#and nancy getting back with steve would go against the themes of the show

[throne-of-crows]

Just saw multiple tiktoks of people shipping stobin and stancy. I actually feel like I'm going crazy. Are people watching a different show? If I see one more person say that they wish Robin was straight because Steve and Robin would be a perfect couple I will scream.

[carolmunson]

let's go, don't wait (e.m. x f!reader)

inspired by this prompt by @edsforehead - it's not exactly the same but i did my best! summary: modern!eddie's been single since 2020 and aside from getting his dick wet after weekend shows at the hideout, he hasn't been going out of his way for love until his friends make him. cw: 18+ for adult themes. alcohol use, swearing, some sexual themes. some discussions of bad parents. eddie had some sad parts of his childhood. all around this is a fluff piece so nothing too bad. (11k) eddie is 32, reader is 30. so older!reader i guess, idk. i already started writing the part two which is almost entirely smut.

Jingle. Click. Creak. “Mmmm.” Eddie knows that groan anywhere, the deep primal urging of a one Gareth Emerson and the giggles of his girlfriend, Tatianna Edwards. They stumble into the apartment, lips attached, hands grabbing and fisting each other’s layers from the cold. 

“Hi guys,” he calls out, his tone was as bored and annoyed as he hoped it would be. His eyes don’t leave the TV, transfixed on the screen while he watches another YouTube compilation of the best guitar solos of all time. He disagrees with most of them, but it’s enough to drone on in the background while he scrolls through his Twitter feed. He’s never even posted. Not once. Not even a picture on his profile. 

“Hi Ed,” Tati chirps, clicking the side table lights on. He can smell her Chloe perfume when she comes to give him a hug hello. Her arms wrap around him from behind the couch, cheeks touching, a few of her butterfly twists falling forward over his shoulder. 

“Did you stay in tonight?” she asks, pressing a glossy smooch to his cheek. “Sure did,” he huffs, arms crossing over hers in a semblance of an embrace. Her gold bracelets are cool against his skin, her gold rings match his silver ones. He thought when Tati entered the picture that he and Gareth would’ve started to drift apart. Instead, Tati became Eddie’s new best friend – Gare really took ‘date the girl version of Eddie’ to heart. They were two peas in a pod. “You should’ve come out, there were a lot of single girls there – you’re a good dancer, you coulda snagged one,” she sounds like a mother trying to set him up. Eddie tilts his head up and looks at her from below, her deep skin shimmering with the glitter fallout from her eye makeup. She always looks pretty with ease, even with her makeup smudged – like she meant to do that. 

“Oh, I’m sure,” he smiles tightly, but the look falls to something soft when Tati lets go and her almond shaped manicured nails rake gently over his scalp through his conditioned curls.  “You can’t just keep picking up girls from shows, dude,” Gareth chides playfully, coming around the couch to sit next to him, “They’re starting to get waaaay too young for you at the bars.”

“Yeah, perv,” Tatianna teases, ruffling his hair before curling up on the recliner closer to the TV.

“Can we please not talk about this again,” Eddie sighs, sinking further into the cushions. He presses on his eyes with the heels of his hands, “You do this every time you guys come back from a date.”

“We gotta get you on Hinge, or something,” Gareth says.

“Tinder at the very least,” Tatianna follows.

“Okay, I’m going to bed,” Eddie grunts when he gets up, a little dizzy at the speed before he finds his footing, “Don’t be too loud tonight.”

“Just trying to help!” Tati calls out, “You deserve to be too loud at night, too!”

Eddie sucks his teeth before he turns the corner to the hallway, disappearing for the night while his friends fell more in love. 

It feels like they’re disassembling a bomb. Eddie sulks in a seat at the kitchen table while Robin, Steve, Nancy, and Gareth chatter behind him. Jeff and his wife sit across from him with just as much excitement as the group opposite them. Eddie frowns, bangs too long over his eyes, hands sweating onto the back of his banged up stickered phone case.

“I think you should put the picture of the guitar last, it doesn’t have your face in it. I’d swipe past you,” Robin points at the screen in front of him while he tries to make sense of his Hinge profile. 

“Well you’re a whole lesbian Rob, so you’d swipe past me anyway,” Eddie’s clipped words make the group laugh instead of making them back off. His shoulders sink immediately. This was mortifying.

“She’s right though,” Steve pipes up, “They’ll think you’re some weirdo who's obsessed with his guitar if you — well, actually then maybe it’s fine…” 

“Why don’t you—” Jeff starts.

“You’re married and you’ve been with Alycia since 2014. Your opinions are void,” Eddie interrupts with a sigh. 

Jeff lets out a laugh from his broad smile, “Look, I’m just saying. Why don’t you focus on your answers to the questions rather than the pictures? Girls love stuff like that. You’re smart, you’re a good writer.” 

“Babe, they’re not gonna care about his answers if the first picture they see is of an out of focus guitar taken on an iPhone 4S,” Alycia cocks her head at Jeff, “Like, at least be honest with him.” 

“I know you’re squinting in that picture from Jeff’s wedding but maybe you can put that one first,” Nancy points to the screen and then scrolls down a little. It lands on a photo of Jeff and Eddie, both sweating from the night's activities. His dress shirt is unbuttoned half way down his chest, silver chains and tattoos on full display, tie tied around Jeff’s forehead like a makeshift Rambo. 

“Yeah, you look really good in it,” Robin agrees. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Tati shuffles into the kitchen, “I got in touch with the photographer from the show two weeks ago at Wraith Bar and he’s sending me some pictures.” 

“You can use the six pictures you’re tagged in from the last three years,” Tatianna scolds, “You look like a bum in them.” 

The group frowns and tosses glances at each other, it’s true. The more recent pictures they had of Eddie were far and few between. He was either blinking or off to the side, blurry or ducking out of frame. Every picture where he looks like himself was either from a show or had Chrissy in it, and he deleted all of those three years ago.

“Stop, you look so fine in these,” Tatianna squeals, “The girls are gonna love you.” Everyone but Eddie huddles around Tatianna to scroll through the pictures. Some of him mid shred with sweat pouring down his chest. Some of him screaming into the mic, hair wild and wet around his face. There was one, that he begrudgingly really liked, where his head leaned back into the light with a winning Munson smile. It was when he heard the opening drums to cover ‘The Immigrant Song’ as a gag – but not really a gag ‘cause he loves that song. It gets everyone at the bar pretty excited – even if they only know the song from School of Rock. 

Eventually, Eddie isn’t even holding his phone, it’s being passed between Tati, Steve, and Robin while he dictates his answers to stupid questions. By the time his profile is finished, his head is hidden in his mass of curls, resting his forehead on his forearms at the table. 

“Are we done now?” he asks into the space between his face and the woodgrain. Despite the winter air flowing through the kitchen window, he’s overheated with embarrassment. There are suddenly too many people around, too much talking, too much giggling at his expense. He tilts his head back up and takes a full breath through his nose and out through his mouth – “Oh shit! You matched with someone!” “How? I didn’t even look at anyone yet,” Eddie’s brows furrow while his head slowly comes to center. “Don’t worry about it, dingus,” Robin chides, “Just talk to her.” Eddie takes the phone and looks at her profile. Rachel, 27, Vet tech. She’s pretty, soft eyes, great smile. He swallows thickly before he goes to his ‘Matches’ and types three letters that felt like they took ten years to write: Hey.

The chats start fast and die faster, some flirty banter here and there before he’s too nervous or quickly bored. His heart squeezes every time he gets a notification, a buzz in his pocket, a reminder of a message. Some girls don’t want a relationship and that’s fine, that’s just not what he’s looking for. Some girls ask the big questions first and he can’t answer right away. Some girls just aren’t his type and he isn’t theirs either. 

The first date he goes on ends with her excusing herself to the bathroom before they even get to order dinner. She doesn’t come back — he’s not even sure what he did. It started off fine, she was pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes. Fun and easy conversation, a voice that sounded like powder puffs and sugar scented perfume. If he blurred his vision a little, she could’ve been Chris. But she wasn’t Chris. 

Maybe that’s why she left. Maybe she got the vibe that he was preoccupied with her looking like his ex. 

Maybe it was because he said, ‘You remind me so much of my ex-wife,’ before they got to order dinner. 

His second date wasn’t much better. He was proud of himself for not going for another Chrissy look alike, but it was clear that this new girl was on a hunt for a husband. 

“So are you planning on getting the tattoos removed?” she had asked, pursing her red lips. He was surprised at how well her lipstick stayed on after eating a pasta dish. Whenever he wears makeup for a show, it smudges before the lights come up. 

“Uh, no why?” he asked.

“Just y’know, thinking ahead — family photos and whatever,” she shrugged. His mouth had never run so dry in his life. The chicken alfredo turned in his stomach. 

The third ended up being a quickie in the bar bathroom only for her to leave right after and unmatch him without as much as a ‘Thanks for a good night!’ He at least wanted to be a gentleman about it. 

The fourth fizzled out and neither of them felt the connection. 

The fifth felt weird because they had talked so much on the app that they didn’t have anything left to talk about when they went out for drinks. 

A month had gone by and all he had to show for it was five bad dates and dozens of unanswered chats. Eddie was found sitting in his bed in the dark, only the light on his phone keeping him illuminated while he thumbs through Instagram. Another app that he has for no reason, he never posts, he never shares anything. He just scrolls.

He wonders if Chrissy’s on Hinge. Eddie’s stomach lurches at the thought of coming across her profile. All blonde and blue eyes, all sweet and spunky, all the right answers to her curated questions. Photos of her in the Maldives, in her friend’s weddings, of her in Chicago after she moved. His heart hammers, sweat collects on his bare chest, heating up the chain lying flat against it until it sticks. He quickly swipes out of Instagram to his home screen, a photo of Robin and Steve flipping him off from the stage after a Corroded Show during load out. He holds his thumb on the app until all the apps shake, thumb hovering over the ‘x’ on the corner to delete the Hinge for good. 

What’s another three years of being single? 

“Ed?” he hears Tati on the other side of the door, her soft knock following her voice, “I got Indian and I’m not gonna eat it all. Gare doesn’t want it, you want it?” 

“Yeah, sure,” he hums. She opens the door and sighs at the darkness. He squints as the light pools in from the hallway and sees her lean her shoulder against the door frame.

“Are you in here sulking?” she asks, one brow raising.

“Yeah, Tat, I’m in here sulking,” he groans, laying flat on his mattress, “I like to sulk. Let me sulk.” 

“Don’t sulk,” she puts on a pout and flicks his light on, leaving the containers of rice and chicken saag. He groans when the light stings his eyes, tossing a forearm over his face. 

“What’s wrong?” she asks, her voice falling into kindergarten teacher territory. She never realized her profession would come so handy living with two grown men, “Why’re you being such a baby in here?” 

“I think I’m gonna delete the app,” he murmurs, still hiding under the protection of his tattooed arm. The pressure feels good on his face, releasing the tension starting to brew behind his eyes. He hadn’t eaten since his lunch period at work, the hunger was starting to catch up to him. 

“Don’t delete it,” she shakes her head, crawling onto the end of his bed. She takes her twists out of her jumbo claw clip and readjusts to pull them all back away from her face. Tati eases his phone out of his hand and slides her glasses on, flinging his dead arm off his face to use his Face ID. He whines, face scrunching is disapproval.

“I told you to stop doing that,” Eddie complains, sitting up against his pillows before crawling out of bed to get the food waiting on his dresser, “Do you have any naan or…?” 

“Do I look like a food bank, Munson? Damn,” she tilts her head and he raises his brows in a silent ‘Well, do you?’

She sighs deeply, “Yes, I have extra naan but you can only have it if you don’t delete the app and eat with us in the living room.” 

“Those are two totally different asks, Tati,” Eddie huffs. 

“I don’t make the rules,” she shrugs before starting to laugh, “Actually, I totally do.” 

The phone buzzes in her hand and Tatianna’s grin only widens when she sees the notification, “You have a new like.” 

“Whatever,” he shrugs, face laced with disappointment and frustration, “It’s gonna be another dud. Why bother if there’s no point? Like, this can’t actually be how people meet each other —“ 

Tatianna opens her mouth to protest but Eddie interrupts his own thought before she can speak, “You and Gareth are the anomaly.” 

“What if the sixth time’s a charm? She looks really cute,” She smiles, teeth bright against her smile, cheekbones glistening where her moisturized skin hits the light. 

He rolls his neck and sighs while Tatianna continues to encourage him, “Just try. You owe yourself that. Chrissy wouldn’t—.”

“Fuck Chrissy, Tat,” Eddie’s voice raises slightly, suddenly defensive. His chest burns at the sound of her name, heat rising up through his neck to his face,  “I don’t really give a fuck what Chrissy would and wouldn’t want. ‘Cause if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have to be on these stupid fucking apps.” 

“Whew, tell me how you really feel Ed,” she says while she stands up off the bed to walk towards him.

“Look, I get you’re still mad about how things went down with Chris. I know you’re still hurting, but you’re denying yourself a chance to start over — just shoot this girl a message. She seems cool,” Tati speaks so gently to him that he soothes instantly. She offers his phone, still open on the new profile — he’s hesitant at first but he takes it from her to look at the screen. 

There you are. You are cute. Your profile is simple: your name, age thirty, your opening tagline ‘idk i’m just out here i guess’. He lets a puff of air out of his nose at the sentiment — ‘Same,’ he thinks. 

“Fine,” he says finally, “I’ll look through her stuff and I’ll message her. Are you happy?” 

“Thrilled,” she smiles, “So thrilled that I’ll even let you have the extra samosa.” 

He follows her out of the room with his phone and food in hand, looking at her fondly when she passes him a tinfoil covered piece of naan in the kitchen, “You’re my best fucking friend, dude.” 

“I thought I was your best friend?” Gareth pouts from the kitchen table, D&D notes littered in front of him. 

Eddie scrunches his nose, tilting his head while he considers, “You’re alright I guess.” 

When the food is done and he’s gotten a proper look at your profile he decides to bite the bullet — fingers shaking while he matches back with you. He doesn’t start with ‘hey’ this time because Robin and Steve said that was boring, so he tries something new: 

wild that you’re just ‘out here’, me too. 

…

…

…

lol, twin behavior. how’s your night?

Eddie’s heart hammers at the response. He’s surprised at the reaction, he hadn’t had that with any of his other chats, normally expecting them to die off after the first ‘Hey, how are you?’ pleasantry. But maybe this could be different, maybe this could be fun. 

scored some indian food from one of my roommates so it’s one of my better nights. 

ooh, i’m so jealous. i have buyers remorse from some baked ziti i ordered. should’ve just made it.

what did you get?

chicken saag, still jealous?

i’m more of a saag paneer girl but consider me over here seething.

Eddie grins into the phone, cheeks hot while he thinks about what to say back. He skims over your profile again, eyes stilling at a photo of you laughing on what looks like a cruise deck. The sun hits you like a golden streak across your eyes. The caption reads ‘the last time i felt a single shred of genuine happiness’, he huffs an airy giggle before going back to the chat. 

you’re funny, did you know that?

um ya, i’m the funniest person i know, actually. 🥰

that's crazy cause i’m the funniest person i know. and since now i know you, it’s looking like we gotta battle for who the funniest is.

Jesus fucking Christ Munson, why can’t you just be normal? Why can you just say ‘lol’ and call it a night? He frets. His leg bounces while he waits for your reply, food rolling in his stomach. The cool metal of his rings is welcomed on his warm cheeks while he leans against his hand on the arm of the couch. The few minutes he waits for the buzz of his phone feel like eternities. But there you are to save him from his embarrassment:

lmao okay. where did you wanna battle?

there’s a bar in the city that i think could host. you around tomornight?

tommorow night* sorry, fuck, i was trying so hard to be smooth with it.

TOMORROW***** FUCK. LET ME LOG OFF FOR ETERNITY REAL QUICK.

yiiiiikes! embarrassing. but this proves you actually might be funnier than me. i’m not a sore loser so i’ll go on a date with you if that’s what you’re asking.

do you drink? it doesn’t have to be a bar.

i do! where did you have in mind?

there’s a spot called little spoon saloon in the city if you’re familiar. sorta cozy.

oh yeah sounds great for a battle 🙄

but yeah i know it, that’s not too far from my place. maybe we’ve seen each other before and never known it. two ships passing in the night~*

does seven work for you? i know it’s a monday, so we can do earlier if you gotta be up early or something.

sevens fine :)

okay :)

:)

:)

see ya tomorrow! Eddie bites his lower lip, breathing steadily through his nose while he sends over his number. Anything to get out of looking at the app for at least another day, anything to spare him from potentially running into Chrissy’s profile despite her being in a different state. It was getting close to the holidays, she could be around at any moment. 

Before he can spiral, his phone buzzes again – this time a text from an unknown number. His grin widens, too caught up in the excitement bubbling in his chest to feel Tatianna’s stare from the recliner. hi, it's me. jsyk if you don't reach out by like, two tomorrow -- i'm considering it a cancellation and i do have a 50% cancellation fee. sorry! 

50%? stop selling yourself so short, kid. but don’t worry, i won’t cancel. no? you’re not scared to battle? i’m never scared of a battle. :) (A lie.) see you tomorrow. 

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Tatianna smiles, cheeks tight from being unable to hide her excitement. “Are you talking to a girrrrrl?” Gareth teases. Eddie let’s out a ‘tssss’ while he stands up and stretches, quirking a brow at his best friend. “Is it a girl? You takin’ her out?” he asks again. “Yeah G, it’s your mom,” he shrugs, “Night y’all.” “Ed,” Tati whines, “Come on.” Pink floats across his cheeks, itching his nose to hide his goofy smile behind his hand. “Yeah, it’s a girl. And yeah, I’m taking her on a date tomorrow,” he groans. Tatianna squeals, shimmying with giddiness while the recliner rocks with her. Eddie’s too caught up in hiding his face, “Ugh, she’s cuuuute, Tati, what am I supposed to do?” 

“Show her what she’s been missing,” Tati shrugs, “Everyone needs an Eddie.” 

Last night, Eddie fell asleep caught in a memory that became a dream. He’s eight years old at the YMCA, Wayne sitting in the stands watching him – this is maybe two weeks after his dad dropped him off before he got sent to prison. Wayne wanted to make sure his schedule stayed the same as it could, so Saturday swim lessons it was – today was diving off the block. Eddie had been dreading this lesson for a month, knowing that level 2.5 meant you had to at least try. In level two, they had you stand on the block just to get used to it. He could barely breathe for the ten seconds it was up there, tears stinging his eyes while his teacher encouraged him to come closer to the edge. Three of his classmates had already asked if they were allowed to jump off. It looked fun but it was just so high up. What if it hurts? What if he landed the wrong way? He was up soon, standing behind the block with the rest of the kids, shivering from being out of the water. He could dive off the edge of the pool just fine – in fact, his teacher said he was a great diver, especially for an eight year old. So it should be no problem to dive off the block, he just had to do the same thing he always does. Just higher. 

Gareth, before Gareth was his best friend, climbs up the block and puts his feet at the edge of the white plastic and metal. His teacher, Miss Tiffany, tells him to put his arms up and bend his knees and to dive at the whistle. The whistle blows and Gareth leaps – but he doesn’t dive smoothly into the water. 

“BELLY FLOP!” Jason Carver yells from the edge of the pool where all the kids who already dove sat. They start teasing him relentlessly, Miss Tiffany helping him out of the water to inspect his red belly. Tears well up in Gareth’s eyes, his mom leaning over the bannister from the seating area. “Are you okay, baby?” she asks. Gareth burns red with embarrassment, only encouraging the cackling kids to get crueler. 

Miss Tiffany puffs her whistle three times, “If you tease again, you’re not allowed to go to free swim. Do you understand me?” 

The group quiets, slowly kicking their feet in the water. “Alright Eddie, you’re up next!” 

He gulps, climbing up on the block slowly before standing to full height with his eyes closed. He takes a deep breath through his nose and out through his mouth, like his Uncle Wayne taught him to do when he was feeling nervous. When Eddie’s eyes opened, a chill ran through his chest – for some reason the block seemed higher than ever. 

“Ready Freddie?” Miss Tiffany asked, treading water in her red bathing suit. She grinned up at him, knowing that the phrase always made him giggle – but not today. 

“Arms up, knees bent,” she continues. Ed looks down at the water and the room spins, he can hear Jason and the class giggling. Hear the splashes from the kicks of their feet. 

The whistle blows. He doesn’t move. The whistle blows, again. He puts his arms down. “You okay, Eddie? You can do it! You’re a great diver!” she cheers. 

Eddie chews on his lower lip, thinking about the smack of the water when it hit Gareth’s stomach. The laughter. The teasing. The potential of the pain. The whistle blows again. Eddie climbs down off the block, sniffling when he makes it back to the pool deck, “I don’t want to Miss Tiffany.”  

