL DO BETTER WITH MY ADHD AND HYPER-FIXATIONS EVERYWHERE 😭😭

[lovelyatomicpeace]

Beyond the masks, charapter one:

She who leads

November 6, 1983

You closed the car door making a dull noise, and before you even started the car you turned on the radio making the notes of your favorite song echo through the vehicle at full volume.Carefully you backed out of the driveway tapping your fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music as you began speeding down the road. You drove around the deserted streets of Hawkins dimly lit by the occasional streetlight you found along the way.

You had always enjoyed the sensation of speed and wind in your hair; had it been up to you, you would have wandered around town aimlessly-better, surely, than remaining, as you did most evenings, shrouded in the deafening silence of your empty house. This time, however, the ride was short-lived; you had to take home the boys who often gathered to organize some of their interminable D&D campaigns in Mike's basement.

You park your car outside the Wheeler's modest home: before getting out you glance at your reflection from the rearview mirror, trying to fix what you could of your rumpled T-shirt and soiled pants to look presentable. Fed up you get out of the car and head for the door being greeted by Mrs. Wheeler's beaming smile

"Y/n good to see you!" She said leaning against the door

"Emmh ... the boys are here right?" you asked putting your hands behind your back and rocking back and forth with your feet

"Oh yes, yes they are at the usual place, wait now I'll call them ..."

"No" you shouted with much enthusiasm "let me go in person" you told her with a smile on your face of someone who was up to something. You entered the house and hurriedly made your way to the basement door.

The lights inside were low, leaving the kids almost shrouded in darkness: the 4 of them were sprawled out on the game board intent on finishing the game as their favorite characters: there was the reserved but wise sorcerer Will, the fearless sword-treated knight Dustin, the ever-ready bard Lucas, and the storyteller Mike telling the next move of the demogorgon, the dreaded monster the heroes had to destroy: you had always liked to imagine them as brave as the characters they so enjoyed playing. They were so different from the other children and especially so much smarter than they were (and you were proud of that), and despite your age you had managed to earn their trust

and for the moment that was enough for you.

They were so engrossed in the game that they did not notice your presence on the stairs, which you were trying to descend without making the slightest noise so you could scare them good:

"Our dreaded adversary advances along the lagoons of the Seringraf swamp, where our protagonists are, emitting terrifying sounds," you heard Mike tell them. At that moment you made a series of sounds that made the four children's ears perk up, and for a moment they stopped placing their pawns on the board, peering into each other's eyes to see if everyone had heard those noises. When they relaxed again, Mike, resumed the narrative of the game

"The monster blurred through the foliage of trees and behind shrubs...suddenly all was silent: the mage and paladin looked around shoulder to shoulder, and the bard cleaves his weapon in search of its silhouette. What can they do to defeat him? "

"Use the fireball Will," shouted Lucas to an uncertain Will.

"no wait we may need it for later" admitted Dustin; when Mike interrupted them saying

"but beware the paladins have been misled and the monster is behind them ready to disrtangle them, warning them with its loud and deep cry" it was at that moment that you jumped down the 'last step of the stairs shouting to frighten the boys who now did nothing but scream in terror. You could no longer hold back a laugh, which you didn't know you were suppressing, and you threw yourself on the basement couch, stopping only when a pillow thrown by Lucas landed on your face

"Fuck it," said Dustin in his characteristic way of speaking, "yeah" pressed Mike "we were supposed to end this game together...we've been playing for 10 hours."

"10 HOURS!" You exclaimed and after a while of waiting you continued "well if you want to finish it go ahead..." and turned your back as if to leave the room: they turned back to the table, approaching each other as if to talk in secret (just as they did the first time) and then Will came next to you, "we are few this time. We need a hand!" You approached them seeing that Lucas was intent on rolling the playing dice

"15 points and inflict defeat on the demogorgon, otherwise you will be in an horrible situation," Mike recounted.

The dice rolled incessantly on the table leaving you all with bated breath....

7

"Oh shit" hissed Dustin, you leaned toward them whispering something in their ear, agreed and watched your next move with trepidation: as Mike did earlier you noisily placed on the board the token you've always used since you played with them; silencing them abruptly. At that moment you remembered when you became Selûne for them or , according to the game, the one who leads:

You had been working for a couple of years in the game room near the library: that day in 1981, the room was more deserted than ever: inside was just you and the game machines that emitted bright beams of light compared to the darkness of the room. You were sitting on a stool intent on drawing while listening to loud music on headphones plugged into your walkman, so you could not hear the sound of the door opening allowing 4 brats to enter.

The children headed for Dig Dug's car trying to play, taking turns at each level, for at least 30 minutes.

Then suddenly your gaze lifted from the paper to see a boy with thick curly hair giving you a toothless smile "Hi I'm Dustin..." he began and moving to the side of the cash register introduced you to the others "and they are Mike, Lucas and Will" looking slightly embarrassed. This introduction caused a bias smile to grow on your face as you moved the headset from one ear "is there anything I can do for you?" you asked, Dustin looked at you and reluctantly began to say "Well here goes..."

"We need someone to help us get through the new level of that game" Lucas blurted out very excitedly pointing with his thumb at the device: their request made you arch upward your eyebrows but did not make you refuse in fact you gladly accepted also because secretly you were an expert in the game: on days like this that you were locked in here you spent a lot of time in front of those games.

When you arrived at the device you bent over the controls that you grasped with both hands under the interesting eyes of the four boys who divided two by two along the sides of the machine: the game had started and with strategic techniques you began to mash the keys mechanically repeating those moves that many times before you had done:

for a total of 35,479 points you won the game

Record

The four children watched you with their mouths wide open, silence....

Then they peppered you with questions asked so quickly that they created a tangle of voices that broke the silence hovering in the room

"That was amazing!" shouted Will and Mike.

"No way!" said Lucas leaning against the machine.

"You're definitely nicer than Keith," said Dustin, cracking a smile.

Suddenly they stopped shouting and huddled together as rugby players do to make a decision leaving you curious next to them, Mike turned to ask you something, stoic

"Do you know how to play D&D?" Under the trepidation of the others, they nodded their heads and went back to talking until Dustin with his friends behind him extended his hand toward you

"Would you like to play with us tonight?"…

Mike's cry brought you back to reality by fading your memory. "BUT BEWARE! THE 3 HEROES ARE SAVED BY THE POWERFUL SELÛNE!" shouted caught up in the excitement, you were in priedi between Dustin and Will, who gently placed the playing dice on your hand. At this point any score would have defeated the demogorgon.

You threw The 20-sided dice, which began to whirl around the table under everyone's watchful gaze it seemed as if time had stopped...and then here was the number that would lead you to victory

11

"THE DEMOGORGON IS STRUCK BY THE POWERFUL MAGIC OF THE GODDESS FALLING WITHOUT HIM BEING ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ANYMORE. THE 3 HEROES AND THE GODDESS HAVE WON THE BATTLE AGAINST THE SHADOWS" this time you are all swept up in a wave of excitement, the boys jumping victoriously all over the room crushing high fives on your hands.

Your jubilation however was interrupted by the bright lights that flashed in the basement, Mrs. Wheeler had come to call you back as if caught doing something serious "Mikeee it's time for bed!" she thundered up the stairs and closing the door behind her.

