#THAT JOYCE WOULD JUST LET HIM OUT OF HER SIGHT EVEN IF HE IS OLDER........... AGHHHHHHHHH 😭😖🤯

[solarmorrigan]

(a silly little continuation of this post)

No. Hopper takes it back. The worst part is that Eddie actually seems to be good for Steve

It would be one thing if they were terrible together – if they argued and clashed like the opposites they seem to be, left each other in a foul mood or said nasty things to each other (things that would maybe see Steve complaining to Hopper, that would maybe let Hopper go tell Eddie to leave Steve—and by extension, Hopper—alone. Y'know, in a world where Steve would open up to literally anyone about that sort of thing). But they don't. In fact, Steve seems happier than Hopper's probably ever seen him

He's remembering to eat more

It’s not that Steve starves himself, it’s just that he doesn’t seem to remember that he needs to take breaks and have something to eat. But if you put food in front of him, he’ll eat it, and Eddie has apparently put himself in charge of putting food in front of Steve. He keeps packets of trail mix and candy bars and even fruit in his bag or the pockets of his jacket and passes them off to Steve whenever he seems to think it’s necessary

(And yes, Hopper has, unfortunately, noticed that the fruit is most often bananas. “Your favorite,” Eddie had said once, pressing one into Steve’s hand with a smirk that had made Steve roll his eyes, but he had still stood there and eaten it in front of Eddie, and Hopper wishes he could bleach that entire exchange from his mind)

Eddie gets Steve to loosen up in ways he almost never does anymore. Gets him to laugh

They both come in from the cold one afternoon, Eddie without a pair of gloves in sight (it’s freezing, and the idiot is going to lose his fingers, and Hopper catches himself wondering for a moment if he has an old pair of gloves he can throw at the kid) and he proceeds to sneak up on Steve and shove his hands right up Steve’s shirt. Steve makes a noise so high-pitched his voice cracks and reflexively elbows Eddie in the stomach. Eddie doubles over, wheezing out a faint “Son of a bitch,” but then he’s laughing. And then Steve is laughing, turning around to tell Eddie, “You’re such an asshole,” and then they’re both laughing again. (Christ, they’re both idiots)

Steve is always a little on edge around the kids. Always watching, even if he isn't obvious about it. Always ready to step in, even if he rarely needs to

But Eddie seems to take some of that weight off of him – does it pretty well, Hopper will begrudgingly admit. The kids think Eddie is cool (for some reason) and they listen to him when he orders them around like they're pawns in that weird little game they all like to play. And as much as Eddie seems to like encouraging chaos, he also knows when to nip it in the bud – like when Dustin and Mike get into some kind of argument that's about to escalate into a shouting match, and Eddie walks by in time to smack them both in the back of the head and tell them to pipe down, before Steve (or Hopper, for that matter; neither of them are great fans of shouting these days) can move a muscle

It’s during one of the kids’ movie nights, though, that Hopper realizes he’s well and truly stuck with Eddie Munson

Hopper doesn't usually participate in movie nights. Yes, the Hopper-Byers house is always open to any of the kids (younger or older), yes their living room is big enough to squeeze most of them in around the TV, but Hopper tends to leave them to it and sit with the actual adults (meaning Joyce. Sometimes Murray). But El had grabbed his hand and pointed big brown eyes up at him and asked him to stay and watch, so he had. Like after everything that's happened, he's not gonna spend all the time with her that he can? Even if it means shooing at least two teenagers out of his recliner? (Actually, especially when it means shooing teenagers out of his recliner)

Halfway through the movie, Hopper spots some movement on the far end of the couch and glances over to see Steve leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and the heels of his palms pressed into his eyes. One of those bad headaches, Hopper would guess. And then Eddie is leaning forward, too, rubbing a hand over Steve's back and leaning close to say something to him softly enough that it doesn't carry over the sound of the movie

Steve immediately shakes his head and sits back. Eddie purses his lips, seems conflicted, and then turns so he's got his back pressed to the corner of the couch. He tugs at Steve's arm until Steve relents and leans back against him, and with a surprisingly economic amount of shuffling, Eddie's got Steve cradled up against his chest (which only looks a little funny, considering Steve is actually a bit broader than Eddie), one arm wrapped around his waist and one hand covering Steve's eyes, blocking out all the light

It's an immensely vulnerable position, but Steve just fucking melts back against Eddie, the tense lines that are almost always present in his body when he's got a bad headache disappearing over the second half of the movie, until he seems to have fallen asleep by the credits. And Eddie—chronic fidgeter, who can't fucking hold still to save his life—just sits there the whole time, placid as can be, letting Steve sleep

It's terrible

It's goddamn intimacy and trust and the kind of care that Steve bristles at from almost anyone else, and Eddie goddamn Munson gets away with it, and he's really goddamn good to Steve

And Hopper has no choice but to continue putting up with him

(But it could be worse, he guesses. Could be a lot worse)

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Two

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: On the night of November 6th, 1983, Stephanie Henderson decided to walk her little brother’s friend, Will, back home. However… they never arrive. Now, Dustin, Mike and Lucas, and soon the exception of the girl’s ex-best friend, Steve, must band together to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Steph and Will must fight for their survival in this nightmarish version of Hawkins, Indiana.

🎲Chapter Summary: Lucas, Mike and Dustin try to talk to the girl they found in the woods; And Hopper questions an anxious Joyce about an unsettling phone call; Steph and Will must continue to survive; And Steve’s eyes get opened in a way he never saw coming.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 11,024 (Oh, my lord)

🎲Date: 5/16/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Swearing; Implied Broken Friendship; Talks of Kidnapping; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Implying Sex; Lying; Implied Suicide; Death/Killing; Talks of Corpses; Blood; Gun Use; Steve's 'Asshole Era. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Jesus. This was a tough one to write and edit (Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes). But, geez. Writing different POVs, everyone's thought was a tough one. But hopefully y'all can understand 😅. Also, I am NOT a D&D player, so some of lore just comes straight from the wiki. Hopefully that's reliable enough. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE || 

“What the fuck are you?!” Will heard her scream as the creature tried to outmatch her. The light above them grew brighter and brighter, and he squeezed his eyes shut while gripping her jacket tighter. He prayed this was just another nightmare. Maybe… Maybe he’s getting his wish when he hears the silence. Does he dare open his eyes and see the truth?

He’s scared, trembling, and it heightens when he hears the girl heaving for air. So much so he clenches his grip on the fabric tighter, the strange smelling air going through his nostrils causing him to gasp himself. When his eyes snapped open is when his coughing fit started.

He hears his name being called, and hands coming around his shoulders. He almost jerks away, afraid, until his orbs settle on the silhouette before him. 

“S-Steph?” He croaked, a sense of relief flooding his veins. “What just happened?” He could see the confusion on her face, looking around for clues. He followed her eyes, nose crinkling at the sight. “We’re still in the shed. But it’s… gross.”

She swallows. “Stay behind me.” She tells him, and guides herself through the door. They both shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. “Jesus, It’s freezing.”

Will and her looked around, the outside world seemed to be encased in a blue hue, the places around seemed to be tangled with vines and covered in something sticky. There was also a white powder that looked like snow, raining down from the dark skies above. A sky that didn’t even have moonlight like it did a few minutes ago.

“Did you hit your head when we crashed?” She asked after getting his attention away from the sky. 

He shakes his head, almost sadly. If that had both just hit their heads, would the situation have been better? He frowns, worriedly thinking away as the older girl tries to stay calm.

“Come on.” She says, gesturing to him to follow. “Let’s go inside. I want to see something.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT || 

The rain was coming down more intensely than before, followed by the grumbling of thunder and lightning. Somehow, miraculously, the boys, mostly Wheeler, managed to convince the strange girl they found in the woods to return home with them, and hid her in the basement.

“Is there a number we can call for your parents?” Mike asked, worriedly as the girl looked between the three boys, all scared and confused.

“Where’s your hair? Do you have cancer?” Dustin spitted out, genuinely curious.

“Did you run away?” Lucas asked, skeptical. 

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Mike says, just as his friend questions a red sustain on her shirt. He slaps his hand away quickly. “Stop it! You’re freaking her out!”

“She’s freaking me out!”

“I bet she’s deaf.” Dustin suggested, before taking a quick half step and smacking his hands together. The sound makes the girl flinch, and he frowns apologetically. “Not deaf.”

“That’s enough, all right? She’s just scared and cold.” Mike said, silencing the two before running over to the laundry basket and grabbing some clothes. “Here, these are clean. Okay?”

The girl takes them, taking a second to be grateful before she starts stripping– The boys freak out, Mike running up to stop her while the other two look away. 

“See over there?” He points. “Th-That’s the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?” She nods and he shows her inside. Just when he was about to shut it behind him, she grabs it forcibly. “You don’t want it closed?”

“No.” She finally says, surprising him.

“Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well… Um, how about we just keep the door…” He slowly moves it until there’s about three inches of space. “Just like this. Is that better?”

“Yes.”

Mike smiles and leaves her be, rejoining the group who were having a conversation of their own.

“This is mental.” Dustin said, freaking out.

“At least she can talk.” Mike points out, with Lucas shaking his head, replying,

“She said ‘no’ and ‘yes’. Your three-year-old sister says more.”

“She tried to get naked.” Dustin adds.

“There’s something seriously wrong with her.” Lucas said, touching his temple. “Like, wrong in the head.”

“She just went like…” The Henderson boy makes a motion of taking off shirt (and even knocked his own hat off his head).

“I bet she escaped from Pennhurst.”

“From where?” Mike said, eyebrow raised.

“The nuthouse in Kerley County.” 

“You got a lot of family there?” Dustin teased, getting a dirty look. 

“Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she’s so crazy.”

“Why she went like…” He does the shirt motion again. In his mind this was helping him and Lucas’ case.

“‘She’s an escapee’ is the point. She’s probably a psycho.”

“Like Michael Myers.”

“Exactly! We should’ve never brought her here.”

“So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?” Mike asks, irritated. 

“Yes! We went out to find Will–” 

“And Phanie.” Dustin pressures. 

“And Steph – not another problem!” Lucas agrees.

“I think we should tell your mom.”

“I second that.”

Mike holds his hand up. “Who’s crazy now?” 

“How is that crazy?” Lucas scoffed.

“‘Cause, we weren’t supposed to be out tonight, remember?”

“So?”

“So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom–”

Dustin’s eyes widened. “Oh, man.”

“Our houses become Alcatraz.” Lucas frowns.

“Exactly. We’ll never find Will, or Steph.” Mike says, seeing Dustin make the shirt motion once more, silently asking the question about the girl. “All right, here’s the plan. She sleeps here tonight.”

Henderson perked up again. “You’re letting a girl–” 

“Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She’ll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We’ll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will and Stephanie.”

Lucas and Dustin share a look, until one of them finally shrugged. “I guess that works.”  

“Great. We’ll start again tomorrow. Goodnight, guys.” Mike bid them as he went off to start making the mysterious girl a place to rest.

“This is crazy, man.” Lucas said, once they had snuck back out. “What the hell is Mike even thinking?”

“I don’t know. Do you think his plan will really work?” Dustin asked, as they headed over to where their bikes were hidden.

“I’m giving it less than a fifty percent chance of success.” He sighs. “I better get home.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Hey, don’t look so sad.” He pats his curly haired friend on the back. “We’ll find them.”

“I just want my sister back. You have no idea.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the following morning, in the Byers house, the eldest seemingly was keeping it together, making the morning meal like he always does and hoping his worrying mother would have just a bite. 

“All right, Mom. Breakfast is ready.” Jonathan said, while placing the plate down in front of her, her thoughts being interrupted. 

“What?” His mother said, before moving some papers. “No, be careful of the poster.”

“Yeah, okay. All right–”

“I can’t eat.”

“I just need you to eat, Mom.”

“Listen, listen. The Xerox place opens in, like…” She looks down at her watch. “30 minutes–”

“Mom–”

“And I don’t want you to go alone–”

“No, I know. I told you, I got it.”

“So I’m gonna have Karen take you, ‘cause I should be here.” She gestures around, all jittery. “Claudia will meet you there, b-but if she’s not, she’ll reimburse us for the copies of Stephanie, I–”

He shakes his head with understanding. “Okay.”

“We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies?” He nods again. “How much is a copy?”

“Mom?”

“Ten cents?”

“Mom?” 

“If we– ten cents”

“Mom, Mom!” Jonathan stops her from counting the cash she had laid out, and squeezes her shoulder with her other hang to calm her. “Y-You can’t get like this, okay?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Joyce replies, taking a shaky inhale of nicotine. 

“No, it’s okay.” He reassures her softly, just before someone comes knocking on their door. The mother rushed over with her son on her tail, busting the door wide open for the exhausted police officer. 

“We’ve been waiting six hours.” 

“I know, I came as soon as I could.” Hopper replies, nearly dead on his feet.

“Six hours.”

“A little bit of trust here, all right?” He slides his hat off. “We’ve been searching all night, went all the way to Cartersville.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

Joyce made a choking sound and looked away. “God…”

Hopper frowns, sadly. “Flo says you got a phone call?”

“Oh, yeah.” Joyce nods and shows him their phone. 

He picks it, examining the speaker part of it which was charded black. “Storm barbecued this pretty good.”

She took a step back in surprise. “The storm?”

Hopper looked at her like she had two heads. “What else?”

“You’re saying that that’s not weird?”

“No, it’s weird.”

“Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the–”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” He shakes his head, and then looks at her with all seriousness. “Now, uh, you’re sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing.”

“No. It was him, it was Will... and h-he was scared. And then something–”

“It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you.”

“Who would do that?” Joyce questioned, face full of confusion and sickness.

“Well, this thing’s been on TV. It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh–”

“No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him.”

“Joyce.” He begins, as she denies him again

“Come on, how about a little trust here?” She laughs dryly. “What, you think I’m– I’m making this up?”

“I’m not saying that you’re making it up.” Hopper looks at her with concern again. “All I’m saying is it’s an emotional time for you.”

“And you think I don’t know my own son’s breathing?”

“Joyce–”

“Hopper, my son’s missing. A-And not only that, someone else’s daughter is missing.” She nervously takes a puff of her cigarette. “And you know what the mess up part about that is? Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!” 

She ends with an emotional sigh, tightening the heavy tension it the room. Jonathan worriedly looking at his mother before, locking eyes with the police chief who was trying to find the right words to say.

“You hear from, uh, Lonnie yet?” Hopper asked after the small silence.

“No.”

“It’s been long enough.” He puts his hat back on. “I’m having him checked out.”

“Oh, come on!” She sighs loudly, watching him leave. “You’re wasting your time.” Then the door shuts, and rubs her temple. “Jesus. He never listens!”

Jonathan ponders for a moment, before asking, “Mom, how likely is it that Will would actually go to Lonnie’s?”

“I…” Joyce runs a hand through her messy locks. “It’s possible, but he lives a long, long way. Especially on foot. But… I don’t– maybe he would! I…” She sighs again, overwhelmed. “However, I don’t think he would have gone with Stephanie. He’s… W-Will knows your father’s not the best man, and Will, you know, has that heart of gold.”

That got a chuckle out of both of them. “Yeah.”

“I don’t think Will would have risked Stephanie like that.” She shakes her head. “No. She’s an older kid, and older sister. As much as this sounds messed up, she would have done anything to make sure Will was safe. I know it. So… my question is…” She locks eyes with her son. “What would a girl her age think is a safe place for a young boy?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| TWO NIGHTS AGO ||

Stephanie flipped the lightswitch on in the kitchen out of curiosity, but finds herself still submerged in darkness. “Just what I thought. There’s no light.” She says with a frown.

“The flash of light we saw–” Will looks up at her. “Do you think it was a power outage?” 

“I don’t think there’s light here, I mean-” She starts walking around, rubbing her shaking hands together. “Look at this place. I don’t think we’re in Hawkins anymore.” She shivers just a smidge. “At least it’s a little warmer inside here.” Then she hears a distressful sound. “Will?”

The boy was pale, pupils blown wide and had a small tremble. “W-What do you m-mean we’re not in Hawkins anymore?” He asked, lip quivering with a slight pant. “B-But th-this looks like my house. D-Did w-we get taken somewhere else? Can we even g-go home? I–”

“Shit… Will–” She rushes over, hands coming up to his shoulders while she gets on one knee. “Will? Hey, bud, listen– hey.” She makes sure his gaze meets hers. “Don’t freak out. I know it’s scary, but we’re going to figure this out. Once we do, I’m going to get us home, I promise.”

The boy sniffles into his shoulder, fighting back tears. “You promise?”

“I promise.” She says it without realizing the fate of those words.

He swallows and extends out a certain finger. “Pinky promise?”

Her breath was nearly taken away by that certain question, taking her far back into a distant memory. But… like hell she’s going to let that memory change her judgment. She interlocks hers with his and repeats, “Pinky promise.”

That got him to crack a smile. “So, what next?” He asks, making her rack her brain for a plan.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY ||

He woke up again to his cat’s crying. The young Henderson frowns, heart clenching at how Mews was wondering where his sister was at. For the urban legend of how cats had no emotions, he’s certainly not seeing it. He rubbed his eyes and wandered aimlessly around, the thought of calling sick into school was still fresh in his mind. Should he? I mean it made sense, and it wasn’t like the school won’t understand, so….

Was that a yes?

He walked through the hallway, curls in his eyes as slows in front of his sister’s bedroom. His cat locked eyes with him, sadness and confusion filled the slitted pupils. Mews meows again.

“She’s not back yet.” Dustin says, getting a chirp. “We’re trying. She’ll be back soon.” He starts walking away, hearing him make a sad sound once more. 

“Dusty-bun, I’m going to make some posters.” Claudia said, who were gathering her belongings by the door. “I left you breakfast on the stove.”

His nervous fingers gripped his t-shirt as he tried not to sound so down. “Hey, Mom?” Her eyes meet his gaze. “Is it okay if I… stay home today?”

Claudia’s face softens bittersweetly. “Of course you can, sweety. If you leave the house for whatever reason, just leave me a note where you’re going, that’s all I ask.” She gives him a kiss on his hairline, and is one foot out the door before adding, “Oh! And be back before dark. Okay? Your Mama doesn’t need to worry about another kid.”

“Can do.”

He watches her smile and closes the door, locking it. He frowns at that action, I mean they’ve never locked their door before, and now it was becoming second nature. He was even surprised she told him he could leave the house. Or… did she not expect him to leave this place in the state he’s in? Sounds like something she would do.

He sighs and heads for the kitchen to make himself a plate. He didn’t have much of an appetite, really, but he didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings or make her beg for him to eat – he didn’t want to call ‘pot kettle black’ since he was the one that had to convince his mourning mother to eat last night. But it was hard, his fork just picking at the food, cutting it into smaller pieces to stare at before dropping his utensil onto the plate.

Steph… His fingers dug into his pocket and pulled the gold chain out, letting it sprawl out in his palm. He stares at it intensely, thinking. Come on, Sis, give me a sign. What happened to you and Will? What caused you to go off road and run? Run with Will’s shotgun out of all things?

What had got her so scared that they needed a weapon to protect themselves? Both her and Will were the last two people that would resort in violence, so the fact that they decided to arm themselves with a weapon tells him that something sinister was up.

But what? Dustin lays the necklace down next to him, pretending that she was here to eat with him like she always does, before deciding it was time to munch on what was left on his plate.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper struggles to keep his mind clear after that conversation with Joyce. His thought always going back to this particular moment:

.

““Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!””

.

