#and he doesn't want to lie to lucas he just doesn't know how to say what he needs to say

[love-byers]

the first time i saw this, when i was NOT a byler shipper, i thought el was running TO mike. i thought we were getting a sweet moment where el runs to mike and he puts an arm around her or hugs her.

then i realized she was running away from him. 

and i was like, why?? they're supposed to be the couple why does she not want his comfort??

and even after will calls her out on doing mike wrong by lying to him, even after she sees that mike is attempting to talk to her and comfort her, that he's not angry at her, she still tells angela to lie to mike. more lies. that's how much she cares about keeping up the persona. had angela lied to mike, el would've continued lying to him the entire week. something she knows in her heart is wrong and not fair to mike.

this is a theme in s4. putting who you want to be seen as before being honest with your bf/gf. going above and beyond to preserve your lie, to be seen as who you want to be.

chrissy does that with jason. who she portrays herself as is completely different than who she really is and what she's really going through. jason has absolutely no idea chrissy is struggling and refused to believe chrissy would buy drugs, because chrissy didn't want to tell him. who knows how jason would've reacted if chrissy was honest, we don't know because chrissy didn't trust him enough to tell him. that's not love at all, that's sad.

this is a point in s2 as well. murray calls nancy out for being afraid to be her true self, and she stays with steve because she doesn't have to be her true self around him. she is her true self when she's with jonathan, and that's why they worked together. that's love.

the exact same thing happens with chrissy. the first time we see her genuinely smile is when she's with eddie. she's sweet and charismatic, and had she lived she totally would've gone to eddie's show, something you never would've expected from her, something her boyfriend, the person she pretends to love, would NEVER do.

robin and steve reinforce this too

you fall in love with the person who makes you feel accepted, the person who makes you feel like you can be who you are. the person you trust with your true self.

mike and el don't trust each other enough, they don't understand each other well enough.

they would have to change their behavior towards each other by leaps and bounds, and we're already at the last season. there is no time for that. stranger things isn't a multi season show about the complexity of romantic relationships and the healthy way to resolve problems. there is no time for that in just about any movie or show, especially a sci-fi show. you know what's way easier and way more likable? pairing your character with someone they naturally click with, who bring out the best in each other and for some reason can't help but be their authentic selves when they're with each other.

did it with jancy, like i said earlier

did it with lumax. when lucas and max talked on the bus max found herself spewing about things she'd never even said out loud before, and she had to stop herself. something about lucas just made her feel comfortable, like she could be herself and tell the truth. she trusted him.

"You're nothing like your brother, okay? You're cool and different, you're super smart, and you're like, totally tubular."

jopper too! joyce constantly had to hide things from bob, she was insecure about their family not being normal.

"This is not a normal family."

"It could be."

though bob had good intentions, the message of the show is not trying to be normal when you aren't. whatever it is about you that makes you weird or different, whatever you've been through that changed you, stay true to it. dont bottle it up and try to be someone else. all of vecnas victims in s4 were doing this, and it didn't end well for them.

they even did it with dustin and suzie. dustin constantly tries to impress max with his teeth, then in season 3 he says suzie thinks kissing is better without teeth. he doesn't have to be insecure about that or try to impress her. she likes him for him.

mike isn't comfortable being his true self around el either. he's insecure about his interests, he feels like he has to act older and cooler to impress her.

you shouldn't be with the person you feel you have to impress. you should be with the person who relieves that pressure, who makes you feel like being the authentic you is enough.

jonathan and nancy, lucas and max, joyce and hopper, dustin and suzie,

cough WILL AND MIKE cough...

[munsonsmixtapes]

hii could you write a smut like this so yk the scene in stranger things where eddie’s bed was covered in unknown stains? and when he says “those stains are.. idk what those stains are”and then recap from the night before that eddie and the reader hooked up with eachother the night before tysm!!

I love this idea!

cw: MDNI (18+) smut (p in v) unprotect sex (wrap it before you tap it)

Eddie, Robin, and Nancy stare up at the mattress above them that Lucas and Max have just carried in. His cheeks turn pink as the two girls eye him suspiciously. This puts him in a predicament. He could lie, or he could tell the truth.

He's gonna lie, he thinks. He doesn't care if they don't believe him, he just absolutely cannot tell the truth. Not only would it embarrass him, but he also doesn't want to tell them about you. That's none of their business.

The mattress looks even more gross than he remembers. He meant to wash the sheets but he forgot like always. So now every knows what he's done and he's trying to play off that he doesn't know what the stains even are.

"Those stains are uh-I don't know what those stains are." He doesn't have to look at the girls to know they don't believe him. He doesn't care anyway. He just lets his mind wander to the night before.

"Look at you," he says as he spreads your legs wide. "So wet for me, hm?" He asks as your slick leaks out onto the sheets below you.

"Always wet for you," you reply and he smirks because he knows you're right. You're always wet for him and that's the way he likes it. He loves to know that he's always on your mind 24/7.

"That's right, sweetheart," he nods and lines himself up before pushing his cock inside you, pumping into you fast, hard, and deep. He's managed to fit all of myself inside you and he's getting harder as he sees the tears pricking your eyes.

"Taking me so well already. Didn't think all of it would fit, did you?" He asks as he grabs hold of your thighs, wrapping your legs around his waist as he pushes even farther into you.

"Oh," you moan so loudly that Eddie's nervous that other people in the trailer park can hear you, but he decides that he doesn't care. In fact, he wants them to hear you, to know just how good he makes you feel. "Eddie," you whine, grabbing onto his shoulders as he lowers himself onto you.

Your nails dig into his shoulder blades and he winces, but clearly it doesn't bother him that much since he's continuing to pound into you, both of you exchanging moans as your hands move down to his back, scratching up and down to show him how much you're enjoying it.

And you're already coming, an orgasm rolling through you and Eddie's talking you through it as he pushes your hair away from your sweaty forehead before pressing a kiss to it.

"Look so pretty when you're coming," he says. "Wanna do it again?" And you're nodding enthusiastically as the two of you go for round two and many more after that.

"Right, of course you don't," Robin teases Eddie with a nudge and he flushes as he continues to think about his night with you and wonders how he can back to you, and fast.

[steddiealltheway]

Steve can see it in Max. That same loneliness and ache that he finds in himself. For him, it’s result of his parents leaving with no intent to return to him unless absolutely necessary.

He knows he was an accident. Or rather a mistake as his father used to call him when he was particularly angry. But it made sense to him. Steve's the reason his father had to marry his mother. He left him "trapped." And maybe no one says it out loud, but he can tell his mother feels the same way too.

But they must keep up appearances, right?

Which is what Max has been trying to do since Billy died, El moved away, and it's been just her and her mom. But she's been going about it through a different route - pushing people away all while pretending things are fine. But Steve sees the way she picks up the broken pieces of her mom and tries to put them back together - Steve's had to do the same thing before.

So, he starts sticking around a little longer. Offering her more rides to the arcade and around town to pick up groceries when she needs to. Sometimes he'll tell her about a new recipe he's been trying for a casserole and pick up the ingredients, pretending like the milk and butter he bought will spoil by the time he drives home from her trailer.

Of course, they both know it's a lie, but Max humors him and plays along. She'll let him cook dinner while she picks up the bottles her mom left on the floor, dumps out the overflowing ashtray, and feeds the dog. Usually, Steve will ask her what she's learning in school and linger a little longer than usual in hopes that she'll say more than the usual, "I don't know. A bunch of boring stuff."

But lingering has gotten a lot of things out of Max such as her love for Kate Bush, a story about El and how much she misses her, and short quips about Lucas before she gets a sad smile on her face. Steve doesn't really know what to say most of the time, but he hopes that just being there will help.

Unfortunately, lingering and just being there has led him to his current predicament of none other than Eddie "The Freak" Munson sitting on the hood of his car glaring at him as he walks out of Max's place. Steve jumps a little, startled by the figure on his car and becoming more hostile as he sees the expression on his face. He shoves his hands in his pockets and slows his pace. "Is there a problem?"

Eddie snorts humorlessly. "Christ. You're really going to pretend like there's nothing wrong with what's happening?"

Steve's brows furrow, entirely missing whatever point he's trying to make.

Eddie stands up and stalks toward him. "I see you, you know. Always lurking around when her mom isn't home. Coming out of her trailer late at night."

Steve laughs, finally understanding the absurd conclusion he's come to. "Jesus, man. You're delusional."

Steve doesn't expect it, but Eddie sharply shoves his chest and grits, "I don't fucking lie to me, Harrington."

Steve holds his hands up. "I'm not," he firmly states. "Nothing like that is happening here. I'm glad you're looking out for her, but it isn't like that."

"Do you expect me to believe that? Maybe this is why you're always hanging around Henderson and the other kids."

Steve crosses his arms and his jaw tenses. "I'm not a fucking pervert or a pedophile if that's what you're trying to say. I'm just looking after them."

"Why?" Eddie asks, dramatically opening his arms, "Why would King Steve adopt a group of misfits to take under his wing? See, the math isn't adding up."

Usually, Steve would just brush it off and tell the person to fuck off and mind their own business. But his parents have just left town again without leaving a note and Max had snapped when Steve tried to help her clean the place because it looked worse than usual, and he was just generally feeling like shit and angry at his parents and Max's parents for not being there. So he broke, "Because I don't want Max to end up like me! I don't want any of those kids to grow up without a role model. And god forbid if any of those other kids' parents fuck up, and they’re left with only me. I need them to know that I'm there for them! Because sometimes it feels like whenever the world goes to shit, I'm the only one who is there, and I plan to stay there, okay?!"

He finishes his rant breathing a little heavier than usual and noticing that a few of the lights in the trailers have turned on around them. He looks around and awkwardly nods to the people glaring out their windows. God, he needs to get a grip.

When he turns back to Eddie, he notices the conflicted expression, jaw dropped, eyebrows knitted together, eyes searching him as if he's still wondering if he's lying.

A door creaks open behind them and Steve curses under his breath as he hears Max say, "Eddie, leave him alone. Do you really think I would hook up with my damn babysitter? Jeez."

"Language," Steve quietly lectures as the door swings shut. He runs his hands over his face and takes a deep breath. It's been a long fucking day.

A hand lands on his arm and tugs him away from Max's trailer. Steve glances up at Eddie, leading him across the way. "Where are we going?"

"My place," Eddie says.

"Why?"

"So we can talk."

God, the last thing he wants to do is talk to Eddie of all people, the guy he's been actively avoiding since Dustin started worshipping the ground - or rather tables - he walks on. But he lets himself be pulled away in the trailer and practically deposited on the couch in the living room.

He glances up and comments, "That's a lot of mugs."

"My uncle's, but that's not what I wanted to... Christ," Eddie says, pacing in front of Steve and tugging his hair in front of his face. The anxious display makes Steve feel even more tired, but he lets him pace. God, what is he even doing here?

"I'm sorry," Eddie blurts out. "I'm just..." he trails off and rushes over to grab a stool a few feet away before dragging it in front of the couch. He sits on it but his leg still holds that nervous energy as it rapidly bounces up and down. "I jumped to conclusions, and it was really shitty of me, man. I just... didn't believe what Henderson was saying about you and thought 'Oh, this makes way more sense than Steve Harrington being a good dude.' And I'm sorry to accuse you of that. And I... I didn't know about your... parents and stuff. Like I knew they were away a lot because of your parties but... I just never connected the dots. And I'm sorry. No one deserves that shit, man."

Steve doesn't know what to do this whole interaction, especially with it coming from Eddie Munson who he doesn't think he's ever talked to before this moment, but... he needs to hear it. God, he needs to hear it.

Of course, he can't let him know this, so he does what he's best at and brushes it off. "It's fine. You were just looking out for the kids. And really just ignore what I said back there, it isn't that big of a deal."

Eddie worries his bottom lip before he blurts out, "I know what it's like." He pauses and takes a deep breath. "I mean, I know what it's like to have... absent parents. But in my case, eventually, my uncle Wayne took me in, and I can only imagine if he didn't." He gives him a pointed look and lowers his voice, "Do you have someone like that?"

A big part of Steve wants to leave right now, and he knows there's nothing stopping him. But a bigger part of him needs to stay. Needs to talk about the emptiness in his house that he can never truly escape at the end of the day that he can’t talk to anyone about. Because he's not supposed to be weak. He's supposed to take care of the others. So he admits, "No, I don't have... anyone like that. Except Robin but..."

"That's different," Eddie finishes the thought for him.

Steve nods. He loves Robin, but he loves her as a platonic soulmate and not as a parent figure in his life. "You know, I once had this basketball coach in middle school - Mr. Weston. And I remember looking up to him so much. I wanted to be just like him, and I would go to his office during lunch and ask him for advice or talk about dumb shit that my father would never talk about. But he never shamed me for my questions. And sometimes he even packed an extra dessert for me." Steve smiles at the memories and runs a hand through his hair, remembering the day he got the news. "But one time, when I went to his office, he had this look on his face. And I just knew it was bad news. And really, it wasn't bad news to him because his wife was pregnant. But she wanted to move a few states away to raise the kid closer to her family. And it wasn't his fault, you know? It wasn't like he purposely chose to move away from me, but I felt like I was abandoned again."

Steve wipes a tear from his eye and puts his head in his hands. "God, I don't know why I'm even telling you this story. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Eddie says quickly. He pauses and shifts on the stool, his gaze being far away. "I remember him. He was one of the only gym teachers that defended me against all the shitty middle school bullies. He was a good person.”