"Well the night is over, come on guys," you said earning only looks of frustration from Mike and contrary opinion from the others

"I don't want to hear a fuss, you know we were supposed to be back 30 minutes ago...come on" you exclaimed looking at your watch pushing them toward the door and before leaving you waved to the Wheeler boy mussing his hair. You loaded Dustin's, Lucas' and Will's bikes into your car (although it didn't lock perfectly) and drove them home one by one: as they talked animatedly about something, as they always did, you drove through the streets just as you did on the way out even though a strange feeling pervaded your body.

The route was always the same: first stop at Lucas's house, then at Mrs. Henderson's house, who wouldn't let you go with her endless thanks, and finally at Will's house. You parked outside his residence.

That house had always left you with the creeps: it was in one of the ugliest parts of town,if you had to admit it, and the surroundings were not at all reassuring: leaving Will alone you admit scared you

"Do you want me to stay with you until Jonathan comes back?" you said looking at that pale face is always smiling

"Go ahead don't worry, Mom should be back soon," he replied in that affable way of his.

You looked at him uncertainly, sure other times Joyce had explicitly asked you to take a look at him, but what would it hurt if you did it again tonight? Before you made a decision you heard the sound of the trunk opening to see Will taking his bicycle and waving hastily as he entered his home

"Well hello then... " you whispered to yourself with furrowed brows. You got back into the car and before driving away you took one last look at the house in the woods....

You had a bad feeling…

Hi everyone, this is my new story: i am very excited to write and publish the first chapter, i hope you like it and let me know in the comment if i should post the second part or if you like it it❤️

[i-used-to-wear-the-fedora]

-Billy, Eddie, and Robin being the only out gay kids (well, not officially, but as out as you can be in a small town in the 80s) in Hawkins and they start hanging out together because it's nice to be with people who understand you.

-Billy and Eddie may both like men, but they'd never date each other.

-Robin has pretended to be Billy's girlfriend in the past to get Neil/the older women in town to leave him alone.

-A lot of their hang outs are spent in the back of Eddie's van getting blazed.

-They all judge each other's crushes.

"Tammy Thompson? Really?"

"I'm not taking this from the guy in love with Steve Harrington."

"Ha!"

"Eddie, you're not one to talk either. Remember Keith?"

"....shut up."

-They all got summer jobs in hopes of moving out of Hawkins together.

[starboygrove]

90s au billy hargrove <3

[unfinishedslurs]

stobin kidnapped- no upsidedown

Robin doesn’t know why she comes out to Steve Harrington of all people. 

It could be the drugs. It could be the way he’s been pretty good-natured about her ribbing all summer. It could be the fact that they’ve bonded, painfully and irreversibly, in the last 24 hours in a way she never has with anyone else and hopefully never will. It could be that she’s almost certainly going to die in this tiny, awful basement, and Steve fucking Harrington’s shitty homophobic spiel won’t matter because they’ll be dead. 

Tammy Thompson won’t matter, either. She’ll never, ever look at Robin now. Probably won’t even think about her as she cries over Steve Harrington’s tragic fate. 

“Have you ever been in love?”

They’re pressed back to back next to the hole that serves as their toilet, even if they’re not tied together that way anymore. Something about being able to see from all angles is comforting. No surprises. 

It also means she doesn’t have to see Steve’s face when he tells her how amazing this new girl is.

“Robin?” He asks when she doesn’t respond. “You OD on me?”

“I’m alive,” she confirms. Unfortunately. 

Nope, too soon to be making jokes about wishing she were dead when there’s a high possibility she ends up dead before she gets out of here. 

Steve’s presence leaves her back, and she almost panics before she realizes he’s scooting backwards until he can meet her eye. She scoots back until her back hits the wall, and he does the same. 

“This floor’s disgusting.” 

“Yeah, well, I’ve already got a bunch of blood and puke on my shirt, so…” he points out. “What do you think?”

“About?”

“This girl.” Why are his eyes so big? Is it the drugs in her system making her hallucinate again? Some great, cosmic consequence for being the kind of girl who can’t fall in love with this apparently amazing guy who protected her the best he could? She feels like she’s going to vomit again.

Eventually their singing dies down, and they exist in comfortable silence for a moment. 

It’s Steve who breaks it. “You know Jonathan Byers?”

“Didn’t he punch you and steal your girl?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I lied.”

“About what?”

“Only ever having been in love with Nancy.”

She blinks at him, squinting in concentration until he shifts uncomfortably and she gasps. “No,” she says. 

“‘No’ what?”

“You were not in love with Jonathan Byers.”

“Okay, yeah, I wasn’t in love with him,” he protests, squirming. “But, like, he’s cool, right?”

“No!” She exclaims. “No, he’s not cool, Steve. I can’t believe you made fun of me for Tammy, at least she didn’t give me a concussion!” 

“I deserved that concussion,” he protests. “Besides, it was a tiny one! That was, like, nothing compared to what Billy gave me.” Or the one he probably has right now, but neither of them point that out. 

“He stole your girlfriend.”

“Why do you keep saying that? There was no stealing anything. Nancy’s a human being, with, like, agency and shit.”

“Didn’t he take naked pictures of you guys?”

“What?” He sounds alarmed. “Is that what you heard?”

“Did he not?”

“Well…”

She laughs, disbelieving. 

“He apologized!” He says. “And he’ll never do it again, and I broke his camera for it anyway, so I kind of got retribution. Maybe too much retribution. I cannot overstate how much I deserved that beat down, I was an asshole to him.”

“God, you are not helping your case at all,” she giggles. He pouts at her, until he starts giggling too, and then they’re both laughing their asses off on the shitty basement floor until they lose their breath. 

They get lucky, she’s told while they’re in the hospital for smoke inhalation and a dozen other things. They were only in that basement for 24 hours until the police (re: Dustin and Erica) found them. It felt like a lifetime. 

She gets to sign out after six hours. Steve has to stay for two days. 

The nurses have to practically boot her out the door before she’ll leave his side. 

“I’m fine, Rob,” he says, rolling his eyes. “I’ve had worse.”

“I sure hope not!” The nurse exclaims as she’s checking over the monitor. “Young man, you are suffering from a Grade 3 concussion, bruised and broken ribs, smoke inhalation, multiple lacerations—“

“Jesus, okay, we get it!”

She gives him a scathing look before sweeping out of the room. Robin raises her eyebrows. “You’re fine, huh?”

The look he gives her could kill a lesser man. “Go home, Robin.”

“I’m staying the night.”

“You’re definitely not doing that.”

[talanashta]

(Initially) Unwilling

For @metalsandwichbingo square B1 "(initially) unwilling roommates"

Rating: T | CWs: Lots of Swearing, Mentions of Injuries | Word Count: 1,161 | Pairings: Steve/Eddie, pre-Steve/Eddie/Billy

Summary: Steve wakes up in the hospital after the events of S3 to find he's sharing the room with a... very unexpected roommate.

A/N: First time making a moodboard-thing to go with my fic, so if you have any tips to make them look better, shoot them my way!

When they’d brought Steve into the hospital room after getting his head scanned, his temporary roommate’s curtain was wide open, and the bed was empty.  The nurse, however, warned him it wouldn’t be for long.

“He’s in surgery, right now,” she told him.  “We’ll try to keep it down when we bring him in, since you need your rest.  Might not be ‘til morning anyway,” she added with a sweet smile.

Steve’s head hurt, and he was exhausted, so he just nodded and let her leave.  He really wanted Robin or Eddie right now, but Robin was sequestered away in a room somewhere else, fine but needing to be observed from the Russian drugs, and Eddie had been sent home once they admitted Steve, promising to come back at the start of visiting hours the next day.  Eventually, he managed to fall asleep.

