#a hint of ronance

[jadoue1999]

You and I, we were born to die

(Previously posted on AO3)

Summary: “I’m sorry Robs. You wouldn’t be dying in a freaky alternate dimension if I hadn’t dragged you into this.”

“I don’t regret it, I got to meet you.” A cough shakes her body, it sounds painful. When she finally catches her breath, her voice is tight. “Kinda wish we weren’t bleeding out in a psycho’s attic, though. Or that we could have at least reached 21.”

“Yeah,” he chuckles in agreement. “Still, it was fun while it lasted.”

"It was."

Or: Season 4 divergence where Vecna is defeated but Steve and Robin don't beat the death allegations.

Words: 3481

The vines stab right through him.

Steve chokes on the sharp pain, wishing that he could scream, but there isn’t enough air in his lungs to do that. He hears Robin grunt too, and fear stabs his guts even harder than the vines did.

Then they let go.

Without fanfare or parade, the vines suddenly retreat. They all collapse to the ground in a heap, his stab wound sending white hot pain coursing through his body. Steve can’t bring himself to get up, and one look at Robin is enough to know that she can’t either.

“Guys, come on,” says Nancy, oblivious to their injuries. Somehow, she’d been spared. “We can’t waste more time.”

“Nance—” he tries, but his throat is tight and it comes out gargled.

Still, she seems to understand him. “You can catch your breath after Creel is dead. You too, Robin.”

Nancy’s never been good at thinking of others during a crisis, that was his job. But that's why she’s such a good leader; she doesn’t let her emotions get in the way of the objective. Steve can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, numbing the pain. He has to push through. Robin seems to be on the same page because she gets up at the same time as he does. They hold onto each other as they follow. Nancy doesn’t even look back at them.

He hopes that they can hold on until it’s all over.

***

They win.

Against all odds, they win.

Vecna’s corpse is burned to a crisp and Nancy smiles at it. The nightmare is finally over.

“Did we do it?” Asks Robin, surprisingly breathless. Must be nerves.

“Yeah,” she confirms, staring at the dying embers of what remained of Henry Creel. “We won.”

Steve lets out a relieved chuckle that sounds more like a wheeze; both teens behind her do. Alarms start blaring in her head when she hears Robin collapse to the floor.

“Robin!” She gasps out as she rushes to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“Nance…” Steve starts but she cuts him off.

“Not now Steve,” she dismisses. “Help me get her over there.”

He doesn’t argue and goes to grab one of Robin’s arms while she goes for the other. The girl doesn’t weigh much, so it’s a bit of a surprise to hear him struggle so much. The whole time they move her, Robin’s eyes are transfixed on Steve, she looks worried. As for herself, Nancy’s worry grows tenfold when she realizes that Robin isn’t just exhausted; she’s bleeding.

It’s not a light bleeding either, it already soaked through her shirt and jacket. She doesn’t have anything to stop the bleeding, so she uses her hands. She’s halfway through begging Robin to hold on when Steve suddenly falls to the ground, sitting beside his best friend. Robin curls into his side and his face briefly twists in pain. Nancy cannot believe that he would just abandon her like that. Doesn’t he want to at least try to save her? She tells him just that. But whatever reaction she might have expected, resignation isn’t one of them.

And yet that’s what she gets.

“Come on, Steve!” She urges. “We can’t just leave her here!”

“Nance—” he tries, but she doesn't want to hear excuses.

“We can’t just leave her here! We have to get her to a hospital—”

“Nancy,” interrupts Robin. Her face is glistening with sweat, so is Steve’s actually. The girl slowly turns her head towards Steve’s hand, which is holding onto Nancy’s tightly. Only then does she register the blood.

Steve’s hand is soaked in it.

“What—”

Steve removes his arm from his torso, and she freezes when she sees even more blood.

“W— what happened?” She stammers, struggling to understand what’s happening.

“The vines,” exhales Steve. “Guess Vecna wanted to make sure to go out with a bang.”

Both he and Robin laugh at that but she hates it. How dare they make light of their situation? She couldn’t carry them out of there, not alone. They were going to die here.

As though he could read her mind, Steve gives her a soft smile. “It’s okay, Nance,” he reassures. “It’s okay.”

She hates that he’s repeating what he told her two years ago, when he had assured her he didn’t mind her dating Jonathan, even if they hadn’t technically broken up yet. And she hates how relieved he sounds at the thought of dying.

“Had a feeling we wouldn’t make it out,” wheezes Robin. “We wrote letters, for all of you. They’re in Steve’s bedside drawer; can you make sure everyone gets them?”

At first, she’s tempted to argue because there’s no way they’re going to die here. They won, so they have to be alright, they have to celebrate with everyone. But it doesn’t take long for Nancy to realize that it’s not realistic. They’re not coming home, so the least she can do is make sure that the letters don’t gather dust.

“I will,” she promises.

The pair smile at that and it’s so much more painful than she’d thought. Nancy wants all this to be one of Vecna’s visions or a particularly bad nightmare, but the aching in her chest reminds her that this is very real.

She’s going to lose her friends.

Small sobs rip through her, but she can’t let them show, she doesn’t want Robin and Steve to think about how everyone is going to react. She has to be strong for them. As usual, though, Steve reads her like a book.

“Come here,” he says, opening his arms.

Nancy goes for the hug with no hesitation. Maybe it’s being held by the both of them, or maybe it’s the fact that this will be the last hug they’ll ever share, but she melts into tears. The worst is that Steve and Robin hold her tightly the whole time, whispering reassurances in her ears that she should really be telling them. She's painfully aware of their rapidly fleeting strength, like a slow countdown until their last moment together as their grip gets gradually looser. They eventually part, and Nancy can feel wetness on her shirt; she knows it’s not tears.

“You should go, Nance,” says Steve, a noticeable tiredness to his voice.

“I’m not leaving you,” she counters.

Robin exhales sharply. “We don’t want you to see us like that. We don’t want your last memory of us to be our corpses.”

She doesn't like it but she knows it’s for the best. Robin and Steve are protecting her, yes, but they probably need a moment alone together too. She’s never really understood their closeness, but now, seeing Robin curled in Steve’s side and him leaning his head on hers, she’s never understood it better. They’re a puzzle that fits perfectly into each other.

“Okay,” she agrees after a moment.

Nancy goes to leave, but she barely makes it past the door before she’s running back. She needs proper closure, and she knows they do too. Before she can stop herself, she grabs Steve’s face and kisses him deeply. He freezes, but it doesn’t matter. Nancy had felt the tension between them, the dying embers of a fire she had put out herself starting to ignite once more. She’d been scared, reluctant even, but there was nothing to lose now.

She lets go of his face and ignores the confusion in his eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you wanted me to be.”

He’s confused, but Nancy isn’t done yet. She then grabs Robin’s face and kisses her too. Her lips are softer, but Nancy kisses with anger. Anger that they’ll never get to explore why Robin is making her feel that way, anger that she was too much of a coward to let herself explore new experiences. Anger because the sparks she feels as Robin kisses back will forever haunt her with their intensity.

When Nancy lets go of Robin’s face, she’s delighted to see that she’s blushing. Actually, both Steve and Robin are flushed red and it makes her forget about their predicament for a moment. Not for long though.

Nancy brushes her thumb over the girl’s cheek as she whispers. “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance.”

And then, before anyone has time to react or regret, she leaves the room. Silent tears falling down her cheeks. It doesn’t take long to reach the trailer. Both Dustin and Eddie are gone, they had thankfully stuck to the plan. She doesn’t think she could have taken another loss. She quickly climbs up the rope and falls on the mattress. A hand reaches to help her get up, but she doesn’t go to grab it. Sobs wrecks her body as the gravity of the situation fully hits her. 

“Where's Steve and Robin?” A small voice asks.

She meets Dustin’s worried eyes. Only then does she realize that she didn’t just lose her friends, Dustin lost his brother, and the Party lost their friends and their protector. 

“Nancy…” Eddie says, worry in his voice. “Why is there blood on your shirt?”

Her voice dies in her throat.

***

There’s a few seconds of silence after Nancy leaves and then they’re both high-fiving before immediately wincing in pain.

“Wheeler,” exhale Robin. “Who knew?”

“I certainly didn’t,” he scoffs. Out of everyone Steve knew, Nancy was literally the last person he’d thought would be queer.

“I thought she was jealous of us because she still had a crush on you. Never thought she might crush on us both!”

He laughs, and that laugh quickly turns into a coughing fit that shakes his entire body painfully. A thick blob of something climbs up his throat along with an impressive amount of saliva. He spits the dark mass on the floor littered with dying vines and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Steve spares a glance at his soaked hand and jacket and oh—

That’s definitely not saliva.

“Robs?” He calls out, trying not to sound too freaked out.

“Mmmh?” She responds quietly, tiredly. 

“Look.”

Begrudgingly, she slowly lifts her head. He waits for her eyes to focus, he waits for her to realize what she’s seeing and what it means.

“Is that blood?” Robin asks, trying to straighten up but she gives up when it’s clear that they’re too weak to move like that.

Steve sighs as he lets his arm lower to the ground. “Yeah.”

“We’re so fucked,” lament his best friend before curling tighter in his side. “‘M cold.”

“Me too,” he agrees.

They both know that it’s not just the usual chill of the Upside Down making them like this. He’s got his left arm wrapped around her shoulders, but he’s too numb to feel it. His body is getting heavier by the second but he doesn’t want to die yet, he’s got so much to say.

“Robin? Are you awake?”

It takes a moment for her to answer, and he fears that he lost her without saying goodbye. Thankfully, he’s wrong.

