#What about the fics where Eddie sets Steve up with a metalhead girl only for Steve to be like 'wow I'm super into this'

[jaybren]

I Believe...Steddie

I normally don't mind angst (though I avoid drama fics in general). Miscommunication is the biggest trope in romance, so I'm all for it, but for some reason Steve x Eddie fics / drabbles where Eddie still thinks of Steve as Steve THE KING Harrington always sit weirdly for me. Sometimes, if the Upside Down didn't happen (AUs in general) or pre-UD setting, maybe -- sure, then that could work. But close to canon fics where Eddie lives and Steve legit confesses to him? Always just -- strikes me as wrong.

Finally realized why -- it's literally the antithesis of canon Eddie. Canon! Eddie is quick to acknowledge Steve has changed. He literally runs up to him in the Upside Down while a bunch of madness is happening and where he has every right to be consumed by his own shit-tastic situation, but instead, he's telling Steve how he is a great guy and has changed.

Can Eddie be bitchy and prejudice? Yes.

Does Eddie have grudges against jocks / the popular crowd? Yes.

But he also goes full on bowing gentlemen for cheerleaders (going out of his way to help Chrissy and make her smile) and he's quick to acknowledge Steve's not that same popular AH anymore.

With Steve's bitchiness not aimed at him, Eddie would be eating his Honeycomb and snickering when old habits popped back up, and maybe he'd feel conflicted about jocky Steve, complaining about going to games or something until somebody smacked some sense into him. Totally believe tension and disbelief about one liking the other or some bias about things, but I just can't see Steve proclaiming his love or whatever and Eddie assuming it is a trap or trick or prank or something.

Maybe he'd think Steve was confused. Maybe he'd assume they were doomed, but I can't see him blaming Steve for that or blowing up their relationship IF Eddie accepted the confession and they started dating. Eddie's way more down on himself.

If someone can explain how it makes sense, please do. I'd love to enjoy all Steddie tropes, and that one seems popular lately, but where my brain sees so many problems with them getting to the confession point or even a number of big arguments that could happen afterward due to outside aspects, those two strike me as highly tactile, highly clingy romantics who would be convinced they were the height of discrete while practically fused, constantly touching and being snide little judgy dudes together.

[taintedcigs]

𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍: can you do a blurb with eddie where eddie and reader are friends but SO OBVIOUSLY into each other and so like nancy/robin/steve or someone else sneakily sets them up in a situation where they admit their feelings 🤭 also congrats on 1k my love 🫶🏻

idiots in love

pairing: eddie munson x reader

word count: 1.1k+

warnings: nothing rlly, just some tooth-aching fluff!, and cheesy!

a/n: i certainly can leah ily sm mwah! thank u for this and thank uu!!! and also i just wrote a very similar fic to this its like u read my mind lmaooo (but ill make this one different from that one omg!!) also sorry i got very carried away lmao!

join my 1k celebration!

Everyone knew you and Eddie had a thing for each other, apparently everyone but you two idiots did.

Robin first noticed it when you found out about Eddie and that girl from history class had a date, and you freaked out about it, you spent the whole night uneasy, and the next day asking Eddie about how the date went, a smile and relief washed over your face when Eddie told you the date was awful. Robin tried to tell you that you were jealous, but you masked it as being an 'overprotective friend'.

And Steve first noticed how Eddie truly felt about you when he got high with him, Eddie spent hours and hours talking about you to Steve, and at some point, it turned into babbles about how pretty you are, how soft your hair is, and how perfect your smile is. Steve tried to tell Eddie that he had feelings for you but Eddie dismissed it entirely.

Those were the first two incidents, and now Robin and Steve could count about a hundred more where the two of you idiots were too dense to see your feelings for one another.

So with Dustin and Nancy's help, the four of them came up with an idea on how to get the two of you idiots to admit your feelings to one another, Steve and Dustin would push Eddie to his limit and Robin and Nancy would push you to your limit.

It all started innocently at first, Nancy and Robin slightly mentioned Eddie might be going on another date, your ears perked up at that, but you pretended to be dismissive, then they started talking about how they wish they had a partner who regularly bought them flowers, watched movies with them, taught them how to play guitar, their suggestions were all specific about the things you and Eddie did, but you failed to notice that because the whole time they were talking, the only thing you could think about was. 'Shit, I do those things with Eddie!'

Then it all came to a breaking point when they asked you what your type was, and without being able to stop yourself, you said, 'Curly, bit of a metalhead, and a bit nerdy.' You shrugged. But Robin and Nancy slightly smirked to each other.

"Oh... kinda like Eddie, right?" Nancy asked nonchalantly, and they stayed silent, before the metaphorical lightbulb exploded in your head.

'Fuck... I like him, don't I?" You asked them turning to face them now, and they almost squealed at the realization, talking you up so that you could immediately confess your feelings to Eddie and save him from the imaginary date.

Meanwhile, Dustin and Steve weren't so subtle, they slightly mentioned you having an imaginary date as well, and when Eddie seemed so distraught physically, they knew they didn't have to do much to get him to confess. Steve and Dustin pretended to play a game of 'fast questions' where they bombarded Eddie with simple questions, and then asked him questions such as, 'Who's the smartest in the gang? Who is the most annoying in the gang?' then as Eddie was getting mindless about the questions, Dustin asked, 'Who would you wanna date?' and when Eddie without hesitation, said your name, Dustin and Steve gave each other a look, and when they stayed silent, Eddie started cursing.