Of course the woman felt guilty about everything. I mean, your kid goes missing, who else are you going to blame other than yourself? But she also was chipping away at the idea it was her fault that that poor girl was missing too. Blames herself for working later than usual, and wasn’t the one to come across her own son on the road and pick him up. That’s a lot of guilt for someone who’s holding the family together on her own.

He listens to the volunteers shout the children’s names, hoping that they would shout back. Hopper wishes that too. He prays that one of them would yell back for help and get this nightmare over with.

“Hey!” He shouts at the two officers. “Anything?”

Callahan shakes his head. “You?”

“No, nothing but a dead phone.”

“Joyce?”

Hopper nods. “About one step from falling off the edge.”

“She’s been a few steps for a while now, hasn’t she?” Powell asked, as he’s met with a stern glare. 

“Kid’s missing, man. Show a little class.” Hopper snaps, making them avert their eyes.

“All right…”

He exhales and takes off with the rest of the group, shouting, “Come on, let’s go! We got a lot of ground to cover.” He keeps his fingers crossed that this would be it. That this would be the search that brings them home.

For their mothers' sake.

For his sake.

For every goddamn person out of here’s sake. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE ||

Stephanie shifted through the last cabinet and frowns. “Well, we can’t cook anything because there’s no electricity. But we can eat the dry goods. Unless we can figure out how to start a fire” She sighs, and wrinkles her nose. I mean, they can go a few days without eating if they didn’t want to touch the box of crackers covered in goo. But water? How were they supposed to have water if the faucet comes out with something they probably shouldn’t drink.

She rubs her temples, thinking. “I guess we’re going to have to look for some bottled stuff to drink.” She makes contact with the boy who just entered the room. “How you feeling?”

“Fine. I got a bit of a chill, but we can still grab clothes out of the closets if we need it.” Will replies, hugging his walkie talkie close.

“And the call?”

“Nothing. I mean I could hardly ever get reception over here anyway, so maybe we can try finding a different spot.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea." She says with a sigh. “Where’s the shotgun?”

“Oh, uh– Mom’s room.” He points behind him.

“Alright, maybe I’ll take a peek outside. If it seems clear, maybe we can try to find some reception.” 

Stephanie leaves the room with Will looking back at his walkie. He had to remain strong, hopeful. He has to get through to someone. His friends, his family, one of them has to be able–

Wait.

Was he hearing things? Was his mind playing tricks?

His eyes trail to his living room where he swears he heard someone talking. It was faint, but you can’t miss it. 

It sounds like… His chest tightens at a thought, his brown orbs blown wide as he looks at the yellow phone on the wall. It was probably hopeless, stupid even, I mean… the damn thing didn’t work when Stephanie tried to call for help when they were being chased. But that was the real world, this was… fake? Maybe it different, maybe it’s—

Oh, shit.

Maybe he’s just grasping at straws at this point and hopes it turns out okay.

His fingers latch around the phone, pulling it off the receiver and dials his home’s number, praying with all his might that this ridiculous idea would actually work. 

Come on, come on, come on, come on, com–

Oh, he felt like crying when someone picked up.

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

His mother’s voice broke through and poke him in the heart. He couldn’t breath as relief washed over him like a storm.

[ ‘Hello? Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this?’ ]

Say something, say something, say something– His lip quivers as he swallows. “M-Mom?” He can’t wait till Steph hears about this. “M-Mom, I-It’s me.” 

She can hear me right? She has to. 

[ ‘Will? Will? It’s Will!’ ]

[ ‘Mom, it’s Will?’ ]

He could cry upon hearing the second voice. “J-Jonathan? Mom? M-Me and Stephanie are tr-trap in some weird place! I-I don’t know what t-to–”

Then he was cut off by the dreadful sound of the monster. Will watched as its claws wrapped around the corner, almost like it was pulling itself into the kitchen. He doesn’t even know where it came from. He didn’t even hear it freaking come in! 

He froze on sight, his mother shouting something he couldn’t make out as the beast with no eyes looked directly at him. He wanted to scream but it was stuck in his throat. Is this how he was going to die? Die by listening to his mother’s pleas to answer her?

It shrieked and seemed to get bigger, ready to strike him down before it took a bullet to the face. The shot made it fall against the wall, and Will drops the fried phone and backs himself away. Stephanie looked half scared to death too as she cocks the shotgun again and fires one more when it stands up, sending it flying to the living room. As quickly as her buckling knees could hold her, she rushes over to Will, pulling him behind her as she aims the barrel into the direction the beast was. Shaking intensely, she carefully peeks around the corner to find that it had completely vanished like it did earlier. She gasps in shock before sliding to the ground herself, mentally drained.

“Steph!!” Will calls out with worry. He could see her eyes glassing over, her skin becoming paler as she shouts, 

“Where the fuck are we?!” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY || 

Steve strolls into school, head in the clouds, and an aching feeling in the pit of his stomach. His sleep went to complete shit after the conversation with his girlfriend last night. He still doesn’t understand why it was affecting him so much. It’s not like him and Steph hung out anymore. So why is he losing sleep over this?

You’re not even friends anymore, Harrington. He mentally slaps himself. Get your shit together– 

“Boo!” Tommy yelled, jumping out from behind the corner, startling him.

“Jesus, Hagan.” Steve said, holding his chest while the other teen laughed.

“That was so easy.”

“So–” Carol’s arm snakes around him with a grin. “Did you tell your little girlfriend about your party?” 

“I-I… not yet.” 

“What? You didn’t tell her at her house yesterday?” 

“N-No. Never got the chance to.”

“What?!” Tommy scoffs. “Stealthy Stevie didn’t get to use his skills last night?” Him and his girlfriend laughed, but then grew quiet seeing how distant the King was being. “What the fuck’s going on with you, man?”

“Um…” Steve’s gaze gets caught onto someone else, spotting a certain person posting a certain flier up on the bulletin board. He swallows, and masks a fake smile. “You guys go ahead to class. I got to grab something out of my locker.”

“Oh, we can go with you.” Carol begins, trying to follow him but he shakes them off.

“No, no. Go ahead. I’ll meet you there.” Steve ignores the strange looks they gave him before walking away. Deciding this was the ‘only’ way, he rushes over to the oldest Byers kid, ‘accidently’ pushing his shoulder into his, knocking the papers out of his hand while he was leaving. He scoffs, while saying, “Watch where you’re going!” 

Jonathan says nothing as he bends over to collect the rest, oblivious to the other teenager sliding a paper away with his foot. Once he leaves, Steve retrieves the flier from under his shoe, reading it over.  

  HAVE YOU SEEN ME? Stephanie Henderson Age 16, 5’4” Brown Hair, Blue Eyes, 110lbs. Last seen wearing a brown work uniform, black jacket, white sneakers, and a baseball cap. Reach out to Claudia Henderson or Joyce Byers at #### or #### 

Steve stares with a distant look in his eyes, thumb brushing over her picture. Such a gentle smile for a gentle person. God… why did they have to use that picture? It was right before he–

He frowns, throwing his head back. 

Fuck… 

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the Wheeler’s house, Mike decided to stay home, his parents totally unaware of him doing so. He showed the new girl around his place, acting a bit giggly when they finally got to his room. He was so excited to show off his action figures, and comic books, and anything else that he holds close to his heart. He didn’t even realize she was starting to wander off to where a collection of trophies were. Her brown eyes grew with fascination by them.

“Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year.” Mike’s smile drops just a tad. “Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political.”

Yeah, it totally was that. He expected some kind of reaction from her, except for the one where her eyes widened and she slowly pointed to the picture of Will in their fair picture together.

Mike perked up, hopeful. “You know Will? Did you see him? Last Night? On the road? Did–” He pauses. “Hang on a sec.” Maybe he’s getting his hopes up as he grabs another photo after shifting around in his drawer. It was a picture of his friends’ families at the lake, posing nicely for the camera. 

He points to the girl in the right hand corner. “This is Stephanie. She’s his sister.” He points to Dustin who’s hanging out behind her. “She supposedly gave Will a ride the night he disappeared, and we can’t find her either. Did you see her too?”

The girl studies Steph’s face, slowly the same reaction she had from seeing Will returned as she pointed again. “I–”

Her answer was cut short when they heard something from outside. Mike gets up quickly, peeking through his curtains to see his mother’s car pulling into the driveway. He pales.

“Shit.” He rushes to grab her by the hand and strings her along. “We gotta hide!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Of course the eldest stayed awake for most of the night, the two of them tucked away in the far corner of Will’s room, her eyes trained on the door just in case that wretched monster appeared again. She kept a good grip on the shotgun, one foot planted on the ground for a quick pop up if needed. Adrenaline was pumping in her blood, she was fighting off her exhaustion and hunger, while a tune played on her dry lips.

“♪ Here we stand

Worlds apart, hearts broken in two. Two. Two

Sleepless nights.

Losing ground, I’m reaching for you. You. You

Feeling that it’s gone

Can’t change your mind

If we can’t go on

To survive–♪”

Will stirred beside her, his head resting on her shoulder that was starting to fall asleep, but she refused to jostle the kid. God knows he needs his rest. Well… so does she, but she’ll get around to that. 

Her mind wanders back to the conversation they had last night, the one where Will admitted he spoke to his mother on the phone. Shock wasn’t the right word, especially when she examined the phone that had been burnt black, and when asking again if he heard that right, the youngest Byers swears he did. 

Is there actually a way to communicate to… well… ‘our world’, I guess. She ponders on that thought, wondering if it’s possible to do so without frying your phone to death. Not to mention Will swears he heard people talking before calling his mother. Can we only communicate to the people we ‘hear’? 

She scolds herself. This hurts my head too much.

“♪ –The tide

Love divides

Someday, love will find you

Break those chains that bind you

One night will remind you

How we touched and went our separate ways

If he ever hurts you

True love won’t desert you

You know I still love you

Though we touched and went our separate ways– ♪”

Will stirred again, this time waking up slowly with a groan. “Was it a dream…?” He whispers, his eyes opening at a snail pace.

“I wish.” Steph says, sadly.

“Did you sleep okay?” He asks, rubbing his face.

Her heart skips a beat and a lie slips out. “Uh, yeah. It was fine.”

“That’s good.”

“We shouldn’t stay here.” She says, surprising him. “We should probably move around, maybe lose that monster for a while. And you’re probably hungry too, I know my mom keeps cans and bottled water down in our basement for emergencies. That should tie us over for a little while.”

“Is it even safe to go out?” He wonders, yet intrigued. He’ll admit… he is a bit famished. 

“I don’t know. But we got to try. Right?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Whoa, whoa. Careful, careful.” Hopper says as he snags his partner by the collar. “I need you alive for the next few days, at least.”

Callahan smirked and scoffed as he gestures to the Quarry below. “Oh, hell, I could survive that.” He said, making his superior laugh. “What? George Burness made the jump. And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a $10 bet.”

“George is a liar. You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks.” Hopper smacks his hands together. “Break every damn bone in your body.”

The youngster pondered on that for a second before shaking his head. “Nah.”

[ ‘Chief, you copy?’ ] 

Hopper grabs his walkie from his belt. “Yeah, Flo, talk to me.”

[ ‘Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny’s. I think you need to get there right away.’ ]

And those were words he didn’t want to hear. So he and his team rushed over there as quickly as they could, and the first they were met with was the smell of a rotting corpse. 

“Ugh, Jesus!” Callahan said, covering his nose.

“Suicide?” Powell asked, after a moment of silence. 

Hopper hummed and stared in disbelief at the man laying on the table, pistol in hand and a bullet wound straight through the temple. There’s no way this can be real.

“Missing kid, suicide.” Callahan frowns. “You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief? 

“Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then.” Hopper replies, this particular moment he almost broke down. “Benny was my friend.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Stephanie peeked outside before gesturing to Will to follow. The two of them had backpacks on that they found lying around, going to use them to fill up with anything they could find – But the task that lay ahead was going to be hard. The task was…

Walking back through Mirkwood to the Henderson home. 

No lights, just a few bullets to spare, and their pure will to survive (Or maybe it’s the fear that’s fueling that will).

“I don’t like this.” Will mutters, only a few minutes after they left the Byers’ driveway and down a few feet on the road. “What if that thing spawns in front of us again?”

“Then we shoot it and book it again. That’s all we can do now.” Steph replies, carefully looking around. But what if he’s right? What if thing actually just spawns out of thin air? Then there’s not telling where and when not to go.

He stays silent, shaking a tad as they make it further down the road. It took a hot minute for the older girl to notice this and stop briefly, the twelve year old’s eyes confused just as she held out her hand. Without missing a beat, his clammy hand takes it, squeezing it tight. She smiles just a tad, reminding her of Dustin before they started walking again.

She felt him hang on to dear life as they strolled into the darkest part of Mirkwood, the eeriness that was silence was making their hearts race. She came to a conclusion after facing the monster last night that she had to be the strong one here. She has to act like the older sister again, and remain calm, and to keep him safe.

I made a promise. I don’t know how to fulfill it just yet, but I’m going to get him out of here. Steph casts a glance down at him, the poor boy’s face looked so cold. Does hers look like that too?

She grins after a quick thought. “Hey–” His eyes locked with hers. “What does a ‘Ranger’ do in D&D? That one sounds intriguing to me.”

His face lights up. “You actually want to play D&D?”

“Hey, you suggested it, I might as well. So, the Ranger? What’s that like? The lore?”

“Well, Rangers are warriors that explore different civilizations, and they hunt down the deadliest of monsters. They’re trained in many different combat techniques, survival skills, and even some magic.”

“Magic? I like the sound of that.”

“They mostly reside in the forest, or anything ‘nature-y’.” 

She chuckles. “I don’t like the sound of that. What else? Aren’t there like… classes… or different types?

“Oh, yeah.” He nods. “I guess it depends on what you prefer. Do you want me to tell you?”

“I’m all ears.” Steph said, making a motion. I’m just glad he’s stopped shaking.

“Well, there’s a lot. The most common ones are ‘Beast Masters’, which are accompanied with an animal companion. Then there’s ‘Hunters’, which are mainly just professional assassins that take down monsters of all sorts. Now, even though all Rangers have the capability of taking monsters down, Hunters are strictly made just to do that.”

She hums. “Interesting.”

“Then there’s ‘Gloom Stalkers’, who live mostly in dark realms, and take down the shadowy beasts roaming the territory. They’re pretty good at ambushing their opponents.” He smiles. “Personally, I find that the coolest.”

“Well, I can see why. What else? Do Rangers get weapons?” 

“Of course! The most common is a two-blade or archery.”

“Archery sounds cool.”

“See, I agree. But I know Lucas always says it’s ‘stupid’, so–”

Steph shakes her head with a sigh. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong when I play.”

“So you are going to play with us!” Will said, joyfully, like you just told him Christmas was coming early.

“If that’s how I prove Lucas wrong, then so be it. So how does one newbie play D&D?” She asked, hopefully this will keep him occupied. At least I can keep him distracted until we get there.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

“Are you out of your mind?” Lucas said, as soon as Mike was done with his explanation for them being here. 

“Just listen to me.” Mike pleads.

“You are out of your mind–”

“She knows about Will and Steph.”

Dustin perks up after being the silent one here. “What do you mean she knows about them?”

Mike grabs the pictures from earlier and holds them up. “She pointed at them, at their picture. She knew they were missing. I could tell.”

“You could tell?” Lucas asked, looking between the pictures and the girl who was on the bed.

“Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where they disappeared?”

Dustin nodded, agreeing. “That is weird.”

“And she said bad people are after her.” Mike said, with a frown. “I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will and Steph. I think she knows what happened to them.”

“Then why doesn’t she tell us?” Lucas asked, glaring at her direction before stomping over. “Do you know where they are?” He grabs her by the shoulder. “Do you know where Will and Stephanie are?!” 

“Stop it, you’re scaring her!” Mike pulls him away, as his friend brushes him off.

“She should be scared! If you know where they are, tell us! This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom.”

“No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger.”

“What kind of danger?” Dustin asked, his thoughts from earlier about his sister and Will taking a shotgun with them crossed his mind.

Lucas gives him a weird look. “Her name is Eleven?” 

“El for short.” Mike clarifies.

“Mike! What kind of danger?” Dustin pushes, his stomach turning.

“Danger danger!” The brunette makes a finger gun and points it between Henderson’s eyes before moving over towards Lucas who demises quickly.

“No, no, no!” Sinclair snaps, rushing for the door. “We’re going back to plan A. We’re telling your mom.”

He pulls open the door only for it to slam shut automatically. Not even batting an eye at that, he tries again, for it to not only to shut with more force but to even lock itself. The boys look back at the only explanation, and they see El standing on her feet with a drop of blood coming out of her nose.

“No.” She said, with a tone that told them not to push it.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the station, Hopper was questioning an anxious friend of Benny’s. Earl was his name, and he was sitting in a chair, eyes full of disbelief as he lit a cigarette.

“Just doesn’t make any sense, Chief.”

“You, uh, notice anything odd about him the last few weeks?” Hopper asked, trying to keep it professional (even though this case was hurting him the most). 

Earl shakes his head. “No, we’re fixin’ to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday. I mean, he was lookin’ forward to it. I know that.”

“He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around?”

“The exes didn’t like him much. That’s for sure, but… nah.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday. Lunch, same as always.”

“Just you and the boys?”

“Yep. Me and Henry and…” He pauses. “Well, there was this, uh, this kid. No kid did this.”

“Kid?” Hopper nearly perked up hope. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah. At lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh I mean, he was trying to steal food out of Benny’s kitchen. Can you imagine that?”

Hopper locked eyes with Callahan who got the silent message. “This kid what’d he look like?”

“Well, he was about yea high.” Earl raises his arm up and out. “You know, tiny like. I didn’t get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen.”

“He look like this?” Callahan asked, coming back with a missing kid poster of Will. 

He takes the flier, and immediately shakes his head. “Oh, no, that’s… that’s Lonnie’s missin’ kid. No. This was a different kid. This one had really short hair. I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp.”

Hopper tries not to let his composure break, and continues to hold on to the slimmer of hope. “Yeah, well, let’s… You know, let’s forget about the haircut. I mean, if this kid had a buzz cut… could it be Lonnie’s kid?”

“Well, I-I… didn’t get a good look at him. About the right height, though. I mean, could’ve been. Yeah, that’s… Could’ve been.”

Hopper frowns, taking the poster back from him. “And, you only saw the boy right? No girl? Teenager? Dark hair?”

“No.” Earl shakes his head once more. “No. I didn’t see a girl.”

The Chief mentally sighs. This is not good.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[ ‘A party?’ ]

Finally! Steve thought, pumping his fist. She finally sounded intrigued. He was hoping this would make up for his weird behavior at school. 

And, no, no, no, It wasn’t because of– well… ‘you know who’. Totally not because of her. Totally, totally, totally not–

[ ‘Steve?’ ]

Nancy’s voice broke through his totally not clouded mind. “Uh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, a party. Well… kind of. It’s just going to be me, Tommy H. and Carol. No parents for the whole weekend, so we wouldn’t have to worry about them coming in and ruining the mo-jo.”

Just my friends and my girlfriend. Just having fun, no worries about–

[ ‘Not much of a party with just four people.’ ]

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll admit, it’s a little sad. But you know, it’s better this way. And, you know, if you want to, you can invite Barbara. If it makes you feel more comfortable. Or not. Or you don’t have to come–”

[ ‘Steve.’ ]

“Yeah?”

[ ‘I’ll totally come. But I’m going to try to convince Barb first if that’s alright.’ ]

“Yeah, Yeah. Totally. It starts at seven.”