Steve nods. God, he was a good person.

Eddie continues, “I'm sorry that he left. And I bet he still regrets leaving you behind."

Steve leans back against the couch and looks away, shaking his head. "I bet he forgot about me."

"You're kind of hard to forget."

Steve looks at Eddie and sees a slight blush on his cheeks as he shakes his head and waves his hands as if trying to make the comment go away. "What I mean is that there's no way he's forgotten about you. Someone who you used to have lunch with all the time to the point of giving you free food... Nah, man. He remembers you. I think you may have been as important to him as he was to you."

The thought breaks away at a wall Steve had built up long ago. "Thanks," he practically whispers.

Eddie just smiles at him, small dimples appearing on his cheeks.

"You didn't deserve it either, you know," Steve says. "The absent parent stuff. Even with Wayne, they should've been here too."

Eddie's smile falters a bit as he swallows and looks at the ground. "Thanks," he mumbles. He looks up at Steve and comments, "Getting sappy with Steve Harrington. Who knew."

"Yeah, getting sappy with Eddie Munson," Steve echoes back at him.

Eddie laughs, "I'm surprised you even know my name."

"You're kind of hard to forget," Steve says easily.

That same blush comes back to Eddie who shifts in his chair a bit as if he needs to process the information with his whole body.

They sit in the moment for a bit before Eddie gets a somewhat serious look on his face and offers, "You know, I'm definitely not a parent figure or anything, but I'm always here and around to talk about that whole thing if you need to."

Steve's heart beats a little faster at the sheer genuineness. "Same here," he can't help but offer in return. He glances down at his watch and sighs, "It's getting late, so I better..."

"Right," Eddie says, standing up and leading him to the door. "Do you need water for the road or anything?"

Steve smiles and pats him on the back without thinking too hard about it. "I'm good, man. But thank you. For everything really."

"Sorry for being an asshole," Eddie apologizes again.

"Usually that's my line," Steve accidentally voices before cringing a bit, wondering further why Eddie's been so kind to him.

But as he opens the door, Eddie comments, "I don't know. It seems like Dustin was right about the whole reformed jock thing. Maybe your crown really has fallen - which is a good thing by the way."

Steve slightly smiles at him before he turns to leave. But he can't help but say, "I wonder what the neighbors will think about me leaving your trailer so late."

Eddie groans then laughs. "Sorry to ruin your image."

"I wouldn't mind," Steve replies, honestly unsure what he means by that. "Goodnight, Eddie."

"Goodnight, Steve," Eddie says, that same blush on his cheeks, only this time Steve isn't sure if it's something he said or a result of the cold night air.

In bed that night, Steve feels a slight weight lifted from him and can't help but feel like he’s a little less alone.

[eufezco]

𝙎𝙏𝙍𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙈𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙇𝙄𝙎𝙏

𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝘿𝙀𝙎 : steve harrington, eddie munson, billy hargrove

♡️ fluff ☆ angst ☽ smut

english isn't my first language !!!

MULTIPLE CHARACTERS

DADS HEADCANONS | ♡️ billy, eddie, jonathan, steve

SMUT HEADCANONS | ☽ billy, eddie, jonathan, steve

STEVE HARRINGTON

YOU'RE TOO DRUNK FOR THIS | ♡️ ☆

you're way too drunk to have that conversation with steve.

CONFIDENCE | ♡️

he isn't that confident when it comes to you.

HELP | ♡️ ☆

you and your nightmares spend the night with steve.

POOL SEX | ☽

WAIT FOR IT | ♡️ ☆ ☽ king!steve

you think steve maybe didn't make the best decision when he broke up with nancy because of you.

THE GRIEF OF LOSING EDDIE MUNSON | ♡️ ☆

x byers!fem!reader. steve and your family help you to go through the grief of losing your best friend.

SOFT!DOM STEVE | ☽

JELOUSY, JELOUSY | ♡️ ☆

steve has to face his feelings in the worst way possible when billy hargrove, the guy you kissed last night, knocks on your door.

TO THE UPSIDE DOWN | ♡️ ☆

steve, nancy, robin and eddie are in the upside down, you are paranoid that something might happen. steve has to reassure it won’t.

🩷💜💙 | ♡️ x bi!fem!reader

a conversation with robin, eddie, you and steve about your sexualities.

WE | ♡️ ☆ x hopper!female!reader

you go running to steve after finding out that your father, jim hopper, is alive. you reunite with him and jim and steve realize that they are now family.

MAX'S DATE | ♡️ ☆

you and your boyfriend steve help max after surviving vecna to get ready for her date with lucas.

FIRST KISS | ♡️ ☆

based on the quote: if I were to kiss you then go to hell, i would. so then i can brag with the devils i saw heaven without entering it.

THAT'S WHAT I LIKE | ☽

he has been neglected so when the time comes, steve doesn't know what he likes.

VECNA'S CURSE | ♡️ ☆ x hargrove!fem!reader

while visiting the grave of your brother billy, you are cursed by vecna.

POTTERY LESSON | ☽ ♡️

your pottery lesson to steve ends up in something better.

FANBOY | ♡️

i just think that steve would be the biggest queen fanboy.

THE FAMILY YOU CHOOSE | ♡️

a conversation between steve and his mom about his friends and you.

FORGIVENESS IS A NICE THING TO DO | ♡️ ☆

king!steve x munson!reader. after saying something horrible about eddie munson in front of you, steve finds out that he's your brother.

... READY FOR IT? | ♡️ ☆ ☽

you overhear a conversation between steve and robin about how you and him haven't had sex yet.

TAKING CARE OF MAX AT THE HOSPITAL | ♡️ ☆ x hopper!fem!reader

you want to be by max's side while she's in a coma in the hospital but it's consuming you. steve asks your father for help to get you out of there.

NEW YEAR'S EVE | ♡️ x hopper!female!reader

celebrating new year's eve with your boyfriend, friends and family.

EDDIE MUNSON

FIRST TIME | ☽

THE PRETTIEST GIRL AT HAWKINS HIGH | ♡️ x plus size!reader

DREAM OF A LIFETIME | ♡️ ☆ x pregnant!reader

your lack of communication had caused you and eddie to distance yourselves from each other. now he, robin, steve and nancy were trapped in the upside down, and you regretted not telling him you were pregnant earlier.

STAY SAFE | ♡️ ☆

you are the only person that knows where to find him.

FOUR TIMES EDDIE MUNSON KISSED YOU | ♡️ ☆ ☽

THE STAINS | ☽

what were those stains on eddie's mattress in that scene in 4x07?

WHITE LIE | ♡️ ☆

after being accused of crissy's murder, eddie hides and breaks up with you. when you findnd out you are pregnant, you tell everyone that it's steve's (your bff) baby but eddie can't do the math since two months ago you were still together.

REUNION | ♡️

you reunite with your friends from hawkins after a couple of years but now you are famous painter who just got divorced and eddie is the lead singer of the most famous band yet the tension between you is the same it was years ago.

MASTER OF PUPPETS | ☽

eddie plays master of puppets in his guitar while you touch him.

BILLY HARGROVE

FIRST TIME | ☽

POISONED DRINK | ♡️ ☆

you are in a party and someone puts something in your drink. luckily, billy finds you before anything bad happens to you.

TRAUMA RESPONSE | ♡️ ☆

you're a baddie but then billy finds out you also got some trauma from your parents.

GOOD GIRL, BAD BOY | ♡️ ☆

you are a good girl dating billy hargrove. all of your friends try to warn you that he is the type of boy who will break your heart.

SUMMERTIME SADNESS | ☆

billy sacrifices himself for you during the start court battle.

[miwiheroes]

Dropping Byler Evidence Every Day Until Season 5

Day 3 - Mike's incriminating dilemma

I think one of the most obvious byler proofs to me that barely gets any notice or recognition that it is very convincing, is the fact that Mike seems totally unwilling to talk to Will about his problems with El. Whenever Will is spoken to about the issues they have, it's very noticeable to the audience that Mike talks about it in very general terms, making sure he doesn't end up spilling what they spoke about.

This is simply because it is incriminating.

It's also the reason why he doesn't tell Will he called him multiple times even though he easily could! It would solve a lot between the two of them if he had admitted he called him (which we got confirmation about from Dustin). However, he would rather not, and would rather sacrifice himself in a sense than have Will know how much he called, turning the focus away from himself.

So again, why wouldn't Mike just tell Will about what happened? He knows that it might help him, since he's definitely told a friend about his relationship problems before (Lucas). However, this time he's hiding something bigger -- he does not love El. He would much rather have Will stay in the dark about what he really 'needs to say' than have Will ask him more questions. He's worried that if he gives too much detail, he'll be outed as a liar, he'll be figured out by Will. There is no other reason for hiding what El wants him to say. He could tell Will, but he's simply worried about the questioning this would earn.

The fact that he's lying is one of the reasons he makes this face here:

This is when Will says 'Whatever you didn't say, you can say it to her then', referring to when Mike sees her again. He believes he's comforting Mike that she's safe and he will see her again.

At first, Mike grins at Will, simple because... he's happy that Will's comforting him. But then he starts to dig deeper into what he's just heard and what it then means. That's when he almost startles, blinks rapidly and looks nervous. The internal conflict is clear on his face, and the directors want you to take notice of it.

It's almost like he's disliking the fact he has to lie to Will here. He doesn't like that Will has no idea how deep this thing actually goes, and it's really not as simple as saying I love you when he sees El again.

All in all:

Will has no idea that he's encouraging Mike to say I love you to El.

He believes he's comforting Mike on the fact that El is safe and that Mike will see her again.

But Mike's worried about saying I love you. Meaning he's worried about seeing her again.

He does not want to say I love you.

Okay.... so this means that he does not want to say I love you. Even if it means that he can see El safe again. But this can be for many different reasons. Maybe he's not ready to make the commitment or something. But the next scene on the car is when Mike shows the real reason why he doesn't want to say it.

The next time Mike and Will talk about this, the thing that he has to say to her has been reframed to being 'The Truth.' He's realised, between the previous scene and the car scene, that he will eventually have to explain himself to El because he'll likely see her again. He thinks that if he had explained himself, maybe he would have taken him with her.

Now, 'explaining yourself' does not at all sound like a confession of love. It almost sounds like Mike trying to justify to El why he doesn't say it. AND:

He tells Will in this scene that he 'didn't know what to say' despite El spelling it out for him very clearly. This shows he knows that he can't say what she wants him to say, and he has no idea how to explain why he can't say it in a way that isn't incriminating. Again, he can't tell Will the thing he has to explain away, because it would raise too many questions.

Will says 'to say how you really feel', suggesting that Mike feels the opposite of what El wants. And the fact that Mike nods. He NODS when Will says 'what if they don't like the truth?' is just so clear to me. It AGAIN solidifies that Mike is nervous because he really doesn't want to tell El the truth. He has no idea what to say to make it better without lying.

TLDR; Mike does not want to say I love you to El. The reason? He doesn't love her.

[munson-blurbs]

Everybody Talks (Best Friend!Eddie x Fem!Reader)

Summary: You've worked hard to keep your crush on your best friend a secret, since he doesn't feel the same way. But when the Hellfire Club members open their big mouths, it threatens everything you've tried to hold together.

Warnings: some angst, fluff, mentions of financial insecurity

WC: 1.5k

--

“Pizza’s here!” you call out, carrying a stack of pies into the Wheeler house. “I got one pepperoni, one mushroom, and one plain for all the boring people,” you tease, looking directly at Eddie as you say it.

“I prefer classic,” he retorts, taking the boxes from your hands and setting them on the table. The rest of the guys start to crowd around him, paper plates in hand, practically drooling at just the sight of food. “Hey, hey,” he chastises, pushing them out of the way, “ladies first.” He offers you a plate and you take a slice, quickly moving aside before you’re trampled by the herd of hungry teenage boys.

“So,” Gareth says to Eddie between bites, “your last Hellfire campaign is over and done with. How’s it feel?”

“You wish,” Eddie scoffs, plopping down next to you on the sofa. “Just because I’m graduating doesn’t mean I’m done kicking your asses in D&D.” He chugs his plastic cup filled with Mountain Dew and wipes his lips with the back of his hand. “Anyone else want a refill?” he asks, shaking his empty cup before looking over at you. “Oh, shit; you don’t have anything to drink. Diet Coke, right?” Before you can protest that you can get it yourself, he’s up and pouring you a glass.

“Thanks,” you smile, taking a sip. The bubbles fizz on your tongue as you lean back, careful not to get too close to Eddie. Not that you don’t want to; the mere thought of him draping his tattooed arm around your shoulders makes you giddy. 

Just a few more months, you think to yourself, and I’ll be off at college, meeting new people, and I won’t have to worry about my embarrassing crush on my best friend.

“You guys ready for prom tomorrow?” Mike asks, interrupting your pity party.

Jeff nods. “Just gotta pick up a corsage for Barb, and she’s getting me a, um, a…”

“Boutonniere?” you fill in helpfully, and he snaps his fingers and replies, “yeah, that thing.”

“What about you?” Lucas pipes up, turning to Eddie. “You ever decide who to ask?”

“Oh, he decided,” Jeff laughs, earning a scowl from his friend. “Too bad she decided to go with Jason Carver.”