“Unfortunately,” she mumbles.

Steve feigns offense. “You’d let me die alone? That’s so selfish.”

“One of us is going to die first, dingus,” she snarks without bite. “I know you’re too stubborn to go first.”

He laughs softly, she’s right as usual. She thankfully sounds more awake than she did a few minutes ago; he counts that as a win.

“I’m going to miss our movie nights with the kids,” he confesses. “Dustin is going to be so pissed that we won’t get to watch ‘Back to the future’ together.”

Robin chuckles. “He’d kill us if we weren't dying already.”

“He’d raise us from the dead just to kill us again,” Steve jokes.

His best friend sighs sadly. “I hope the kids are going to be okay without their babysitter.”

His heart twists painfully at the realization, but he does his best to ignore it. “They’re not kids anymore, they’ll be fine.” He pauses before adding. “They have Eddie now.”

“They better make some fucking D&D characters in our honor,” grits Robin. “They better make them unkillable.”

Steve doesn’t know jackshit about their game, but he’s fairly sure that’s not possible. Still, it’s a nice thought.

“I don’t want to die, Steve,” croaks Robin,

“Neither do I,” he answers. 

He thought he wanted to die for the longest time. He thought he had no future, no use beyond protecting his kids. For the longest time, he figured he’d die a hero’s death, sacrificing himself for the greater good and finally atoning for all the wrong he’s done in the world. But now that he got his heroic death, he doesn’t want it.

He wants to live.

But really, Steve’s fate had been sealed since ‘83. Since the moment he’d gone back to the Byers and faced off against the Demogorgon instead of running away. He’d been on borrowed time since.

“At least…” starts Robin, and he knows what she’s going to say. They talked about this already.

“At least it’s not one of the kids,” he completes.

It takes a long time for things to die in the Upside Down, and that apparently includes them. His bat bites have been torn open and he’s been impaled clean through. There’s enough blood on and around them to know that they should both be dead by now and yet they’re still holding on. Some stupid, foolish, part of him hopes that they’ll be both rescued, like in a movie when the audience has lost all hope but the hero wakes up in the hospital, injured but alive. Hope is a bitch like that.

But he knows no one is coming for them, it would take too much manpower that they just don’t have right now. He wonders briefly what’s going to happen to their bodies before realizing that Robin hasn’t talked in a while.

“Robs?” He asks.

No response.

He tries again. “Robin?”

“What, dingus?” She mumbles.

Steve’s never been so relieved in his entire life, or what’s left of it anyway. “Thank god, I thought you were dead.”

When Robin speaks again, he can hear the grin in her voice. It’s weak but it’s there. “God has nothing to do with this. He abandoned Hawkins a long time ago.”

Steve chuckles bitterly at that. Knowing Robin’s track record, she’s probably right. “Do you think they’ll come back for our bodies? I feel like it’d be weird to bury empty caskets.”

“I don’t really care,” exhales Robin. Her voice is getting quieter, he tries really hard not to focus on that. “I just want our graves to be next to each other.”

“If that happens, there’s no way your parents are going to believe that we’re not married.” 

Robin’s parents had been on their case since they first saw them together. He’d had the full boyfriend talk despite their many protests that they were just friends. Recently, her family had moved on from thinking that they were together to believing that they had gotten married in secret with how close and comfortable they were with the other.

His best friend chuckles softly. “Wouldn’t be so bad.” 

Then, Robin is grunting and moving and it takes him a moment to understand that she’s reaching for his hand. He meets her halfway, but it’s a lot harder than expected. Still, she grabs his hand and squeezes his numb fingers as she recites. “In sickness and in health, through the good and the bad… and the really bad,” she adds.

She continues talking, and it takes him longer than he’d like to admit to realize that Robin is reciting wedding vows. 

“Til death do us part,” she finishes.

“Til death do us part,” he repeats.

Steve forces his uncooperative muscles to move so he can lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. If he sees silent tears running down her cheeks, he doesn’t mention it; just like she doesn’t mention his either.

“I do,” he murmurs.

Robin presses herself firmly against him. “I do.”

He notices the rattle in her breath, and it scares him. They’re both running out of time.

“We’re married,” breathes out Robin. “Guess the kids were right.”

“Platonically married,” he specifies before sighing. “I really thought we’d spend our whole lives together until we’d be all gray and wrinkly. Like grow old and die together, you know?”

Robin snorts. “You’re at least partly right. That’s more than your usual. One strike on the board, ‘you rule’ section this time.”

“Had to happen at least once.” Steve chuckles bitterly, thinking back at that summer before everything went to shit. They might not have been the closest, but that had been the most normal he’d felt in ages. “I’m sorry Robs. You wouldn’t be dying in a freaky alternate dimension if I hadn’t dragged you into this.”

“I don’t regret it, I got to meet you.” A cough shakes her body, it sounds painful. When she finally catches her breath, her voice is tight. “Kinda wish we weren’t bleeding out in a psycho’s attic, though. Or that we could have at least reached 21.”

“Yeah,” he chuckles in agreement. “Still, it was fun while it lasted.”

Steve feels a bit shitty about recalling their discussion in the Russian bunker, but they had been so sure that they were about to die until they got unexpectedly rescued. Maybe they can have one more miracle.

“It was,” completes Robin.

Silence fills the attic, occasionally interrupted by their labored breathing as they simply sit there, holding onto each other waiting for death to take them. His eyes are getting heavier, and it gets progressively harder to fight off the darkness. The adrenaline wears off as well at some point and the pain hits him full force.

Steve tries to focus on anything other than the pain and his eyes land on Vecna’s corpse. It’s barely more than a lump of melted flesh at this point and Steve finds it difficult to believe that this— this pile of goo was the source of all their problems. Honestly, if he could move, he’d stomp on it until he made a hole in the floor. Like he did with that Demobat. It’s at that moment that he realizes how quiet everything is. There’s no chittering sounds, no screeching, and no lightning; the army died with their general. 

Steve’s blood freezes in his veins when he realizes that something else is quiet; something that definitely shouldn’t be.

“Robin?”

He can’t hear her rattling breath and as much as he wants to believe that she just got better, the churning in his guts tells him otherwise. His throat tightens, but he has to make sure. They’re still holding hands, so he squeezes hers. 

“Hey,” he calls out. His voice breaks in a way that he knows Robin would have made fun of him if she could. He nudges his shoulder. “Hey.”

Robin is frighteningly still against him, which is so much worse than he can expect. She had never been able to sit still, even when her life depended on it. She was always twitching or fidgeting or rambling about whatever was going on in her head. God he’s going to miss her rambling so much. Steve knows that Robin is gone, and he’s going to follow soon, but he can’t just do nothing.

“I love you,” he says, sobs threatening to spill. “I love you so much and I hope we can find each other again, wherever we’re going next. I don’t know who I’d be if you hadn’t stumbled into my life. I was better than I was, but you made me feel like I could grow into something better, inspirational even.”

He pauses because he’s used to letting some time for Robin to answer. He gulps when he’s only met with silence. 

“I thought I’d take this secret with me to the grave, which I guess I kinda am, but here we go… I think I like Eddie. And not just ‘he’s a nice guy’ kind of like. It’s just his smile, and his eyes, and the way he just… is. I don’t know how to explain it but I think I love him.”

Some desperate part of him hopes that she reacts. If something is going to shock her enough to bring her back to life, it’s the fact that famous ladies' man Steve Harrington isn’t entirely straight. But Robin doesn’t do anything and his bleeding heart shatters in even tinier pieces than he thought possible. He’s honestly glad that he doesn’t have to carry on because he doesn’t know how he’d live with half of himself gone.

“We’ll be okay,” he tells Robin as his vision blurs and the call of sleep gets impossible to resist. “As long as we’re together,” he slurs, his mouth barely articulating the words. “We’ll be okay.”

Steve closes his eyes.

Notes: Thank you for reading! I'm slowly starting to write again and I, of course, had to do some angst to get myself into it. I should be posting a one shot of Fae Steve and Vampire Eddie soon, depending on the result of my poll!

I would love to know what you thought of this!

[lasagnaboxlesbian]

i think im still a fluff person but writing angst has definitely opened pandora’s box 💀

[buddiesronance]

you'll never guess who she's looking at here (you will)

[metalhoops]

Remember this post? 

They were in the belly of the beast. 

The Creel House stood resolute, tinged the colour of a freshly heal wound, reopened. The same sickly red stain of The Upside Down sky, brown boards blue-hued from strange smokes and cinder. Part of Eddie felt like he’d seen the house before, in some half-remembered nightmare. Deep in the back of his brain, where all strange primal fears were housed, there was a spot saved for the decaying manner. 

By all rights, Eddie shouldn’t have been in the house. If they’d followed the original plan, he’d have been on the roof of the trailer. It’d been Wheeler, of all people who’d changed things. She was a smart girl, too damn smart for her own good in Eddie’s opinion. She’d pointed out all the ways their plan could go wrong and as much as Eddie wanted to redeem the Munson name, he didn’t want to walk into a death trap if he could help it. 

Nancy was right. That didn’t change the creeping sense of dread he felt whenever he looked her way. It was like one of Vecna’s vines had made a home in his stomach and was creeping up towards his mouth each time the girl did something impressive. Eddie had the sneaking suspicion something was swaying his feelings towards her. Something with light brown hair, who had entered the Creel house brandishing a baseball bat like a medieval sword. 

Jesus H. Christ. Seeing Steve Harrington wield the tetanus trap of a baseball bat, full of splintering wood and rusted nails wasn’t a sight he’d ever pictured living to see. 