"Holy shit." The realization quickly hit him. "I... I fucking like her, don't I?" He asked, and Steve and Dustin nodded their head so quickly that it gave Eddie a spin. So then Steve and Dustin encouraged Eddie to go over to the imaginary restaurant you were supposed to be in to stop your imaginary date.

When the two of you were gone, all four of them quickly made their way to Enzo's, to see if you two idiots were actually going to manage it.

When you finally made it to Enzo's you frantically searched for Eddie, who at the same time was frantically searching for you, when the two of you spotted each other, you pointed your finger at him, and so did he.

"Eds!" You rushed over to his side, "Oh, honey." His voice was soft when he rushed over to you.

When your gazes met one another, there was a pause, almost as if the two of you were still hesitant, but the way your dreamily looked at him, and the way his honey-glazed eyes looked at you, was enough to make the two of you confess.

"I like you." The two of you said in unison, and both of you were breathless from all the running around, the confession made the two of you stare at other dumbfounded.

"You?" Now the two of you pointed to each other, once again talking in unison and now you couldn't help but giggle.

"I've- I've liked you for a while now... but I couldn't get myself to admit it, because I thought you didn't like me..." You murmured, now your gaze intended on the ground and Eddie shook his head quickly.

"What?" He asked baffled, he quickly got closer to you, his soft hand tilting your chin to get you looking at him. Eddie had so clearly been in love with you, and your words were making his heartache, if he hadn't been such an idiot, the two of you could have been together for a long time now.

"You- you never asked me out... you just asked out that girl from history class, and I just assumed you didn't like me." You gazed into his eyes, they were glimmering with disappointment, disappointment in himself for not realizing anything.

"Oh my god, I'm such an idiot, I only asked her out because I thought you didn't like me!" He exclaims and now you feel like an idiot too.

"But I pretended not to like you because I thought you didn't like me and wanted other girls!" You exclaim back, hand still pointing toward him, and you can't help but start giggling, and so does Eddie.

Meanwhile, Steve, Dustin, Nancy and Robin watch outside impatiently.

"Are those idiots... laughing?" Steve asked as the three others' head perked up immediately. Nancy scoffed, "Oh, I'm actually going to kill them this time, I swear to god I'm going to mush their head against another!" And before Nancy could angrily storm off Robin held her back.

"Oh, shit, wait!" She pointed towards the two of you again, you two were now leaning against each other's faces, Steve, Dustin, Robin, and Nancy treating this like their own little show, watched excitedly.

You couldn't help but blink slowly when Eddie licked his lips, his gaze intent on your soft lips, everything was happening too fast but you were more than ready for him to kiss you.

Eddie's nose softly bumped into yours, and you didn't hesitate to close the gap between the two of you, when his plump lips met your soft ones, you couldn't help but let a whimper out, and Eddie smiled into your lips.

He pulled away from initial shock, his forehead pressed against yours. "We were such idiots, huh?" He asked, a playful laugh on his lips.

You giggled, nodding, "Well, at least we figured it out now." You gave him a warm smile, unaware of your best friends who had orchestrated the whole thing.

also this is what i had in mind when i wrote the confession scene btw:

[sombersynth]

I have another request if you have the time! Any good steddie AUs where their personalities are still the same? For example Eddie being a teacher but still a metalhead

Hi!!! I love making fic rec lists, so send me all the requests that you want! <3 Thank you!!! I couldn't find too many that are completely Stranger Things avoident like your example, BUT I think that these might be along the lines of what you're looking for! P.S, the first fic on this list is my favorite Steddie fic ever, as of now.

Steddie AU Fic Recs:

Easy, Easy, Easy by Judasofsuburbia, 21 k, explicit Eddie would be tucking kids into bed and reading them stories. Eddie would be making road-trip trail mix and packing a cooler with water bottles and juice boxes. Eddie as his life partner, the constant variable throughout anything. It no longer felt so scary to think about it. The fact that it wasn’t scary to think about in and of itself was scary but Steve has handled scary before. Multi-Chapter Fic showcasing slices of Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson living life together.

Looking For Something Dumb to Do by Materialism, 2.5 k, explicit It's June 26, 2015. Eddie Munson turns fifty today. Steve has a question for him.

Money, Power, Glory by Anonymous, 10 k, explicit Steve starts paying Eddie for sex once he discovers that Eddie doesn't just deal drugs and perform at the Hideout. (Steve doesn't mean to fall in love with him, but he can’t help himself.)

The Art of Scraping Through by Robotguts, 2.5 k, teens and up Modern/Fake Dating AU. Steve doesn't mean to tell his entire 6th period English class that he's dating Eddie Munson. It just slips out. (He is not, in fact, dating Eddie Munson.)

Camp Folktale, Summer of ‘86 by Cairparavels, 56 k, not rated When Steve applies for a summer camp per Dustin's request, he doesn’t expect to have the most interesting summer of his life. Featuring a sulky metalhead who hates Steve for no reason, eight kids set on driving Steve to an early grave, Robin Buckley’s ability to charm any girl she wants, and Steve’s bisexual disaster-slash-dream-slash-nightmare. But hey, that’s what summer camp is all about. Right?

Stranger in a Strange Land by Mutedmirror, 12.6 k, explicit Eddie Munson, stoner college drop out, meets Steve Harrington, part-time grocery store clerk, during a late night shoplifting run to curb the munchies. What happens when Eddie makes his get away, only to find out he may not be rid of Steve just yet?