He sort of remembers the couple times the nurses came and checked on him in the night, waking him up for a few minutes and asking him some questions before letting him doze back off.

When he properly woke up the next morning – 7:42 according to the clock over the door, almost visiting hours – he saw the curtains around the bed next to him drawn shut now.  His roommate must’ve gotten out of surgery while he was sleeping then.

He didn’t know what to do with himself to kill time until Eddie arrived.  His concussion meant his head felt like it was being split in two, the little light coming in through the blinds and the cracked door was like looking into the sun, and his face felt like it was on fire, probably from the swelling causing pinched nerves.  There was nothing to look at or distract him either, so he spent the next twenty-or-so minutes just staring at the speckled ceiling tiles until he heard the scuff of sneakers running on linoleum.

The door slammed the rest of the way open, smacking into the rubber bumper and causing a thud that made Steve flinch.

“Sorry, Stevie, sorry,” Eddie whispered frantically, re-closing the door to a crack and coming over, hands waving around Steve but not coming down to touch him.

“’s okay,” Steve mumbled to him.  “Glad you’re here.”  He tried to smile at his boyfriend, but the cut on his face and the swelling soon had him stopping.

“Yeah, I’m glad to be here,” Eddie said with a soft smile.  He started to lean in for a kiss before looking up at the neighbor’s curtains, pulling back with a grimace.  Instead, he tapped his fingertips to his lips silently, then ever-so-gently tapped them to Steve’s.

After he pulled his hand back, Eddie began looking around for a chair, but Steve knew there weren’t any in his room – probably to discourage guests from lingering.

“You’ll have to go steal one from the waiting area,” Steve slurred out weakly.  His head started to roll to the side, but he forced himself to keep looking directly at Eddie.

Eddie nodded to him.  “Kay, Stevie.  I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, Steve let his eyes drift shut, just for a minute…

Only to wake to a soft thud and a whispered “Fuck!” from Eddie coming back.  It looked like he bumped the chair right into the door frame.

“I just have to keep apologizing, don’t I?” Eddie asked him bashfully as he set down the chair at Steve’s bedside.

Steve heard a groan from behind the curtain next to him, and both his and Eddie’s heads shot over to look in that direction.

“Would you two shut up?” a familiar voice said angrily.  “I’m trying to recover from almost dying.”

“Hargrove?” Steve asked incredulously.  They put him in the same room as Hargrove?  Hargrove who beat the shit out of him one time Hargrove?  Hargrove who was just possessed and should probably be under government surveillance Hargrove?  What kind of massive fucking oversight was this?

“Fuck off, Harrington,” Billy said.  “They just reconstructed my abdomen, and I’m feeling pretty pissy there’s not a nurse here with more pain meds.”

Eddie gave him a look and touched his hand, so Steve nodded.

“I’ll go get the nurse for you, Hargrove,” Eddie said, standing up.

As Eddie left, Steve heard sheets rustling on the other side of the curtain, then Billy said bitterly, “Thank fucking God.  These nurses didn’t bother to put the fucking call button within reach of the guy who just had fucking surgery.”

Okay, sure, Steve kind of hated the guy, but he didn’t exactly wish bad things on his enemies, so he felt a little bad for Billy.  “Sorry, man,” he apologized.  “I’d come help if I could, but the room starts to spin when I sit up.  Eddie will be back soon with the nurse.”

The room was silent for a few long moments, until Steve heard a barely there, “Thanks,” that honestly, he might’ve imagined hearing.

Soon, Eddie came bursting back in the door – his boyfriend had such an overinflated sense of drama, but dear God, did he love that guy – with the nurse in tow, who promptly bustled off behind the curtain to help Billy.  Eddie returned to Steve’s bedside, squeezing his hand quickly once before pulling away.

“Uncle Wayne’s supposed to be by later today,” Eddie said in a promising tone.  “He really wanted to come sooner, but I told him he needed to sleep first.  He looked dead on his feet.  I hope that’s okay.”  He looked unsure.

Steve tried to pat him on the knee, but he was still feeling a little uncoordinated, so it was more like mid-thigh.  “It’s okay.  Wayne needs his rest too; he still has work tonight, right?”  It was a rhetorical question; Steve knew all three of their schedules like the back of his hand.  “I don’t want him to get hurt at work because he was too tired.”

He could practically see the hearts in Eddie’s eyes the way he was looking at Steve softly.  “Yeah.  I promised him I’d be here the whole time to make up for it, but I’d be here anyways.”

He looked like he was going to say more, but he was interrupted by the nurse sliding open the curtains around Billy’s bed then coming over to Steve.

“Just need to check your pupils real quick, sweetie,” the nurse said softly, pulling out a small light.

It took everything in him not to pull away when she shined it in his eyes multiple times.

“Looking much better than last night,” she told him.  “Meds will be in about an hour.  If you need anything before then, press your call button.”

After she stepped out the door, Hargrove turned his head to look at Steve and Eddie.  “Did I just hear that I’m stuck with you hanging around all day, Munson?” he asked them.  Then he said sarcastically, “Great,” and rolled his eyes.

Well, fuck you too, Hargrove.

[yellowcrowindustry]

Byler x Heartstopper 💙💛 cause why not 😭

[blushweddinggowns]

Steve was completely normal the next day. Infuriatingly, normal. Flirting with girls and spinning his hat around. Normal enough for Robin to start to think she had a full on hallucination last night. But she wasn’t crazy. She knew that she saw those two going at it, all in front of Eddie's signature shitty van.

Didn’t she?

“You’ve been quiet today.”

Robin jumped at the sound of Steve’s voice, completely lost in her own thoughts. He was staring right at her, popping his gum as he went on, “You don’t even bring the flirting board out. Did you get bored of it or are you finally willing to concede that I’m a great flirt?”

“I’ll never concede that,” Robin said easily. It was true anyway, the guy was freaking terrible at it, at least with girls his own age. Now housewives and cougars he had a knack for. But anyone who could possibly be girlfriend material ended up leaving with a giggle and a funny story about the dork in the sailor suit trying to pick them up, and nothing more. 

But Robin had a feeling that maybe Harrington had been downplaying his skills in that department afterall.

He raised a brow at her, “So what’s your problem then?”

“I’m just tired,” She lied, “A consequence of having to be here so late. Alone. Thanks again for that by the way. Hope your night was worth it.”

The little shit didn’t even try to look like he felt guilty. He just smirked, “Oh, it was. And I’m holding up my end of the deal aren’t I? I’m not flirting with grandmas for kicks over here.”

She had to give him that. He really had been turning up the charm for the mall walkers. But still…

“Aw, poor you. Like you wouldn’t have been trying to get in someone’s pants without owing me,” She said, trying for casualness. Like she wasn’t watching for his every reaction out of the corner of her eye, “Isn’t the hump and dump the Harrington way?”

He rolled his eyes, his voice on the colder side when he answered, “Don’t believe everything you hear Buckley. I happen to be the perfect gentleman, thank you very much.”

Weirdly enough, part of her was starting to believe it. 

But still. Even if she saw them kissing, it left too many unanswered questions. What about the trail of heartbroken women he had left in his wake? What about Nancy Wheeler, the only girl who ever landed him for more than a day? They had been pretty serious before he’d gotten dumped, hadn’t they?

