#argyle should end up with jonathan end of story

[rainingongallifrey]

I am going to say this as calmly as I can

@foreverautumn89

I AM SO MAD ALREADY AT THE DUFFERS AND S5 HASN"T EVEN STARTED. BECAUSE HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SEE JARGYLE VS STONATAN OR JARGYLE VS JANCY WITHOUT ARGYLE THERE> WHAT DO THEY EXPECT US TO BELIEVE THAT ARGYLE COULD JUST GO BACK TO CALIFORNIA WITH THE GOVERMENT AFTER HIM? AND THAT HE JUST STOPPED LOVING JONATHAN AND DOESN"T CARE ABOUT TAKING CARE OF HIM AND WAITING ON JONATHAN"S PRINCESS ASS HAND AND FOOT ANYMORE LIKE HE WAS DOING IN S4? ALL ARGYLE DID WAS TAKE CARE OF JONATHAN AND LOVE AND SUPPORT HIM AND NOW THAT JUST STOPS? AND JONATHAN WAS HIS ONLY FRIEND SO NOW ARGYLE HAS NO ONE? ARGYLE JUST STOPPED BEING IN LOVE WITH HIM AND MAKING HIS ENTIRE PURPOSE REVOLVE AROUND LOVING JONATHAN. HEWENT BACK TO CALIFORNIA TO BATTLE THE GOVERMENT BY HIMSELF? IS THAT WHAT WE"RE SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE? ACTUALLY THAT DOES SOUND LIKE SOMETHING AWESOME THAT ARGYLE WOULD DO BUT THATS NOT THE POINT. THIS IS BS. WHAT IS EVEN THE POINT NOW? THAT DEBATE ALSO RELIED ON JARGYLE BEING PART OF THE EQUATION BUT NO THEY HAVE TO MESS THINGS UP BEFORE IT EVEN STARTS. JARGYLE WON THE DEBATE AND HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN NOW WITH ARGYLE GONE.

PS I miss those debates too. We also need Jommy vs Stonathan or two of the other Jonathan ships. I want to do one with Samantha/Jonathan vs whichever ship but we didn't get to know Samantha or see her relationship with Jonathan unfold either. Another thing they messed up. Sorry about the rant just so annoyed and disappointed about no Argyle//Jargyle

[steddieasitgoes]

Stolen Kisses & Sundae Wishes

3.4K Words | Teen and Up | ao3 link

This was written for day three of @steddie-week. The prompts I used were first kiss and discover! As always it ended up way longer than I intended! You can read it below or on ao3. Enjoy!

"You know this basement used to be mine before Mike took it over?" Nancy says, looking around the cluttered basement fondly.

"Those little thieves," Eddie teases, stretching out on the worn, scratchy blue carpet.

They're all gathered in the Wheeler's basements — the kids banished to the Byers' new place for the weekend — to celebrate one last hang out before their lives change for the better. Nancy leaves for Emerson tomorrow afternoon. Argyle and Jonathan to New York on Monday. Robin, Steve, and Eddie scheduled to get the keys to their new apartment near Indiana State in a little over a week.

They're growing up.

And yet, the basement looks like they're still kids who don't know what they're doing with their lives.

The coffee table is piled high with pizza boxes and other snacks. A soda can tower barely hanging on as Robin adds another empty Coke can. The basement should be filled with beer cans and Palm Tree Delight joints, but none of that stuff has the same effect on them it once did. Getting drugged by Russians, making a drunken scene at parties, and waking up from on bad drug-enhanced nightmare has them all acting a bit more sober than usual.

Still, there's a rawness in the air that Steve's only used to being around at parties when everyone is under the influence, feeling happy and chatty.

"I had my first kiss right here," Nancy says, patting the paisley couch.

"Oh, are we talking about first kisses, brochachos?" Argyle asks, sitting up from where he's been sprawled out under Mike's designated DnD table. "Mine was wild."

"I'm sure it was," Jonathan says, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "But I don't think Nancy meant for everyone to share their stories."

"Aw, come on, my dude. It'll be fun!"

“I don’t know Argyle. I think Jonathan’s right on this one,” Steve chimes in.

It’s not the answer everyone was expecting from him by the way everyone’s heads whirl around to face him. Sure, he spent his high school years making out in crowded Hawkins High hallways, not caring who was watching. But this feels different.

First kisses are special and awkward, and well, if he’s honest, Steve doesn’t want to hear Eddie wax poetic about his first kiss like he knows he’ll do because Eddie is a storyteller. He doesn’t know how to tell them anything unless it’s woven with dragon slaying and metaphors that go over Steve’s head.

Last week, Robin had to give him the SparkNotes version of Eddie’s terrible interview after Eddie went on a ten-minute rant about the horrors of job interviews.

“Now we have to hear your first kiss story, Stevie. It must be really terrible if you don’t want to share with us,” Eddie teases, sitting up from the floor.

“Hate to break it to you, Munson, but it wasn’t anything exciting. Just an innocent first kiss in a dark room. I don’t even know what she looked like.”

Eddie groans, tossing his head back onto the empty space next to Nancy on the couch. His hair flops around him, draping over her thighs. “You’re the worst storyteller ever! Come on, Wheeler, paint us a picture of your first kiss. Show Stevie how it’s done.”

Steve doesn’t think Nancy is going to take Eddie’s bait, but she does, and Steve’s reminded yet again that he really has no idea what goes on in Nancy Wheeler’s head. Never did and never will.

Nancy goes on to tell them about Connor Fritz. They were childhood best friends before his family moved when his mom got a better teaching job at Northwestern. The basement was their post-school hangout, but unlike Mike and his friends, all they ever got up to down here was homework until one summer afternoon.

“We were supposed to go to the pool but stayed in instead. It was our final day together before he moved, and he was really nervous. I was too. We were starting middle school in a few weeks, and now we were going to be totally friendless. And kiss-less since we didn’t go to Carol’s 11th birthday party.”

“The spin-the-bottle party,” Steve snorts in remembrance. He still has no idea how Carol convinced her parents to leave them unattended in her basement for hours. It’s a good thing they all thought kissing was sex at that age. If not, well, Steve’s certain at least one kid would have been conceived in Carol’s game closet.

“The very one,” Nancy smiles. “So anyway, we were just talking about how mad we were that we weren’t going to be there for each other, and then he said something like, “well, I can still help you with one thing,” and then he kissed me.”

“That’s the sweetest first kiss story ever,” Robin coos from the floor. She’s lying on the same itchy blue carpet as Eddie, her head using Steve’s lap as her very own pillow.

It’s easy from their position for Steve to glance down at Robin to check in with her. Robin has her own streak of jealousy that runs through her, so he can’t imagine this conversation is any fun for her either. Instead of finding her lips pressed thinly together and a vacant look in her eyes, though, he finds her smiling.

Huh? She’s stronger than me, he thinks.

“What about you, Robin?”

“Oh me?” Robin laughs dryly, lifting her head out of Steve’s lap and pushing herself up into a seated position next to Steve. “I mean, I guess it was at summer camp in 1980 with this kid whose name I don’t even remember. But uh, I don’t really think it counts since I don’t exactly, you know, like kissing guys.”

“What’s the girl story then?” Eddie asks.

Without hesitating, Steve reaches a hand out to Robin. Lets it rest on her crossed thigh before giving her a reassuring squeeze.

This is also why he didn’t want this conversation to take place.

“It, uh, hasn’t happened yet.”

“No need to fret, Robin Hood! There will be plenty of dudettes to mack out with at that fancy school of yours. So many little fishies waiting for your lips.”

Robin snorts, shaking her head. “I hope your right,” she says, ducking her head for a moment. “What about you, Argyle?”

��Picture this, my dudes,” he says, hopping up onto his feet. “You’ve got Palm Tree Delight in one hand, a beautiful girl holding your other hand. The sky is doing that weird painter with the missing ear thing it does when all the colors start twirling together. And then everything starts spinning, and the next thing you know you’re in the grass with a beautiful girl on top of you, and she’s not just kissing you for Purple Palm Tree Delight, but she’s kissing you because she wants to taste your lips.”

“See, that’s how you tell a story!”

“Thanks, my dude.”

Eddie hops up on his feet, crossing the small distance to high-five Argyle. Their hands’ clasp in the moment, turning the innocent high-five into a weird handholding moment that neither seems to want to break.

Steve absolutely isn’t jealous.

“Yeah, well, not all of us are storytellers, Munson.”

“Allow me to give you a lesson in storytelling then,” Eddie says, finally prying his hand free from Argyle’s grasp. He saunters into the middle of the basement and gestures with his hands. “Everyone take your seats, please.”

Robin snorts as she crawls over to the couch, taking a seat on the floor where Eddie previously sat. Nancy’s still perched on the couch next to Jonathan, and Argyle collapses to his left. Steve’s the last to find his spot, making himself comfortable next to Robin.

“First, you start with the set up,” he says, talking directly at Steve before moving to address the rest of them. “It was 1976. I was ten years old, and I was in Hawkins visiting Wayne for the summer. Usually, my dad would bring me out to visit for a few days, but he got caught up with “work,” you know, hot-wiring cars and stripping them for parts, so I spent the whole summer here with Wayne.

“It was a humid July day. The air thick and hard to breathe,” he says, pausing to turn to Steve again. “A good story always has details about the senses, Stevie.”

Steve rolls his eyes, but keeps listening.

“I remember I was covered in sweat ‘cause Wayne had the day off and needed to patch up the patio of the trailer after I tore it up, saving a raccoon family. Course, I had to help. I was sweating buckets. My hair was shoulder-length at the time, and it was sticking to me, and so was everything else.

“We finally finished as the sun was setting and Wayne must’ve felt bad for keeping me hostage all day — not like I had anywhere else to go, really. Everyone already had their own friends in Hawkins. I was just some weird outsider who liked to feed raccoons. So, he felt bad and told me to take a quick shower ‘cause he was taking me out for ice cream.

“I’m thinking he’s taking me to the new Dairy Queen that I saw on the way into Hawkins a month ago. But no, the old man takes me to some rundown, hole-in-the wall ice cream parlor in the old downtown of Hawkins. The part they eventually tore down for Starcourt.

“And this place. Man, I’ll never forget it. It was like ice cream threw up inside. Every wall was painted after a different ice cream. And not the normal ones, either. There was a rainbow sherbet wall and turtle tracks one. A giant abstract sundae mural behind the counter.

“Jesus H. Christ and the name! I was only 11, but even I knew the name was an issue. I mean, who names an ice cream shop The Lick —-

“N’ Bite,” Steve supplies.

There’s a sinking feeling in Steve’s stomach when Eddie turns towards him again. Eddie hates being interrupted, a fact Steve knows because he’s constantly getting reprimanded for interrupting Eddie’s story flow. Whatever the hell that means. But the look Eddie’s giving him isn’t his usual one of annoyance; it’s one of pure curiosity.

“You know it?”

Steve nods. “Tommy’s mom used to take us there after basketball practice.”

“Huh, wouldn’t expect to see your type at a dive ice cream shop,” Eddie shrugs, then launches back into his story.

There’s another five minutes of Eddie describing all the flavors he sampled that day in great detail — “they had this one called fresh and clean that tasted like Wayne’s laundry detergent. I was so convinced it was one of the ingredients!” — before Eddie finally gets to the kiss side of the story.

“Wayne’s catching up with the only guy working the place, and I really want another scoop of Sinful Cinnamon, so I figure, what the hell? I’ll scoop it myself. But there’s none left in the tub, so I head into the back. There’s this giant walk-in freezer in the back that has all the tubs in it, and it’s cracked open.”

The sinking feeling in Steve’s stomach returns as Eddie keeps talking. He tries not to squirm next to Robin, doesn’t want to draw any attention to himself, but he can feel his heart beating faster and faster as realization hits Steve.

“Didn’t you used to hide out at an ice cream shop when your parents started arguing?” Robin whispers.

Steve nods, too scared of what his voice will sound like if he answers verbally.

"The damn door closes behind me, and it's pitch black in this room, right. And it's cold. So fucking cold. I thought my eyes were going to freeze over. Course, the door is locked from the inside, so I'm thinking, great, I'm going to die in a damn ice cream freezer, and my dad is gonna have my uncle arrested for child endangerment even though my dad's done way worse when I catch something out of the corner of my eye.

"Next thing I know, there's this kid standing in front of me. I thought I was hallucinating! All I could see were a pair of light-colored eyes in front cause everything else was so dark, but then he lamely asked if I was here looking for ice cream too, and I knew I didn't imagine him cause, dammit he would have said something a lot cooler if I was."

“What else was I supposed to say? I was a kid!”

Eddie whirls around so fast, his legs tangle as he moves to face them, but mostly Steve. Robin’s mouth is open wide beside Steve, jaw unhinged like she’s about to have it broken in two by fucking Vecna. Steve can’t see Nancy, but he can tell by the quiet “oh my gods” she’s uttering that not even she was expecting this plot twist.

“You were there?” Eddie shouts, voice high pitched and eyes wide in utter disbelief.

“Woah, my dudes,” Argyle says, glancing between the two of them. “You guys were both locked in the ice cream freezer together? That’s wild.���

“They weren’t just locked in there, Argyle,” Jonathan hisses, elbowing him in the ribs. “They’re each other’s first kisses.”

“That can’t be true!” Eddie throws his hands in the air and begins pacing. “Steve said his first kiss was with some girl in a dark room. That’s not what I’m describing!”

“I mean, I thought it was a girl. They had long hair, and I didn’t know any guys who had long hair back then,” Steve says, pushing himself up to his own feet. He doesn’t start pacing, though, feet frozen to their spot on the floor instead. “But I did have my first kiss in an ice cream freezer. That’s why it was dark.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s, uh, that’s a little weird, but we don’t know if it was the same ice cream freezer.”

“Do you regularly make it a habit of getting locked in ice cream freezers, Munson?” Steve snaps.

He doesn’t know why Eddie is reacting like this. A minute ago, he was fondly recounting the story of kissing some boy in a freezing cold ice cream freezer, and now? Now he’s trying way harder than he ever did in school to prove he didn’t kiss Steve. As if kissing Steve is a bad thing?