Dustin throws his hands up in exasperation. “Dude, you’re still hung up on Chrissy Cunningham?” He rolls his eyes. “I told you; she’s sweet, but she’s not your type. You need someone who’s as nerdy as you are.” His eyes scan the room. “You know, like Y/N.”

You feel your cheeks burn with humiliation, not at Dustin calling you a nerd; you know he means that with utmost affection. It’s not even the idea of Eddie asking you out that has you nervous; it’s the prospect of him laughing at the thought. You’ve done a great job hiding your puppy love a secret from him, and you’d like to keep it that way.

“Ha!” Gareth barks out. “She wishes!”

No. No no no.

Tears spring to your eyes, and you can’t think of a decent excuse to leave before you’re dashing through the door, letting the screen slam behind you. There’s no lie in what Gareth said; you do wish Eddie had asked you to prom. Every time that the subject of the dance came up, you’d waited with baited breath to see if he’d say something to you. But he’d always ignore it, eager to move on to the next topic. And now you knew why: he wanted to take Chrissy, but she was in love with someone else. How ironic.

You’re almost at your car when you hear the squeak of the front door opening. “Sweetheart, wait!” Eddie shouts, probably a bit too loud for the short distance between you two. “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” you tell him softly as he jogs over to where you’re leaning against the passenger side door. “‘S not your fault.”

“Kinda is,” he shrugs, bringing you to the front steps and motioning for you to sit next to him. “I mean, I was the one who went to a freshman for romantic advice. That’s the last time I do that; I don’t care how nauseatingly cute he and his singing girlfriend are.” He gives a small chuckle, but neither of you meet the other’s gaze.

Hold on. Freshman? Singing girlfriend? “Eddie, what are you talking about?”

Eddie stops gnawing on his lower lip long enough to answer you. “I’m talking about you being embarrassed by Henderson’s painfully obvious last-ditch effort to get me to man up and finally ask you out.” His brows furrow when he sees your similarly confused expression. “That’s not…what are you upset about?”

“Um, Gareth blabbing to everyone that I wanted you to ask me to prom?” You finally allow yourself to look at him, noticing the dejected look on his face. 

“I couldn’t do that,” he mutters, resting his palm sideways over his mouth and shifting his body away from yours. His words come out all muffled, but you can still make out what they are.

“I wouldn’t have said no to you,” you reassure him, mustering up all of your courage to place your hand on his bouncing knee. He relaxes almost immediately, but he still seems sad. “Eds, what’s wrong?”

His eyes are misty when he turns back to you. “I couldn’t ask you to prom because…because I couldn’t afford it,” he confesses, twisting his skull ring around his finger anxiously. “The tickets, a tux, those fancy wrist things…best I could do is steal some flowers from Mrs. Wheeler’s garden.” He hums out a sad laugh. “‘M sorry, sweetheart. I wanted to take you, but I knew I’d just be letting you down.”

“But Jeff said you were going to ask Chrissy,” you point out.

Eddie shrugs. “Don’t get me wrong; Chrissy’s nice and everything, but I just said that so he’d get off my back. Because if I told him the truth, he wouldn’t shut up until I made a move.” He sighs. “His dad’s a lawyer, and his mom runs her own business. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to worry about having enough food in the house, let alone all the extra shit like prom.”

You’re quiet for a beat, letting everything sink in. You knew Eddie lived in Forest Hills Trailer Park, and you knew money was often tight. Wayne worked hard to keep a roof over their heads, but the plant didn’t pay nearly enough. There were many occasions where you’d spotted Eddie eyeing something in the grocery store and instinctively thrown it in your cart for him, but for some reason, it hadn’t even occurred to you that finances was the reason he’d avoided talking about the prom.

“I wish you’d told me,” you finally say. “I would’ve understood.”

“Yeah, I know.” Eddie rubs his nose against his hand, another nervous tic of his. “That was never the problem. You’re the most understanding fuckin’ person I know. You just…I dunno. You deserve the whole ‘prom’ experience, not whatever half-ass version I could offer you.”

At that, you can’t help but giggle. “Eddie,” you begin, “do you really think I wanted to go to prom so I could wear a fancy dress and uncomfortable shoes in a stuffy gym? I just wanted to dance with you, and then spend the night on your couch watching stupid movies and eating junk food and talking shit about everyone who was there.” You look deep into his chocolate brown eyes, nearly losing yourself in their beauty. “I just wanted to be with you.”

Eddie stares at you, gaze traveling down to your lips. “Can I kiss you?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

“If you don’t, I’ll kiss you.” 

Your mouths crash together clumsily, but you’re too happy to care. You soak in every part of it: Eddie’s stubble rubbing against your chin, the way he tastes like stale cigarettes and marinara sauce, his curls brushing your cheeks. He only breaks the kiss to take a breath, and then he’s back, more purposeful in his movements the second time around. He brings his hand to your jawline, caressing it gingerly with his thumb as he parts your lips with his.

“Can’t believe I just did that,” he muses, smiling at you shyly. “Been wanting to kiss you for too goddamn long.” He leans in, frowning when you place your hand on his chest to stop him. “What?”

“You gotta take me on a date before you kiss me again,” you inform him, lacing your fingers through his. “When are you free?”

“Uh, right now? We can grab ice cream at Scoops. Lemme just get my keys.” He stands up quickly to head back towards the house.

“Wait, Eddie,” you call out to him, “what about the guys? And pizza night?”

“Who cares? I have a date with the most beautiful girl in Hawkins.”

--

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Walking back to the school, Dustin noticed Steve and Eddie were holding hands. Will cursed inwardly, and he hoped that Dustin wouldn't say anything. He figured that they weren't quite ready to say anything yet, but why were they holding hands so publicly? Maybe they thought they were being discreet.

"That makes sense," Dustin said.

"What does?" Will asked.

"Safety in numbers, and it doesn't hurt to make sure we don't get separated," Dustin said as he took Will's hand. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"

Dustin smiled at him. He always appreciated Dustin's smile. It was always so innocent and, at the same time, mischievous. It was also full of warmth. His dark blue eyes also held the same, and it always seemed to twinkle, too. Will always loved the way they seemed to almost disappear when he smiled. Will swallowed. When did Dustin get so cute? Or maybe the better question would be, why didn't Will really notice until now? Oh, yeah. Mike. Will blushed. He had spent so long being in love with him, and he hadn't stopped to think about the possibility of anyone else.

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense," Will said and intertwined their hands.

Dustin went quiet for a minute, staring straight a head before groaning.

"I was hoping that you'd call me on my bullshit, Will," Dustin said.

"What are you talking about?" Will asked.

"I just wanted to hold your hand, and I was looking for any excuse to do it," Dustin said. "I don't know why Steve and Eddie are holding hands."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Will asked.

"I don't know," Dustin said, blushing. "I wanted to be honest with you, but I got nervous."

"You, Dustin Henderson? You're never afraid of saying what's on your mind," Will said.

"Hey, I get scared. . .it's just that my mouth runs faster than my brain," Dustin said. "My mouth has a mind of its own, okay?!"

"Dustin, why do you want to hold my hand?" Will asked softly.

"I don't know, I already said that. I think that I have always been jealous of how close you and Mike are, how close you want to be with Mike. It doesn't make sense, though, because I know that I'm closer to Lucas than you are, and it doesn't bother me!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Dustin," Will said softly and stopped, taking his other hand.

"I think maybe it's because you always found all my inventions interesting. . .I mean, actually interested. You always wanted to hear more about them, and I just wanted you to keep looking at me like that. . .the way you look when I talk about them. This past year, all I wanted to do was talk to you about it, about them all and the science fair. . .even though I knew it wasn't possible, I kept imagining your face in the crowd and somehow that you'd find your way there. When Suzie broke up with me, I wanted you to be the first to know. I knew you would be the one to make me feel better. I can't explain it," Dustin sighed. "I think I just really missed you this year."

"Dustin," Will said. "I could guess, although I might be wrong about this. . .I generally am wrong about these things. . .can I - can I show you why you might be feeling this way?"

"Sure," Dustin said in confusion.

Still holding both of Dustin's hands in his, Will bent down and kissed him. Dustin made a small gasping noise against Will's lips. He didn't pull away, however. In fact, he pressed his lips a little harder against Will's with an eagerness that he was trying to contain. Will found that he very much liked kissing Dustin, liked the way his lips felt against his. Dustin growled into his mouth, and Will jumped, pulling away with a laugh.

"Dustin!" Will exclaimed.

"Hey! You started this," Dustin said. "You knew what might happen."

"You were the one who wanted to hold my hand!" Will laughed. "It surprised me, that's all. It was a nice surprise, though."

"Shit. . .it all makes sense. I can't believe that I've never seen it before," Dustin frowned.

"We lie more to ourselves than anyone else," Will said.

"There's a reason why your name is Will the Wise," Dustin beamed. "Does this mean - that you - ?"

"I'm definitely starting to move my eyes towards you," Will grinned and paused. "And it's not a big deal for you. . .that you like a guy?"

"You know, I don't think I care very much that you're a guy. I don't think I ever cared that Suzie was a girl. I hardly even noticed, I just. . .I think I liked that you're both so. . .sweet," Dustin said. "And you care. You both have heart, and I think that's what I've always cared about. Honestly, when I had a crush on Max, I just thought, well, I'm a boy, and she's a girl. . .that's just how it's supposed to be, right? After Max, I think I just opened myself up to the possibility of just falling for anyone, but I don't think my mind really factored that it meant guys as well."

"It's always been just guys for me, particularly one guy, but I'm starting to be aware of others, too," Will blushed.

"So, our hearts are still freshly wounded. . .maybe together, we'll help them heal faster," Dustin said.

Will beamed and took Dustin's hand as they continued to move. Steve and Eddie had walked further ahead of them, but they managed to catch up.

"It's really not fair how much taller you've gotten, Byers," Dustin explained. "You know, there was a time that I was taller than you."

"Please, you love it," Will teased.

"Maybe I do," Dustin said. "Maybe I don't."

Once they reached Steve and Eddie, the four walked into the empty entrance to the gym.

"Were you guys holding hands?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Dustin said. "We were holding hands for the same reason that you were. We didn't want to get lost."

Steve and Eddie shared an amused smile before turning to them.

"That's not why we were holding hands," Steve said. "Although, Eddie does tend to wander off. . ."

"We're dating!" Eddie exclaimed rather cheerfully.

"Oh," Dustin said and beamed, sharing a look with Will. "That's funny. We are, too!"

"Shut up, that's not funny. We're being serious," Steve said.

"So, are we!" Will exclaimed.

"Seriously?!" Steve and Eddie exclaimed.

"Yeah," Dustin said.

"That's great, I didn't know you liked guys," Steve said.

"I didn't know that either of you liked guys, or I would have tried to set you two up a long time ago," Dustin said.

"Well, we didn't exactly know either," Steve blushed.

"We figured it out the hard way," Eddie said, slapping Steve on the back.

"I was always open to falling for anyone anyway, but it took Will kissing me to realize that I had been crushing on him for a while and that it also meant guys for me, too," Dustin said.

"It's just guys for me," Will shrugged.

"Both for us," Steve replied.

"Well, this is just great," Will beamed. "I always thought I was alone."

Will could feel Dustin smiling at him, and he turned to him, smiling as well. Will had opened his mouth when Dustin gasped.

"Does your mom and Jonathan know about you?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, they're fine with it," Will replied and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I just realized that I'm going to have to figure out a way to get them to like me," Dustin said.

"What?! They already like you!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I'm your boyfriend now, William, and the family never likes the boyfriend!" Dustin yelled. "I've got to prove to them that I'm not going to hurt you!"

"You've got nothing to prove!" Will laughed. "You're being ridiculous!"

"I need to come up with a plan!" Dustin exclaimed and started to run off.

"In the middle of an apocalypse?! Aren't there more important things to do?!" Will asked.

"No!"

Steve clapped his hand on Will's shoulder.

"He means well," Steve laughed.

"He's lucky he's cute," Will said in amusement. "Why is he so scared of them? Didn't Dustin kill a man? What's he got to be worried about?"

"Yeah, I think he's just excited," Steve said.

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about Eddie," he said.

"Not about that, anyway," Steve said.

Suddenly, Eddie gasped, grasping Steve’s shoulder.

"The kid is right, Steve. I have to win Robin over," Eddie said.

"What?! She already likes you! You've won her over!" Steve yelled.

"Not as her platonic soulmate's boyfriend, Steven!" Eddie shrieked. "I'm going to see if Dustin needs help."

Will laughed and clapped Steve on the back as Eddie ran off.

"Let's get some hot cocoa and talk about how adorably idiotic our boyfriends are," Will said.

"I just know that Robin's going to make Eddie jump through hoops just to fuck with him," Steve said.

"Luckily, my brother isn't that cruel," Will said. "Hopper, on the other hand. . ."

Will glanced over at Mike talking to Lucas, and he found that for the first time ever, it was easier to breathe when he looked at him.

[ray935sworld]

A small favor (Lucalex & Marcmarc)

Soulmate AU Part 3

12.12 Winter writing

"So... Alex..." Marc said, sitting down next to the younger one. "Alex, my beloved little brother, how are you doing? Are you alright? Any pains from the season?"

Alex looked up very slowly. He had a very mistrusting glance at his brother. It was unlikely for him to be that nice. Unless...