But now that Robin thought about it, no matter how many women came into Steve’s life, Eddie remained the only constant. Hell, in the short few weeks she'd been around him, it was obvious that he was obsessed with Steve, and vice versa. He was in nearly every day, until the manager banned him for being "distracting" to the workers. Which was half true, but Robin had a feeling it had more to do with him scaring customers away with his looks.

That was the only semi-scary thing about him though. He never really freaked Robin out that much, despite what others said about him. He was still in the loser category afterall and those were her people. Yeah he was loud, dressed like a confused goth, and sold drugs, but he wasn’t violent. He was shit stirrer, sure, but outside of appearances he was just mildly intimidating, at least to Robin. But when he was with Steve, even that was out the window. He basically just became a ray of sunshine, sweet, happy, bright, and weirdly enough…obedient? 

He basically did anything Steve asked of him, whether that be getting him lunch or helping them close up, the guy just did it. No questions asked, like it was an honor to be on Steve’s beck and call. Though Robin was sure the free ice cream helped.

Steve had sulked for days after Eddie was banned, and Robin thought it was because he lost his free personal assistant. But now…she didn’t know what was going on. 

Maybe this shouldn’t have been as shocking as it was. It’s not like there hadn’t been rumors. People had been making fun of them for being close for years.  But they were teenage boys around other teenage boys. How seriously was Robin supposed to take that? And teenage boys calling each other gay was like…a constant. Not just for Steve and Eddie. For literally any guy who did something slightly out of the norm was up for the title. Someone found out that a dude liked baking? Bam, gay. A guy dare cries in front of his friends after he gets dumped by a girlfriend? Super gay. She even heard a dude be called a fag for admitting to liking soccer for God’s sake. There was no rhyme or reason to male straightness, how was she supposed to know which rumors were true? 

She needs more, some kind of confirmation that guarantees she’s not wrong about this whole thing. And on a particularly slow day, she finds it. She hadn’t gone into work with the intention of eavesdropping on Steve through the break room door, but that’s where she landed. 

They had only been on shift for two hours and the guy was already on his second fifteen, insisting that he only had to make one “quick” call before going back to work. And she just…followed him back there, her curiosity getting the best of her.

“I know, I know. But it’s only a few more hours,” Steve’s muffled voice sighed, “I just wish you could still come see me. That rule is total bullshit.”

By this point Robin was pretty used to the tone of Steve’s voice. He usually sounded bored, always with a little edge of cockiness, unless you did something to rile him up. But he sounded different on the phone. Kinder. Sweeter even. She wasn’t sure. 

“Aw baby, are you down that bad?” Steve cooed. That cockiness she was used to was back in his voice, but now it was mixed with something else. Like he was breathless or something, she didn’t know, “Want me to walk you through it? I got ten minutes.”

Robin furrowed her brow, more than a little confused. Walk him through what?”

"Well if it feels so tight why don't you take it off?” Steve purred, barely loud enough for Robin to hear, “There you go. Isn't that better?"

Robin froze, mind racing at what she was hearing. But that couldn’t be right. She had to be misinterpreting this somehow, right? There was no way in hell that Steve would be have freaking phone sex at work-

“Yeah sweetheart, you can touch yourself now. Can you make it a little wetter baby? That’s it, good boy. Love when you get all whiny.”

Jesus Chrsit, he was. She had to stop listening after that, half out of embarrassment and half because…it just felt wrong. Though she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about where that conversation went. Extremely curious. But the small ounce of decorum she had left wouldn’t allow for it. 

Steve came out of the break room with a flush and a smirk ten minutes later, like the fucking weirdo he was. 

While he was distracted with their third customer of the day, she snuck back to the break room and pressed re-dial, not surprised in the slightest when she was met with a breathy, “Munson residence!" on the other line.

She hung up immediately at the sound of Eddie’s voice. That was all the proof she needed. There was no doubt about it now. Steve and Eddie were together. And had been for awhile. That four years comment wasn't looking like an exaggeration. 

And just like that her entire high school worldview was smashed into a million pieces. Because Steve fucking Harrington was in a relationship with a guy. A serious relationship. The same dude that she spent years obsessing over and being jealous over because of his charms, was as gay as she was. 

What a world. 

But somehow, this massive realization didn’t fix the jealousy. Because before she was jealous of all of the attention he got, from people she always thought he never deserved. But now she was jealous over the fact that he had managed the impossible. He was in a committed relationship with a man, a man whose dick he sucked while they were driving and who he walked through jerking off on the phone. While no one else was the wiser. How the fuck had he managed that? In this town of all places? While Robin was over here still pining away over every pretty blonde girl that smiled at her, Steve was living her closeted gay dream. How could she not be jealous?

But at least now it was mixed with some awe. Because if Steve Harrington could get away with being gay in Hawkins, why couldn’t she? She just wished she could talk to him about it. She just didn’t know what to say. But she knew she wanted to say something. 

Like maybe, Hey, I totally saw you making out with your boyfriend and I'm so far past being cool with it, I actually think it’s amazing. And oh I’m also gay and can we be best friends? 

Honestly though, from the little she did know about the guy, maybe that speech would be taken pretty well. She just didn’t know how to bring it up. Or when. 

But she was going to, eventually. She was going to get to know that dingus if it killed her.

Part two to this & from an this fic

[sevenmerrymagpies]

He had messed up long and hard this year. He failed yet another senior year. He'd almost lost out on having a boyfriend because he was a dumbass. And, he'd almost alienated everyone in Hellfire, see previously, being a dumbass. He had been introduced to the fact that magical powers exist, and his first reaction had been to blackmail the guy. — After spending six months being an asshole, Eddie somehow still had a boyfriend. He might be a freak and a loser, but he had a second chance with the kindest and hottest guy he’d ever met. He wasn’t going to mess up again. Even if it meant he had to pretend and play the love interest NPC to Steve’s daring Paladin. He wasn’t good enough to be what Steve needed as himself, but he could play the role of the guy Steve deserved until Steve realized he could do better. That is until Steve’s adopted little sister comes to him in the middle of a rainy night asking for help, and Eddie gets sucked into the Big Mystery. Is Eddie actually an NPC in Steve’s life and the adventure against the forces of darkness, or is he the right guy for the job?

In this chapter El finally checks in on Steve at the same time that Dustin calls for help. Everyone meets up at the mall, and Eddie finds himself agreeing with Hopper. What is the world coming to?

[schrijverr]

I Found Myself a Cheerleader 13

Chapter 13 out of 28

Bumped to the lowest step on the social ladder after his fight with Billy, Steve gets roped in with the cheer team. What starts as a favor to help them out when one member breaks her leg in turn for protection from the brunt of the bullying, sets the universe on a different path.

In this chapter, Jason keeps asking Chrissy out, who tells him she’s dating Steve to get him to stop. It leads to him coming out to her. In the evening Eddie comes by. Steve falls asleep and has a nightmare. Eddie tries to comfort him, but the person he needs is Robin, to which Eddie drives them as he gets to witness their friendship.

On AO3.