[ ‘Starts at seven. Got it. I’ll see you then.’ ]

He smiles. “See you then. Bye.”

[ ‘Bye.’ ] 

“Yes!” He said, once he hung up the phone. “Finally.” He feels his spirits get lifted again. “This is going to be perfect.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

“Welcome to Mi Casa.” Stephanie said, upon entering her home. Just as gross and dark as Will’s. 

“You said the basement, right?” Will asked, the thought of eating something sounded nice.

“Yep.” 

They thought navigating below “sunlight” was going to be hard, but I guess living in darkness for nearly twenty-four hours had its perks. Finding the tote where the emergency supplies were easier than they thought, their stomachs growing when they saw the cans of food. 

“Hang on second.” Steph said, disappearing back up the stairs for a sec, and then coming back with some forks and a can opener. She uses her shirt to wipe it clean the best she could before using. “Pineapple or Peaches?”

“Pineapple, please.” Will said, drooling as she placed the open can in his hands. The two of them plop down criss-cross applesauce, sighing with relief that they could finally take a rest.

“We’ll have to take what we can, but don’t make your bag too heavy in case we need to run again. Got it?” She replies, sliding over a bottle of water to him too. He nods, and takes a second to chug some liquid too.

One can was enough for now, since none of them had any clue how long they’ll be here, they’ll need to ration what they can find. Food, water, a first aid kit, some mittens and hats, an extra jacket, socks (And Will was proud to find a half box of matches laying around).

“Do we need anything else?” He asked, making her think.

She hums, and feels around her pockets. “We need more ammo. Or another gun at least.”

“Do you have any?” 

“No. I don’t.” She closes her eyes. Now where could we get more nearby? 

But the more she thought about it, the more she dreaded. She does know one place they have a gun, and hopefully still does since it’s been so long. 

She sighs. “I know… one place that has a gun. It’s far though. Really far. It’ll take us a couple hours to get there on foot. But it’s closer than going to town.” 

“If that’s what we have to do, then let’s do it.” Will said, sliding his backpack back on, ready to start their journey again. He flashes her a goofy grin. “I hope I can count this as PE for school.”

If that was a joke to cheer her up then it totally worked. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Now that they might have a lead, the police and its volunteers spread out in the woods behind Benny’s diner, hoping to find some good news (For Hopper’s sake he really hopes so). 

“Hey, you think Earl really saw Will?” Callahan asked, trying to keep up with his Boss’ speed. “I mean, what’s he doin’ with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny?”

“Tell you what, when we find him, we’ll ask.” Hopper replies, with an attitude. 

“Can’t ask a corpse questions.” Powell said, getting a glare. Suddenly, one of the volunteers blew a whistle. 

“Hold up! You got something?” Hopper shouted and broke into a sprint. “Hey, what do you got?”

“Not sure.” The person said, crouching down next to a drain. “Maybe nothing. I found this. In there.”

Hopper takes a piece of fabric from his hand, before shining his flashlight through the drain, still hopeful that maybe he was lying in there, scared but safe. 

“No way a kid crawls through there.” Powell said, in denial.

“I don’t know… a scared enough one might. His brother said he was good at hiding.”

“Yeah, but, just Will?” Callahan asked, conflicted. “What happened to Stephanie? ‘Cause there ain’t no way a teenager’s going to fit through this drain pipe.”

“Maybe they separated?” Powell questioned. 

“I’m not so sure about that. Claudia said her daughter would never leave anyone behind.”

“Willingly that is.”

“Come on, you two.” Hopper said, jogging again.

This time, they decided to follow the drain pipe that led them further into the forest. Just as their knees were about to give out, they’re met with an electric fence and a keep out sign for the one and only…

.

.

.

Hawkins Lab.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“El?” Mike announces his arrival into the basement. He had just finished having dinner with his family, and even convinced his mom to let his friends stay the night. All part of his plan to figure out what was happening to his missing family.

“No adults. Just us and some meatloaf.” He continues, placing a tray down in front of the makeshift fort, letting her know to come out. Her eyes trail to him and then to the two boys falling behind. “Don’t worry. They won’t tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?”

“We never would’ve upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” Dustin said, before getting hit in the leg by Mike. “Ow!”

“What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared… earlier. That’s all.”

“We just wanted to find our friends.” Lucas admitted, feeling a tad guilty for his actions. 

“‘Friends’?” El asked, confused by that word. It was so foreign to her. What does it even mean? 

“Yeah, friends. Will? Steph?”

“What are ‘friends’?” 

Lucas gave her a weird look. “Is she serious?” Henderson shrugged. “Um, a friend–”

“Is someone that you’d do anything for.” Mike cuts in. 

“You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards.” Dustin adds.

“And they never break a promise.”

“Especially when there’s spit.” Lucas also puts in, making sure she was getting it.

“Spit?” El said, tilting her head.

“A spit swear means–” He spits into his palm. “You never break your word.” He holds his hand out for Dustin to take and shake. “It’s a bond.”

Mike nods in agreement. “That’s super important, because friends… they tell each other things. Things that parents don’t know.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Barbara finally pulls the car over to the side after her friend insisted they stop here. She looks over at the brunette with a strange look. “What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away.”

“We can’t park in the driveway.” Nancy said, making the ginger roll her eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, the neighbors might see.”

“This is so stupid.” Barb shakes her head. “I’m just gonna drop you off.”

“Calm down, Barb. Come on. You promised that you’d go.” Nancy pleaded with her ‘baby doe’ face. “You’re coming. We’re gonna have a great time.”

“He just wants to get in your pants.”

Nancy chuckles with disbelief. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Nance… seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren’t home. Come on, you are not this stupid.”

“Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there.”

“Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade.” Barb cringes at the thought. “It’ll probably just be, like, a big orgy.”

“Gross.”

“I’m serious!”

“All right, well…” Nancy takes her seat belt off and starts unbuttoning her sweater. “You can be, like, my guardian. All right? Make sure I don’t get drunk and do anything stupid.”

“Ugh.” Barb said, shaking her head. She watches as her friend takes her top off and starts fiddling around in her purse for another one. “Is that a new bra?”

Nancy pauses. “No.”

“So, obvious, Nancy…”

“Hey.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° 

“What’s the weirdo doing?” Lucas asked, watching her sit at their D&D table and close her eyes. 

“El?” Mike said, as they gathered around, waiting.

When she opens her eyes, she slowly gravitates to one of the pieces and picks it up. “Will.” She replies, showing it was the Wizard piece, the one that the boy always plays as.

“Superpowers.” Dustin said, as Lucas rolled his eyes, still not convinced about this whole thing. 

“Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?” Mike asks, just before she brushes the rest of the figures off the board and flips it over. She places the wizard piece on the board. “I don’t understand.”

“Hiding.” She replies, the boys looking at one another. She then places another figure down, surprising them.

“Who is that supposed to be?” Lucas asked, as Dustin perked up.

“The Ranger. Is that Stephanie?” He asked, as she nodded. “Are they hiding?” She nods again. “Together.” Another nod.

“From the bad men?” Mike asked, but she shakes her head in disappointment. “Then from who?”

And without saying another word she places another figure down.

It was a beast with two heads.

.

.

.

The Demogorgon.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

It took a while like she said, and luckily they had no trouble getting there, but what was troubling the young boy was that she wouldn’t tell him where they were going. Was she embarrassed by this place? Did something happen? He doesn’t know, but it’s gnawing at him.

“We’ve arrived.” She said, as they were coming up to it.

It was… a pretty big house, much bigger than his and even his friends’ houses. He wonders if this was one of the rich neighbourhoods or something like that. And sure enough… his questions would be answered when he happened to catch the name on the mailbox. 

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Now he understands why she didn’t say anything. 

“So this is the…” Was he choosing his words correctly? “The King’s house?”

“Yep.” Stephanie said, hand on the doorknob which miraculously opened. She rolls her blue eyes. “They still keep it unlocked.” They stepped inside, still gloomy and covered in vines and goo like the last two. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Will follows behind, observing everything that seemed a bit foreign for him. “I knew they were rich but I didn’t know they were that rich.” He said after observing art piece after art piece that he knows isn’t locally made.

“Yeah, they got crazy money.” She said, and her pace seemed to quicken without her noticing. She hustles into the parents room, opening the closet to find a safe. “Shit.” She forgot about the lock. “Where did that bastard put the key?”

Stephanie starts running around the bedroom, pulling open drawers, looking through trinkets, his wife’s jewelry box too – A curse word after every failed attempt.

“Steph?” Will said, worriedly.

“Just give me a second.” She snapped, and left the room. She starts opening the drawers from the tables in the hallway, visibly getting more annoyed with each second. “For fuck sakes–”

“Stephanie!”

“What?!” She slammed it shut, rattling everything that was on. The force and her tone seemed to shock him, and even take a small step back. She grips the table, closing her eyes to calm herself. “Fuck. I just…”

And when she opens them she finds herself staring at the boy she wanted to forget about. It was a picture of him on his swim team, the frame saying: Championship 1981. She just stares at with emotions the youngest Byers couldn’t figure out what they were.

“Steph?” He asked, slowly.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to you and Steve?”

She continues to stare at the photo for another minute before pushing herself to stand. “I think he still keeps that knife in his room.” Was what she muttered before heading in the opposite direction to another room. 

Will could only wonder what really happened to them…

.

.

.

Just as the lights started to flicker.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•° 

|| PRESENT ||

Inside the most “fabulous” party of the year, Barb laid back in one of the pool chairs, listening to the terrible music that’s blasting in her ear as her best friend watches her boyfriend slice a hole into a beer can and start drinking it all in one go.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Nancy asked, as he sat down and lit a cigarette. 

“You’re not?” Steve asked, genuinely surprised. 

“You are a cliche, you do realize that?”

“You are a cliche. What with your– your grades and your band practice.”

“I’m so not in band.”

“Okay, party girl. Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then?” He hands her the knife and a can.

“Okay.” She says, all giggly.

“You gotta make a little hole right in–”

“I got it.”

“Yeah, she’s smart, you douche!” Tommy said, as he crushes his own can on his forehead. 

Soon, everyone was chanting “Chug” as Nancy down a whole beer in under thirty seconds. Everyone cheered and laughed, proud at the achievement. 

“Barb, you wanna try?” Nancy asked, holding the blade up.

“What? No. No, I don’t want to. Thanks.” She said, shaking her head. But after a quick back and forth badgering she finally gave in. She rips the items out of the girl’s hand, clearly upset. It wasn’t long before her judgment was clouding her mind and accidentally nicks herself. 

“Whoa, Gnarly.” Tommy said, impressed by the deep cut.

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked, worriedly.

“Yeah.” Barb said, trying to push her away. 

“Barb, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Oh, it’s– Steve stands up, and starts taking her over to the sliding door. “It’s, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.” He frowns. Shit of course.

But before he could say anything, Tommy had pushed Carol into the pool and then jumped in after her. Steve then shrugs, and lets a smirk play on his face as he does the same to Nancy before doing a cannonball.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

Steph tries to contain herself as she enters his room. It was taking a lot of strength not to just start flipping things over, and tear those stupid pendants off the wall.

Stupid fucking house. Stupid fucking room. Stupid fucking Harrington. She grits her teeth, fighting back the tears in her eyes as she desperately tries to remember where he hid the blade.

She lets out a groan. “For fuck sake’s, man! Where did you put it?!” She yells, and kicks whatever was near her. She swears something must have fallen out from it, but she doesn’t even want to look. 

God damn you, Harrington. She scolds, and rubs her face. How can he–

That’s when the light in his room flickered on and off scaring her half to death. “What the–”

“Stephanie!” Will’s voice shouted, kicking her into high gear.

“Fuck.” She mumbles, and races to find that blade.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT || 

As soon as Barb comes out of the bathroom, she immediately spots a certain someone heading up the stairs. “Nance! Nancy.” She shouts, getting her to stop. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. Just… upstairs. To change. I… fell in the pool.” Nancy said, feeling like she was on cloud nine. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home. I’ll just… I’ll get a ride or something.”

“Nance–”

“Barb, I’m fine.”

“This isn’t you.”

“I’m fine. Just go ahead and go home, okay?” 

And then Nancy leaves her all alone, confused and heartbroken by her friend’s actions. But despite being hurt, she couldn’t just up and leave her drunken buddy like this. So… 

She decides to wait.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Steve had found her some clothes she could change in, and he was grinning like a kid upon the thought of seeing his girlfriend in his clothes. 

I’m such a dork. He tells himself as she calls out his name. “Yeah?” There was a look in her eyes that he’s never seen before, and honestly was turned on by it.

But ‘Fuck that’, says the universe, and the home phone starts to ring.

He groans, irritated. “Hang on a second–” He proceeds to run out of the room, and shouts, “Hey! Turn the music down in case it’s my parents.”

Nancy chuckles, cheeks flush because she was ready to lose her– wait. Did something just touch her leg? She looks down to find that a box was tipped over and had opened, and wonders when that happened. Did she accidently kick it without realizing? Or was it already like that? Frankly, curiosity got the best of her as she crouched down to try to fix it. But then, her actions slowed when she saw something.

The Wheeler picks up a paper – a flier – to her surprise was the missing poster of Stephanie Henderson. 

“What?” She says, quietly, confusedly. Why was he keeping this? And that’s when she puts two and two together. She starts shifting through the small pile which was made up of photos, movie tickets, receipts from a record store, arcade tokens and– “Oh, my god.”

Suddenly, Steve comes jogging back in, relief on his face. “False alarm. It was just–”

“So who is she to you?” Nancy asked, standing up and flashing the memorabilia at him.

His face falls immediately. “Hey, that’s–”

“Is she the person that was rumored you pushed away?”

“It’s nothing.” Steve replies, trying to take the stuff away from her, but she ain’t budging.

“It’s nothing, or she’s nothing?”

“It’s– W-What? You jealous?” He asked, trying to play this thing off cool, but his girlfriend wasn’t stupid.

“I’m not jealous. I’m just curious.” Nancy replies, honestly. She takes another look at the photos in her hand before looking back at him. “I mean, if she isn’t your friend anymore, then why do you hang on to all this stuff? Or better question–”

“Nancy, stop, it’s just–”

“Why did you break it off?”

His brain short circuits again. “What?”

“I said, ‘Why did you break it off?’ I mean…” She flips through some of the photos he has, memorized. “From what I see, you two remind me of Barb and I. You two look like you were tied at the hip. So why break it off?”

“I…” Why couldn’t he fucking talk all of a sudden? “I didn’t, I–”

“So, she broke it off?” She said, eyebrow raised. 

“No. I-I broke it off, she didn’t do anything–”

“So… why did you?”

“Nancy–”

“Look, I just want to understand you. I mean, every time I think I have you figured out you throw me through a loop.” She gives him a reassuring look as she picks up the box, shuffling whatever was remaining around. “I mean, from what I see, you seem like a completely different person then. I just wonder if it’s a good thing or a bad–” 

Now it was her turn to look lost (and for Steve to lose all the color in his face). She frowns, slowly pulling out a small casing. “Is this a… bullet?”

“That’s nothing!” He manages to snag at least that away.

“Why do you have a bullet in the box?!” She asks, eyes blown wide.

He swallows. “Nancy–”

“Did you shoot her or something?”

“What?!” He scoffs. “No! Why would I shoot her?!”

“Well did she shoot you?”

“No! Nobody shot anybody, it was just–”

“Then why do you have a stray bullet cas–”

“‘CAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!! OKAY?!” Steve snaps, startling them both (He can’t believe he just lost his cool like that). He swallows again, head spinning at the memories (Why did he fucking leave the box right there?). “I just… there was an incident and… it… shaped my decision, okay? But it didn’t involve me or her with a gun, it was… s-someone else. Someone I know. I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, I…” He sighs and grabs the box, holding it out for her to put the stuff away.

It takes her a moment to process it all, and she does put all the stuff in her hands away, but she remains silent the whole time. She’s never seen him act this way before.

It honestly concerned her.

Nancy breaks eye contact, and only reverses it when she gathers the right words. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry I intruded, I probably shouldn’t have but… I’m just trying to understand you.”

Steve shakes his head, still confused. “I-I…” He shrugs, and crosses his arms defensibly. “What’s there to understand?”

Nancy gestures to him and says, “Well, for starters, you’re an airhead and–”

“So?” He cuts in, as she holds her tongue and continues. 

“And you’re arrogant, snarky, and sweet–”

“Sweet’s fine.”

“Of course. Sweet’s fine. I love how nice you are to me, Steve.” She then frowns for him. “However, that gets overshadowed by your… insecurities.”

He pauses, now it was his turn to take in those words (What the hell did she mean by that? He’s not… no). “I don’t… I don’t have any… any–”

“Steve.” Nancy takes a step closer. “I don’t know why the kid in these pictures decided to change into the one I’m seeing before me, but if that doesn’t have to do with any insecurities, then I’m not sure why you decided to make that change willingly.”

“I… W-Willingly?” He scoffs again. “What do you mean? I never change willingly? What are you even getting at, Nance?” He hasn’t changed. He’s never changed. What is she even getting at?

But Nancy looked at him with eyes full of pity and took another step closer. “I don’t know what the reason was for you two to stop being friends, but all I know, from what I gathered, she wasn’t the one to end it.” She places Steph’s flier on his chest that he subconsciously grabbed, and said one last thing before leaving his room. And that was,

“Maybe there was a good reason for you to end it, but that’s not an excuse for you to stop being who you really are.”

And Steve’s left with an epiphany he’s not sure he can decipher. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW || 

As soon as the lock was broken, she retrieved the gun from the safe and frantically told her companion to get down the stairs. Will and Steph’s hearts were in their ears, and it sped up when the light above the front door flickered.

“Shit–” She pulls the boy to a halt, and redirects them to the back door. “Go, go, go, go, go.” 

She throws open the sliding door, and out into the backyard, but as soon as they step foot onto the ground, the lights around the empty pool start to flicker. The two of them stopped immediately and held their breaths. They weren’t sure where the beast was at, but it was definitely nearby ready to snatch them up.

They were afraid to even breathe or twitch. What if this thing really does appear out of thin air?

They both jolted when a loud growl came from somewhere inside the pool. Wasting no time, Steph taps Will on the arm and makes a shushing gesture, then waves him to follow her. The boy understood completely, and the two of them move slowly, so carefully that there’s not way–

The both of them screamed when two human hands grabbed onto the top of the pool ladder. 

A girl’s head poked up, face battered and covered in grime, her glasses shattered and splattered with blood. The girl looked so fam–

“Nancy!!” She shouts, as something growls behind her, scaring all of them to their core. And when her eyes landed on the two of them, she desperately yelled for help just seconds before the beast’s claws wrapped around her head and pulled her back. 

Will and Steph matched the girl’s scream, and the beast roared in delight that his prey was just right in front of it. Its claws could be seen grabbing the ladder, like it was trying to crawl out and feast.

That’s when the two of them booked it. 

The guns rattled in their hands.

The tears in their eyes.

Whatever this place was, they knew…

.

.

.

This couldn’t get compared to hell itself.