Is it a bad thing?

Sure, Eddie and Steve are friends now, but maybe there’s a part of Eddie that still hates Steve for who he was in high school.

Maybe, learning that Steve took this precious first from Eddie is the final straw.

“Hey, guys, why don’t we give them a minute to work this out?” Nancy says, already yanking Jonathan and Argyle up from the couch.

Robin hesitates as she looks at Steve. He knows she’s giving him an out, but he doesn’t take it. Gives her a small nod and a tight lip smile in return and sends her up the steps after Nancy and the guys.

When Steve turns back around, Eddie’s on the couch, head buried in his hands. He takes a deep breath before carefully lowering himself onto the opposite side of the couch.

“Everything okay over there, Munson?”

“Pretty far from it, Harrington.”

Steve tries not to wince at the mention of his last name. It’s been months since Eddie’s called him anything but Stevie in that annoying tilt of his voice. But here the ugly nickname is again. Driving a dagger straight through Steve’s heart.

Steve tries to assess the situation. Digs deep into that retired athlete's brain of his and tries to come up with a game-winning plan for how to navigate this conversation. But Steve's never been good with words. It's a lot easier to find the winning move when there are actual pawns to move instead of random letters spiraling through his brain.

The way he sees it, he has two options.

Option one: apologize. For what? Steve’s not sure, but that’s never stopped him from apologizing before. It’s not the ideal plan, but it’s the only plan Steve thinks will get Eddie to look at him again. And damn, does he miss Eddie’s eyes looking at him.

Option two: take the once-in-a-lifetime shot and tell Eddie the secret he’s been harboring since a certain March night when a broken bottle was dangerously close to his throat.

Steve closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“For what it’s worth, it was a great kiss.”

“Don’t bullshit me, man!” Eddie groans. “This is embarrassing enough as it is.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize kissing me was so embarrassing,” Steve winces, recoiling in on himself.

“That’s not—“ Eddie groans again as he finally pulls his hands away from his face. He takes a moment before he turns to face Steve. “Why aren’t you more embarrassed? I mean, your first kiss was with a guy. Doesn’t that weird you out?”

“No? You know I don’t care about that stuff.”

“Yeah, but this is different. This isn’t Robin kissing Vickie or me kissing some random guy at a club. This is you! Patron Saint of Heterosexuality, Steve Harrington, having his kiss virginity stolen by some guy!”

“You didn’t steal it! I kissed you if you remember the rest of the story,” Steve says, jabbing his finger into Eddie’s scarred bicep. “And I’d do it again, because I’m not the Patron Saint of Hetereo—whatever it is you said!”

Steve's not sure how to describe the sound Eddie emits from the depths of his throat. It's a shill, almost demogorgon-like, but it lacks the danger that comes with a screech like that. Eddie's eyes are big and wild, pupils taking over every inch of the rich, warm brown Steve's come to lose himself in.

“What are you saying, Steve?”

Steve shifts closer to Eddie on the couch, eyes glued to the shell-shocked expression on his face.

It’s now, or never, he thinks. The seconds are ticking by, and he has to take the shot now if he wants the satisfaction of the win.

“I like you, Eddie,” he whispers, loud enough for Eddie to hear but not loud enough for Robin and the rest of them to hear if they’re spying on them. Which he’s willing to bet they are. “I’ve liked you since March, and I spent the entire summer of 1976 liking you before I even knew who you were.”

“Steve, that’s—” Eddie shakes his head. “That’s ridiculous, you didn’t even know what I looked like. You thought I was a girl! It could have still been a girl! We don’t know for sure it was you I kissed!”

“Maybe this will help.”

Steve scoots closer, closing the gap between them but leaving enough space for Eddie to move away if he wants. He waits for a moment, and then another and only starts to lean in when Eddie gives him the smallest nod of his head.

Eddie shakes under Steve’s steadying hand as it moves to cup his cheek. He lets his thumb trace over the still-healing flesh of his scars as he tips Eddie’s head subtly to the left. And then Steve leans in, hot breath fanning over Eddie’s face. He watches Eddie’s eyelashes flutter shut and only when he’s certain they’re closed does he press his lips to Eddie’s.

It’s soft and tentative.

Maybe even a little bit awkward.

But then Eddie presses into him ever so gently, and the sparks fly.

Steve’s entire body breaks out with goosebumps. The same way they did all those years ago in the freezer, except this time, it has nothing to do with the arctic temperature.

They keep kissing. Gentle pecks, nothing more.

Steve’s too scared of scaring Eddie away with how deep his want is, and Eddie, well, Steve’s not entirely sure what’s going on in Eddie’s head, but he imagines he’s still reeling from this new discovery.

When they finally pull away, Eddie’s smiling. Dimples deep and on full display. He’s got a mischievous glint in his eye that Steve’s come to love from afar, but now that it’s directed at him? Well, Steve’s inside turn molten.

“Think our first kiss was sweeter, Stevie.”

Steve laughs and lets his head knock against Eddie’s boney shoulder as he buries his laughter in the crook of Eddie’s neck. “I did eat like three Turtle Track sundaes before I kissed you back then.”

Eddie hums. “Guess we better go get you a sundae then and try again.

Steve pulls away and looks at Eddie with his own face of bewilderment. “You want to? With me?”

“Steve,” Eddie jests. “I dreamt about the ice cream-flavored boy I kissed for years, until I found someone new to dream about in high school. Turns out, they turned out to be the same boy after all.”

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 4th: Rejection | Arsonist’s Lullaby - Hozier | Lost a/n: pre-steddie post-s4, angst with soft, happy ending because I'm a marshmallow. un-betaed because I'm challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to series on ao3

All Eddie Munson has ever wanted to do is play music. 

That’s it. There are other hobbies, of course, other things that bring him joy– D&D, fantasy novels, art– but ever since he was a kid, whenever a teacher would ask what he wants to be when he grows up, it’s always the same answer. 

I wanna play music. 

As a kid, it seems less daunting. He just has to practice, he just has to play, he just has to have the passion to make it big. To be the next Kirk Hammett, or Eddie Van Halen, or Ozzy Osbourne if he can teach himself to carry a tune. 

Making friends is hard, but he manages to find a few in middle school who can play the instruments he can’t– drums, bass. Eddie takes the role of frontman, not exactly a singer still but he’s charismatic enough to get away with it at their school talent show.

High school comes, and Corroded Coffin is revamped. New vibe, new members. He’s older now, a little more jaded with each rejection. 

No one wants their EP, recorded by hand in Gareth’s garage onto cheap cassette tapes. 

No venue will let them play, and Eddie knows that it’s probably because they’re in high school but hadn’t The Cure started in high school? 

No one believes in them, trying to push them– especially Eddie�� to consider more successful careers, safer paths. 

But eventually, they book a regular gig at The Hideout and Eddie’s certain this is it. This is their big break. Until they play week after week, staring at the same five plastered faces every Tuesday. If they can prove themselves though, the owner will have to let them play on a Friday or Saturday.

He never does. 

The final nail in the proverbial coffin comes after Eddie’s final senior year. Being accused of murder should have beefed up his credibility if nothing else– he’s already been traumatized, terrorized, and hunted like a goddamn dog, nevermind almost killed via hoard of angry mutant bats. Surely, he’ll catch at least one break. 

And then the owner at The Hideout tells him he can’t play there anymore. 

The hoards of people who still blame him for Chrissy Cunningham’s death are too much for him to manage himself and, in his words, Eddie’s driving away good business. His heart shatters, his breath catches, and Eddie leaves without a word because if he were to try to speak, all that would come out is either an enraged scream or a choked sob and Eddie doesn’t want to risk either. 

He drives around aimlessly for an unknown amount of time, just circles around the outskirts of Hawkins. Maybe I’ll just leave, he thinks. Indianapolis might be far enough. Maybe Chicago. Fuck it, maybe Argyle and Jonathan can put me up for awhile in California. Eddie wants to go somewhere that makes him forget just how lost he is, how unwanted and forgotten he’s become. Being the social pariah is only fun when he’s making speeches on cafeteria tables, not when it boots him out of his one and only career path. 

Somehow, he ends up in Loch Nora. He can’t face Wayne right now, he doesn’t want to bother Robin or Nancy, he’s already let Jeff, Gareth, and Freak down in the worst way imaginable, and if he goes to his mom’s or Chrissy’s tombstones with one more sob story, he’s afraid they’ll start haunting him. Steve’s become a friend over the last year or so it makes sense. Process of elimination and all of that. 

He doesn’t have the mental bandwidth to realize that he’d started driving that way before he ruled everyone else out. 

Steve welcomes him like he always does and offers him a beer, sitting with him in companionable silence on the couch as they watch Monty Python and The Holy Grail and laugh at the same parts. Eddie knows Steve can see that he’s upset but instead of asking questions Eddie isn’t ready to answer, he just sits a little closer with their thighs touching and one arm strewn over the back of the couch, just barely grazing Eddie’s shoulder. 

The movie ends and Steve moves to switch the tape when Eddie finally speaks up. 

“The Hideout kicked us out. Can’t play there anymore.” 

Eddie sees Steve freeze from behind before turning, his eyebrows knitted together above his nose. “Are you fucking serious?” 

He nods and sighs, lifting one hand to chew on this thumbnail as he looks at the wall beyond Steve. 

“That’s bullshit, dude. Why? Because of the protestors or whatever?” 

He nods again. 

“Want me to go down there? I’ve still got my bat around here somewhere. It might be nice to swing at something that’s not trying to like, eat me.” 

Eddie huffs a small laugh through his nose and meets Steve’s eyes, their righteous anger blending with his own as he sees Steve cross his arms over his chest. It’s hard not to stare. 

 “Well, then at least I wouldn’t be the only guy in this town wanted for murder.” 

Steve shakes his head and just chooses another movie, Howard the Duck this time, before returning to his spot on the couch. It’s one of Eddie’s favorite movies but he can’t focus to save his life because Steve is even closer now, his arm draped fully across Eddie’s shoulders and creating a space for Eddie to easily just… rest. So he does. 

The title sequence starts and Eddie’s head drops to the side, resting on Steve’s shoulder. It’s one of his favorites but he can’t follow the plot to save his life. All he can focus on is the way Steve’s fingers trace symptoms and shapes against the cotton of his tee shirt, and the steady rise and fall of his chest, and the feeling of Steve’s head leaning against the top of his. 

“I had a new song and everything,” Eddie whispers, surprising both himself and Steve. 

Steve hums and tightens his arm around Eddie’s shoulders, a ghost of a hug. “Play it for me sometime?”

All Eddie Munson has ever wanted to do is play music. And maybe he still can.

[foreverautumn89]

One thing you should know is that Steve spoils the hell out of Jonathan whenever he can. Yes Steve's parents are rich but he works at the video store so Steve doesn't have a lot of money, but the little money he does have, he uses it to take Jonathan out or get him gifts.

His lack of money doesn't stop him from trying to spoil Jonathan. Even though Jonathan usually pays for himself because he doesn't feel right when he doesn't, but over the years of being together hes allowed Steve to pay for him more because Steve likes to give him gifts like that. Steve gives him all sorts of gifts. Sometimes its taking Jonathan out on an 'adventure' and other times its actual gifts. Steve knows that Jonathan isn't like the majority of girls he dated before.

Jonathan doesn't expect Steve to spend his money on him and Jonathan likes gifts that are from the heart which don't always require money. Jonathan doesn't like some generic gift like chocolates or flowers, but gifts that show you really know the person and want to give them something that will truly make them happy. And most of the time time that doesn't require money to give Jonathan something special and make him happy.

Jonathan is just as happy when they go walking through the woods holding hands and hanging out by the lake. Jonathan is just as happy when they don't go out anywhere and just stay in and cuddle and watch a movie Steve sitting up right while Jonathan is cuddling with him, his head resting against Steve's chest while Steve has his arms wrapped around him. Or even when they stay in listening to music in Jonathan's room with the window open the breeze softly drifting in as they smoke and playfully argue about music.

But then there are times where they save up their money or Steve's parents treat them and they go out on adventures that do cost money like to the water parks, amusements parks, Christmas light shows [Jonathan loves lights especially Christmas lights], haunted houses ext ext... They just love seeing and trying new things together a different haunted house than last year for example.

They want to explore and see everything try new things/explore new places/live their lives to the fullest and they always make the most of it when they do and have fun being a couple and being free from the people of Hawkins for hours. This is why they usually end up sneaking away and making out somewhere when they go out. Free from anyone from Hawkins seeing them. Well...except for the kids who always find them and look amused yet unimpressed with their shenanigans as if they're the parents in this situation because they're done with the cotton candy or treat that one of them bought now and want to go explore. And except for any friends they bring with them like for example Argyle Eddie and Robin who were supposed to be watching the kids and look just as amused finding them like that.

.

to be continued. this isn't a story but rather a bunch of headcanons that were in drafts that keep getting away from me and trying to turn itself into a story. I meant to get Stonathan stuff posted for years and never write it down. So this is me trying to change that. I realized that I have so much Stonathan content going on in my head all the time 24/7 and none of you know about any of it really. The Stonathan I have going on in my head is so advanced and a long term established relationship and there is so much to tell you and yet none of you know cause I don't post it. I usually try to perfect things before I post them but if I keep doing that these will never see the light of day. So its not always going to be great entries but I figured its better than me not doing it at all and trying to play catch up later when its too late.. Expect delivery to be very slow though because I have so much going on...

[hbyrde36]

Steddie | R: Explicit (for eventual smut) | WC:4541 | AO3

Chapter 1: Ghost of Yesterday

Two days after they failed to defeat Vecna, after Max died and came back, after Eddie died—and didn’t. Two days after they were forced to leave his body behind in the Upside Down because everything had gone to shit, a bright yellow pizza delivery van that looked like it’d been through its own apocalypse pulled into the Wheeler's driveway.

Jonathan, Mike, Will, and El finally made it home to Hawkins with the help of a friend.