“C’mon Ed, I know you can do it! Do you want me to save you for last?” she asks, her smile still bright and encouraging. Eddie sniffles again, eyes burning with tears while Jason and his friends start to tease him, too. “Swimming sucks,” he bites, stomping towards the boys room, grabbing his ratty towel off one of the benches on the way in. He’s only in the locker room for a few minutes before he hears the door open and Wayne’s apologetic voice talking to Miss Tiffany from the deck floor.

“He’s just goin’ through a lot right now,” Wayne says, his gruff voice rattling off the metal of the room. 

“Eddie?” Tiffany’s voice calls. 

“Come out here, son,” Wayne calls, “Y’know, if your decent.”  

Eddie sniffles back his tears again, shuffling over to the door while Miss Tiffany waits with his Uncle.

“Do you maybe wanna stay a little late today and we can practice diving off the block when class is over?” she offers, “I know it can be scary to do it in front of your classmates, but I want you to pass to level three!” 

“No thanks Miss Tiffany,” he mumbles to the tiles on the floor. 

“That’s okay Eddie, maybe we can try again next week. How’s that sound? I know you can do it,” she says softly. 

“Okay,” he murmurs before turning on his heel and moping back into the locker room. Wayne was waiting by the check in desk when Eddie emerged after changing, his ratty towel slung off his shoulder. 

“You okay?” Wayne asked.

“Yeah, can we just go home?” 

“Sure kid, was gonna stop and get us some lunch if you wanted,” Wayne’s eyes crinkle with his smile, “Wanna go to McDonalds?” 

Eddie returns the smile half heartedly, “Yeah.”

They walk to Wayne’s pick-up hand in hand, despite some parents thinking he’s ‘too old’ to be doing that. He needed the support, and his uncle was never one to make him feel like he didn’t have it. 

“So d’you wanna try again next week? Your starting form was great, buddy,” Wayne asks while Eddie puts his seatbelt on. Eddie considers it. Getting to the edge of the block and making Jason Carver eat his own words. Making him look like a loser for a change. 

But the words ring in his ear ‘BELLY FLOP!’ The relentless teasing if he didn’t do it this week and then messed up next week. He’d be a baby and a joke. 

“I don’t wanna do swimming anymore, Uncle Wayne,” he huffs.

“You sure?” his uncle frowns, putting the car into gear, “You’re really good, Ed. Y’could be on the swim team.” 

“I don’t wanna come back. I quit,” he repeats. He crosses his arms while they pull out of the parking lot, watching the rest of the kids pool out of the doors with smiles on.

Eddie wakes up to his alarm blaring, back in his 32 year old body. He swears that the air of his bedroom smells like chlorine.

Eddie made sure to text you at 1:59 PM like an asshole. 

still on for tonight? :)

so close to having to pay my cancellation fee. 

but yes, still on for tonight :) 

sorry, work’s been wild today. would’ve texted you sooner!

you’re off the hook…

for now. 😡

He likes your little attitude, he decides. That little hint of sass in your messages keeps him on his toes and it’s not lost on him that this is probably how you flirt. He wonders, selfishly, how easy you are to fluster. You both exchange a few back and forths before he’s finishing up work for the day and heading to Wheeler’s for a campaign chat. 

The texts completely drop off while he gets ready to see you. He takes an extra long time in the shower, using the tiniest squeeze of Tati’s curl cream when he comes out because it makes his hair look good. He scrubs his face raw before shaving, following up with the skin care routine he kept up with, even though Chrissy curated it for him. 

Once dressed, he stepped quietly out to the living room to grab his jacket in the closet and pull out his boots. 

“You used my curl cream, I see,” Tatianna crosses her arms. He blushes. 

“Don’t be mad, I just wanna look good,” he puts on a faux pout, eyes rounding while he slides the leather over arms.

“You look really good,” she smiles, “It’s gonna be great.” 

Eddie shoves his socked feet in his Docs, worn in from years of wear, and looks up at her, “I’m kind of excited.” 

“You should be! I don’t know, I just have a really good feeling about this one,” she smirks, “Text me at some point, let me know how it goes.” 

“It’s a better indicator if he doesn’t text you, Tati,” Gareth says, coming up behind her, “You look sharp, dude.” 

“Sharp?” Eddie rolls his eyes, “What’re you? Eighty?” 

Tatianna clicks on her phone to look at the time, “Can you get the fuck outta here? You’re gonna be late!” 

“I’m going, I’m going!” he laughs, arms up while he grabs his keys from the hook by the door, “Wish me luck, bye!” 

Eddie felt sick. Suddenly feeling like he was standing at the edge of the pool in ‘98.

When he got his keys in the ignition of his Honda Civic, a text came through immediately. He swallowed tightly, in some way expecting it to be you. In some way, expecting you to be canceling on him. 

Instead, it was Tatianna in the big group chat: 

here, we made a playlist for you

Eddie clicks on the Spotify link and laughs. First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182

First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182 First Date - Blink 182

And so on. The music automatically connects, the opening guitar ripping through his speakers. Eddie quickly types up a response on his phone before pulling out into the street. 

very creative, edwards.

someone in this house has to be. ‘In the car, I just can't wait, to pick you up on our very first date. Is it cool if I hold your hand? Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?’ He rolls his eyes as Mark and Tom serenade him in the car, laughing at the lyrics. It’d been a while since he’d listened to this album, let alone this song. While he won’t admit it to Gareth or his girlfriend, it was exactly what he needed before he got to the bar. 

‘Do you like my stupid hair? Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear? I'm just scared of what you think, you make me nervous so I really can't eat.’ “Let’s go, don’t wait, this night’s almost over,” he sings along, fingers tapping on his steering wheel while he waits at a red light. He’s on the fourth replay of the song by the time he pulls up. The ignition cuts off the lyrics before the chorus, he takes a big breath before opening the door. Just a couple minutes past seven, but he told you he was running a little late, so you wouldn’t be mad. His phone buzzes to Robin, Steve, and Jeff reacting to the playlist Tati sent. Alicia, Jeff, and Nancy sent him sweet good luck messages. Robin and Steve sent them a picture from a bar they were at, flipping him off. ‘Break a leg, dingus,’ came in her follow up voice memo. Eddie considers making this new picture his phone background. 

He swallows hard when he gets to the door, his bottom lip getting pulled between his teeth in apprehension. He nods to himself, “You got this, Munson.”  Another deep breath, he’s still ten, he’s still afraid to dive off the diving block. What if it hurts? What if he belly flops? 

‘What if you don’t? What if you dive this time?’ He thinks to himself. He opens the door to the bar, his ten year old self puts one foot on the diving block. The chatter of a few conversations at once is disorienting, so is the low light of the bar in comparison to the neon outside. The man at the entrance asks for his ID and he awkwardly fumbles for his wallet as if it’s not obvious he’s been old enough to drink for eleven years. “Here, man,” he says, somehow nervous he’ll get caught with a fake like he’s nineteen again. The security’s light flashes over his birthdate and he passes it back with a short and gruff thank you. Eddie takes a few steps before checking his phone to remind him what you said you’d be wearing.

in a red cut off sweatshirt, jeans that look like dickies – hard to miss! white airforces! i’m here, looking for you if you can’t spot me just approach the most off putting girl at the bar, it’s probably me :) 

He smiles into the light of his phone. You’re are funny. His phone lights up again, another text bubble added to your previous one. Eddie’s heart hammers in his chest when he looks at it, knowing you’re really only moments away. got you a guinness cause that’s what you said you liked on your profile. it looks like battery acid tbh. there’s a couple seats by the end of the bar, i’ll grab them. He looks up from his phone finally to see a blur of red start maneuvering over to the end of the bar. That’s you. Oh shit, that’s you. Oh shit, you’re – fuck. You have a fat fucking ass in those jeans. He swallows again, shaking the horny thoughts out of his head through the tendrils of his hair. Another deep breath through the nose, out of the water to the diving block just to dive again. He walks the length of the bar and hears his name, your voice in real life – not through a voice note or on your profile. “Ed?” 

Eddie catches your eye and his heart sinks and leaps so quickly he thinks he’s going into cardiac arrest. You’re real pretty, even more so when you grin at him from a few feet away. You wave him over and he does his best to walk confidently towards you, taking his jacket off while he does. He doesn’t know it, but the other girls at the bar are looking. He’s all broad shoulders and dark tattoos, two silver chains and understated rings. Full lips and doe eyes. Tatianna never told a lie, he was unmistakably handsome – he just didn’t know what to do with it. You toss your hair when you speak to the bartender from the end of the bar with a bright smile. The man puts two drinks in front of you and you leave cash in their wake. Eddie winces when he sees you pay, but tries to ignore the sting. In a way, it feels like he’s already losing – like he’s playing Sims with Robin and he’s not on track to get a gold reward on date night. You’re hot and you know it, but he can tell it’s like you just found out. Your eyes are flirty no matter what you’re looking at, you’re full bodied and it’s like you know it’s making him salivate. Eddie can’t help but be nervous when he takes a seat next to you, fingers immediately drumming on the bar top in front of him. “Guinness for you,” you say, sliding the pint glass in front of him. “Thanks,” he smiles, “You didn’t have to do that. I asked you out, you’re not supposed to be paying for me.” 

“I know, but – why don’t you get the next one and we’ll call it even?” you offer. He nods while he takes a sip, eyeing the lighter orangey liquid in your glass. “Did you get a cider?” he teases. 

“It’s a grapefruit beer, thank you,” your brows furrow at him while you take a sip. You have a good face, part of him wants to say that but it seems like a weird compliment. ‘Nice face.’ Like, what does that even mean? His tongue feels heavy, he can feel the sweat building under his curly bangs. “Weaksauce,” he laughs, scrunching his nose, “Grapefruit beer? Not for me, toots.” 

“Yeah, because you drink battery acid!” you tease back, “You’re a stout snob, huh?”

“Nah, just never heard of grapefruit beer. I always drink Guinness – or like, Miller light. Never really stray,” he shrugs. 

“You wanna try mine?” you ask, sliding the glass to him. 

“You sure?” he watches you nod and brings the beer to his lips. It’s tart, a little bubbly, hitting his tongue on the off beat from the stout before. It settles and then it’s sweet, he wonders if you’re the same. Eddie smacks his lips, “I don’t hate it.” 

“That’s such a stout snob thing for you to say,” you pull a face, bringing your drink back to sit in front of you. “I’d offer you a sip of mine but I know you don’t like it,” he smiles, “Wouldn’t want to ruin the taste of your dessert beer.” “Fuck off,” you shake your head and smile, taking another sip of your drink. The Guinness in his hand makes him feel less nervous, but not all the way – toeing the line of the end of the diving block but not scared to look down into the water. He can tell you’re nervous too by the way you pick at a hangnail on your thumb absentmindedly, the way you cross and uncross your legs. Eddie’s eyes linger for a moment at the way they spill over each other, squishing flat on the seat of the stool when you keep them uncrossed. He tries to discreetly follow the line of your thighs to your hips, up to your waist before getting ahead of himself and pulling his eyes away. 

“How was your day?” you ask. Not the question he was expecting. “My day?” he asks, brows raised while he tries to recollect anything before getting ready to see you. “Uh, my day was good. Yours?” You fucking dumbass, you couldn’t just spare one detail? She’s gonna think you’re an asshole. “It was fine,” you answer quietly. Your smile fades a little and he feels a panicked chill rush in his chest. “S-sorry, I should’ve elaborated. I sound like such a dick, sorry,” Eddie feels the heat creeping up on his cheeks, a clamminess starting up at his hairline, “I um, I went to work. Came home, went to a friend’s house for a minute and we talked about a campaign we’re putting together next weekend. I had some dinner, and then I started getting ready to see you and um – uh, now I’m here.” “Campaign? Are you a politician or somethin’?” you quirk a brow while you look him over. He feels insecure under your gaze, he hopes you like his tattoos.  

“No, no, it’s for Dungeons and Dragons.” Saying it outloud makes him feel like a loser, even though you don’t react like you think so. 

“Cool,” you smile. 

“Do you like, even know what that is?” Defensive already, waiting for you to make fun of him. Waiting for this to end up another mistake. Waiting to belly flop. 

“Yeah, I know what it is,” you answer quietly again, this time your shoulders, “Have some friends that play.” 

“Oh, cool. Cool,” Eddie nods, chest tightening, toying with his rings while you reach for your drink, “Um, I’m — yeah, sorry if that came off like, dickish. I didn’t mean to—.” 

“No, no, it’s okay,” you shake your head when you say it, almost like it’s rehearsed. Like you’re always ‘okay’-ing something. 

“Sometimes people think it’s weird when I tell them, I dunno,” he shrugs, still looking down at his rings, “If I’m being honest I haven’t been so great at this whole dating thing.” 

You smile again and he looks up in time to see it, his breath hitches. You’re very pretty. 

“If it makes you feel any better, I learned how to play Magic the Gathering twice to impress a boy. Two different ones,” you grimace, scrunching your nose, “Gross right?” 

“Oof, that’s rough,” he jokes, “Magic the Gathering? That’s like, way worse than D&D.”

“Well the difference between you and me, is that I don’t still play,” you bite back, cocking your head while you take another drink. “Didn’t impress those boys after all, huh?” he raises a brow and your mouth falls open in faux offense. 

“You’re so mean,” you gasp.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he drawls, “Should’ve put that in my profile.” 

“Oh, so you are mean?” you grin. 

“The meanest,” he grins back, teeth straight and shiny. Full lips pulled tight against them, “How was your day?” “I worked,” you shrug, “Not as exciting.” 

“What do you do?” he asks, turning towards you on the stool, leaning one arm on the bar. He relaxes into the seat, legs spreading wide while his free hand runs nervously over his thigh.

“I’m a personal assistant to a jewelry maker,” you let out a half chuckle through your nose, “It sounds fake when I say it out loud. But basically, I just keep her schedule and run errands and keep her shit in order. She’s an older woman and she’s not the most tech savvy in the world — great at what she does though, really eccentric but I feel like you gotta be when you work in the arts like that.” 

“That’s cool,” he says softly, watching you talk, “What kind of jewelry does she make?” 

“Oh you’ll love this, since you like D&D and stuff,” you start, your excitement is infectious, his heart thrums, “She makes fine jewelry for the most part, but also makes anodized chain mail jewelry and wearable pieces for theater and ren fairs on the side. I told you, eccentric.” 

“Oh, so she’s a little alchemist, huh?” he smirks. 

“Kinda, yeah,” you shrug, heat hitting your cheeks while he keeps his gaze on you, “It’s cool to watch the first few times, and then you get bored.” 

“I’m sure it’s the same for people who watch my band,” he laughs. You shake your head, a curve pulling from the corners of your lips while you finish your beer. 

“Alchemist,” you repeat with a playful roll of your eyes, “You’re such a nerd.” 

“What do you do for work?” he notices you fully turn when you ask, your knees toward him. He remembers Steve telling him once that it was always a good sign when they do that. Like Steve knows anything about body language and dating these days, he’s been platonically attached to Robin for years. His little guard dog. 

“I’m a teacher,” he replies, knocking back the remainder of the Guinness in his glass.  

“Hm,” you hum, looking him over suspiciously, “That’s surprising.” 

“I work at a performing arts school,” he rolls his eyes, “It’s 2023, I’m allowed to have tattoos.” “What do you teach?” you squint when you look him over a second time, “Actually, let me guess – drama?” 

“Music theory,” he corrects. 

“Ooh, big brain,” you joke, “That’s cool.” 

“Big brain? I don’t know about that, I just like music,” he shrugs, “It makes sense to me.” “When I was in high school everyone always talked about how hard music theory was – like, all the band kids,” you explain, there’s a sparkle starting to glint in your eye when you talk to him. “You were hanging out with the band kids?” he tosses a sarcastic knowing look before taking his glass in his hands, “And I’m a nerd? I dunno girl, it’s not looking good for you here...” “Even worse, I was dating one,” you grimace back. “Fuuuuck, you were really fighting for your life in 2009 huh?” Eddie laughs low, lower lip tucking in between his teeth to run his tongue over it. 

“2007, 2008 all the way to like, 2016,” you hide your face in one hand and he wishes you wouldn’t. 

“Damn, that’s a long time,” he observes, “You didn’t marry that guy?” 

You lift your head back up, and shake your head, “It was on and off for a long time, he’s not a fan favorite. It’s uh – it’s why I normally don’t date musicians. I almost didn’t match with you ‘cause of your first picture.” 

Fucking Tatianna. 

“Eek, sorry,” Eddie puts his hands up, “Should I go?” “Do you play bass?” you wince.

“I play a lot of instruments,” he chuckles, “I can play the bass. But I’m not like…a bass player, if you know what I mean.” 

“Oh, I know what you mean,” you breathe out a sigh of relief, “Made that mistake more than once.” “What’s your favorite instrument that you play?” you ask, it’s almost girlish. He ponders it while you cross your legs, the toe of your shoe barely brushing the back of his calf but he knows it's there. You rest your chin on your fist while you watch him think about it. His brown eyes glint in the reflection of the light overhead, plush lips parted while he runs his hands over his stubble. “I think I’d have to say…electric guitar? I’ve been playing that the longest,” he hopes you think that’s cool. “Is it the same one that’s in your pictures?” 

“The Warlock?” he asks with a grin, “Yeah, that’s my girl. Best relationship of my life, prob’ly the only lady who talks more than me.” 

“It’s really nice. I like the color.” 

“Thank you,” he says quietly, eyes darting to your knees where they sit between his, “Um, can I get you another drink? Do you want a beer or…?” 

“If I get a real drink will you stop making fun of my beer?” 

“I promise.” He slides off the stool, sad to see your close proximity to him fade away when he stands up. 

“They have food here, right? I’m sort of hungry, if that’s okay,” your voice gets sheepish when you ask. 

“Yeah, that’s okay. Did you eat dinner?” The words fall out of him too fondly. 

“I had like, a huge spinach salad,” you explain, “Might not have been enough.” 

Something tells him to press further before he buys you more liquor, lest this date go to the wayside too quickly, “Did you eat lunch?” 

“I worked through lunch.” 

“Did you eat breakfast?” 

“I had a smoothie,” you confess. 

“Okay, so before I get you a drink, why don’t I get you some chicken fingers or something?” he insists. You’re shy in your smile back to him, nodding along at his advice. Yes, you should eat more before you keep drinking with him. He doesn’t want you to think he’s just trying to get you tipsy, he’s never been that kind of guy – even when he’d bring home girls from the bar. (They’d at least be the same level of totally obliterated as he was.)

He beams back at you when you nod, “Atta girl.” 

He doesn’t notice when your thighs clench. 

The last chicken finger is eaten, the last fry of the basket he got for you to split crunched through. The conversation had lulled, not because you weren’t interesting – the nerves were getting to him, creeping up like vines along his chest. The look over the diving block at the water, it’s slow waves teasing him to jump. 

“So um,” you began, swallowing your final fry and wiping your hands on a napkin, “Since you’re a teacher, how was school today?” 

Eddie’s so used to this question that his response doesn’t change, always the same quote from the same movie. Forgetting he doesn’t know you like that, his mouth moves quicker than his desire to play things off cool.

“The worst day of my life, what do you think? Gosh!” Eddie sounds more like John Heder in 2004 than John Heder does now – but when he hears himself say it, he’s immediately embarrassed. Eddie opens his mouth to apologize, nervous you won’t understand but instead – you laugh. And what a sound that is for him to hear. 

“Oh, shit. I haven’t watched Napoleon Dynamite in years. Like, not since grade school.” Eddie laughs with you, “Sorry, sorry, that’s like my go-to reaction at home when my roommates ask me that. I should’ve said something more normal like, ‘It was fine. The kids can’t stop trying to take TikTok fancams of me.”

“Roommates? Fancams? You’re so hip, tell me more,” you enthuse. He puts a finger up to stop you at first, locking eyes with the bartender so he can finally order another round of drinks. 

“What kind of real drink do you want?” he asks. 

“Just a marg on the rocks, salt,” you shrug. 

“Psh, I said a real drink,” Eddie teases with a roll of the eyes, but they soften when you go to argue back, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” 

His toes inch towards the middle of the diving block.

“You’re cute when you’re mad,” he flirts. Eddie can see the heat hit your cheeks, the creep of a smile slowly curving upwards, you’re embarrassed. Nervous like he is. Maybe this is going just fine. 

When the drinks arrive he slides the margarita towards you and sips his own Jack and Coke slowly through the tiny bar straw. 

“Okay, so. I have two roommates. Gareth, who’s been my best friend since I was nine; and Tatianna who has been my best friend since I was twenty-nine,” he explains. 

“So why aren’t you dating Tatianna?” you challenge. You miss the straw when you reach for it with your mouth, it slides over to the other side of the cup. You try again and miss, cheeks burning while Eddie looks at you continue to fuck up. His eyes glint mischievously while you hold in your frustrated laughter, “Stop looking at me.” 

“It’s fine, I’ll wait while you get your life figured out over there,” he jokes, checking ‘the time’ on his wrist, “Shouldn’t be too long until you finally get it.” 

“You’re so annoying,” you grit out playfully while you capture the straw between your teeth, “Should’ve put that on your profile, too.”