Ships: steddie & buckingham

Warnings: period typical sexism, homophobia mention, nightmare, vomiting

~~~~~~~~

Chapter 13: The Rejected Date

It’s already the middle of October. School has been in for a while and Steve has been living on his own at the cabin for a few weeks already.

Living on his own has been both fun and hard. He misses Robin, but she stays over at least one night a week and he is at the Buckley’s for dinner and to sleep over once a week as well. They usually end up sleeping together three nights, one of them, because they woke up from a nightmare and had to check the other was okay.

When it’s Robin, Steve will get called awake and drive over to find Robin waiting on her porch in her pajamas, freezing. She’ll fall into his arms and he’ll carry her to her room, wrapping both of them into the blanket as she shoves her ice cube toes between his calves.

If it’s him, he’ll show up still sweaty and shivering from the nightmare. He knows where they keep the spare key and he’ll let himself in, crawling into Robin’s bed. She’s used to it and wraps her arms around him, sleepily lecturing him about safety on the road.

The set up isn’t perfect, but it works for them. He and Robin are bound for life, he cannot imagine not knowing her. If sneaking into her bed is to be part of his life, then he’ll do so with the gratefulness that he gets to know her.

Beyond his sleepovers with Robin, he calls Lisa from time to time and hangs out with Chrissy on Wednesdays. There isn’t cheer practice, but Chrissy told her mom there is. They hang out together, just talking or stunting, depending on the mood.

Steve loves spending time together with Chrissy. He might be half conjoined with Robin and she is his person, who gets him on so many levels, but he connects with Chrissy about bad parents and a love for sports in a way that Robin won’t get. And he doesn’t begrudge her that. Robin has amazing parents and he is thankful for that, besides he doesn’t get her obsession with weird books, movies and music either.

Chrissy loves the cabin and is always excited to hang around there. She loves the quiet sounds of nature and how there is no one to watch or judge her. Steve gets the feeling, though he isn’t the biggest forest fan after the Upside Down.

On Saturdays he hangs out with Max and Lucas. He brings dinner and plays basketball with Lucas at the trailer park, both ignoring how Susan is never home and how this is the most decent meal Max eats in the week.

Lucas is improving his skill and is going onto the varsity team, which is huge as a freshman. It makes Steve so proud of him, despite his own bad experiences with the basketball team during the last part of his time at high school.

When playing with Lucas, Steve also doesn’t think of Eddie, whose trailer is right across from Max’s, who has been sworn to secrecy and let in on the prank. He sees her eyes glittering whenever Lucas complains about giving the guy a chance as they eat dinner.

But it’s okay, he sees Eddie at other times.

He drives the kids home from Hellfire club on Fridays. Usually he and Eddie exchange a few words in the parking lot. When he recounts them to Robin she calls it flirting, but Steve tries not to believe her, tries not to get his hopes up.

Just like he tries not to get his hopes up whenever he and Eddie hang out. Steve doesn’t have the best sleep schedule and it seems that neither does Eddie, because he’ll often show up at an hour that is too late to be socially acceptable and stays until deep in the night.

Eddie makes it very hard to not get hopes up, or at least to get over the crush. He’ll always press close, easily stepping into Steve’s space and handing out casual touches like it’s nothing. He’ll grin showing those cute dimples and creating crinkles around those kind and beautiful eyes. It makes Steve want to do something stupid.

However, Steve knows better. He has seen enough of Eddie to know that the affection is just baked into his being. Steve isn’t special. Eddie is just nice and he shouldn’t look for things that aren’t there.

It’s not special when they sit on the porch and look at the stars, sharing things they wouldn’t say in the light of day. It’s not special when Eddie uses his joint to light Steve’s cigarette. It’s not special when Eddie rests his head on Steve’s shoulder. And it’s not special when the night drags on and a drawl creeps into Eddie’s voice, when man gets replaced with sweetheart and Eddie gazes at Steve like he’s something precious.

Steve just has to keep reminding himself of that.

Robin tells him he’s being an idiot, but Robin doesn’t get to say shit. It’s not like she’s telling that Vickie girl from band that she likes her. So, he ignores her arguments about why he should risk the friendship he’s only just starting to build and lingers in the moments where he has Eddie, before he reminds himself it isn’t special.

Yesterday was such an evening again, but Robin can’t say anything, because she is working and he is not. He’s going to hang out with Chrissy at the cabin and just try to forget and work it out by throwing Chrissy into the air for a bit.

He goes to pick her up after school. She looks a little nervous, glancing around as she quickly gets into his car. She looks like she wants to say something, but can’t. Her nerves are making Steve anxious as he wonders what could have happened. He asks: “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“I did something and I need you to go along with it and not be mad,” Chrissy tells him, worrying her lip between her teeth.

The words do nothing to soothe Steve’s nerves and if he weren’t focused on driving, he would have more space to panic. “What did you do?”

“I told Jason we’re dating when he asked me out,” Chrissy rushes out, then rambles on: “He just keeps asking and I said no multiple times, but he won’t stop. So, when he asked why I won’t give him a chance I said that I have a boyfriend. He didn’t believe that, so I just said your name, because I don’t really want to date right now, so I needed someone who wouldn’t be secretly in love with me.”

“Of course I’ll back your story,” Steve promises, not seeing an issue with it. Chrissy is too young for him, but it’s not real. She knows he won’t be in love-

Wait, Steve’s brain screeches to a halt as the latter part of Chrissy’s ramble registers. He stops at the intersection, looks at Chrissy and asks: “Who says I’m not secretly madly in love with you?”

Chrissy looks surprised at the question and taken aback she says: “You are?”

“I mean, no, but I could have been, right?” Steve says, finding an edge of desperation in his voice as the walls of the car start to close in on him. He does not like where this conversation is going. He does not know if he can do this.

Meanwhile, Chrissy’s face turns sympathetic and she starts: “Steve…” trailing off with nothing to say, which is horrible for Steve’s frame of mind.

“Right?” he repeats, knowing that the crack in his voice does nothing to help his case.

“Oh, Stevie, you don’t- you don’t have to pretend with me,” she tells him softly, compassion and gentleness filling her voice.

She knows he’s gay.

Steve got the inkling, but those words confirm it. She knows. She has known. She knows and still she hangs out with Steve, lets him be near her, touch her, be close with her. All his fears about her rejection due to her religious house were for naught, because she doesn’t seem to mind.

Chrissy doesn’t mind he’s gay.

He feels tears start to try and get out, so he pushes them down and takes a shuddering breath. He can’t deal with all these emotions right now. Instead he checks if anyone is coming at the intersection and starts driving again.

The tension in the car is palpable. Chrissy is fidgeting next to him and Steve is just staring at the road, trying not to feel. He doesn’t know what to say. What if he misunderstood and Chrissy is talking about something else? What if he says it and then she hates him?

So they drive in tense silence, something they haven’t done in all the time they’ve known each other. Not really, not like this.

It’s only when they pull up at the cabin that Chrissy speaks up, her voice very timid. “Are you okay?” she asks. “If I said something wrong you can say it. I’m really sorry, I didn’t know it was something I shouldn’t say.”

“How long have you known?” Steve asks, still not meeting her eyes. He has to know. He has only just gotten his respectability back. What if it’s obvious?

“Since the summer,” Chrissy answers.