On day three, Max woke up. 

She’d have a long road to recovery, but the doctors seemed fairly confident she’d walk again. Though, no one could be sure how much of her eyesight would return, if any. The same day, in a twist no one saw coming, Joyce showed up, fresh off a plane from Alaska after escaping Russia—yes, Russia—with a miraculously alive and mostly well Jim Hopper. 

And four days after the world both did and then didn’t end, the ghost of Eddie Munson appeared in Steve’s living room.

The kids and older teens, including the newest member of the doomsday squad, Argyle, were having an off-the-books meeting. After everything they’d done and been through, the so-called ‘adults’ were attempting to pull their same old shit, trying to sideline the younger set for their own, supposed, safety. 

Steve sort-of agreed about Dustin and the others, they were still too young and had already lost so much, but if Hopper, Joyce, and whoever the hell else thought they were going to bench him? They had another think coming, and he was pretty sure Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan felt the same way too.

But, whether he agreed or not, what he wouldn’t do was stop the kids from helping to come up with a plan. Because damned if he knew what the hell they should do next. 

Dustin leaned forward from his spot on the couch wedged between Erica and Will, steepling his fingers together in front of him. “So let me test my understanding. You set him on fire, and shot him—multiple times. He fell out of a third story window, and he just went… poof? Vanished without a trace?”

There was a collective groan from the room, everyone except for Lucas and El who were at the hospital sitting with Max, and of course Dustin himself. 

Robin rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, yes, Dustin. How many times do we have to go over this?”

 “I’m just laying out the facts!” Dustin snapped back. “Clearly we got something wrong here. We underestimated Vecna, and by a lot.”

 “And how is repeating our obvious failure helpful?” Nancy asked, a little defensively. 

Steve understood the attitude, he'd also been wresting with his guilt since that fateful night.

“The scientific method!” Dustin answered with a bit of the same slightly forced cheerfulness he'd been displaying ever since Max woke up. He held up a hand, ticking each step off on his fingers as he spoke. “Question, research, hypothesis, experiment, data analysis, conclusion.” 

“I got a question—“ Erica pursed her lips, giving Dustin such intense side-eye Steve wondered if it was actually painful. “Why are you such a nerd?”

Dustin sighed, as though it were everyone else annoying him instead of the other way around. “The question is—if Vecna is just a guy with powers like El, how could he have survived this long in the Upside Down? What’s keeping him alive?”

Okay, fine. Attitude or not, Steve hadn’t really thought about it but maybe the kid had a point. 

“The hive mind!” Robin offered up.

“Possibly.” Dustin nodded to her. ”Probably. So, what does that tell us?”

Erica crossed her arms, leaning back heavily into the couch. “I don’t know Mr. Clarke, you wanna share your thoughts with the class?”

“I didn’t say I had all the answers.”

“That’s a first,” Robin mumbled. 

“I’m just trying to get us brainstorming here!”

A flutter of movement pulled Steve’s admittedly already drifting attention away from discussion at hand. Something in the corner, the air there shifting and bending strangely, a little like the way heat shimmers off a sun drenched black top. He watched through his periphery, not daring to actually turn his head to look as a familiar figure materialized there. 

Fuck.

Though he looked confused and disoriented at first, it wasn’t long before the long-haired apparition tried approaching one of them.

Steve swallowed hard, his throat growing painfully tight. He fought to keep his face neutral as the ghost raised a hand in front of Dustin's face, calling the boy's name loudly before moving on to Erica, then Nancy—and Steve panicked, knowing he had to do something before the figure tried the same with him. 

“Water,” he muttered, mainly to Robin as he rose and bumped her shoulder. She was the only one really paying attention to him anyway, while the others still argued the physics and limitations of the alternate dimension. 

Steve fled for the relative quiet and safety of his kitchen. He just needed a minute alone to get his shit together, but he should have expected the phantom footfalls that followed him across the tile floor to the cabinet. 

As he took out a tall glass with shaking hands, the ghost hopped up to sit on the counter just beside him and started talking to himself.

“What the hell does a guy gotta do to get a little attention, huh?” The figure held up his slightly transparent hands in front of his own face, turning them over and back again. “I-I’m kinda freaking out here.”

Under the show of irritation he sounded sad, and a little terrified.

“They can’t see you,” Steve muttered softly, regretting it the second the words passed his lips. 

He knew better than to engage with ghosts. 

Since the moment he’d first shown signs of the gift, he’d been taught by his late grandfather to leave the spirit world be, and mind his own goddamn business.

He’d only broken the rules one other time, about a month or so after they learned the full truth of what happened to Barb and he’d seen her essence lurking around his pool at night. That experience had only served to further prove the old man’s point. 

Nothing good ever came from acknowledging the dead. 

But this was Eddie. 

They’d fought together, bled together. Eddie was his–his ally, his compatriot, his friend. 

And towards the end there Steve was even starting to think that maybe… maybe one day they could be more, if he ever got up the courage to flirt back.

Not that it mattered now.

“No shit, Harrington!” Eddie spat. “I’ve been waving my hands in front of their faces, screaming Dustin's name at the top of my lungs and getting jack squat back in return. I mean what the fu—”

With a sad little smile Steve turned, finally looking straight at the other boy just in time to see his eyes go impossibly wide. 

“Wait—holy shit! Harrington, does this mean you can see me?!”

Steve winced, grimacing at the sheer volume of Eddie's voice. “And hear you, unfortunately.”

Who knew the loudest guy he’d ever met would be even louder in death. 

Actually, that tracked. 

“Steve?” Robin’s voice filtered in as she called out to him from the other room.

Steve took a deep breath, locking eyes with the adorably confused looking ghost haunting his kitchen as he shouted back to her. “Yeah?” He raised a hand to his head, rubbing at the bridge of his nose just as Robin appeared in the doorway. 

“What are you up to in here?” She asked.

“Oh, just…” Steve trailed off, trying and failing not to track Eddie’s movements as he hopped down off the counter and began to stalk towards Robin, a determined, mischievous glint in his eye. 

“ …talking to myself.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “You okay?”

“Are you okay she asks,” Eddie grumbled, tipping his head mockingly from side to side. “Pfft—I’m the one who’s invisible. Why isn’t anyone asking if I’m okay?”

“Um,” Steve fought to keep a level expression and not laugh, even as Eddie blew wet raspberries and made increasingly silly faces inches from an oblivious Robin’s nose. “No, actually. I think I might have a migraine coming on,” he lied.

“You want me to get everyone to leave?” She asked.

Yes, good plan! 

In fairness he wasn’t exactly feeling his best. He was exhausted. It had been a long few days.

A long… week and a half? 

Years. 

It had been a long few years.

And he needed some time alone with Eddie, to talk.

“That'd be great, yeah. Thanks, Rob.”

“Sure thing. Why don't you go get in bed with your eye mask on, and I'll bring water and painkillers up?”

“Oooh,” Eddie crooned. “His majesty sleeps with an eye mask? Fancy.”

Ugh, why were all of Steve’s favorite people such fucking smartasses? He glared at Eddie before he could stop himself. Which meant he was staring daggers at a blank wall right now, right in front of Robin, leaving her looking more concerned than ever. 

Shit. 

He should have known she’d wanna stay behind and take care of him. 

“I—um, t-that’s okay,” Steve stuttered out. “M-maybe you should just go on home too.”

Her face fell.

Hacking and wheezing, he forced a fake coughing fit in her direction, only barely covering his mouth with his hand.

“Very convincing,” Eddie commented with clear sarcasm.

Robin wrinkled her nose, recoiling like the germaphobe Steve knew and loved.

“Sorry, I think I'm coming down with a cold or something actually. You should get out while you still can.”

Robin bit at her lip, looking mildly dubious, but eventually she nodded. “Fine. Just promise you’ll call me if it gets any worse, or if you need anything?”

“I promise.”

While everyone cleared out, Steve hid in the kitchen, finally getting that drink of water he so desperately needed—his throat was on fire now that he thought about it—and splashed some more cold water from the sink on his face for good measure.

“You sure you’re not actually coming down with something?” Eddie asked, sitting back up on his perch on the counter. “You don’t look so hot.”

“I’m fine,” Steve said with practiced ease, though his head was beginning to throb a bit. Maybe that migraine thing wasn’t as much of a lie as he’d thought.

With the house now safely empty of prying eyes and ears, he ventured back out into the living room, with Eddie hovering along behind, and locked the deadbolt on the front door before plopping down hard on the couch, letting his head rest against the back of it.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Eddie asked, pacing back and forth along the floor in front of him.

Steve let his head loll to one side. “Plan?”

Eddie groaned, stopping in his tracks to throw his head up to the ceiling. “Why couldn’t it be Henderson who can see me.”

Okay, rude.

“A plan, y'know?” Eddie went on. “To get me back? To get me out of the Upside Down or whatever purgatory I'm currently languishing in?”

Steve could only stare at him blankly for a moment as the words sank in. “Eddie—” he began hesitantly, sitting up straight.

“What? Don't tell me you’ve all given up on me already?”

Oh.

Oh, no.

Steve had heard about this, how sometimes spirits don’t realize they’ve passed on, but surely Eddie had to know. What other possible explanation could he have for suddenly becoming invisible and incorporeal? 

“Eddie, what is it you think is happening here, exactly?” He asked, praying he was wrong but bracing himself for the worst. How on earth do you go about telling someone you care about that they’re dead?

“Well, clearly I–I'm…” Eddie sputtered haughtily for a moment before looking away. “I'm not sure. I’ve been separated from my body somehow, obviously. S-so It’s gotta be some weird Vecna shit, right? And uh, you can hear me and see me b-because… because we both got bit by the bats and it gave us, like, our own little freaky hive-mind type… thing?” 

He sounded less and less sure as he went on, and Steve’s heart ached for him. He remembered the bats attacking him part, but not the dying part. That just seemed cruel.

“Eddie, um,” Steve cleared his throat, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I don’t know how to tell you this but you… you died.”

“Bullshit,” Eddie snorted.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. We came back from the Creel house and you…” Steve paused, struggling for a second to force his words past the sudden lump in his throat. “Dustin was sitting there with your—”.

“No.” Eddie shook his head roughly. “No–no, because, if I'm dead… then how is it you can see me? Huh?! Explain that!” 

“It runs in my family. My dad doesn't have the gift but my grandfather was able to see ghosts, and his father before that.”

“Suuure, Harrington,” Eddie’s mouth twisted into a wry smile. “So—not only am I supposed to believe that I'm dead, but also that you’re descended from some long line of ghost whisperers? Is this a joke to you?! I’m in dire need of–of fucking rescue, and you’re over here trying to fuck with me? Not cool, man. Not cool.”

Steve stood, almost reaching out as he itched to comfort the other boy in some way, but he knew well that it was pointless. “I’m not, I swear I'm not messing with you. I know it’s not what you want to hear, and I'm so sorry but I'm telling you the truth. Dustin, he—” Steve’s voice cracked. “You didn’t have a pulse, Eddie.”

“Stop it!” Eddie snapped.

“I’m sorry, really. I–”

“I said stop!” 

With a choked off sob Eddie moved to shove him away, only to stumble when his hands found nothing solid, or rather, as Eddie’s ghostly and very not solid form passed right through Steve’s body.

Steve held his breath as he waited for it, the sensation of being doused in a bucket of ice water, the spine tingling, creepy crawly thing he’d felt the only other time he’d let a ghost near enough to touch.

But this was nothing like that. 

Eddie felt… warm. And while Steve still shivered it wasn’t because the failed touch had been bad or painful. Quite the opposite, actually. He was left with a pleasant buzzing in his core, the initial warmth lingering, wrapping around him like an embrace before fading slowly.

Maybe all spirits were different. Maybe Barb had felt cold because she’d hated him, because it was his pool she died in—his fault she was out there in the first place.

But Eddie was…

Oh shit—Eddie. 

Steve spun to find him on the floor with his knees pulled up, hugging them to his chest, his huge brown eyes shining with unshed tears. 

Could ghosts cry?

Steve knelt down next to him, biting back a wince as the movement pulled at the bandages hiding beneath his shirt. He’d need to change those again tonight, they felt tacky with dried blood.

Eddie's voice shook when he finally spoke again. “I’m—dead?’

Steve bowed his head in a solemn nod. He would have given anything in that moment to be able to wrap his arms around Eddie.

“T-the bats?”

“There were just too many of them,” Steve explained. “It looked like you put up a hell of a fight, but I think you bled out.”

“My uncle, Wayne, do you know if he—” Eddie trailed off, worrying his bottom lip.

“Dustin talked to him. He couldn't risk telling him everything, but he gave him your guitar pick, and told him you were a hero. That you died a hero.”

Eddie barked a wet laugh, shaking his head.

“It’s the truth," Steve said, hoping his tone left no room for doubt. "If you hadn't distracted them we never would have made it into that attic. And If you hadn’t led them away when you did…” He didn’t need to say it, they both knew Dustin could—and likely would—have been hurt or worse, and those things would have gone through the gate and into the right side up.

It was exactly what Steve would have done too, had their roles been reversed.

“How long has it been?” Eddie asked, quietly.

“Three? No–no, four days.”

“And Vecna?”

“Down, but not out. We wounded him for sure but he got away. That's why everyone was here tonight.”

“Okay,” Eddie blew out a long breath, rubbing hard at his eyes. “What happens now? Do you like, help me find the light or something?” His eyes darted around as though some doorway or portal might appear right there in the living room. “Or maybe I'm going the other way. I can think of a few reasons the big guy might not let me upstairs, but what do I know, maybe self-sacrifice gets you a free pass?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? Isn’t this your legacy or whatever?”

“I’ve never done,” Steve waved a hand, gesturing between the two of them. “This before. I was taught to ignore the dead. Pretend I can't see them just like everyone else and let them go about their business.”

“How come?”

“Grandfather said if you get too involved, if the dead find out you can see them they’ll never leave you alone. That it’s dangerous. The dead linger for a lot of reasons, but the most common are unfinished business and revenge. Lots of angry spirits out there according to the Harrington journals.”