You're My Permanent Vacation by Owlerie, 8 k, teens and up When Eddie lets Dustin convince him to volunteer at the kids’ summer camp for a little extra campaign time thrown in the mix, the last thing he expects is to be shacked up in a counselor’s cabin with resident cool guy and babysitter extraordinare Steve Harrington — who Eddie is pretty sure hates his guts. It’s too bad Eddie’s been nursing a massive — and massively embarrassing — crush on him for years.

[saffloure]

ೃ༄HIT DICE (V)

EDDIE MUNSON X HARRINGTON!OC

MASTERLIST

✧chapter five: the relams of death

↳ word count: 6,6K

↳ spoiler warning: up until s4ep3-5

↳ other warnings: angst, death, wound and injury descriptions, violence, assault

↳ mentioned songs/artists: Angie by The Rolling Stones, Billy Idol, The Cure

↳ a/n: it’s high time I finally thanked you all for all of the interactions you’re giving this fic. I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart!

"Be careful, okay?"

Resounding in her mind, the sentence accompanied Stacy everywhere she had found herself since the visit at Reefer Rick's. Firstly said by Eddie, she kept those words in mind when she and Dustin jeopardized the radio frequency and later while informing the metalhead that the police had already began a search for him when they returned to the shack with groceries.

Then, said by Steve when they decided to split up after meeting up with Nancy Wheeler at the trailer park. The young journalist and Robin set off to the library in search of information about Victor Creel — a man, whose family had been killed a few decades ago and a person, who Eddie's uncle thought to be the true perpetrator.

After Max stated Chrissy was seeing Ms. Kelley — the school’s counselor — she and Dustin opted for investigating on the matter. Despite notorious complaints from Steve, arguing he had grown sick of being a babysitter and a driver, he was claimed to pursue just exactly that. Stacy, on the other hand, was meant to join the girls, until she figured out there was a greater mission awaiting her.

That was why she was now standing on the porch of Debbie Donoghue's house, hands behind her back.

"I think I might be of use," she remembered herself saying to the others. "Maybe Chrissy shared something with the Cheer Team... I can try asking them about it."

It was high time she finally contributed to the case and — if the social status she so frantically tried to keep up could help — she was going to do everything it took not only to bring the closure to herself but also to learn the truth. To protect others, who might get possessed. To bring justice to Eddie.

And she could only do that by gaining knowledge of Vecna's modus operandi. Who, why and when did he attack. With that, she, her brother and friends could stop him. Just like they stopped the Mind Flayer and Demogorgons over the years.

They had to. Simply because they had no other option.

"Oh, Stacy, dear. The girls are upstairs," Debbie's mother whined as she opened the front door, emptying her nose into an already wet handkerchief. "I'm so sorry. Debbie mentioned you and Chrissy had been friends since diapers and... Oh, god. I'm so sorry."

Stacy's jaw trembled the moment she watched the middle-aged woman breaking into an ugly cry. She fought with her own self not to do the same because she knew in order to make things right she needed to keep her composure. As brutal and heartless it sounded, Stacy had her fair share in seeing numerous deaths. Deaths that were soaked with unfairness and absurdity. Deaths that could have been avoided.

This was what she was trying to do. Avoid anyone else getting hurt.

Murmuring soft words of comfort, Stacy headed up the stairs, her destination being the bedroom she had spent countless hours in Middle School.

Debbie's room hadn't changed at all since then. Flowery wallpaper of pastel colors was still the vocal point of the place, fuzzy pink pillows and matching blankets were decorating her bed. Only the pictures on the walls grew in numbers, now displaying the cheerleaders and the trophies they had won on the span of the last few years.

It wasn't uncommon for Debbie's room to become a venting space, a spot where her and the girls could cry about the boys, arguments with their parents, or the grades. Yet that day, seeing sobbing Angie Ferguson was heart-wrenching. Beside her and Debbie they were three other girls in the room — all that Stacy recognized as cheerleaders. One of them was hugging Angie, the other two leaning against the wall with equally sorrowful eyes.

"I've been calling you the whole goddamn day, Stace!" Debbie exclaimed angrily the moment she saw her classmate. With her fists clenched, she approached Stacy, grabbing her by the collar of her denim jacket. "Do you have any idea how fucking terrified I was when my boyfriend called me telling Chrissy's been murdered? Do you have any fucking idea..?"

She spoke in frenzy, her fingers loosening up due to her losing control. Her grip disappeared only when Stacy touched her back, quietly apologizing to her. She had never seen Debbie in that state; she had always came off as untouchable for any outside factors. But a person, who was known for being rude and confident was now on the verge of tears, stripped off of the persona she tended to put on.

"D-did the police talk to you?" Stacy tried to ask firmly, however, her voice cracked at the beginning of her sentence.

"Why the hell would they talk to us? Her killer is on a loose, they better focus on that," Debbie scoffed, her emotions seemingly untamable.

"What if there was something she had told us... something that we deemed unimportant up until this point," Stacy replied in a hushed tone that sounded almost ghoulish.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me, Harrington," Debbie hissed, her face red from fury. Not waiting for any sort of explanation, she blasted out, "We're mourning our friend... our goddamn captain and you're questioning us about her? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"...Maybe that's the way she's dealing with it all," one of the cheerleaders interfered, defending Stacy. A grave mistake, considering that Debbie's next words was an allegory of a brutal punch the a face.

"There's no way of dealing with this! Jason spoke with the police, and you know what they told him? That her eyes were ripped out and all of her joints were broken. How the fuck you think we're gonna deal with that?!"