"The fuck do you want?" "Whaaaaat? Can't I-" He avoided his brother gaze as his voice hit a high whenever he was trying to lie to his brother.

"Wasting my time won't help your matter" Alex said, putting his phone down, his chat with his boyfriend still open. "Spill it"

Marc sighed. His voice turning serious again. "Okay listen... I need you to ask your boyfriend something" The younger one raised his brows in confusion. "Luca? What the fuck do you need from Luca?"

Marc bit his lips. He knew it was a long shot and maybe weird. But the other alternative would be waiting for months for the season to restart. And then he had to somehow figure out where Marco's soulmark is. Which - judging by his social media photos - wasn't on his chest or any other more or less visible place. It also wasn't on the down parts of his legs, leaving only the area that's covered by shorts.

So just like his own.

The sword was placed high up on his thigh. It was easy to cover up if wanted.

He would either have to catch him mostly undress - preferably undressed by him - or he'd have to tell him.

But soulmark were personal. They were too intimate to be brought up in a conversation between coworkers that didn't know each other very well. And when one hated the other. But -

But between close friends. Friends like Luca and Bez - Or maybe Luca had seen it after all the years or training together. So the only way was to get Luca to spill what he knew or to try and ask Marco.

Luca was right now his only shot. And the only really connection was Alex. So Alex had to ask.

"I think I figured out who my soulmate is" he explained. He had been chewing on the subjects after the birthday discovery for weeks now. And he was sure he had to take that step. "YOU WHAT?!" Alex asked and sat up, his eyes glizzering. "And you asshole waited to tell me?! Who is it? Wait - It's Bez, right? It has to be Bez!"

"Wha-What? How-" he wanted to ask but Alex beat him with a crazy laughter. "I knew it! You have heart eyes whenever you see him! And that whole greeting over the season?! Like come on! Your dignity really jumps out the window when it comes to that one. I mean - Stand up, Marc!"

Marc felt himself blush. That was that with not being suspicious. And he had actually thought no one had noticed that.

"So you have the biggest crush on him. That's why you think he's your soulmate?" Alex continued, his legs crossed on the sofa as he eagerly waited for the whole story.

"Partly... As it turns out his birthday is on the 12th November. And he's born 1998... So-" "The day you got the soulmark!" Alex exclaimed with excitement.

Marc could only nodd.

"So to sum it up - the guy you have the biggest and longest crush on, who is one of Rossi's kids, may I add, but-" "You are dating his brother!" "Ey! That's different. I'm not Italy's most wanted theft. Plus it's not like Rossi could actually hate his own baby brother. So we're save - I think."

It's not like Vale knew. Yet.

"But never mind, we'll ignore that for now. So that guy has the exact same birthday as your soulmate"

"Basically. Sadly the internet doesn't say when Bezzecchi was born. Like at which times." "Sounds like you tried to check. Stalker-" "I am not a stalker-" "You just want to be well informed. I know. So just that I get that right. Based on all that you want me to text Luca - what now?"

"I mean... I don't know what Marcos soulmark is so... Maybe... As a personal friend of his, Luca knows? Or he could ask him? And maybe he tells you and you tell me just to... You know... Support my theory." he explained.

"And so you don't make an absolute foul out of yourself when you spent the whole next seasons trying to woo him without getting your dick cut if my his mentor and pseudo dad that already hates you."

Marc stared at his little brother. He really was wondering why he even liked that little fucker.

"Thank you for the encouragement" he said dryly and got a smile as a response. But when he grabbed his phone, Marc knew he had his support. He typed a few times to start a call.

He had put it on speaker. Marc heard the Italians voice answer after a few rings.

"Hola mi corazon" He decided it was adorable that Luca spoke Spanish with his little brother. He definitely won a few sympathy points with that.

"Ciao tesoro" Alex replied while looking back at Marc. "Listen, sweetheart. Marc is hear and listening, so keep it clean, alright" "Alright" he chuckled. "Yeah I don't need to hear your dirty talk" the brother replied and Luca laughed again.

"Hey Marc, nice to hear from you" The Italian greeted him. "Awe, no corazon for me?" he asked teasingly. "OH shut up, you want something from him, remember?" Alex intervened quickly.

"You want something from me? Is everything okay?" Luca asked confused and Alex quickly explained. "Yes yes. It's just that Marc thinks he knows who his soulmate is. And we need you to confirm it" "Me? And... How?" he asked, the confusion audible.

"We think it's Bez. Like your Bez - Marco Bezzecchi. He has the exact same birthday as Marc's soulmate. And Marc really has a crush on him, like we suspected!"

Marc blinked a few times. Like THEY suspected? So he was part of his brother's and his boyfriends gossip? How obvious had a been.

"That's why we were wondering, you as Bez friend, do you know what's his soulmark? Can you tell us? Please, my love."

Marc was twitching in his seat. Nervously he hold onto his own leg. His hand rested on the high part of his left thigh. If it wasn't for the fabric of his pants, he would touch the ink of sword.

A sword. It had to be a sword. In brown. As brown as Marcos eyes or his hair. Say sword Luca. Say-

"OH. Sure. It's a black skull on his right hip."

The whole soulmate AU

[bisexualchaosdemon]

Do you think Jean is sex repulsed as a result of his trauma? The way he’s actively trying to repress his feelings of attraction to people is giving sex repulsed

I'll preface this by saying that I am in no way and expert of these things, but I wouldn't say that, no. He clearly experiences sexual attraction, and it's not that he doesn't want to act on it; it's more that he's scared? But would I be me if I didn't provide excessive evidence? No, let's gooooo

(The Sunshine Court, ch.11)

I think it's only fitting to start with Jean's beach party bi panic™️ he refers to his attraction to Laila as inappropriate and his attraction to Jeremy as dangerous. He's not disgusted by it, though? He just doesn't seem to think he's allowed to feel that way. He seems more frustrated than anything, I think. He's giving 'why is everyone fucking hot?!' vibes, like he thinks it's cruel because he thinks he's not allowed to do anything about it?

I do think that it's interesting that he doesn't deny it when confronted about it, though. Like, Jeremy straight up (no pun intended) calls him out on his very poorly concealed sexuality and he didn't bother to even try lying.

(The Sunshine Court, Ch.12)

Jean being unable to lie to Jeremy is a common theme, which I could rant about separately, but Jean caring more about Lucas insulting Jeremy's integrity than his friends knowing he's bi doesn't scream disgust or aversion to me. In fact, I may go as far as to say that this suggests that he isn't trying all that hard to repress his sexuality in the first place.

Jumping onto the next chapter, we've got some more of Jean's idea of what he is 'allowed' and him actively testing that boundary, just a tiny bit.

(The Sunshine Court, Ch.13)

Jean-Yves, my precious baby boy, you are allowed to feel how you feel! Personally, this isn't giving me sex repulsed vibes either, though. Yet again, this isn't about what he wants, it's about what he is allowed (Riko, I hope you are burning in hell 💕).

But even with the belief that he isn't allowed to be attracted to Jeremy, Jean still dips his toe in, just the tiniest bit. I'm hoping this is a taste of what's to come, and Jean will feel more able to try things as Jeremy continues to prove that their attraction to each other isn't inherently unsafe. The fact that he's testing it at all, and that he seems happy with the outcome, suggests to me that he may be open to trying things once he feels safe.

For my final point, we're sticking with chapter 13 for sex toy gate!

It might just be me, but this reaction doesn't give 'sex repulsed'. It's giving kid being teased by his friend or mortified by their older sibling. It's iconic, it's hilarious, he's a blushy little boy. I really hope that we see something more about this in tsc2. I think that, once he is done dying of embarrassment, Laila's thinking might not be too far off.

Riko is dead, Tetsuji is gone, Jean isn't imprisoned in the Nest anymore. He is free and safe to explore his sexuality and I think/hope we will get to see Jean realise this in the future. It has the potential to be really beautiful.

[pythoness94]

Mike needs to be needed

I, of course, love the Mike protecting Will things. I love how Mike is always there for Will but i love when it's reversed. It's been shown in every season that Mike needs to be needed. The Van scene is a great example of this. The entire time he talks is he's saying that El doesn't "Need" him anymore. What gets his spirts up? Will lying and saying that El does ,in fact, need him. This doesn't come from left field either! From season 1 and jumping off the quarry to save Dustin, hiding El away in his basement, using her to find Will. He needs to be needed in season 1. In season two he's by Will's side, he's always with him and falling for his every need. His mind is on keeping Will alive and everything else doesn't matter. He goes back to the tunnels to help Will. In season two, it's all about Will. But season three? Oh, El NEEDS Mike, or atleast Mike thinks she does.

Mike doesn't want to lose El again, he can't lose anybody again. Mike is very protective and has been hinted to have abandonment issues. He's by El's side because he thinks she needs him because she asked him out, and when Max "takes" El away. His mind goes wild and thinks that he's losing El, clearly irrational. He only snaps back into it when he accidentally hurts Will. That's where his focus on Will last season comes into play, he forgot his main focus, the main person who needed him, for another and had to reboot himself. The problem was El didn't need him, she wanted him. She wanted the normality that came with Mike. Mike didn't want to kick El out right away like Dustin and Lucas wanted to, he was patient with El and was unlike she's ever seen before. That's what caught El, not a need, but a want for that normality.

Then in season four he thought nobody needed him and was losing his shit. He thought Will replaces him with a girl and was giving his art to someone else (Remember his binders and El's letter?) He thought El didn't need him because she had "A bunch of friends" (she was lying) and didn't confine in him about her bullies and told him that he wouldn't know what it was like. She, unintentionally, made Mike feel more unneeded and useless by that. However, Will, by the painting made Mike feel needed, even if he knew Will was lying I like to think he chose to believe in the lie just because he wanted that feeling. He needed that soft dopamine hit even if it was all fake.

Imagine if in season 5 Will states that he needs Mike without hiding behind El. Like after Mike tries to sacrifice himself for the Party Will berates him and says that he needs Mike, and it encourages Mike to stop hiding too. it would make Mike feel so love and would soothe a deep insecurity in Mike.

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 8

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | AO3

-----

The next time he's got something of a breather, they're all building weapons in a field gathered around a stolen camper. He breaks from wrestling around with Dustin, comes to plop down next to Robin in the spot Steve recently vacated.

"Hey, uh. So how often does this happen?"

Robin shoots him a look, one eyebrow raised as if to say there's a whole lot of 'this' happening right now, dumbass, what part of it do you mean?

Eddie jerks his chin up, head swinging in the direction towards Steve and Dustin. "He just got munched on by a swarm of goddamn demon bats, and now he's out there prancing around and no one's looking at him like he should maybe sit down a minute? Like no one cares, this is just business as usual."

Her face crumbles, and Eddie feels like an asshole. He didn't mean to imply that she didn't care about her best friend being bat food.

"Every time," she says softly, before he can try to backtrack.

"Oh." What the fuck is he supposed to say to that? "Right, Jesus. Well. Harrington's a big boy, I'm sure he-"

"No," Robin cuts him off. "You don't understand. He does this every time, it's - you remember last year, when Steve and Billy Hargrove showed up to school looking like shit? Hargrove tried to go after Lucas, and Steve pulled him off. They beat the crap out of each other. Hargrove hit him over the head with a plate, so hard that Steve blacked out. And the little shits - they put him in a car and took him with them to go to these tunnels to the Upside Down, because we couldn't just leave him in the house, Robin, what if he choked on his own blood or Billy woke up first?"

She does a decent impression of Henderson, there, higher pitched and shrieking, but Eddie is too busy being more and more horrified to comment on it.

"Steve woke up, and what does that dipshit do? Grabs his fucking nailbat, makes sure he's the first one down there and the last one out. They see Steve, and they see-"

"A hero," Eddie says quietly.

"They see someone invincible," she replies, even quieter. "So it's not real when he gets hurt, you know, because they see him take hit after hit after hit for us, and he just comes back up swinging, just keeps going to make sure every one of us is safe."

Eddie thumbs over the spot on his hip, where the first I don't need to go to the hospital had appeared, and feels - he doesn't know. "For us?"

Robin pushes the heel of her hand into her eyes, rubbing away what he's going to pretend aren't tears. "Fourth of July, Starcourt Mall. We got captured. He made sure their attention was on him. They tortured him, barely touched me."

She wraps her arms around her stomach, hugging herself with her palms pressed against her sides, fingers splayed wide like she's holding something close. There's more there, it's obvious, but, well. It's just as obvious that she doesn't want to talk about it.

"Then he crashed a stolen car into Billy Hargrove's Camaro with me riding shotgun."

Eddie gapes at her. "What the fuck?"

She raises and lowers one shoulder. "Billy was going to hit Nancy and Jonathan and the kids. I mean, it might have been the drugs, but I was on board with the plan."

His mouth opens, then closes again. "This is so fucked. You know this, right? Tell me you know this."

Robin makes a face. "I wish I could say that and know for sure that it wouldn't be a lie. I mean, I've only been in on this for like nine months, but it kind of sucks you in."

"Jesus fucking Christ."

Her expression turns a little wry, a little wait and see, you're one of us now. "Yeah."

Eddie doesn't know what the fuck to do with that, so he settles for watching Steve. Steve, who was captured at Starcourt mall, who told Eddie that he'd been captured by Russians who didn't like his attitude and apparently wasn't lying, whose experience fits the words that are still etched on Eddie's skin. "….he got tortured?"