Eddie tilted his head thoughtfully. “Am I really the first ghost you’ve ever talked to?”

Steve thought of Barb again, the way her face had morphed into a rage-filled mask when he revealed he’d been able to see her all along, but he pushed it forcefully out of his mind.

And lied.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I just told you, my grandfather—”

“No,” Eddie cut in. “I mean why, after a lifetime of ignoring ghosts, did you choose to acknowledge me?”

“B-because, you’re—“ Steve faltered, not knowing quite how to put it into words. He wasn’t sure even he totally understood. Yes he’d started developing a crush on the guy, but it was more than that. They had a connection, Steve felt it, even if Eddie didn’t. And maybe it was normal—inevitable even, when you get thrown into this shit together. But whether it was all just trauma bonding or something more, Steve couldn’t deny the pull.

“You’re—” he tried to say again as he pushed himself to his feet, only to double over, sucking air through his teeth as the dull pain in his sides turned searing and sharp.

“Steve?” Eddie shot up as he spoke, sounding worried.

“‘M fine,” Steve grit out, managing to straighten his posture without another outburst. “Jus' tired.”

Eddie raised a single eyebrow, but thankfully didn’t argue, silently following Steve as he headed for the staircase and began to climb.

Of course, this was Eddie, so he was only capable of being silent for so long.

“Hey, how come I can’t touch you, but I can walk up the stairs?” 

“I don’t know,” Steve huffed out, breath stuttering as he neared the top landing. 

Just a few more steps.

“Do you think I could, like, sit on a couch, or—or lay in a bed?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know,” Steve repeated, trying not to sound as annoyed and in pain as he felt. He just had to make it to his room, get these stupid wounds cleaned and then he could pass out for a few hours. Maybe then he’d be able to answer questions and figure out what to do about all this. 

“What if I—”

“Eddie!” Steve barked from the top step, whirling to face him. He nearly lost his balance before catching himself with a hand on the wall. His sides were screaming at him and the throbbing in his head was getting worse too. “I really don’t know any more than you do. I don’t know all the ins and outs, or why things work the way they work.  Can you please just give it a rest for a minute?”

Eddie wilted, dropping his gaze to his feet. “Sorry.”

Fuck.

“No,” Steve sighed. ”No, I'm sorry, I shouldn’t be… y’know, when you’re—”

“Dead?!” Eddie snapped, raising his head again. He looked hurt.

“Sorry.” Steve sucked his lip between his teeth.

“Whatever.”

“Eddie—”

Eddie stomped past him and into the upstairs hallway. “Spare me the pity party. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m telling you, if I was dead, I'd know it.”

Steve opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut again without another word. He didn’t have the energy, and If that was what Eddie needed to believe for now to get through this, then who was he to tell him what to think? It wouldn’t change the facts but if it made him feel better, what was the harm?

Somehow Eddie had guessed the right door. He waited, leaning up against the opposite wall and very deliberately didn’t look at Steve as he walked over, and pushed into his bedroom. 

Steve went right through to the bathroom to get this over with, not bothering to close the door behind him, assuming Eddie would be able to walk right through anyway if he wanted to.

Eddie did follow, still silently brooding as he found another piece of wall to hold up.

Steve ignored him for now, he felt awful but he’d try to apologize again later once the other boy had calmed down, and carefully peeled his shirt off as he stood in front of the mirror. 

The bandages at his sides looked gnarly and gross. He’d bled again, and it looked like there was something yellow seeping into the huge squares of gauze too. He turned his body to the side, looking over his shoulder to see how the road rash on his back was doing. It looked better than the front, but that wasn’t saying much. The skin around the wide scrapes was red and inflamed. He couldn’t cover those on his own and could really only clean them in the shower, but they were shallow at least and would eventually heal on their own, he figured. 

A quiet gasp reminded him of his audience, and a quick glance over through the mirror showed Eddie staring at his torso with wide eyes.

“It looks worse than it is,” Steve said quietly, quickly looking away. Which wasn’t exactly true but the last thing he needed right now was another person trying to force him to go to the hospital. 

He knew some first aid. 

It was fine.

Turning back to face the sink, Steve ran water over a washcloth and held it to each of his dressings to soak them off. The air stung when it finally hit the wounds, as though they'd been freshly opened, and, sure enough, there was definitely some pus seeping from the edges.

No problem. He’d just have to clean them extra thoroughly.

Gritting his teeth, Steve poured a hefty amount of peroxide on a new clean washcloth and began to gently pat his right side. 

The pain was instant and excruciating. 

Bile rose in his throat, a cold sweat breaking out across his body as the world around him swam. Steve swayed on his feet, dropping the cloth to the ground as he himself began to fall. 

A sudden warmth at his back, and strong hands wrapping around his chest were the only thing that kept him on his feet. Carefully avoiding the worst of his wounds, Eddie had caught him, holding the bulk of his weight until the spinning in his head stopped.

The moment Steve could stand on his own again Eddie jumped back as though he’d been burned.

Steve’s eyes snapped up, locking with Eddie’s in their reflections as he realized with a start what had just happened.

“How?” He whispered. He could still feel the imprint of Eddie’s hands where they had cradled him to his chest. He’d felt so… real, so solid, so—alive for that handful of seconds. 

“I-I don't know!” Eddie said, a little too loud in the small space. “I didn’t even think, or-or like, I forgot that I couldn't. I saw you about to go down and I didn't want you to hurt yourself.”

“I didn’t think it was possible." Steve took a step towards him. "You should try to do that again.”

Eddie tucked his hands behind his back, moving as far away as he could without actually leaving the room. “Don't we have more important things to worry about? Like maybe getting you to a hospital?”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I told you, it looks worse than it is.”

It was abundantly clear that Eddie didn’t believe him, but something about the accidental touch had freaked him out enough that he let it go.

As quickly as he could, Steve finished cleaning the ruined expanse of his stomach and got both sides wrapped in fresh bandages, managing to do so without nearly fainting this time, and threw a clean t-shirt on to hide the evidence. Hopefully that would stop Eddie looking at him with those big brown fucking sad worried eyes of his. 

Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. 

As much as he liked Eddie’s attention on him, these weren’t exactly the circumstances he would have hoped for.

Steve shut the lights off, and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin.

“We should try it again,” Steve mumbled through a long drawn-out yawn.

Eddie laughed softly from his corner hiding spot. “What was that, big boy?”

Steve wished he’d try to join him on the bed, but didn’t know how to ask. He untangled one of his arms from the sheets, reaching a hand out in Eddie’s direction. “Touch me?” 

The room was dark, and it could have been that Steve was a little delirious but he was pretty sure a light blush crept over Eddie's cheeks as he took a step closer, his own ringed hand outstretched.

The sight set off butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

Steve waited to feel the tips of their fingers brush, was desperate to feel Eddie’s touch again if he was honest, but it was no use, Eddie’s long digits passed right through.

“Maybe we have to–” Steve interrupted himself with another deep yawn. His body still ached but now that he was tucked in and warm in his bed, it was getting hard to fight the inevitable. 

“Just go to sleep, man,” Eddie said, his lips quirking into a small crooked smile. “It's not like I'm going anywhere.”

It should have been awkward, or weird to know someone would be there all night, lurking around while he slept, but as Steve drifted off he felt safer than he had in a long time, oddly comforted by the fact that Eddie would be there watching over him, even if he was just a ghost.

Thanks as always to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta and an absolutely amazing cheerleader!

Permanent taglist(open): @penny00dreadful @pearynice @hitlikehammers @bookworm0690 @wonderland-girl143-blog 

@goodolefashionedloverboi @themagicalari @awkwardgravity1 @rocknrollsalad

Fic taglist (open): @sidekick-hero

[blakeswritingimagines]

One of their friends likes you as well

Eddie: He’d probably be very upset. He would try to talk to you about it, and see what you say about everything. He would probably get really insecure and end up pushing you away without thinking about it or really trying to. He would start to think that he's ugly and that the other person is more better looking, smarter, or funnier. He would be jealous, and angry, and feel like you don’t love him. He'll start to feel like he's not good enough but he just needs to be babied.

Gareth: Gareth gets really jealous and pissed off. He’s known the guy his whole life, then they suddenly want to date the person he really likes?! He becomes distant from his friend, only talking to him when necessary. He might not outright be rude, but he will be really passive-aggressive and mean to him. The more the other guy pushes, the meaner Gareth gets. He’ll try to make his relationship with you seem better- show it off in front of the guy (he might try making the other dude jealous? Maybe)

Steve: Well he doesn't see you as his property, you are his partner, so the way he sees it you can have any friend you want. He trusts you, and if some other guy, or girl, happens to like you, he trusts you enough to know you're going to stay faithful. He thinks that's the way it should be. He trusts you to make your own choices and he doesn't try and tell you who you can and can't hang out with. That's not love, that's control. He also knows you love him.

Robin: Hm well. She would talk it over with them and try not to get mad. She knows people can’t control who they like, and neither can her friend. However, it is possible to control how she handles it. Of course, she would be jealous, but she would try to work things out between everyone. If it gets to a point where they start flirting with you, then... That’s a whole different story.”

Nancy: She’d probably get quite upset and jealous, but she values her relationship too much to let anything stand in the way of it. She’d simply let you know that you have to make a decision: her or the other person who also likes you. She knows you’d make the right choice, and she trusts you, it’s just a situation she would have like to have avoided

Jonathan: He would first try to get along with the person. However, if they were to get too close to you and show an increased intimacy towards you, he would probably have a very clear but firm discussion with them about his feelings. He would also try to have an open conversation with you about how he was feeling and what he was experiencing so that you could understand where he was coming from and hopefully avoid any misunderstandings.

Argyle: If a friend of his developed genuine feelings for his partner he would hope that you'd choose what's best for yourself and your relationship. This being said, he wouldn't want to try and control the situation or your feelings. If the attraction was mutual, you'd have to decide if you wanted to pursue it or stay with him. But I don't think there's anything he could do other than support you either way. After all, he cares about you and wants you to be happy, even if it's without him.

Billy: He'd take the person somewhere private, where nobody would hear them. He'd tell the person to stay away from you and not even think about you again, and he'd make sure it's understood exactly what would happen if the person didn't. If that didn't work, he'd be willing to resort to physical violence. He's not willing to share, not when it comes to something that means that much to him.

Henry: You are his partner and only his. He would never allow competition, and he would eliminate anyone who tried to take you from him. You would be his forever. His love there's no room for anyone else in his eyes.

[hellfirenacht]

Upside Down to Inside Out Part 1

Summary: It has been four months since anyone has heard from Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. After the Events of the Upside Down, he skips town, leaving you to reflect on the fallout and how your relationship changed during the battle for Hawkins.

Tags: Eddie Munson x Reader, angst, drug use, sfw, friends to lovers

No one had seen Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson for months. 

After the events in the Upside Down, where he, Dustin, and yourself had created a distraction for the Demobats to allow the rest of the team to do what was needed to kill Vecna/Henry/One, everything had happened in a blur. No one talked about that night, how everyone almost died, how the world almost ended, how Eddie had cleared his name but still was seen as a murderer. 

The official story was that Eddie had been kidnapped by whoever had actually killed Chrissy and the others. The official story made Chrissy out to be some sort of druggie, which pissed everyone off, not least of all Eddie. The official story had Eddie locked up and tortured by some boogie man who had sacrificed others. 

If the whole thing hadn’t been so traumatizing, it would almost be funny how close the papers got it right. 

It was September now, and you hadn’t heard a word from Eddie in months. You’d called him so many times, even showing up at his home to try and find him. Eventually, Wayne Munson had to tell you that he wasn’t there, and that he’d packed up his guitar, his cassettes, and his clothes and left town just days after being discharged from the hospital. 

Eddie ‘the Banished’ had retreated for the last time. 

You were glad that none of the kids were there to see you completely break down over this. No, instead it was Johnathan Byers and Argyle of all people who had been witness to your downfall. You barely knew them, had never talked to Johnathan much in school and Argyle... never went back to California. You never did ask about what his parents must have thought. 

They had been the one to drive you to Forest Hills Trailer Park when your car broke down. They had been the ones to hear Wayne explain that Eddie had skipped town. It was Johnathan’s idea to take you out to an old dump with a shitty golf club from the local thrift store to help you take your anger and frustration out on a broken washing machine. 

You swung the golf club with all your might at the poor appliance. Screaming profanities, yelling at Eddie, and cursing this town that never gave him a chance. 

“FUCK!” you screamed as the golf club swung down with a clang. “Stupid- He fucking LEFT!” Another swing. “He said... he wouldn’t run away again!” Another swing as hot tears stung your eyes. “Stupid shithead- stupid FUCK.”

You had long since stopped making sense of your yelling as Johnathan and Argyle just watched you. Everything was just wrong. How the hell did you save the world and still feel like you lost everything?! It wasn’t fair, you were supposed to have cleared his name, the town was supposed to love him now the same way that you-

Another feral scream ripped through your throat as you slammed the golf club down for a final time, snapping the cheap metal and denting the appliance. You fell to your knees in a heap, sobbing uncontrollably into the dirt. 

Argyle was the one to step in, sitting you up and sticking something in your mouth and telling you to breathe in. The joint burned your throat and only reminded you more of Eddie as you coughed out smoke. Someone was rubbing your back as you cried, you couldn’t tell who at this point. You should have been embarrassed to be having this complete breakdown in front of two people you barely knew, but you couldn’t help it. 

You weren’t sure how long you were sitting on the ground with the two men. You had mostly gotten your breathing under control, and you weren’t sure if the joint that was being passed between the three of you was doing you any good. 

“So... you were close with Eddie?” Jonathan asked, once he decided that you had calmed down enough to talk. 

“I... I thought we were.” you said. “I really thought so.”

“Come on, if anyone can get Eddie to move Hellfire it’s you!” Mike pleaded. “It’s the final session and then it’s over!”

You looked at the two freshmen before you and sighed. You agreed with them, you fully agreed with everything they were saying. You wanted Lucas there, you wanted everyone there for this. It wouldn’t feel right that the campaign would end without the whole of Hellfire Club there. 