(TBC)

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

@emsownuniverse @unspecifiedvisitor @smaryamsstuff @kitty49646

[munsonfamilyband]

I love nothing more than all the adults just deciding to adopt Steve - add to that the moms all adoring Eddie and you have my favorite shit. (TW mentions of child abuse)

You would think Claudia Henderson was the first mother to fall for Steve Harrington’s charm but it isn’t. It isn’t even Karen Wheeler, who met him while he was dating Nancy. No, it’s Joyce Byers. She met Steve when he was young, still in elementary school, and he had come into Melvald’s to get groceries when his parents had left him home alone. After seeing him come in multiple times without a parent in sight she started slowly taking care of him; she knew that she couldn’t push herself into his life, he was clearly uncomfortable with talking about his home life. Over time she was able to sneak food into his bags of purchases and then she would gift him “hand-me-downs” from “Jonathan” in the winter so he wouldn’t freeze.

Hopper was next. Steve was in 8th grade by the time they met. Steve had been friends with Tommy Hagan for a few years by then, but Tommy had finally convinced him to throw a party and the party very quickly got out of hand. Hop was called to the Harrington house for a noise complaint and he broke up the party. He did notice that Steve got visibly uncomfortable when he said he had to call his parents but procedure was procedure. He threw out procedure when a few days later he saw Steve in town with a black eye and a bruise around his wrist. From then on out he would always answer calls to the Harrington’s and he never called his parents again, he would stick around and make sure Steve was okay and had medicine for the hangover he was sure to have. He couldn’t do much, wouldn’t do much with the pain of Sarah still so raw, but he did what he could.

Karen Wheeler came next, endlessly endeared to Steve when he showed up to take Nancy on a date. Ted hated him, and she could agree that Steve appears self centered but she witnessed small moments that made her realize he wasn’t completely who he tried to appear to be. She would notice him flinch minutely when Ted snapped at the kids, or the well covered bruises when she heard his parents were in town. He was also kind and doting to Nancy which made her like him more. Karen was sad when she heard they broke up but Steve never stopped coming around, just this time he was there for Mike instead.

Claudia Henderson was suspicious of Steve at first. Her Dusty was different than other kids, she never had the money to get him seen by a professional and get a name for what was so different in his brain, but she knew that children were mean to him for it - she hated that he was bullied because he was such a wonderful kid with so much brain it made her head spin. Steve was 5 years older and had a reputation around town but the first time Dustin invited him over for dinner was the day she decided that she had two sons. Steve was polite and kind, he brought flowers to thank her for letting him stay and eat her food, and he and Dustin bickered but Steve so clearly cared about her son. Then Steve showed up at her house with a bloody nose and a split lip and a distinctly hand shaped mark on his cheek and asked to spend the night and he was solidified as one of her kids forever, even if he and Dustin stop being as close as they are.

The Sinclair’s don’t know Steve as well, but they hear about him constantly, first from Lucas and then from Lucas AND Erica. They figure if Erica likes him then he’s an okay kid, and he’s never been anything but kind when they have met him.

Wayne Munson is the last to meet Steve, and it takes him the longest to warm up to Steve. He had spent years listening to Eddie complain about people like Steve, and even Steve himself, so when he started showing up at his trailer all the time, Wayne was suspicious to say the least. Eddie kept telling him that he wasn’t who he was in high school, he even went on a tangent at one point about how Steve was just trying to survive the only way he knew how, but Wayne didn’t buy it; he knew Steve’s parents, and he figured that Steve had to be like them. Even when he saw how kind Steve was to Eddie, to the kids, to that Robin girl he’s always with, he still didn’t trust him. Funny enough, the moment that changed that for him wasn’t in his trailer, where Steve practically lived by then. No, it was at Family Video. Wayne had stopped by to get a movie for he and Eddie while Eddie was at work, and he didn’t see anyone at the desk when he walked in but he heard voices in the back room that he recognized as the Robin girl and Steve. She was clearly upset with him for something but it took him a moment to gather what.

“You can’t hide this stuff from us- from me! You and me, Steve, we do not hide things.”

“I know, Rob, I just- I didn’t want to burden anyone, okay? You weren’t supposed to find out, especially like this- ow, be gentle! My nose was broken a week ago, you could clean it softly, you know.”

“I am so mad at you right now, Steve, do not push me. You’ve been living out of your car for the past week-“ Wayne was definitely surprised at this point because he knows that the Harrington’s have a big house, “-and your dad gave you a concussion. What is this, number 5?”

“Okay, fine, yeah that part was stupid. I should have said something about the concussion. But what was I supposed to do? I don’t even know who told them about me and Eddie-“ He and Eddie? What about them, that they’re friends? It made sense in some way, to Wayne at least, that the Harrington’s would be upset about their son hanging out with Eddie but living in his car seems extreme. “-and the things he was saying…. I couldn’t listen to it, I had to say something. Even if it meant that I got kicked out and disowned.”

“Have you even told Eddie?”

“Absolutely not, he would blame himself and then offer to let me stay and I know Wayne barely tolerates me - not that I blame him, but it still sucks, I want him to like me. Me and Eddie… I feel like forever with him and if Wayne doesn’t even like me now, how would he respond to finding out the rest of it?” Everything seemed to click together for Wayne and he heard a sniff from the backroom like someone was trying not to cry. He himself felt like crying, because this boy had clearly been through a lot and someone had apparently outed him to his parents who beat him and kicked him out. Before Wayne could even recover from that bombshell the backroom door was swinging open and he was making eye contact with Steve Harrington. “Wayne-! I didn’t-Hi, uh, how long have you been in the store?”

“Long enough. Come by the trailer tonight and we’ll figure out where your stuff can go. You should probably call Ed though and let him know.” Wayne nodded his head and started to leave, very uncomfortable with the tension in the store, but he stopped to say one last thing as he was leaving. “As long as you and my boy take care of each other, you and I are gonna get along fine.”

Steve ended up moving into the trailer that night and Wayne gained a new perspective on him. They began watching sports together and he got to see the love his nephew had for Steve and vice versa clearly.

For Eddie, Joyce was also the first (she seemed to just collect sad kids). He had moved to Hawkins to live with Wayne only a few weeks before and he wandered into Melvald’s for some snacks. His hair was just starting to grow again and it was all sitting awkwardly on top of his head, his curls making strange shapes. Joyce took one look at him and was brought back to how Steve had looked all those years ago, how she and her kids were before Lonnie left, and she decided to step in again. She started by giving him some tips for his hair and then, just like with Steve, she started sneaking him little things over time. When she came back from California after Vecna they met again and she was so glad to see him, so happy that he seemed to fit in his own skin.

Claudia came next, unsurprisingly. The loud music and the distinct skunk-like odor that stuck to him (Claudia wasn’t stupid, she knew what that was) made her nervous. But after having known Steve for a couple years by then, she knew better than to judge from appearances and she was correct. Eddie was like another brother for Dustin, but while Steve complimented Dustin’s quirks and nerdy interests, Eddie shared them all and they seemed to feed off of each other’s energy. He was energetic and kind to her Dusty, and that is all she could ask for him to have in life.

The Sinclairs came to like Eddie after that, mostly for the same reasons that they liked Steve, but also because they had been told that Eddie nearly died to protect their kids.

Karen Wheeler always struggled being around Eddie despite how nice he was to her and to her kids - he reminded her of a mistake she once almost made with another boy who liked his music loud and angry. She did appreciate how Eddie managed to calm Mike’s angry outbursts, he pushed Nancy out of her comfort zone, he even let Holly braid his hair a couple times. Her favorite thing about him was how happy he made Steve (her soft spot for Steve hadn’t faded with time and seeing him so happy was a joy).

Hopper was the last to warm up to Eddie, not for lack of trying. Hopper knew that he should be more understanding, but since he had become a father again his paternal instincts had gotten worse. He hadn’t even realized that he saw Steve like that until Joyce made a comment about Steve and Eddie being close and he felt something oddly similar to what he experienced with Mike and El. He knew about Steve’s history with abandonment and alcohol and drugs, he also knew about Eddie’s tendency to run and his “job” in the woods. Hopper tried to remember that Joyce knew the kid, had said that he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but his instincts were telling him that Eddie was a bad influence. That didn’t change completely until he found out that Steve had apparently been kicked out because someone told his parents that he was dating Eddie and he had been living in his car for a week. He then found out that as soon as they found out, the Munsons had taken Steve in without hesitation - and Eddie had even slashed a couple tires at the Harrington house (Hopper pretended that he didn’t know that because he refused to press charges on the Harrington’s behalf). Hearing that Eddie had taken care of Steve when Hop hadn’t even known he needed it settled his nerves and put Eddie into his heart.

[ekza-art]

Why is Mike so dumb? (Not really)

The layered internal conflicts of the characters in Stranger Things are truly admirable. And the fact that people refuse to see that behind the words of the characters may be hiding something completely different from what they mean, only confirms this: people love to deceive, and first of all themselves.

"Friends don't lie" has become more than just the Party's naïve motto as they've grown older, it's become the keynote that, after coming full circle, like so much else on the show, it's back to full circle by Season 5. The Duffer brothers have made the lines of the show's key characters incredibly deep and complex, and what's happening right now between El, Will and Mike is one of the most complex and truly horrifying tragedies of our entire existence.

It always seemed very strange to me how a large number of people cling to Mileven and do not see anything else around. At the same time, I do not feel hatred or rejection towards lovers of the Mike / Eleven couple. But let's be objective: how many couples do you know who have stayed with each other for life, becoming each other's first? I'm not talking about the couples from the series that ended up getting this far, let's talk about reality. Children's first love is something truly pure, tender, almost holy. I was also in love with my 11-12 years old, and when now, at 31, I remember this, I remember only warmth and bright feelings. I remember this boy's name, but I don't even remember his face.

At the same time, the Duffer brothers in an interview frankly told us several key things: they do not believe in love at first sight, they do not consider the relationship between Mike and Eleven to be something serious, they describe this relationship as “Mike found a puppy in the forest and wanted to take care of him". Plus, and I think it's a big deal, when Eleven was first seen, Party had her hair cut so short that other people thought she was a boy -- at 11 years old, boys and girls aren't that different yet. At the same time, I always liked the ease and acceptance with which Mike spoke about El in any of its forms: he really didn't care if she looked like a girl or a boy, he finds her "pretty" in any form. And I think this is also important.

I was a fan of Mileven myself until the end of Season 2. I cried and was touched by the way Mike and El kissed at the Snow Ball. But during Season 3, I began to understand that something was clearly wrong going on between them. And Mike is really starting to act weird. At this time, they are 14 years old, more conscious sexuality begins to wake up. Hormones are raging and all that stuff. And at these moments, I begin to notice in Mike that he is not really want to take next base in relationships with El. Don't you remember yourself at 14? I remember myself very clear. We hung out in groups, and when the boys paid attention to us, we wanted to be as tactile with them as possible. But Mike is limited to very modest hand touches. This is his maximum, while El hugs him, reaches for him, while kissing wants to touch his face and hair. This is weird. I do not take into account Mike's lies in all of this, but for some reason one very important thing comes to my mind: at 11 years old, Mike did not listen to Hopper and went to look for Will with the Party on his own, at 12 years old, Mike, angry, attacked Hopper with his fists. And then suddenly he was horrified by Hopper when he scared Mike a little? Last year a boy literally saw a possessed friend and dead people, for God sake! At the same time, the boy probably understood that Jim would not do anything to him, would not harm him at all. So why did he start to avoid El and come up with all sorts of nonsense? Was he just looking for a reason? And the words of Jim to Joyce are also important: "they kiss all the time." That is, apart from kisses, a couple of Mike and El are not interested in anything else and do not have a connect without any "End of the World" danger? That's really sad.

"Mike tries to be normal as hard as he can" is practically a Finn's quote from Season 4. And in general, the way Finn refers to his character as an "idiot" in other interviews shows us that he understands what's going on with Mike, and it pisses him off. If this isn't a sexual identity crisis, then what could be tormenting Mike so much? I remember my identity crisis, which I lived at the age of 15-18. It almost took me to a psychiatrist and a surgeon because I couldn't figure out why I liked both boys and girls and why I sometimes felt like a guy. It was scary. I lived in Russia in the 2000s and it was very similar to the 1980s in America, trust me. The clash of conservatism and liberalism regarding sexual minorities and their representation on TV was simply crazy. I had no where to get information about what was happening to me. And as I look at Mike's tossing, I remember that I also tried my best to be "normal." I had my first sex at 20, with my close many-years friend, because it was too scary for me. And at the same time I suffered very deeply inside and thought that I was going crazy. Of course, Mike begins to lie to himself and believe his lies in order to stay sane. He really believes what he says at the end of Season 4. But his monologue is the bizarre mixture of lies and half-truths that he is now capable of.

I sincerely believe that Mike loves El. However, he is completely honest when he says that he "cares about her", calls her a "superhero" and cannot say "I love you" when El expects these words from him as her boyfriend. He loves her, but not in the way that El loves him -- not in a romantic way. Mike's monologue at the end of Season 4 is kind of a compromise. He reconciled his two opposing sides inside and brought them to what we have in the final. But while it's true that he might like guys too, he's not ready to dive just yet.

And at the same time, I really like the way El reacts to all of this. I want to ask the Mileven fans why, after the long-awaited “I love you”, El barely talks to Mike and feels lonely? She had been waiting for these words for so long, heard them -- but is she unhappy? Doesn't this seem strange? I would love to hear an explanation of this situation, because if it's not that El sensed the lie in Mike's words (and that he was lying to himself first of all), then I don't understand what is happening. I think El is amazing and she deserves the truth. And a relationship with a guy who is confused in himself is not what she deserves.

I'm truly sorry for Mike. I understand his conflict, I understand his suffering. He really is terribly confused. And I love how the Duffer brothers showed us that from the very beginning of the series. While everyone was wondering if Will was gay (although in the very first developments for the series, the phrase "has difficulties with sexual identity" was literally on the second line of Will's description, that is, it is a key to his personality), they dragged through the growing up Mike's internal conflict, giving us such microscopic clues that it was very easy to miss.

The theme of growing up, changes in oneself and in the world, self-determination, presented by the Duffer brothers in Stranger Things is really brilliant. We are used to the fact that there are shows for children and there are shows for teenagers, and these are completely different age categories and they raise completely different topics. And because of this, the very transition between these categories seems to turn into a perennial abyss. Although in fact the border is very thin, and it is this border that is the most conflicting of the moments of life. We are used to the fact that 15-16 year old teenagers are played by 20+ year old actors, this does not seem strange. And I don’t know how about you, but I still have very strange feelings from the fact that in Season 1 we see 11-13 year old actors who play 12-year-old characters with their childish games, and in 4 season they are already 18-20 years old, their characters have become full-fledged teenagers of 15-16 years old, and they really grew up. But, unlike other shows where we get to know teenage characters already at their 15-16, here we grew up with them. We live together with these complex conflicts of adolescence. And yes, that's why we often feel uncomfortable about it. We want certainty, we want to see that the characters have clear answers to everything, but come on guys! Let's be honest with each other.

[im-justatrashcan]

What if all of volume 2 is Steve’s Vecna vision.

Nancy getting a vision of all of Hawkins (Steve’s home) getting destroyed. They make a plan to go back into the Upside Down (which Steve was totally against but no one listened to him). Nancy and Robin both getting choked out by vines while he’s helpless and not able to help them.

Robin getting her heart broken by Vickie when Steve is 100% sure she’s into Boobies, but Robin not believing him, which is fair as a lesbian in the 80s. But then her really seeing it and running off heartbroken at War Zone after seeing Vickie kiss a dude. Steve doesn’t want Robin to be hurt ever and he just watched her heart break.

Max, his little pseudo sister, sure she’s cursed by Vecna in Vol. 1, but I don’t really believe that Steve would go along with letting three children go up against Vecna alone when there are other threats out there (I.e. Jason fucking Carver coming in and beating the shit out of Lucas). Seeing her get hurt to the point of dying for over a minute and then being brought back is something that could break Steve.

Dustin. Literally thinking Dustin is in any danger makes Steve go crazy. He trusted Eddie enough to leave Dustin with him and to keep Dustin safe. But then when he gets back from the Creel house fight, and sees Dustin screaming and crying over a dead Eddie surrounded by bats… yeah that’s not a good sight for Steve. And then he finds out that Dustin broke his ankle from jumping back into the Upside Down.

Eddie, who yeah he just met but got to know really well second hand from Dustin and Mike when they sang his praises to Steve. The “older male friend”. The first male his age that Steve actually likes and wants to be friends (or more) with, just ups and sacrifices his life for Dustin. But Eddie runs, he’s not afraid of running, like he said to the party during their campaign: “there’s no shame in running.” Had Eddie kept running or after he fell, grabbed the bike again or even fucking hot wired a car that was in the upside down, he would be alive and would’ve still distracted the bats and gave Steve and them more time.

And even the California crew. Sure Steve didn’t know anything that was going on with them. But he has heard the stories about Eleven and Dr. Brenner. Brenner being back and alive, forcing El to see the things he forced her to in that tank, under the guise of getting her powers back. Traumatizing her even more. Steve may not have known El for long or interacted with her as much as he had with the rest of the Party, but he’s heard stories and knows the stuff that she’s gone through. He would be LIVID knowing what happened in that bunker.

Will, the nicest and most polite out of the Party. Will has gone through so much shit and as much as I liked the Russia storyline because it gave us Hopper, I don’t believe Joyce would just leave her sons and El in California alone with no adult. So for Steve to find out that the mother figure in his life left Will in California alone (with Jonathan but still) just reminds him of his parents leaving him alone all the time. And Steve does not want any of his kids to feel like how he felt when he was growing up.

Also. Back to Nancy. For the last two years or so Nancy has been all Gaga over Jonathan, cheating on Steve with Jonathan and making plans for the future with him and not with Steve. Why would Nancy not respond almost immediately to Steve saying his Winnebago dream was with her with “I love Jonathan” or “I’m with Jonathan”? Sure they’re having trouble with long distance but Nancy seems like the kind of person to only cheat once, since she saw how that basically destroyed Steve.

So yeah. Volume 2 and maybe some of Volume 1 could be Steve’s Vecna vision.

[awkwardauthorwrites]

End of the World - Part Two

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: swearing, fluff, like one line of angst. Previously on awkward-author

NOVEMBER 22ND 1984

THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE SNOW BALL

“…have a nice day!” Y/N smiled at the customer as they turned to leave and faced her co-worker at the opposite till. “Please tell me it’s home time,” she groaned and leant against the counter so that she could drop her head in her hands. “Are people being particularly stupid because its closer to Christmas? Or is it just me?” 

“You did say you had a bad night,” Joyce Byers smiled at the younger girl and emptied some of the notes from her till. “Did the kids wear you out last night? I did warn Steve about what they’re like at the Arcade, and Johnathan was willing to go.”

“Nah, the kids were great,” Y/N shook her head and finally moved her hands away from her face. “Actually, I’m pretty sure if they hadn’t worn me out I wouldn’t have slept at all.”

“Nightmares?”

“Yeah,” she nodded awkwardly and avoided the older woman’s gaze as she tidied the leaflets around her till. “Does it get better?”

“It will,” Joyce spoke softly as another customer walked into the market. “Having Bob around helped me a lot the first time...I’m sure Steve would be more than willing if you let him in.”

“What?” Y/N’s eyes shot up to look at the woman in surprise. “Steve and I aren’t...did Will...?”

“And Jonathan,” Joyce chuckled as the girl groaned once more and slumped down to rest her head on the counter. Joyce couldn’t hear exactly what she was muttering to herself, but she definitely caught the words shithead kids and no respect for anyone’s privacy. “For the record, I think you two look good together – I always have. He’s always been so protective over you, even as kids. It was adorable to watch him take care of you on the playground.”