“Anyway,” he continues, “I’m not dating Tatianna because Gare’s going to propose to her when they go on vacation in a few weeks.”

 “Oh! Yeah, that makes sense,” you nod, “Probably not a good idea to date your best friend’s almost wife.” 

“Yeah, definitely not well advised,” he shakes his head, pulling his hair up off of his neck for a minute before dropping it down, “Plus, her last name is Edwards and I dunno…don’t think I could live with myself if I was ‘Eddie Edwards’.”

You laugh again and he hoped you would. It’s a goofy laugh, you don’t try to sound cute when you do it. He knows you must be a loud laugher, if your small ones are any preview to what you could really do. You don’t sound like Chrissy. Her laugh was dainty, feathery. Like how they teach you to giggle in an etiquette class – all soft edges, all smooth lines. 

“You wanna take the girl’s last name?” you raise your brows, “Very forward thinking. Progressive.” 

“I don’t know, something about it’s kinda hot right?” he asks cock of his head, “Plus, my dad sucks so I don’t want to keep repping him by having his last name.” 

“Oh wow, my dad sucks, too,” you reply cheerily, “We have so much in common!” 

“What was it you said before? ‘Twin behavior’?” 

“Twin behavior, yes!” your hands meet both of his knees where he sits across from you, your tone is light and earnest, “You get me.”

Eddie takes in a hitch of breath, desperate to keep his cool when he feels your hands on him. It’s not even sexy but he could shoot straight to the moon if you asked him to. You use his knees as leverage to hop down from your stool, grabbing your drink before nudging him with your hip. 

“If we’re still battling though, there’s an air hockey table in the back room if you wanna play,” you offer. 

“Are you any good?” he wonders, hopping off the stool to follow you to the back. 

“I’m amazing,” you grin, “Actually won seventeen first place trophies in the intergalactic air hockey competition – of course I’m fucking bad at it, that’s why it’s fun to play.” 

Eddie laughs this time, it’s gruff and nicotine soaked. You’re already winning the battle for funniest person – you’re sharp with him and he’s starting to like it. He runs his hand over the side of the air hockey table in the empty back room, more and more pleased that he put this date together on a Monday. He slides a dollar into the machine so it whirs to life, the neon lights flicking on with a stutter. 

“This reminds me of birthday parties when I was a kid,” you muse to yourself, reaching for the hockey disc trapped in your goal, “Can you help me?” 

He nods, hand grazing your back to get you out of the way – you’re warm to the touch. If he was a braver man he would’ve pulled you into him but he’s not, instead squatting down to reach further into the goal where your game piece was. 

“Hm,” he murmurs, reaching further back and barely touching the top of it, “It’s in here, it’s just back there. I can get it, just –” he sucks his teeth like he did the night before, getting to his knees to try. Music plays over head, stuff the new crop of bar goers would consider oldies. You smile at the opening ‘Damn, shawty snappin’...’ of T-Pain’s ‘Buy U A Drank’, but even more surprised when you hear Eddie sing along softly to himself. 

“Snap ya fingers, do yuh step, you can do it all by yourself. Babygirl, what’s your name?” “Not you knowing the lyrics,” you laugh. 

“I was in highschool in 2007 of course, I know the lyrics,” he huffs, standing up, “I think it’s a bust for air hockey.” 

“That’s fine,” you shrug, “We tried.” 

“I know the club, close at three,” he lip syncs to himself before, turning his attention to you, “What’s the chances of you rollin’ with me?” 

You back and forth to each other in time with the lyrics before settling back down in your spot at bar. 

“You even know the Yung Joc part? Damn,” you laugh again, he loves it. 

“Why’re you so surprised? Is it the tattoos?” he asks. 

“Well yeah, you definitely give off a ‘loved Avenged Sevenfold’ in high school vibe,” you scooch your stool closer to his, your knees slotting between his open ones like a perfect puzzle. It’s not enough though, and he’s not sure if it’s himself or the Jack and Coke that encourages him, but he reaches for one of the legs of your stool to pull you closer. 

“Hey,” he says, your faces only a few inches apart. 

“Hey,” you respond. You catch his eyes flick briefly to your lips before they meet yours again. You can see the light smatter of freckles over his nose, long faded from the summer. 

“You’re right, I was really into Avenged Sevenfold when I was in highschool.” 

“I figured. I was into that whole scene thing, back then. All those singers that are mad at their dad’s and like, in retrospect, all hate women I guess,” you realize it as you speak. 

“I probably would’ve thought you were cute,” he guesses. 

“No, you would’ve called me a poser,” you correct, “Don’t lie.” 

He hesitates before nodding, “No, no, you’re right I definitely would’ve called you a poser. Did you like Fall Out Boy and all of that shit?” 

“Don’t shit on the music I liked,” you frown, “That’s not cool.” 

“I’m not, I’m not,” he assures, pulse speeding, “I promise, I’m not. I’m sorry.” You continue talking about music, high school, college, some ins and outs. Nothing too serious. Nothing too intense. But by now, Eddie’s feeling nice and if one thing’s for certain:

He wants to fucking kiss you. Toes at the edge of the diving block, Miss Tiffany’s whistle caught between her teeth. 

“So now that we’re three drinks in, can I ask you a personal question?” you ask, your eyes a little glassy. You’ve confessed that you’re tipsy, but aware, that if you have one more drink you won’t be – so Eddie already paid the tab. 

“What do you wanna know?” he asks.

“Why’re you,” you enunciate, implying he’s something, “On the apps? It’s hard to believe that someone like you would be single. Unless you have like, something deeply wrong with you, but you’ve been all green flags so far.” 

Your hand falls back to his knee and he eyes it before sliding his own hand down his thigh to lace your fingers with his. 

“You want the real story?” he asks, lifting your hand up of his knee to play with your fingers in both of his hands while he talks. His hands are warm and calloused on the fingertips, but the rest are soft. Lacing and unlacing, running his thumb up the lengths of your fingers, tracing your palm. 

“The real story.” 

“You gonna tell me why you’re on the apps after?” 

“Sure,” you nod. You look gentle, at ease. He eases in, too. 

“I got divorced in 2020,” he confesses. It feels like a weight off his chest to tell you, “Married my high school sweetheart, things were great for a long time, but y’know. People grow and – the pandemic was not kind to us.”

“Oh, I’m…I’m sorry to hear that,” you offer softly. 

“It’s okay,” he smiles tightly. “I guess I was both surprised and not surprised at all when she broke up with me. Almost relieved, I guess – that I didn’t have to play the part of her husband anymore. Not that she was a bad wife or anything, she was great she just – I don’t know,” he rambles, “And I don’t know, I just threw myself into work and my friends after. Girls after shows. Was too scared to like – go on dates incase it ended up like my marriage and –” 

He laughs, “My friends were tired of seeing me be so sad, I guess.” 

“You have such a solid support system,” you comment, “You mention your friends, like, every other sentence.” 

A beat. “I like that,” you nod and smile. He can’t get over how you look when you do that. 

“Why’re you on the apps?” he asks, your hand now cradled between the two of his, his fingers grazing your wrist. 

“I’m six months out of a six year long relationship,” you let out a breath through your nose and drop your shoulders a little, “Figured it was time to get back out there – enter my slut era.” 

“Oh yeah, you’re super slutty,” he teases, “That’s actually the first thing I thought when I saw you. ‘She’s in her slut era.’” “God, fuck offfff,” you giggle again. 

“But yeah, I ended it. I figure I should make that clear,” you say, “Just in case that’s like, a red flag for you. But I don’t know, we just weren’t growing in the same directions. Things felt done way before I left and I – I don’t know. I think I was just scared. I took some time for myself and now, here I am.” 

“It’s okay that you ended your relationship, it’s not a red flag,” Eddie’s voice soothes you when he says it, “If you told me you like, cheated on him and then hit him with your car then maybe yeah, I’d be a little concerned. But you’re an adult, you just know what you want better this time around.”

“Yeah,” you agree. Your eyes meet in a silent confirmation. His eyes flick to your lips for a second time before tucking his lower lip between his teeth again. 

BELLY FLOP! 

“You wanna head out? It’s getting a little late,” he offers. 

Your brows raise in surprise, “Uh, sure, yeah.” 

“Not that I don’t like spending time with you,” he assures, letting his fingers linger over your hand while he stands up, not wanting to lose contact just yet, “Just don’t want to keep you out too late.” 

“Oh yes!” you start with an old southern twang, “My daddy’ll be out there with his pistol if I don’t get home ‘fore sundown.”

“You’re funny,” he laughs, letting go over your hand to reach up and squeeze your cheeks affectionately. You both put on your jackets and head outside, both of you wincing in the cold of the winter air. 

“I’d really like to do this again, if you want,” a shy blush reaches his cheeks, meeting the pink from the cold. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” you’re just as shy in your response, “This was fun. You’re fun.” 

“Thank you,” he flushes deeper, trying to prolong the inevitable. What if he belly flops? What if it hurts? What if the kids make fun of him? 

“I’d offer to drive you home but I’ve had a few,” he says, hand reaching out to fall on your shoulder, “I feel good to drive but like, god forbid anything happens so – I’m happy to get you a car or pay for it for you.” 

“That’s really sweet, thanks. Let me just um,” you pull out your phone to get in Uber with a speed that impresses him, “It’s really not that pricey, I’m close-ish by.” 

“Still,” he says, “Just wanna be a gentleman y’know?” 

“You’re very gentlemanly,” you flirt. Eddie stiffens, nervous, palms clammy. 

“So um, I’ll see you soon?” he asks, opening his arms to give you a hug. 

“Yeah, for sure,” you nod while you let him engulf you. His scent is warm and spicy, mixed with tobacco. You guess either still smokes, or he used to, but he never got up to have a cigarette in the hours you were at the bar. Eddie let’s go and cups your cheek briefly before giving you a gentle but winning smile. His warm brown eyes linger for the last time on your lips, now they’re slightly parted, waiting for him. His toes curl over the edge of the diving block, his knees are bent, arms up over his head...I don’t want to Miss Tiffany. 

Swimming sucks.

“See ya.” 

You quirk your brow for a moment, having expected much more than a hug, “Oh, um…see ya.” 

He walks half way down the street to his car, heart thrumming in his chest in embarrassment. He should’ve just done it. FUCK. He should’ve just kissed you. 

But what if it hurts? What if she leaves? What if you can’t make it to level three? What if they laugh at you? 

He breathes heavily through his nose while tears threaten to well up in his eyes, staining his eyelashes. What if you don’t want to see him again after this? What if you change your mind? He sighs audibly when he turns the key, phone auto connecting to the speakers. He turns up the radio while the car revs to life, pulling on his seatbelt and putting the wheels into gear. He leans back in his seat to pull out of his spot only to see you still waiting for the car outside of the bar. 

Blink-182 blares through his speakers, hitting him straight in the chest.

‘Let’s go, don’t wait, this night’s almost over. Honest, let’s make,this night last forever. Forever. And ever. Let’s make this last forever.’ 

What if he did stay a little later after class? What if he got the chance to move on to level three? 

Fuck it, he thinks. He turns off the ignition, shaking out the sounds of Jason Carver and the kids laughing, the sounds of their feet kicking in the water. Just Miss Tiffany and her whistle. He gets out of the car, determined. You’re still there, head whipping around to see him coming towards you while you bounce on the balls of your feet in the cold. 

Arms up. Knees bent. “Ed? My car’s gonna be here in a sec–” Whistle. His hands reach out to your cold cheeks to pull you in before his full lips capture yours. His eyes flutter close at the contact, feeling your mouth react to his in time. Soft and needy, hydrated. You immediately know how to keep his pace while he separates and goes back in for more. Wet but not messy, passionate but not feverish. The smoothest dive he’d ever done in his life. Your hands escape your pockets, fingers sliding behind his neck to pull him closer, sliding through the nape of his hair. He breaks away for a moment to delicately push your hair out of your face and really look at you before pressing his lips to yours again. You only stop when your Uber beeps from across the street. 

“I wanted to do that all night,” he mumbles sheepishly. 

“I wanted you to do that all night, too,” you giggle, breathless and blushing, “Thank you.” 

“Thank you,” he says, running a hand over his face, “Let me know when you get home, okay?” 

“Okay,” you nod, hurrying across the street as the car honks again,  “Bye!” 

“I’ll put something together for next time!” he calls out. ‘Cause there will be a next time. 

Tatianna is leaning over the back of the couch with her chin in her hands when Eddie opens the door. Her cheshire cat grin matches his own. 

“So I didn’t hear from you all night,” she starts, her voice syrupy smooth, “So that means it must’ve went really well.” 

Eddie sighs dreamily, kicking off his boots at the entryway and hanging his jacket on one of the hooks by the door. 

“Ooh, you like herrrr! I can tell! Look at your stupid face!” she laughs, pointing at him, bouncing on the cushions. 

“Tati she’s…fuck,” he shakes his head in disbelief while he walks towards her, “There’s either two ways this could go.” 

“Yeah?” she asks, looking up at him, “And those are?” 

“I’m gonna marry her, or she’s gonna absolutely fuckin’ ruin my life.” 

“I like her already,” Tati grins, “Sit down, tell me everything.” 

“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec,” he grumbles, his phone buzzing in his pocket. He plops down onto the couch while Tati grabs two cups of tea from the kitchen that she made especially for the recap of his night. Gareth had been long asleep for an early morning at work tomorrow. 

Eddie takes out his phone, two unread text alerts lingering on his home page. He opens them, smiling stupidly into the screen.

i’m home :) you’re a really good kisser by the way. 

glad you made it home safe. you are too. :) but you started off pretty kissable so, that’s probably why. you’re making me blush over here, stop it. 

Eddie lets out a soft chuckle through his nose, clicking out of your text conversation to go back to his home screen. 

He deletes the apps.

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

is it over now? (was it over then?)

part eight

part nine: see you come running

Eddie was slowing realizing that introducing Robin and Nancy to the Corroded Coffin crew was the perfect way to lose all of his sanity in one go. Eddie had continued chatting with Robin and bouncing ideas off of her but nothing was clicking and Eddie finally broke down and decided the whole crew needed to come together over pizza to write and score some not cheesy but totally grand gesture worthy songs for Steve.

Eddie's label wasn't thrilled with the abrupt u-turn from an angsty heavy break up album to a single song in that vein and then sappy love songs for the rest of the album but thankfully Corroded Coffin had earned enough cachet over the years that Ronnie was able to convince the label that the songs would still have their signature flair just less angsty and more romantic -- more I would bleed for you and less I would watch eagles rip out your intestines and laugh.

As a group, Corroded Coffin was generally ambivalent towards love most of the time. Ronnie was not interested in dating much more content with her plants and foster kittens. Jeff had been dating the same girl since kindergarten basically and while she was lovely and totally worth swooning over, Jeff had gotten his cheese out early on through middle school notes passed through lockers. Frank and Gareth kind of fluctuated between meeting people at shows and trying whatever fad dating site existed for celebrities at the time but hadn't had serious partners in several years.

All that to say, Eddie was fucking banging his head against the wall for the fifth time in so many hours trying to find another rhyme for love that wasn't glove or shove and his bandmates had taken to throwing little pieces of things into his rapidly frizzing messy bun. They needed reinforcements.

By the time pizza and the girls arrived Eddie was laying upside down with his head dangling off the couch singing an over the top version of I Miss You and hoping none of his friends ever told Tom Delonge. Robin and Ronnie promptly cut him off so his hair didn’t land square in the pepperoni.

"Alright let's get the show on the road," Nancy stated after she had ushered the group together onto couches in some semblance of order after the empty pizza boxes had been bussed.

"You can't rush art, Nancy," Eddie snarked which was probably overall a little too daring based on the look Robin sent him.

"But you can actually write something down instead of flipping through Steve's instagram and sigh over his hair," Ronnie responded earning her a high five from Robin.

Nancy had brought over a big flipchart and colored pens and was starting to jot down ideas that were being thrown around the room. So far Eddie had added a doodle of himself looking up at Steve but hadn't really contributed anything else to the board.

"What are you guys known for?" Robin asked.

"Uhm mostly spooky shit and more recently a break up song that low key ruined my life?" Eddie answered.

"What Eddie means to say is that we generally write fantasy based albums that have some sort of an overall theme or story and tend to be a heavily metaphored summation of something one of us was dealing with," Ronnie clarified after thumping Eddie on the back of his head.

"Examples?" Nancy asked.

"So our debut album was basically growing up in our small town and not fitting in but told through the metaphor of the nine circles of hell," Jeff piped in.

"Definitely aren't beating the satanist allegations back home, fam," Gareth chimed in from the kitchen.

"Okay so why don't we do Steve and Eddie's story through a metaphor y'all haven't done yet. Greek myth?" Robin suggested.

"Already done that," Ronnie answered.

"Lord of the Rings vibes?" Nancy threw out.

"Second album," Frank answered.

"Constellations?" Robin asked.

"Fourth album," Jeff said.

"Okay well what haven't you done?" Nancy was growing impatient with twenty questions.

"Eddie, I think it might be time to pull out the original Munson Mythology," Gareth said through a mouthful of cold pizza.

"I feel like there's a story there," Robin prodded.

"I mean, kind of. So I think y'all might know some of this but my family is mostly from Appalachia and I moved with my uncle to a bigger city where I met the rest of these guys so he could get a job at the plant instead of in the coal mines. We all became friends because we were part of a ttrpg group in school and I ran a campaign based a lot on the old stories Uncle Wayne used to tell me about the mountains. It became nicknamed the Munson Mythology and we've been thinking about putting it into an album basically since we started but I could never get it to sit right and our label wasn't the most excited about americana and metal," Eddie summarized as succinctly as he could.

"I think we could get them around to it now. Especially with how popular the single got. We could do a whole like americana cryptid vibe and keep it kind of spooky but ultimately romantic," Ronnie added.

"No pressure though, Eddie. I know Steve is already a personal subject matter but talking about your family lore adds a whole 'nother layer. We'd understand if you wanted to go another direction," Jeff said.

"I think I might be ready for it, guys. I mean Steve's the closest I've come to finding home outside of the mountains and it's something different than we've done before. I think Gare might be right. It's probably time," Eddie said.

"Then I guess we are writing a metal appalachian love story, friends," Robin clapped her hands as if to indicate it was time to get to work.

"Alright, Eddie. Time to tell us some stories," Nancy said.

"What do y'all know about skinwalkers?" Eddie asked as he settled in to tell some folktales.

***

through a random twist of events (aka someone actually wanting to find my fic which holy crap is so flattering omg) i've come back to this work. thanks anon for kicking me back into this au which is so fun to write. the boys will be back together soon just wanted to add some buddy hijinks as i think Ronnie and Robin would be cautious besties and i wanted to see that happen.

also it's been over two months since i worked on this so if you see plot holes no you didn't. one of these days i will put this up on ao3 and go through and make sure i'm consistent with everyone's backstory but for now just go with it. :p

it is a truth universally acknowledged for some reason i absolutely suck at tagging. i think i have been consistent but all these parts should be tagged "was it over then ficlet" if you have trouble finding them. i also might have to work on a master list situation as i will probably not get better at tagging anytime soon. but here we go:

@lololol-1234 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @zombiethingy @grtwdsmwhr @dreamercec @anne-bennett-cosplayer @strawberryyyenthusiast

@mensch-anthropos-human @kal-ology @ttyrussss @kristmkris @starman-jpg @wonderland-girl143-blog @child-of-cthulhu @legalmenace87 @adealwithher @practicallybegging

@lunaraquaenby @stripey82 @lexyvey @goodolefashionedloverboi @mothmamhasyourlocation @mugloversonly @sherrylyn0628 @steddieinthesun @wonderland-girl143-blog @counting-dollars-counting-stars @bookworm0690

@knightly-reblogs @rjwinterfell @kcsplace @y4r3luv @thedragonsaunt

[munson-blurbs]

Fight for You (Dad!Eddie x Mom!Reader)

Your friends throw you an incredible baby shower, but an unexpected guest threatens to spoil your fun.

Warnings: all the fluff + angst, pregnancy language, emotional abuse (not from Eddie), a bit of violence (nothing gory, but mention of blood)

WC: 2k

Part One | Part Two

Taglist: @dylanmunson @tayhar811 @princess-eddie​

--

August 1992

“Wow,” Eddie breathes as he walks into your bedroom. You’re wearing a flowing sage green dress that shows off your seven-month baby bump. “You look stunning.”

You press a kiss to his lips, smiling against him as your belly brushes against his stomach. It hasn’t always been easy to feel beautiful as your body changes, but your husband hasn’t stopped reminding you that he thinks you’re perfect; that he’s so happy you’re having his baby; that every time he thinks he can’t love you more, he looks at you and falls even harder.

He takes your hand and walks you to the van. You’d moved apartments last month; same building, but now you have a two-bedroom so the baby will have their own room. 

“You ready for your party, little baby?” you talk to your belly, rubbing a hand over it. It was Will’s idea to make it co-ed, and Eddie wasn’t going to turn down an invitation to something DnD themed. He’s wearing his nicest pair of jeans and a blue button-down shirt. His hair is pulled back into a low bun, and you lean over and kiss his cheek. As you do, you feel a fluttering in your stomach.