Robin doesn't say anything, so after a few moments, he turns to look at her again.

"What's that face you're doing?" she asks, which is rich when she's the one looking at him like he's a puzzle she's trying to figure out.

"It's just-" He gestures at Steve in a motion he hopes conveys the sheer fucked up everything. "He was tortured!"

Steve Harrington was tortured, and then he lied and said the others were hurt more, and Eddie didn't want him to be his soulmate because he was one of the popular crowd.

Robin's still staring at him, her brow furrowed, when Dustin's shriek echoes across the clearing.

"This is a stupid idea, Steve!"

Everyone turns to look at them, and Steve throws up his hands. "I would have thought you of all people would agree with me!"

"What, agree with you going to get yourself killed, and all of us with you?" Dustin demands.

Steve rolls his eyes. "A little credit, please? I survived demogorgons and demodogs and Russians and the Mind Flayer and, uh." He pauses. "What're we calling the creepy bats?"

"Demobats," Dustin says with authority, like Steve Harrington talking about demogorgons and the Mind Flayer is nothing out of the ordinary, even though it's definitely messing with Eddie's head.

"Right, demobats," Steve agrees, as though they weren't in the middle of a screaming argument, then promptly picks it back up. "I think I can manage an angry jock!"

Dustin snorts. "Right, like you managed Billy Hargrove?"

The silence that follows that is deafening.

"Dude," Steve says softly. "Too far."

Dustin's expression drops, looking somewhere between chastised and extremely guilty. "You're right, I know, I'm sorry."

Steve jerks his head towards Max and Lucas, an almost imperceptible movement, if Eddie wasn't watching him so closely.

Dustin looks over to them, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry," he calls. "Anger over Steve's stupidity blinded me and made me just as stupid."

There's a pause, then Lucas calls, "Even stupider!"

"Even stupider!" Dustin agrees.

Max rolls her eyes at them, but she doesn't look as stricken anymore. "You're both dumbasses."

Steve's watching her when Eddie turns back to look at him, but he must think that's as good as it's gonna get, because he focuses his attention back on Dustin.

"Anyway, Nancy agrees with me, so we're doing it. This was just a courtesy heads-up."

Eddie glances over at Robin, relieved when he sees her looking over at him in the same way. They share a look that he's pretty sure is mutual exasperation over whatever Steve's thought of that is apparently going to get him killed.

"Hey Dingus!" she calls. "You want to share that with the rest of the class?"

"We're going to talk to Carver and the team," Steve replies. "We can't fight Vecna and avoid them at the same time, not with how hard they're gunning for Eddie."

"What?" Eddie demands, scrambling to push himself to his feet. "No no no no, come on, Wheeler, I thought you agreed that was a terrible idea!"

"That was before we ran into them at War Zone," Nancy says. "Steve's right - Jason isn't going to stop. We have to get him and the others off our backs, or they could ruin the whole thing."

Reluctantly, they all gather in the camper again.

"All right," Steve says, clapping his hands like they're all in kindergarten and ignoring the unimpressed looks everyone gives him. "Game plan."

"We divide into two teams," Nancy picks up, just as serious business as she was when they were plotting to take down Vecna. "Team one stays with the RV and keeps making weapons. Team two heads into town to run surveillance-"

Erica gives an unimpressed huff. "Run surveillance, who needs to run surveillance when you've got me? I was at his last little inspirational production, and I know there's supposed to be another town hall meeting tonight. Two guesses who's going to be there to try to run it again?"

Steve and Nancy exchange a glance.

"All right, team two heads into town to make sure we're at the meeting before Jason gets there," Nancy says.

"So who's on team two?" Dustin asks.

"Me and Nance," Steve replies immediately.

"And me," Erica chimes in.

"And Erica," Steve agrees without hesitation, which makes Nancy give him a funny look.

"Steve is my bitch after our last 'operation' together, and he knows it," Erica says, complete with air quotes around operation.

Steve just shrugs, looking resigned, and - yeah, okay, with what Eddie knows of Erica Sinclair, he'd probably do the same thing.

"No one listened to me last time," Erica adds. "I'm gonna make damn sure they regret that."

Nancy raises her eyebrows, but doesn't protest.

"That's it," Steve finishes. "Maybe Robin or Lucas, if you one of you wants to, but no one else. Sorry guys, but it has to be people that no one would believe would be friends with Eddie."

Which - ouch, but yeah, Steve has a point. Still-

"Buckley?" he asks. Lucas he gets, because Jason and the others must have trusted him to let him in on the initial freak hunt, but Robin?

Robin shoots him a withering glare. "I've played soccer, and I'm in the marching band, did you forget? The band that goes to every one of the basketball team's games and plays for them, the band that you usually disparage in the same breath as the jocks when you do your little table speeches? You think I haven't commiserated with some of the soccer players and cheerleaders about perfectly good lunches crunched under your heels?"

Eddie - doesn't actually know what to say to that. A week ago, he would have jumped all over her for conforming to the school's expectations, pumping up the jocks and riding the coattails of popularity, but - but this isn't a week ago. Monsters are real, people are dying, Eddie's probably going to die, and these people are the only ones who know anything about how to stop it.

This is the party, and he's just been an NPC this whole time.

"Oh," is what he settles on, hating how stupid it makes him sound.

"Hey, those table speeches were cool!" Dustin protests.

"They were obnoxious," Robin says with a sniff.

"They're Eddie," Steve says, and Eddie turns sharply to look at him.

He's rolling his eyes, and he sounds just as fond as he does exasperated, the same tone he's heard him use on the kids when they're being little assholes, and it twists something in his gut at the same time as he makes him want to hide behind his hair.

"It's not a bad thing to rail against primitive social constructs such as popularity," Steve adds.

Eddie - stares at him, his brain screeching to a halt as he attempts to process what Steve Harrington just said to him.

He manages to catch Nancy looking at Steve in a way that's a little bit impressed before Dustin is shouting again.

"Hey!" he yells, slapping Steve on the arm. "I said that to you last summer, you can't just take credit for that!"

Steve slaps at Dustin's hand. "You said I needed to move on from them, you didn't say anything about railing against them!"

"It's the same thing!" Dustin protests.

"Can't you just be happy I listened to you?" Steve asks.

"Oh, for once." Dustin rolls his eyes. "When are you going to realize all of my advice is genius?"

"Again with the ego, man, come on-"

"Boys!" Robin shouts.

The two of them startle, looking over at her with twin expressions somewhere between sheepish and irritated.

Eddie valiantly rallies his brain back into working order. "I still say this plan is stupid. What do you really think's going to happen when you publicly align yourselves with the freak?"

"Oh, we're not going to publicly align ourselves with you," Nancy says.

"We're going to publicly tear Jason down," Steve adds, and there's a gleam in his eye that Eddie hasn't seen since he stalked the halls of Hawkins High with Hagan and Perkins at his side.

So the party splits again.

Nancy, Steve, and Erica head out on their side quest. Robin does end up going with them, though she makes it very clear that she's just there to sit in the back with her hand on the walkie in case things go to shit. Eddie stays with Dustin and Lucas and Max, and tries not to feel -

Well. There's a whole lot he wants to feel. Anger and bitter resentment and fear and self-hatred and outwardly directed hatred and a sick hope and confusing fondness, all tangled up into a messy ball that seem to cancel each other out.

So mostly he tries not to feel exhausted, and tries not to let it bounce too hard the other way into mania. It mostly ends up in him alternating between goofing around with Dustin and obsessively checking over his handy work on his shield.

Eventually, after far too long, the wandering half of the party returns - and even without saying anything, it's clear it was a success. The four of them are so damn pleased at something going right that it seems to be catching, both Dustin and Lucas crowding in and demanding details.

"Jason's a suspect now!" Robin says gleefully.

"He's a person of interest," Nancy corrects. "But it's enough that I don't think he's going to be rallying many people to his cause."

Eddie stares at them, aware his mouth is open and he probably looks flabbergasted, but he can't seem to make himself do anything about that.

"How did you guys manage that?" Dustin asks.

"I told you they were going to regret not listening to me," Erica says, tone just as smug as her face.

"Excuse me," Steve chimes in, in what's clearly supposed to be an imitation of Erica's voice. "But is anyone else going to get to speak at this one, or are the police and the mayor going to let a seventeen year old boy lead a town hall meeting again?"

"Again?" Robin straightens up, jumping on that with all of Nancy's fierce tenacity. "Can you clarify that for the press, Chief Powell? Is Jason Carver involved with the investigation into these murders?"

Nancy bats her eyelashes, lowering her voice and looking as dumb and concerned as possible. "Wait, wasn't Jason dating Chrissy? Now, I may have missed the last meeting, but I've watched every episode of Magnum PI and Miami Vice. Why is the victim's boyfriend leading the investigation? Isn't that, uh, a confliction of interests?"

"Watch what you're implying, Harrington," Erica growls out.

Steve raises both eyebrows. "You about busted in my door looking for my brother and his dumb friends. I just think we all have a right to be concerned about someone who shows violent tendencies to a child being involved like this."

"I saw what that freak did to Patrick!" Erica says, making her voice high and whiny.

"You were at the scene of the third crime?" Robin jumps in, still clearly Nancy. "Was anyone else there who can confirm your version of the events? No? So we only have your report of who was there?"

"Patrick McKinney?" Nancy asks, wrinkling her nose. "Bummer, man, the way people close to you keep dying. Glad I graduated already."

"I remember him when you came to my house," Steve as Erica says. "Wasn't he the one who said you guys were taking things too far? What a coincidence!"

Robin tilts her head, looking like she's trying to remember something. "Didn't Fred write that article about the basketball team and hazing rituals? If I remember right, Jason Carver was the only one he mentioned by name."

Nancy smiles, and it looks - strange, on her face. All haughty and smug, with too many teeth. "Hazing rituals, is that what's going on here? Couldn't hack it with the legacy Billy and I left for you, huh, Carver? Who's next? You're looking for Lucas Sinclair, right, you pissed that he's the one that scored the winning shot when you missed it?"

"And then Tiffany Callahan shouts Chrissy wasn't happy!, and half of the cheerleaders are talking about how she was upset and kept saying she didn't want to talk to Jason about it," Robin says. "Jason looked like he was a second away from lunging over and strangling her, and Tiffany's soulmate got up in his face."

They keep going, tossing pleased little comments back and forth, roping Lucas and Dustin and even Max in, crowing about how Eddie's out of the limelight and -

Part of him wants to stay, well aware that he's literally watching a campaign unfold in real life in front of him, that he could let himself be folded into this strange little party and bask in their jubilance at a quest completed. But the other part of him is just going too much, it's too much.

He steps back, quiet and unseen, until he can duck around the other side of the camper and crouch down. His forearms brace against his knees, head hanging down between them, as he tries to just - to just breathe, not let himself vibrate out of his own skin.

This is turning into the slowest of slowburns omg, but they will get there eventually!

----

Part 9

Taglist (hopefully I got everyone, and always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @affablevixen @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

[strangersteddierthings]

Steve, Gareth and Chrissy are cousins AU (sad edition) [prologue] [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] [part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Final Part]

"So," Dustin starts as he falls into step with Gareth, "you were pretty interested in Steve's whereabouts earlier. What's up with that?"

Gareth debates not answering at all. Just ignoring Dustin until he jogged to catch back up to Lucas and Max. That's rude, though, and he has no reason to be rude to Dustin. The thing he has to decide is how honest is he going be? "Just thought he'd be at Chrissy's funeral and he wasn't."

"I wasn't either, but you didn't shove me."

"Should I shove you now to make up for it?"

Dustin glares at him before it morphs into a frown and he mutters, more to himself than Gareth, "the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed."

"What- are you quoting Lord of the Rings to me? That's-"

"What, no, I'm quoting it to myself. Were Steve and you friends once?"

This kid is way to observant. Truth it is. "Uh, yeah. But also, he's my cousin."

Dustin processes this, if the silence that follows is anything to go by. "Wait. Like your cousin but- on whose side?"

"If you're asking if Chrissy is -was- also his cousin, the answer's yes. My dad, Chrissy's dad, and Steve's mom are siblings," Gareth spells it out, and hears a gasp from ahead of them. Looking forward reveals the distance between their two little groups has vanished, as Lucas and Max are mere steps away and stopped. Eavesdropping, apparently. Max whips around to look at him with the first expression he's seen on her face since they met at Skull Rock. He's a little impressed that she can look pissed off and concerned at the same time.

"Are you telling the truth?" she demands.

"Why would I lie?" Gareth says. "Ask Steve after we rescue him if you don't believe me."

The kids exchange looks that he can't decipher. Max jams the headphones back onto her head and turns on her heel, marching onward. The three boys have no choice but to follow.

"You've been worried for Eddie and Steve, haven't you?" Lucas asks.

"Yeah," Gareth says truthfully. He's been on just this side of freaked the fuck out since yesterday, but learning his best friend and his cousin were in the alternate dimension has done nothing to calm that. He's going to strangle them both when he sees them again. For stressing him out this much.

Steve has never been happier to see Dustin than he is now, standing in the Upside Down version of the Munson trailer, looking down at him. Up at him? He doesn't want to think on that too much.