“Should I be jealous?” The easily recognisable voice of Steve Harrington drifted down the aisle, diverting both of the women’s attention. “Mrs Byers, you look as lovely as ever.”

“Hi Steve.” She looked like she wanted to roll her eyes at his behaviour, but instead excused herself and she caught sight of the top of her youngest son’s head.

“Hey, stranger,” Steve ran a hand through his hair casually and shot Y/N a charming grin as he leant forward to rest on the counter. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was behind him before he darted forward and pressed a kiss on her cheek.

“You literally dropped me off for work a few hours ago.” Y/N shook her head at his antics and hoped he didn’t catch the light blush that crossed her face (he did). “What are you doing here? I thought you were babysitting the kids?” 

“I am.” She pretended not to notice as he snuck his fingers across the counter slowly while he spoke so that he could reach for her hand. “They insisted on needing more supplies for their game. Said something about how El would want Eggos?” He glanced over his shoulder once more to watch as Dustin and Lucas attempted to act like they weren’t eavesdropping as Joyce walked by them to stand behind her till again. “When do you get off?”

“Well,” Y/N shot him a wicked grin and rested her own forearms on the counter, narrowing the gap between them considerably. Steve was too distracted by the mischief sparkling in her eyes to notice the sinful smile that graced her lips. “That’s a bit of a loaded question, don’t you think?” 

“What? Oh – oh! Not – I didn’t…oh, come on!” he pouted as she threw her head back and laughed at his embarrassment. Even though he honestly hadn’t meant to phrase his sentence that way (although, a very inappropriate thought did cross his mind) he was glad that his humiliation had given Y/N a chance to laugh freely. He knew that she had been struggling over the past few weeks, so every laugh or biting remark she shot his way was like a blessing to him.

“You’re too easy, Stevie,” she leant forward and pecked his cheek before pulling away as the kids neared the counter. She grinned as the kids teased him about his red cheeks while she scanned their items, and she could even hear Joyce mutter on the other side about how happy she was for them both. That comment earned her an exasperated sigh from the oldest male, but Y/N could see the almost shy smile playing on the corner of his mouth every time he caught her eye.

“Don’t be home too late,” Joyce kissed the top of Will’s head and looked up at Steve. “Are you sure you don’t mind bringing him home after the eclipse? I can easily pick him up.”

“Its alright Mrs Byers, honestly,” Steve sent her a reassuring smile. “I don’t mind doing it, Will will be safe.” 

“Yeah, and if anything happens we have Y/N there to protect us!” Dustin spoke up and sent the girl a wide toothy smile. “Nothing is stupid enough to get in her way.” Steve looked mildly offended as all the children agreed, causing the young adult female to laugh and lean over to pinch her best friend’s cheeks. 

“This is why I like the kids better than you Stevie. They’re smart enough to know I’m a badass who shouldn’t be trifled with.”

“I think I got the message when we were thirteen and you broke my arm, thanks,” Steve rolled his eyes at her and swatted her fingers away.

“I remember that,” Joyce nodded, a sly smile plying on the corner of her lips. “He screamed so loud when he hit the ground that we all thought he had been injured a lot worst than a broken bone.”

“What did you do?” Lucas blinked up at Y/N, an expression akin to awe on his features.

“Absolutely nothing,” she smirked. “I still maintain that Steve fell out of that tree through his own volition.”

“You pushed him out of a tree?” Max repeated, and looked between the pair before laughing with the boys. “I knew there was a reason you were my favourite, Y/N/N.”

“He fell, but thanks Mad Max,” she winked at the younger girl as Steve began to usher all the kids out of the shop. 

“Five!” Joyce called out to him, catching his attention before he left. He whirled around the face her in confusion and took a few steps closer as the kids got resettled into his car.

“What was that?”

“Y/N finishes work at five today,” Joyce repeated, shooting the younger girl a coy smile. “It’s been slow all day, there’s no need for us both to stay on until closing time.”

“Are you sure?” Y/N shot the older woman a grateful smile. “I don’t mind staying.”

“Go have fun, I’ll be okay on my own.”

“Well, that’s settled then,” Steve walked up to Y/N’s till again and leant across to plant a loud kiss on her cheek. “Bye, beautiful.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Out.”

“Like a date?” she smiled wryly.

“Yes, like a date,” he rolled his eyes playfully. “Just like the last five we’ve been on.”

“Um, three? Babysitting your children does not count as a date.”

“Our children,” he winked at her and turned to finally leave the shop. “I’ll be here at five to take you home!”

“Do I get to know where we’re going?”

“Of course not,” he shook his head with a grin. “I’ll see you later, gorgeous.” Y/N watched as he walked out of the doors, and followed his figure until he got in the car, winked at her one last time, and drove away.

“...tell me again how there’s nothing happening there?” Joyce chuckled as Y/N’s face flamed.

“Shut up.”

*

True to his word, Steve was waiting outside at five to pick Y/N up from work. He greeted her with a tight hug after catching the disgruntled expression on her face and held the passenger door open for her to climb in. The drive back to her house was short, and filled with her complaints on asinine customers, and it wasn’t long before she was rushing out of her house in an attempt to escape her questioning parents.

“Looking good, Y/L/N,” Steve gave Y/N an appreciative glance as she slid into the car once more. She rolled her eyes at him playfully and leant forward to fiddle with the radio.

“Wish I could say the same to you, Harrington,” she shot back. 

“Rude,” he pretended to look wounded, which only earned a laugh from her as he drove towards the junkyard so that they would meet up with the kids, who all greeted her with cheers when they saw the pair approaching. Steve rolled his eyes as El moved forward to hug the older girl and pushed his way through the crowd of pre-teens to grab a blanket from the small pile they had collected from all the houses. He settled down onto the makeshift bench of tires and a plank of wood and waited patiently until Y/N walked over to him, a flask of hot coffee in her hands.

“So, not that I’m complaining or anything,” Y/N wrapped her hands tightly around the thermos she was holding and pulled her knees to her chest for extra warmth. “But why aren’t we watching this eclipse from the comforts of a nice and warm house?”

“Well, I was going to have everyone round mine.” Steve shook out the thick blanket as he spoke and wrapped the material around both of their shoulders while placing an arm around Y/N. “But, I figured my parents wouldn’t really appreciate a bunch of middle school kids running around the house.” He shrugged and pulled her closer when he realised just how cold she was. 

“Your parents are back?”

“They walked through the door when I was leaving to get you.”

“Why didn’t you stay at home with them? I would have understood.” Y/N knew, although he didn’t really like to admit it, that Steve loved to spend time with his mother when she was around. She adored and doted on him, and it was clear how much he cared about her in return. Mr Harrington, on the other hand, was a bit of a dick. Y/N didn’t have any direct issues with the man, but there were definitely a few things she didn’t particularly like about him, all of which revolved around the way he treated his son.

“They were tired,” he tried to play it off casually, but she could see that he was hiding some additional information from her. 

“And?”

“And,” he paused to chuckle and bumped her shoulder gently. “They may or may not have pushed me out of the door when they heard I was taking you on a date.” He glanced down at her, his smile softening when he took note of how red her cheeks had gotten, and he half-hoped it wasn’t just from the cold. “They love you.”

“Of course they do,” Y/N laughed and took a sip of her drink. “They’ve known me for my whole life.”

“No, like, they actually love you. I’ve never seen my mom so happy about any other girl I’ve taken out. She was ecstatic and kept talking about wedding decorations.” They shared a brief glance at how completely characteristic that was for the older woman.

“And your dad?” 

“Clapped me on the shoulder and said good luck if I end up hurting you because he sure as hell won’t stand in the way of your warpath.”

“Classic Mr H,” Y/N scoffed. “So heartfelt.” They both fell silent for a second before she turned her head up to watch him carefully. He was too absorbed in making sure the kids didn’t do anything stupid to notice her at first, although he soon caught on to her unwavering stare.

“What?”

“You told your parents about us.”

“Yeah…” he looked down at her curiously, wondering where she was going with her train of thought. “Have you not told yours?”

“Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why did you tell them?”

“I mean, I figured while it would be fun not having to sneak you into my room it would be better to let them know about this thing that we have…” Steve trailed off as he caught a glance at the look on Y/N’s face. “Yeah, I said it, we’re a thing.” 

“I don’t remember agreeing to being a thing,” she tapped on her chin thoughtfully. “Were you planning on letting me have a choice in this?”

“Blame the kids,” he waved his hand in the direction of the now-occupied children who were sat a little way away from them. “They said something about making an executive decision on wanting their parents to be together.”

“Huh.”

“…what now?” Steve pretended to groan, although there was a smile playing on the corner of his mouth. 

“Nothing it’s just…are you saying if the kids didn’t make an executive decision then we wouldn’t be a thing?” Y/N was trying to bug Steve, and he knew it, which is why he rolled his eyes in response and pulled her closer. 

“Don’t let them know,” he leant down to whisper in her ear, fully aware of how he was affecting her as she took in a shaky breath. “They think the decision was all theirs, and they seemed pretty glad about it, but I made the choice myself a while back. Although, I would definitely call what we have more than a thing.”

“Smooth,” Y/N let out a breathy laugh to play off her reaction to Steve’s sudden proximity and leant into his body to steal some of his warmth. The pair stayed silent for a little while, just watching the children and the stars before Y/N spoke up again quietly. “I told them.”

“Hm?” Steve titled his head down to look at her questioningly.

“My parents, I told them. My mom can’t seem to make her mind up on whether she’s happy or not and my dad played out his tough man act and said he doesn’t care that you’re like a son to him, he will shoot you if you hurt me in any way.”

“You didn’t tell your parents about any of the other guys you dated.”

“Yeah, well…” It was Y/N’s turn to try and shrug casually as she looked up at him with a shy smile. “The others weren’t…worth it.” She watched as several different emotions flickered across his face, before finally settling on slight awe as he looked down at her. After everything that had gone down with Nancy, Y/N knew that Steve didn’t think he was good enough. She had almost wanted to strangle him when he called himself a shitty boyfriend, and then she wanted to strangle Nancy for not disagreeing with him. Sure, he had messed up, especially in the beginnings of their relationship – she would never forget the look of absolute terror and regret on Steve’s face when she confronted him on how he had slut-shamed Nancy – but he was human, he made mistakes, and more importantly he had learned from them and bettered himself. Y/N couldn’t bring herself to say that she missed Carol and Tommy H. “So, we’re not at yours because your parents are home. That doesn’t explain why we’re here, in the junkyard.”

“I, uh, figured that the sky would be clear enough out here to watch the eclipse.” He stumbled over his words and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Y/N narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion and pinched his arm so he would stop avoiding her gaze.

“You’re not telling me something.”

“Says who?”

“Says me,” she flicked his reddening ear gently. “That’s not from the cold, Harrington. Spill it.”

“How do you know it’s not from the cold?” he shot her a charming smile in an attempt to disarm her, but unfortunately for him, she had seen it more times than she could bother to count. “I didn’t realise you were watching me that closely, Y/L/N.”

“You’re cute when you blush, what can I say?” she shot him a wicked grin, the same one that had all but knocked him off his feet and left him speechless a few hours ago. “Do I have to resort to bribing you like when we were kids? I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” He tried hard to imitate her impish smile, although he knew it was nowhere near as devious as hers. “Well, that’s a loaded offer, don’t you think?” he repeated her words from earlier, hoping it would throw her off course.

“I said anything, didn’t I, Harrington?” Y/N leant in slowly, her features contorted into a devilish mirth Steve had only seen once before. The look meant trouble, and he knew it, but he was enraptured nonetheless as her lips brushed against his ear as she spoke in hushed tones. “I promise to make it worth your while, Harrington. But first…” Her lips were curled into a smile at how easily she was affecting the boy by her side. 

“First?” he muttered, his voice coming out a little hoarse.

“First…” she paused to press a gentle kiss to the corner of his jaw. “First, you gotta stop deflecting and tell me, you piece of shit.”

“I…” he let out a groan and pulled away from her half-heartedly. “You’re cruel.”

“You’d think you would be used to it by now,” Y/N laughed. “But it’s okay, you have a lifetime, considering you won’t let me out of getting married to you.”

“You’re off the hook. I don’t want to marry you anymore.”

“Nope, too late, Harrington. I made an executive decision. You’re stuck with me.”

“I’d rather face the demodogs again.”

“Now that’s just rude,” she pouted playfully, earning a laugh from Steve as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“You know I’m kidding,” he pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Y/L/N. You’re my best girl.”

“I know,” she hummed and laced her fingers through his slowly. “You’re alright too, I guess.”

“Thanks,” he let out a sarcastic sounding chuckle, which died down when she pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You can’t do shit like that.”

“Like what?” she grinned and pecked him once more.

“Be all cute when I’m not supposed to kiss you yet.”

“Are you trying to say you still want to kiss me, Harrington?”

“You do realise that I like you, right?” he glanced down at Y/N, a shy smile playing on the corners of his mouth. “Was I not making that obvious enough? Do I need to try harder?”

“All this has been you trying?” Y/N asked sarcastically and flicked the back of his hand. “I wasn’t aware.”

“Cute,” he flicked her hand in retaliation and quickly retracted his when she tried to pinch him.

“I try,” she stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as he tugged her closer and poked her side. He grinned when she tried to pry herself out of his grasp, and tightened his arms around her as she struggled playfully against him. Y/N tilted her head to look up at him, a biting remark on the tip of her tongue that soon died down as her as she realised just how close her face was to his. Steve’s gaze dropped lower, glancing quickly at her lips before looking back up to her eyes. Every nerve in his body was begging him to close the gap between them and kiss her, regardless of the month not being over yet. He watched as she leant in towards him slowly, her eyes darting across his face nervously as they both narrowed the gap between them at a torturously slow pace.

“Are they going to kiss or not?” Dustin huffed, quite loudly. The rest of the children shushed him and the small yelp that followed let Y/N and Steve know that one of them had smacked the boy for interrupting their moment. Y/N’s money was on Max. Steve hid the frustration and disappointed on his face, but shot the kid a glare that Y/N missed as she dropped her forehead to rest on his shoulder in mild embarrassment.

“Two more weeks,” Steve muttered to himself, his grip tightening slightly around Y/N’s shoulders. She didn’t think she was meant to hear him, but repeated his words nonetheless as they looked up to watch the beginnings of the eclipse.

“Two more weeks.”

[tangent101]

Sadly, this won't happen and I have one significant reason as to why

You only have Victoria feeling shame for her actions in a post-Bae setting where she was a victim of the Dark Room. In the post-Bay setting you have an angry Victoria who lashes out at Kate for daring to sully Jefferson's name and accusing Kate of lying and worse. This Victoria is also coping with the fact her best friend is a monster... but do you honestly think she's going to just say "Nathan was bad" and accept that? Would you abandon your best friend at their worst point of their lives?

No. She's going to tell herself lies. She's going to say that Chloe Price was blackmailing Nathan and he was defending his life. Chloe was a threat and deserved to be gunned down - I mean, look at her stepfather David, he's been bullying so many students! It's clear he was a bad influence on her. And his claims against Nathan are obviously done to punish Nathan for defending his life!

(One thing to note is we only see Victoria's folder in the Dark Room on Wednesday's ending scroll. Jefferson had intended on having Max win the Everyday Hero Contest and drug her. Victoria's likely victory meant he was forced to accept a lackluster victim but honestly one that he would maliciously enjoy tormenting. So there's no folder with Victoria's name at the point of Nathan and Jefferson's arrests. Victoria is still safe. She isn't going to turn on either of them.)

Nathan is getting out of jail within three years of a post-Bay setting. This was confirmed in LiS2. David was planning on murderhoboing Nathan (which he'd fail at and I am fairly certain Joyce would let the Prescott family know and get a nice little reward for protecting Nathan in this way) because he was getting out of prison for involuntary manslaughter after three years. The minimum time, no parole, is 10 years, which means his conviction is being overturned in an appeal. So if Nathan is getting out of jail after three years? (Assuming he even went to prison, the appeal could have in theory kept him in house arrest.) That's just proof that Kate and Max and all those others are lying.

I hate to say this but... the best thing that ever happened to Victoria was ending up in the Dark Room. It was a serious moment of opening her eyes and realizing that her actions had consequences. She pushed hard to be the winner of the Everyday Hero contest and thus ended up in Jefferson's sights. She has kinship through being victims of Jefferson with Kate, and that is what would help them bond.

There is one other thing to consider. This Max is very much an older version of Max from the start of Life is Strange. She avoids acting so she doesn't have to worry about consequences of her actions. She continues to observe. This is not the hardened Max who successfully stood against the Storm and said "fuck this, I am not going to give up everything I fought for." This is a Max who fled and has no self confidence and no hope... and would just let her friends drift away.

Why would a post-Bay Max want reminders of that week? A week she can't even tell anyone about. A week that she likely is starting to tell herself never happened. No. She abandoned her new friends and just never responds to e-mails or texts or the like. She just drifts.

Now, a post-Bae Max might be more willing to do so... but the personality of the Max that Deck Nine is crafting is very much a post-Bay Max. It is a Max who has no confidence and is stuck in the same ruts she was when she attended Blackwell. It's just she takes pictures successfully now. And if Chloe isn't a part of her life... if she's mourning because Chloe died of Covid or something... would she actually bother talking to anyone?

Max needs Chloe. Without Chloe, she's going to just abandon old friends and her past. She's done it before. And from a game developer's point of view, the less work they have to do, the cheaper the game and the more profits. So no one from Life is Strange outside of Max will show up. And Max will be the same exact person whether it's post Bae or post Bay. It's just that the players will get to click a little box at the start of the game.

Based Off My Last Post:

What could Double Exposure do to piss YOU off the most? Also, what would could Double Exposure do to make you happiest?

[bylertruther-moved]

also also also ALSO very curious as to where the byers are gonna live next season. bc even if they patch up the cabin.... doesn’t it only have two rooms? and it’s... a cabin? lol. are jonathan n will just gonna cohabit the living room or smth? and if will n jonathan just live with the wheelers in their basement or whtever it’s like. well. would joyce even let tht happen? jonathan would go with will anywhere, but joyce is very much... joyce, even if she did go to alaska without telling anyone lol. and if they did go to the wheelers... that’s all the way across hawkins. so it’s like. I Have So Many Questions Too Many Questions And No Answers

[claireunoia]

♡ㅤׄㅤִㅤ ୨୧ jonathan byers would actually be the most perfect, loving boyfriend there ever was. he’s such an amazingly caring, kind guy. there’s no other way to describe it. from the way he treats the people he loves shows exactly that, his protective gentle nature always made your soul smile, if that was even possible.

you don’t care though because it was true. jonathan was the little firefly that came into your life. he spread his wings, and instantly brightened up your world. you never thought you would ever fall in love with such a soft, nurturing human. but you were so incredibly grateful.

he’d be just the cutest and most domestic.

-ˏˋ ❀ ❀ ❀ ˊˎ-

it was one early morning at the byers trailer. after a study session going on for too long last night, you decided to stay over his and made sure to let tell your parents know. they absolutely adored your lover and trusted him so it didn’t take too much convincing to do. and joyce? oh man did she love you so. she practically treats you like her own.

you had woken up from your slumber, your fatigue body dragging itself into the kitchen and living area as best as you could. your eyes were met with the sight of your shirtless boyfriend *due to the fact he gave you his shirt for you to sleep in* at the stove, a spatula in his hand as he cooked. will was sitting at the little table coloring while joyce was pacing around looking for her purse.

the byers mother caught your sluggish figure first, a beautiful smile illuminating her face when she sees you.

“morning, sweetheart. how are you feeling?”