Gruesome silence filled the pink bedroom, a clinking sound of Debbie's mom doing dishes being the only thing the girls could hear. It wasn't until Angie Ferguson covered her mouth, rapidly standing up and warning, "I'm gonna be sick."

Debbie scoffed as she watched her friend running towards the toilet on the other side of the hallway, glancing over the rest of the cheerleaders with reprimanding stare.

"I'll go after her," Stacy offered as it was her that stood the closest to the door.

A notion of trepidation captured her mind when she realized it was the second time this week, she found herself in a bathroom with one of her friends. Before she went in, a fearful thought appeared on the brim of her mind. What if Angie was going to be the next victim? Crying, running to the closed off space. So far, the case was looking alarmingly similar.

"Hey... you okay?" Stacy asked as soon as she entered the toilet.

With arms wrapped around her own body, Angie leaned against the wall, looking up at her friend's face with big, watery eyes.

"I lied," she confessed, making sure the door was locked. "I'm not feeling unwell... it's just..."

Her hands gestured vividly as though she was looking for the right words to use. With the tears dripping down her cheeks, she glanced at Stacy, visibly searching her to help her.

"...she told you something, didn't she?" the wavy-haired girl spoke, placing her hand on Angie's shoulder.

"A week ago. She said she had this bad dream of her mom being mean to her... You know how she is... very mean sometimes," she mumbled, her voice, as well as her mannerisms, becoming childlike. "I thought it was just this one time and she'll get better after the weekend but..."

"...the dreams continued?"

"Mhm... and they got worse... so much worse," Angie cried, hiding her face behind her hands. "She... she didn't tell me exactly what were they about, but I remember her face during English when she said that... they couldn't seem to stop."

The terror in her eyes, the tears staining her cheeks, her sweet tone calloused by her cries... It all caused Stacy to grab Angie’s hand, holding it tightly.

"Remember when Chrissy played that Rolling Stones song when you were told to keep wearing your braces? Summer before your freshman year? Angie, Angie, I hate the sadness in your eyes," she sang softly, her steady tone sounding incredibly soothing. It didn't matter she had botched the lyrics.

"Yeah," Angie let out a singular giggle through the streams of tears. "I thought everyone would laugh at me but she said that it only matter how I saw myself... and that if I liked myself everyone would like me back."

"Exactly. That's how you need to remember her. As the sweetest, most caring girl in Hawkins," Stacy whispered, a tear escaping her eye. "I'm gonna find out, who did this to her. And I swear on everything in this world, Chrissy'll be avenged."

"I don't understand..." Angie murmured quietly, her grip tightening one last time before she let go of her hand.

"I'll explain you everything in detail someday but for now... just please tell the girls I had to go," Stacy responded, sending her a faded smile.

"Stacy!" Angie called after her after she had already turned on her heel. "Ms. Kelley asked Chrissy to keep a diary. I saw her throwing it into her locker before the game yesterday. I-I think it still might be there."

Unexplainably grateful, Stacy ran towards her friend, hugging her one last time before she speeded off towards the direction of her car. The sky flushed in soft pink, tangerine orange and fiery auburn as she made her way to the Hawkins High, ready to take action. Her thoughts rushed, sorting the collected information. Briefly but comprehensively, Angie's confession pointed her towards the direction of pondering a few, fairly concrete theories that only awaited to be confirmed or negated by her friends.

Grabbing the walkie-talkie with the intention to check at what point of their investigations where they, she pressed the black button on the side of the device, saying, "It's Stacy. Anyone there?"

Silence.

"Dusty? Robin? My idiot brother?"

"How about me?" a familiar voice asked from the other side of the shortwave diathermy, making Stacy immediately smile.

"You'll do," she replied, knowing her grin could be very well audible. "How are you? Hope you haven't smoked all of my cigarettes."

Eddie chuckled, admitting, "In times of desperation even a man with the most exquisite taste can find himself smoking menthol Newport's."

"So how is he?"

"Huh?"

"The man with taste you're talking about. Last time I've checked you were lacking common sense, so I figured you must be talking about someone else," she replied, a wide grin on her face.

"Very funny, buttercup. Kick me when I'm down."

Another person getting on the frequency made it unable for Stacy to answer. Her face covered in red when she heard,"Okay, lovebirds, date's over. Mommy's home,"

"Oh, hi, Harrington!" Eddie replied, although it could be sensed by his vary tone he suddenly became nervous.

"Steve, you all good? I've talked to Angie and I'm on my way to search Chrissy's locker," Stacy informed her brother before he had a chance to put in another embarrassing remark.

"We'll meet you at school then. Max came up with an idea to break in the counselor's office," he stated as if it was the most natural thing to do. "By the way. Why's Munson calling you pet names?"

There it was. The demeaning comment she was expecting.

"Who's Munson? Don't know that dude," Eddie replied, casually playing off Steve's question.

"I'll meet you guys at school," Stacy said before turning off the walkie-talkie.

As promised, in another few minutes she arrived at the parking lot, opening the trunk of her car. A victorious expression came over her when she found the tool box, laying in between all the junk she had been driving with just in case. Another disturbing habit she developed after the events that took place on the span of past two years.

"Gotcha," she exclaimed after grabbing a wrench.

Jumping through the opened window of the girls' changing room, she followed the dark path of the hallway. Hawkins High always seemed quite eerie after hours; almost like something sinister had been hiding in its shadows all along, waiting to hunt its pray.

A chill came right down Stacy's spine when she located the locker. An utterly gruesome sensation tightened her stomach as she realized she was about to break in her dead childhood friend personal space.

"Focus, Stace," she whispered to herself, taking the first swing at the metal doors.