“Oh my God!” you yelp, and Eddie slams on the brakes.

“What?” he asks nervously. “Is the baby okay?”

“Yeah, s-sorry,” you flush, slightly embarrassed. “They just kicked me.” You take one of his hands, feeling him visibly relax, and place it where you just felt the kick. “Right here.” Sure enough, the baby kicks again, and Eddie grins.

“Holy shit,” he says, “we got a little soccer player in there!”

~

You pull up to the Byers house and waddle you way up the steps. “Careful,” you hear Eddie murmur, placing a hand on the small of your back. You open the door to a room filled with your favorite people. Your parents are on the couch next to Wayne and Jim Hopper. Eleven and Max are drinking some punch, laughing at something Mike said. Or maybe just laughing at Mike; you never know with those two. Will and Lucas are fixing a streamer as Joyce oversees their work. Dustin, Robin, Steve, and Nancy are gathered around a bowl of chips. 

Everything looks amazing. The family room looks like a Dungeons & Dragons game come to life. Even the food is labelled on-theme, with figurines placed strategically along the table. Next to a pile of brightly-wrapped gifts is a Dungeon Master throne, which would usually be reserved for Eddie, but there’s a sign on it that reads “Reserved for Mama Munson.”

The guests rush to hug you, ask how you’re doing, feel your bump. You hate when strangers do that, think they have the right to touch you just because you’re pregnant, but you truly don’t mind when your family and friends--your chosen family, really--do it.

Wayne shoves a paper plate into Eddie’s hands. “Go get your lady something to eat, hm?” he hints. No matter how old Eddie gets, Wayne will always treat him like a son.

Eddie obliges, leaving you with Joyce as she dotes on you. “You are absolutely glowing,” she says. “You were meant to be a mom.”

“Thank you.” Tears spring to your eyes. “You’re gonna make me cry.”

“No, no crying!” she laughs gently. “C’mon, we’ll get started with the games.” She leads you to your seat. “Those pregnancy hormones are a bitch, huh?”

You laugh and nod in agreement.

Eddie, meanwhile, is loading the plate with cupcakes and cookies, knowing you’ve had a mean sweet tooth lately. He brings it to you and you bite into a chocolate chip, savoring the taste. 

“This is exactly what Baby Munson wanted,” you state, taking another bite.

The next few hours pass in a flurry of games and gifts. You’re excited to go home with a collection of new bottles, burp cloths, teeny tiny clothes, and enough diapers that look like they’ll last a lifetime, but Joyce claims will only get you through the first week.

Eddie, Steve, and Hopper have loaded everything into the van, and everyone is helping clean up the Byers’ living room, when there’s a knock on the door.

“Who could that be?” Joyce wonders aloud, and Hopper steps in front of her to answer the door. You know it’s never good when his instincts kick in.

On the other side of the door stands a tall, scrawny man. He’s got a scruffy beard that matches his salt-and-pepper hair. In his hand is an open bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag.

“Can I help you?” Hopper asks sternly as the man peers inside the house.

“Yeah, I’m jus’ lookin’ for--” he slurs, stopping when his eyes land on Eddie, who lets go of your hand to step forward.

“Dad?”

~

You could hear a pin drop as Eddie’s dad walks in the house, nearly tripping over his own feet.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie growls, clearly unnerved. Your mom puts an arm around you as your jaw drops open. Steve stands next to Eddie, ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice.

“Got out of the clink a few days ago. Figured I’d come back to Hawkins and check up on ya. ‘S a small town, so I asked around about ya, and someone at the record store told me where y’were.” He hiccups and takes another swig from the bottle.

“You need to leave,” Eddie says tightly, fists clenched. “Now.”

But the man just ignores him, or maybe is too drunk to even comprehend what his son said. “So, y’knocked some poor girl up?” he laughs meanly. “Who’s the unlucky lady?”

His eyes find you, or rather, find your baby bump, and he points. “That pretty little thing? How’d you snag her?” Eddie’s silent; he’s heard the joke before, even thought it himself, but it’s never been said in such a condescending way.

“H-hi,” you manage, instinctively cradling your belly. “I’m Y/N.” 

He walks over to shake your hand, and you oblige nervously. “Pleasure.” He doesn’t introduce yourself, and you don’t care to get to know him anyway. “So, when do I get to meet my grandbaby?”

Eddie is seething now, shooting daggers from his eyes. “Your grandbaby? This baby isn’t your anything. Wayne’s the grandfather, just like Wayne’s my father, because you couldn’t be bothered to raise me.”

“Eddie, please,” you start. You just want to leave, curl up in a ball and cry. “Let’s just go home.”

But the man keeps going. “You think it’s so goddamned easy, huh? Just you wait and see. That baby’s gonna come, cry every 15 minutes, and you’ll be out the door, too.”

You see the look that passes over Eddie’s face. It’s a mixture of rage and hurt, and you step forward. Joyce tries to hold you back, but you pull from her grasp.

“Fuck you,” you spit, willing yourself not to cry. “Eddie is nothing like you, and he’s gonna be the best dad to our kid, and you will never, ever get to be any kind of a grandparent.” You’re shaking but you press on. “You’re going to leave this party, leave Hawkins, and get the hell out of our lives.”

“She’s a little spitfire, huh?” he says to no one in particular. “Us Munson men like ‘em feisty.”

You can’t catch Eddie’s arm before his fist comes crashing into his dad’s cheek. Blood trickles from the man’s mouth.

“I’ve wanted to do that for 10 years,” Eddie’s voice is rising, and Wayne puts a hand on his nephew’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. He makes eye contact with Hopper, who grabs the disgraced Munson by the shirt collar and tosses him into the back of his cop car. 

As soon as Mike closes the door, you collapse into your husband’s arms, trembling and crying.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Eddie murmurs into your hair, kissing the top of your head. “He’s gone.” He says the last part for himself more than for you.

Joyce suggests that you two head home, that she wasn’t going to have the guests of honor clean up anyway, and everyone agrees. You thank your guests and apologize, though you’re acutely aware that none of this is your fault.

~

The ride home is silent. Eddie’s leg bounces up and down and you put your hand on his thigh to ease his anxiety. It’s not until you get into the apartment and put down the first of many diaper boxes that you speak.

“Eddie, you know I meant everything I said, right?” You look at him, but he doesn’t meet your gaze. “Baby, look at me.”

When he does, you see that he’s crying. “I hate him,” he states, just a fact, voice barely above a whisper. “I hate him so fucking much.”

“I know. He doesn’t deserve your love or your respect.” You sit down on the couch and motion for him to join you. “He’s nothing more than a sperm donor.”

Eddie isn’t comforted by this. “Y’see, that’s the thing!” he starts, choking back a sob. “He’s part of me. I can try and pretend like he’s nothing to me, but the truth is, he’s my dad, which means that some piece of me is like some piece of him.”

You take a sharp breath in. “Do you remember our first date, when you took me to Enzo’s and we played footsie all night?” He gives a small smile, so you continue. “Or our first kiss, when we bumped into each other outside the Radio Shack and we realized we both got Dustin the same thing for his birthday?”

“Of course I remember,” he says, taking your hand and rubbing his thumb over yours.

“How about when you proposed after playing that beautiful song you wrote for me, and you told me all the things you love about me, and how I make you feel?”

He nods.

“Or when I told you I was pregnant, and I was absolutely terrified, and you reassured me that everything would be okay,” you rest your head on his shoulder. “And those were just some of the big moments. There’s the little things, the things that really add up. Like how you massage my scalp after a stressful day at work. Or how you always get me a little surprise from the grocery store. Or how you’ve been checking out those pregnancy and parenting books from the library, writing down the stuff you want to remember.” You nudge him gently.

“Eds, that’s all you. Your dad wouldn’t do any of that stuff. He’s never done anything to help anyone but himself. But you, Eddie Munson,” you poke a finger to his chest, “you are always thinking of others. Sometimes to a fault,” you tease. 

“I love you so much.” He’s holding your hand tight as you kiss away his tears. “You’re my everything. You and this baby.” He bends down to kiss your tummy.

“I love you more. And this baby is gonna love you. Gonna absolutely adore their sweet, caring, silly, metal daddy.” You brush your fingers through his curls. “You’ll have them singing Metallica before they say ‘mama’.”

“Sounds about right,” he laughs. You can tell he’s not totally convinced about his parenting abilities, though.

“We’re gonna make mistakes. Sometimes you, sometimes me, sometimes both of us. But we’re gonna stick around to fix them. When we mess up, we’ll apologize. And I know,” you choke up, “I know that we are gonna have so many more wins than losses.”

You feel his tension ease a bit. “You really think I can do this?” he asks.

Another flutter in your belly as the baby kicks. “Not just me. We both do.”

--

[jo-harrington]

Incremental Planning (A Store Manager Verse Story - Steve Harrington/Reader)

Previous Part: On-The-Job Training

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Wicks'n'Sticks!Reader (you'll see)

Summary: You and Steve have been going out for a little while and he suddenly feels the need to step up his game.

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Fall 1985, Steve and Robin work at Scoops, Reader works at Wicks and Sticks (formerly at Dippin' Dots; you job hop...it's a thing), New Relationship "Troubles," Infatuation/Crush, Cute Dates, Tie in with the Store Manager Verse

Note: Dedicated to @dr-aculaaa (late bday gift), @rosewaterandivy and @carolmunson who've heard little tidbits intermittently but this has taken a minute to come together. And @ghost-proofbaby for the last date idea. Enjoy <3

You can find my masterlist here for more fics featuring pretty much exclusively Eddie Munson content but also a little Steve.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

If Steve had to pick one thing that was his best quality, it would be that he was reliable.

"Psshh, yeah right," Robin scoffed. "Reliably late to picking me up for work every day."

"Hey!" Steve argued. "I promised to drive you to school when it starts next week, so could you...I dunno...gimme a break here?"

"You don't need to do your hair every morning; I have band first period so if you could please be a little better with time, I'd appreciate it!"

"Robin!"

Reliable, unfortunately, was boring. And you were anything but boring.

Steve learned quickly that his favorite thing about you was that you changed with the seasons. If the wind blew in a different direction, so would you.

Just like the whole vanilla debacle, you were never satisfied with one flavor. Yeah you liked a root beer float for a while, but before long, you were a banana split person. And shortly after that, hot fudge.

And while changing tastes in ice cream was endearing and made him a little looser--and got him a date--it was how quickly you changed tastes in other things that had him a little worried.

"I quit Dippin' Dots!" you announced one afternoon in early September, throwing your visor at him from across the counter.

"You what?" He stared at you with wide eyes.

"I quit," you raised your eyebrows and tilted your head towards him. "Dippin' Dots."

"No I got that I just...why?" He held his hands out around him. "Rival ice cream shops. That's kind of our thing."

"Well, you're just gonna have to get a job at a rival candle store because you're looking at the new sales associate at Wicks'n'Sticks."

You grinned at him and proudly pulled the little name badge from the back pocket of your jeans, your name already engraved and everything. Steve's eyes darted between it and you, unable to comprehend that you were joking.

"No, I'm not serious," you laughed. "Unless you hate it here, which I know you do."

"Shhh, not so loud!"

"The pay sucks, you always go home sticky, and you get yelled at by every mom in Roane County for getting their order wrong. I've heard you say it enough times Steve."

You were right; he just liked sticking to routines. Routines were nice...reliable.

"So what does that mean for us?" he asked.

"Means we're just gonna have to get another thing," you offered. "Like...making out in the service corridors instead of up against the kiosk after hours."

Ok, so...he could live with that.

What worried him was, well, if you were just just dating reliable old Steve Harrington all the time, you'd get bored with him. Nancy had gotten bored with him and looked for someone...better. You'd already gotten mad at him for being slow on the uptake about the small vanilla cup. What if he was boring in some other way? What if you tired of him just like you tired of your job at Dippin' Dots?

He'd already established a routine with your dates. Movie nights on Thursdays whenever new shows came out, then dinner at Benny's on Sunday nights, and lunch at the food court on Tuesdays when your shifts aligned.

You always said you liked your "dates."

"Is that what they said?" Robin asked as he aired his fears to her on the way to school one morning. "'Dates.' With air quotes?"

"Yeah?" He stumbled over his words. "Why? What are you--why are you--what is that...is that a problem? It's our routine."

"Oh god," she groaned and slammed her head back against the headrest. "You already have a routine? Dating isn't about routines. Is this...did you have routines with Nancy?"

"Yes, why?"

"Ok, new plan of attack," she waved her hands in front of her. "New date ideas. Every week. You, Steve Harrington, are hopeless."

---

The whiteboard in the backroom suddenly became the "Date Idea Board."

Robin had told him to do it as soon as he got to Scoops, brought the board out to the counter with him. Ice cream was less popular in the mornings, it seemed, especially with kids back in school--

He could see why you jumped the Dippin' Dots ship. Aside from the handful of mall employees taking their breaks and wanting ice cream, he was bored.

--so he had plenty of time to think of something before the closing lead came in.

But the board remained blank all the way up until lunchtime.

"What did I do during school?" he threw his hands up in the air as he started towards the food court. "Movies...dinner...parking up at the quarry and making out? We haven't done that yet. I guess..."

He roared in frustration as he got in line at Hot Dog on a Stick, earning dirty looks from several lunch-goers.

"What?" he scoffed at them, and then tried to nonchalantly glance around.

And that's when Steve spotted them, tucked at a table near JCPenney, heads close together as they each held an earpad of a set of headphones connected to a walkman on the table, free hands reaching periodically for a basket of cheese fries: Eddie Munson and the Claire's manager.

It kind of made Steve a little antsy, like he was observing a private moment, the way they smiled at each other and bantered back and forth. He didn't even get this feeling watching couples make out in the hallways at Hawkins High. He wondered for a second if anyone felt that way when they saw the two of you together...

No one saw you together at the movies, or late Sunday nights at Benny's. And during lunch on Tuesdays, you definitely sat across the table from one another...not next to each other like that.

Was that it? Was that the answer? Just...go more places together. He really wished he had someone to ask about this.

And his wish was granted when Eddie looked at the time on his watch and then, with a flick of his girlfriend's dangly earrings, he ran out of the food court.

Steve abandoned his place in line and rushed across to plant himself in Eddie's vacated seat.

"Uh," the manager squinted her eyes at him in recollection. "...hi cherry lipbalm guy."

"It was strawberry, actually," he then pointed to his name tag, "and it's...Steve."

"Hi Steve," she amended and pointed to her own name tag to introduce herself.

"Hi."

It was awkwardly silent for a moment.

"I don't have any lip balm down here," she chewed her fingernail for a moment. "If that's why you stopped by. You have to go ups--"

"I need dating advice," he blurted out. "Again."

"Wha--"

"Where does Eddie take you out for dates?"

"I don't...they're not..."

"Because I...ok you remember the Dippin' Dots cashier?" he launched right into his story, despite her deer-in-the-headlights expression. "They agreed to go out with me--thanks, by the way--but they're...I'm afraid they're getting bored of our routine."

"Routine?" she winced.

"That's what Robin's reaction was too. Sorry, Robin, that's my friend, she works at Scoops too. Anyway..."

Steve continued his tale, telling her about your new job and general shift in likes and dislikes from day to day. How unpredictable you were, how much he liked that about you but how much he feared that meant you wouldn't like him before long.

"And I just...like them so much? I don't want to screw it up."

The Claires manager's expression had softened the longer he talked and once he was done and out of breath she smiled.

"Well this is a really nice development."

"That's all you have to say?" he asked incredulously.

Her expression fell.

"Listen, Steve, I only have 5 minutes left of my lunch and I'm very happy to give you advice if you need it but it seems like you don't really need it. You know what it is your friend likes, or rather...how your friend's likes change...you just need to be...spontaneous and deliver the unexpected!"

"But what is that?" He raked his hands through his hair. "What should I do? What does Eddie do?"

"Eddie doesn't..." she sighed. "You shouldn't just mimic what he does, but he's himself. He's goofy and loud and we do goofy and loud things. He likes snacks, I like snacks...we're constantly sharing food."

She gestured to the cheese fries.

"Just do what feels right? Be yourself. Incorporate them into things that you want and need to do. Need to go to the laundromat? Ask if they want to go and watch the soaps with you while your towels are in the dryer."

For a minute that didn't make much sense to him. That wasn't a date. Who went on dates like that? But...you know, once upon a time he used to watch his parents pretend to waltz as they folded bedsheets together. The love that used to be in their eyes during a menial task.

Not that this was love with you but...he knew he could be a little bit of a romantic. One day maybe...

"I do like All My Children," he finally nodded. "Ok this could work."

"No Steve, wait..." The manager held her hands out as he stood from the chair and started jogging back to Scoops.

"Thank you!" he shouted and waved.

---

Thus began the gauntlet of unexpected, inventive, spontaneous dates.

He started with the Laundromat; it was stuck in his head now and it was either going to be a win or the biggest failure he had. And you'd break up with him.

You were a little baffled when he told you his idea, but you went along with it. He picked you and your basket up promptly at 9am on Wednesday.

"Did your mom stop doing the wash for you Stevie?" you joked as you tossed your basket in the backseat.

"Ha ha," he deadpanned. He actually begged his mom not to snatch up his dirty Scoops uniforms from the hamper so he could take care of them himself. She gave him the proudest smile and a kiss on the forehead.

But he would never tell you that.

You, by chance, were a regular at the All Washed Up on Main Street. Said hello to Cheryl the Attendant, who was folding the hourly drop offs. Had your dollar bills all ready to go and you did a little dance as the change machine chugged and spat out quarters.

You took the lead for him, when he--understandably--looked a little confused.

"Obviously they don't have soap for you to use," you rolled your eyes and slotted coins into the little machine with different soaps and fabric softeners. "You need to bring it yourself. Or buy it. What do you like? Snuggle? Do you like lavender?"

But he still had a few tricks up his sleeves.

He brought Uno and a deck of cards to teach you to play Gin Rummy.

"Just like my granny taught me," he smiled and your expression melted.

And when you started shuffling your clothes into the dryers, he got snacks from the vending machine for you both.

"Dr. Pepper and HandiSnacks." He proudly handed you your treat.

"How did you know I always get this when I come do my laundry?" you held them to your chest excitedly.

---

A night at the arcade was next.

To be honest, Steve thought with everyone's latest obsession over StarCourt, he'd be free to show his face at the Palace Arcade.

Unfortunately, his heart stopped when he saw the gaggle of familiar bikes chained up outside.

"Ooh, ok what do you say to pizza after we play some games?" you asked when you saw the pizzeria further up the strip mall. When you turned to him, you noticed his stricken expression. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he shrugged, trying to act cool. "No nothing, it's just...some kids I used to babysit..."

Great lie there Harrington, you still babysit them.

"...are here. Those are their bikes."

"Aww," your eyes got soft and you put on the baby voice you used to tease him sometimes. "Big bad babysitter Stevie and little his Kindergarten Crew. It'll be fine, they won't bother us playing Skee Ball."

You walked confidently into the arcade, straight to your favorite game, all while Steve sent cursory glances down each row of machines and tried to be as stealth as possible.

Like a ninja, he told Nancy once.

"Steve?" Dustin called as he spotted him ducking between a few Pac-Man cabinets. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh," Steve's eyes slid in your direction and then he waved awkwardly. "Hey Henderson, you know. Killing time."

"Max is trying to unlock a secret level of Galaga," he thumbed over his shoulder. "Maybe you can get next turn if she can't."

"I'd love to I'd just--"

"Steve?" He winced at your voice behind him. "You coming?"

"Yeah," he shot you a smile and then turned back to Dustin with murderous eyes. "I was just telling this little twerp to beat it."

"This one of the kids?" you sidled up next to him and smiled at Dustin. "Hey."

"Hey!" He got a sly look on his face and wiggled his eyebrows at Steve, who looked positively livid. "You on a date there, Harrington old boy?"

"Who are you, Jay Gatsby? I like you," you laughed at Dustin and then clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder. "I like this kid; you might as well introduce me to all the little rascals. It'll explain why you're such a PTA mom all the time."

Steve groaned as Dustin grabbed your arm and dragged you over to the rest of the kids, but he couldn't help the way his heart skipped a beat when you gave him a look of sheer glee and affection.

Maybe he was doing something right?

---

He blindfolded you for the next date--the last idea he had for this two week sprint full of creative dates--although...he might not have needed to do it for the whole car ride.

"Steve I'm gonna be sick," you had groaned pathetically from the passenger's seat of his car.

But it was worth it.

He'd gone to the mall office to grab the mail--who knew stores at the mall got mail--when he saw a pamphlet for local tourist attractions and he'd been inspired.

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

You were in awe, it's such a sweet date idea.

The two of you held hands as you dodged groups of field trip goers, parents with their kids on playdates, and other bored adults. You told him fun facts about your favorite animals and his.

"I always wanted to be," you told him, nose scrunched in embarrassment. "I dunno...a vet or a...marine biologist or something. One of those big jobs that kids always dream about. Now I work at StarCourt Mall and I'm on the verge of finding a new job again."