“good morning, ms. byers. i’m great, thank you! how about you?”the older woman scoffs lightly, grabbing her purse she finally finds on the couch. “oh love, it’s joyce! it’s some coffee left in the pot, help yourself out sweetheart” the words were a bit rushed as she grabbed everything she needed for work. making sure to peck both of her boys on their cheeks, giving you a hug before announcing her departure.

jonathan turns his head from the sizzling skillet to face you. giving you that warm smile you just love so so much.

“hey honey” he softly greets, a content hum emitting from him at the way you wrapped your arms around his waist. your face pressed against the relaxed muscles of his bare back.

“hi baby” you reply with the same sincereness, giving his body one last tight squeeze before breaking away from him. backing away to go up to ruffle will’s hair, giggling when he groans and shakes your hands off him. a smile plastering his face regardless at your antics.

“i’m making some eggs, babe. would you like some?” you immediately nod your head, coincidentally feeling your stomach vibrating with raging hunger in that moment. the older byers boy chuckles at your frantic motions, moving away from the stove momentarily to place a sweet kiss at your forehead.

“go grab a plate, i’m almost done. i’ll make you the special”suddenly will perks up, a confused expression on his face.

“what’s the special?”

“well, will. it’s called the special for a reason, buddy. it’s only reserved for y/n”

-

*follow my library account @rileybinaalibrary & turn on notifications to know whenever i post a fic

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E8; Chapter Eight, The Upside Down - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘋𝘳. 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘺𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘺𝘮. 𝘠/𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭.

A//N: I would like to take a couple of seconds to rant about my awesome parents Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper. What amazing folks they are!

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Joyce fought tooth and nail against the cold restraints securing her in place. She had quickly grown tired with the sight around her, the isolation of the interrogation room in Hawkins Lab. After leaving the children in the care of Jonathan and Nancy, she and Hopper had unsuccessfully attempted to break into Hawkins Lab to enter the gate and find her missing boy. And now she found herself here, waiting around for someone to show as if she had all the time in the world.

As if Will did.

For fucks sake, she needed to get out of here! She needed to save her baby.

"SOMEBODY, PLEASE!" She winced against the sharp metal threatening to cut her skin at her attempts to pry herself free. "LET ME OUT!"

Finally, after far too long the sound of the door unlocking pulls her attention to the entryway. She caught the figure of an older man slinking through the crack in the door and into the shadows where he remains, his back turned to her.

Leisurely, he strides to the far corner of the room, still lurking in the dark when he turns to face her. Moments pass and even in the dark Joyce can make out his glistening, beady eyes locked on her when he finally speaks.

His voice was hollow and dark as if this man had never seen or been capable of anything other than darkness.

"Your son." He says, turning up the dial and boiling her blood with just two words. "We know you've been in contact with him."

The temptation to give in to the blind fury for this man for his foolish gall of acting as if she didn't have the right to save her son, was strong.

"You have to let me—"

"When," he cuts her off, inching towards the edge of the shadows. "and how did you make contact with him?"

A million thoughts race through her mind, each demanding priority. But the only thing she could pull from the masses was,

"What?"

He hums thoughtfully.

"Six."

Once again, she is blindsided.

"What?"

"Six," he states again, coming to stand before the chair opposite her and sheds his coat. "Six people have been taken this week."

He drapes his coat on the back of the empty chair.

"This... thing that took your son... we don't really understand it. But its behavior is unpredictable." With a small smile, he thinks again of his children that have escaped his grip. He pulls out the chair and lowers himself into the light as he takes a seat, continuing. "Like all animals... it eats."

Joyce cast her head down to her lap and shakes her head wearing a sour, disbelieving look as she faces the man before her. She knew all too well who this man was. She had so from Hopper, she had heard so from Becky Ives.

But she knew him as the man responsible for the horror unleashed upon Hawkins. The man responsible for her son's "death."

Dr. Martin Brenner.

But he didn't seem to believe himself responsible. And if he did, he didn't mind lying to her about it.

"It will take more sons." He says. "More daughters. I want to save them."

His lips stretch into an odd, unsettled line that was meant to be a smile but it never once reached his eyes.

"I want to save your son."

More lies.

"But I can't do that. Not without your help."

Joyce had enough of the bullshit. She had had enough of him. She leaned forward with an eery calm that had washed over her.

"Stop."

His calculated eyes never once closed, never once blinked. He just sat frozen, watching her. Joyce almost had to laugh.

"I know who you are. I know what you've done." She shook her head, disgusted. "You took my boy from me! You left him in that place to die! You faked his death!"

He remains unblinking. Unfazed. It was revolting to Joyce, he revolted her.

"We had a funeral. We buried him. And now you're asking for my help?"

The fleeting urge to laugh returned.

It was laughable. The thought that anything — anything — including an alternate dimension, a freakish monster, or! the beast that took her son would stop her from getting her boy back was laughable.

And it was Joyce Byers's greatest pleasure to look this freakish monster in the eyes and give him the only answer she had for him.

"Go to hell."

And Joyce meant it. Every word. She knew she had the upper hand, even in cuffs, cause she was willing to do whatever she needed to to make that happen.

Even if that meant dragging him down there herself.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Hopper's body collapsed on the concrete floors of the interrogation room. He had been met with yet another surge of electricity from the taser gun.

A groan escaped Jim Hopper's lips as he sat huddled into the corner of the room, three agents surrounding him - a woman with short blonde hair and a stern frown stood towering over him. As did an equally intimidating man standing beside her, and a third, balding man who held the taser gun firmly in his hand. Hopper couldn't help but wince from the pain and the foul metallic taste on his tongue that he couldn't shake.

His breaths were ragged and he looked between the three agents - the second man spoke.

"Okay, now what do you know?"

"I'm sorry." Hopper panted. "Did I stutter?"

The man and woman shared a firm look, and Hopper continued to speak. Confidence rose with every word he spoke.

"Everything."

Hopper felt his entire body suddenly convulse when he felt the searing pain of the taser gun stab his upper back.

He cried out in pain, doubling over and spitting up.

"What do you know?" The woman asked coldly.

Hopper panted once more, making eye contact with the woman.

"I know you do experiments on kidnapped little kids, whose parents' brains you've turned to mush. And I know you went a little too far this time and you messed up in a big way."

He never broke eye contact with the woman, who had huffed out in annoyance once or twice as he continued to ramble on.

"I mean, you really messed up, didn't you? Big time? That's why you're trying to cover your tracks."

The two agents suddenly avoided eye contact as Hopper proceeded to list several of the horrible offenses they had committed.

"You killed Benny Hammond, you faked Will Byers' death. You made it look like that little girl just ran away. See, I told you. I know everything."

"All right, who are you working with?" The man asked, anger showing through his clenched jaw.

"Nobody. But I did give all this over to my friend at the Times. He's gonna blow this thing wide open." Hopper's chuckles were quickly replaced with groans of agony when he felt the searing pain of the taser yet again.

Taking advantage of his weakened state, the two men grabbed Hopper by the arms and pulled him into the chair.

The balding man with the taser bent over and got close in Hopper's face.

"You're just a junkie. A small town cop who had a bad week."

The other man grabbed a syringe off of a metal tray as the balding man spoke.

"Took one too many pills this time." The man stepped aside and the woman stepped into view, arms crossed.

"You made a mistake coming back here."

"No, I didn't." Hopper muttered. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna let me and Joyce Byers go... you're gonna give us anything we need, and we're gonna find her son. And then we're gonna forget that any of this ever happened."

"Oh, is that right?" The woman asked.

Hopper held his cold gaze, never wavering.

"Yeah. That's right."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

We were all sat on the bleachers. Mike had a very exhausted and cold El leaning against his shoulder, a towel wrapped around her shoulders. Dustin sat next to Mike and Lucas and I occupied the other bench behind them.

After getting El out of the bath, Joyce and the chief left us with Jonathan and Nancy to go find the gate to get Will.

Meanwhile, we were all still sitting here growing impatient and a little worried as to why Jonathan and Nancy stepped out and haven't come back yet. Mike seemed as worried as I did.

His leg bounced up and down in worry and I sat and stared as I wrung my hands together in a nervous habit.

My attention was ripped away to Mike when, without warning, he jumped to his feet and left the gym calling for his sister and Jonathan.

Moments later, he came back, walking fairly quickly towards us.

"They're gone."

"What?"

"Nancy and Jonathan. His car's gone."

I stand up quickly at the news.

"So, they just up and left us?" I ask angrily.

"They're probably just sucking face somewhere."

My face scrunched up in disgust at the comment and look to my brother incredulously.

"They would never leave us alone for anything like that knowing we are in danger."

"Y/n's right. They would never do that. No way!"

"Did they go with the Chief?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know!" Mike said defensively.

"No." El said quietly.

"What? Did you see them? Do you know where they went?"

We all looked to her hopefully.

"Yes."

"Well, where did they go?" I asked frantically.

There was a small pause before she spoke, making my stomach plunge.

"Demogorgon."

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Hopper's attention was brought to the door when it slowly opened. A man with white hair, who he had recognized to be Martin Brenner, stepped in. His feet scraping against the floor lazily, indicating his lack of urgency, and he turned to lock the door behind him.

He took one look at Hopper before reaching into his jacket pocket, grabbing a pack of smokes and walked over to the man handing him the cigarettes. Hopper gladly accepted them and took a cigarette out and placed it between his lips. Brenner stood off to the side, hand in his pockets as Hopper lit the small stick of nicotine.

"Where are the children?"

Hopper took a deep elongated breath before speaking.

"You gotta give me your word." He muttered staring ahead at the brick wall in front of him. "Nobody's ever gonna find out about this. And those other four kids, those boys — all of them — your gonna leave them alone. I don’t care if you think he's yours, he's not. He's a got a family, he's a registered citizen. You can't touch him. You can't get away with it, legally at least, but you know know don't you?"

There was a pause as Hopper drew in another breath of the cigarette. He never bothered to look up at Brenner but he didn't need to to know his words angered him.

"Then I'll tell you," he continued. "Tell you where your other little science experiment is."

Brenner watched the man from behind, prepared to negotiate. He found a bitter taste on his tongue at the mention of the demands regarding the second Henderson boy. A small scowl etched his face before it slowly melted away, the gears began turning in his brain. He circled Hopper, knowing he had to choose his words carefully.

"If you give me what I want, I assure you, the children will be safe." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

[space-fox-writes]

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary-After the final fight with Vecna, Y/N gets hurt, sending her to the hospital

TRIGGER WARNINGS- Talk of injury, blood, hospital setting, tell me if I missed anything

A/N- I didn't really know how to end this one, so sorry for the crappy ending! Enjoy!!

Words Count- 2.6k

It was finally over, Vecna was dead. It was dead silent, no one making a noise. The group stood, looking at each other, slight, exhausted smiles pulling on their lips. Vecna lay in front of them, his gross, slimy body splayed on the floor, black blood oozing from his wounds, expanding as it continued to flow from the once human. 

Nancy lowered her shotgun from her shoulder, sighing as the final demogorgon fell limp on the ground from a gunshot wound, letting out one last screech as it died.

Then the celebration started. Steve and Robin hugged each other tightly, Nancy and Johnathan kissed, Johnathan then pulled Will into a hug, smiling at him. Hopper and Joyce embraced and kissed each other, letting out heavy sighs of relief that the fight had finally come to an end for good. Mike lay with El in his arms, exhaustion overcoming her body from fighting Vecna, smiles on their faces as they watched Dustin and Eddie hugging each other, jumping around like crazy people, Lucas and Max holding each other in tight embraces.

Eleven's eyes caught sight of the only remaining member, Y/N, who sat off to the side, breathing heavily. El squinted her eyes, taking a minute of staring at the older girl, to realize she had a piece of wood impaled in her chest. The younger girl scrambled to her feet, forgetting all about her exhaustion, rushing to the oldest of all the teen girls. El fell to her knees, looking at the wound to the other girl's chest, tears welling in her eyes. 

"Oh my God. Eddie!" Mike called as he followed his girlfriend to where she was off to in such a rush. Everyone fell quiet, the only noise came from Y/N, her labored breathing becoming apparent to her friends around her.

When Eddie saw who El and Mike kneeled next to, his heart dropped, rushing to his dying girlfriend. "Oh my God. Y/N/N. W-what happened?" He asked, tears filling his deep brown eyes. Y/N looked up at him with glazed-over eyes, giving him a weak smile, blood coating her teeth, but she hadn't even noticed the metallic taste in her mouth.

"I-I-I had a little accident. Didn't m-move out of the w-way f-f-fast enough I gu-guess." She stuttered, a string of blood mixed with saliva falling from her lips as she spoke in a quiet voice. The metalhead could faintly hear Hopper instruct Steve and Robin to bring a car around to the front to pick Y/N up, the two older teens following orders quickly. Eddie moved to sit next to his girlfriend, trying to move her onto his lap, but she only whimpered out, and all movement ceased. Eddie didn't want to put her in more pain than she was already in, so he sat next to his injured girl, stroking her hair every few seconds. "Hurts, Eds." Y/N muttered, her words almost too stung together to make anything out of. 

"I know baby, I know. Just hang on for me for a few more minutes. Harrington and Robin are bringin' the car around to take you to the hospital. Just keep those pretty eyes open for me for a little while longer, pretty girl. Come one Y/N, keep those eyes open for me!" Eddie voiced, watching as the y/e/c color of Y/N's eyes fluttered closed, but would open only a second later.

"Car is here!" Robin yelled as she rushed back into the building. Hopper moved to the injured girl, telling Eddie to help him get her into the car, Eddie doing as told. Everyone rushed after the three, watching as Eddie got into the back of Steve's car first, helping to guild Y/N into the back with him, resting her head on his lap. Hopper shut the door once the girl was fully in, telling Eddie everyone would meet him at the hospital in a while after they all cleaned up. Eddie simply nodded his head, telling Steve to go. The tires squealed on the pavement for a second before the BMW was flying out of the parking lot of the old Starcourt mall, where the fight ensued.

The car tore down the roads, Robin occasionally turning around to check on her friends in the back, making sure Y/N was still awake and responding to her boyfriend.

"Hey, Y/N, baby, keep your eyes open for me! Stay awake princess, we're almost there. Steve, go faster, I'm losing her!" Eddie yelled, trying to keep the fading girl in his lap to stay awake. Steve pressed down on the gas pedal harder, shifting the gear, the car lurching forward just slightly before picking up speed, bringing them closer to the hospital. Eddie stared down at Y/N, watching as her eyes drooped more, trying to coax her to stay awake. Y/N fought against the inviting sleep that was encasing her, but she lost when it wrapped its sloth-like fingers around her, encasing her in a darkness that she wasn't entirely sure she would wake from.

~*~

The incessant beeping of something close to her woke Y/N from her slumber, bringing a hundred-pound brick of pain with it. The sloth-like fingers that encased her before unraveled from around her, but also dropped the brick onto her chest, shoulders, and sides, refusing to let up. An itching feeling crawled up her arm, pulling her other arm to her side, scratching at whatever was causing the itch. Her fingers felt tape and something sticking to her arm, so naturally, she started to pick at it, trying to get whatever it was, off of her arm. Warm hands grabbed onto her, pulling her hand away from her arm, wrapping themselves around her hand and setting it back down on the bed.

"Leave the IV alone, princess. It's there to help you." She heard a voice say from next to her, the same place she heard the beeping coming from. It took her a minute to register who the voice belonged to, but it wasn't long before she was opening her eyes to see her boyfriend sitting next to her bed. His hair was pulled into a bun on the top of his head, a look Eddie knew Y/N loved, his torso covered in a hoodie. He had bags under his eyes, dark compared to his usually light skin. His lips looked irritated, chapped and red from the constant picking and chewing he did over the last few days. But, the thing Y/N noticed over everything else, was the bright smile he had on his lips. His perfect teeth shown through his smile, radiating warmth towards Y/N. 

A sudden pain rushed through Y/N's chest and shoulders, eliciting a whine of pain from her lips. Eddie sat up suddenly, placing his warm lips on his girlfriend's hand, watching as she breathed heavily, trying to will the pain away. When it calmed down, the girl slowly opened her eyes, looking over at Eddie. "What happened?" She asked, having no memory of how she got here, or really even why she was here.

"We fought Vecna, remember? We were in the old Starcourt mall. We didn't realize that Henry had built a kind of home there. We fought him there and killed him. He's dead, baby. It's finally all over. No more Upside Down shit. It's all over." Eddie said, a beaming smile on his face.

"But how did I get here?" Y/N asked, trying to recall the events at Starcourt that lead to her laying in a hospital bed.

"When we were fighting him, you got hit in the chest with a wood chunk. It went into your chest and hit one of your lungs. You almost died, but we were able to get you here just in time. You died on the operating table twice, baby. They had to revive you two times before they could get the wood out of your chest. But they were luckily able to pull the wood out and stop the bleeding before you started to code again. You've been asleep since then. That was four days ago." Eddie explained, playing with her fingers as he spoke. "You gave me quite the scare there, princess. I thought I lost you that night." The dungeon master mentioned, tears falling from his sad brown eyes. Y/N removed her hand from his grip, bringing it up to his face to wipe the tears away, letting the palm of her hand rest on Eddie's cheek, allowing him to nuzzle his face into her hand, finding comfort in being so close to her after days of no contact with her.

~*~

Not long after, Eddie went and got the doctor so he could examine Y/N. He confirmed she was okay, saying he would like to keep her for several more days before letting her go. Once the doctor left, Eddie all but jumped into bed with Y/N, snuggling close to her, making sure to be careful of the stitches on her chest. "Rest Eddie, you need it. I'm not going anywhere." Y/N told Eddie when she saw his eyes drooping. The metalhead nodded tiredly, falling asleep only minutes after he agreed. 

The couple slept the rest of that day and all through the night, waking up mid-morning the next day. As the pair ate breakfast, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Max came to see them. They were happy to see their friend finally awake, talking to her, asking her how she was, making sure she had everything she needed, overall, just fusing over her. Once she was able to calm the four down, they sat and talked quietly.

"Hey, baby. Are you okay if I go and shower? I won't be long, ten minutes tops." Eddie asked from behind her in bed, moving her hair off her neck and behind her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll be fine Eds. Take as long as you need. I've got these guys to keep me company." Y/N replied to him, planting a kiss on his lips as he got out of bed and walked to the bathroom in her room.

"You know he never left right? He hasn't left this room once since you were put in here four days ago. And he hasn't left the hospital at all since that night. He's stayed put ever since." Steve said once he heard the shower go on. The girls confirmed what he said, telling her how he hasn't even left the hospital to smoke. He sat in the waiting room while she was in surgery, sat next to her in the recovery room, and now has sat in this room waiting for her to wake up. 

"He had Dustin go to his house and get a bag full of clothes and his other things for him so he didn't have to leave. He said he didn't want to risk not being here when you woke up." Max said, smiling softly at the care Eddie had for Y/N. Just then, the bathroom door opened up, and Eddie came out of the room with a new set of clothes on, towel drying his hair. He smiled sweetly at her, tossing his towel over the chair under the window to dry. 

"I think we should get going, let you rest some more Y/N. Glad to see you awake and doing better. We missed you." Nancy said, slowly ushering everyone out of the room, giving Y/N and Eddie a warm smile before she walked out of the room. Just as they walked out, a nurse walked in, looking over the chart on the wall.

"How are you feeling right now, Y/N?" She asked in a sweet tone, grinning at said girl.

"I'm alright. Still tired but I'm sure that will stick around for a while." She replied, resting her head back on her pillow.