“How?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure at first,” Chrissy begins to explain, sounding unsure. “I mean, you know what whispers went around about you, but I don’t like rumors. So, I ignored them. You seemed nice and we became friends. I liked that you treated us like people, not just dumb cheerleaders. Then I noticed you never talked about Nancy. Never. Barely mentioned her.”

“What does Nancy have to do with it?” Steve asks, confused as to why Chrissy is bringing her up.

“For someone not enough over the heartbreak to date again, you never talked about her,” Chrissy shrugs and smiles. “I thought that was odd. But that’s all maybe’s. Robin confirmed it for me.”

“Robin?” Steve frowns.

“Yeah, you were very adamant about nothing being there,” Chrissy says. “I almost convinced myself you had to be lying about it, but I know you too well. So, I assumed. I didn’t say anything because you didn’t. Sorry. Should I not have done that?”

“I don’t know,” Steve says, looking Chrissy in the eye. “I honestly don’t know, Chris. I’m terrified of people knowing. Robin knows, but beyond that…”

“That sucks,” Chrissy tells him in that sweet genuine way only she can. She bumps her shoulder against his and smiles: “I’ll never judge you, Stevie. You’re my best friend.”

Words escape Steve. He never thought he would have people who would accept him, but here he has not only Robin and Eddie, but Chrissy as well. His Chrissy. His favorite cheerleader. He pulls her into a hug and practically crushes her.

Chrissy doesn’t seem to mind, just clings to him equally tight and doesn’t let go. They sit there in the front seat of Steve’s car, until Steve is willing to let go.

“You’re my best friend too,” Steve tells her. “Thank you for not hating me.”

“Never,” Chrissy says and it sounds like a promise.

They finally get out of the car and Chrissy seems to know that he doesn’t want to get into it now, but just put it out of his mind. So, she drops her stuff off inside and immediately comes back out to warm up. The October chill is coming in, but neither of them care.

The two of the run around to warm up. Chrissy can now comfortably to a handstand on Steve’s hands, so they’re just working on flipping. It’s not the smartest thing to do without anyone to catch her, but they don’t care. Stunting makes them feel alive in a way nothing else does.

So they stunt until they’re both sweaty and both take a shower, their hair a mess as it air dries and grins on their faces.

Steve doesn’t have a TV, so they put on some music while they crawl onto the couch with a mug of hot chocolate. The heating in the cabin isn’t the best, but Steve has amassed a collection of blankets that they burrow under.

The cabin itself is very homey. Steve finally has a bed frame that he stumbled upon in the second hand shop, a lucky find. The living room is painted an orange-y red, giving it a warm feel. Though he painted the beams the same yellow as the cabinets, which he loves.

He made it his little home and he is happy there. On some lonely nights however, he stares at the closed door where the last memory of Hopper remains. He’ll think of El living here. Hopper and her fixing it up. The countless days she’d been cooped up here. He wonders if she’d like what he has done with it, but he’s too scared to ask whenever he calls all the way to California.

It’s there, sitting on the couch that Chrissy brings it up again. She doesn’t start a serious conversation about it, instead curiously asking: “So, do you have a crush on anyone? A real one. I told you mine, now you can tell me yours.”

“Who says I have a crush,” Steve counters.

“Pleaseeeee, even if it’s just a celebrity,” Chrissy pleads. “I wanna gossip with you.”

“You’re being nosy, that’s different,” Steve points out, but he’s smiling too big for his judgment to be believable. He can’t believe Chrissy is being so casual about it, so accepting.

“Then let me be nosy,” Chrissy pouts. “I told you my embarrassing crushes, it’s only fair. I even told you when I liked that guy in my history class, despite the fact that he would always stick his chewing gum under the tables.”

“And he didn’t wash his hands after peeing,” Steve reminds her.

“I know, it was gross and why I stopped liking him,” Chrissy says. “What about you? Do you have any deal breakers in guys?”

“You’re persistent,” Steve laughs.

“Thank you,” Chrissy grins.

Steve is quiet for a second, then he blushes and softly admits: “I like dimples. And muscles. Like on the arms. Arm muscles are good.”

Chrissy squeals and gushes: “Oh my god, when a guy lifts something, right?”

“God, yes,” Steve groans sinking into the couch as he remembers Eddie lifting the heavy tools onto the roof of the very cabin he’s in. Next to him Chrissy giggles. He can’t help but laugh too, a giddy feeling spreading through his limbs. He always wanted to join when the cheerleaders gossiped about crushes and now he can. It feels like acceptance.

“What else? What else?” Chrissy demands, slapping his arm excitedly.

The only person Steve has ever talked about this is Robin and he is worried about it being too much for Chrissy and that she’ll be grossed out, so he keeps it a bit less explicit and skips over the fingers to say: “Stubble is nice.”

“Oeh, yeah, like Indiana Jones,” Chrissy squeals excitedly.

“Yeah, like Indiana Jones,” Steve agrees, because Harrison Ford is hot and he is not ashamed of thinking that.

They continue to talk about boys for a little while longer. Steve admits to thinking Micheal J. Fox and Judd Nelson are hot, which delights Chrissy. She doesn’t seemed grossed out all throughout the conversation and Steve is practically floating on air as he drives her home.

Even in his wildest dreams, he would not have thought Chrissy would be this cool about it all. Hell, he would never have thought he’d ever come out to her, yet here he is. She is the fourth person to know after Eddie, Robin and Will, that is four more than he’d thought. It feels like a middle finger to his parents to tell her. To not deny it. Steve feels great.

He contemplates calling Robin to tell her when he gets home, but his phone bill is already criminal and he’s driving her to school tomorrow morning. He can wait.

Steve makes himself dinner and eats. He doesn’t have many hobbies, but there are always little things to do in the cabin. However, before he can commit himself to any of them, there is a knock on the door. Steve isn’t expecting anyone, but there are multiple people who could randomly be standing on his doorstep.

Today it’s Eddie. He’s grinning and holding up a six pack as he asks: “Wanna drink and forget high school exists?”

“Sure, man,” Steve grins and steps aside to let him in as he asks: “What subject is kicking your ass this time?”

“All of them,” Eddie groans, shrugging off his jacket, six pack on the coffee table. He flops down on Steve’s couch and Steve’s heart does a flip at how comfortable Eddie is in his house. Eddie continues: “I don’t know why, but they all have it out for me. I don’t want to be doing all of this again either, you know?”

“High school just sucks, I think,” Steve offers, pushing Eddie’s feet of the couch so he can sit next to him.

“It does,” Eddie agrees, coming up from his flopped position to sit next to Steve, their thighs pressing together, which neither of them comment on. “But word is, you and Chrissy are dating, what’s that about?”

“Some guy wouldn’t stop hitting on her, so she said we were dating so he’d get of her back,” Steve shrugs. He doesn’t really care if that gets around, if it means Chrissy gets left alone. Plus, it’ll be good for his reputation.

“And does she know the dating is fake?” Eddie asks.

“You mean, does she know I’m gay?” Steve counters. “Yes, actually. Told her today, but she kind of guessed already. It’s why she said me.”

“Damn, congrats man,” Eddie says as he pops open two beers with his rings, something Steve will always find attractive and offers one to Steve as he toast: “To you coming out to Chrissy.”

“Cheers,” Steve cheers, clinking his bottle against Eddie’s.

A comfortable silence falls over them as they both take a sip of their beer. Eddie has become a common guest at Steve’s. Not every week, but at least once every two weeks he’ll be on Steve’s doorstep and Steve always craves it like a dying man does water.

He knows that this is bad for the burning crush and Robin calls him pathetic, but he likes having Eddie to himself, hidden away from the world in the little cabin. So, he never says anything that could discourage Eddie from coming back again.