Drifting in from the wasteland beyond the open door, Eddie could hear his amps playing ‘Master of Puppets’ on the boom box they’d borrowed from the Harringtons’. The poor little player had never gotten the taste for good music. Eddie had to admit it was a good idea. 

He, Steve and Dustin set up the trap. Once the bats began to swarm the trailer the two older boys boosted Dustin up and out of the portal, much to the kid’s protest. They then snuck around the back of the trailer, while the girls waited in the woods ahead. Nancy had her sawn-off trained on the swarm. Robin had her Molotovs. Range weapons, waiting in the wings. He and Steve were the best at evasion. If this were a campaign, he’d say they made a pretty balanced party, all things considered. 

The interior of the house was worse than Eddie expected. It was filled with rotted vines and ash, making the air smell of must and mildew. Eddie’s brain kept telling him to turn tail and run, but he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. 

He shifted his shield from one hand to the next as they moved deeper into the house, channelling his nervous energy away from his feet. One misstep and their distraction would be for nothing. Their plan was a house of cards. One gust of wind and the whole damn thing would blow over. If Eddie screwed up Red, along with everyone else in the Creel house, would be dead before the world had time to end. 

Steve took the lead up the stairs like Eddie knew he would. He had a hero complex Eddie couldn’t unpick. Once everything was over, he had questions about what the party had seen the last three times they’d decided to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight. There was something about Steve Harrington he couldn’t put his finger on. Sure, trauma could change a person, Eddie was learning that lesson the hard way, but the man charging up the stairs towards their inevitable death in too-tight pants and an army jacket had some explaining to do. 

He wasn’t sure who’d done it in the end. Whose foot made first contact with the blackened tendrils, the dominos fell too fast to pinpoint an epicentre. Nancy's body jerked one way, while Steve was sent skyward. His back hit the walls of the house with a sickly wet thud, a mass of undulating vines threatening to swallow him whole. Robin was on the floor at the foot of the steps, hacking away at the vines with an axe. Eddie was pushed against the bannister, all the air fleeing his lungs. This was how he would die. 

The sound of distant wings grew ever louder as Eddie’s vision began to blacken around the edges. 

In Eddie’s fading vision, he watched as a sliver of light glinted off something overhead. The axe fell like a guillotine, too close to Eddie’s head for comfort. He was free. He took greedy gulps of air, his eyes making contact with Buckley’s. She looked as shocked as he did, like a nocturnal animal caught in floodlights.

They didn’t have time. Robin was off, desperately hacking skywards at the vines still ensnaring Steve. He’d managed to wedge the bat between the vine and his throat. Rusted nails dug deeper into the black mass as it attempted to constrict, but it also buried the nails deeper into Steve’s flesh. 

Eddie ran to help Nancy, her lips blue as her fingers blindly grasped for the shotgun that’d landed just out of reach. Nancy was smart, but like all people, the fear of death made her dumb. A bullet to the jugular wasn’t going to fix this. 

Eddie tried to slide his fingers between the vine and her throat, to relieve some of the pressure. His fingers kept slipping, sticky with sap or blood. He didn’t know. He wished he had a knife as he tried to untangle the vines from ensnaring her body. There was nothing more he could do. He had to sit and wait as he felt the fight begin to fade from her convulsing body. He listened distantly to Robin’s slew of curses as she hacked at drywall. For each vine cut from Steve’s body, there was another waiting to ensnare him. 

Life-or-death situations had a strange way of bringing one's true feelings to the surface. Eddie crouched beside Nancy, his hand clawing at the vine encircling her throat, watching as her panic-ridden eyes flickered across his face. He noticed her hand twitching up trying to pry the vine from its hold on her throat and Eddie’s arm. She was so weak he hadn’t noticed her attempt. He ran a thumb absentmindedly back and forth across her knuckles, trying to soothe her. 

“Hey, no. Hey. You’re fine, Wheeler. You’re okay. Slow breaths, alright? You’ve got this,” he muttered hating how uncertain he sounded, how strained his voice was. 

He didn’t hate Nancy. He’d hate himself if he let Steve’s chance of a storybook ending die in his arms but Christ that was a lot of pressure. 

He crouched there until his fingers turned white and an axe descended upon the vines, cutting them both free. Wheeler gasped, taking deep shaky breaths as she squeezed Eddie’s hand, locking eyes with Buckley over his shoulder. She schooled her features when Steve came into view. His throat wept blood but he was upright, which was more than Eddie could’ve hoped for. 

The vines began to retreat for a reason they couldn’t discern. The group rushed to the second-floor landing, as the swarm of bats descended upon the house, rushing in through the open door. Eddie watched as something shifted in Steve’s stance. He twisted the baseball bat in his hands, familiarising himself with the weapon before taking a few practice swings. 

“Keep going. I’ll hold ‘em off,” Steve spoke. 

Eddie knew it wasn’t a good plan. He knew what happened to the people who stayed behind. Steve had warned him about playing the hero. Eddie wasn’t going to let him have all the fun. 

He held his shield aloft in front of himself, trying to see how much of his body he could brace behind it. If this were a campaign, Eddie knew fighting something that nasty on your own would be akin to a death sentence. 

“I’m staying. Even the odds,” Eddie spoke, as though two boys fresh off the heels of adolescence taking on a swarm of hundreds of unearthly horrors was in any way shape or form, even.  They just had to hold them off until Vecna was dead. The hellscape couldn’t survive without him. Cut off the head and the rest would follow. 

If they had more time, maybe things would’ve gone differently. Maybe they would’ve come up with a better plan, but there was no time. Robin looked poised for an argument or a thought-out speech but Nancy cocked the shotgun and dragged her forward. She knew the silent promise that came with goodbyes. 

The boys were faced with a black mass of writhing wings. They found a rhythm with ease. Steve swung his bat in a perfect arch, sending any unfortunate hell spawn in its wake flying into Eddie’s waiting shield, empaled on the jagged nails. 

Eddie was surprised at how easy it was to find something akin to peace at that moment. He and Steve knew how to move around each other, and how to anticipate each other. They watched the other’s back and oftentimes found themselves back-to-back. Steve’s broad shoulders were grounding where they pressed into Eddie’s. It was the world's strangest game of baseball. With Steve at his side, the horror of the moment seemed to fall away. 

They worked better together than Eddie could’ve imagined and lasted longer than he’d thought. Yet, they couldn’t hold out much longer. The room smelled of rotted iron and Eddie’s sides throbbed. He was too hopped up on adrenaline for the seriousness of the situation to take hold, but one look at Steve in his periphery let him know they were both in bad shape. 

The boy was covered in blood. The wound in his side was torn open once more. Someone could trace their movement by the bloody footprints littering the floor. 

They were dying. 

Eddie tried not to let the enormity of the situation swallow him whole. 

“Hey? How’s it going in there? You killin’ the son of a bitch or just admiring the view?” Eddie screamed above the beating of wings. When a response didn’t come, Steve and Eddie exchanged worried looks. 

“Rob?” Steve yelled, casting a glance through the doorway. 

The moment of distraction left him wide open for a bat to swoop, wrapping its twisted tail around Steve’s arm and tugging him upwards. Eddie acted fast, grabbing Steve’s ankle, and pulling him back to the relative safety of the rotting boards, bloated and warping from the mingling blood and black, bat ooze. 

“I can’t find the lighter,” Robin’s voice called at last. It must have fallen from her pocket when the vines attacked. Shit. 

Eddie plunged his hands into the depths of his jacket pocket and thanked the god he didn’t believe in for his habit of chain smoking in times of crisis. He’d brought another lighter. 

“Watch my six Stevie, I’ve got one,” Eddie called, rushing into the room leaving no space to argue. 

Nancy had slung the rifle over her shoulder and had taken Robin’s axe, making short work of the few bats that’d managed to sneak past his and Steve’s defences. 

Eddie ran to Robin’s side, noticing how the girl’s eyes swelled at seeing him. He was definitely in bad shape then. Her hands trembled as she held out the bottle. Time and time again, Eddie tried to light the cloth. It wasn’t working.

Nothing was working. Panic finally took hold of Eddie. They were going to die. He wished he could say he made peace with that knowledge, but he couldn’t. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” Eddie mumbled as the lighter continued to dull and spark. 

“What’s going on? I’m coming in,” Steve yelled as he appeared in the doorway barring the opening as best he could, trying to hold the flimsy wood as it buckled beneath the bats' weights. 

Steve’s eyes shifted over the scene, assessing the situation within seconds. 

He charged forward, taking the bottle from Robin’s hands, and letting the rag fall to the floor. 

“Nancy, get ready to shoot,” Steve called as he stalked closer to Vecna’s dangling body. A look passed between the two. The glance told Nancy everything she needed to know.

“Eds, lighter,” Steve called over his shoulder extending his hand. Eddie blinked, tossing it to Steve. 

Eddie would remember what happened next for the rest of his life. Whether that life lasted for minutes or decades, it didn’t matter. There was no such thing as a perfect moment, but what followed was as close as they could come. 

Steve took a deep swig of vodka, filling his cheeks with the bitter liquid and held Eddie’s lighter aloft, the small flame illuminating Steve’s features, a final spark of warmth amongst the blue-grey walls and ash of the house. His hands dripped blood, what was left of his skin was pale from the loss of it. 

Steve spat the alcohol in a perfect arc, through the flame, breathing fire over Vecna’s body, catching the dark wizard alight. Steve was a fallen king turned dragon. A higher kind of nobility. Breathtaking, unearthly, and dangerous. 