And you had some sway over Eddie, not much but some. He was your friend, the one who had singled you out and dragged you into the club. He was the one who gave you a place to belong in Hawkins, and the only person you had opened up to about things in your past. This was the same man who when you said you had a passing interest in Metal music, he’d come to school the next day with a mix tape of his favorite songs, with a track list of why they were significant to the genre. 

Eddie was your friend, and none of the others could ever truly bring themselves to stand up to him the way you did. You weren’t afraid to poke at him when he was being stubborn, you weren’t afraid to fight with him, or call him out. That’s why he liked you, if he was honest. You were never afraid or nervous around Eddie Munson. 

Well, not to his face. 

“I won’t make any promises, but I’ll try. Maybe three people voting to postpone will make him at least think about it.” you finally agree. 

Dustin and Mike were satisfied with that as you all looked over at the normal Hellfire Club table. 

“Shit, he seems really revved up today.” Dustin said, watching as Eddie laughed about something in the magazine he was holding. 

“He’s always revved up.” said Mike, who looked just as nervous. 

“Welp, time to go ruin his day.” You said with a deep breath and a laugh. “Business as usual.”

That at least made the freshmen laugh a little bit as you led the way towards the club, dropping your lunchbox on the table next to Eddie. You were creating a barrier between him and Dustin and Mike, just in case. Not that Eddie would ever actually hurt anyone. Okay, yeah he wasn’t afraid to get handsy and grab onto club members and push them around a little but there was never any true malicious intent. 

But if you were going to be the one with any actual sway over his decision, then you had to be the one sitting closest to him. 

“‘Sup, Freaks.” you said dropping down in the chair, forcing Zack to scoot over. Gareth rolled his eyes at you, as usual. He never did seem to care for you, but it didn’t matter to you that much. 

Eddie barely acknowledged you until you opened your lunch box and tossed him an extra sandwich. It stressed you out how little he always brought, and you made sure to never make a big deal about it, and he didn’t question. Eddie grabbed the bag and took a bite out of the sandwich, and you could almost laugh at his expression. He was frowning so hard, and he was clearly in some sort of mood. 

“Exactly.” Eddie said, looking at you as he swallowed. “We’re the freaks here right? Just because we like to play a fantasy game.”

Oh no, he was in one of those moods. You immediately grabbed your lunch and scooted it back; you’d already lost more than one sandwich to Eddie’s speeches in the few months that you’d been here. Oh, this was going to be much harder than you thought it’d be. 

“BUT” Eddie slammed the table with his hand and started to stand up. You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing as he climbed up on the table- how many times had he managed to stand on these tables without getting in trouble? How many teachers had just given up at this point and let him go for it knowing it would only take a moment of everyone’s time? 

Still, you never got tired of it. You never got tired of his energy and passion, how he meant every single word he said, even if it pissed everyone else off or annoyed them. The whole school thought that he would snap one day, and you assumed that’s why most people stayed away from Hellfire. This club came with a certain level of protection against bullies, no doubt thanks to Eddie’s antics. 

“As long as you're into band!” Eddie yelled out, walking along the table. You had heard him say this exact thing hundreds of times before in private that you could almost say it word for word; wait, had that been him rehearsing for this? “Or science, or paaarrrtieeess-” 

He was gaining attention now, a few people looking up and flipping him off or muttering about the freak standing and yelling on the lunchroom table again. 

“Or a GAME where you toss BALLS into LAUNDRY BASKETS!” He yelled even louder. 

Shit. You looked over at Dustin and Mike with a sigh. Oh, he was NOT going to be happy about your proposal. You were now also glad that you had bought your supply off of him a few days ago so that he couldn’t hold that over your head. He has absolutely refused to sell you weed before, or at least delayed it by a few days because you two had gotten into some spat but he always ended up selling to you when you made up. 

A few people were yelling at Eddie now, and he threw up his hands and hissed at someone. You shook your head, God he was dramatic. But you loved that about him, if you were honest. Eddie was refreshing in a sea of normalcy. It was part of the reason you felt-

“It’s forced conforming.” Eddie declared as he walked back down the table and jumped off, getting into some poor girl's face who stumbled back into a pillar. “That’s what's killing the kids!” He took a seat again. “That’s the real monster.”

You readjusted your lunch and gave him a polite round of applause, with Mike and Dustin also following when they saw your face. Flattery worked on Eddie, of course it did. Eddie was a DM, so that meant he had some form of God-Complex and any form of stroking his dumb ego could only help. 

“So, uh, speaking of monsters...” Dustin started. Eddie was eating his sandwich again and his eyes had narrowed. Eddie always had a sixth sense when some form of bullshit was about to happen, and he could already tell that he wasn’t going to like whatever it was that this kid was going to say. 

“Lucas has to do his, uh, balls-in-laundry-baskets game.” Dustin laughed nervously, trying so hard to remain calm and casual. “So... He’s not gonna make it to Hellfire tonight. And I know there’s no way we can beat your sadistic campaign without him. So, me and Mike, we were talking, shooting the shit. And we were thinking that maybe we might...”

“Postpone!” Mike said, not letting Dustin get to the point. That’s probably not how you would have handled this situation, but it was out there. 

The table immediately delved into chaos as your friends immediately started fighting with the freshmen. 

“Postpone?!”

“You can’t just drop this on us!”

“Over my dead body!”

“SHUT UP!” Everything came to a halt with the club and you all looked at Eddie. He leaned over and looked at Dustin. “Are you saying that Sinclair’s been taken in by the dark side?”

In the off season, it had been easy for Lucas to ‘play the field’ between Basketball and Hellfire. With Hellfire on Fridays and practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the kid had been able to mostly get by playing both games. He never talked about one extra-curricular with the other, knowing that neither group of friends would care about the other. 

Then Spring semester started, and Basketball season started ramping up as the Hawkins Tigers started winning games. Lucas was still benched, but he couldn’t skip games, not without losing the chance to actually play. This had been causing friction for a few months now, with Lucas skipping Hellfire and everyone needing to find a sub for the game instead of, maybe, Eddie adjusting the dungeons and encounters accordingly. But Eddie would always be Eddie, and he was a stubborn, sadistic DM. 

“Uh, something like that?” Mike mumbled. 

“Something like that?” Eddie threw a piece of crushed pretzel that he had been eating at the freshman, which you barely dodged by leaning back. 

“Jesus, Eds.” you mumbled. 

He waved you off. “And rather than find a sub for him, you want... you want to postpone ‘The Cult of Vecna’?” You could practically hear Eddie grinding his teeth, and his shoulders were shaking. 

“I... I don’t want to postpone it.-” Mike started and you had to step in. This was not getting anywhere. 

“Yes, Eddie, we want to postpone the game” you said firmly, sitting up straighter. He looked at you, jaw agape and eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Are you serious?” he asked. “This is the final session of the campaign-”

“And this is the Championship game!” you shot back. 

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Jeff said. 

“So we’re supposed to just postpone because Lucas has to go play with his balls?” Gareth added. 

“ENOUGH” Eddie said, his eyes were now trained on you. You did your best to stand your ground. “So it’s the championship game?” 

“Most of the subs will be there-” Mike started, but a sharp look from Eddie had him shrink back before wide brown eyes turned back to you. Freshmen he could handle, but you could be just as stubborn as him when it mattered. You and Eddie always challenged each other, and most times it was fun to get under each other's skin, but this wasn’t playful banter about a dice roll this time. 

“Can I level with you three?” Eddie asked, his eyes sweeping over you, Dustin, and Mike. He stood up and you wondered if he was capable of sitting down when he had something to say. Even during Hellfire he’d be more than happy to hop up and lean over the table, walk around and get in everyone’s faces. 

You’d called him a theater kid once and that had almost caused a fist fight between you two. It was totally worth it. 

He pointed at the members across from you.  "Jeff graduates this year. Gareth’s got, what? A year and a half? Me, I am army-crawling my way toward a D in Ms. O’Donnell’s.” There was a fire in his eyes now, and he was practically vibrating as he walked around the table. “If I don’t blow her final, I’m gonna walk that stage next month, I’m gonna look Principal Higgins dead in the eye, I’m gonna flip him the bird, I’m gonna snatch that diploma, and I’m gonna run like hell outta here!”

If you heard this speech once, you heard it a million times, and it still got to you each time. This wasn’t exactly your first senior year either. You and Eddie had tried several times to study together, to try and get your shit together enough to graduate, but it didn’t work. You both were far too easily distracted when around each other and it ended up doing more harm than good. Both of you were right at the finish line now, him needing three more credits and you needing two now. 

“Didn’t you say that last year?” asked Gareth. 

“And the year before that?” Jeff added. 

“Yeah, yeah and I was full of shit. This year’s different. This year is my year. I can feel it. ‘86, baby!” His smile could light up this whole town, and you felt yourself falter for just a moment as he made his way behind you three. “And with us finally getting out of this hellhole,” his hand fell heavy on your shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he looked at Mike and Dustin. “It means you boys are the future of Hellfire. I knew it the moment I saw you. You sat on that table right over there, looking like... looking like two little lost sheep. You were wearing a Weird Al t-shirt, which I thought was brave.” 

You had thought it was cool. 

“Thank you.” Dustin said, unsure how to take that. 

“Mike, you were wearing whatever shit your mommy bought you from the goddamn Gap.” Eddie continued. Okay so this was Eddie’s plan, ignore your protests to focus on the freshmen. Everyone at the table was laughing now, and you were losing this argument. 

That’s when you stood up, now standing above him as he was squatting by Mike and Dustin. For just a second you had the high ground. 

“Actually Munson, can I level with you?” you asked, looking down at him. He raised and eyebrow and slowly stood up as you crossed your arms. He had a few inches on you and he stepped just a bit closer. 

“Mom and dad are fighting again.” you heard Zach mutter under his breath. 

“Speak.” Eddie’s voice was low and dangerous and you had to smother the small insistent voice in your head that it was, perhaps, a little bit attractive when he was like this. 

This was not the fucking time.

“We’ve all been working our ass off with this campaign.” you said. “You’ve put us through hell and back and we’ve all fought to get to this point. You want to split the party Eddie? You want to do this during the final battle? Shit, Eds, it’s the last session! What happens after this? A few one shots until the semester is over-”

“There’s no guarantee that you’ll all fight and win. You might have to retreat.” Eddie interrupted. 

“If that’s the case then we retreat as a team!” you shot back. “Lucas is our friend, and yeah he hasn’t been around much this semester. But are you really about to throw that away just because you’re so stubborn that you won’t postpone this one time?!”

Eddie stared down at you as the rest of Hellfire held their breath. 

“I have poured my blood, swear, and tears into this campaign.” he said. 

“I know, and it shows! This is probably the best table I’ve ever played at but if we can’t end this together then what’s the point?” You straightened up. “We should go to the game.”

“Are you joking?!” Jeff asked. 

“Why would we do that?!”

“Because Lucas is our friend, Dipshits!” you turned to the club. “After he basically carried your sorry ass last semester, I would have thought better of all of you.”

“Okay mom.” Zack grumbled. 

“You’re grounded.” you snapped and turned to Eddie. “Eddie. You’re not unreasonable. Postpone the game, even by a single day. We have all of spring break to get together and finish this. You worked so hard on this campaign and we all worked hard to play it with the respect it deserves-”

“Didn’t you interrupt a villain monologue three weeks ago to talk shit about the wine at the cult gathering?” Gareth asked. 

“Okay, so that’s- shut up, Gareth.” And you’d do it again just to make Eddie roll for stupid details like that. “The point is, we should want everyone there. This is your year, yeah? You’re gonna throw away a player because you can’t wait to have everyone together?”

Eddie’s shoulders slumped and he rubbed down his face. There was a look of defeat that you held your breath for. He turned to the rest of club. 

“And what say the rest of you?” he asked, looking around the table. 

“At this point I don’t care when we play as long as we play.” Jeff said. “Sinclair’s tried to be around as much as he can for us and yeah, last year he was a big help.” 

“I’ll concede if it means they stop fighting.” Zack said. “Just get a divorce already.” 

“We can’t, we’re staying together for the kids.” you nudged Eddie, who looked like he couldn’t tell if he wanted to be annoyed or amused. He just shook his head. 

“Gareth?” he asked. 

Everyone stared at the drummer and his face was contorted into a pissed look. “I guess I can’t say no without being the bad guy. Fine, but you really owe us.”

This was good enough for you as Dustin and Mike visibly relaxed. Mike was looking as if he couldn’t believe that this actually worked. 

“I’ll cook for all of you, I promise.” you said instantly. “Next session I’ll bring food and everything!”

This seemed to satisfy even Eddie, who could never turn down free food. He still looked annoyed, and disappointed, but he had accepted the fate of tonight’s game. 

“If you don’t make those cookies, I’m sacrificing you to Vecna myself.” he said. 

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Eds.” you smirked. 

Someone at the table muttered ‘Jesus Christ’ but you took your seat again. Mike and Dustin were staring at you as if you’d achieved the impossible. To be fair, you probably did. 

“I guess we’re going to watch Sinclair play with his balls.” Gareth said, which broke the tension and everyone laughed. 

“Man, that guy sounds like a tough cookie.” Argyle nodded as you handed the joint back to him. It had been weeks since your episode, the three of you were now laying on top of the large Surfer Boy van that you were starting to suspect wasn’t legally his.

The three of you did this a lot. When things got to be too much, when the nightmares were too stressful to deal with, the three of you would meet up and just... talk. It was cheaper and easier than therapy and you doubted any therapist was equipped to deal with teens who fought monsters and saved the world. 

“I can’t believe that Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson wouldn’t move it.” Jonathan said. It had only been within the last week that you had started telling them about your relationship with him. They knew that you two had helped cause the distraction to blow up the Demobats, but you hadn’t talked more than that. 

“He gets wrapped up in himself.” you said quietly. “Told me once that he’d move Hellfire all the time but he had to put his foot down because nothing would get done.” 

“When Will was younger he was always at the Wheeler place playing.” Jonathan said. “They’d be playing all day until we had to put on a stricter curfew.” 