The kids haul Eddie's mattress from his room to below the gate and make a rope of sheets, and soon enough Eddie is volunteering to go first. Steve watches, almost afraid that this easy escape is almost too easy, but Eddie lands on his mattress, looking startled before a wide smile breaks across his face. Eddie should smile more. Happy is a good look on him.

Before Steve can really have to process that thought, Gareth is helping Eddie up and Robin is asking for Steve's assistance to go next.

He watches her land before turning to Nancy. "You're turn."

Nancy's got a look on her face Steve hasn't seen in a long time. It's mischievous, almost teasing. She hasn't looked at him like that since before Barb died. "Steve Harrington. Who would have thought?"

"What?" Steve asks, confused.

"Eddie says one nice thing to you and you can't take your eyes off him?" Nancy says, using the same fake tone of surprise and shock that Carol used to use when she was making fun of someone.

"I don't know what you're talking about but we gotta go. Come on," he gestures for her to step closer, but she just smiles, almost too wide.

"Don't think I didn't notice," Eddie shouts from above him. Steve whips his head back to look up. Eddie, Robin, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Gareth are standing in a circle around the sheet rope, all looking up at him. "You kept looking down at my lips, like you couldn't believe the words I was saying."

"Sure. Or another, less platonic reason," Robin wiggles her eyebrows at him.

"Is this really the time for any sort of conversation?" Steve asks, incredulously. "The heckling can wait until we're back on the right side."

"Was all the shit about trying to warn me to stay away from Eddie so you could stare without consequences? Didn't want a witness to your crime?" Gareth's voice comes out cruel. "Is that why it was so easy to toss me and Chrissy aside? You thought if we weren't close enough, we wouldn't see the cracks in your foundation?"

"Steve. Steve!" Nancy's shouting grabs everyone's attention, and Gareth scrambles to look up at what is happening. Nancy has her hands on Steve's shoulders, shaking him as he just stands there.

"What's-" Gareth starts to ask but Robin cuts him off.

"Music! Eddie, do you have Tears for Fears!?"

Eddie looks insulted at being asked but that quickly gives way to fear. He takes off to his room, Robin and the kids quick on his heel but Gareth stays. He doesn't understand why they need music. Not that he could take his eyes off Steve anyway. "Is Steve- What is happening?"

Nancy looks down (up?) at him, and says, "It's Vecna's curse. Music can reach part of your mind that other things can't. It helps pull you back, away from Vecna."

"Steve is- like what happened with Chrissy?" Gareth asks, unable to keep the rising fear and panic from his voice.

It looks like it pains Nancy to say, "Yes."

Steve isn't in the trailer anymore. Instead, he's watching as four gates spread and tear Hawkins apart, devouring the town building by building, slowly creepy towards him but he can't seem to bring himself to move.

"Just one more gate, Steve Harrington."

Steve blinks and he's not looking at the destruction of Hawkins anymore. In front of him is a monster.

"I could have picked you. Instead of Chrissy. Instead of Maxine. But I think I have a better use of you."

"I'm not doing shit for you," Steve spits with more bravado than he actually feels.

The monster, who can only be Vecna, just twists his lip up in a disgusting grin before Steve finds himself rapidly closing in until Vecna is inches from his face. "You will tell Eleven that I am coming for her. You will live to deliver this message. In return, I will let you choose."

"Choose what?"

"I will take one more life for my gates. It can be Maxine, or another."

"Me. Leave Max alone!" Steve screams in his face, fights against the force holding him hostage. He wants so bad to swing his fist into Vecna's stupid face.

"No. No. I took one cousin from you, and now you've only one family member left to might care that you exist at all, Steve. I took Chrissy, and now, perhaps, I'll take the other cousin, too. Gareth."

"If you even try-"

"Maxine or Gareth. Which means more to you? Who would you sacrifice to save the other? I think I know. Or, if you cannot choose, I can take both."

Everyone watches as Steve drops like a stone to his knees, hands shooting out to stop his decent further. It takes a second for that to sink in. That he's not dead.

Gareth almost cries over it. All his anger at Steve, the resentment, fades into nothing but relief. It feels so stupid to hold a grudge suddenly. What does he gain from being mad at Steve? For something he originally asked for? He told Steve, and Chrissy, to pretend to not know him. He can't be mad that Steve did that, even after graduating. Gareth never took back his request! How was Steve to know he didn't care about that anymore?

And now that Steve could have- that Vecna tried to- it just seems stupid.

There's more fussing and fretting but eventually Nancy and Steve drop onto the mattress and everyone crowds Steve.

Gareth waits just a few minutes before he bully he's was in. He takes Dustin by the back of his shirt, like Eddie does all the time, and drags him bodily backwards. Dustin fights for all of four seconds, until he turns to see who's moving him, then he lets himself be moved. All the kids take a step back, give him room.

Steve meets his eye and he looks so haunted. So hurt. Steve opens his mouth but Gareth beats him to speaking.

"I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry," he says, then launches himself at Steve. Steve catches him easily and hugs him back almost too tightly.

In a barely perceptible whisper, Steve says, "I'm sorry, too."

Later, much later, Steve sneaks out to get some fresh air. He doesn't go far from Max's home, just around the back into the dark, hidden from the street lamps.

He lets himself break down, for just a moment, where no one can see and keeps his sobs silent so no one will hear.

He's going to hate himself for the rest of his life. Because Vecna told him to choose, and God help him.

He had.

[nikolai-vincent]

Y'all I have a big list of Byler things and I need help to make sure that everything I've stated is actually true and not my mind making things up💀🤣🤭 so prepare for a long list and I'll cut it down so it doesn't take years if you wanna scroll by it lmao

Mike tried calling Will all the time while he was in Cali (& could be the reason for weird airport interaction) Mike can't use a telephone to talk to El bc of of government listening in, so Dustin's words are about Mike calling Will but not being able to reach him.

It wasn't love at first sight, the offical season 1 trailer with the scene where they first find El, Mike's first thought is "That's not Will." And also this is Mike's plan to get rid of her from the night they found her, even though he is supposedly already in love with her since he said he loved her the moment he saw her?🤨

His monologue didn't help/wasn't fully true, El didn't have a single flashback of her and Mike throughout their whole relationship except for when they found her in the woods. They've been dating for roughly 9 months before breaking up for 3, then getting together again and currently at 6 months (so 1 year and 3 months of officially dating, having known each other fully for 3 years, although not fully because she was gone for a whole year) and yet she didn't have a single other memory besides the night they saved her?

Mike and El didn't speak that much for 2 full days while they were stuck in the van?? Even after Mike's love confession, all El was apparently talking about was how she feels like she lost the battle with Vecna and how Brenner had put it into her head and stuff.

Mike has a sort of superhero idealization for El. He's mentioned multiple times that she's a superhero, she's a machine that can help find Will, and it's shown throughout the seasons how much Mike loves superheroes. In my opinion, that's not a super great thing to compare your girlfriend to, especially after she has shown to want to be more than that, but feels like that's all she's good for now.

They never see eye to eye/always disregard the others feelings/attempt to be understanding. All of their arguments I've seen, they both try to be understanding at first, but then they shut each other down and speak for the other person when they're doubting each others thoughts (one scene perfectly showing this is their fight in El's room in season 4).

Mike and El knew each other for roughly a week (at 12 years old) before getting together and then immediately getting separated for a whole year, only to become reunited and jumping immediately into a relationship at 13 and ignoring their friends to only kiss each other for 6 months and not deepen their bond emotionally?? Then they break up like it's nothing and Mike doesn't know what she likes when he tries to buy her a gift to apologize (only after Lucas says something) (then getting into a fight with Will for the first time and apologizing as soon as possible on his own choice).

Mike has issues saying I love you (tried saying it once in s3 and couldn't even say the word "love", instead going for "blank makes you crazy" which El didn't understand. Only time he says it was in a high stress situation and he blurted it out to everyone except her, with a look of shock and confusion. S4 he doesn't say it at all, writing "from, Mike" all the time, to which he is confronted by her and only is able to say "I care for you... so much." And "I say it." ("It" being I love you) (which is a lie) That fight in El's room would've been the perfect time for him to tell her he loves her after he sees her crying to him about it, he could have perfectly said something like, "El, of course I love you. I'm sorry I don't say it, I'm just not used to feeling this way, but thank you for talking to me about it, I'll try to work on it." Or something to comfort her. In the end he is only able to say it in a high stress situation (AGAIN) and only after having a whole speech from Will, and needing Will to tell him not to stop and to say whatever it was he couldn't before. (Which, Will didn't know that Mike couldn't say I love you to her) Mike was given false hope that El needed him and felt better for being different because of him, which was a lie and those feelings were from Will himself, his speech was a veiled love confession.

Mike subtly (or unintentionally) compared both of his relationships with Will and El by saying that meeting Will "was the best thing he's ever done" but meeting El was "Not fate. Not destiny. Just simple, dumb luck." (He chose to befriend Will, by actively going up to him and asking, whereas he didn't choose to meet El, it was an accident).

Mike struggles to switch his focus between El and Will, we've seen throughout all of the seasons how Mike acts with Will and how he acts with El, and I'll be honest, they're pretty similar. He's soft, sweet, and casual with Will, and he's nice, gentle, and kind with El (just in general, relationship stuff aside). But then you put them in the same room and Mike doesn't know how to act properly with either of them, and we honestly don't see the real interactions with these three until season 3. I've noticed a lot that when Mike and El are in a relationship, they ignored everyone and just made out, but after they broke up, the whole group was together and had no issues with doing so (I guess the flayed helped with that, though lol).

Will is the only person that Mike will immediately try to apologize to if he did something wrong, whereas anyone else he blames others and doesn't apologize until someone tells him to (examples: Dustin told Mike to apologize to Lucas in season 1 after they fought, Mike was blaming Lucas and didn't want to apologize even though Mike was the one that started the fight. He didn't apologize to El in season 3 for the way he was acting, instead choosing to lie and needing help from Lucas on what to get for El as an apology (again, Mike knows nothing about El by this point still), and yet later on after he has a fight with Will, he bikes to Will's house to apologize, he blames himself, calls himself an asshole (with Lucas following, not leading). Seasone 4, the second fight that Mike and Will have is in the skating rink, Mike calls Will a douche and says he sabotaged the whole day by moping, rolling his eyes, and not talking but later on he goes to Will and immediately starts apologizing and says he was being a self pitying idiot, and telling Will that he wasn't being a douche and Will didn't deserve to be called that).

Mike and Will are very different compared to their friendships with Dustin, Lucas, or Max. (With proof being from Mike himself, saying "Max and Dustin and Lucas.. they're-they're great.. they're great, it's just-it's Hawkins, it's not the same without you. And maybe I was worrying too much about El, and I feel like I lost you or something." (Something along those lines lol)

The Duffers have compared Mike and El's relationship to Elliot and E.T, a friendship between a kid and an alien.

El was upset with Mike during the cabin cleaning scene (giving him a side eye and sighing heavily before going to her room) after Mike's supposed love confession.

Mike agreed (by nodding) when Will was talking in the desert about how it's scary to open up to people you care about the most bc of them possibly not liking the truth (Will was comforting Mike about El during this, sort of) (Why would El not like the truth if the truth was that Mike loves her?? Sus).

Mike showed a big difference in priority when it came to searching for Will vs El. In season 1 after Will went missing, Mike (+ the party) was told by the police to stay home and not interfere in the investigation. Mike disobeys and goes out (+ the party) to search for Will in the dark and rain. After meeting El, they use her as a weapon to continue searching for Will. After finding Will's "body" in the quarry, Mike switches on El and is mean and blames her for not telling the truth about Will. El then shows Mike through the walkie-talkie that Will is alive and Mike believes her (even after seeing Will's body, he has hope again that Will could be alive), he's nice to El again after this. Vs, when El goes missing at the end of S1 and going into S2, Mike believes she's dead (although not seeing a body), and doesn't go searching for her. He sees her through the window on the same night she disappeared, but he never goes out to look for her. The only thing he does for the whole year is try to talk to her through a walkie-talkie, but he never leaves his house to try and find her (even though he's seen proof of her being alive) while she's gone, Mike's priority is fully focused on Will and his possession. In season 3, Hopper threatens Mike to stay away from El (similarly to what he said about staying home and not looking for Will in season 1) and he immediately agrees and doesn't try to see her.

Mike has a lot of familial/platonic parallels with El's father figures than he does romantic, he's always paralleled with Brenner (with proof in season 4, the "what did you do?" / "what have you done?" scene at the rink) which is so bad and sad, and some scenes similarly with her and Hopper.

Gotta say it, Mike has looked at Will's lips multiple times (at least 4, off the top of my head) (which is 4 times more than he has with any of his other friends probably) and he barely does it with El. If it was a mistake during filming, they would've shot it again, bc they were obvious but they stayed in.

And just with the way Mike looks at Will compared to his other friends or even El, that boy looks more in love than the one canonically in love.💀

In both season 1 and season 2 (besides their first kiss and the snowball (which weren't planned originally, I believe)) Mike has never been the one leaning in or attempting to kiss El, he just stands and stares confused as she does all the work.

Mike has Will's art all over his basement from when they were children (and some in his room, I think?) But he throws away and crumples all of the letters he receives from his long distance girlfriend? Sus.

The difference in Mike's reactions to being broken up with romantically vs platonically in season 3. His face shows a sort of disgust and almost guilty when El breaks up with him, and his face is full of guilt and sadness when Will tells him he wanted to stay with him forever.