"So do I," he chuckled. "At least you've thought about your future. I sort of never did."

"There's always time," your eyes sparkled. "We're still young and have our whole lives ahead of us. I've been looking at pamphlets for the Tri-County Community College. We could take classes in the next semester."

"Yeah?" he asked, slyly. "We?"

"Shut up," you pushed him to the side.

"Didn't know you'd still plan on dating me next year."

"Why not?"

Steve shrugged but kept his mouth shut, and then steered you towards your final destination.

The Reef.

So it wasn't a full aquarium, but it was close enough. He couldn't drive you all the way out to Indianapolis without arousing suspicion. Besides, the Reef had enough of an array of colorful marine life to make you happy. You gushed over all of the different fish that you recognized as the two of you wound through the small aquarium building.

You'd actually told him about your dream career as a kid before and he'd stored that little tidbit away. Pulled a favor with his mom to pull a favor with someone she knew and low and behold--

"Steve!" you exclaimed as you saw the little setup on the bench in front of the tank of Moon Jellies, an assortment of sandwiches and sodas basking in the blue glow emitted from behind the glass. "What's this?"

"Surprise!" He held his hands out a little pathetically. "The real date...not just the zoo but...a little picnic too."

"I love it!" you laughed.

"You do?" he beamed in relief. "I've...I've really been trying. I know...you're always so...and Robin said I was boring, so I thought maybe we could try some new dates. Not just...dinners and movies. I wanted to make you happy. Make you smile."

He kept rambling on about the other ideas he had, but then confessed that he sort of missed late dinners at Benny's on Sundays because he got to hold your hand across the table. He didn't notice the way your gaze got softer as he said the things that you'd been thinking all day--because these spontaneous dates were great but you missed the sweet dinners at Benny's and the movie nights where you made out in the back row at the Hawk during boring scenes--or how you inched closer you him until your hands were caressing his cheeks and your lips descended on his.

From the outside looking in, it was almost picturesque.

Something from a John Hughes movie as the two of you rocked back and forth in the glow of the jellyfish tank and one big smooch turned into little sweet ones, soft lips pecking at each other, over and over. Tasting the words that you each wanted to say to one another but...didn't quite have the courage to.

Yet.

Next Part: Developmental Achievement

[graysmiles-world]

Steddie Fake Dating Part 2

Part One, Part Three

Robin was whistling at work. She hasn’t stopped all day.

“What’s got you so chipper?” Steve grumbled, wiping down the counter. “Good night with your beau?” Robin was refilling the spoons and looked over to glare at him. 

“No,” she snapped. “But he is going to be visiting me today at work.” 

Steve raised a brow, “No shit. Really?”

“Yes, really,” she bit back. “So I’m excited about it, so what?”

“Nothing,” Steve shrugged, tossing the dirty rag underneath the counter to the bucket filled with other filthy rags. “Just nice to see you not so rude.” 

Robin huffed out what was close to a laugh, and Steve hid his little grin in the collar of his sailor’s shirt. “What time is he coming by?” 

“Around 2, I think. We’re supposed to go out for food after I get off.” 

Steve looked at the clock, which ticked slowly to the 11. The day was unusually cool for late June, and the mall was emptier than average. “How long have you been together?” he asked.

Robin turned to him with a furrowed brow, “Why do you care?” 

Steve shrugged, “I’m bored - you’re bored. Gives us something to discuss.” 

“Hm, okay,” Robin shrugged. “He’s a bit older than me, but we’ve been together since I was a sophomore.” 

Steve whistled, “Two years then, huh?” Robin nodded. “You think he’s the one?”

Robin bit the inside of her cheek before looking at Steve. “I don’t know. He’s the one for right now, you know?” Steve smiled at her. A few months ago, discussing any relationship would make him almost crumble on the spot, wrapped up in the explosion between him and Nancy Wheeler.

Now, however, he was thinking of Eddie. 

“What about you, Casanova?” Robin asked, knocking her foot against his. “You got anybody?”

Steve scratched his head, “Yeah. I do.” 

“And…” Robin started, “Do you think she’s the one?”

Steve leaned forward on the counter, trying not to melt like an ice cream cone in the summer sun at the thought of him and Eddie - forever. “I hope so.”

Robin looked at him in a way she’d never had before, her expression not one of disgust, annoyance, or any other emotion connected to it. Before he could ask about it, a gaggle of children with their parents entered the store - and they were too busy to talk much for the rest of the shift.

The closer it ticked to 2, the more Robin’s fingers tapped against the counter. Steve was leaning against the back wall, watching her watch the clock. “You know staring at it doesn’t make it go by faster, right?”

He could see Robin’s eye roll, even though she wasn’t facing him. “I know, but there isn’t anything else to do while I wait.” 

Steve was about to retort when his words died on his lips. Because out the mall, dressed in his usual get-up of dark clothing and silver, was Eddie Munson. He hadn’t turned to face Ship’s Ahoy! Yet Steve knew the nautical-themed storefront wouldn’t escape his notice for much longer.

He didn’t know what to do. Steve never expected Eddie to come to the mall, much less during Steve’s work hours. Eddie knew he had a job, but not what the job exactly was. And now he was here and about to find out. He was about to endure serious teasing about his uniform and in front of Robin, too. 

Steve darted a glance over to Robin, standing tall, staring out the doors. She must have just seen her boyfriend. 

Eddie turned to the storefront, something in his face lighting up at the sight. Steve felt that same warm feeling build up in his chest. Eddie walked towards the door, entering the storefront with a swagger Steve loved. 

Before Steve could do anything, not that he could do anything much out in public with his boyfriend, Robin rushed around the side and launched herself at Eddie. He caught her effortlessly, swinging her around like it was a movie and not a 2 p.m. on a Saturday in June. Steve just stood there. 

Eddie hadn’t seen him. He’d seen her, Robin. Robin, who was waiting for her boyfriend of two years. The boyfriend who was supposed to show up at 2 p.m. to pick her up. Eddie was that boyfriend. 

That warmth turned to ice and sank heavy in his stomach. It felt like he’d just gobbled down three banana splits. Like he was about to puke all over the display before him. Eddie still wasn’t looking at him. He was talking to Robin. Their lips moved, but no sound came out.

Robin said something, looking back at Steve with a smile that he couldn’t return. Eddie followed her eyesight, and finally, he saw Steve. 

They stared at each other until the ice in his torso shattered, and Steve could move.  He hurried into the back with as much dignity as he could. Steve collapsed through the bathroom, locking the door behind him with shaking fingers. 

He slid down on the wall, back pressed against stone, and feet out in front of him. Something was spilling down his cheeks, tasting of salt. Steve felt it and found shed tears shining on his fingers. 

There was no lump in his throat or squeeze behind his eyes to tell him he was crying. It was like a tap just turned on, and he was a victim of the water that flowed down his face. He couldn’t breathe, mind still reeling over what he’d seen.

Eddie was Robin’s boyfriend of two years. He was the one she thought might be the one, the person she probably loved, and she told him, and he told her back. Steve wasn’t that. 

He was crumbling down, breaking at the seams. He was a china plate shattered on the floor. There was no chance of putting him back together again. 

A knock pounded against the door, Robin’s voice echoing through the tiny room. “Steve, I have to go. Are you okay?” 

Steve swallowed, trying to sound like he wasn’t sobbing in the bathroom over her boyfriend. “Yeah, I just felt sick for a second. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Robin paused. “Okay. I’m going to go. I’ll see you later.”

Steve didn’t know if she had waited for a response or not before she left, but there was only silence afterward. He sat in there for a minute, two, ten. He waited for his heart to pierce itself together, but it didn’t. Eventually, he got up. He wiped his cheeks of tears and ran damp paper towels under his eyes. 

Steve went back to work. He gave out ice cream, cleaned the tables, and closed up shop at the end of the day. He locked the door behind him, leaving his heart on that bathroom floor.

Steve didn’t see Eddie that night, the day after, or the day after. The phone rang twice, but both times, Steve picked up. It was someone asking if his parents were home. 

At night, he imagined what he’d say to Eddie whenever he saw him next, how he’ll be cool and calm and explain that they’re done. Or maybe Eddie already knows they’re done, so he hasn’t been around. Maybe he’s glad Steve found out this way and was trying to find a way to tell him and break up with him.

Steve rolled over so his face was pressed into his pillows. He wet the cover with his tears and only slept a few hours, waking up throughout the night with a thundering in his chest, swearing that he heard Eddie’s loud van rumbling down the street. 

But there was never anyone there.

Steve stumbled into Scoops Ahoy! late the next day, he ignored Robin’s snide remarks as he punched in. He couldn’t talk to or even look at her without the urge to tell her everything burst out in word vomit over the tiled floors. And then where would that leave him?

Her comments slowly faded throughout the day, both working in silence, much like the day before. She didn’t ask him any questions, and he hoped she could sense how grateful he was for it. Steve sat in the back on his break, staring at the wall across from the table. He didn’t know what to think about. Nothing good enough in his life at the moment to distract him from the monotony of work.

He was only about three minutes into his break when he heard a familiar voice. 

“ Is he here?” Dustin asked Robin, who Steve was sure was staring at him with some awkward judgment. Steve stood up from the table, going to the swinging door with the closest thing he’s had to happiness in the last few days.

“Henderson!” he crowed at the sight of that little twerp. The brightness in Dustin’s expression smoothed over some of the cracks in his heart, and he didn’t feel like immediately falling into tears. 

“You got the job!” Dustin yelled, excited over something that Steve personally hated, but Steve couldn’t help but return the enthusiasm.

“I got the job!” They did a cool little handshake that Dustin made for them before leaving for camp, ending with Steve acting like all his guts were spilling out onto the floor.

After Dustin’s introduction to Robin and Scoops Ahoy!, he dragged Steve away to an empty booth and ordered a sailboat full of ice cream topped with whipped cream and hot fudge. Steve was still technically on his break, so he made no complaints. This was a way better way of spending his break than staring silently at the wall. He and Dustin spoke of ordinary things for a bit, Phoebe Cates, his apparent new summer camp girlfriend, all of the other shitheads ditching him, and something else he would only whisper. 

Dustin leaned down so he was closer to the table, his voice dropping considerably. He whispered something to the table, which Steve could not hear with all the chatter around them. Orange sherbert and chocolate, really, lady?

“Huh?”

Dustin groaned and whispered it again, but same as before, Steve couldn’t hear a thing. 

“Just speak louder-”

“I intercepted a secret Russian communication!” Dustin burst out, gaining the attention of everyone in the storefront, including Robin, who was staring at them with furrowed brows. 

“Jeez, shhh. Uh, that’s what I thought you said,” Steve said, leaning back so he was flush with the sticky cushions of the booth. “What does that mean?”

“It means, Steve,” Dustin leaned forward so Steve could feel the heat of his breath against his arm. “We could be heroes. True American heroes.”

Steve stared at him with a raised brow, wondering if the heat had gone to his brain. Dustin seemed to sense his apprehension and continued, “Just think, you could have all the ladies you want and more.”

“More?” Steve asked, taking a look at Robin. She was leaning over, scooping a cup of strawberry. He thought of Eddie, of his long hair and infectious chuckle. His excellent mood diminished a bit. Steve turned back to Dustin, who stared at him and cleared his throat. “I like more. What’s the catch?” There always was. Steve’s mind flashed to Eddie again. He knocked the image out of his head with a shake to the head, ignoring Dustin’s intriguing gaze. 

“No catch, I just need your help.”

“With what?” Steve asked. 

Dustin grinned at him, licking the plastic spoon clean of ice cream. “Translation.”

Next Part ->

[bugsbenefit]

attraction in ST

or. oh god stop stripping the show of it's themes no please no it needs those, stopppp

actually making this post now bc i'm sick of people claiming anything remotely sexual or even kissing happening to the party (an opinion that often pops up in the context of byler) in s5 would be horrible, sexualising, or out of character for the show

ST has always had a realistic approach to kids growing into their sexualities. the show's never shied away from directly addressing sex and sexual feelings so i'm honestly amazed by the extremely puritan interpretation of the show. i'm assuming, in good faith, that a big part of it is coming from people not having seen the actual show in ages and are just forgetting how explicitly the show handles sexuality. instead of just assuming it's from culturally raised christian people, who feel uncomfortable seeing any portrayal of sexuality, no matter how tasteful or realistic

i'm also saying all this as an ace person myself, i get not being into sex and not wanting to see it. however, refusing to acknowledge entire themes of a fictional show just because i don't experience them is bizarre to me. sexuality is vitally important to a lot of the characters and isn't just there to be fun(gross). essentially, ST is the opposite of porn without plot

so just as a little reminder what's actually IN Stranger Things. canonically.

sorry i had this sc for ages and wanted to include it Somewhere, so here you go. at a little starter... dorry

also this is an old draft seeing the light of day now, if anything's worded weird it's bc i didn't read all of it over again so oops, grammar hard?

TLDR: the show has never shied away from explicitly addressing sexuality. buying into the puritan fanon version of the show is going to make your s5 viewing experience worse because that show doesn't exist

season 1

we're starting the show off with Stancy, which is very sexually charged in general. (even in s4 Nancy still experiences physical attraction to Steve despite them having unchanged compatibility) the plot surrounding them in s1 explicitly focuses on Nancy having sex with Steve and later regretting that choice. the scene that everyone remembers, is of course, the "explicit" (not really, because ST is really tasteful with how it shows these teens explore themselves) sex scene

they're in sophomore and junior year of highschool here. around 15 and 16 years old - yet the show doesn't shy away from letting them figure things out. and it's not like this sexual theme is contained in only that scene. it keeps coming back the whole season as Nancy tries to sort her feelings out and deals with the aftermath of that night

also sidenote here while still at Steve and his party: even Steve's friends are very casual with their sexualities. and yes, they can even explicitly mention sex and specific sexual acts, no holding back here

Nancy's character conflict in s1 very much hinges on her sexuality and sexual themes. and it's not like there is a magic you need to be at least this old rule to know what sex is on the show like so many people seem to believe, because even 12 year old Mike seems to very much know what his sister and Steve are up to. he even goes out of his way to use it against her

iconic line! but i've seen insane takes trying to spin this into something not alluding to something sexual. i'm sorry to say if he doesn't think they're full on having sex he at least thinks they're getting very intimate with each other regardless

so not even the youngest characters on the show are "innocent and pure" the way fandom likes to claim when it comes to sexuality. and of course they aren't. real 12 year olds know what sex is, they're young not oblivious

and the following seasons make that even more obvious

season 2

as of s2 the kids are getting more involved with the sexual jokes, not just making them about other people but even being directly involved with those themes themselves. which is also realistic. with 13 sexuality starts to get thrown your way by every possible form of media. lots of them start developing crushes, have no idea how relationships work, etc. it's messy, typical teens thrown into the dating game. (i say all of this from a developmental media psychology perspective thanks uni and not personal experience sorry lmao, i'm a bit too ace to have my own input here)

s2 features comedic and awkward mentions of sex(ual activity) towards Lucas and Max,

older peers giving their 13 year old friends well meant advice on how relationships work,

and has even younger characters play around with attraction/kissing/love as well, which is incredibly normal for kids to do at that age

they're all young and the show treats growing up realistically. while the theme of attraction or sexuality gets more relevant for them (in scenes that are often received with awkwardness by the characters themselves) the show offers them safe territory to stand on. none of them are directly confronted with sexuality and are instead offered people to seek advice from for example

meanwhile the sexuality theme for the older kids is still very much explicit. just as Nancy's arc is still heavily tied to her romance and sexuality (which ties into her non conformity themes - she's an ambition driven person trying to escape the culdesac life first and foremost)

not only do we get another sex scene (this time with a cut away), there's also explicit jokes about it after

sexuality on the show is continuously awkward and messy. Jonathan and Nancy are only 16-17 here - no one really knows what they're doing or what the right way to go ahead is and Jonathan rightfully almost does a spittake here. out of pocket Murray

sexuality. is. awkward. (we get is s2 thanks)

season 3

s3 gets even more explicit with it's awkward puberty sexuality themes

from Dustin talking about how much he likes kissing Suzie (and her liking him not having teeth for it?) which weirds Steve out to the repeating, awkwardly received, "happy screams joke" (which gets a callback in later scene)

sexuality is still awkward for them. it's a realistic approach to what 14 year olds act like and know. they're actively dating by now, they're kissing people And have messy relationship situations. all while still acknowledging knowing what sex and attraction is, duh, of course they know that. but i'm explicitly pointing it out because i see obscene amounts of people claiming the characters are completely sheltered and even implying that they know what sex is would be gross. to that i say, do you not remember being 14???

and while i'm at s3, also let it be mentioned that even the adults are suffering at the hands of the sexuality theme here. Hopper's hookups with random women are focused on in s1, but now that he's getting closer with Joyce they get very explicitly told to just have sex. literally

not putting the whole dialogue in here, i already have too many images because there's so many sex mentions in this show and he really just tells them their mating ritual is painful and they should tear their clothes off and fuck right now

thanks Murray, always insightful

season 4

and s4 has stopped just confronting the kids with the existence of sexuality, but is tentatively starting to explore mature themes more directly - which allows them to tentatively start exploring their own sexualities instead of just having to acknowledge the general concept of sexuality

Max gets to ogle shirtless Steve

Lucas has something under his bed that's never confirmed as anything except "100/10 gross" but had 90% of the audience i saw immediately assume something sexual (magazines or the like)

and has a bunch more direct nudges, from the kids "experimenting sexually" as Murray says

to Argyle explicitly telling Jonathan he needs to have sex with Nancy again

to Hopper and Joyce's escalating make out in a church while shirtless

to visual innuendos (i'm looking at you hose scene. this one wouldn't be such a big deal if there wasn't a genuine moral panic about it last year. which was crazy. people literally had to pretend the scene didn't exist to escape the witchhunting mobs, except instead of being killed for magic it'd be for looking at a canon scene and acknowledging it. crazy times - aside from that there's also more visuals you can take as innuendos in s4e1 which there's already posts about out there so i'm not getting into them here, i'm more focused on the overt textual references)

to Yuir extensively talking about pleasing women and making them cum (I'm sparing you from that, the sc in at the top was already enough)

to explicit graffities all over the place, like here as an example "give me head until i'm dead" which is in frame for the whole phone call and Steve talking about his bitchlesness. and is also some of the only easily legible text (i hope this is readable, most of my screenshots kind of died a bit so maybe you need to look at an actual clip to see the text)

that is aside from the "DRUGS" poster which touches on another point s4 makes. the show doesn't just explore sexuality, it also puts the kids into more mature situations in general (not talking about the deaths, this is a horror show), specifically drugs

Jonathan uses weed as a coping mechanism the whole season and Eddie even sells the stuff in full bags (insane weed selling practices btw, even i know that). Chrissy (17-18) wants to do weed and ketamine. and we also see Lucas (14) hungover after drinking at a party for the first time

the show does not shy away from portraying realistic teen experiences

Murray called s4 very well, the kids pound some bears, smoke some ganja, play nintendo, and experiment sexually

literally. you have drinking, weed, and confusing queer sexualities. they took this list step by step

and all of those pretty normal things teens tend to explore. and i say that as someone who was decidedly not into those things. the ace experience is a bit different, but i can still acknowledge how that period was like for my allo friends and people in general

there is an extreme push in this fandom to reject any form of sexual jokes or references in the show, made mostly by people being uncomfortable with portrayals of sexuality. however, the themes not only still exist, they're also very prominent throughout all 4 seasons and are important to a lot of the characters directly

and it's also noteworthy here to see how ST approaches it's sexuality theme. it grows with the characters. starting out as jokes and being received with awkwardness to slowly letting them figure things out on their own time and turns. an extremely realistic progression and very common for coming of age narratives such as ST. it's a far cry from shows exploring sexuality or sexual themes for the sake of the viewers enjoyment like Euph0ria (don't want it to show up in tags)

based on what we currently know s5 could very well be taking place in 1988 or later which would place the party at around 16-17 years old. going into the season with the fanon version of the show that is completely clean and non sexual will 100% set you up for disaster

ST is very realistic and non exploitative with it's exploration of teen sexuality so there is obviously nothing to worry about in the sexualization department, that's just puritan fear mongering. however, it's very likely that we're going to get more than holding hands or pecks on the lips from the characters that are now older than characters we've explicitly seen hook up before. there could be more intimate scenes or making out, yes. but there's also at least one basically guaranteed vulgar joke in there, all seasons have them

there's no real theorizing or speculation about s5 here, anything could happen and i'm not placing bets, i want the characters narratives to be wrapped up well first and foremost and trust the writers to do it well. however, going into s5 with some of the mindsets i've seen circulating on here and expecting the show to be "clean" and cater to a version of it that's never existed outside of purified fandom could genuinely make you feel blindsided by the shows canon themes

not targeted at anyone or anything specifically, just using this as a bit of a reality check of what the show is actually like after recently rewatching all of it in one go

[justanother-anon]

I am back on my soulmate kick again

Soulmate au where you have the first thing you say to your soulmates on your body in their handwriting and depending on you relationship depends on the color

Blue platonic, gold familial, red romantic

And Steve?