Concentrated on destroying the lock, she clenched her jaw, putting all of her strength into every single hit. The moment it loosened, she undermine it from the side, almost collapsing when she managed to get the locker opened. Rummaging through its contents, she couldn't help but notice the photos, plastered to the side. One of them displayed her and Jason in an embrace after one of the last year's game. The second and the third showed the Cheer Team, but the second... was the exact same photo that was framed on Stacy's gallery wall — a picture of them, aged five and six, in matching Halloween ballerina costumes.

She had no idea how much tears she had cried out for the past day. She had no idea where would they stop appearing. If they would ever stop.

Her body shivered when she took the yellow diary in her hands, opening it on the page one. Making a mental note to thank her primary school teacher for sending her to the speed-reading competition, she skimmed through the sentences as fast as she could. If she didn't, she knew she would broke into tears again.

Monsters that look like my parents... a clock… my mom telling me I put on weight... a low voice calling my name... a silhouette...

"Fuck," Stacy mumbled, not realizing she was holding her breath during the whole time she was reading Chrissy's confessions.

What acted as a further reminiscence was her brother's muffled screams, followed by Dustin's panic. Without thinking she ran towards the direction from where the voices were coming and just as she feared, it was Ms. Kelley's office.

"Max! Maxine!" Steve called, hysterically tapping her shoulder.

Fortunately, the redhead opened her eyes, gasping loudly the moment she was brought back to reality.

"What happened?!" Dustin shouted, taking a look at her scared face.

"I... you need to come with me," she whispered, heading out to the corridor and showing them the place in which she saw a grandfather's clock.

Soon after, Robin and Nancy stormed into the hallway, listening into the story of the nightmare the girl just had. A trance. Just like Chrissy. Just like Fred. They found their way back to the counselor's room, taking places beside the desk. Explaining what they all learned, they let the Max conclude the investigations. It being the fact she had less than twenty-four hours before Vecna attacked.

A clank interrupted their consultation. One that caused everyone to feel disturbingly frightened. Without unnecessary words Steve approached the door, grabbing the standing lamp as his weapon of choice. Not being able to let him alone, Stacy hid Chrissy's diary beside her belt, following her brother.

With a stare that said, "sit on your ass and don't move," Steve wanted to scold his sister, yet, he received a shrug in response as she raised her hand that held a wrench in it. Carefully coming out to the hallway, the rest followed the Harrington siblings, who instead of bravery, basked in their own hot-headedness.

"It's me!" Terrified voice of Lucas Sinclair yelled as Steve almost hit him with the lamp he had just held to ransom.

Panting, sounding absolutely petrified, the basketball player tried to explaining to Dustin what had happened. The moment Stacy heard the name Jason being mentioned, she froze, the wrench she was holding hitting the floor.

They were trying to hunt Eddie down.

All she could think of while driving to the Wheeler's house was his safety. Her hands were so cold she couldn't even feel the sweat that appeared on her skin. Revising what they'd learnt, what they planned on next, the group spent half of the night scheming their next steps. Especially what they could do in Max's case. Majority of them realized how grave the danger were when they found out about the visions the cursed people were having. Painful memories used against them, nights that were either sleepless or filled with nightmares...

Seated in between her brother and Dustin, Stacy couldn't focus on anything else than her own fear. Fear, that something could happen to her loved ones. It wasn't the first time she found herself brainstorming in the Wheeler's basement, yet somehow it felt colossally different. Drastically intense.

Clasping her hands, Stacy knew she needed to get out of the room, even for a tiniest while. It was suffocating her.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked before Stacy had the chance to fully stand up.

"Kitchen," she answered swiftly, however, her voice was far from being present.

"Oh, could you bring me some water?" Dustin asked, placing his hands on his knees.

"Really, dude? Really?" Steve rolled his eyes, pointing at his sister as though tell his younger friend it was best to leave her alone.

"What? You want me to die of dehydration? What kind of person are you?" Henderson argued, not picking up on the cue.

With a tiny smile, Stacy reassured him she would bring him something to drink. Before that, however, she made her way outside, sitting on the Wheeler's back porch, her head hanging low in her lap. Tauntingly afraid of what awaited her and her friends, Stacy needed some time to calm her uneasy breathing. Nevertheless, her thoughts always traveled to only one person in the end — Eddie Munson.

She could've only imagine how lonely and scared he must've been feeling, sitting all by himself in the boathouse, guilt dripping off of him. She could've only guess how the horrid images haunted his mind, drilling a wide hole through his soul, leaving scars he could never recover from.

Never wanting anyone else to experience what she and her friends went through, she wished she could take his memories away, erase them, never let them be perpetuated. It made her realize she cared about him. More than she had ever thought she would.

"Hi," soft voice belonging to Nancy Wheeler interrupted her invasive wonderings. "We haven't talked in a while."

"Yeah..." Stacy smirked. Exactly since the Starcount Mall battle happened. It so happened the paths of the two girls had not crossed, partially because Nancy busy with collage application, working at a local newspaper and Stacy buried herself under piles of books and social gatherings.

"How are you?"

Stacy rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "You don't have to do this, Nance. I appreciate it but I'm not a fan of small talks... Just cut to the case."

Nancy chuckled timidly, sitting right beside the sister of her ex-boyfriend, "I honestly wanted to ask you how are you doing."

"Spectacularly splendid," she rolled off her tongue, sending her companion a resigned smirk. "My friend is dead, my other friend's suspected of killing her, this sci-fi shit's back... a casual day for me."