Mike was fruity af during his apology to Will in S4 Ep4 just saying.

Canonically Mike only smiles in pictures when Will is in them as well. (Photos in tags bc I'm at the limit😔)

It's been confirmed that Mike is clueless about Will's feelings for him, so I'm wondering why he was so affected by the 6 months away with only a couple phone calls that lead to him not even wanting to hug Will at the airport (even though he saw how happy and excited Will was to see him again) when he hugged Will perfectly fine at the end of S3 (even though they never actually resolved their first fight in the rain?) Hm. Sus.

Mike has Smalltown Boy on his (OFFICIAL) spotify playlist?? A song about "the need for gay men to flee small-town intolerance and pursue reinvention in the big city. " ???

Just a cute thing about Mike and Will beings friends since the first day of kindergarten (when they were 5 years old) and having the longest friendship out of everyone in the party.

Kind of iffy about this one but the song Tarzan Boy was playing at the roller rink (a song about being free and doing what you want) when Will, Mike, and El were at the table. (Probably not a lot of significance but still a thing).

From an outsiders perspective, Mike and El were not happy when they were skating at the rink together, from Will's perspective, they were super happy and laughing together while Will was left behind. This is shown when Angela walks into the rink with her friends, we see Mike and El from her pov and their faces are very stoic while they hold hands.

That's all I have for now, I've had these written in my notes for like 2 years lmao but please, if you've even gotten this far, let me know if anything looks inaccurate and I'll fix it:) and also feel free to add anything you've noticed as well! I'd love to see it.

[mpregandproud]

Isaac II (Part 5)

Finding out Patrick and Isaac's secret shocked Lucas, Adam, my husband Isaac and me. It was one thing for Sandra to hack us grandparents, but she was of age. Patrick and Isaac were barely 17 and 15. They were at that age when they should be thinking more about playing, imagining a future in college, enjoying life… But life has put them in a tremendously complicated situation, that of being teenage parents.

Lucas and Adam left home furious. I know Lucas well and I know that it has crossed his mind to blame me for setting a bad example for our children. I'm sure he has thought that the fact that his son and mine are able to get pregnant because I was the carrier is behind this situation. I don't really blame him, I know I would think the same thing in his situation, I would try to look for a culprit so I wouldn't think about what could happen. The reality is that it is common for a man with the ability to get pregnant to pass this ability on to his children, as has happened with mine. But in the case of Isaac, Lucas' son, we don't share genes, so it has happened to him as it happened to me years before, a coincidence.

I was really worried. Both because Patrick was now sad and even more locked in his room, and because my friendship with Lucas had gone down the drain. A lifetime of being thick as thieves to finally be driven apart by this. I wouldn't want for anything in the world to lose Lucas and Adam, they are like brothers to me. And I wouldn't want to miss seeing young Daniel and Isaac either. They will be going to college soon, so I have few chances left to see them grow up.

Days after the revelation I was home alone. My Isaac and the kids went grocery shopping, he needs many hands to help him carry the bags for so much food to feed 10 energetic youngsters, an athletic adult who needs to be fed copiously, two pregnant youngsters, an adult carrying quadruplets in his belly and Cal, who is a constant presence around the house. As I was walking around the house the doorbell rang, and there was Lucas. “Hi Dan, how are you doing? I think we need to talk”, he said as soon as I opened the door.

I ushered him into the garden and sat him on a bench there. I offered him a soda, but he said he'd make it for both of us, that I should go to the bench and rest. Even when we were angry, Lucas has not changed at all, he is still a gentleman. All his life he has been really gallant and polite. Always willing to help everyone, and to make his life easier. Now that his hair is graying, he looks even more interesting. Five minutes after entering the house I saw him come out into the garden, where I was waiting for him on the bench, and come with a tray with two glasses of sugar free cola and some chips. He still remembers the cravings I had when I was pregnant with his kids and asked for potatoes all the time. This man is a sunshine. He sat down across from me and handed me the glass.

“How are you feeling? I've been worried after what happened three days ago”, I said. I wanted to break the ice myself to try to get a little closer, to loosen up.

“I feel like I've been run over by a truck, Dan, I'm not going to lie to you. Last Friday my life fell apart a little bit”, he told me with a worried look on his face. “I always imagined my perfect life, with a perfect husband and kids. But you can see that dreams are just that, dreams”, he looked resigned, exhausted.

“Isaac and I are the same way. We've talked about it a lot these days, and we don't know what to do, or what will happen”, I told him as I settled on the bench to look at him more squarely. “I also didn't expect Sandra to make us grandparents so soon, but she is of age, her life doesn't belong to me. I can only support her. But this…”, I acknowledged my concern.

“Dan, fuck, they're kids. That Isaac is 17 and Patrick just turned 15. They say a lot that they love each other madly, but they are a few months away from becoming parents. They can't even drink alcohol yet. Can't you see it's crazy?”, Lucas from three days ago was coming back.

“Of course I see it, and I'm just as worried. But there's no use blaming ourselves for this…”, I replied.

“Don't blame us? How easy it is to say that in your idyllic situation of non-stop pregnancies”, he reproached me.

“I think you're being very unfair, Lucas, and you're not measuring your words”, I tried to tell him calmly. “Do you really think Isaac and I are to blame for the kids getting into this situation?”, I asked him directly.

“Yes, I do. You've made being pregnant look idyllic, perfect, like something to aspire to in life”, he reproached me again. I was starting to feel uncomfortable, I guess the stress this conversation is causing me is getting to me.

“One of those pregnancies was the reason you and Adam were able to become parents, I hope you keep that in mind”. If he was going to hold things against me, I can too. It is grossly unfair that he would throw this in my face knowing all that I have done for Adam and Lucas, and altruistically. I settled back on the bench.

Lucas was silent longer than usual. “Shit, Dan, I'm sorry. I'm 100% aware of what you've done for us… But I'm a nervous wreck, I don't even know what to think, or how to react, or what to say… I'm a sea of doubts and insecurities”, he looked regretful. “But they are two children who have not yet begun to live, what will happen to them now?".

“Maybe you should talk about this with our friend Frank. He and Stephania were teen parents. I think he's the best one to help you through all this”, I said.

“I've already talked to Frank. He tells me he has no regrets about having Frances when he was just 16. The whole parenting thing wasn't easy for him, but he wouldn't trade it for anything. See if he wouldn't change it that he had four more years later, and each with a different woman”, he paused there. “I don't know if he's the best example of a father”, he said between guffaws. For the first time in days I saw him smile, and it was quite a relief.

“If they decide to keep the babies or not, it's their choice. We have to be with them, helping them through this process”, I said holding his hand to calm him.

“It's not just that, there's also the issue of them being two gay guys and pregnant. They'll be freaks to their partners. Isaac has already been through bouts of bullying for being a sensitive boy and having two fathers, and now this…”, he acknowledged to me.

“It won't be easy, I'm sure, but if they don't get the support at home either, it will be hell”, I acknowledged. ”It could have been our case if we had dared to make things happen between us at their same age. Today our lives would be very different”, the look Lucas gave me broke me a little inside.

“I've been thinking about it since we found the pregnancy test at home. Isaac and Patrick's story is what could have been between us, but we weren't brave enough. Look at us now, happily married with a wonderful family each”, he was finally grinning from ear to ear. “I'm sorry, Dan, I've been a jerk to you, and you didn't deserve it”, he said and got up to give me a hug.

I stood up and returned the gesture. “I love you so much, Lucas, these days have been hell being like this between you and me. Never again, we have to stick together for them. I'm sorry too.”

I invited him to join me inside the house and continue our conversation there, but I noticed that my hole was wet. I put a hand on my butt and my hand was full of blood. A terror came over me. “Lucas, you have to take me to the hospital, immediately! I'm bleeding, I think I've lost my babies!”, I screamed in desperation.

Lucas left everything as it was, helped me to his car and started driving quickly to the hospital. On the way he kept encouraging me and tried to reassure me in every way possible. As soon as we arrived they sat me in a wheelchair and took me to be examined. Lucas stayed outside. The last I heard from him was that he would tell Isaac immediately.

I was passed from one doctor to another, from one room to another. They did an ultrasound, blood tests, took my blood pressure... The nurse told me that they would take me to a room where my relatives were waiting for me, that I should be calm because my doctor would be there soon to tell me what was wrong.

An orderly took me up to my room, where Lucas and my husband Isaac were arguing. Shouting could be heard from across the hall. Isaac was berating Lucas for stressing me out and causing me to lose the quadruplets. Lucas could barely be heard, since we had left the house he had been feeling a tremendous sense of guilt.

“We're all here”, the orderly said as we came to the door of the room. Lucas and Isaac immediately turned and fell silent. Isaac ran out to where I was, hugged and kissed me like if I was coming back from the war. He burst into tears releasing all the tension he had built up. “My love, you look fine, how are you feeling, how are the babies? What happened? What did they tell you?” he overwhelmed me with so many questions.

“I think I can answer those questions”, said Dr. Caroline. She told the orderly to lay me down on the bed so I would be more comfortable. When I lay down and the orderly left the room she came to my side and began to tell us what was going on.

“Relax, guys, it was just a scare. Sometimes when a woman is pregnant -she stopped when she realized she had messed up- when a man is pregnant, sorry, the habit, you are still few, this happens. You've lost a little blood, but we haven't seen anything happen to the children, they're perfectly fine, big for a little over four months old”, she told us, and the three of us snorted from the tranquility at the same time. “What is not recommended, as I told you, is stress, so you should keep trying to be as calm as possible, okay?”, she said to me before leaving us in the room alone.

“I'm so sorry Dan, this was my fault, it won't happen again,” said Lucas who was still remorseful. “You bet. This could have ended very badly”, Isaac reproached Lucas. And they got back into a position to argue heatedly. “It's nobody's fault! I need the two of you to be okay with me and each other. You're two of the most important people in my life, and right now I need you both better than ever. We are going to be grandparents, family, let's just behave once and for all”, I reproached them, and they both fell silent.

They never argued again, at least not in front of me. Lucas went home an hour later to be with Adam and all of our children, who would be staying with them tonight. Isaac spent the night with me at the hospital to accompany me home the next day.

The next morning Lucas and Adam came to visit me with Sandra, Cal, Patrick and Isaac Jr. All four of them felt guilty about what had happened to me and wanted to apologize. “Dad, I'm so sorry, I've been horrible to you and I've only upset you”, Patrick told me crying. I know my son, and I know he must have been very concerned when he was told about my situation. Also, in his current state, the shock must have been enormous. Isaac on his side was holding my son's hand, but he was also broken. Sandra, for her part, apologized to me, but was more concerned about asking me how I was doing. You can tell the age difference, the maturity.

“Children, I'm fine, don't worry. It was just a false alarm. This happens sometimes, but your siblings are fine. Don't worry”, I said, trying to relax them a little. We got down to small talk right away to lighten the mood.

“Dad, I don't know if I should tell you this right now, it scares me because of your situation”, Patrick said to me, and looked at his boyfriend Isaac. “We've been talking about us...”, Isaac said looking at Patrick with a love-struck look that is impossible to fake.

“What have you two sweeties been talking about? Don't worry, you can tell me whatever you want, you know I'm going to be there whenever you need me. Your parents, the four of us, support you in whatever you decide”, I told them. Their faces lit up, as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

“We have decided to go ahead with the pregnancies. We know how hard it's going to be for us, but we want to take our responsibility and bring these babies into the world”, Patrick said. “We want to start working and save money to move in together when we can. I'll be 18 in a few months, and Patrick will be of age in two years. This sends our dream of going to college to hell, but I know that as long as we're together everything will be fine. We're going to try it”, added little Isaac.

The four of us parents gave them both a big hug. If there are any men in this town who can put themselves in their situation, it's us. None of us have been through a teenage pregnancy, but we do know what it's like to be gay in a small town, and how hard it is to feel different in your own home. Even though we have as many doubts as they do with their pregnancies, we are going to be with them on this journey.

Go to Part 6

[nhlclover]

tutor and tutoree sparks fly au

✭ — summary: sofia offers to tutor rutger

✭ — warnings: one instance of cursing

✭ — a/n: this is literally just rutger falling in love with sofia but he doesn't realize yet

✭ — word count: 1.20k

It didn’t take long for Rutger to spot her familiar blonde head of hair, pulled back into a messy braid and headphones on her ears. Rutger wasn’t late this time, ensuring he could sit next to Sofia and giving himself time to talk to her before the professor started the lecture.

“Hey.” Rutger says.

Sofia doesn’t reply, in fact doesn’t even turn her head. Rutger realizes her headphones are probably noise cancelling, so he waves a hand in front of her face.

Sofia jumps, pulling her headphones off. “Oh, hey.” Sofia says, pausing the song.

“Hey.” Rutger replies. “What’re you listening to?”

“Uh, Zach Bryan.” She replies, showing Rutger her phone screen, displaying the Elisabeth album cover. “You’re not late this time.”

Rutger lets out a dry laugh. “Yeah, made sure I knew where I was going this time.”

“Oh I’m not judging, I’ve gotten lost like 8 times already.” Sofia jokes.

There’s a lull in their conversation and Rutger just stares at the blonde girl in front of him. “So did you do the readings?” Sofia asks, a little intimidated by his glance

“Oh, uh… some of it.” Rutger says, fishing the book out of his bag. “I read the first 5 pages and then Luca asked me to play chel with him and… chel is a lot more fun than reading.”