“It’s easier when you’re kids. Less shit to do.”

“Did you ever finish that campaign?” asked Argyle. “With the food and everything?”

You took the joint back and took a deep breath, holding it until your lungs and eyes burned before exhaling slowly and handing the joint to Jonathan. A tear slid down your cheek and you wiped it with the back of your hand. 

“No.” you said, your voice sounding raw. “They... after everything that happened, they don’t talk to me anymore.”

The only Hellfire members who acknowledged your presence now were those who fought Vecna. Zack, Jeff, Gareth- they had made it very clear that you weren’t welcome anymore around them. They blamed you for Eddie’s disappearance, they blamed you for pushing to move Hellfire, they blamed you for Gareth’s broken fingers where Jason Carver had stomped him for information. 

They blamed you for the breaking of Corroded Coffin.

You never had the strength to try and explain what happened. And what did it matter anyway? Without Eddie around, Hellfire was broken. A cult without a leader. The whole town would probably lynch you all if you ever donned your Hellfire shirts again. You all already had a lifetime ban from The Hideout and none of you were even 21 yet. 

“Bummer.” Argyle said sympathetically, and you just shrugged.

“I can live without them I guess.” you sighed. “Living without Eddie sucks but...”

You couldn’t keep going. You already talked about him too much today and that wound in your heart that refused to scab over just continued to slowly bleed. You wondered how much longer before there was nothing left of you. Your strange new friendship between Johnathan and Argyle had kept you afloat for now, but how long could it last? Jonathan would have to go to college and you think Argyle would have to return to California at some point. Maybe. 

“Were you two..?” Jonathan started but even Argyle shook his head.

“I just wish I knew where he was, you know? To know that he’s not mauled in a ditch somewhere.” you said. 

“Yeah man, like if there was just something we had that could just tell us where he is.” Argyle nodded. “That’d be crazy! Just push a button and we know where he is.”

“I should have had him microchipped” you laughed as another tear slid down your cheek. 

Jonathan sat up suddenly. “What if we didn’t need something?” he asked, brows furrowed as if he was trying to clear a path through the fog of his mind to a dimly lit idea that was just out of reach. “What if we needed someone?”

“What like some psychic girl who can transport through people's minds to fight off monsters and locate people just by thinking about them?” Argyle laughed, and there was a moment of silence before you and Argyle shot up to look at Johnathan. 

“EL!” 

----

Next

a/n: comments and tags make my ADHD write more, just sayin'

[drowsyr]

top ten stobin halloween costumes:

10. barbie and ken. well actually ken and ken bc there was some miscommunication over who was going as who (steve figured robin was going as barbie bc Girl and robin just wanted to go as ken and figured it would be a better costume if they swapped dolls and then did not communicate this to steve) however nobody knew who they were supposed to be bc there was no iconic ken outfit at the time

9. garfield and odie. just made up of dog/cat ear headbands, yellow/orange shirts, and new name tags on their family video vest. lazy perhaps

8. jonathan + argyle. universally panned by the party bc neither of them had long enough hair to effectively be argyle. esp bc robin went as argyle and had just recently gotten a buzzcut in a panic the week before and the funky patterned pants and button up combo artfully curated at the salvation army could not compensate. however steve’s costume included constant comments abt the smiths, the who, the clash etc which did go over especially well with nancy and argyle

7. marty mcfly. steve tried to convince robin to be the love interest from the movie but only got as far as saying love interest before robin interrupted and asked if he even knew her name (he didn’t and neither did she) and said her dad already had the vest so she should get to be marty mcfly!! at which point steve was like ugh fine. and thought about admitting that he could ask dustin for a lab coat to borrow or ask max to steal one from the science lab but didn’t bc he couldn’t stand the thought of wrecking his hair to look like doc brown. so they just ended up both going as marty mcfly. dustin was doc brown

6. luke and han solo. actually accidental they independently showed up to a party while having a minor fight and realized they were still in matching costumes. drunkenly cried in the upstairs bathroom and made up. this was pre robin’s haircut and was one of the Incidents she gave as evidence for why she needed to cut her hair

5. batman and robin. robin was able to successfully bully steve into being robin. done before robin-with-pants became recognizable so they settled on green-dyed denim shorts (a lovely contribution from the goodwill). robin strangerthings had a fully decked out utility belt lovingly rendered in cardboard and acrylic paint by will with oversight from max. max herself has gone as batman as well (and wonder woman obviously) and used the same utility belt.

4. luke and leia. only successfully coordinated movie costume. this was post robin’s haircut so she went as luke and steve went as leia. obviously went as the classic versions to match even more.

3. their dnd characters as portrayed in an epic six week campaign run by erica sinclair the summer of 1987. caused chaos in the party who had not known about said campaign at the time of it being played and were only slightly devastated by the fact that they hadn’t been informed. only erica and dustin knew who they were dressed as but erica was thrilled :)

2. butterfly + caterpillar. robin dated an art/sculpture student while in college who was really into papier mache. she made them overly elaborate costumes to model for a final project + and they took them back from her dorm after the brutal breakup brought on by a disagreement over joan jett. steve was the butterfly and robin was the caterpillar. they were theeee most inconvenient costumes to wear to a party but they got a lot of compliments and it was a great story to tell people

1. each other obviously. repeated at least four(/“five”. it’s disputed) times, including twice in one year when they were trying to hit as many costume parties as possible in one week. they still argue that the year where halloween was just on a tuesday and they swapped name tags for their shift totally counts. this is not one of the four times.

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

May I ask--

All the teens playing seven minutes in Heaven, (Jonathan, Argyle, Nancy, Robin, and Steve, and Eddie) and Eddie spins and it lands on male reader, so Eddie just smirks and they go to the closet.

They end up making out, maybe Eddie fingers the reader or something and when Steve tries opening the door, Eddie slams it shut with his foot?

Dom Eddie has me feral right now man-

Requests have resumed. You can submit yours here!

Currently writing for Eddie Munson. I write for a variety of reader inserts (male, female, gender neutral, readers of color too).

The more details you had to your request, the better it is for me. EX: “What about some fluff for Eddie after he’s had a long day?”

Feel free to look through my masterlist here!

Eddie Munson x Male Reader. Reader is 19.

CW: Smut adjacent. So, 18+ please!

_______________________________

It's silly. And yet, the realization of how silly it really is doesn't stop the thundering of your heart. Robin's the one that suggested it. She'd confessed amongst the group as they piled in the Wheeler basement free of the younger teens as they'd banded together to catch a movie that she'd missed her younger days of sleepovers. Robin's the one that when the conversation winded down memory lane also confessed she'd never gotten to play a game of seven minutes in heaven.

The room freezes. Eyes are flickering around to everyone else in the room. Steve's trying to avoid eye contact with Nancy and she's looking at Jonathon. Argyle shrugs, unphased by what he assumes is to come next. Eddie glances briefly over to you before looking and holding eye contact with Steve.

You're just staring at Robin. Because why she'd confess that you'll never know and like the silence winds Robin up, she continues on. "I am by no means suggesting we play. Like it's so totally stupid. A lot of folks here have too much history and it would be awkward no doubt. I was just saying I wish I had gotten a chance to play. You know? For memories sake. For the sake of a little story in my older years. Should I make it that far, ya know. But still--"

"Robin, we're adults," Steve returns. Steve knows his statement is only on technicality sake. But it is true--most everyone in the room was an adult. No matter what happened (or didn't happen) they could easily laugh it off, skip on whatever is deemed too awkward.

You can't say you're really looking at Robin anymore. Your eyes are pointed in her direction but she's not filling your vision in a way that makes your brain recognize her. You're staring through her--at the imagined near future. YOu all sit, around the pizza box, someone's finished coke on the top of it, spinning glass to seal fates. Rounding the corner to go into the closet just off the stairs. Maybe some folks laugh at their pairings. You imagine Robin and Steve would snicker, agree to go to the closet and then in the span of the seven minutes devise some plan to make their own clothes look dishevel and wait for the poor soul to knock to let them know their time is up for one of them--Robin mostly likely to make a joke that she's definitely still gay.

It is funny. As you imagine them.

But you can't help but also wonder what happens should it land on Steve or Nancy or worse yet, you and Eddie. You do not want to imagine what happens should that bottle land on you and Eddie. Would you two just stand on opposite sides of the closet, making small talk as you normally do? Would you be brave enough knowing that in the end, you'd have an out--7 minutes and sooner should it all blow up in your face.

"I'm down," Argyle chuckles. "Would absolutely make for an interesting story. Let's just, like, set ground rules."

"Ground rules!" Steve jumps in, hands clapping together for a moment before he points to Argyle. "Sounds perfect. Love that idea."

"So, should we be able to politely reject a pairing? Like if it's going to be too awkward we can sort of just back of it?" Nancy offers.

"I'm cool with it," Eddie nods. "If people want to go for a joke, it should like be mutually decided. You know--consent and shit."

You know that if you really don't want to play you can say no. It is an odd number without you and both you and Jonathon haven't said much for or against it. You plead with yourself if Jonathon backs out you will too to make it even. But as the pizza box closes--the last of it's slices consumed long algo--he slides in closer to the table.

There goes your exit. Fuck, you say to yourself. Now you have to be strategic. You need to check where you sit to see who's direct across from you and then diagonal to you. They're the ones you'll be getting. Do you go across from Eddie? Do you sit next to him to avoid the whole situation?

By the time you can tell yourself you're going to just sit next to him the spots are filling up and you notice where Eddie had been next to you he's now right across from you. Argyle's to your left, Robin to your right. Diagonal from you on either side of Eddie are Nancy and Steve.

Fates--they seal faster than one can calculate sometimes.

"I-I'll go first," Steve states. "You know, break the seal," he jokes.

The roll of the glass bottle against the cardboard of the pizza box echoes in your brain. The scratching is a smooth sound as it whirls around and around and round.

The first match and laughter breaks out. Steve and Robin. "Oh, god, kill me now," she laughs.

"Hey, I'm a nice guy," Steve counters. "I'll always ask." His hands extends out and Robin laughs, hands shooting up to defend herself.

"Oh, come on. I know I don't have tits, but I'm a fun time," Steve laughs.

Robin, even in the bouts of her laugher, eventually stands. "Who's keeping time?"

"I-I'll do it," Jonathon offers, slipping his watch off and setting it on the edge of the table.

"Ready for the best seven minutes of your life," Steve grins, slipping his arm around Robin's.

"Whatever you say, loser."

And as the door shuts behind them, the first minute creeps by in silence. The whispers are just wisps of Steve's and Robin's voices and then Robin's laughter erupts from the closet and it's clear that it's not awkward at all for them. So the group relaxes.

You can't help as Argyle's voice carries out over the silence but glance up to Eddie. His eyes are glued to you. It's clear he's still listening to whatever is being said, but his big brown eyes hardly leave your face until Jonathon stands up.

"Time!" Jonathon calls out, hand raising to knock on the door but he doesn't get the chance before he stumbles out of the way.

Steve stumbles out first, his polo pulled out of his jeans, hair tousled. Robin struts out after him, perfectly intact. Steve makes a big show of stumbling back to his spot and then right there on his cheek is a red print left behind of lipstick. Clearly it's Robin but her lipstick doesn't look hardly budged. She makes show of clearing the corners of her mouth and asking Nancy to check her teeth for lipstick stains.

"You're-you're all good," Nancy giggles out.

Another spin. Argyle and Jonathon. They laugh and Nancy agrees to keep time. They're voices are louder as they talk from the closet. Perhaps the gods would be on your side and let you slither by without embarrassment.

The boys return after Nancy calls for them. They're laughing--you're not sure about what. But given Argyle in the equation it could be anything.

Another spin and though Eddie's stare is still hot on your skin you start to think you will get by unscathed. The glass bottle spins and whirs in the room until it slows to a wobbly stop.

You and Eddie.

Your eyes lift before your head and Eddie's brows are raised. "Only if you want. I meant what I said."

Your heart is hammering in your chest. His lips are nice and pink. They're begging to be kissed. It's like Eddie is begging you to kiss him. You nod, throat cleared by your hum. "I think you might be shocked you're not the only one with boyish charm."

It's faux confidence. Your knees are knocking as the two of you stand. You're sure you're going to faint. "I'm keeping time, boys," Robin calls out behind you.

Eddie wave you into the tiny closet first with a bow. You step through, inhaling deeply as the door shuts behind you. "You seem nervous," Eddie states.

You turn and he's leaning against the door, fingers playing at his rings. He doesn't seem hurt by the statement. Maybe you catch something like amusement. He continues on, "Because if I'm honest, I'm probably the last person you should be nervous about. Harrington, I've heard, has a way with the boys."

That gets you to chuckle. Steve's blaringly straight and though he and Robin have a good relationship enough for them to devise their stunt, he is not going after boys--not the likes of you anyway. Not that you ever wanted Steve too either. Sure, Steve is attractive. But he's not necessarily your type.

"I think I can handle myself around the likes of Steve. He's all talk, not bite."

"Oh, I didn't realize we'd be exposing kinks so early into our time."

"I-" you choke on air. "No-uh." A cough interrupts you and Eddie slides in, hand clapping down on your mid-back.

"You okay?" he asks softer now.

You nod when you get one solid inhale. "I'm okay."

"You sure? Thought I'd have to give you mouth to mouth there for a second," Eddie teases. His breath tickles your cheek. The hand on your back slips down to your lower back. Then stops. Your heart races. "Tell me no, okay? If-If I'm reading this wrong, tell me no."

Eddie steps, standing now in front of you. The hand on your back moves to your hip. The smell of his cologne--something you're sure was originally Wayne's but Eddie had mostly commandeered--fills your nose.

"Yes," you whisper, hands gripping at the front of Eddie's flannel. A red one and you're certain it's a hand me down too.

Eddie rears back for a second, taking in the way your eyes of fluttered close. "Yes?" he asks for clarification.

"Yes," you return. The toes of your shoes bump into Eddie's. Then he's closing the gap. His lips eal around yours gently and your swear your guts are going to melt.