Steve has 9

And somehow

The first one of Steve's soulmates he meets? It's Mike Wheeler

And they still don't get along at all this guy nancy really? he's a jerk

Then a girl dies, one of Nancy's soulmates

The upside-down happens and he and nancy grow apart. Mike still wants very little to do with him.

Then Halloween happens and it has never been so clear that Nancy isn't writing on his skin

And his life is dragged upside-down again and this time he knows 5 of his kids.

He has an anguished scream on his arm and he has 6

And these kids become his world and he loves then protecting all of them as best as he can

(Billy has nothing to use against him max is his family both by fate and by choice anything he tries to say would only show the world that Steve is everything Billy isnt)

And then he meets a girl who is his platonic soulmate in a sailor-themed ice cream shop and she starts out hating him

Just a little bit

And then his kid is talking about Russians and he's found another kid that is his

And the upside-down is back and they're all in danger

And people die but Steve's people make it out except one

Hopper doesn't make it out and two of his kids are going to California

And they call all the time but that doesn't change the distance

Then 3 of his gremlins find another person that's theirs

And he's so happy they found somone

But he misses them too

(Dustin swears that he would love eddie if he met him but Steve can't bring himself to meet the man who seems to be replacing him)

And one of his people is pulling away Robins there and he loves her and leans on her

Then another girl is dead and the soulmate of several kids is missing And oh

Oh no

He knows those words

The upside-down brings him another soulmate and this time the mark is red but there isn't time

So that's my thoughts I just think the first soulmate Steve finds being Mike would be very funny and an interesting premises

@corrodedcoughin (I almost put this in your inbox but decided to be a little brave✏️)

[marypsue]

I realise you haven't been enjoying season 4 very much, but i thought you might enjoy my newest ST related hobby, which is thinking about an AU where Bob survives season 2 and goes to Russia with Joyce and Murray to break Hopper out of jail. I personally think this is the funniest possible timeline and would have some incredible character dynamics/interactions.

If you were gonna change one plot point from ST, which do you think would have the best knock-on effect on later seasons?

Oh I'm absolutely going to be adding that scenario to the 7-11 taquito roller in my mind, thank you! Any AU where Bob survives is a good AU, and also I am dying thinking about how absolutely, incandescently confused Hopper would be about him turning up in the USSR like 'what, like it's hard'?

I love every single time people underestimate Bob Newby because he is kind and cheerful and goofy and intensely normcore and a lil fat and a bit of a scaredy cat, until the stakes become real and he immediately steps up and turns out to also be brave and inventive and kind of a badass, and leaves everyone who hadn't expected it from him and had only seen what they expected to see scratching their heads. It never fails to delight me. (I am still only at the end of s4 episode 4 so I don't actually know how they managed to resolve the whole Russia-rescue plot in canon, but now I am absolutely going to be finishing out my watch thinking the whole time about what would be the most ridiculous, absurd, infuriating, hilarious way to work Bob into it. Excellent watching-season-4-faceplant-itself-directly-into-a-wall-over-Cold-War-xenophobia coping strategy. Delightful.)

If I were going to change one plot point, in canon, with the intent that it would be a) something that could realistically happen canonically in a Netflix show between 2016-2023 and that its knock-on effects would be as well, and b) something that would have the most general positive effect on my opinion of the series...hm. That's a tough one. Because I can think really easily of thematic things that I would change, or characterisation things that I would change, but those would both require changing a lot of plot points. This is a much bigger challenge!

I am going to say that the plot point I would change...would be in season 3, where it turns out there are Russians in a secret basement under the mall. Dustin and Steve and Robin and Erica can keep chasing what they assume are Russian spies throughout most of the season, but something isn't quite adding up. They find their way into a secret sub-basement, and find the source of the Russian message Dustin intercepted - only to discover that it's all been a false flag operation, because the lab got shut down in disgrace after season 2 and Nancy and Murray's expose, and now they're having to study the Gate (and try to recreate it) in secret with plausible deniability of their government connections if they get caught. Things get considerably more complicated and less jingoistic, it's tied back into the theme of season 1, and there's like at least 25% less Murray Bauman.

(And then, even though season 4's plot isn't really all that affected by the events of season 3 beyond Literally The Last Episode, we have no boneheaded bullshit involving Russia in s4, and any sympathy that the boys might have tried to cultivate for the assholes at the lab who abducted children and raised them in captivity, being experimented on against their will, without human connection except that which was used to manipulate them in order to use them as weapons would be just patently absurd, so maybe they wouldn't fucking do that. And also maybe I wouldn't have to endure any more Murray-with-a-funny-Russian-accent cardboard cutout 'characters'. One must imagine a better world, or how else can it become?)

[awesome-opossum-after-hours]

rewatching Stranger Things, final part!

-Eddie has a tapestry above his bed. wayyyy ahead of the trends (I believe it's a Slayer print but I couldn't totally make it out?)

- now that Noah is officially out (yay for him!!!!) Will's tears and speech during the Van scene about being different is all the more moving and authentic

-there was a little bit of realization in Mike's eyes at the end of that conversation

-the entire Wheeler family has targets on their backs. their deaths would hurt, have an effect on a lot of other characters. Nancy said that Vecna showed her Mike, Holly, and her mom and they were (unspokenly) dead

-did the older teens get to shower in Max's trailer? bc like... they all looked like they needed it BAD especially Steve and Eddie

-(update ^ no they didn't)

-Eddie couldn't possibly use the bandana in his back pocket as a disguise bc that serves a Greater Purpose

-Around the Bend is the PERFECT song to steal an RV to

-Eddie is headbanging as they drive off. someone pointed that out before but I had to see it for myself

-listen with all the d3ath theories and speculations going around about Steve- I do not care at this point WHO he gets this with but let Steve have his six little mini Harringtons one day and get to drive around the country.

-Eleven was trying to send Brenner into the Upside Down, just as she had done with Vecna and the Demogorgon

-I seriously think that Eddie was fully prepared to die for Dustin, really solidified by the "never change" promise. it's like getting an "I love you" text from THAT friend...

-Max made them promise that however they killed Vecna, they wouldn't miss. so when Nancy saws off her shotgun with Max watching, she assures her that it guarantees she won't

-the fucking shock collar is the most unnerving thing Brenner uses on the children like bffr that's horrible

-i can't get over the hug between the Byers Twins (yeah I won't stop calling them that) bc it looks like the best hug ever

-if Brenner comes back next season but Eddie doesn't I'm suing the Duffers

-tho there are theories going around that he legitimately has powers based on fanart Matthew Modine reposted saying that he was "000"... immortality???

-Joyce and Hopper almost fucked in a CHURCH. tisk tisk

-who's dogtag was Dustin wearing??

-yeah the way Eddie quickly broke eye contact with Steve.... idk if it's what a lot of people think but there was definitely something else going through his head besides "make him pay"

-when Argyle laughs while saying that dogs ride in the baggage compartment all the time I'd like to think that was Eduardo breaking character but quickly covering it and them just keeping it in

-they sell ice cream cake and cannoli at the Surfer Boy in Nevada

-while Max and Lucas are waiting for Erica's signal, i think they're in Mr and Mrs Creel's bedroom

-there's a joke i could make about why Jonathan brings up Will having the LEGO guy stuck up his nose but I won't ruin a sentimental scene

-again tho the tears in that scene and the freaking hug looked so genuine. we love you Noah :)

-those pizza sunglasses actually have a pretty cool patern, idk why the merch team hasn't made a pair of Surfer Boy Pizza Box themed sunglasses

-awww yall were right Eddie DOES have butterflies on his bedsheets

-Eddie did not need to yell when he cut the rope, def did it for Dramatic Affect

-the demobat screams have to be deafening

-is Dream a Little Dream Vecna's favorite song? unsettling

-Steve, Nancy, and Robin were choked for so long... like how did they not die???

-Lucas was literally going to take a bullet for his friends. so underrated

-Jason like barely blinks during his scenes where he's all psycho. in fact, each time the camera is on him in the Creel House, he doesn't at all.

-I mentioned this in season 2, but Eddie raising his spear and shield to fight the bats is a total parallel of Will standing his ground against the Mindflayer. IF he does come back next season these two will have to share stories!

-i think their best bet would've just been to cut Vecna's head off tbh

-"he's the monster, not you Henry!" bitch tf???? he's mercilessly and proudly killing teenagers

-why did Henry make a parallel version of Hawkins unless he had plans for Will? I bet he made it the day Will got captured, which is why the Upside Down is stuck on that date. but why????

-if Vecna had killed El, would a gate open in Nevada?

-Will makes a quick glance to Mike when he says he loves El

-"if I said what I felt I thought that would make it hurt more" then Will looks at Jonathan, he looks back with knowing eyes

-I wonder if Argyle was still stoned out of his mind, those lights must've been trippy

-when Murray uses the flamethrower, Hopper shields Joyce :)

-Steve, Robin, and Nancy were the only ones who got to see Vecna's physical form, in person and not just in the mindscape (not counting people who saw him pre-banishment)

-if I were Hopper, I'd have kept that demogorgon head and framed in above my mantle like people do with deer

-it looks like Eddie broke his left leg in the bat attack, or at least while he's lying down it looks really twisted in a wrong way

-something that hurt badly about both Eddie and Max's death (aside from the fact that they died) was that in season 1, Dustin and Lucas were both the Comic Relief characters (though Lucas moreso in s3). seeing them both wail and sob while holding their dying friend broke me. while I do want this grief to be explored in s5 (whether both "dead" characters stay that way or not), I'm not emotionally prepared🥲

-some of the people who were packing to move from Hawkins were BOOKING IT. they wanted OUT

-again, just like when the Byers were moving, Dustin seems to not wear a hat when he's sad

-scenes where Mike hugs his mom are so underrated

-AFTER NANCY AND JONATHAN KISS YOU SEE A DEJECTED STEVE WALK PAST WHILE ROBIN PATS HIM ON THE BACK OH NOOOOO

-Lucas is reading Stephen King's novel, "The Talisman". funny enough, the cover shares the Stranger Things font

-Wayne wearing basically the same outfit as Jonathan in s1 putting up the Missing Person posters cannot be a coincidence

-Dustin's lip trembling before he hands Wayne the guitar pick is devastating

wow, I actually rewatched a series without skipping any parts/episodes! I know there hasn't been many people seeing these but I hope you enjoyed if you did!

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

Currently on a rewatch of Stranger Things but gotta say I just had this random thought:

It's obvious that Will and Eleven are paralleled, right? (I'm currently at Season 2 btw) I mean you have the whole them-being-connected-to-The-Upside-Down-and-how-it-works (for example, Nancy and Steve didn't know how to utilize the power sources when there until season 4), being on Vecna's radar (for Will through this shadow monster thing in season 2), having some connection with it, being the firsts (as far as season 1 & 2) to have any kind of contact with it, their relationship with Mike is very similar (in that he accepts them for who they are no matter how much of a "freak" they might feel like they are & both care about his opinion), both were told to stand their ground and face their fear (Eleven -> Demi-Gorgon; Will -> shadow monster) which did not work when they did in those particular scenarios, etc.

So that got me thinking, is Eleven or Will going to die by the series' end? Because how will this whole thing come to fruition in the final season? What will it take to close that rift, save Hawkins and everyone in it, and get things back to normal again? Eleven was the one who opened the gate in the first place, and she's had to do battle with that side (for lack of a better word) again and again. Then we come to find out that even before the gate, she was the one who started the ball rolling by what she chose to do with Henry. That Henry absolutely has it in for her. So, will it take her to close the rift/defeat Henry once and for all? Sure, but I wonder will they require her sacrificing her life to accomplish this? Or will the writers choose Will? (if they go that way at all)

And here's why I'm throwing Will's name into the ring. Despite the obvious parallels between him and Eleven, he was also paralleled to Eddie a bit in Season 4. (Spoilers ahead)

.

.

.

Eddie died because he chose not to run, and instead sacrificed himself to give the group more time to take on Vecna and make sure the plan worked. After he had just told Steve that he was no hero. And here's where it gets interesting:

This same season, Eleven goes with the Dr and writes a note to Mike to tell him that she's gone to try to be a superhero again, because Mike has told her that he believes she's a superhero, not a monster. During her time in the lab, she eventually remembers what happened with Henry and the other kids, and she is convinced she's the monster, which as we know, she isn't, and by the end of the season, she knows, too. But the theme/parallel is there.

Will has always been Will the Wise, in the D&D game he has tried to resurrect in the past but to no avail, especially since now he has moved to California and the rest of his friends are back in Hawkins. He had to remind Mike that he's the heart of the group so then Mike could give Eleven the support she needed. Will isn't so much a hero and no one is calling him that in the show (that I remember anyway), but he is providing support in the best way he can this season. Almost as if they are in that same party still. Like the scene we see in season 1 in the pilot, where Will makes a self-sacrificing move for his friends in the game, this very much parallels with Eddie in the Hellfire Club and his eventual demise. You would think that Eddie and Mike might parallel one another because Eddie is literally in Mike's place, but the parallels really are with Will. Mike has never been a "freak" or outcast (has he been bullied? sure, but he's never felt like a complete outcast such as Eddie, Will, and Eleven have) and he has never had to stand to face his fears, he has never had to face off against Vecna or The Upside Down in any shape or form. Eddie and Will have the parallels, right down to them being "missing" the whole season, being called names like "Zombie Boy" and "The Freak", the Upside Down/Vecna affecting them first (i.e. Chrissy's death and the opening being inside Eddie's uncle's trailer), a loved one not believing they did the thing everyone else thinks they did to end up missing (Will -> running away/drowning; Eddie -> killing Chrissy), and so on and so forth.

So that makes me wonder: are we going to be seeing Will die by the end of this? (though I can't imagine them doing that to Joyce, Jonathan, or the kids) Or are we going to see Eleven die since this whole thing started with her and she is the "superhero"? (though that's not something I really want to think about)

And another little parallel to Will: Max. She absolutely began to parallel his experience a little this season. So what will happen with her? Will we see Vecna use her to try to kill all of her friends and bring Hawkins to its knees? Or will we see her die, too? It's a lot to think about.

Just clarifying, I hope no one dies at all. But I'm just thinking since they upped the stakes this season and made it a little darker, since Gaten said they were going back to the aesthetics and things of season 1 in season 4, that maybe this is where it might all be headed. I hope I'm wrong.

[burgundybmw]

Waking Up In Vegas

Masterlist

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Hopper!Reader

Word Count: 3,863

Warnings: Drunkness.

Summary: After the death of her father, Y/N Hopper is left to pick up the pieces of her life. She was always the star daughter, perfect grades, never got into trouble, never had a sip of alcohol. She decides life is too short, and takes some of the money her dad left to go have a wild weekend in Las Vegas. Steve being the mother hen he is, decides she shouldn't go alone. Since Scoops Ahoy is in the dust, and job hunting hasn't been going so well, he tags along. Y/N soon realizes there's a reason she listened to her dad's rules all her life, when she wakes up hungover, covered in glitter, and wearing Steve's class ring.

Author's Note: So I found out Jamie Campbell Bower listened to Katy Perry to prepare for his role for Vecna (it was totally Dark Horse), so I took a break from 80s music to put on her discography. Waking Up In Vegas is one of my faves, and that lead to the creation of this. Hope you enjoy it! Takes place after the fall of Starcourt Mall and before Steve and Robin begin working at Family Video.

If you were to ask anyone in Hawkins how they would describe Y/N Hopper, there would be a common theme amongst the citizens. Y/N was responsible, intelligent, dependable, respectful, overall a good girl. She was beloved by her dad and the rest of the Hawkins police department, a model daughter any father would want. She maintained this reputation throughout her life. She didn't go to parties, she didn't sneak out at night, drink or do drugs, she never felt the need. She didn't want to make her dad's life more difficult after Sarah died, and then after mom left. He tried his best, and Y/N knew that. So she tried her best too, but now her dad was dead, and her best didn't seem worth it anymore.

She got the idea after walking past the travel agency in Hawkins. A massive poster filled with depictions of flashing lights and money falling from the sky.

Test Your Luck in Las Vegas! It said. Y/N stared at that poster for a long time. She remembered how much she missed out in her teens, parties, booze, and boys. She was turning 19 in a few months, and she had nothing to show for it. Nothing normal anyway. That's when she decided to go to the bank, cash out some of her inheritance, and book a flight to Vegas.

She could feel the adrenaline rush in her veins, she had never done anything like this before. Every decision she made was calculated, sure, she measured the risks for everything. This was sudden, spontaneous, exciting. The first time she felt thrilled in weeks. She knew her dad would be disappointed in her, but in the moment she didn't think of him. She couldn't, not without crumbling. Y/N needed this, to get away. Get away from Hawkins and all of its mess. Just for a bit, then she'd think about the future. She'd go to college like she planned, and resume her good girl lifestyle. One weekend wouldn't kill her.

Y/N went to the bank, took out $5,000 in cash, and made her way back to the travel agency. The agent, a nice blonde woman named Heidi, took care of everything. She had a first class flight first thing Saturday morning, a beautiful hotel room on the strip with a king sized bed, and a return flight home Monday afternoon. It was all set, and Y/N was in high spirits. That was until she walked straight into Steve Harrington as she left the office's front door.

"Y/N? Hey, uh, how are you holding up?" Steve asked. They had a bizarre friendship, her and Steve. It all started when she went out looking for her father on Halloween night. He had promised to be home at 5 to spend time with her and Eleven, and he was nowhere to be found. Who she found instead was Steve Harrington, nursing a heartbreak after Nancy told him their relationship was quote "bullshit." Y/N couldn't stand the sad puppy dog look on his face, and he did come through the year prior when they all went against the demogorgon.

So she took pity on him, and took him home and made him an ice cream sundae. It's what her dad used to do with her and Sarah when they were sad. He would make dessert for dinner, whatever they had on hand, but sundae's were always her favorite. That night she stayed over and they talked about anything and everything, Nancy, school, the future. It was nice, and they maintained that friendship for the past year and a half. Whenever things got too much they'd call each up, and make dessert for dinner. Before she realized it, she had started to fall for him. Y/N thought about what it would be like, to be with Steve. Strong dependable Steve. He never let her down when she needed him, but she broke that tradition when her dad died. Now all she gave him was radio silence for the past month. He called her often, but she never answered. This was the first time she spoke to him after it happened.

"I'm holding up alright... What about you?" She hated the cordial pleasantries, like they were strangers, but the guilt for ignoring him was weighing on her shoulders now.

"I'm good, the bruises on my face are finally gone. It's nice not to wake up looking like raw hamburger." That got a laugh out of her, and just like that the weight was gone. Steve didn't seem upset with her for ignoring him. Things seemed okay.

"Well that's good to hear. It would be a tragedy if your face maintained hamburger status forever, pretty boy." Steve looked a bit bashful then, his hair bouncing around has he chuckled at her comment. Then he noticed where she was standing, or rather where she was leaving from.

"Are you going on vacation or something?" He asked.

"Um, yea sort of. I'm leaving Saturday morning for Vegas." Steve looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his skull. It would have been a shock to anyone, Y/N Hopper taking a solo trip to Sin City.

"Are you going alone?" Steve had his hands on his hips, he was using the same voice he used on the kids when they were up to mischief.

"Yea. I was planning on it. Why?" She didn't understand why he was acting this way. Like she was out of her mind, maybe she was, but she wasn't a little girl anymore. She could make decisions and mistakes for herself.

"Why? Because it's dangerous Y/N! You know the mob used to bury bodies out there! Who knows if they're still at it! You can't go alone, no way!" Steve said with exasperation.

"Well I am. I'll be back on Monday, and it will all be fine. The decision is already made Steve. So I'll see you later." She could hear Steve's protests as she got into her car and drove away, but she didn't care. She had to go home and pack her bags, and not worry about Steve and his melodrama.

Y/N had never been on a plane before. The first class cabin was nice and spacious, she had the window seat, and the seat beside her was empty as the last passengers walked in. She hoped it remained empty, the last thing she wanted was some stranger try to make boring conversation with her. She looked out the window, soon she will be out of Hawkins. Away from everything that was wrong with that town. Eleven was staying with Joyce and the Byers boys, she had told her sister about her trip and told her when to expect her back. Joyce wasn't as happy as El was about the news, her motherly instincts kicking in. She didn't try to stop her, Y/N was just as stubborn as her father, she just told her to call if her if she needed anything. Now she was here, on her way to Vegas.

She felt someone settle in the seat next to her, but didn't bother looking to see who it was. That was until she felt a tap on her shoulder. The girl turned her head to see what they wanted, only to find Steve Harrington sitting next to her.

"What the hell are you doing here Steve?" A hundred and one questions were running through her head. How did they let him on the plane? Was he trying to stop her? How did she know what flight she was on?

"I'm coming with you." He said quietly as he buckled his seatbelt.

"What? How? Why?" Y/N asked, confused and mildly annoyed.