"You talk just like Steve," the curly-haired girl smiled, biting her lip. "Downplaying how you're feeling to make a joke... I used to think that's adorable but I realized sometimes acting tough is worse than allowing yourself to be vulnerable," she explained, glancing directly at Stacy.

"Siblings thing," the younger girl shrugged, toying with the rock she picked up. "You and Mike have that, too, you know? This all being tough shit. I close my eyes one moment, then next thing I know you’re taking out monsters with that gun of yours. And Mike's fighting alongside his supernatural girlfriend... truly something else. But still you never ask for help. Even if you need it," she stated, staring at her challengingly.

"Why do I get a feeling you're hostile towards me?" Nancy asked, although her caring expression didn't vanish even for a while. Just as her question was spoken out of pure curiosity.

"Well, you did break my brother's heart..." Stacy answered with an overly-dramatic expression, breaking into a smile. "I'm kidding. I held no reservations for you, Miss Wheeler. I'm just super tired," she yawned as though she tried to make a point of her theatrical curtesy.

"...and super worried," Nancy added, meeting with Stacy's furrowed brow. "It shows. That's why I came up here... because I know you saw Chrissy in the same state as I saw Fred," she explained, her mannerism beginning to lack her usual confidence.

Noticing that, Stacy, ever so slightly, touched the nose of her shoe, saying, "That's why we won't let it happen to anyone else."

"Why does everyone keep taking my place of being the most caring brother in the world?" Steve complained the moment he entered the patio, leaning on the doorframe.

"See?" Nancy chuckled, referring to the conversation they just had.

In between the half-forced laugh, Stacy observed the abruptly odd and quite a specific stare her brother watched Nancy with. Driven by both emotional exhaustion and the idea of her brother finding happiness, she stood up, optimizing the best possible plan.

"I promised Dustin to bring him some water but... I think you should talk with Nance about it. Maybe she'll give you some advice on how to be a better older sibling," Stacy claimed, patting her brother's back as she passed him by.

She felt his burning eyes on her back when she made her way towards the kitchen, almost as he was internally screaming "Really?!". Pouring the water into a glass, she jumped in the air the moment she felt a hand being placed on her back.

"Sorry for spooking you," Robin Buckley apologized, leaning over the counter and pointing at the opened back door, "Just look at them... feels like love problems are a reoccurring theme in our little bunch."

"Can't help it. He looks at her with those puppy eyes and I just had to fulfill my wingman duty," Stacy laughed, observing her brother gesturing nervously thorough his talk with Nancy.

"He's not the only one, who can't deal with his feeling," Robin sang, ducking her lips as she fidgeted with the ring she was wearing. "How's Eddie?"

Stacy scoffed with a theatrically offended face, "Oh, come on, Robin. Now's not the time."

"Listen, Stacy. Whether it's romantic or not you're worried about him a-and I don't blame you! I mean, kinda I do, he's like, super-weird sometimes, and I've never seen you interested in someone other than Matthew Broderick from WarGames, although I think this movie fundamentally sucks..."

"Robin," Stacy chuckled at her rambling, shaking her head. "I get your point. And if it'll let you sleep tonight — of course I'm worried about Eddie. It's just..." she stopped herself, grabbing the glass she was holding with both of her hands.

"I know you are. You don't just punch a jock for a random person," Robin cheered quietly, but realizing she interrupted Stacy, she whispered "Sorry."

"I'm scared of leaving you all, even for a short while," Stacy admitted, looking down at her hands. "And now that Max is..."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey... Stace," Robin panicked, placing her hands on her friend's arms to stop her obtrusive thoughts. "Me and Nancy are going to the facility where they keep that Creel guy. We'll find out how he survived and hopefully we can apply that to Max, who'll be staying with Steve and the kids... And someone needs to check on our runaway, so..."

"I don't think Steve will be fine with it," Stacy chuckled, keeping in mind how he complained about being the babysitter for today. One more day and he would surely needed a break.

"He asked me to tell you this," Robin blabbered out. "We were talking about the conversation you and Eddie had over the radio and..."

"Geez, it was really nothing..."

"It was sweet, Stacy!" she argued, throwing her hands in the air. "So sweet, in fact, that dingus needed a pep talk to get out of that basement and talk to you!"

"So you say I sabotaged his plan?" Stacy raised up one of her eyebrows.

"Totally... Jesus, look at him!" Robin exclaimed, pointing at Steve, who was now describing something to Nancy, using his hands a bit excessively to illustrate it. "Like a child in the fog!"

Stacy smirked, biting her thumb as she repeated her words from before, "Siblings things."

Not long after the interaction with Robin, Stacy returned to the basement, getting scolded by Dustin for her taking thirty minutes to bring him a plain glass of water. As an apology, she suggested she could be the one, who went on a Max watch first. Re-reading Chrissy's diary as the boys fell asleep, Stacy tried finding any further connection, a link, anything that could possibly extract Vecna's scheme. Later, when Robin, Steve and Nancy came down, they brainstormed to the extend. Stacy exhaustingly laid down on one of the couches, immediately falling asleep.

The next day brought no peace to the crew, as they splinted up once again. Therefore, Stacy was now leaving her car on the driver of Reefer Rick's house, making her way towards the little shack.

Carefully, not to frighten Eddie, she opened the door, saying, "It's me. It's Stacy."

"I know," a bland voice reached her ears. Turning her head to the left, she noticed Eddie, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket. "Your car keys make that funky sound when you walk," he explained imitating with his hand the way the metal swung.