Sofia laughs. Her laugh is like a melody in Rutger’s ears. He doesn’t quite know why her every little detail has him so entranced but he isn’t complaining.

“Listen, I know how hard it can be to balance being an athlete with being a student. How about we get together once a week and I can help you with some of the work?” Sofia offered.

A smile comes across Rutger’s lips. “Yeah! That’d be great.”

“Just uh…” Sofia starts. “Don’t let Luca or Adam find out.”

Rutger furrows his brows. “Why?”

Sofia conjures up a lie in her head quickly. “They probably won’t like me trying to become friends with their teammates. They can be a little territorial.”

Rutger seems to buy this explanation. “Oh so we’re not just tutor and tutoree, we’re friends.” He smiles, receiving an eye roll from Sofia. “I mean I’m sure they won’t care if you’re helping me out with English and we just happen to become friends.”

Sofia breathes in deeply, considering the situation. On one hand, there’s this incredibly cute boy, who is charming to no end, and something, somewhere within Sofia desperately wants to get to know him. But on the other hand, he’s her brother’s teammate. He’s the one person in the whole universe that Sofia has been explicitly told to not go near.

But to hell with Luca and Adam, they can’t control her.

“I’m sure they won’t.” Sofia says.

“Great!” Rutger smiles. “Listen, how about you come over to the sophomore house and go over the readings for this week? And, if he’s there, we can tell Luca so he doesn’t just find out randomly.”

This sends a rush of panic to Sofia’s core, but she finds herself nodding before she knows it.

By the time class is over, the two of them are packing up their stuff and Rutger is leading the way to his place.

“So you didn’t get into hockey, huh?” Rutger asked, trying to get to know Sofia a little more.

Sofia chuckles. If she had a dollar for every time she was asked this question, she’d be richer than Adam (even with his new contract). “Uh, no.” She says. “I tried to get into it, but playing just wasn’t for me.”

“Mhm.” Rutger nods. “So what is for you? What do you do for fun?”

“Uhm, read. A lot. My book collection’s a thing of beauty.” Sofia says. “I also like to bake.”

“What’s your favourite book of all time?” Rutger asks.

Sofia answers immediately, with no need to contemplate her answer in her head. “Little Women.”

“Like the movie?” Rutger asks.

Sofia laughs at this. "Um, yeah like the movie. Have you seen it?"

"Um, no. I just know it's a movie with Timothée Chalamet." Rutger sheepishly replies, making Sofia laugh.

"Well, It's this amazing book about these sisters living during the civil war and they have such intricate personalities, and it also delves into women and how they are people with their own thoughts and-"

Only then does Sofia look at Rutger, realizing she has been going on a rant about Little Women. He's staring at her, delicate eyes as she spoke about the book she's so passionate about.

"Sorry, I just went on a tangent." Sofia chuckles.

"No, It's cool how passionate you are about that book." Rutger smiles.

They turn down a walkway and up to a house. Rutger unlocks the front door, allowing Sofia to enter. “Luca? You here bud?” Rutger shouts out.

“Yeah, wassup?” Sofia hears her brother's voice from somewhere in the house.

“C’mon.” Rutger says to Sofia, walking down the hall. They enter the living room where she sees her brother slouched on the couch, a computer on his lap.

Luca pauses from typing and glances up at his roommate. He looks back at his screen before glancing back up. He thought his eyes were deceiving him but, sure enough, his baby sister was standing next to Rutger.

Sofia reads his confused, almost concerned, look on his face. “Hey Lu…” Sofia chuckles.

“What’re you doing here?” Luca asks. His eyes flick to Rutger, suspicion now lacing his eyes. Sofia recognizes where his brain is going so she jumps in before he can make any snap judgements.

“We’re in the same English class so I’m helping him make sure he doesn’t fall behind, especially while he’s away at road games.” Sofia explains.

Luca’s eyes soften and they go back to his computer. “That’s actually a good idea. She’s a fucking genius when it comes to reading.”

Sofia’s slightly taken aback by Luca’s immediate understanding, but Rutger doesn’t flinch. “Great. We’re gonna go over the readings.” He says. “Here, we can go to my room.”

Rutger walks out, not receiving any pushback from Luca. Sofia follows, wondering if Luca didn’t hear him or simply doesn’t care. They go upstairs and into his bedroom, Rutger closing the door slightly. “You can sit wherever.” He says.

Sofia sits on his desk chair, pulling her legs in, sitting cross-legged. She takes out her notebook and book, opening her page notes.

“You handwrite your notes?” Rutger asks, taking out his things.

“Um, yeah if it’s notes from a book or readings. If it’s class notes I use my laptop.” Sofia replies.

Rutger stands in front of her, looking down at her notes. “How do you read that chicken scratch?”

“What do you mean? I actually have really neat writing.” Sofia laughs.

There’s her laugh again.

Rutger joins her laughter, sitting down on his bed. “Okay so I’ll give a quick rundown of what happened in the first 20 pages, then we can talk about the discussion questions. Sound good?”

I get to hear you talk for the next 10 minutes? Sounds perfect.

“Sounds good.” Rutger nods.

“Okay, so the story opens with George and Lennie walking on a path.” Sofia begins.

[byleraddict14]

Hello, my fellow Stranger Things fans. I have unfortunately reread one of my own posts and sent my mind spiraling and needed to recap on this. I will state I am a huge Mike defender simply because there's a lot about his character that tends to get ignored. Now, to begin with his relationships with his fellow party members. First up is El

Now, I have seen over the years a lot of hate for Mike's relationship with El, and I don't just mean the romantic aspect but also the way they function as a couple. In seasons three and four, there was a lot of comparing Mike to Brenner and the controlling her and what she likes. Max told her to find what she likes, not what Hopper or Mike liked, but what I find interesting is Mike never actually forces his likes on her. He doesn't force her to play DnD or dress a certain way. Let's be honest her lack of clothing options are completely on Hopper. He is her guardian and didn't ask what she would want to wear. It was also never specified whose idea it was to lie about curfew it was just assumed El not spending much time with everyone else was on Mike. To be honest, El has a tendency to tear down the things Mike enjoys. El made fun of his singing, and he didn't sing again after that. He also began to believe DnD was childish after they started dating, but that's kinda on him. I have also not once seen El ask Mike what he likes or thinks. Even her letters are all about how she's adjusting and Will acting weird but not a single, How are you and what are you up to. Mike tends to get locked in a box and his wants, thoughts and feelings are ignored.

Next is Lucas, and while I love Lucas, he can be very self obsessed. When he got upset about El joining, he didn't ask Mike why he was keeping her around or what he was thinking he just assumed Mike liked her and wouldn't let it go. What's worse is that after all the trap he gave Mike for letting El join the party, he turned around and did the exact same thing with Max. Lucas completely ignored Mike's feelings or even asked why Mike was so against her joining. Remember, Mike was still dealing with losing El and possibly his mind because he kept seeing her around. What's sad is that Lucas and Dustin both disregard Mike grieving for El. They both behaved like he should just be over it by now without actually talking to him about it. Then, we move on to Lucas volunteering to fix Mike's relationship. Mike was fine with letting it go and moving on until Lucas made a big deal out of getting El back. Mike could have gone against him, but any argument Mike made Lucas just ignored, never actually asking his feelings on the breakup just assuming Mike wanted her back. Then comes Lucas obsession with being popular and taking Mike and Dustin with him despite them stating several times they had no desire to be popular. When the bullying started, Mike tried talking to him about it, but Lucas just brushed him, stating he wouldn't understand. This is one that really irritates me. When people assume just because their not in the exact same situation, someone is incapable of understanding. You don't have to go through an identical situation to know how some feels not to mention. Lucas may not know the extent of Mike's bullying or everything done to him. Therefore could not say Mike wouldn't understand.

Dustin tends to get a little tricker because while he can be observant, he can also be wildly off base. For example, Dustin said he met Mike, Will, and Lucas in the fourth grade, therefore making him not Mike's best friend because Mike knew Lucas longer. Now, what I find funny is Mike and Will met Lucas in the third grade one year prior to meeting Dustin therefore but Dustin's logic of time determines Mike's bestfriend Lucas also doesn't fit the bill. Will however does at having met him in kindergarten, but he is knocked to the bottom of the best friend ranking for some reason. Dustin also points out Mike likes El but doesn't comment on Mike literally knocking her off him when he stood up because he was impatient about getting to Will, for someone so observant he missed something pretty big there. Dustin's smart and comes up with many good ideas but still generally defers to Mike about the life and death stuff until the Russian incident. Dustin and Mike tend to stick together but do clash often in regard to ideas or competition. Dustin becomes even more confident in himself as time goes on while Mike becomes withdrawn, hiding as normal. However, when Dustin is in over his head, he tries to contact Mike first and foremost, probably for a second opinion. They hold a pretty solid relationship, but for the only one who seems to have adjusted well after everything he never considered Mike might not have. Even the incident with Dart. Mike warned him he was dangerous, but Dustin ignored him. Even after Dart ate Dustin's cat and ran off, Mike didn't berate him for hiding though Lucas did. Dustin can become very rapped up in his perception of Mike that he fails to actually see Mike for who he is.

Max is a whole other argument. Max specifically sought out Mike, not backing down when he was mean to her. She did leave Lucas, Dustin, and El alone when they rebuffed her or lied to her, but Mike, she didn't stop until she made him laugh. She also didn't blame Mike for anything over the summer with spending time with El and even defending him until El came to her and she was mad at Lucas. She took her anger with Lucas and boys out on Mike, too. Granted, Mike shouldn't have lied to El, but Max just assumed Mike was being rude or controlling from that point on. She got mad when Mike said boys only but didn't ask why and assumed Mike was trying to stop El from spying because he wanted to control her powers, and sadly, everyone else just accepted what she said. Everyone conveniently forgets Mike was front row for Will's spying turned spy. Mike knew it was dangerous and how it would end. He was the only one not surprised when the meat monster found them. I would have been surprised if Mike didn't argue back and yelled he loved her. He had already watched her die once and then saw the aftermath of spying. Honestly, it was a wonder he didn't have a full-blown meltdown when the monster came after them or even gave an I told you so. I will say their relationship seemed to have improved after all that. Mike doesn't push Max to open up, and she does talk to him, not sarcastic like she did Dustin. She also could have chosen to hide during the assembly but chose to stay close to Mike both in the auditorium and in class. When listing people to go to when Krissy 6 stated she couldn't find Lucas or get ahold of Nancy, so she went to Dustin when Mike was mentioned it wasn't so much last ditch effort and more he wasn't an option from the start. She even calls the Byers house and is also aware Mike calls constantly, not just Dustin. Meaning she spent enough time with Mike to know how much he called. Mike didn't even bother asking her to play DnD because he knew she wouldn't want to. Honestly, the only person she didn't actually talk to directly aside from the adults was Will and Mike. What I find funny is when she hands Lucas the letters, Mike's name is the first she says, and aside from finding someone to relay the story to, he is the first person she lists. Even mentioning Mike's basement, she didn't have to specify it was Mike's she could have said Nancy's or even the Wheelers, but she intentionally said Mike's name. I believe they are closer than we currently know, and some of their friendship will be revealed. Especially with one of her happy memories to fight Vecna, being he teaching Mike to skateboard.

Will is a mess in and of itself. Mike spends most of his time looking after him and keeping him close that having him several states away took a serious toll on him. Also, the fact that Mike was supposed to go to California for Thanksgiving and they were supposed to come down for Christmas, but that seemed to get canceled intrigues me. Mike and Will have been friends for almost a decade, and Mike can always tell when something is off with Will unless he's distracted. Will is also the only person he willingly apologizes, too, and means it. The way Will called him Michael when he was made really shook Mike up, leading to the rain argument, and Mike chasing after him. There are several things Mime shouldn't have said to Will, but I'm pretty sure was nothing but projecting his own inner fight. The way Mike gets mad Will didn't tell him El was being bullied was unfair but given their history was something Will normally would have told him about. The accusation that Mike didn't call Will hit Mike pretty deep and threw him on the defense, turning the question back on Will. Will didn't think there was another explanation decide to take the initiative to call Mike himself, leaving all communication on Mike. Even their fighting only started after they met El and Mike started dating her. Watching Mike and Will being a united front in California and the way back to Hawkins was refreshing. After talking some of their issues out, Mike didn't get distracted by El he solely focused on Will. making them judging everyone funnier. Sadly their nonconcern or freak out about having to bury a body showed some serious red flags and unresolved trauma, I mean, who flirts while burying a body in the desert. Mike's active choice to stay with Will and not run off the talk things out with El was also very telling.

Now, I'll save my view on Nancy and Jonathan later, but they both annoy me in different ways, especially Nancy. Now I get it she's a badass, but she has consistently failed as an older sister to Mike.

Mike's perspective and feelings are strongly missing so far. His trauma, bullying, and dealing with all the death he witnessed have not been addressed once as if it's intentionally being ignored. Also, the fact that he was out of town and contact is the one time they failed, is hilarious to me simply because Nancy and Dustin pride themselves on being able to figure things out and make a plan but it fails. Mike's plans are always the ones that stick and reveal far more crucial information. He is very observant and hits back hard every time, which I believe caused the mindflayer to be far more cautious of Mike.