As Nancy littered Vecna’s body with bullets, Eddie kept his eyes trained on Steve, his heart in his throat. Eddie wasn’t one for sudden affections. His heart was an alley cat, wary and distrustful by nature. Yet, despite everything, Eddie fell in love with Steve at that moment. His heart soared straight past ‘crush’ and on through to adoration. Maybe it was the blood loss but with Vecna’s dead body on the floor at their feet, he knew at that moment, his life would be inextricably connected to Steve’s. 

The boy shot him a smile over his shoulder, his lip bloody, vodka smattering his chin. The room smelled of kindling. 

The girls rushed to Steve, taking turns embracing him. The sound of bats at the door had finally stopped. It was over. They’d won. 

Eddie watched on helplessly as Steve rested his forehead against Robin’s, holding the girl close, his face contorting in pain. Robin muttered a string of incoherent words just loud enough for Steve to hear before pulling back. 

Nancy was next. Their hug was less feverish, more familiar. Nancy’s chin rested on Steve’s shoulder and Steve’s hands gripped the back of her shirt as they had a hundred times before. They looked good together. It made Eddie ache. He looked away. 

When he looked back, to his surprise Robin had scooped Nancy into a too-tight hug, blathering about how petrified she’d been and how amazing Nancy was. Much to his surprise, Steve was looking at him, his arms open in offering. 

The others were close. They had gone through hell together. Eddie was the outsider. It felt strange being offered a place amongst them, but he didn’t know when he’d get another opportunity, so he strode forward letting Steve’s arms encircle his body. 

It wasn’t the kind of hug he’d expected. It wasn’t feverish, like Robin’s or as solid and steadfast as Nancy’s. Steve clung to him, his hands gripped at Eddie’s forearms, as though trying to map out the uncharted territory before pulling him closer. His hands snaked around Eddie’s body, finally finding a home, clutching at the shirt fabric around his shoulder blades.

Eddie didn’t know what to do with his hands, finding them slipping beneath Steve’s jacket, just above his waist. His head found its way to Steve’s shoulder and Steve’s did the same. He could feel the boy’s heart pounding. He smelled of sweat, blood, and alcohol. 

“You’re a total badass, Steve Harrington.” Eddie gasped. His breath was hot against Steve’s ear. The boy chuckled, causing a shiver to run up his spine.

“I don’t know, Munson. That’s high praise comin’ from a hero,” Steve spoke.

“I’m not-,” Eddie began, but Steve wasn’t having it. 

“Take a compliment dude. You went to Mordor,” Steve spoke in the tone of a man who still didn’t know exactly what ‘Mordor’ was. 

Hawkins’ golden boy, trying to ‘speak nerd’ to him wasn’t quelling any of Eddie’s feelings. 

“Yeah well, next time we go somewhere let’s make it nice. Check out The Rockies, The Grand Canyon, maybe California.” 

Later Eddie would blame the blood loss for being so bold. 

Steve pulled back, just far enough to look at Eddie’s face. To his surprise, Steve shot him a goofy grin. 

“I like the sound of that.” 

[eskawrites]

Pause.

Karen Wheeler gets Vecna’d.

She’s been a target since summer of 1985, since a shadow whispered to Billy Hargrove, shut her up, kill her, bring her to me.

And oh, what a target she is. So miserable with her perfect life. Already reaching for the bottle, grasping for any escape, however dangerous it is. Drowning in the guilt that she regrets her choices, regrets her family, regrets her children. Maybe if she didn’t, maybe if she could just be happy with her life, she could be a better mother. And maybe, if she was just a better mother, she could protect her kids from the danger that always seems to lurk in Hawkins.

So Karen starts getting headaches. She attributes it to the stress of sending Mike across the country, of figuring out what to do with Holly during spring break, of worrying about Nancy, wearing her Emerson shirt and standing with one foot out the door already.

It’s easy to forget about it in the chaos of everything happening after the championship game. And it makes sense that everyone else is too distracted to notice that something is wrong.

Meanwhile, the Hawkins gang saves Max and immediately decides to figure out who the next victim will be. They gear up with walkmans and cassettes and scribbled out lists of everyone’s favorite songs. Nancy feels herself pulled in all directions—trying to keep Max safe, putting on a brave face for the rest of the kids, coming up with plans to keep the group moving, worrying about Mike and Will and El and Jonathan half a country away, reconnecting with Steve while trying not to break his heart again, and fighting this increasingly overwhelming draw she feels toward Robin Buckley of all people. It’s too much for one person to deal with, but she’ll never admit that. What choice does she have but to keep going?

Until a police car pulls up at wherever the group is hiding out now, scaring everyone half to death. But the sheriff only asks for Nancy with a weary expression. “Your mother’s been acting strange. I don’t know what’s going on with you kids, or anyone else in this town for that matter, but your father’s no help and she seemed rattled enough we don’t really want to leave her on her own.”

Nancy presses for more information, tries to get details, but she already knows. Before the others piece it together, before Max realizes even, Nancy knows.

God. She doesn’t even know her mother’s favorite song.

They split the party, half of them going with Eddie to hide out at Steve’s house, but Nancy, Max, Robin, and Lucas head back to the Wheeler’s.

Cue trauma and shenanigans from there, like Ted really being no help at all, and Holly not knowing much but knowing that everything is wrong, and Karen barely even looking at Nancy no matter what she says or does. Robin searching the entire house for something that seems like it could be Karen’s favorite song, trying to get answers out of Ted and earning herself a place on his bad side as she does, bumping into Holly and awkwardly trying to make her feel better by asking for her help finding the right song. Max and Lucas hovering awkwardly, but Max refuses to leave because if Vecna strikes maybe she can help, and Lucas refuses to leave because it’s Max, he’s always going to be there for her. The rest of the kids staying in touch with walkies and trying desperately to get a hold of Mike back in California.

And maybe Nancy still has her vision, but this time Vecna taunts her with her mother, the final victim, standing right in front of her and she can’t do anything to help her. And Nancy has known she’s cursed, that she poisons everything she touches, since that stupid party back in 1983, but it has never been so paralyzing as it is right now.

[pocket-sand-fic]

hi just read the latest chapter it was really good <3 i've seen some ideas abt a hoh (hard of hearing) nancy considering how many guns she's shot without earphones or anything. so if you're still accepting prompts i would love to see hoh nancy - maybe like she's trying to pretend her hearings fine but robin notices something's up and nancy reluctantly admits she's having trouble hearing but is really refusing to get any help and robin has to convince her to go to the doctor abt it or something. i would love to see your take on it but no pressure tho <3

Such a great idea!

Hope you like what I did with it! :)

[sweetcreaturetm]

So Eddie always knew he was different. He knew he liked boys the way his friends liked girls. He knew it wasn’t the most acceptable. But it was his normal and he was going to embrace it even if he thought he was never going to find someone to love. But he did.

If you had told a 14 year old Eddie that one day he would find someone he loved. And that same someone loved him back. He would have said no way. And if you had told that Eddie that the person he loved and who loved him back was Steve fucking Harrington. Well he would have laughed in your face and told you to fuck off. But it’s true.

They became inseparable after the whole upside down thing. Eddie still hasn’t wrapped his mind around all of it. There’s still so much he doesn’t even know. It’s hard for Steve to relive some of the horrors. The nightmares finally got so bad he had to reach out to someone and that had been Steve. And he doesn’t even know if he could sleep in a bed alone anymore if he tried.

So they fell for each other. Maybe they fought it at first but that didn’t last long. And for a while it was secret. Something just between them. But then they couldn’t keep it to themselves they had to tell the people they trusted. They needed to be able to be honest with their found family.

To be honest nobody even seemed to care as much as he thought they would. Robin of course knew no way could Steve keep that from her then Nancy cause no way Robin could keep her mouth shut.

Steve had to tell Dustin they thought he might be mad at either of them not telling him before the rest of the party or maybe about them being together at all. But he was so excited. Probably because Steve told him he couldn’t tell anyone and Dustin loves to know things other people don’t. Eddie told the band they knew he was gay but… Steve?? Harrington?? King Steve?? Eddie made sure they knew he was not who they thought he was and they came around.

They decided to tell the rest of the party at a Hellfire where everyone would be there. Eddie stood at the head of the table and told them (as dramatically as possible) that he was in love. Yes he! Eddie the Freak *dramatic finger wiggling* Munson had fallen in love and his true love was none other than.. *cue a drum roll from a very smiley Dustin* King Steve! The party whipped their heads to where Steve was taking a little bow. Steve then sat on the couch next to Max and El. He laughed along as Eddie waxed poetic about him. The guys rolled their eyes having had to listen to most of this already. Dustin practically squealed. The girls were positively giggling to each other after asking Steve something secretly. Lucas and Mike seemed less than impressed and annoyed that Dustin knew first. But something about will’s reaction made Eddie give pause. He was still looking between Eddie and Steve but he seemed to be deep in thought. “What is on thine mind young Will the Wise?” Eddie asked. Will just shook his head and curled in on himself. So Eddie took a cue and began the game.

Eddie had recognized that look in Will. One of realization and maybe hope. He had seen the way Will’s eyes lingered on Mike. He had seen the way he didn’t join in the talks about girls with the boys. He knew he had to be a positive example for young will. One that he hadn’t had. Not in that way. Of course Wayne was supportive he knew probably before Eddie but there was only so much he could say. But Eddie could show! He could- they could be an example to will. To show that if it was possible for Eddie to find himself a nice loving boyfriend it was more than possible for Will.