Stacy smiled, approaching him slowly, "You all good here?"

"As good as a wanted man can be," he answered, winking at her to ease her mind. From the look on her face he knew she was troubled.

"C'mon, you know what I meant," Stacy chuckled. Kneeling down, she placed her hands over his knees, continuing, "Do you need any food? Music? Clothes?"

As she listed out, Eddie raised his deep brown eyes, shaking his head, "For now just you staying a bit longer."

"Can do that," the girl smirked, shifting herself to sit beside him.

Raising one of his arm, he wrapped one side of the blanket over Stacy which resulted in her leaning closer as her chin found its way to rest on his shoulder. The silence surrounded them, although it was unlike any previous. It was comforting, almost vocalizing their gladness of seeing each other, safe. Even if it was only from the surface level.

"Y'know," Eddie started, a smirk entering his tired face. "You should've told me you fought with outer dimensional monsters and shit. That would've explained why Miss Hawkins' such a badass," he chuckled, noticing her batting her eyes at him.

"Yeah, and you'd believe me?"

Eddie adjusted his position, making a dramatic expression, "You undermine the mental capacity of your local Dungeon Master? Shame on you, darling."

The way the last word rolled out his mouth resulted in a subconscious smile, spread widely across Stacy's face. He had never called her that before.

"All I'm saying is that those things are gravely fucked up," she proclaimed, reaching out for the Walkman she lend him that was now placed in his lap. Biting her lip, she changed the subject, asking, "Mixtape review?"

"To little thrash metal, too much punk and new wave," he shrugged, failing to keep up a serious expression.

"There's literally one Billy Idol song... and maybe a few the Cure things but it's not too much," she disagreed, crossing her arms.

Eddie smirked, suddenly feeling nostalgic. This little bicker brought him the ideal amount of sentimental peace he needed at that moment.

"I missed you," he admitted quietly, as if he was unsure whether saying this out loud would be a rightful choice.

"I missed you, too," Stacy whispered. He failed to notice, but the stare with which she cherished his features was soaked with excessive share of care and affection. "So much, in fact, even my socially awkward brother noticed," she confessed as her right hand traveled to close him in a hug.

"You say so?" Eddie asked, although he wasn't sure it was him, who was speaking. He could've sworn his cheeks were the color of a ripe tomato in the middle of the summer.

"Mhm," Stacy murmured, her head now plastered to his chest. "I missed our talks, I missed you rambling about DnD and I missed you ripping on your guitar..."

"Hey!" he called in dramatic indignation.

"I meant that as a compliment," she argued, her eyes squinted as she looked up at him.

"Just admit you're bullying me," he joked, his arms now around her waist.

"Never ever in a million years would I do that," Stacy pouted childishly. "You're my favorite metalhead. It'd be a crime to bully you."

"I can't take so much flattery, darling," Eddie chuckled, playfully flicking her nose.

"Then don't call me darling because apparently I can't take that," she replied in the same manner, being pulled closer by him.

"Well, on the other hand..." he wondered, his eyes high above her reach.

"You are something else, Munson," Stacy shook her head, standing up.

She didn't want to if she had to be frank. It was something that was inevitable when regarding their current state. She knew if it went on like that, she would've felt the emerging urge to do something that could only disturb the state of things. After all, she needed to put all of her focus on thinking how to stop Vecna. Anything else could only clutter her mind — therefore allowing her emotions to take over was the worst decision possible.

Contradictory, Eddie felt his heart sinking deep down in his chest as he watched her breaking their embrace and beginning to pick up the empty boxes of cereals he had threw on the ground. He wished he could hold her a little while longer. He wished they could stay exactly like that, without any care in the world. There didn't even needed to be any physical touch involved; they could just sit next to each other. Just the two of them.

"When all this is over you have to teach me how to play DnD," Stacy offered in the midst of her cleaning. "I think I could be a pretty cool goblin princess."

How couldn't he fall for her? She was everything he could've possibly wanted.

"Whatever’s your wish, goblin princess," he murmured, unable to stop his lips from curling into a wide smile.

Stacy needed to return back to the Wheeler's house as the sun began to disappear on the horizon. Especially after Steve had informed her over the walkie-talkie that Max had been miraculously saved from Vecna. Music was what was her remedy. Scared beyond the realms of death, Stacy and the others found themselves back in the basement, trying to come up with a plan that this time could have a higher proximity of working out. Exactly that was the major factor in the team falling asleep almost as they stood. The exhaustion overtook them, making Nancy the only person, who woke up early the day next.

It was Eddie's voice blasting through walkie-talkie that caused Stacy to get up. As the journalist complained all of them are busy, the other girl volunteered to pick up food (and beer) the runaway asked for. Vanishing around the noon, Stacy found herself half of an hour later in the grocery store. Denim jacked wrapped around her waist, her hair in a ponytail to hide the grease that formed on them due to not washing them for three days, Stacy walked into one of the aisles, grabbing canned soups into her basket.

"Look who it is!"

She could've recognized this venomous tone even through the walls of deep sleep.

"Debbie… hi," Stacy greeted the girl, taking a proper look at her just now.

Black dress, hair parted, properly brushed. Behind her two cheerleaders, whose faces were red from crying.

Fuck, she scolded herself in her thoughts.

"You are the fakest bitch I've ever met, Harrington. A fucking snake," Debbie Donoghue hissed, taking three confident steps forward.

"Look, I'm terribly sorry I..."