"I told you you shouldn't go alone, it's dangerous Y/N. I took my dad's credit card and bought the seat next to yours, told the agent you were my girlfriend and that we were paying separately. It's nice to know the old Harrington charm still works."

Y/N was fuming. She didn't ask for a babysitter, she could do this on her own.

"You're getting a flight back to Indianapolis as soon as we land Steve. You had no right to follow me." She tried to keep her voice down, not wanting to alert the fellow passengers.

"Look I'm sorry Y/N, but this isn't like you. You're not the type to drop thousands of dollar on a whim for a trip to Vegas. I just wanted to make sure you're okay, ya know, after everything." Y/N took a deep breath. She shouldn't be surprised, Steve always got himself into trouble for others. The over protective shit head.

"Fine, but don't try to ruin my fun. For once in my goddamn life I want to do something exciting. Pretend I'm not the dead Chief of Police's daughter for a weekend. Alright? If you promise not to mother hen me I'll let you stay." Y/N huffed out. Steve flashed his megawatt smile and settled into his seat. This was going to be a long flight.

They landed in Las Vegas with no issue. The taxi ride to the hotel was tense, Y/N was giving Steve the silent treatment. He tried to break the awkwardness with a witty remark every once in awhile, but she didn't give him the satisfaction. After awhile he gave up.

They checked into the hotel in silence, and then Y/N realized another problem when they walked into the room. It was the lovers suite, the travel agent must have switched it when Steve said he was her boyfriend, the idiot. The heat rushed to her face when she looked around the room.

There was a heart shaped hot tub in the corner of the room, and on the other side was a large king sized bed with a mirror on the ceiling above it. A metal cart was placed in front of a velvet couch, a large bucket filled with champagne rested on top with boxes of chocolates next to it. There were rose petals scattered throughout the room, and everything was decorated in many different shades of red. At least the color would cover up the bloodstains when she killed Steve for this mess.

"Shit, I guess this is what Heidi meant when she gave us an upgrade." Steve said awkwardly, his face as red as the room they were staying in.

"You're taking the couch, and I'm taking a shower." Y/N placed her bags next to the bed and grabbed all of her toiletries. She wouldn't let this set back ruin her trip. Once she got into the bathroom, she turned the shower on as hot as it could go. As she felt the water cascade down her body she thought about what she would do for the rest of the day. One thing was for sure, she was going to open that bottle of champagne as soon as she could.

Y/N got dressed and ready in the bathroom, a black sequin dress hugging her frame. It was her mother's from the 60s, Dad called it her Nancy Sinatra dress. It was at the dry cleaners when she left, and she never came back to get it. So it was Y/N's now. It was the only thing that felt Vegas appropriate. Once her hair and makeup was done to her liking she finally walked out, Steve was sitting on the couch, dressed in a similar get up he wore on Halloween. She walked straight to the champagne bottle and popped it open, oblivious to the hungry stare Steve was giving her.

Steve had developed a crush on Y/N Hopper over the past year, and he finally admitted it to Robin when the Russians gave them that truth serum. That's when she told him that she used to have feelings for her as well, before developing her crush on Tammy Thompson. Steve had said that Tammy wasn't even in the same ballpark as Y/N, the poor girl sounded like a muppet and would totally get crushed in Nashville. That was how they became best friends, and that's when Steve started to allow himself to feel something for his other best friend. He didn't mean for it to happen, and he had no intention of telling her, not after Chief Hopper's death. Steve did allow himself to look at her though, the short black dress leaving just enough for his imagination to run wild. He caught himself when she turned around, two glasses of champagne in hand. She passed one to him before taking her seat next to him on the couch.

"I have decided that we are going to have fun this weekend. No talk of psychic monsters or dead dads. You and I are going to get drunk, dance, play with slot machines, and have a good time. I think we deserve it ya know?" Y/N raised her champagne glass in a toast, and Steve tapped his glass against hers.

"No complaints from me." They both drank their champagne in that cheesy hotel room, completely unaware of what would go down that evening.

Y/N felt a shooting pain in her skull when she regained consciousness. Her stomach was swirling with nausea and her eyes were sensitive to the light that was pouring into the room. She slowly opened her eyes to see the hotel room in complete disarray. Her mother's dress was thrown across the metal cart that was dangerously close to falling into the hot tub, which was still on and bubbling. She could see something floating in the water, and to Y/N's horror it was the bra she was wearing the previous day. The white lace cups bouncing against the walls of the red tub.

She looked down at her body, she was covered in glitter and was wearing a Hawkins basketball sweatshirt. It must have been Steve's. Thankfully she still had underwear on, but then she noticed that it wasn't the same pair she wore yesterday. She tried to remember what the hell happened the night before, but her memories were blurry. That's when she heard a snore beside her on the bed. It was Steve, shirtless and his hairy chest was on display. Y/N didn't have the courage to look below the covers to see if he was as bare below the waist as he was above.

He was still asleep, and Y/N took the opportunity to quietly get out of bed and clean up around the room. There was a mountain of cash in a duffle bag on the couch, and she had no idea if they had won it or robbed a bank. Steve's clothes were thrown about the room, and she carefully picked them up and put them back in his suitcase. She finally found her purse amongst the carnage, and she noticed the fake ID she brought was missing. Her car keys, real driver's license, and plane ticket home were thankfully still inside. There was at least one silver lining.

She tried her best to reorganize the room, but the hangover was getting worse. She needed an aspirin and water a soon as possible. When she went to go look for some she heard a groan from the other side of the room, Steve was finally awake.

"Jesus H. Christ my head hurts." Steve complained. He sat up and finally opened his eyes. He noticed Y/N first, she was bent over looking through her suitcase. She had no pants on, and was wearing his sweatshirt. He looked down at himself and noticed he was half naked. The only thing on his body was his gray Calvin Klein boxers and one sock on his foot. Steve shot his head up, deer in headlights look pointed at Y/N.

"What the hell happened last night?" Steve croaked out, voice sore.

"I have no idea Steve! I only remember bits and pieces." Y/N was pacing around the room, arms waving around. That's when Steve noticed something on Y/N's finger, and his stomach swooped when he realized what is was.

"Y/N... What's that on your hand?" He really hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. Y/N looked down at her finger, and finally noticed the piece of jewelry she wasn't wearing yesterday.

"Steve, why am I wearing your class ring?" Y/N asked, voice stern. It reminded him of her dad. Steve tried to remember how his ring got on her finger, he vaguely remembered a small white room. Elvis was there, or a guy dressed up as him. There were flowers, and Y/N had a veil on her head...

"Holy shit, did we get hitched last night?" Steve yelled. He shot out of bed and nearly toppled over, he hadn't had a hangover this brutal since sophomore year. Y/N didn't pay attention to him as she stared at the ring on her finger. She remembered the little chapel now, a very drunk Steve struggling to put the ring on her finger. She remembered a flash going off, there was a photo.

Y/N started looking around the room, heart racing and hands shaking. She picked up her bags, the pillows on the bed, the empty bottles of champagne in the room. It was when she got to the duffle bag full of cash that she noticed a polaroid hanging out the side pocket, she carefully picked it up and what she saw made her jaw drop.

It was Steve, he had her mid dip, one hand holding her back and the other gripping the thigh she had wrapped around him. Y/N had her arms around his neck, bouquet in hand and a veil on her head. They were kissing, and a large banner above a fake Elvis said "Congratulations to the Bride and Groom!" and written on the bottom of the polaroid in neat cursive writing read "The Harringtons."

Y/N's blood ran cold. She married Steve last night. Steve Harrington was her husband. The memories were coming back to her. It was after Steve had won the jackpot from the slot machine, in all the excitement he had kissed her against the machine. She kissed him back. They were drunk and running on adrenaline, and decided it was a great idea to hit the strip with their winnings. Y/N had wanted to bring the duffle bag filled with the majority of their riches back to the hotel room, Steve had lost the hotel key and they had to trace their steps back. Instead of finding the key, they found The Little Vegas Chapel.

That's when he went on this monologue about having a happy family, with six kids and a wife where they traveled across the country. Steve wanted to be a dad, be involved with his kids unlike his parents. Y/N always wanted to be a good mom, one who would never abandon her daughter like her mother did. Y/N had said she wanted the same thing, a big family, backyard, and a husband who loved her. She couldn't remember what happened after that conversation, Steve had said something, they kissed again, and then they went inside The Little Vegas Chapel. Elvis had married them, and Y/N found the spare hotel key in her purse.

Y/N sat down on the couch and lifted her hand to show Steve the polaroid. He was finally dressed and slowly walked over to her. He took the photo from her hand, and immediately dropped on to the seat next to her.

"We're married..." Steve said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Looks like it." Y/N responded. He put the picture down on her lap and began pacing around the room, mumbling nonsense under his breath.

"Shit, shit, shit. I have to call Henderson." Steve said as he went to grab the hotel phone. Y/N immediately hung it up before he could press dial.

"Don't call Dustin!" Y/N yelled. The last thing she needed right now was for that big mouth to tell all of Hawkins about what happened.

"What do you mean don't call Dustin? He might be able to help us figure this out!" Steve was yelling now too. He was nauseous, dizzy, and apparently married. Robin was gonna give him so much shit when he got home.

"How is a 14 year old going to help? He's not a fucking divorce lawyer!" Y/N regretted her choice of words when she saw Steve's face fall.

"One, he's a very capable 14 year old. Two, Why are you immediately thinking about divorce? What, is the concept of being married to me so horrible?" Steve hated how insecure he sounded. His memories of last night were returning, and he remembered telling Y/N about his dreams for the future, that he loved her. She kissed him, but she didn't say it back. He remembered that now. She agreed to marry him, but she never said she loved him. He felt sick to his stomach, and it wasn't because of the hangover.

"Look, Steve. We're 18 years old, we're too young to be married. We did it while we were drunk, hell, you don't even like me like that." Y/N went to go sit on the bed again, she didn't want to be standing for this conversation. Steve sat down next to her, his head in his hands barely containing the shaking in his body. He remained silent, so Y/N took that as a sign to continue.

"Steve you are my best friend. You've become one of my favorite people in my life, Jesus, now that dad's gone you probably are my favorite person. I care about you so much, and the idea of marrying you... I know you would make an amazing husband. Your future wife will be the luckiest girl in the world, but when you thought about your future, with your six little nuggets traveling cross country, I'm almost positive it wasn't me you pictured by your side." Y/N tried not to cry. She knew she wasn't Steve's dream girl, it was Nancy Wheeler. Beautiful, smart, incredible Nancy. She was the love of Steve's life, not her. Y/N knew that, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

There were so many things Steve wanted to say. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that she was the one he pictured as his wife, the mother of his children. Nancy never wanted things like that, she wanted to focus on her career, and Steve didn't judge her for that. Y/N was the one who tagged along with him on babysitting duty, she was such a natural with them. He wanted to tell her that he would be a good husband to her. That he would love her, be there for her in sickness and in health, in times of struggle and in times of joy. He didn't realize how badly he wanted it until he saw that chapel on the Las Vegas strip. He wanted it with her, but she was right. They were too young, he hadn't even gathered the nerve to ask her out on a date yet. They would figure this out, and maybe, one day, Y/N would want to marry him for real.

"So what do you want to do now?"

A/N: If you guys like this I'll make a part two!

[quercus-queer]

The main theme of Stranger Things is summed up by Eddie: “Forced conformity, that’s what’s killing kids.” The central characters of Stranger Things are outcasts of society. They’re either poor, queer, black, “soft” men, unapologetic women, weird, crazy, or a mix of these undesirable traits.

The Byers and Nancy embody this explicitly enough for the general audience to understand every season. Jonathon and Will are pretty self explanatory. Joyce is always the social pariah of the town and her dynamic with Police Chief Jim Hopper the “Everyman” is draining at times. It’s draining because Joyce is right and we know she’s right but the rules, the laws, and “common sense” which Hopper is meant to represent, say otherwise. And every season Hopper’s resistance is broken down and he works with Joyce. If he doesn’t work WITH Joyce he nearly dies. If he doesn’t believe her at all, bodies start dropping. You have to go “behind the curtain” and accept the weird to survive or make progress as a general narrative rule, the entire show.

With Nancy, her motivations are justice (which the world is not ready for) and rebelling against the perfectly structured boxes society has put in place. These two go hand in hand, she can’t get justice because people don’t want a disruption to their neatly structured lives. Working around the common people is a nuisance for her. She talks often with Jonathon about how she can’t conform to the lifestyle her parents do (implied racist + homophobic without actually having to say/show it explicitly in the show through the support of Regan and Karen’s Thatcher convo) how the cookie cutter lives with reality shuttered out would kill her.

With Lucas in s4, he is trying to save himself from being othered by conforming in the most palatable way he can without sacrificing his own happiness. Him trying to be “better” isn’t framed as bad thing (which is how the audience seems to be taking it for some reason), it’s framed as a hopeless endeavor because it’s never going to be enough. Even if he’s not being targeted at the moment, people he loves are and regardless of what he does it’ll circle back to him eventually.

Eddie is the “worst of society”. He’s a poor good for nothing loud mouthed idiot, obnoxious, disrespectful to authority, crazy drug dealer, and gay (implied). But he’s idolized by Mike + Dustin and the narrative makes him very human and kind. He’s also the only one that gives any relief to Chrissy who is literally cracking under the pressure of acting normal. No one except Eddie and Max notice or says she’s acting weird, no one except Eddie and the counselor try to help her, and Eddie is the only one to make her feel even the slightest bit better. And the reaction to her cracking from her peers is to blame the crazy person instead of admitting she wasn’t perfect which is framed as a ridiculous and violent cult mentality.

This is all to say that every character we are meant to like is a social reject and have a sense of solidarity with other social pariahs… meaning that none of the central characters or “heroes” of Stranger Things are gonna be purposefully or blatantly homophobic or racist. It is the 80s (minorities still existed btw) but it is also a FICTIONAL show. They dropped the ball using a slur towards indigenous people of the arctic, but before that racism and homophobia were punished by the narrative.

Billy was racist. It’s not up for debate. He was racist, among other things, and he was punished dearly for it. The bullies are punished for being racist and homophobic and then never seen or mentioned again. Is that realistic? Nope, but they’re not important after they’ve been punished. The one character we’re meant to like that has been homophobic was immediately beaten up for it and after development has an arc accepting a queer woman.

Steve went from a perfect stereotypical jock and bully unhappy with his life and relationships, to a happy loser working in a video store with a weird kid and a lesbian for best friends. When he gave up trying to fit a mold, he became a better person and his life became infinitely better and he is consistently told how great it is that he’s changed. We don’t ever see his parents reactions or his old friends after he ditches them because their opinions don’t matter. We only see the praise he’s gotten and the fact he’s happier. Is that realistic? No. But it’s the narrative being made.

You know what is realistic though? A tight knit friend group that grew up being ostracized and bullied, witnessing their friend they’re devoted to being bullied for maybe being gay. Even more realistic is that the gay kid is still loved by those friends regardless of whether the bullies had some truth to their taunts. These kids are genuinely hated by most people and only have each other to depend on, every issue they’ve had they’ve gotten over. They apologize to each other ALL the time and they all have a surprising amount of emotional intelligence (yes even Mike, he’s a dick because of trauma + internalized homophobia and he’s aware he’s being a dick and takes responsibility for it when it’s not jeopardizing what he’s feeling is his safety).

In conclusion, none of the characters are going to be homophobic, sorry to ruin your fantasies. It’s unrealistic, out of character, and goes against the core themes of friendship and unconformity set up in the show.

[strangerquinns]

Chapter Ten: Picnic Table

Vampire/Kas!Eddie Munson x afab!Reader

summary: It’s been eight months since Vecna had won, leaving the group in despair with the aftermath. But you seem to be having it the worst with the hauntings of your boyfriend keeping you awake at night. But are the visions of Eddie only a dream, or is Vecna slowly showing that he is once again ready to finish what he’d started?based off these fanmade trailers (x) & (x)

warnings: death, blood, violence, gore, murder + other Stranger Things related themes.

words: 1.7k+ // The Ascension of Kas Masterlist // stranger things masterlist

"What do you mean she's gone?" Joyce's voice came through the walkie in a high-pitched tone of worry.

The wind ripped through the Upside Down moving the dead leaves to dance through the darkened sky. Red colored and bled back into the sky and filled with rumbles of thunder.

Steve passed back and forth with anger making each step heavier than the last. Robin and Nancy watched with worry in their eyes and Jonathan used the walkie to get in contact with his mother and Dustin. No one knew what to do as they watched Eddie take you away from them. Jonathan had to hold Steve back from running after you.

"We need to come up with a plan," He explained.

"Exactly that," Jonathan answered his mother. "She drew his attention like it was planned, but he brought back up. The goddamn bats that Dustin spoke of from last time."

"Demobats?" Dustin's voice came through the walkie.

"I guess. That's not the important part right now! What's important is that Y/N is gone and Eddie's got her...meaning Vecna probably has her." Jonathan spoke, voice rising along with his panic and worry.

"He looked demonic," Robin spoke, taking the device from Jonathan's grasp. "Full-on vampire enough to give me nightmares for weeks."

"We're going to go and look for her," Steve spoke moving closer to where the others stood. "I'm not gonna sit here and wait while she's with him and he's doing god knows what."

"Do you think that's wise?" Jonathan spoke, his brows pulled tight with his question. "We don't know what we're up against."

"But we do. It's Vecna...we treat Eddie like we did Vecna. Y/N said it herself the places he'd most likely be are the trailer park or Creel House. So we check their first before spanning and searching the Upside Down for other possible places."

Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan looked at one another with hesitant and worried glances before looking to Steve again. From the walkie, everyone could hear Joyce calling out.

"It might be our only shot...would still be a distraction while El takes care of Vecna," Nancy spoke up.

"Guys, seriously, come on." Joyce paged back.

"Let's do it...let's save her," Robin nodded her head, even with her voice shaky with nerves.

Jonathan sighed before taking the walkie back from Robin. "Mom, I'm gonna have to call you right back."

~.~

Your eyes watched and followed as Eddie, Vecna, paced along the forest floor in front of you. Your body still vibrated with pain as you lay against the fallen tree. With each breath you took, your lungs burned with a fire that felt like you were suffocating from smoke. Tears stopped falling from your cheeks but they left behind stained trails against your cheeks.

"You think you and your group of misfits are so clever, but it's like you didn't learn from the first time" Vecna spoke through Eddie "He thinks I don't know of your little meeting...thinking I wouldn't figure it out? I'm always there..."

Your stomach twisted as you listened to his words. "W-Why? Why are you doing this? Why Eddie?"

The last question caused him to laugh with dark wickedness. "What better than to use your hero as the villain to implement my plan? He could easily tear you to shreds...that was an opportunity I couldn't miss."

Your hands slowly moved along the dead leaves and dirt beneath you before your hand grasped tightly around a large shard. The rough edges of the rock hard against your skin. Vecna moved back to you and loomed over your body.

"And how I would love to do nothing less than start with you,"

His lips curled back with a sneer, his fangs gleaming in the glowing light. The darkness returned to his eyes causing the dark shadows beneath his eyes. You whimpered back for a moment before and pressed your back harder into the log behind you. But just as Eddie loomed down far enough, you reached up, slicing his face with the rock in your hand. He moved back with a scream as blood began to move down his cheek like tears. You moved quickly from beneath him, ignoring the pain ripping through your body, as you pushed yourself up from the floor.

Your feet slipped against the forest floor till you were able to finally stand. You bit deeply into your lower lip to hold back to screams of pain From behind you, you could hear Eddie's screams of pain soon followed by the echo shrieking of the demobats. As you maneuvered your way through the forest, it wasn't long till you realized where you were. As you broke through the forest line, a whimper of pain passed through your cracked lips. You wrapped one of your arms around your waist as you stumbled across the decrepit parking lot. The black veins and cracked asphalt below your feet as you stumbled.

The loud call of the demobats caused you to turn around and watch as they filled the sky. Seeing them only caused you to run faster toward the building. You pushed hard on the double doors of the high school and slammed them closed behind you.

~.~

Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan walked through the broken-down version of Forest Hills Trailer Park. Each of them were on high alert as they searched for any sign of either you, Eddie, or Vecna. But everything looked the same with a single sign of life.

"She's not here or at the Creel House. Where else could he have taken her?" Nancy asked, using the flashlight to sweep across the ground and help her search.

"Where else could we possibly look?" Robin spoke "Does anyone have ideas? Maybe a favorite place Eddie would take her?"

Everyone slowly began to shake their heads, except Steve.

"I know one place," He took a deep breath, "Might be a stretch but there is a small clearing behind the high school. Picnic table back there, no one really goes back there. But Dustin would talk about how Eddie and Y/N would go back there all the time. I had to go and find her there a couple times after...everything..."

"The high school is nearly ten miles from here," Jonathan spoke, "It'll take us forever to get there."

"It's our only shot," Nancy spoke, "Let's go. We might not have much time left."