[salamandergoo]

have an amazing day here's a thought for you: steve lives for soft moments. when they happen he lights up, feels like he's floating. the full feeling in his chest when someone tells him he's done a good job, or he looks nice, or when someone gazes into his eyes and kisses him so sweetly. he feels so giddy with it, feeling so seen. his heart starts racing, each beat pumping out happy happy happy. loved loved loved.

Once again. This got very out of hand and is very not edited, super stream of consciousness from the last couple of days. I decided to go for a vaguely polyam spicy six ❤️

Oh absolutely. Steve craves attention, always has. He didn’t get much from his parents growing up, was always talked over and ignored. He figured that any attention was good attention, even when his friends were being cruel to other people (or him), he was scared to go back to being alone, an afterthought.

After the demogorgon in the Byers’ house, Steve’s heart is pounding and he’s hopped up on adrenaline.  He’s confused as hell but the way Nancy and Jonathan thank him feels… really good.  He likes it, likes that he did something right this time.

He spends more time with them after, tries to do nice things for them.  Eventually, it’s less for the praise, there’s less of that as time goes on, it just feels nice to do things to help them.  When the events of season 2 come around, he helps Dustin and protects the kids in the junkyard.  He likes it when they stare in awe, even if the adrenaline is making him dizzy this time, feeding into the absolute terror that had flooded his head.

After the fight and the tunnels, Steve feels sick and dizzy and miserable as he waits for the real adults to get back.  Waits to hear if the nightmare is over and he can go home to lick his wounds.  Hopper tells them it’s over and the kids shout over each other to tell him about Billy, about the tunnels, and Steve is braced to be yelled at for putting the kids in danger.  Instead, he gets a big hand ruffling up his hair, which, ow, and Hopper tells him he did good.  That he’s a good boy (and whew, there’s something Steve wasn’t ready for his body’s reaction to).  But he did good.  He did a good job, he protected the kids.

Nancy isn’t his girlfriend anymore, things with Jonathan are just as stilted as they had been to start, but Dustin keeps coming around and telling him how cool he is and asking for advice.  Steve’s more than happy to give him advice and talk about high school and listen to his rambles about dorky shit.  He starts giving him rides after the Snow Ball and Max starts to tag along, so of course Lucas is going to follow her.  Before he knows it, he’s got 5 kids to keep track of, 6 if you count him babysitting El and bringing the kids with him to see her.

His senior year ends with little fanfare.  He’s not going to college, whether he didn’t try, he’s looking for a reason to kick around Hawkins and keep an eye out, or he just genuinely didn’t get in, he’s not going.  Things at home are more tense than ever, so he’s grateful to have a job and be out of the house.

He doesn’t get along with Robin at first, not for lack of trying.  His hands tremble a little most of the time and his handwriting was never good to begin with, so her first jabs are about the illegible specials he writes on the board.  No matter how hard he tries, he always has to ask her to write instead.  And it’s weird that they work so many hours together, that they work nearly every day.  He can’t seem to find other names on the shift schedule, it’s like they were the only ones hired, the bare minimum staff to keep a place running.

But there’s not time to question it.  He has trouble remembering the right toppings for different sundaes and the ratios for milkshakes, has to keep a cheat sheet on hand to reference.  He picks it up though, even if he has to cheek his sheet, he’s fast and coordinated, doesn’t spill toppings nearly as often as Robin, something she seems to expect him to mock her for, even though he never has, usually just grabs the broom and holds the dustpan for her.

She laughs when he strikes out with girls, and he’s not really trying.  He doesn’t think he can handle a relationship, it still aches to see Nancy and Jonathan, even if he can talk to them normally now.  So he doesn’t lay on the charm and fumbles through pickup lines to make Robin laugh.  He likes her laugh, he thinks he likes her more than he’s liked anyone since Nancy (and Jonathan).

She calls him dingus but smiles at him, thanks him when he picks up the heavy tubs of ice cream that she struggles with, and they find a camaraderie of teasing jabs and jokes about terrible orders.  Who gets orange sherbet with peanuts and caramel drizzle anyway?

You know how the Russians play out.  He’s almost relieved when she rejects him and comes out to him in the bathroom.  He likes Robin so much and he doesn’t think a relationship, a romantic one, would suit them well.  He thinks he’d lose the playfulness and comfort they’ve come to find with each other.

He loves when she tells him he did a good job, feels like one of those dogs that can’t stand still because their tail wags so hard.  It’s not the same feeling like when Hopper (god he misses Hopper) would tell him he did a good job or Nancy would smile at him when he did something write.  It’s not hot flames in his gut, it’s a gentle warmth like a blanket.  They land a new gig at Family Video, after Jonathan (he misses Jonathan too, misses him in a way that hurts, like he’s never missed anyone except maybe Tommy at first) and his family leave.

Robin is easy to work with, easier than ever before.  Now they have actual coworkers, more people to fill out the schedule, though mostly Keith who hates him.  But he’s got most shifts by himself or with Robin and finds his rhythm in it.  He doesn’t hit on girls anymore.

In the bathroom, he’d told Robin he wasn’t in love with Nancy anymore, but he’d felt it in his gut that it was a lie when Billy Hargrove (shouldn’t he be more sad about him being dead?  Is he a bad person for being relieved?) almost killed her.

Every time she came in, every time he saw her, something in his chest ached.  He was growing used to the ache though.  Sometimes she’d stay for awhile though, would talk with him over the counter about movies, about Mike, about calls with Jonathan.  She’d talk to Robin too, but she mostly talked to him.  It made him feel warm.

In high school, he’d earned praise easily.  From his friends, his coach, on occasion from teachers when he managed to do better than usual, when an assignment caught his interest.  But now, it came mostly from Robin, who poured out her praise for smaller things, twisting it in with her teasing.  There was little Steve wouldn’t do for her, even if she didn’t, but it was nice to receive.

The kids don’t think he’s cool anymore.  No, his place was taken by Eddie fucking Munson.  Steve doesnt have any personal grudges against the guy, aside from knowing he overcharged him.  It wasn’t that much, usually, Steve had stopped smoking after being drugged anyway, couldn’t fight lingering panic that came with the high.  He can’t help the way his nose scrunches up and his teeth clench together when he sees Eddie with his- the kids.  He knows he isn't a perfect influence on them, but he feels like he’s a better influence than Eddie.

But Eddie never approaches Steve, and Steve isn’t going to take the first step.  He tries not to think about him too much, focused on his work and keeping an eye on the kids.

He doesn’t have the option to stop thinking about Eddie when spring break hits.  There’s little else to think about when the man is holding glass to his throat, anyway.  The warm bead of blood tricking down his skin has Steve feeling petrified, looking at Robin frantically.

When it falls away, he clutches his throat and heaves in desperate breaths, letting Dustin take the lead.  Robin wipes his throat, but doesn’t say anything, not yet.

It’s all a blur, Steve wants to fix everything but knows he can’t.  He can’t help the way he stares at Nancy though, praying she’ll have the answers, will point at something for him to hit, and then it’ll be over again.  He’s doing enough that he doesn’t feel useless, but not enough to feel useful, really.

When he’s dragged back under the lake though, he can’t help his exasperation because of course this is what happens to him.  It turns into terror pretty quickly as he becomes intimately familiar with being choked out.  With being torn to shreds by thousands of needle sharp teeth.  If the Russians hadn’t inspired a fear of needles, the new association in his mind will.  He kicks and flails and tries to fight his way out of the stranglehold, but he’s in so much pain.  His back is on fire and his whole body is tense as he’s being torn apart.  His vision is starting to go dark when he sucks in a full breath.  The bat’s tail loosens enough that he can yank it away from his throat.  The barbs on it pierce his palms and his lips when he brings it to his mouth to bite down.  Hard.

He yanks the bat into two pieces and spits up the blood.  He’s shaking as adrenaline floods his system and has him buzzing with energy despite the pain.

It’s a blind panic to skull rock, and Steve is shaking as Nancy tugs his hands away from his stomach.  He’s bleeding, there are chunks of skin torn away, and he can feel that they got down to the muscle in some places.  He wants to scream and cry out when Nancy begins to wrap his wounds, but he stays quiet and bites his tongue.  He can’t draw attention to them.

Eddie’s quiet praise, his murmurs of newfound admiration are enough to have Steve feeling like he can keep pushing on despite the pain and lack of shoes.  He thinks Eddie is… maybe pretty cool.  In his own freakish way.  And when he thinks of Eddie as a freak, there’s a fondness there that he’d never felt before.

The pain doesn’t go away, but it starts to fade into the background as much as anything can.  As much as his sluggishly bleeding body can be considered background noise.

He only lets himself consider it when he’s got his feet on the ground on the right side of the gate.  He’s bubbling over with panic about Nancy and tries to take a step back to catch his breath, and then his body gives in.  His knees buckle and he lets out the tiniest noise, something anxious and desperate in the back of his throat.

He hits the ground and Nancy hurries to his side.  He thinks she’s beautiful.  He tries to pull Eddie’s vest tighter around his body, but it just makes the denim scrape over his palms.

He’s manhandled into a bathroom and zones out as Robin and Nancy fuss over his wounds and keep the door closed.  Nancy’s whispers of “good job, you’re doing so good, Steve, you’re a good boy-“

It’s the only thing keeping him standing.  He can see the way Robin’s nose scrunches at the last part, but he’s so floaty and in so much pain that he just tries to make a mental note to talk about later. 