"Are you feeling up to a shower? I'll help you and we can go as slow as you need." The nurse asked, walking closer to the bed, putting the side railing down as she talked.

"Yeah, I would love nothing more than a shower. I feel gross. I've never gone this long without a shower." Y/N snorted, making the nurse grin at her, and Eddie chuckle under his breath at his girlfriend. 

"Alright. You're okay to wear whatever you want, as long as it's not tight or constricting on your chest and shoulders. I'll help you into the bathroom and if you need help showering, I'll be there to help." The nurse reassured, smiling gently at Y/N.

"I have some extra clothes for you here, babe. I figured you'd want to get out of the hospital gown as soon as possible, so I had Dustin grab something for you." Eddie said, getting up from the bed and digging through his bag for something that Y/N could wear. He came back with one of his shirts and a pair of pants, handing them to the nurse.

"Alright sweety, let's get you showered!" She said, helping the injured girl into the bathroom.

~*~

The bathroom door opened up, pulling Eddie from the random show he was watching on the tv, seeing Y/N walk out first, the nurse behind her for support. She shuffled across the floor carefully, gently sitting down on the bed when she got to it. She swung her legs up onto the bed, covering herself with the blankets once she was comfortable enough. The nurse quickly bid her goodbye, reminding her if she needed anything, to press the call button.

Y/N sunk down into the bed, looking over and Eddie with tired eyes, giving him a soft smile. "Hi, baby. Have a good shower?" Eddie asked, stroking her wet hair.

Y/N nodded her head, letting her eyes close for a moment before she opened them again. "It was great but it really kicked my ass. I didn't know taking a shower could be so tiring." She said with a quiet giggle, making Eddie laugh too. 

"I'm sure. I do have to say though, you look really good in my clothes. They just swallow you whole, don't they?" Eddie laughed, looking at his girlfriend in his clothes. His Hellfire shirt nearly hit her knees, meaning she didn't really need the sweats she was wearing, but she put them on anyway, seeing as she was so cold. "Go to sleep princess. I'll be right here with you when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere." Eddie said, letting Y/N cuddle into his side as she slept.

~*~

"Alright, clean your stitches twice a day and put this over it once you're done cleaning it. Eddie, don't let her lift anything heavy until she has the stitches out and don't let her do too much. Her lungs are still healing too, so it's going to be hard to do some things right now. Just give yourself time to heal and you'll be fine. And no more getting wood chunks embedded in your chest, I don't want to see you back here for that. I'll have someone call you to schedule your follow-up appointment." The doctor said, handing papers to Eddie before he let the couple go.

Eddie pushed the wheelchair out of the front doors to the hospital, to the side of his van, helping Y/N up into the passenger side before he returned the wheelchair and got in on his side.

"You ready to get out of her, princess?" He asked, putting his seatbelt on. Y/N nodded her head, flashing him a wicked smile.

"Yes! Now, let's go to our spot in the woods!" Y/N said with a spark in her eyes, making Eddie nervous.

"I don't think so! You, princess, are going home and resting until you get those stitches out." Eddie said, throwing the van into gear and pulling out of the hospital parking lot. Eddie could hear the sigh from beside him, stealing a glance at his girlfriend, seeing her pouting in her seat. The metalhead snickered to himself, pulling out onto the road, driving himself and Y/N home to his trailer.

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

My friends and I occasionally play that made-up game called "Kerfuffle" - A bit like DnD but with everyday life tasks and not as nerdy (sadly :D). You pick a random politician, TV char., etc. and try to overcome some challenges in a way you assume they'd do it. Last time we played, I obv picked s.o. from ST - Joyce. That was when a random thought crossed my mind: If s.o. were to name each ST main character's greatest weakness/ strength, what would be the outcome? I immediately thought of you. :D

Ok, now that the election is over, and my anxiety has come back down to its usual “only a little high” status, it’s back to business here. This is an interesting question from my pal @sollody here. I’m not going to be able to go too much into depth given the breadth of the question here, but it’ll be a nice look at several characters. Perhaps this will result in requests for more in-depth looks at some of them individually. For the sake of having a defined meaning of “main character,” I am only going with characters who were in all three seasons and were directly involved in the action (sorry, Mr. Clarke). I will make an exception for Max, as she’s just too central to leave out.

The Party

Mike

Greatest Strength: Determination. Once he sets his mind on something, he does everything in his power to see that it happens. Do not try to come between Mike and his objective. God help you if you try to stop him when his objective involves Will or El.

Greatest Weakness: A lack of emotional intelligence. Mike reacts to his emotions as they come. There’s no apparent self-awareness, and this results in impulsive behavior that leads to negative outcomes for himself and his relationships. The feelings themselves aren’t the problem. Mike just doesn’t understand them enough to react appropriately.

Will

Greatest Strength: Quick thinking. I was tempted to mention his compassion, but really Will’s greatest asset is his mental acuity. Since season 1 he has shown an impressive capacity for quick thinking in stressful situations.

Greatest Weakness: Insecurity. Will has self-esteem issues resulting from not only the Upside Down situation, but also more mundane personal and family experiences. He worries about how people view him and fears that he’s being left behind. This leads to him keeping important things to himself, things nobody, especially a child, should be expected to deal with alone.

Lucas

Greatest Strength: Rationality. Lucas has generally been the member of the party with the most down-to-earth mindset. Regardless of all of the supernatural goings on, Lucas has tried to view things realistically. His approaches to the events of the series have typically been the most practical, skeptical, and grounded. Ironically, this actually does make him a good Winston, though I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him this.

Greatest Weakness: Overconfidence. Lucas is very sure of himself, sometimes too much so, even when warned off by others. From being sure that El was trouble, to risking a beating from Billy, to thinking he’s some suave expert on women, Lucas has made trouble for himself and his friends. He doesn’t meant to, of course, and a lot of this may come from some desire to “be a man.” Lucas needs to learn to accept himself as he is.

Dustin

Greatest Strength: Curiosity. Dustin is always looking to learn more about anything and everything. Nothing is too weird or off-putting for him. His knowledge has come very much in handy for the Party, and this general attitude has led to him accepting the supernatural events in stride.

Greatest Weakness: Recklessness. Dustin, in his pursuit of satisfying his curiosity, or some other goal, can fail to see clearly obvious dangers. Find a strange creature? Raise it yourself. See a strange growth in the underground tunnels? Go get a closer look. Find out about a possible Russian base in the mall? Let’s go check it out! His goals are often admirable, but his approach is often foolish.

El

Greatest Strength: Adaptability. El has managed to escape a government facility, survive in the woods, and travel to unfamiliar locations despite her young age. While she has been somewhat dependent on her powers, she’s managed to accomplish some impressive feats for someone who hasn’t had anything close to resembling a normal upbringing.

Greatest Weakness: Ignorance. This isn’t the “you’re so ignorant!” meaning of the word. I mean it in the truest sense of the word: El just lacks a lot of information in life. Most critically, she’s emotionally and socially unaware. A lot of her schemas for relationships come from TV shows and what little she picked up from Mike in season 1. She’s gotten somewhat better as the seasons moved on, but there’s just a lot she doesn’t know. This had led to her being suspicious, angry, and possessive (specifically of Mike), harming her relationships with others.

Max

Greatest Strength: Acceptance. Max doesn’t unduly judge anyone. Her issues with Mike stemmed from his treatment of her. Aside from that, some light teasing aside, she was more than happy to accept the Party as her friends. She didn’t let Lucas’ race get in the way of their mutual attraction, despite knowing what Neil and Billy would think about it. She wanted to be El’s friend from the start, and, despite being harshly rebuffed at first, she accepted El when she sought Max out in season 3. It’s really a testament to how determined she is to not continue the cycle that Neil and Billy brought into her life.

Greatest Weakness: Family. Honestly, Max’s biggest drawback is her home life. She’s worried that she may end up going down the same angry, abusive road as Billy and Neil. She’s mistrustful, snarky, and blunt even when not worked up, behaviors she likely developed due to exposure to Billy and Neil. She also seems to still love Billy despite his abusive behavior. This sort of family dynamic can be very damaging (and it was probably just as harmful to Billy). Hopefully, Max’s found family serves to offset the harm done by her “real” family.

Older Teens

Nancy

Greatest Strength: Determination. It must be a family trait. Nancy is relentless, and she will get to the truth of the matter, one way or another. Nobody, and indeed no monster, will keep her from what she’s after.

Greatest Weakness: Egocentrism. Nancy can easily lose sight of how things impact those around her. Her desire to prove herself has left her somewhat blind to the difficulties other people face. She has trouble relating to people from other situations.

Jonathan

Greatest Strength: Compassion. Jonathan has sacrificed a great deal for his family, and he’s apparent done it without any noticeable resentment. His treatment of Will resembles the ideal that a lot of parents hope for in their kids (though in reality Mike/Nancy or Lucas/Erica is the more realistic outcome). Jonathan just wants those important to him to be happy.

Greatest Weakness: Social Awkwardness. Jonathan has a great deal of trouble interacting with other people. This likely stems from his family situation, as his father leaving left his family as pariahs of sorts, and it also left him having to be a sort of father figure when he should have been able to be a regular teenager.

Steve

Greatest Strength: Courage. Yes, Steve has been freaked out by everything, but that’s irrelevant. Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the ability to feel fear and not let it control you. Steve has willingly put himself in harm’s way for the sake of others in all three seasons. The only thing that scares Steve too much to overcome is social judgment...

Greatest Weakness: Insecurity. Yes, our buddy, King Steve, has self-esteem issues. This is why he’s always trying to play himself off as a hotshot. He’s simply too afraid to just be himself. Sadly, it’s only when he lets this guard down that he’s at his best. He’s made some stride at overcoming this, and I’m hopeful that he continues this in season 4.

Adults

Joyce

Greatest Strength: Ferocity. Do I even need to explain this? Do NOT threaten Joyce’s loved ones, especially Will. Just don’t.

Greatest Weakness: Emotional Reactivity. When stress hits Joyce, she reacts hard. It’s perfectly normal, given the level of stress she feels, but it leaves her seeming “crazy” and makes it hard for others to understand what she’s trying to get across. As a result, her message, warning, etc. is lost and her credibility is damaged. In less serious occurrences, she instead just comes across as belligerent or annoying, even though she’s generally right about whatever she’s on about.

Hopper

Greatest Strength: Compassion. Hopper is at his best when he’s trying to protect others. Despite having worked to close himself off from the world after his personal trauma, Hopper still feels compassion. He probably never wanted to feel anything for anyone again (perhaps why he returned to a boring town like Hawkins), but when tragedy struck it brought out the best in him. Though, that brings us to his weakness...

Greatest Weakness: Insensitivity. Perhaps ironically, Hopper’s weakness is the complete opposite of his strength. Hopper is a man who runs hot and cold. Which version of him that you get depends on his mood. If you get his bad side, prepare for harsh words, and perhaps harsher fists. This may help him get the job done at times, but it harms his relationships. He has a tremendous fear of loss, which results in him lashing out fiercely at those he cares for if they do something to that risks him losing them.

Ok, that’s the best I could come up with. I’d love to read other people’s thoughts on the matter.

[flamehairedwritings]

hey, i really love your Hopper fics and your writing ❤️ and if the hc requests are still open, could you write one about Hopper and Age Gap? that would be awesome, thank youuu 💕

Hello, lovely!! I’m so sorry this has taken so long, I hope you enjoy! And thank you so, so much!! ❤️

S o ... this kind of turned into almost a drabble, maybe even a fic, because this is a long one, pals. Maybe also a touch angsty?

—

It was the one thing Hop didn’t want to do after his divorce: date a younger woman.

It was cliché, it was classic, it was stereotypical, it was just... Everyone would frown at it, he thought anyway.

After moving back to Hawkins, he dated women close to his age, other  divorcées who were looking for a one time thing, nothing serious. And he liked it perfectly fine that way. It was ideal, it worked, and it meant he couldn’t hurt anyone, and no one could hurt him.

And then he came to remember just how small Hawkins is, and how word gets around.

Divorcées would come looking for him, having heard from their friends that it would be a one time thing, but a damn good one time thing, and those looking for something more turned him down when he approached. It was a system that worked for everyone until Hopper started to realise the playing field was getting smaller and smaller.

So he branched, taking women who wanted more on a couple of dates, sleeping with them and then just letting it fade out. He knew he was an ass for doing it, he knew he was but... they deserved more and he just wanted to feel good for a short time.

And then he met you.

As Chief of Police, Hopper likes to know everyone, or at least be familiar with faces, so when he sees you, as an unfamiliar face, you catch his attention... and you’re beautiful, but he only let’s that passing thought stay for a couple of seconds because you’re obviously younger than him, maybe by about 15, 20 years, maybe more, you could possibly actually look a little older than your age.

He finds out from Flo a few days later, because she seems to always know everything, that she found out through a friend of a friend’s niece that you’re new in town and you’d just got a job at the diner.

On a usual day, Hopper gets up half an hour before work, showers sometimes, eats sometimes, changes, then heads to work. There he’ll grab something to eat if something’s there, have coffee, then work. He’ll either work through his lunch break and Flo will bring him something, or he’ll head out to the diner or nearest fast food restaurant with one of his colleagues. After getting the information from Flo, he decides to get lunch out. Powell comes with him as they both have to discuss a case, and Hop will suggest the diner and they’ll go there.

Selecting a booth, he’ll sit so he can see the counter, because there you are. You’re in the diner uniform, smiling and laughing with one of your colleagues, and he’ll wish that you’ll come over, and also hope you don’t.

You do, and you give them both a wide smile... and he won’t say hello. He’ll just say his order. You’ll still be smiling, nodding, confirming his order and Powell’s, and your smile will only widen further as you tell them it’ll be out soon. Then you’ll walk away and he’ll want to kick himself.

Could’ve at least asked her how her day is going, you idiot.

He won’t really know why he’s feeling so weird about talking to you. Yes, he thinks you’re attractive, but... Ooh, he absolutely doesn’t want to go there because, cliché. And you’ll definitely not be interested in an older guy like him.

When you bring their order he’ll just mumble his thanks and focus on Powell while they eat and talk... but his gaze will slide over to wherever you are every now and then, watching you talk to other customers, talk with your colleagues, stand at the counter, bite at your lower lip, check your watch when you think no one’s looking.

He’ll pay you afterwards as Powell goes outside to bring the Blazer round, and when you thank him, he’ll leave a tip and mumble, ‘Have a nice day.’

The smile you give him will make his jaw clench slightly, especially when you say, ‘Thanks, you, too.’

... But he’ll start going there regularly for lunch, every second day nearly. You’ll almost always be there, and he’ll sit in the same booth which he works out must be your area because you’ll always come over and serve. He’ll always bring someone with him, too, almost as a buffer, and you’re always smiling.

You’re just smiling and being polite because it’s your job, he tells himself, and he always tips more than he usually would, which he then tells himself is why you beam when you see him. It’s just because he’s a good tipping customer.

Then, one day, two weeks or so later, he’ll go with Powell, and just as they’ve both finished and Powell goes to get the Blazer and Hop finds himself paying again, silence falling as he gets his wallet out and you wait patiently, he’ll be saying it before he can stop himself.

‘So, uh, you havin’ a good day?’

If you’re surprised that he’s finally saying more than ‘yes’, ‘the usual’, ‘thanks’, ‘bye’, you won’t show it, just nod and smile.

‘Yeah, thank you, I am. How about you?’

‘Well, you know. Work’s busy.’ Is that even a proper answer?

‘I bet. Will you be out tonight, though?’

He’ll look at you, blanking. ‘Huh?’

‘At the fair?’

Ah, shit, he’d forgotten about that. It’s his night off and he’s going to... not do much actually, crack a few beers open, watch whatever is on TV, fall asleep on the couch, the usual.

‘Uh... I don’t think so.’

‘That’s too bad. I hope you change your mind.’ Smiling, you’ll thank him for coming in and then walk away... and he’ll be staring at you, unmoving.

Did you just... No... No, you couldn’t have... No. No.

He’ll dismiss it. You absolutely weren’t flirting or coming on to him in any form or way, you were just being polite.

But when he heads home after his shift, your words return to him, lingering. He dissects them, the way you said it, the way you’d smiled and... had you lingered slightly before saying goodbye?

Why am I thinkin’ like a fuckin’ teenager.

Back at his trailer, he’ll open a beer, sit on the couch, and... think about the fair. And you.

...

...

...

An hour there wouldn’t hurt.

He’s changed and out the door in less than ten minutes.

The fair is in full-swing when he arrives, and the moment he’s out of his Blazer, hands in his pockets and walking towards it, he feels like an idiot. What the hell is he doing here?

Luckily, he’ll run into some of the guys from work, though, here with their kids and he’ll talk to them for a while, get a beer. Then he’ll see Joyce and her two boys with some of the other kids they hang out with, and he’ll walk around with them, trying to help Joyce keep them in order. When they’re all demanding a hot dog and a drink, they’ll all manage to find a free table and sit at it while Hop offers to pay (why am I always paying for things) and he’ll head over to the already large queue.

Hands in his pockets, he’ll be lost in his thoughts, muttering under his breath every now and then at how slow the queue is moving, and then he’ll hear it.

‘Chief?’

He knows that voice. Turning, he’ll find you behind him, arms folded, smile wide.

‘Oh, uh, hey.’

‘You came.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I did.’

‘Are you having a good time?’

‘Uh, yeah. Kinda. I’m kinda babysittin’, though, so.’

‘Oh, right. Who are you here with?’

‘Them, over there.’

He’ll point and you’ll turn to find a brown-haired woman trying to keep a group of boys in order as they argue over... Well, you can’t really understand much of what they’re saying but it sounds cool.

‘That seems like a lot of fun.’

He’ll smile at how genuinely you say it, shrugging. ‘Yeah, I guess. Who are you here with?’

‘Some friends. Well, people from work, but I think we’re friends now.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Yeah, I think so.’

Then, there’ll be a silence that he’s dreaded since the moment he heard your voice. So he’ll just say the first thing that comes to mind.

‘Can I buy whatever it is you’re gettin’?’

You’ll blink, then shake your head. ‘Oh, no, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, thank you, though.’

You idiot, of course she’s fine.

‘Yeah, sure, don’t worry about it—’

‘You can buy me a drink another time, though?’

He’ll stare at you, before realising he needs to actually answer. ‘Oh, uh... Yeah, sure.’

You’ll beam, then nod, releasing a small breath. ‘Good. My number is... Oh, shit, do you have any paper and pen?’

He’ll be patting his pockets like his life depends on it. ‘Uh, shit, no, I—’

‘Hang on, here we go...’ You’ll both be at the front of the queue now, and you’ll ask for a napkin and a pen from the server, and you’ll scrawl your number down before handing it to him.

‘Call me,’ you say with a soft laugh, and he’ll carefully tuck it into his pocket before saying he absolutely will, ordering what he needs in almost a daze, and then bidding you goodbye as he returns to Joyce and the boys.

The next day, he’ll call you and ask you out to dinner, because that seems classier to him, and you’ll arrange it for the day after that.

He’ll be nervous. Very, very nervous.

You’re not young but you’re younger, and he so didn’t want to fall into a cliché. He’ll have to pep-talk himself manically throughout the day.

No, he’s not going to cancel because he wants to do it, yes, you’re younger, but that’s not a bad thing, you had asked him to ask you out, and all it was was one date. One date. It didn’t even have to go beyond that. It was just going to be dinner with someone and getting to know them... which is a date.