~.~

Vecna let out a soft maniacal laugh as his hand tightened around your throat once again. He pressed you down tightly against the top of the broken-down picnic table that sat at the back of Hawkins High.

It didn't take long for him to find you with the demobats surrounding the school. Your body was so broken down - there wasn't much fight left in you to run. You tried, running to hide in the safety of the dense forest. But steps after escaping out of the double doors of the high school Vecna had captured you.

"Eddie, please...please...I know you're in there...I know you're stronger than this..." You struggled against his hold, your nails dragging against his skin and digging in deeply. Large tears fell down your cheeks as strangled sobs slipped passed your lips. "...Please..."

"How sweet will it be...having him feed from the one he loves most," Vecna spoke with a gleam sparkling in his eyes that brought an icy feeling through your veins.

Vecna moved Eddie's grip from your neck to fist the hair at the nape of your neck. He gripped your head back causing your neck to arch slightly, a scream of pain sounding from you. Your hands fought against his chest, beating against him, but it was no use as you fought against his chest. Before you know it, his movements were fast in the blink of an eye, and his fangs sank into your skin.

A scream to rip through your throat before it's muffled quickly by his hand. His grip is crushing as he feeds, holding you tightly against his firm body. You stare up to the sky and slowly watch as it becomes fuzzy and everything around you sounds farther and farther away. It was like staring down the small opening of a tunnel and watching as it grew smaller and smaller.

The grip on your mouth slowly loosened but no longer was you able to scream out, instead only letting out small whimpers and cries. It was a weird feeling for you to feel your life slowly slipping away from you. Feeling your blood trickle down your throat as you heard him hungrily feeding from you. As seconds passed your body grew limper. Lifeless.

Vecna knew what he was doing the moment he pulled away and gave control back to Eddie.

It took a moment for Eddie to realize what was happening. The weak and faded sound of your heartbeat pulls him back to the forefront of his consciousness.

The moment he pulled back and saw you lying beneath him, Eddie stumbled back in shock. It was like for a moment his brain wasn't allowing him to believe what was happening in front of him.

Your unconscious body lay there before him, skin paler than usual, and blood spread across the worn-down wood and staining your neck and clothing.

"Baby..." Eddie spoke, his voice broken as he moved back to pull you into his arms. A broken sound slipped when he felt you sag into his hold,

"Baby...baby...please, open your eyes. open your eyes for me." Eddie cries the bitter taste of your blood against his lips with tears running down his cheeks.

His hands reached up shakily and caressed your face, his voice growing more desperate as he begged you to wake.

When the other finally reached the clearing they stumbled upon the scene. Eddie held you tightly in his grasp as he cried into your neck. Blood smeared across his face, hands, and chest with the same smeared across your neck.

"I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..." Eddie cried as he held your body in his arms.

"What did you do!?" Steve screamed, standing there bewildered as he stared down at Eddie.

Eddie's head popped up, tears streaming down his face, completely distraught. Eddie couldn't help but tighten his hold on you.

"H-He made me....he...he made me...I-I couldn't stop it." Eddie tried to explain.

Robin cupped a hand over her mouth and could feel the tears quickly filling her eyes. Jonathan wrapped an arm around Nancy as she buried her face into his chest.

"I-Is she...did..." Jonathan couldn't bring himself to ask the question, afraid of the answer that would come from Eddie.

The chapter is on the shorter side but I think with everything happening that makes up for it? Very angsty - I would say sorry...but I'm not. We have about 3 parts (ish) left! Please leave your thoughts/theories and comments I would love to read them. Thank you for all the support!

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[thebattleofstarcourt]

Both sound very nice! But I think the first one appeals most to me!!!

ੈ♡˳·˖✶ hide

eddie munson x gn!reader

warnings: none

a/n: the fact that eddie’s age doesn’t make sense is not my fault it’s the duffers! but since dubious aging kind of goes against my own personal morality, eddie and steve are the same age/year and reader is the same age/year as nancy and robin.

crashing on the wheeler’s basement couch shouldn’t have been as relaxing as it was, but, surprisingly, it was the best sleep you’ve gotten since this vecna shit started in the first place. no threats of your favorite little moody redhead getting possessed by the upside-down’s new big-bad, and you barely had to think about the fact that your old best friend was being framed for murder. well, at least until —

“henderson! henderson – fuck – i’ve got a problem here!”

you sighed and picked up the walkie that was buzzing on the coffee table. “eddie?” you asked, yawning into the receiver.

“yeah, yeah, shit.” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “i’m gonna need some back up over here.”

���what’s wrong?” you asked, sitting up abruptly.

“i’m, like, 99% sure jason carver and his goons are here to gut me like a fish.” he said, his shallow breathing echoing loudly in the mic. “i saw some headlights and when they opened the doors i heard that shitty fucking wham! song–”

“shit.” you jumped up and quickly grabbed steve’s keys from the table, practically bulldozing yourself out the wheeler’s house.

“well, i dont know if they’re gonna gut me. maybe they’ll snap all my bones in half like a glowstick, or something.”

“eddie, calm down.” you said. “i’ll be there in 10, so just shut the hell up and stay low, okay?”

you took the silence as an affirmation and started the car.

ੈ♡˳·˖✶

to absolutely no one’s surprise, eddie munson did not stay low.

and that’s precisely what ended up getting the two of you stranded at (the make-out rock). you both sat underneath the sledge of rock, soggy and breathless, from your swim in the lake. your ill-fitting t-shirt you stole from mike’s closet stuck to your chest like a hungry leech, and gave absolutely no insolation to the cool night air on your drenched skin. just as you were about to complain about the goosebumps travelling up your arms, you looked over at eddie, whose leather jacket and jean vest combo made the wetness look that much more uncomfortable.

“you should take your jackets off.” you told him. “those can’t be comfortable.”

he noticed your shivering and shrugged off his leather jacket and handed it to you. “if you wanted my jacket you could’ve just asked.”

“i didn’t just want the jacket,” you said, throwing it onto your back. “although this feels better.”

he let out a quiet laugh and started fiddling with the rings on his fingers.

“where did you get them?” 

“huh?”

“the rings,” you pointed at them. “where’d you get them?”

“oh,” he said. “uh, mostly flea markets and shit.” he took off the silver pig’s head and showed it to you. “wayne got me this one for my 18th. he found it at a pawn shop i think.”

“they look cool.” you said. “adds to the whole, badass metal thing you’ve got going on.”

“thanks.” he snorted. “i decided to really throw myself into the look after i grew my hair out.”

“yeah,” you said. “i’m glad you did. you always wanted to look like ozzy osborne.”

he laughed. “it’s hard to look like ozzy with a buzzcut.”

“i’m sure you could’ve made it work.” you said. “hey, do you remember the time in 7th grade when we stole your dad’s weed and smoked it out of an apple?”

“oh, of course. we got so stoned we could barely move.” he said. “do you remember the time you dressed up like a fairy for my birthday party?”

“it was dungeons and dragons themed!”

“you wore glittery wings from the halloween store.”

“well, it’s not like you would help me pick out the costume!”

“that would’ve ruined the surprise,” he said.

“yeah, yeah.” you rolled your eyes. “you know, i’ve still got the crown you made me for it.”

his eyes widened. “seriously?” he asked. “how the hell is that still intact?”

“whenever it breaks i tape it back together,” you said.

“oh,” he said.

“is that surprising?” you laughed.

“a little.” he admitted. “kind of assumed you’d throw it away or something.”

“of course not.” you said. “that’s still, like, the sweetest thing someone’s ever given to me.”

“it’s made out of stotch tape and sticks i found in my backyard.” he deadpanned.

“but you made it for me,” you said. “and don’t sell yourself short, munson. you glued on this beautiful, big red jewel on it. it was like, the highlight of my 12 year-old life.”

“what’d do your friends say about it?” he asked.

“i don’t think they’ve seen it.” you said. “i keep it in a box under my bed.”

“ah,” he pursed his lips, “yeah, that’s about right.”

“what’s that supposed to mean?” you asked.

“it means that it would’ve been weird for you, the monarch of hawkins high, to have satanic memorabilia on display.” he wiggled his fingers at the reference of his favorite board game.

“c’mon, eddie.” you said. “you know i’m not like that.”

“how am i supposed to know?” he asked. “we were friends in middle school before you got all hot and cool and then we… weren’t.” 

“well, it’s not like you made an effort to talk to me.” you defended.

he laughed. “yeah, ‘cause me walking over to the popular table with kids like jason carver – who is literally trying to kill me right now, might i add – would’ve turned out peachy keen.”

“you’re… probably right.” you sighed, putting your face in your hands. “fuck, i’m sorry eddie. i should’ve done something–”

“woah, slow down.” he said, pulling your hands away. “i don’t blame you, like at all. i didn’t expect you to stand up for me just because we were friends when we were 12.”

“doesn’t mean it wasn’t fucked up of me not to.” you said. “i just… wanted to be liked so bad, i just kinda… forgot who i was. like, one day i woke up and became totally unrecognizable.” you laughed. “and then this whole upside-down shit happened, and i thought if i started filling up all my time with football games and parties then no one would be able to tell that i was so… not normal.” 

“high school’s the fuckin’ worst. being popular and shit seems like it’s life or death but nothing matters once we’re out of it.” he said, pulling his long hair between his fingers. “but, if it’s worth anything, i’ve always liked you.”

you snorted. “seriously?”

“yeah.” he nodded. “always.”

“i kind of thought you hated me,” you admitted.

“i kind of thought the same thing.”

“never.” you shook your head. “even when you’re standing on the lunch tables i always think you’re cool. way cooler than me, or jason, or harrington.”

his cheeks flushed at your words, he hid it with a tamed smirk. “wow,” he said. “the town freak being cooler than the basketball and swim team captain? you better hold off before my ego gets even bigger.”

“you’ve got more guts than carver for sure. standing up for what you believe in even when you know people are gonna shit on you? that’s cooler than throwing balls into laundry baskets.”

he laughed. “glad you appreciated that one, i was sitting on it for a while.”

you smiled, looking over at his big brown eyes for the first time that night. despite the fact that his hair was still drenched, and his once white baseball tee was now a dingy brown color, he still wore this charm that made him look permanently alluring. you don’t know if it was the shit you’ve just gone through, the heavy conversation, or the old crush you used to have on him resurfacing for the first time in 6 years, but you couldn’t help but melt in his sweet gaze.   

“you think – ya’ know, once this vecna shit’s all over – i could, maybe, come over sometime?”

“you asking me to hang out?”

“yeah, i,” you faltered. “i kinda miss hanging out and smoking with you.”

he grinned, teeth and everything. “i’d love that.”

“that means you can’t die on me, alright?” you said. “no more dumb decisions.”

“i think i can manage that.”

[circethesinner]

the puppeteer ✿ pigs - chapter 8 ✿

pairing: steve harrington x original female character (can be read as x reader)

warning(s): strong language, descriptions of violence, mature themes  

━━━━━━━✿━━━━━━━

previous chapter ━ ✿ ━ next chapter

masterlist

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Bambi just stood by and watched as the two boys tumbled along the ground, taking turns to punch one another. Nancy was begging them to stop while the other boy was egging Steve on. He tried to join in at one point, but Steve didn't seem to want him involved.

"Jonathan, stop!" Nancy pleaded from the side. "Stop! You're going to hurt him!"

"Good, let him," Bambi rolled her eyes. She hadn't signed up for all this teen drama. They had bigger things to focus on, what with the whole literal monster thing. Jonathan was winning the fight, he'd gotten a few good blows in, and Steve was on his back. At that point, it was easier to just let them wear themselves out like toddlers when they threw a fit.

From behind them, a cop car pulled up.

"Okay, okay, yeah, time to finish this up now," Bambi groaned, calmly walking over to hold Jonathan's arm back. In doing so, he'd accidentally elbowed her in the face. Bambi had a high pain tolerance, it was probably one of the few things she could thank the lab for, but that still hurt like a bitch. Jonathan hadn't even noticed. Bambi just took a few steps back to avoid getting hit again and let the other guy and Nancy deal with the situation until the cops stepped in.

Someone touched her waist from behind, and assuming it to be that jerk with the freckles, Bambi elbowed whoever it was in the gut. Unfortunately, it wasn't the jerk with the freckles and instead was a cop who doubled over and groaned. She thought it was a bit of a dramatic reaction, but it wasn't like she was about to call him out on it. He was a cop.

"Shit, sorry, thought you were someone else," Bambi apologised, but her words fell on deaf ears as her hands were pulled behind her back and handcuffs secured on her wrists. As this was happening, Steve and his little gang were running off. The cop who had cuffed her spotted them and ran after them.

"Hey! Hey, uh-uh! Uh-uh! Come here, little guys! Come here!" He yelled as he tried and failed to catch up with them. Bambi had to stop herself from laughing at the scene, which would have been incredibly inappropriate given that she'd just assaulted him. Turning her head, she watched Jonathan be slammed against the hood of a car as another cop handcuffed him as well.

"Get back here! Get back here, you little punks!" The cop chasing the others disappeared around the corner, and with that, the show was officially over.

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Bambi kept checking the clock on the wall. It was 5:35pm, and she had to meet George at the diner, but it didn't seem like she'd be getting there any time soon.

"Found some ice." Nancy sat down next to Jonathan, handing an ice pack over to Bambi and holding the other up to Jonathan's face. Bambi took hers with a smile, she struggled to hold it up to her jaw with her hands still cuffed, but she made do.

Nancy hadn't said much to Bambi since they'd gotten there. She probably wasn't too happy that Bambi had encouraged Jonathan to keep on hitting Steve, but there hadn't been an appropriate moment to apologise for that. Bambi also hadn't told Jonathan that he was the one to hit her in the jaw. He had enough on his plate for now.

"Can I make a call?" Bambi asked one of the officers as he passed by the desk they were sitting at. "To my grandad?"

"Uh, yeah, this way." She followed the officer over to a phone on the wall. "You've only got five minutes."

"Wait!" Bambi called after the officer as he started to walk away. "Do you have the number for Benny's?"

"Kid, Benny's is closed." The cop looked somewhere between annoyed and confused. "You said you needed to call your grandad."

"Yeah, he's buying it. We're just moving down here. I was supposed to meet him there at 5pm, but...." She held her cuffed hands up. The cop sighed and punched in a number as Bambi clumsily tried to hold the phone up. The phone rang for a while, and she was worried he wasn't going to pick up, so when his voice suddenly spoke from the other end, she sighed in relief.

"We're closed." That was all he said. Bambi heard him pull the phone away from his ear and assumed he was about to hang up.

"WAIT!" She yelled. All eyes were on her, and she mustered up her best apologetic smile.

"You'd better have a good excuse for why your ass isn't in front of me," George grumbled. Bambi let out another sigh of relief when she realised he hadn't hung up.

"Well, I wouldn't use the word 'good', but it's definitely an excuse," She joked, hoping to lighten the blow. "I may or may not have assaulted an officer and gotten arrested." Bambi heard a disgruntled groan from the other end of the line. It wasn't George's usual disgruntled groan which made her nervous.

"Give me five minutes." That was all he said in response before hanging up. Bambi did her best to put the phone back on the hook and shuffled back to her seat at the desk.

"What did he say?" Jonathan asked. Nancy was still holding the icepack up to his face. Bambi picked hers back up and cradled it to her jaw.

"He'll be here in a minute," Bambi shrugged, closing her eyes. After what had happened the previous evening, the sleepless night that followed it, and the already eventful day they'd had, she was tired. "He didn't sound happy, but he never sounds happy. I guess he sounded less happy than his usual less happy, so we'll see."

True to his word, George showed up exactly five minutes later. She wasn't sure how far away the diner was from the police station, but she was sure he'd probably sped to get there on time.

"You look like shit." He noted as soon as he saw her, eyes focusing on the bruise now blooming on her jaw. Despite everything, it was good to see him again.

"Yeah, so do you, but I'm nice enough to not comment on it." She retorted, a playful smile toying on her face. Jonathan and Nancy both looked confused. Bambi supposed the relationships people usually had with grandparents were very different to what she and George had, but she wouldn't change it for the world. "George, this is Nancy and Jonathan." She nodded over at her friends, who gave polite nods of acknowledgement. George grunted a quick 'hello' as he looked around.

"So what happened?" George questioned.

"It's my fault, sir." Jonathan was quick to jump in and take the blame. Bambi shook her head.

"Thank you, but I'm responsible for my own actions," She shut down Jonathan's attempt at being a martyr. "There was a fight, and I assumed it was one of the other guys touching my waist, so I elbowed him. Turns out it was a cop. Completely my fault there. I got caught up in the moment."

"Fucking pigs," George mumbled, loud enough for a couple of the cops to turn and give him a disapproving look. "So, where are the others?"

"They ran off as soon as the police arrived," Nancy told George.

"Did you at least get some good punches in?" George asked, earning more disapproving looks from the cops around them.

"I didn't, but Jonathan definitely did," Bambi tried not to sound too proud in case it upset Nancy further.

"Good on ya, kid," George nodded at Jonathan, who looked incredibly uncomfortable at the exchange. "Right, well, I'll go have a talk and see what I can do." George patted Bambi on the shoulder as he walked past her. He exchanged a couple of words with one of the police officers and disappeared with him into one of the adjoining rooms, the door closing behind them.

"Is he...?" Nancy looked at Bambi with concern, struggling to find the right words. Fortunately, Bambi knew precisely what she meant.

"Yeah, he's always like that." She confirmed with a grin. "If he can't get us out of here, he'll at least make a lasting impression. He-"

"Hey. Jonathan? Jesus, what- what happened?" A woman walked into the office, looking incredibly upset. She wasn't sure if it was aimed at Jonathan or at the cops who had handcuffed him in the first place. One of the officers tried to calm her down, but she brushed him off. "Why is he wearing handcuffs?"

"Well, your boy assaulted a police officer. That's why." Bambi turned her head to glare at the officer talking, only to realise it was the same one she had elbowed. Any lingering guilt she had for doing it washed away.

"Take them off." The woman demanded. Bambi smiled, already liking her energy.

"I am afraid I cannot do that." The cop refused. Bambi turned around to look at him.

"Why? Did you lose the key?" She asked him with a smirk.

"Well- No, but-" The cop stuttered.

"Prove it!" Bambi tried to channel some of the energy Jonathan's mom had. "Prove you have the key by taking our cuffs off, dude!"

"I'm not going to-" The cop was interrupted again.

"Take them off!" Jonathan's mom repeated. Bambi was about to chime in again, hoping to overwhelm the guy to just give in, but someone else spoke.

"You heard her. Take 'em off." He spoke with a lot of authority, and that authority was confirmed when another cop addressed him.

"Chief, I get everyone's emotional here, but there's something you need to see." A few looks were exchanged as the group of men walked outside.

"We're in deeeeep shit," Bambi snorted, fiddling with her handcuffs. She hated the way they felt around her wrists. They reminded her too much of when the lab would restrain her if she tried to lash out.

"You're tellin' me," George grumbled, placing a hand on Bambi's shoulder. "This ain't the best first impression on Hawkins. I'll tell ya that for free."

"How much are you charging me for the rest?" Bambi joked. Jonathan was having a hushed conversation with his mom next to them, so she didn't feel too guilty for turning her back to them as she spoke to George.

"That attitude of yours might have worked back at home, but you're in some serious trouble here. I ain't got any dirt on these cops, so I can't bribe your way out of trouble this time." George gave Bambi a look that made her heart drop. It was his 'I'm disappointed in you' look.

Bambi was no stranger to getting in trouble with the cops at home. At first, the things she'd done had been honest mistakes, having not grown up with the law. But, her defiant streak had settled in after her first year of freedom, and George had bailed her out of trouble a few times. It was never anything serious, just some vandalisation and trespassing here and there.

"There ain't much else I can do for you here," He looked around and sighed. "I'll be at the diner. Call me if you need a ride once the pigs let you out." Bambi hung her head low in shame as George gave her a parting pat on the shoulder and saw himself out.

Less than a minute later, the cops returned carrying a box that was all too familiar. Bambi winced at the loud noise it made as the chief dropped it on the desk.

"What is this?" Jonathan's mom questioned as she examined the contents of the box.

"Why don't you ask your son?" The chief suggested. "We found it in his car."

"Why are you going through my car?" Jonathan asked.

"Is that really the question you should be asking right now?" The chief leant over the desk as he spoke. Bambi shrunk into her chair, holding back the barrage of comebacks that threatened to spill out if she spoke. "I wanna see you in my office." The chief backed off a little.

"You won't believe me." Jonathan looked up as the chief returned to leaning over him.

"Why don't you give me a try?"

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hey besties! I’m going to start a taglist for this story, let me know if you’d like to be added!

mmm more george this chapter because I love the grumpy old man who lives rent-free in my tiny little brain

I was not going to upload a chapter today but I'm thirsty for ATTENTION so I had to xoxo

I'm up to chapter 18 now so I've got 10 pre-written chapters which make up another 20k words and I am feeling GOOD this is the most productive I've ever been while writing a fic, thank you adhd meds

likes are very much appreciated and I will give each and every one of you little kisses on the forehead for each comment you write :)