The damp bandages are stripped from him and fresh, dry ones replace them.  Robin wipes his unshredded skin clean with a raggedy washcloth that catches on the edges of his wounds and makes him whine, then she does the same to his neck. There’s not much to be done for that, he just has to look like he’s been strung up.  He can live with that, he supposes.

He takes a nap on the floor of Max’s trailer and wakes up to his head on Nancy’s lap and her fingers combing through his hair.  He nuzzles his cheek against her thigh and whispers “did Jonathan answer yet?”

Her fingers tangle in his hair and she clutches the locks tight.  “No.  Something is wrong.”  And Steve doesn’t know all the details about their relationship, has heard parts from Nancy, has heard parts from Jonathan on the rare occasion he makes the call to Lenora.  He knows there’s something he isn’t telling her, knows she knows, knows that Jonathan knows that Nancy knows that he’s hiding something.  But Jonathan doesn’t ignore the phone, Joyce sure as hell doesn’t.  Something is wrong.

“Do you think…”  Steve grunts as he sits up, as the sleepy dizziness mixes with pained dizziness mixes with low blood sugar and dehydration.  “Do you think that everything that’s happening here is… doing something to them?”

And Nancy, who has clearly considered that angle along with a thousand others, just nods.  She seems so sad, but Robin noticed that he’s awake and he has to field her concern now too, has to fight to be heard over Dustin’s yelling and Eddie’s concern.

They steal an RV, Steve learns he definitely thinks Eddie is kind of good looking, and he drives.  He gets new shoes and clothes and as many rolls of bandages that fit in the cart.  He’s not getting caught off guard again.

And they fight Vecna and he’s choked again, and Max and Eddie and… and it’s all so much.

He wraps Eddie in bandages, barely even takes the time to pull his clothes away, certainly doesn’t take time to clean his wounds.  He figures it’s more important to stop the bleeding for now, they’ll deal with infection if it becomes a problem.

Eddie and Max land in the hospital and Robin and Nancy stay at his sides while he’s treated, Nancy pins him down until the doctors can jab him with a needle and Robin cries with him through his panic.

He just barely escapes staying the night as a patient, but falls asleep in a too small cot with Dustin on one side and Robin on the other and Nancy curled up in the single chair.  He’s told he did good and he clings to it like it’s the only warmth he can find.  He did good, he got Eddie back to this side.  He did good, right?

Two days later, Jonathan comes home, Steve watches him scoop up Nancy.  He’s trying not to let his heart break in his chest, trying to cradle the broken pieces.  He looks away to see Will hugging Dustin, but then hands are on his arms.  Jonathan stares at him for a long moment.  “I want to hug you,” he begins, slow and quiet.  “But you got hurt?  Nancy said so.”

Steve’s face goes pink almost impressively fast and he nods.  “I’m better now though.”  Nancy glares so he amends, “better than I was.  You can hug me, just… not tight.”  He lets himself be wrapped in a hug, buries himself in Jonathan’s arms.  He doesn't cry, but he sighs and nestles in close, clings as tight as he can.  He missed this, missed being close to Jonathan.  He hadn't even realized he'd miss it until it was too late and Jonathan was already across the country.

The next several days are long.  They're exhausting and he's forced to rest way more than he wants to.  But Jonathan's friend Argyle is cool to hang out with and he called Steve a good boy, which had made him need to run to the bathroom with a bright red blush.

And then Hopper is back and Vecna returns, and Steve is a mess.  He's back on his feet, but in a lot of pain.  By the time Vecna is dead, for real this time with no casualties, he's ready to sleep for a couple years at least.

During the final battle, he'd agitated his wounds and lets himself be taken home, tucked between Nancy and Jonathan.  Jonathan helps him shower and they're both desperately trying not to make eye contact.  Nancy thinks it's cute when they're both pink cheeked when they join her in the bedroom.  Jonathan's got a bandaged arm and Nancy's ears haven't stopped ringing, but they're gentle and loving with Steve, taping bandages to his sides and back.

Nancy hesitates when she's in front of him and he gets to gaze into her eyes, the way he hasn't gotten to in a long time.  When she leans in, he forgets how to breathe.  He kisses back, but he thinks it might all be a dream until the bed dips next to him.  Jonathan's thigh is warm against his and he's definitely not breathing now.  When Nancy pulls away, he just stares with wide eyes for a few long moments.  "Nance-"

Jonathan lays a hand on his thigh, thumb stroking Steve's knee, still damp from the shower.  "I hope we aren't overstepping."  His voice is soft, breath warm against Steve's skin as he leans in closer.  "We both want you to know that... that we see you.  And we love you."

Steve is horrified to find tears falling from his eyes and tries to wipe them away.  "You- both of you?  You love me?"

"I love you."  Nancy cradles his face in her hands, holding his gaze.  "I love you, Steve.  I wasn't ready to say it to you back then, but I am now.  If you're still willing to have me?"

Steve reaches out and pulls her in to kiss her again, trying to hold back his tears as he hugs her as close as he can.  He's totally pulling at his wounds again, but he doesn't even care.  He'd do it a thousand times over, would do anything to make sure this moment is real.  The tears fall down his face and drip off his jaw as he kisses Nancy.  When he pulls away, she wipes his tears and leans her forehead to his.  "Good tears?" she whispers.

"Good tears.  I thought... I was going to lose you forever.  I never stopped loving you no matter how hard I tried."  He waits for a long moment before turning to Jonathan and looking up at him with those big brown eyes.

Jonathan isn't going to wait any longer, he leans in and kisses Steve, soft and sweet.  It's their first kiss and he wants it to be nice, but man, he's wanted it for a long time.  The jealousy he'd held for a long time was just... misunderstood attraction.  Steve melts into it, is more comfortable than he's been in a long time, even if he's in... so much pain.

They help him lay down and Jonathan teases him for being in just a towel.  Then he ends up having to help Steve into a pair of underwear.  They lay down in bed and curl up together.  Jonathan whispers to him that he did such a good job, that he's so strong and brave.  Nancy tells him that he's a wonderful person and she loves him, that he's grown so much from the dork she'd fallen for the first time.  Reminds him that he's still a dork though, making him laugh.

From that night, things are really good.  He and Jonathan help each other with their injuries, bandaging each other and sharing soft words and kisses.  Everyone is busy, the Byers are trying to figure out how to re-settle in Hawkins, Nancy's parents are barely letting her leave the house, and Steve is mostly left to rest up and heal.  Argyle and Eddie are staying with him for the time being and Robin is over as often as possible.

Steve has always had a problem with falling too hard too fast.  He knows it, everyone knows it.  And even with Nancy and Jonathan's newfound attention, he can't help but notice the way Eddie leans in when he talks, the lingering touches from Argyle, the way both of them offer compliments for every little thing.  Eddie, maybe he's teasing, but Argyle is always so genuine that it leaves Steve weak in the knees.

He loves Robin more than he ever thought it was possible to love someone, but man, the way she knows him better than he knows himself if a little annoying sometimes.  Especially when she's cornering him in his own kitchen with that knowing smirk.  The smirk that says she knows he's got crushes.  Crushes plural.  And he's losing his mind over it.  He's always been pretty monogamous in the past, but he sort of likes the idea of multiple partners.  Loving multiple people.

He's already comfortable with the idea of Jonathan and Nancy, and he sees the way Argyle looks at Jonathan.  And he and Eddie have basically bled into each other's wounds, what could be closer than that?  Being called Big Boy kind of gets him going.  The two of them are getting cozy too.  He's seen them curled up in the same bed, stretching out over each other and sharing joints.  He kind of likes seeing it.  Of course, he likes it less when Robin is staring at him with those knowing eyes, nudging him and snickering.

The next time he sees Jonathan and Nancy, he pulls them right to his room and closes the door.  Nancy starts taking off her shirt and Steve turns around and makes a little noise in his throat.  That hadn't been his intention, but Jonathan has that little smirk and his eyes are all dark.  He looks really kissable and Steve gives in.  He's a weak, weak man.  Even though he really wants to talk to them about it, really thinks he needs to sit down with them to figure out what it means, if anything... he really likes sex too.

He gets to eat Nancy out, fuck her with his tongue while Jonathan kisses her, keeps her pressed up against the headboard.  He blows Jonathan too, loves being able to get his mouth on them.  He's not quite up for anything that needs too much movement yet, but being pressed between them, Nancy licking the taste of her and Jonathan off his tongue, Jonathan is pressed up against his back and stroking him teasingly slow until Steve is squirming and trying to arch into the touch.

When they're all cuddled up together, skin wiped clean and clothes back in place, Steve lets out a big sigh, face pressed against Jonathan's hair.  "I think... I have a problem."  It's a whispered confession, he doesn't elaborate for a long moment, just tries to collect his thoughts as Nancy's hand traces the curve of his hip, stroking down past his still bandaged side.  "With Eddie and Argyle staying here, I can't stop... noticing them."

"I'd hope you notice them."  Nancy is confused, but does her best not to show it, hates when she's uncertain.

"Noticing them like you notice us?"  Jonathan is a little more understanding off the bat.  After all, he looks at Argyle the same way he looks at Nancy, even though he tries not to.  "They're both pretty... you know.  A lot."

"Yeah.  Yeah, like I notice you guys."  Steve keeps his face pressed against Jonathan's hair and lowers his hand to grip Nancy's, lacing his fingers in with hers.  "I can't help it.  I lo- I like you guys so much, I really do."  He can't bring himself to look up at them, he's worried they won't want to be with him like this anymore, but he doesn't want to lie to them either.  He's found that it's really hard to lie to people you've risked your life for, almost died for.