Steve is too anxious to go to Eddie’s place, so he just keeps welcoming Eddie whenever he comes to Steve’s.

“But enough about school,” Eddie grins. “How are you, Stevie-boy? Customer still as traumatic as ever?”

“Fuck, don’t even joke about it.” Now it’s Steve’s turn to groan. “Just yesterday this lady came in and she yelled at me for half an hour for renting her son an R-rated movie. Her son is sixteen and it was her husband that rented the movie. Like, why?”

“That’s the worsttt,” Eddie says. “I swear, you can shoot me if I ever try to get a job like that. I think I would get into a fight within a week.”

“Wouldn’t rule it out,” Steve snorts. “I fantasize about murdering some people in moments like that. To keep me sane.”

“Remind me to stay on your good side,” Eddie grins, head lolling against the back of the couch as he does, neck on display.

Fuck, Steve wants to bite it.

He doesn’t though. These nights with Eddie are an exercise in self restraint. Instead, he grins back and says: “I promise to make it look like an accident,” before reclining on the couch as well.

“You can be terrifying, dude,” Eddie tells him, sounding both awed and delighted. Then he launches into a story about the campaign he’s running that it reminded him off. Steve has already heard about it from Dustin, but gladly listens to it again in Eddie’s warm voice.

They make their way through the six pack slowly and quickly take a smoke break. Eddie usually smokes a joint, but he is out of joints and smokes.

Steve is on his last cigarette, which they share. Every time Steve takes a drag he has to remind himself to not think about how the filter is still wet from where it had been in Eddie’s mouth earlier. Has to remind they’re only sharing because they’re both out. That it isn’t special.

After their smoke break they migrate back to the couch. Steve is feeling tired, but he doesn’t want Eddie to go yet, so tries to keep blinking his eyes open for as long as he can.

Eddie doesn’t seem to mind his tired audience and keeps up rambles about whatever comes to his mind. It always amazes Steve how Eddie never seems to run out of topics to talk about. He just keeps talking, hands waving about, until they begin to fidget with the couch cushion, before moving to Steve’s hair.

Usually Steve is very protective of his hair, but Robin has no boundaries and he figured out how nice it is to have someone play with his hair. So, when Eddie’s hand touches his hair, twisting a bit around his finger, Steve leans into the contact before Eddie can stop.

There is a slight falter in Eddie’s sentence, but picks up right where he left of when Steve blinks at him, too exhausted to register what exactly is happening.

And when Eddie plays with his hair, Steve is playing a loosing game. He’s already tired, the nightmares cutting into his sleeping time, and the safety of someone watching over him combined with the soothing hands in his hair, means that Steve is dropping off before he can stop it.

While Steve isn’t the best sleeper, he normally sleeps better with other people there. However, it seems the universe has it out for him, because his brain comes up with a horror show that includes all the worst days of his life, until he’s gasping as he falls of the couch.

He scrambles up into a fighting position when someone moves, before the curls register. His brain says Nancy, which means there is at least back up. Then it registers a concerned: “Stevie, sweetheart, are you in there?” in something that is definitely is not Nancy’s voice.

Eddie, it pings, but before he can say anything, his stomach acts up and he stumbles to the bathroom, where he drops to his knees and sees the three beers and his dinner again.

As he’s retching into the bowl in a high mortifying and undignified manner, a warm hand rubs his back soothingly. Another hand gently pushes his bangs out of his face. He can hear Eddie gently murmur: “You’re okay, I got you, you’re alright, sweetheart.”

Tears well up in Steve’s eyes and stream down his face, mixing with the snot, spit and bile already gathering there. He probably looks fucking disgusting and pathetic and he hates that Eddie is seeing him like this, but he’s still shivering with fear and can’t bring himself to stop. Eddie’s words are helping too and he is unable to send Eddie away.

Steve dry heaves for a few seconds, before he coughs and spits the last bit into the bowl. He sniffles and reaches for the toilet roll, blowing his nose and throwing it into the toilet before flushing it with the rest of his dinner.

He knows he should face Eddie now, explain what happen and tell him that he’s okay and that Eddie shouldn’t worry. Instead, however, he sits on his knees next to the toilet with hunched shoulders, unable to look Eddie in the eyes as his cheeks burn. What an impression to make, he thinks bitterly.

There is a moment of quiet between them, throughout it Eddie keeps up the rubbing on Steve’s back that Steve wants to shrug off, but also uses like a lifeline.

“Are- are you okay?” Eddie asks cautiously when the silence drags on without Steve moving or saying anything.

Steve swallows thickly, the image of Robin’s corpse still in his fresh on mind, fake as it might have been. “Yeah,” he assures Eddie with shaky voice that does not sound believable in the slightest. “I- I am okay. I just- I need to see Robin.”

“Robin?” Eddie frowns.

“Fuck, I- I have to go check on her,” Steve says, stumbling to his feet. He’s more present, but still trembling with fear. He won’t be able to calm down until he has seen Robin. He hasn’t had a nightmare this bad in weeks.

He staggers into the living room, still not having faced Eddie. He already made a fool out of himself, might as well look like a full madman, if that means he can get to Robin right now. He gropes around for his car keys, letting out a victorious noise when he fishes them out of his jacket pocket.

The keys are immediately plucked out of his hands and he whirls around with a wounded noise as he pleads: “Give those back.”

“No,” Eddie says. He looks worried, but determined. “I don’t know what just happened, but you’re out of it. I’m not letting you drive like this. If you want to see Robin, I’ll drive you.”

Steve wants to protest. He doesn’t need to be babied, he doesn’t need concern and he definitely doesn’t need Eddie to see him break down again when he sees Robin. However, he can also see that he is not winning this argument right now. He looks a mess and isn’t in a state to have a fight, he’s more likely to start crying again.

So, he huffs: “Alright, fine,” and crosses his arms, before storming out of the cabin.

Eddie rushes behind him, snatching a coat for Steve and locking the door, before he rushes to his van, which is parked in a way that locks in Steve’s car. Both of them climb in, since that is easier and Eddie starts the van. Steve gets jump-scared by the music that Eddie quickly turns down with an apology.

They drive the first part in silence. Steve looks at the passing scenery with unseeing eyes, his leg jiggling anxiously. What if he gets there and the door is broken down? What if Robin as been dragged away by some creature from the Upside Down? What if she has been taken by Russians, who have tracked her down? What if she’s dead?

He is snapped out of his thoughts by Eddie, who softly asks: “Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Nightmare,” Steve answers, looking down. Apart from the argument about the driving, he hasn’t looked at Eddie, and that was fueled by desperation, which he feels guilty about. Eddie doesn’t deserve his bullshit. He wonders if Eddie’s mad at how he acted.

“Looked like a bad one,” Eddie prompts when Steve offers nothing more. He doesn’t sound mad, just confused and scared. More worried, actually.

Steve chances a glance his way. Eddie is tapping the steering wheel anxiously, focusing on the road, before he glances Steve’s way. A small, involuntary and relieved smile appears on his face when he sees that Steve is looking back.

There are dimples in that smile and Steve’s nerves are calmed by them. He says: “It was. I’ve been getting them about Robin ever since the mall burned down. Just need to make sure she’s okay, you know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Eddie nods. “I get you don’t want to talk about it, but you could, you know. If you want to of course. It must have been terrible.”