You are going to become a puddle in Nancy Wheeler's basement closet but you do not care. Eddie is tender, a bit hesitant as the gasp leaves him. You take the gap and leap it--licking ever so gently at his mouth. Eddie laughs in return and surges forward. The momentum wavers you and you take a step back.

Eddie's grip is tight. His lips are firmer now. The kisses are growing hotter, more hums and moans are slipping from both your throats with little regard for the fact that you can be heard. You go until your back hits the wall and Eddie slides his fingers up and under your shirt.

You hiss at the warmth at his fingers. The touch is faint, so light that you think you're insane for how much you feel it. His rough fingers make your spine shiver. He traces the v of your hips, lips working down your jaw.

"God," Eddie breathes when you whine at the last hickey he sucks into your skin. "Sounds so pretty for me."

You sigh as Eddie whispers into your skin. You don't catch everything he says but you know right now heaven is the heat of Eddie's touch and kisses.

You trace the line of hair at the nape of Eddie's neck, fingers buried in his hair cradling his head right in the spot that makes your groin stir. "Fuck," you groan.

"There?" Eddie asks against your skin.

"Hmm, yes, there--right there," you whine out.

"Time!" Robin bellows. Her voice shakes a little. No shadow passes in front of the door when you crack open your eye. Fuck it, you think.

Your fingers are working at the button of Eddie's jean and he laughs. "Giving them a show?" he asks.

You shake your head. "No, I-fuck," you exhale. You scrub your hand over your face. You've nearly forgotten where you are. "I like you, Eddie."

His palms cradle your cheeks, eyes oozing as he looks at you. "I like you too."

"C'mon, seriously," Steve calls out. The door jiggles a little and Eddie spins, pushing back on it.

"Just a second!" Eddie bellows.

"Thirty second or I'm coming in--even if dicks are out," Steve returns.

You snort at his retort and Eddie turns back to you. "Come back to my place."

"Oh, okay, after this would be fine."

Eddie shakes his head. "No, like right now." When your brows furrow together, he steps in crotch pressing into yours. He slips just to the side and you notice now how hard he is in his jeans. "I am going to finish what I started."

You can only nod and Eddie takes your hand. The lights of the basement momentarily blind you as you and Eddie step through the door but the group is clearly amused and maybe a little scared too by what they auditorily witnessed. But even the low wolf whistle of Argyle doesn't seem to phase Eddie who carries on, up to the stairs. "Catch y'all lovely folks next time," he calls as you follow behind him.

"Oh my god," Robin cackles. "A story for the books."

You two get outside and Eddie spins on the front poor, kissing you again against the door. "Just enough to tide me over," he laughs and when he spins around again, you notice he hasn't even bothered to button his jeans back up fully, the belt hangly loosely and buckle clicking as he goes.

"Robin," you whisper, "I owe you one."

[puppy-stevee]

✨ stranger things fic rec pt 3 ✨

the last installment! see you at the end of the year!

mostly steddie with some ronance/fruity four/platonic stobin sprinkled in. heed the ratings, there's a healthy amount of smut.

fics in this installment: 66 fics in total: 196

as per usual:

-all fics are in alphabetical order -please tell me if the links are broken/linked wrong

more fic recs my own works

and, as always, please leave kudos and comments, and reblog this post!

quels beaux minets ont adopté un chat - T, 1.5k, 1/1 orangebandit

In all my rage, I am still just a tiny black kitten in a cage. Or Eddie brings home a stray.

Right Locker, Wrong Time - E, 10/10 FeatherForARose (@steddiealltheway)

Way before Hawkins goes to Hell, Eddie gets a note from Steve Harrington to meet him in the bathroom. Of course, the note isn't meant for Eddie, but both boys are surprised when they wish it was. This leads to a series of secret hookups and the inkling of a secret relationship.

Safe Space - G, 2/2 wayfarers0

He doesn’t respond. A tape falls from the shelf, and he doesn’t try to pick it up. He feels the world spinning around him, patterns forming in his vision all of a sudden. He hadn’t eaten breakfast, and he wonders for a second if he’s just feeling woozy from hunger, but as he blinks over in Robin’s direction, it’s taking him more time than usual to form words. To be able to interpret the scene he sees before him. He closes his eyes and sees the characteristic blur of light making his field of vision resemble broken glass which signals that pain is on the horizon. ________________________ When Eddie is out of town over New Year's, Steve gets hit with the migraine from hell whilst at work and his options for a ride home are limited.

Shotgun My Love - G, , 2.1k, 1/1 mctav1sh

Jonathan's first time smoking pot, romance ensues.

Six Kids and a Winnebago - E, series Oddree13

The story of how Steve Harrington gets his six kids and Winnebago...in the way he least expects to.

smoke in my throat, your hands in my hair - T, 1k, 1/1 perseuswrites

Eddie tilts his head up, Steve can't seem to make his blush go away. Eddie lifts the joint to his mouth, breathing in the smoke. Eddie leans down, using his thumb to nudge Steve's mouth open. He blows the warm smoke into Steve's mouth, "Breathe in and hold it until I tell you otherwise but let it out if you feel like you can't do it okay?" Eddie's voice is dripping with love and gentle warmth and Steve is drowning in it.

Sonnet 47 - E, 1.9k, 1/1 ZachwyBuwnzie

Eddie reads Steve some poetry, too bad Steve has a voice kink.

soothe your soul, just take his hand - T, 6.3k, 1/1 releaseideas

“Where did you go, Steve? Backstage to blow him real quick?” Robin teased, elbowing Steve’s side. “No you freak, he was showing me the back room so if my migraine starts acting up I can lay down.” Steve kept blinking, but his vision wasn’t getting any better. “Steve, if you’re expecting a migraine are you sure you should be here?” Nancy asked with such sincerity. “I mean, probably not? But I really wanted to come and only after Eddie asked did it start acting up.” “Doesn’t mean you should be here. Dude, you gotta take care of yourself before coming to watch your hot boyfriend play guitar,” Argyle supplied, which he was absolutely right, even though he wants to listen to his boyfriend’s band and watch his curly hair bounce from the head banging, he shouldn’t be here. “Thanks, dude. You’re right, but we’re already here. I’ll just stay for the first hour and I will leave right after. You guys stay if you want, alright?” - aka: steve goes to a corroded coffin concert but doesn’t realize how much live music will trigger his migraines.

soothing like honey - G, 5.2k, 1/1 RejectsCanon

Eddie hates being sick. The one thing he hates more than being sick is being sick alone. He absolutely hates it. He does everything in his power to avoid getting sick. He avoids sick people like the plague (ha). If someone he sits by in class is sick, then he’s skipping that class for the week. If one of the Hellfire members is sick, Hellfire gets canceled that week and he eats lunch outside. If Wayne gets sick Eddie plies him with chicken noodle soup and vitamins and medicine until he’s better again. But then, after being in the Upside Down, after the world has almost ended, after it’s all over, Eddie gets sick.

Steddie Amnesia Verse - E, series purpleweekend (@blushweddinggowns)

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked, all wide-eyed and caring. Eddie gaped at him, fully aware that his entire face must be red. He was trying to form words, he really was, but Steve single handedly put the brakes on that. Why was Steve Harrington holding his hand? Why was Steve Harrington calling him baby ? Why did he kiss him, like it was the most natural thing in the world?

Steve Harrington Needs A Hug - T, series Babybuckleydiaz

“My old man was an asshole, and my whole life I thought I would be glad of the day he was finally gone.” Steve finally started, and this time Eddie does feel startled by the sudden confession being made, but of course that was no secret to either of the Munson men. John Harrington was in fact an asshole and Steve has been so much better off without the man in his life, both him and his wife who never lifted a single finger to keep her only son safe. - - - “You still loved him, Stevie. And that’s okay, you’re allowed to mourn the father that you could have had. You’re allowed to.” - - - “It doesn’t make you a bad person, Steve. For that part of you to be glad he’s gone because he can’t hurt you.” Steve snorts. “Doesn’t it? He was a father, Max.” - - - aka: Steve's father dies and he has no idea how to feel about it

Steve's House Becomes A Home - G, series cat1beth

Steve and Robin have a bunch of sleepovers after the events of season 3 (and eventually 4) to fight the nightmares and loneliness what happens when it starts affecting things his parents will actually notice, like the grocery list?

stuck between your tongue and teeth - E, 3k, 1/1 Adure (@toburnup)

Steve notices it from the very first time he and Eddie have sex. Eddie is - quiet.

subtext (something i can't quote put my fingers on) - T, 3.4k, 1/1 Adure (@toburnup)

"What's that?" Robin points directly. The mark is red and dark, sitting low on the back of Steve's neck. Steve slaps his hand over it and turns away, his magazine abandoned on his lap. Robin continues, "Is that a bug bite? It's tick season, Steve. Seriously. Ticks can you give you lyme disease, are you feverish? If you feel lethargic-" "No! Jesus, Robin." He's blushing now, tips of his ears bright red and averting his gaze. "It's nothing, leave it alone. It's fine." But he's keeping his hand covering it and she can't help but eye him suspiciously. "Is that a-" "Please stop." "- love bite?" (Five times Robin suspects something between Steve and Eddie, and one time she figures out she's right.)

talkin' sweet and lookin' fine (i get kinda hectic in side) - T, 4.5k, 1/1 coupe_de_foundre

Sinking back against his pillow, Eddie kisses back with fervour, fisting his hands in Steve’s hair and tugging until he draws an intoxicating whine out of Steve, swallowing the sound eagerly. They’re so lost in one another that they don’t hear the door to Eddie’s bedroom opening, don’t realise that they’re no longer alone until there’s a very much disgusted groan from the other side of the room. “My eyes!” Max squeals, throwing her hands over her face. But not before launching a random shirt their way. It lands on Steve’s bare back. “Gross! Guys, it’s seven-thirty!” “Exactly!” Steve cries back, dropping his head onto Eddie’s chest with a frustrated groan. “It’s seven-thirty, what the hell are you doing here?” * or, 5 times they can't get any privacy, and one time that they do (well, sort of)

temptations of trouble - G, 2.8k, 1/1 MacksDramaticShenanigans (@stevethehairington)

Eddie ignores the flip flopping in his stomach as he meets Steve’s gaze and fits his palms to either side of Steve’s jaw. Cradles his face like he’s something special now. (Because he is.) And then he leans in to kiss him. Right on those pretty pink lips of his. It’s short and sweet like it always is, but when Eddie pulls back and opens his eyes, he’s met with Steve’s, wide as fucking saucers, goggling unblinkingly back at him. He can feel Robin’s stare boring into the side of his face, can feel the tiny pinpricks of Nancy’s and Jonathan’s and Argyle’s on his back too. The whole room is quiet enough to hear a god damn pin drop. Eddie is about to open his mouth and ask what the hell that’s all about when it finally catches up with him. He just fucking kissed Steve fucking Harrington. On the mouth.

Ten Long Years - N/A, 3/3 Blink23

It’s addressed to Edward Munson, but the preprinted Hawkins High address makes Steve flip it over and break the seal with his finger, knowing Eddie won’t care. It’s probably some sort of fundraising thing; they need a new gym, last he heard from Joyce, and had been annoyingly trying to get money from everyone in the town. That's not what it is at all, and Steve has to read it twice to make sure he hasn't lost his mind. Hawkins High Class of ‘86 Reunion! Steve snorts. Please join your fellow Tigers for a day of fun and reminiscing after ten long years. It’s the last thing he wants.

Thanks for the Memories - M, 10/10 oceanwaves23

Robin Buckley thought nothing could be more confusing than waking up with a pounding headache, in a room she didn't recognize, next to Steve 'The Hair' Harrington. But that was before Steve informed her that it was 1986 - not 1984 as she previously believed - and that apparently they were best friends. Or: After a bike accident, Robin loses 2 years worth of memories and has a lot of questions about how her life turned out. Much to her surprise, Steve and Nancy are there to help.

the aftermath (as documented by eddie munson) - T, 20k, 1/1 ikawritesthings

A look into the effects of the Upside Down on Steve Harrington, through the eyes of his boyfriend, Eddie Munson. (And the one time it has effects on Eddie, too.) 5 + 1

the backseat lovers - T, 1.9k, 1/1 froggieyama

maple syrup and purple sweaters. or: steve harrington really loves eddie munson

The Best Thing - N/A, 1.1k, 1/1 Katie_Armstrong

Eddie and Steve spend one morning together before school, loving each other and longing for a better future, one where they don’t have to hide inside a small trailer.

The DMs - G, 1k, 1/1 Lullabyebye

Will talks with Eddie about Dungeons and Dragons, and homosexuality. Kind of.

The Hellfire Shirt Incident - T, 4.9k, 1/1 god_hates_tyler (@bisexual-cryptid)

Steve wears Eddie's Hellfire shirt to work after spending the night at his place. When the kids come in to ask him for a favor, they come to the logical conclusion that Steve must have joined Hellfire Club. Steve, at a loss for what to do, confirms their suspicions so he doesn't have to explain that he didn't actually join Hellfire, he and Eddie are just dating.

The Monster Mash - E, 4.3k, 1/1 kazookakaka

Steve and Eddie throw a Halloween party, but get distracted getting ready. Steve ends up helping Eddie make his costume look a little more authentic.

The Most Popular Make-Out Spot - M, 5.2k, 1/1 Sociopathic_Otter

After watching season 4, I had to make a fic for the love between Hawkins' mother and Hawkins' hero. It's inspired by Steve's little conversation to Dustin about Skull Rock. Steve and Eddie have been in my brain non stop - and as a fellow D&D metalhead/punk freak, Munson owns my heart. Right on the kin list, and right in the special interest box he goes.