"Argyle's cute."  Nancy holds his hand tight.  "I mean, you'd have to be blind to not notice him.  Eddie is... I'm not sure I'm his type," she hazards.  "I mean, Robin's kind of cute, don't you think?"

"Nance, I'm not dating Robin."  A moment passes before his breath catches in his throat.  "Wait, are you saying...?"

"Oh, so you two can be bisexual but-"

"I'm not saying that!"  Steve wiggles to roll over and face her.  "That'll blow her mind if you tell her you think that."  He grins and leans his forehead against hers with a low sigh, leaning in to catch the briefest of kisses, a gentle brush of his lips to hers.  "Like, seriously blow her mind.  Let's just say Jonathan and I wouldn't be her type."

"Oh."  Nancy's cheeks turn pink and she giggles, drops her head to hide it against Steve's chest.  He feels nice like this, both of his partners curled in close and within reach.  He chews his lip for a moment and kisses Nancy's head.

"Jon?  What do you think?"

Jonathan's breath is warm against the back of Steve's neck.  He's quiet for a moment, a thoughtful quiet, though.  "I think... I think you should go for it, tell them what you think, what you have with us.  And... I think if they make you happy too, there's no reason not to pursue them.  Unless you want to stop what we have."  His arms wrap around Steve a little tighter, but he's mindful enough to avoid putting pressure on injuries.  "If that's the case, push those feelings down and ignore them and stay here forever."

"I don't want to stop what we have.  I just... think it would be nice to have something with them too.  I mean, don't you?"  Steve wiggles again, but this time he gives up halfway through and lays on his back.  It hurts a little, but the bandages give him enough padding to relax.  "I think... you and Argyle seem really sweet together.  He looks at you with this... softness.  You deserve to be looked at like that."  He wraps his arm around Jonathan and is mindful of both their injuries as he pulls him in closer.  Jonathan goes easily with little tugging needed, just goes down and pillows his head against Steve's collarbone.  He presses a shy kiss to the skin under his lips and cards his fingers through Steve's chest hair.  He's quiet, but it's not an uncomfortable quiet.  It's content.

Nancy, curled into Steve's other side, reaches out to cradle Jonathan's cheek.  "I think it could be nice.  I mean, I'm going to try and defer for another year.  Wait a little while before I leave for Boston.  It... would be nice to know my boys are taken care of when I do leave."  She smiles and looks up at Steve.

Steve is still for a moment.  Her boys.  He and Jonathan were hers, huh?  Something warm curled in his chest and filled it, he was tempted to pull both of them close and keep them right here for as long as he could.  "Yeah.  I mean, maybe in another year, I'll be ready to get out of here.  I'm not ready for that yet, though."

"Neither am I."  Jonathan closes his eyes and sighs.  "But at the same time, I can't wait to be far, far away from this town.  I can't leave Will and El behind though, we thought it was over last time and we were so far away... but it still came back."

Steve strokes his hair a few times and Nancy's hand falls from his cheek as she nods.  "Yeah.  God, when we couldn't get ahold of you... and Mike was with you, I was so scared.  I'm just... I'm glad you're back."  She bites her lip and smiles, a faint little thing.  "I'm glad you had Argyle, though."

"Me too."  He nuzzles his cheek into Steve's shoulder.  "I mean, you have no idea how nice it was to have someone to switch off with for the drive.  It was awful, Mike and Will were... you know how they get.  Once we actually found El, it was... stifling."  He drapes his arm over Steve's waist and shakes his head.  "I would've lost it if Argyle wasn't there.  He's the only thing that kept me from going totally off the rails."

Steve leans in to kiss his head.  "Guess we have a lot to be grateful for from him, then."

"So much," Nancy agrees.  She sighs and closes her eyes, hair splayed out around her head on the pillow.  "I think Eddie likes you, by the way."  She nudges her leg against Steve's.  "I mean, he looks at you with those big brown eyes and it's like he thinks you're the sun or something.  And to think, you were the bane of his existence less than a year ago."

"Yeah, yeah, I was the dumb jock he hated to think about."  Steve smirks a little.  "Is it bad that I really like the idea of him not being sure if he wanted to punch me or fuck me?"

Jonathan snorts and jostles his arm.   "You would like that."

"I thought it was hot when you punched me in the face."

"You what."  Jonathan sits up, expression unimpressed as he stares down at Steve.  "You can't tell me that awakened something in you."

"It totally did, I'm sorry."

Jonathan groans and throws a leg over Steve to straddle him.  "You're a nightmare, I can't believe I like you so much!"  He pretends to throttle Steve, holding his shoulders and shaking him a little.

Steve cackles and reaches out to grab his waist.  "Hey, hey, hey, I'm injured!"

"You had it coming."  Nancy props herself up to watch them, eyes crinkling at the corners.  She's beautiful.

"You weren't too injured earlier."  Jonathan stops shaking him though, settles his weight back.  He doesn't climb off though.  Steve's shirt is loose on him and shows off his collarbones.  Steve sighs and holds back on the urge to sink his teeth into flesh.  Their eyes meet and there's a certain playfulness in Jonathan's gaze that he's never gotten to see like this, had never been able to appreciate.  There's a warmth there too, and even if his fingertips are freezing sometimes, there really is a warmth to Jonathan, an openness he only shows to certain people.  Steve feels honored to even be a part of that select group.

Nancy hums and reaches out to hold Jonathan's hand.  "Get off of Steve.  For now.  I'm tired."

"A nap sounds nice."  He lets himself be swayed and lands between her and Steve, wiggles into the gap to make room for himself.  He's warm, the bed is soft.

Steve shifts to lay on his side again and his heart swells as he takes in the moment, the laughter that still bubbles in his chest, the softness in Nancy's eyes, the warmth of their skin pressing together.

No matter what happens, if he confesses to Eddie, if Nancy says something to Robin or Jonathan takes the first step with Argyle, he isn't scared of losing this.  For the first time in a long time, he doesn't feel scared.  He feels warm and loved and content as he pulls Jonathan in closer around the waist and makes eye contact with Nancy over Jonathan's head before he lets his eyes fall shut.

[tommoschaffner]

« much more than i bargained for »

little warning uh im a minor !! nsfw blogs dni please ^_^

summary — steve goes in for snacks, and comes out with a FAT crush.

promt — ‘ candy ‘

this will have multiple chapters that i will post whenever i have the energy to write more ^_^ im often busy with school+homework ++ so dont expect weekly updates or whatever LOL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve sighs as he enters the shop, the little one at the top of his street, right at the corner. There’s music playing through the speakers, but not the usual kind he hears at the shops. Steve wants to say it’s— cooler? Yeah, cooler.

He bobs his head to the beat a little as he wanders inside, a high-pitched bell ringing as he does. The guy working the till’s head shoots up at the sound, like he’s scared or something. He makes eye contact with Steve, before smiling softly and looking back down.

Steve lets his eyes trail down his body, following his arms, down to his hands, where they’re holding a magazine between his slender legs, which are hanging off an old wooden stool.

He’s got tattooed wrists, and forearms, and hands. His fingers are decorated with delicate little designs, which are mostly covered with his many rings. Steve notices one in particular, a silver band with two little bat wings. It matches the tattoo just under his elbow, the one of a swarm of bats. His eyes begin to travel back up, spotting a bunch of, what look like, homemade bracelets on one of his wrists. They have words, but it’s not like Steve can read them, not from this far away.

It’s a few minutes before Steve realises he literally hasn’t peeled his eyes off the cashier, or even moved at all. He snaps back into reality when another customer enters, ringing the bell behind him.

Fuck, what was he in here for again? Oh— yeah, snacks. Candy. Robin and Nance are probably bored of waiting for him. Or not, Steve doesn't think they could get bored even if they tried, not when they have a house to themselves.

Steve finally moves, and he swears to God, every single one of his bones have been replaced with jelly.

As he wonders around the shop, crossing the different foods Robin requested off his list, he makes a mental note of how much money he’s gonna need.

A dollar fifty, three dollars, four dollars and ninety-nine cents.

He ends up with candy, and drinks, which all amounts to ten dollars and fifty cents.

Steve sort of doesn’t notice that he’s at the counter ‘til the guy behind it asks if he wants a bag. They’re so close now, Steve can see what he looks like up close. He has these gorgeous eyes, that sort of droop down at the ends. Thick, dark, eyelashes that cast a shadow on his cheeks. And, most notably, long, curled hair. A rich, dark brown colour. Strands of it lay on his shoulders, almost blocking the view of the badge on his shirt, his name tag, that says ‘Eddie’, in little, blue letters.

“Do you? Want a bag, I mean,” Eddie repeats, seemingly now a little annoyed. Steve watches his lips when he speaks, and, fuck, he’s pierced. Angel fangs, Steve recalls in his head. That’s what they’re called, the ones that look like sharp, shiny teeth. He wonders what they’d feel like if he kissed Eddie, how they contrast of his plush, warm lips with cold, hard metal would feel. The thoughts send a wave of heat rushing through Steve’s belly.

“No, I— I’m okay, I’ve got my own,” he says, pulling his rucksack off his shoulders and unzipping it.

Eddie just smiles that same, soft smile, tells Steve how much money he needs to give him.

And Steve gives him the money, wordlessly. He puts his shopping in his bag, wordlessly. And he looks back up at Eddie, again, wordlessly. Like he’s expecting him to do something else. Or maybe he’s waiting on himself to do something.

Eddie swears he can hear the cogs turning in Steve’s brain.

“Well— okay, uh, bye, thank you!” Steve smiles, and practically sprints out of the shop.