“It was,” Steve confirms, a shudder wracking his body as he remembers that cold Russian bunker ground. He pushes it out of his mind and says: “But I’m good. I don’t want to talk about it.” He isn’t allowed, even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t. Not really.

Eddie gives a shrug that seems to say ‘that’s fair’, before he smiles: “Course.”

They’re pulling into Robin’s street and Steve is already out of the van, before Eddie has fully stopped. Now that he’s so close, his anxiety is ramping up again and he fumbles with the key, before unlocking the door.

It’s still pretty early in the evening, so Robin is still awake. She must have heard him, because she’s already meeting him at the door. Seeing her there in her pajama clad glory sends a wave of relief through Steve and he stumbles into her arms, holding her close.

She clings right back, practically climbing him to hug him properly, in a way that grounds them both. She kisses his forehead and whispers: “I’m okay, dingus. We’re okay. We made it out of there.”

Behind them, Eddie clears his throat. Steve sets Robin down again as Robin looks surprised at the new visitor. To break the tension Steve laughs: “Good thing you know I’m gay or that would have been awkward to explain.”

That gets him wide-eyed looks from both of them and he says: “Oh yeah, both of you know. It’s fine, I’m not outing myself on accident here.”

“Eddie was the other person that knew?” Robin practically screeches.

Steve winces and covers his ear as he wrinkles his nose. “Yeah, he is. Who else did you think it was, I told you I told him I got kicked out.”

“Chrissy, dingus! Obviously, Chrissy. Why would I think Eddie when you and Chrissy are thick as thieves?” Robin exclaims. “Does she not know? I mean, I haven’t said anything about it to her, but I have a motor mouth, so I need to keep an eye on that, because I don’t-”

“Robs, she knows,” Steve cuts her off, before she can spiral. “I came out to her today. I was going to tell you on your way to school.”

“She’s cool?” Robin asks.

“She’s cool,” Steve grins.

“Congrats, dingus,” she grins back, punching his arm in a way that is a bit too hard.

“Ouch,” Steve yelps, massaging where she hit him. He glares: “You’re stocking shelves during our shift, I can’t. You’ve injured me.”

“I haven’t injured you, you drama queen,” Robin rolls her eyes. “You’re the one telling me I have noodle arms. It can’t have been that bad.”

Steve is about to counter, but is interrupted by Eddie before he can. “Okay, so while this is entertaining, I am also confused. Are you doing okay now, Stevie? Is this some weird ritual you two do? Is that what you needed? Should I go?”

Robin bursts out into a loud cackle at Eddie’s questions and confused face as he awkwardly hovers in the doorway.

“Ah, sorry,” Steve flushes bright red. He and Robin can get caught up their own world and he honestly hadn’t realized how odd their bickering must look to Eddie, who held his hair back as he threw up from his nightmare like half an hour ago.

“It’s okay,” Eddie smiles. “Just catch me up a bit.”

“I’m good now, thank you for driving me after I freaked out on you,” Steve says.

“Yes, thank you,” Robin adds. “This dingus always drives when he’s freaked out and I keep telling him he should be safe, but he always does it anyway.”

Bitchily Steve crosses his arms and says: “I have to or I’ll never calm down. Do you want me to run all this way? Is that what you would prefer?”

“You could call,” Robin bitches, crossing arms right back.

“I don’t want to call your parents awake,” Steve counters.

“My parents don’t care, if you do,” Robin says.

“Okay, as fun as this wonder-twin arguing act is,” Eddie interrupts again. “Is there anything I can do? Or should I leave.”

“Sorry,” Steve apologizes again. “I’m just all over the place,” he says, like he is not always like this when Robin is there. “I feel kind of bad about how tonight ended.”

“That reminds me, what were you doing at Steve’s when he was asleep?” Robin butts in, like Steve hasn’t told her about Eddie’s visits.

Steve elbows her, but she ignores him as Eddie blushes. He kicks the ground a bit, before shrugging: “I mean, we hang out sometimes. Steve fell asleep on me, he looked peaceful. I didn’t wanna wake him.”

The confession makes Steve’s heart do something interesting as Robin coos: “That’s actually really sweet. He needs his rest.”

“He is right here,” Steve says, before Robin can embarrass him more. He turns back to Eddie and gives him a smile – Steve does not realize how that smile makes Eddie melt – and says: “Thank you for that. Again I’m sorry how tonight ended.”

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Eddie smiles and Steve already misses the sweetheart from when he was comforting him. “We all have our shit.”

“Yeah,” Steve nods with a lopsided smile.

“Well, if you’re in good hands,” Eddie says and Robin pipes up: “He is,” which makes Eddie, smile before he goes on: “Then I’ll see you around.”

“See you around,” Steve greets, feeling a bit silly.

They watch Eddie climb into his van, before pulling out of the driveway. They smile and wave at him, but as they watch him, Robin comments: “I take back my thanks about him driving you, he is a danger on the road.”

Steve snorts out a laugh, before cutting himself off and saying: “My car is still at the cabin. How am I going to drive you?”

“Fuck,” Robin says. “Guess we’ll have to be really nice to my dad at breakfast tomorrow or I have to find my bike again.”

She closes the door and starts to turn off a few of the lights around the house as she puts on the kettle, Steve following behind her like a puppy. Her presence is soothing and he keeps a hold of the back of her shirt as they walk around.

When the tea is done, they take it to Robin’s room and press closely together on her bed as they sip their tea. It’s then that Robin asks: “Wanna talk about it?”

“Nothing new,” Steve shrugs. “You died. I couldn't save you.”

Robin makes a sympathetic noise and rests her head on his shoulder. Her hand creeps between them to squeeze his and the message is clear: You did save me, we made it out. We’re alive.

Steve squeezes back.

They sit like that, in a comfortable silence until their tea is gone, then Robin grins at him and says: “So, Eddie was a gentleman.”

“Shut up,” Steve blushes, as he pushes her grinning face away.

“Ahww, come on, give me something,” Robin whines. “He drove you here. He let you sleep on him, because you needed the rest.”

“He saw me throw up because my dreams scared me,” Steve deadpans. “It was the opposite of romantic. It was humiliating.”

Robin pouts: “You’re no fun, dingus. He didn’t look like he minded. He was worried about you, from where I was standing. He cares.”

“Of course he cares, we’re friends,” Steve defends himself.

“He knows you’re gay,” Robin points out.

“He does,” Steve says. “That doesn’t have to mean anything.”

“Do you know if he is?” Robin asks. “Stop. No. I don’t want to ask that. No outing here, no, sir. I mean, if he is gay, then he is definitely into you.”

“You don’t know that,” Steve tells her, but inside he is bursting with feelings.

“Maybe not, but I have perfectly fine eyes, thank you,” Robin says.

“Shut up,” is all Steve replies and gets up to brush his teeth as Robin follows him, blessedly quiet about Eddie.

He wants to believe her, truly he does. He just knows he can’t. He isn’t ready to try and date anyone he actually likes. Another boy. And if he thinks too hard about it, he might do something stupid and it will blow up in his face. Being friends with Eddie is more than enough.

They don’t talk about it again and crawl into bed together. After his earlier nightmare, Steve sleeps uneasily, though soothed by Robin’s presence.

The next morning, neither Daisy nor Thomas are surprised that Steve is there. He and Robin are extra nice to Thomas, who can only drive Steve to his car so he doesn’t have to walk all the way out there, before work, while Robin has to bike to school.

Robin complains loudly about her father picking favorites, but it’s all in jest. The Buckleys always make Steve feel like a part of the family.

During the afternoon shift, he tells Robin all about coming out to Chrissy. She isn’t going to tell her about being a lesbian yet, but she is excited about how well she took it anyway.

The next day, Steve picks up the boys from Hellfire club and Eddie checks him over to see if he’s okay, before putting on their little act. The action makes Steve’s stomach flutter in a way he can’t fully suppress.

~~

A/N:

Ahwww, it’s going to well for Steve!!! ….Would be a shame if anything fucked that up….