Flo will catch wind of it, like she always seems to do.

‘You’re going on a date with Janice’s friend’s niece’s friend?’

‘Don’t start, Flo—’

‘Don’t mess it up, Hop, she’s nice.’

Great, more pressure.

The evening will come and he’ll get there early, sick of pacing in his living room. You’ll arrive a few minutes before the agreed time, and he’ll pause at the sight of you.

Beautiful. God damn beautiful. You always are when he sees you, but...

He’ll rise from his chair and kiss you on the cheek because that’s what’s expected on a date, right, and then the night will begin.

... And from that night on, well... Things and feelings develop and progress very quickly.

He’ll love it, he’ll love spending time with you, talking with you, going out with you, you’re incredible to him.

It’s just... sometimes thoughts will creep into his mind when you are out in public. Was that person staring? What are they thinking? In fact, what do his colleagues think? Flo’s happy, but he thinks at this point she’d be happy with anyone he got close with.

When you are out, either at a bar or at dinner or one of the many fairs Hawkins puts on, his arm will drop from where it was around your shoulders, or his hand will release yours and slip into his pocket. He doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. You don’t really think much of it at first, thinking he just isn’t a huge fan of PDA, even though you don’t think hand holding is in-your-face, but, hey, if that’s his preference.

But then you start to notice it a lot more in different ways. You’ll eat in more than out, and if you are out he seems tense, almost rushing through the meal. He won’t touch you in public, maybe hold your hand a little, but if you wrap your arms around him and kiss him he’ll just smile slightly and return it quickly.

It’s starting to become so obvious to you because when you’re at his trailer or your place, he can’t keep his hands off of you. You’ll be on his lap, curled up beside him, cuddling him, he’ll have his hands on you, he’ll want to kiss you every few minutes, he’ll caress you, having sex with him is incredible and frequent.

So, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, you do a few tests before you say anything. You’ll be out shopping, and you’ll slip your hand into his. He’ll let it go a few moments later and pick something up which you think, fine, we’re browsing, he needs his hands.

Walking down the street you’ll slide your arm around his waist, and a few moments later, he’ll suggest you both cross the street, twisting his body to check if any vehicles are coming and it’ll just so happen that your arm will fall from him.

Stopping for a drink, you’ll reach over and place your hand on his and he’ll squeeze it lightly before sitting back, his hands falling into his lap.

And then you’ll go for your final test. Walking down a street, you’ll turn to him and kiss him, the type of firm, lingering kiss that usually, in private, would have him gripping at you and groaning.

Now, though... he pulls his head back after a second and smiles slightly before asking where you want to go to next.

Home, you’ll say. Alone.

He’ll frown, not quite understanding, but as you walk away he won’t call after you because he doesn’t want people staring any more than he already is telling himself they are.

He’ll go straight home and call you, but you won’t answer. So he’ll wait a little while and call again. No answer.

Then he’ll just grab his keys and head over.

When you answer the door and let him in because you know he won’t go anywhere, with your eyes shining and jaw tight, his heart will sink.

‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

‘What’s wrong’? you’ll scoff, arms folded, staring at him in your hallway. ‘I’m gonna ask you something and you’re gonna tell me the truth.’

‘Of course.’

‘Are you embarrassed to be with me?’

He’ll stare at you.

‘... What?’

‘Are you embarrassed to be with me?’

‘Embarrassed? What, no, baby, of course not—’

‘Then why won’t you let me touch you in public? Why won’t you touch me?’

As you list off everything he does, his heart will sink further.

Shit.

‘No, baby, I... I just... I’m a little self-conscious ‘cause you’re younger than me, by quite a bit, and I worry about what people think about me, and... if anything, sweetheart, I thought... I sometimes think... you’d be embarrassed to be with me.’

You’ll let out a long, incredulous breath as you look at him, shaking your head. ‘Hopper... No one cares. I don’t care. We’re happy together, right?’

He’ll nod.

‘Then that’s all that matters.’ Dropping your arms, you’ll take his hands, a small smile pulling at your lips. ‘Of course I’m not embarrassed to be with you, Hop. I think you’re so fucking sexy and so funny and kind and smart and you’re just everything that I want.’

He’ll pull you closer as his smile matches yours. ‘You’re everything that I want, too, baby. I... I’m sorry, I was being an ass.’

‘Yeah, you were,’ you’ll agree as you arch an eyebrow and he snorts, your arms wrapping around his waist. ‘... but it’s okay, I forgive you.’

‘Good. Thank you.’

After that, he’ll be more relaxed with you in public. It’ll take a little while for all his insecurities to go away, but he’ll get there, and soon he’s holding your hand, kissing you, wrapping an arm around you, even making out with you on nights out at the bar.

And very soon, Jim Hopper will be very proud to show the world that you’re his, and he is yours.

—

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[kendallroydefender]

The Blizzard (Hopper x Reader

You got out of your car, it was snowing so you hurried to the door. Doing the secret knock that El and Hop taught you while pulling your coat thighter. You were babysitting El from time to time, well babysitting wasn’t the right word but you spent time with her while hopper had to stay longer at the station. You knew about her powers and what happened last year since you were part of it. The locks behind the door clicked and the door opened revealing the teenage girl looking at you with a smile "Hey El, ready to make some pasta?“ the girl noticed exited.

Two hours later you two sat on the couch while watching tv when the same knock you did a few hours earlier sounded from the door once again, you got up and opened the door "Hey Hop" you smiled, making his face soften "Hey y/n thank you for coming over so spontaneously!“ you chuckled at him "No problem chief. Come in and have some leftovers“ he took off his dark blue coat wich was coated in snowflakes, you haven’t really noticed how much it actually snowed in the last hours. You heated him some food up while he was changing out of his uniform, he pulled the curtain back that separated his bedroom from the livingroom. Just looking at you for a moment. He liked his days most when he knew you were looking after eleven, because coming home on these days made him think about how it could be coming home to you everyday. He wouldn’t admit it but he thought about that way too often. Truth was he liked you more than you would like a friend, you were funny and laughed about his terrible jokes but also cared about him, you always listened to him and reassured him that he wasn’t annoying you.

"Hop?“ you pulled him out of his mind he raised his eyebrows, confused for a second until he saw you holding a bowl of food in your hands, nodding you head towards the couch. He ate while El sitting between you. You could tell she was getting tired, "Hey Honey why don’t you go to bed hm?“ she looked at you with her big brown eyes "You help?“ she asked and you nodded.

"She likes you a lot you know that?“ Hopper asked once you closed El‘s bedroom door behind you. "And I like her a lot too. She’s a really great kid" you smiled. "I better get going“ you thought about your way back trough the snow and sighed "What? Y/n have you seen the blizzard? There’s no way I let you drive home by yourself now.“ "No Hop it’s okay... really" you looked out of the window, the snow from the evening turned into a full on blizzard. "It‘s really dangerous for you to drive home in this weather even as I drove back home I couldn’t see shit on the streets and that was hours ago. I’m taking the couch you can have the bed... really." He said in an stern but kind voice. "Okay. Thank you.“ you smiled at him. "Come sit down, wanna have a beer?“ you nodded taking a seat on the couch.

You two talked for hours, you always felt comfortable being around him. He helped you a lot in the past time and you would lie saying you hadn’t got a crush on him, but he was much older than you and you always suspected him having a thing for Joyce.

Somehow the topic dating come up. "And you? Seeing anyone chief?“ you asked taking a sip "Nah that’s not my thing... First dates are just... weird... aren’t they?“ now it was his time to drink his beer "Well they don’t have to be. If you know the person before or you really like them it can be really nice. You should try that sometime.“ you winked and he almost choked "What?“ he got out "Oh Hop come on I know that there’s someone you like that you happen to know pretty good already" a smile crossed his face "Look you should just ask Joyce out, I think she would say yes.“ he looked at you as if you were insane but in the end just nodded. Soon after that you went to his bed and he slept on the couch

Hours later you woke up and felt incredibly thirsty so you got up and slipped trough the curtain tiptoeing into the living area over to the kitchen, carefully not to wake Hopper. But as your eyes glanced over to the couch you saw it empty. That’s when you saw a shadow outside the small window, he was outside probably smoking. So you slipped into your boots and jacket and took a blanket that lied on the retainer and went outside. He looked to you once the door opened and his face softened at your sight. "You shouldn’t be out, it’s freezing you will get sick" he said low, you didn’t answer here just taking a step closer towards him to steal a little bit of bodyheat "Come here" he said as he slipped an arm around you. You stand there looking over the woods covered in snow, it looked magical and peaceful you could almost forget about the hell you all went through in the last year. "What ya thinking about?“ you asked looking up at the smoking man "I just couldn’t sleep" "because of me? Because I took the bed?“ he chuckled "No, no that’s fine... okay not really but yes because of you." He said honestly, making you furrow your eyebrows "Huh?" He stamped the cigarette and cleared his throat "So I think I have to tell you something. I thought a lot about what you said... I don’t want to go on a first date with Joyce.“ your eyebrows furrow but you nodded for him to continue "But you were right. There is someone who I know pretty well already and who went trough a lot with me. You believed me everytime when even I myself thought I was insane.“ you swallowed heavy "Me?“ he just nodded. You smiled at him while bending your neck towards his and as his lips ghosted yours he stopped "Are you sure?“ he whispered "I‘ve been waiting for ever“ you said back. He then kissed you, your arms going around his neck as the blanked dropped and his hands pulled you closer. You parted and you put your hands on his chest "So would you like to go on a first date with me? How about next Friday“ you giggled "I would really like that" you said and pecked him again "Come on let’s go back to bed, know that you don’t have to sleep on the couch you will fall asleep like a baby“ he chuckled at your statement but in the end it was true he was sleeping better than he had in a long time, with you curled up against him.

[anxiously-introverted]

Fanfic of what you think what happened pre season 1 with The Byers family before Lonnie left? (If not what do you think happened in the family?)

I made a small drabble of what I imagined may have happened. Hopefully it’s alright. Sorry if there’s any mistakes, I typed this up pretty quickly!

(There’s a tiny bit of swearing)

           Angry voices hurled insults at each other from the living room, volcanic fury turning the air venomous with disdain. Heavy clouds obscured the sun outside, painting the space in a murky grey. The house was suffocating as emotional turmoil stained every inch of its surface. It was always like this, though. Always angry, always sad, always hopeless.

           Will Byers laid curled in the fetal position on his bed, blanket cast over him like a shield. Maybe if he closed his eyes and believed hard enough, the old comforter would become an impenetrable sheet of steel. Maybe if he just pretended that he was in the newest campaign map Mike had made, the floor would be swallowed by buttercups and ivy, and the walls would turn to acres of trees. Maybe if he stayed quiet and out of sight, the enraged beast outside his sanctuary wouldn’t hear him and he could spend the rest of the evening in a false sense of peace. Maybe if he were brave, he could have kept this horrible tears from scarring his mom’s cheeks.

           Something shattered against the hardwood. An enraged shriek carried over the glass carnage.

           “I’m done, Lonnie! I’ve put up with this shit for too damn long and I’m not taking it anymore! I want you out of my house!”

           The shouts were only getting angrier, slowly turning into the horrid snarls of grotesque beasts. It was dark in his room and it was cold. No matter how tightly he wrapped the blanket around himself, the chill still settled deep in the marrow of his bones. He was scared and miserable, and he was alone.

           Will startled at the sound of his doorknob turning, door squeaking as it opened before closing softly. The argument still continued to rage like a hurricane outside, but added to it was the sound of gentle footsteps coming up to his bed. A hand landed on his head causing his body to stiffen.

           “Hey, bud.”

           His brother’s whisper was delicate in the turbulent air. Hesitantly, Will’s head peaked out of the blanket. Softly, he whispered, “Jonathan?”

           Jonathan gave a small grin, “You doing alright?”

           The eight year old blinked before shaking his head. “Mom’s really mad.”

           There was a moment of quiet, the monstrous growls outside were still as loud as ever.

           “What’s this?”

           He looked up to see Jonathan had plucked a drawing from his bedside table, looking over the paper with curious eyes. Will said, “It’s my castle.”

           “Your castle?”

           “Yeah, Will the Wise found an old ruin in the Forest of Black Vines last night and he made it into Castle Byers,” he elaborated. His eyes dropped down bashfully. “It’s not great, but—”

           “It’s awesome,” Jonathan commented with a bright smile. “Your drawings are amazing, Will. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” The older boy shot a withering glare at the door, eyes narrowed in resentment at the sound of his father’s voice. He turned back to Will, gaze considerably softer as he said, “Come with me.”

           A sudden raise in volume in the living room rooted the younger brother to the spot, hazel eyes wide in fear. “Hey,” Jonathan said, prompting Will to look at him. “I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”

           Another moment of hesitation passed before Will finally gathered the courage to sit up and leave his blanket’s protection. Jonathan took his hand and carefully led him out of the bedroom, down the hall, and to the back door.

           The air outside was cold, but didn’t weigh on his soul the same way the frigid atmosphere inside did. His brother led the way to the shed, disappearing inside for only a few moments. He emerged with the old wheelbarrow filled with wood, a saw, a hammer, a tarp, and nails. With a smile, he said, “C’mon, let’s go make Will the Wise his castle.”

           If tears dripped into Will’s blinding smile, neither boy mentioned it.

              Joyce was practically hysterical as she fled into the woods with a flashlight. Her wrist was marred with finger-shaped bruises and her throat stung from yelling, but she’d finally exorcised her home of the source of its agony. It took hours of shouting, fighting, struggling, but Lonnie was finally gone. She knew nothing was really fixed, not even close, but perhaps she was closer to making the home a place she wants her boys to grow up in.

           But after watching that rusting car rattle off down the road in the early hours of dawn while clutching a kitchen knife, Joyce had gone to get her children only to discover vacant rooms. So now, here she was, sprinting through mud and grass in bare feet and oversized pajamas while screaming wildly over the monotone downpour of rain.

           “Mom?”

           She’d almost slid directly into a tree at Jonathan’s voice. Her head whipped around, frazzled hair sticking to her neck and face as she took in the scene. There were her two sons, Jonathan holding a board up against the entrance of a lopsided fort and Will just barely keeping a hold of a large hammer in his thin hands. Both were soaked to the bone with their brown hair falling over their eyes like ungroomed puppies.

           Dropping the flashlight, Joyce’s feet barely even touch the ground as she surged forward to wrap her sons in a tight embrace. Her shoulders shook as she clutched them to her, but she refused to let her sobs pollute their ears. Tightly, she said, “I was worried sick! What were you two thinking, going out in all this rain?!”

           “W-We were building Castle Byers,” Will said, trembling as he hugged his mom back. “We had to finish it… We had to…”

           “We’re sorry,” Jonathan mumbled, looking every bit the twelve year old he was for the first time that night.

           Joyce let out a shaky sigh, squeezing the two with as much warmth and love as she could muster. The rain was freezing, her lungs were burning, her bruises ached, her head stung, she had no money and no support. She was broken and so were her sons, but their pieces had all ended up together in the end.

           And maybe, just for this moment, that was enough.

[gothicwidowsworld]

Oh? D.G #2

Walking into her Aunt’s office Y/N once again put on a role. “Hi Aunt Siobhan. Can I go round Jenny’s house tonight?” smiling innocently Y/N continued this time running her fingers delicately over the looming statue of Our Lord and Saviour Christ “It’s just I'm so behind on the work and you know Jenny always happy to help.” Absentmindedly Sister Michael nodded still reading a letter of complaint from one of the 1st years parents before discarding it in the bin. 

“Hold on! Did you say Jenny.” Sister Michael may not be Sherlock Holmes but she was by not means stupid. “Jenny Joyce is an annoying little toe rag. Why in any right mind would you want to willingly spend time with her?” Pulling up a seat Y/N pulled at a tread in her itchy jumper. “She’s not annoying Auntie just eager” Shaking her head in response the Nun glared at the girl across from her. “Let me rephrase that what do you really want young lady.” Michael had what Y/N like to call a polygraph glare. You know the one an adult uses to see if you’re lying or not. Well fortunately for Y/N over the years she has been perfecting her actions in response to this. “Your parent’s left you in my care..” the woman started but to be honest with you Y/N wasn’t listening to a word she said. “I’ve learnt my lesson. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t.” sighing Y/N fixed her hair “I made a mistake Auntie and the good Lord has forgiven me.” Well if this didn’t work maybe the next level will. “Seamus Murphy took advantage of me, you know I'd never of done that especially with a Protestant boy.” Sighing in defeat Michael nodded “Fine but if i hear you even stepped a toe out of line…” Shaking her head dramatically Y/N thanked her Aunt before going to her Drama lesson or something else stupid like that. 

With the school day over Y/N could finally breathe, the short walk to the bus stop proved to be a benefit as it meant she could get to know Michelle’s friends a bit more. Getting off at their stop Y/N made sure everyone knew the plans for tonight “Well I’ll meet you by the shop okay.” Y/N started explaining to the group. “Oh and no offence but there will be a  dress code. If you’ve worn it is the past 9 months burn it! We’re not going to be served if you look like you’re 12 okay.” Y/N once again kissed them on the cheeks goodbye before skipping of in the direction of her aunt's house. Dusk had settled over Derry and bored from waiting Y/N visited Dennis’ little shop. The shop nor its owner was welcoming but it sold just the right stuff to get shitfaced. “ID please” Dennis asked in a bland tone his dry cracked hand lingering.  Sighing Y/N rolled her eyes before adjusting her top and pouting “I’m sorry I don’t seem to have it on me.” fluttering her eyelashes before giggling in an attempt to get him to lower his guard. “No ID not sale.” Dennis muttered. Scoffing angrily Y/N raised an eyebrow “Does this” she signalled up and down “look like the body of a child fuckface.” frustration building. Suddenly an arm  reached over her ID in its hand. 

Walking out Y/N huffed she seemed to be doing that a lot lately maybe it was her or maybe it was this stupid place. “You’re welcome.” the stranger said handing her the bag of cheap vodka and some other harsh spirits. “I didn't need your help. I was perfectly fine on my own!” Nodding in faux belief the stranger pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He had fluffy black hair that sat just so on his head and wore a worn but well loved red flannel. “Aha sorry you totally looked like you had that covered.” breathing out a cloud of smoke filled the silent night “I’m David and I don’t think I know you?” the man was older clearly but not by much, even if he was mature he still dressed like he’d picked the first clean items of his bedroom floor. Opening the vodka and downing some Y/N nodded in greeting. “Do i get to know you?” David questioned sarcastically reaching over to take some of the alcohol. Before the girl could argue David justified himself “Call it a collectors fee.” Sighing Y/N shook her head. “Maybe the girl doesn’t want to be known.” Smirking David raised an eyebrow “Mysterious huh, well princess it won’t stay like that for very long.” 

Erin gushed about every detail she knew about Y/N talking about the girl like the others hadn’t met her at school themselves. “And she’s from Dublin so she’s probably like so cool and free.” turning the corner Michelle groaned. “I think she looks nice.” James added with a blush surfacing on his pale cheeks. “She doesn't like you dick for brains.”  Clare remanded quiet, she was always nervous when she lied about where she was or what she was doing. It was the sound of hushing and giggling that caught their attention and a moan that caught their curiosity.

“What -what’s going on??” Erin gasped genuine tears filling her eyes at the sight that greeted them. “Shit!” Y/N pushed David away hurriedly and quickly fixed her clothes. The tension was palpable and no one seemed to know what to say. Wincing Y/N closed her eyes for a second “This is the guy isn’t it...”