He rushes home with a million thoughts in his head, the main one being something along the lines of ‘why, in the absolute fuck, didn’t you ask for his number? Or at least try to make small talk?’

Steve can’t answer that. He doesn't know why.

Well, there’s always next time.

[sneak-a-cat]

disappointed there was not robin just running away as soon as an idea hit her in season 4 like in season 3, i blame the fact that they were worried about people being cursed but can you imagine robin just sprinting away from nancy wait i already wrote this in my main ideas doc for a fic...

anyway i can't copy paste that in here because a) major spoilers man, and b) it would make zero sense considering how much happens before it

we've seen nancy also just up and leaving as soon as an idea gets in her head (eg. portal to hell tree, the rats, need i say more?) so i keep just losing it over the idea of them quietly looking into something, researching the new issue only for robin to suddenly jump up from her chair horrible screeching sounds as it slides across the floor to check a new theory fully running out of the room. nancy is just sitting there thinking "huh... is that what it's like working with me?"

[lasagnaboxlesbian]

scared to report (at least with reading)

if u guys have any good angsty ronance and/or steddie fics please recommend ❤️

[lonesome-witching]

Can I Have Your Blessing?

This one is heavy on the Karen/Joyce despite them not interacting once. But no worries there is definitely some ronance in this too. I hope you enjoy this piece of work. And of course a thank you to the prompter, the lovely @rabbitofdeath-atcastleaarrggh who keeps coming back for more. It is appreciated.

You can read my previous prompts or send me some new ones.

Robin was beginning to believe she had the worst timing ever. First, she and Nancy had gotten caught by Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Byers. Then she had ended up at the chaos dinner party. And now Joyce Byers was pulling her and Nancy into the living room. Robin wasn’t sure what it was going to be about, but with her track record it wasn’t going to be good.

Holly was already sitting on the couch. She stared at Nancy and Robin with a smile and waved. Robin waved back with her free hand, the one that wasn’t locked in Nancy’s.

She kind of wanted to pull Holly on her lap and hide behind the little girl’s body. Not that it would make much of a difference.

They sat down next to Holly, Robin crawled into the corner while Nancy put an arm around her sister.

“What’s up?” Nancy asked, the question clearly directed at Joyce who was pacing the floor in front of them.

“I’d rather wait until your brother gets here,” Joyce answered, biting on her fingernails.

“Mike? What do we need Mike for?”

“There is just something I want to discuss—”

Joyce was interrupted by Mike waltzing into the room with a scowl on his face. He fell down in Ted Wheeler’s old recliner and sighed. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Now that we’re all here, there is something I need to ask you.” Joyce finally stopped pacing and sat down on the coffee table. “So, as you all know, me and your mother have been together for a while now.”

Mike groaned, which only earned him a glare from his older sister.

“It’s been over a year now and I can safely say that it has been the happiest year of my life. Your mom makes me happy. And I truly believe I make her happy too. Which is why I want to ask her to marry me. And I would love to have your permission to do so.” Joyce’s eyes were scanning the reactions of the Wheeler kids.

Robin felt a smile grow on her own face at the idea. They were cute together, Karen and Joyce. They deserved to be happy together. Just like she and Nancy did.

The thought popped into her head. The idea that really shouldn’t be there yet. That maybe should never be there, but definitely not before she could talk to Nancy about it. She thought about dropping down on one knee with a ring in her hands this time. She thought about popping the question. She thought about Nancy’s smile as she said yes.

It could be nice.

It would be nice.

She thought passed that too. Thought about Nancy walking toward her in a white dress. Thought about vowing to love each other forever.

She thought about waking up next to Nancy every single day. Thought about sharing an apartment and occasionally a wardrobe. Nancy would borrow her sweaters when she was cold and Robin would grab one of Nancy’s scarfs or hats by accident, and it would be alright.

She thought about late nights and early mornings. Thought about dragging Nancy away from her typewriter and dragging her to bed.

She thought about traveling together. About seeing Paris and Rome and Madrid and Barcelona.

She liked that future. She liked the idea of sharing her future with Nancy. She liked the idea of sharing everything with Nancy.

“You really didn’t need to ask. I mean, of course you have my blessing to marry my mother. But it’s really not up to me to decide what the two of you do,” Nancy’s voice broke through the images in Robin’s head.

“Mike? What about you? Do I have your blessing?”

All eyes turned to the teenage boy. He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on, Mike. Don’t you want mom to be happy?” Nancy responded with a roll of her eyes.

“Of course, I do, but what about me and Will?”

“Those are things we can figure out.” Joyce was biting her nails again.

“Well, alright then. You have my permission to marry my mom.” Mike sounded somewhat sulky as he spoke. But Joyce jumped up to pull him into a hug. And then she turned to Holly and lastly, she engulfed Nancy in a bone crushing hug.

“This is great. Thank you for being so understanding. The situation isn’t particularly easy for any one of you.”

Joyce was already walking out of the room when Nancy turned to her girlfriend. “You seemed a bit out of it just now. Are you alright?”

“Why don’t we go have dinner? To celebrate?” Joyce asked, popping her head back into the room. Holly was already jumping up and down in delight.

“I’m alright, I was just thinking,” Robin whispered in Nancy’s ear.

“What were you thinking about?” One of Nancy’s hands fell on Robin’s knee and squeezed softly, reassuringly. A small reminder that Nancy was saying you can talk to me.

“Are you guys coming?” Mike asked as he kicked at his sister’s feet.

“I’ll tell you later,” Robin kissed Nancy’s cheek and got up.

Joyce drove them to the nearest diner. Holly ordered her weight in fries, while Nancy, Robin and Mike stuck to a burger each. The dinner was nice, slow conversation flowing between the people around the table.

Robin’s eyes shot up every time the bell above the door rang. That was how she caught Jonathan walking into the diner.

“Jonathan?” Robin called out before thinking better of it.

The boy turned toward them and waved.

“Oh, Jonathan, come join us?” Joyce yelled through the diner.

Jonathan walked over, but he remained standing. “I can’t, mom. I’m just here for a pick up. But I’ll see you tonight.”

“Wheeler?” a waitress called out causing Nancy, Mike and Holly to turn their heads.

“That’s me!” Jonathan replied quickly. Before he could leave the diner, Nancy slid out of her seat and followed him.

“Can I assume you are picking up dinner for my mom?” she asked. Jonathan nodded. “You’re not trying to steal her from your mom, are you?”

“Not at all. She actually came over tonight to ask Will and me for our blessing to propose.”

“No?” Nancy asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes,” Jonathan responded with a frown.

“That is exactly what your mom was doing,” Nancy laughed.

[byler-alarmist]

I BEAT THE JARGYLE CHAPTER WOOHOOOOO

Now on to the Ronance chapter!!!!

[hairmetal666]

Tis the Damn Season Chapter 7 teaser time 😏

“Is it hard for you? Your best friend with your ex?” Eddie asks.

       Steve though it might be, at first, but it really isn’t. They’re happy and in love and Steve can’t resent them for that. They deserve it. His romantic feelings for Nancy are long, long gone, anyway. 

       “Nah, they’re perfect for each other. I love Nancy. Always will. But we’re better this way.”

       “As friends?”

       “In-laws,” Steve laughs. “You know, it’s funny. Robin and I joke about being one half of the same idiot, it just turns out that Nancy belonged with the Robin half.”

       Eddie chuckles at that. “Who gets the other half?”

       “Huh?”

       “Who belongs with Steve Harrington?” He’s teasing, Steve knows it, but there’s a resonant timbre to the words that makes Steve think it’s not all a joke, that he’s really asking. Which is insane.  Steve has no answer that isn’t along the lines of, “you, dumbass," anyway.

Catch up with chapters 1-6 here!

[pocket-sand-fic]

Imagine with me here if in season 4 episode 5 in the Creel House Vecna actually was leading them to a trap like Dustin said, could be loose floorboards or he can reach them from there or something but in this scenario what if Robin went up there in front

So much for posting multiples during October. Great job, Me.

Oh well. We do our best in trying times don't we?

[eskawrites]

if you need distracting..is there any maybe thriving in the apocalypse wips??

so, fun fact, there are about 20 wips for thriving in the apocalypse, and that's not counting the nonsense i've yet to move over from my phone to my laptop so like, the answer is yes, always yes.

but as far as wips that will definitely be posted at some point, i actually have a couple finished! but they're part of the run up to robin's coming out scene, so i'm holding onto them until that whole little story arc is finished

that said...

-

The first red flag comes at ten in the morning, when Nancy walks into Family Video and—for the first time since spring break—finds neither Robin nor Steve working.

Mike and Lucas grumble at the sight of Keith standing behind the counter. He’s hunched over, flipping through what Nancy hopes is a comic book. He doesn’t even look up as he drones out a bored, “Welcome to Family Video. Let me know if I can help you find anything.”

Mike elbows Nancy, then says in an undertone, “Do you think we can get a free movie if you flirt with him?”

“Unless you want to walk home, you’ll shut your mouth right now.”

He smirks, then tugs on Lucas’s arm and pulls him down an aisle. Nancy follows after them, not really interested but eager to avoid Keith’s attention for as long as possible.

They don’t take long. Mike and Lucas bicker quietly for a moment, but they settle on a movie and bring it to the counter after only a few minutes. Even with Keith staring at her and stumbling over some spiel about late fees and rewinding, they’re in and out in less than ten minutes. Astonishing, considering it takes them at least three times as long to get a movie when Steve or Robin is working. Especially Robin.

But as Nancy follows the boys back outside and through the parking lot, she can’t help but be disappointed.