"...didn't show up on Chrissy's funeral? And what else? You'd try explaining yourself? Oh, Debbie, I'm sorry, I was shagging her murdered and I completely forgot!" Debbie mocked her, agitation dripping from her words.

"I..."

"Oh, shut up! You knew damn well she was found in his trailer and you didn't tell us!"

"He didn't do it," Stacy breathed out, not realizing she began to tremble.

"He didn't— Are you fucking insane, Stacy?! With all of the evidence you're telling me he didn't killed Chrissy?!" Debbie spitted out, getting dangerously close to the other girl. "It's a relief Jason found out where he's hiding... and you know what? He's going to do the same to that freak to what he did to Chrissy..."

She sounded malicious. Sinister. Meaning every single word she spat out, Debbie dig her long nails into Stacy's shoulder.

The girl felt no pain, whatsoever. All she could focus on were the cheerleader's threats and promises, leading her thoughts to spiral. Jason found out where Eddie was hiding...

"Debbie, there's a myriad things you have no idea of..."

Stacy was never let to finish as her head abruptly turned to the side. It took a few seconds for her to realize it was due to Debbie's swift stroke, aimed directly at her nose. Before she could deflect another punch, she bounced off of one of the shelves. Her nostrils began to feel full, burning with a scorching liquid that leaked out of her nose the second she got back up on her feet. In amok, Stacy heard one of the cheerleader's telling Debbie to stop, and the other grabbing her hand. Inaudible shriek of complains left her mouth as she was not finished with letting her anger out on the now bleeding girl.

Taking the moment of tantrum to her advantage, Stacy rapidly collected herself, abandoning her shopping cart.

"You and your sick boyfriend deserve to burn in hell! You hear me, Stacy?! You deserve to fucking burn!"

Debbie's yells did not stop Stacy from running outside and starting her car. He threats were meaningless in comparison to what was bound to happen. Her head spun due to the injuries she endured which made it unable for her to drive in a straight line. Yet, she couldn't focus on anything else than to driving back to Eddie's hideout. Getting there before Jason and the jocks became her priority; so much so she couldn't hear the walkie-talkie constantly going on and off.

It had already gone dark when she ran off her red Chevrolet, making it unable for her to see a tree trunk pointing out of the front yard. Tripping down, she could've felt her jeans ripping open around her left knee and her hands being scratched due to her fall. But she didn't care. The voices inside Reefer Rick's house made it clear she needed to hurry. Running into the house, she scanned through every room, noticing the back door being open. Her heart palpitated so loudly it was almost audible. Like a bell in a destined tower, it was the only thing she could hear besides her rushing blood.

"Carver!" Stacy screamed the moment she noticed the teenager's silhouette in the midst of the darkened backyard. "Carver, stop!"

"My, my, isn't that Stacy Harrington?!" Jason yelled from afar, nodding to his friend to keep going.

"Carver, you don't understand! You all don't understand!" She was terrified. Tormented by the possibility of the jocks getting to Eddie, she ran out of the house in hopes of, at least, buying more time for Eddie to escape.

"It's always you getting tangled up with the things you shouldn't be a part of, huh?!" the jock called, laughing in her face.

Shaking their heads, Jason and his friend Patrick didn't wait any longer before they headed out to the boathouse.

Frantically calling their names, Stacy wanted to run towards them, to stop her. However, before her feet had the chance to lift off the ground, she felt her hand being pulled into a tight, brutal grip.

"Debbie did a good one on you," another mocking tone growled. This time, it was Donoghue's boyfriend judging Stacy's facial injuries.

"Let me go, you bastard!" she screamed, corrupted by hysteria that overtook her entirely.

"Hey, freak! Where do you think you're going?!" the muffled call of Jason caused her to wanting to wiggle out of Debbie's boyfriend's hold even harder.

"I said, let me go!" she yelled, however, her attempts brought no success.

However, giving up was not an option. It wasn't even a possibility. She knew in order to stop Eddie from getting hurt, she needed to gather all of her strength.

And so she did.

When the jock grasping her called her names that were meant to humiliate her, she took a deep breath and with all of her brawn, she head-butted his face.

"You bitch!" he called, grabbing his bleeding nose as he backed down.

"Tell Debbie it was eye for an eye," Stacy hissed, running down to the bay of the Lover's Lake.

The sight she encountered, however, was worse than her most disturbing nightmares. Patrick's body was high up in the air when Jason and Eddie screamed in unison trying to keep themselves on the water surface. The boat was turned on its back, making it unable for them to even try to rescue themselves.

But then, it took even more of a devilish turn.

Patrick's bones snapped so noisily it was ear-piercing. His jaw dislocated, his limbs deformed, the boy suddenly fell down, sinking in the cold water.

Jason's scream was thundering; pure terror was covered by rowdy rasp as his throat gave him a sign it couldn't let out any louder noise. A moment after that, he disappeared, diving in search of Patrick's body.

Although they were so drastically far away, Stacy could've tell Eddie was in shock so taunting it took him some time to even comprehend what was happening. She wants to scream, to tell him to run, to escape, however, no words were coming out of her mouth.

She fell down on her knees, feeling her vital forces leaving her psyche. Not being aware of Debbie boyfriend's presence, she let out a reverberant sob.

"We have to call the ambulance," the teenager whispered, sounding awfully horror-stricken. "Do you hear me, Stacy? We need to call for help!"

However, in a state of a hazy mind, the girl stood back up, taming her tears and unsteady breath. Appearing deadly disconnected from what had just happened, she stared blankly at Eddie, who was making his escape.

"I told you, you don't understand..." she murmured. "You don't..."