The Parentification of Steve Harrington - E, 8.3k, 1/1 IAmTheUnsub

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Harrington”. Steve laughs, but it’s a shaky imitation of the laughter Eddie had heard plenty of in the year since they’d walked through hell together and come out the other side. “Neither did I, until last night. My mom just turned up and dropped her off. She hasn’t been home in like a year, man. I didn’t even know she was pregnant”. Dustin, as per usual, has no tact when he asks, “So she just left her here? She just gave you a baby? Are you a dad now?!” *** Steve and Eddie have been pining for a year and all it takes for them to get their shit together is Steve becoming a dad.

the songs on the radio are okay, but my taste in music is your face - G, 1.7k, 1/1 Lullabyebye

Steve likes roadtrips and Eddie agrees to go on one with him.

the steve situation - T, 2/5 shrack

Eddie and his friends go to Scoops Ahoy, but Eddie's not expecting Steve to be standing behind the counter.

Third Wheel - T, 1.1k, 1/1 ticklishraspberries

When Dustin finds out that Steve and Eddie are dating, it’s like nothing changed.

Three years in Three Days - M, 2.9k, 1/1 dragonfruiit

Steve needs a cry

thunder only happens when it's raining - T, 936, 1/1 fragilethings

In the spring of 1987, a year after the world ends but doesn’t, Steve buys a little two bed house on the outskirts of Hawkins.

Thunder Road - T, 2/2 stellarpoint

Steve’s right hand leaves his hip and curls around Eddie’s arm, pulling it closer to study the black bats swooping down his forearm. He traces the swarm, and then slides his hand up to Eddie’s bicep, running over the wyvern curled on the underside of his arm. His touch moves up to brush Eddie’s hair away from the spider tattooed just under his clavicle. He glances up and sees Eddie staring down at him, biting the inside of his cheek. “Can you try something for me?” Steve asks. “Yeah.” “Close your eyes,” Steve instructs. “Please. Just focus on how it feels. Don’t think about how it looks.” Or: Steve has nightmares; Eddie has scars. They work through that together.

Tiny Geniuses - T, 3.9k, 1/1 crow_of_crimes

Robin’s ears are tiny geniuses. She is five years old, and already they hear and repeat English, French, and Italian fluently. Her favorite songs are in Italian, her favorite books in French, her favorite jokes in English. Her parents adore their little genius and fill her up with as much as love and art as her tiny self can take. And she’s always, always looking for more. She’s going to be a genius one day, they think. A famous actress, a singer, a brilliant writer. Whatever she wants to be. Robin’s ears are tiny geniuses, and they hear love. - Steve’s ears are tiny geniuses. He is five years old, and he knows a language of growls, glares, and heavy footfalls. He’s going to grow up to run their business, they tell him when they’re sleepy enough not to be angry. And he can’t do that if he’s stupid or a pussy, you understand? He understands. Steve’s ears are tiny geniuses, and they hear anger.

to live my own way - E, 21k, 1/1 Macellarius

Under a much different circumstance, Eddie would have loved to have Steve’s eyes looking over him like that, would love to have that determination focused on him, but Eddie is very much dying, he knows it, so he smiles at Steve’s misplaced confidence instead, “High expectations, Stevie. Where’d you learn to swing like that anyway?” “I’ll tell you,” Steve’s voice is a bit shaky, his tone wavering, even as he puts on a brave face, “but you have to stay alive, Munson.” If he had more strength, he’d consider testing his luck one last time, tease Steve by asking if he swings for Eddie’s team, but- he’s tired. Dying young. What a fucking nightmare. Or, what if the Party defeats Vecna in time, and Eddie lives?

Turn To Hate - T ,3k, 1/1 dontshift2me

Setting aside the awkward nature of 'I used to date your sister and it's still kind of weird', aside, Steve Harrington is pretty sure he’d kill a guy to keep Mike Wheeler safe if he had to. Fighting off demonic monsters from the hell dimension resting below your hometown tended to craft a bond that not even the moody temperament of a teenage boy could break. Which is why Steve wasn’t exactly shocked to receive a phone call at 11am on a Tuesday to “Please come pick up Michael from school and sign his suspension slip.” AKA Mike Wheeler punches a guy at school, which makes Steve both proud and absolutely terrified.

Twistin' Like a Flame - G, 885, 1/1 BoudicaMuse

It's 2am, the night after they just moved into their new apartment. After a long and tiring day, Eddie should be passed out, but the heat's keeping Steve up. And if Steve can't sleep, then neither can Eddie.

Under Pressure - M, 28k, 1/1 ForgottenFrog

When he finally did present, Steve was pretty sure he was cursed. He believed this for two reasons; one was that his parents were home, something that happened a few times a month at the most these days. The second was that he was an omega. - Steve tries to hide away all the sharp-edged pieces of himself until he can't anymore.

Unsafe Bet - E, series LexiRoseWrites (@lexirosewrites)

This is the A/B/O teen drama movie you’ve always wanted to read. You know your favorite cheesy/angsty/emotional flick that you still put on regularly, knowing exactly how it will end? Yeah, it’s that. There’s hormones, hijinks, and Harrington. What more can I offer you?

vampire murder boyfriends <; 3 - E, series PettyMermaidsGf

And Eddie can’t fucking take it anymore, can’t hold back any longer, a growl tearing from his throat before he bites Steve all the harder, sinks his teeth and tongue into the wound and *drinks*. The hunger still burns at the back of his throat but the worst of it’s abated as he laps and sucks at the blood there. Steve lets out a deep, shuddering breath at the insistent press of his mouth, his sleek, sharp fangs, and murmurs, “Please…don’t stop, keep going” as Eddie mouths at his neck and gives a mindless, sharp thrust into the delicious heat of Steve’s body.

Wait By The Phone - M, 6.4k, 1/1 thefatedthoughtofyou

Steve's aunt comes to town while his parents are away. Steve may or may not tell her about Eddie. She obviously can't wait to meet him.

We Are Not Bullshit - G, 1k, 1/1 sakinneadua_x

Robin convinces Nancy, Steve, and Eddie to go to a party. Steve has to make sure Eddie knows that he loves him. ---- or Steve tells Eddie that he isn't bullshit.

We're Words Without a Rhyme - E, 4.5k, 1/1 emchant3d

Eddie's always restless, always fiddling, and Steve can't help how his eyes drop down to how he's twisting a ring around his pointer finger. The things should look gaudy, all bulky and bright silver, but somehow on Eddie they just look right. Like they belong on his hands, specially picked just for him. Steve's got a thing for Eddie's rings. They escalate from there.

What Your Best Friend Knows - T, 1.2k, 1/1 Fitzgi

“Why do you look so nervous all of a sudden?” Robin asked, almost sounding a little hurt. “Why are you sweating so much? Why do you look so tired? And why do-” Robin cut herself off and at first Steve was confused. He out if everybody knew just how long Robin could go once she got started. He looked at her, confused, until he noticed that she was staring directly over his shoulder. Steve whipped his head around and let out a sigh. Eddie was shuffling his way down the stairs. Completely shirtless but wearing what looked to be an old pair of Steve’s gym shorts. OR Robin shows up unexpectedly and learns more than she wanted to.

when it rains, it pours - G, 2.2k, 1/1 winterbxar

To Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is home. OR Eddie reads The Hobbit to Steve while it's storming out, and they're so, so in love.

when no one's there (please take my hand) - G, 1.5k, 1/1 coupe_de_foundre

Steve chooses that very moment to speak up and Dustin jolts, worried for a second there that Steve had spotted him. But, he soon realises, Steve’s eyes still haven’t strayed from Eddie. “You should tie your hair up more often.” he says in a gravelly voice, lips quirking up into a half-smirk. Eddie swivels, spatula in hand that he points Steve’s way, and he lets out a light-hearted laugh that sounds foreign coming from him. “And why is that, Stevie?” Steve shrugs, taking a slow sip of his coffee. “You look good. Do I need a reason?”

where the flowers bloom - T, 1.5k, 1/1 hydrangea_bush

It's the opening night of Hawkins High's fall production, but the lead actor and the head of stage crew are nowhere to be found. Or // Eddie and Steve make out in a prop closet and it's cute

who are you? (the right one) - T, 3/? percylicious39

"Now, Wayne obviously knows about his nephew's preferences in partners, that one time a glaringly indisputable proof, but he couldn't quite frankly give a single damn about it, love is love and all that crap. Not that he'd understand anything about that crap. Anyway, he has seen Eddie shove enough boys out of his tiny bedroom window to know that they never get to spend the night, and they never get to prepare Eddie's favorite tea at four in the morning on a Wednesday without Eddie even being present in the room. So what the actual hell is this one doing here? And where is Eddie?" - Or five times Wayne meets Eddie's boyfriend and that time he finally learns his name.

wingman - T, 3.2k, 1/1 vampireboyluvrr

Gareth needs Eddie's help finding the perfect present for Jeff's birthday. Eddie ends up convincing Gareth to confess his feelings instead.

With a Capital P - G, 1.2k, 1/1 FallingUpTheStairz

Steve's love language is physical touch and Robin learns to work with that.

won't somebody help me chase the shadows away? - T, 1.7k, 1/1 vivahate

“I just got you.” Eddie rasps out, pressing their foreheads together. “I’m not losing you to this. You hear me?” And it’s a threat as much as it is a promise. I’ll live for you if you live for me. (or; desperate kisses are shared while uncertainty and danger loom ahead)

You and Me, Forevermore - N/A, 1.2k, 1/1 slayorswift23

Steve unpacks his sadness about Robin going away to college, and Eddie is there to support him.

You are the reason I stay alive - E, 3.5k, 1/1 makesometime

“How’s uh. Human rank on that scale?” Eddie smiles. “I don’t know, Steve. I haven’t exactly had a chance to try.” He thinks he’s gotten away with it when Eddie turns back to his mug and drains it, putting it down on the coffee table and picking up the remote. “Why? Are you offering?”

you got a lot on your mind (and your heart it looks just like mine) - E, 3.7k, 1/1 picklebaby

Steve was having a day. He hadn’t quite decided if it was a bad day, but it definitely wasn’t turning out to be a good one. or Steve wakes up with a migraine and Eddie knows just how to take care of him.

you have been bruised and broken - T, 2.3k, 1/1 likes_koolaid

Steve and Eddie are just watching a movie at Steve's house, nothing more. Then his parents come home.

You Make Me Live Now, Honey - E, 15k, 1/1 GrasshopperKatie

Eddie loves the little idiots, but he’s thankful that it’s just Robin, Steve and himself on this trip. Steve is stressed enough about a cross country road trip without adding that he would have to take care of seven children on top of that. Nancy has provided them the perfect opportunity for an escape. She’s been attending classes at Emerson for two months now and invited them out to spend Halloween weekend at her place. They all jumped on the idea of getting out of Hawkins for a few days.

You Rule, You Suck - G, 1.6k, 1/1 lodiononhaunantidoto

The last thing Robin expected was for her to enjoy working with Steve Harrington the whole summer, but life really never stopped surprising her

you told me to call (said you'd be there) - T, 1.4k, 1/1 Mighty_Huntress

They pull up outside Dustin’s front door. Steve is immediately proven right—he doesn’t even wait for the wheels to fully stop rolling before flinging the back doors open and full on tackling Steve. Which, hey, dangerous, and also hey, ow. Eddie looks over his shoulder at the sound of him wheezing after the direct hit to the solar plexus he just got, and raises an eyebrow. “Are we visiting rather than kidnapping you, then?” Dustin starts bawling.

you wanna kiss me soooo bad - G, 1.3k, 1/1 KaeyasManBoobies

Steve and Eddie have a recurring date night- but what's also recurring is their lack of ability not to be smitten idiots in love. Their refusal to focus on the task of cooking a goddamn meal leads to a kitchen make out session.

you're just like a dream - T, 3.4k, 1/1 joehardys

Eddie still finds it all hard to believe. If someone had told him at the beginning of the year that he’d be in a relationship with Steve Harrington come summertime, he would’ve laughed in their face. Like, yeah right. Or, Steve, from Eddie’s point of view.

You're Kind of Incredible - M, 10k, 1/1 god_hates_tyler (@bisexual-cryptid)

A re-write of the last two episodes of season 3 where Eddie finds Robin and Steve after they are drugged by Russian soldiers. Steve confesses he has feelings for Eddie in the bathroom scene, but they are interrupted by Dustin before Eddie can reply. Eddie is there for the shit show that is the battle of starcourt, he and Steve working out their feelings within the chaos.

You're Not Bullshit (The Steve & Eddie Love Story) - E, series Melody_Dimas

After the party where Nancy calls Steve, his love for her and their relationship bullshit. Where Nancy tells him how they pretended that they didn't get Barb killed and everything was just fine was bullshit, Steve storms out and finds someone unlikely to tell him that he's not bullshit.

your eyes look like coming home - E, 1.4k, 1/1 writerbri

Steve doesn’t wake gracefully these days. Hasn’t in years, since the first time he took a hold of a bat full of nails and swung it with purpose at an impossible thing. His morning routine nearly always begins with choked gasps and lingering flashes of what haunts his dreams. So it’s odd and confusing and entirely welcome when, for once, the shift from sleeping to wakefulness comes slowly and gently, with contentment woven deep into every inch of him. It’s warm and it’s quiet and it’s callused fingers from endless days of plucking at guitar strings tracing nonsense patterns along the length of his spine.

Your Hands Around My Throat - E, 1.9k, 1/1 asarcasticwitch

Eddie’s hands are criminal—the rings, the calluses from playing his guitar, and the way he always crooks them just right, hitting all those spots that make Steve’s body sing—and Steve has long since given up pretending they don't turn him on like crazy.

your love is a turning page (where only the sweetest words remain) - G, 924, 1/1 writerbri

“Your daddy thinks he’s sneaky, y’know,” Eddie murmurs quietly. Steve blinks, his own cheeks warming as he realizes that he’s caught. Eddie glances up from where he’s been gazing at Charlie, a soft smile lingering as he meets Steve’s eyes like he’s been aware of him this whole time. “You look really good like that,” Steve says, unable to keep quiet about it for a second longer now that he’s been called out. Eddie predictably blushes as Charlie stirs at the sound of his voice.

[hippiegoth97]

Last Christmas: An Eddie Munson x Reader Holiday Story Pt. 2

Description: You and the gang play White Elephant, opening and stealing one another's gifts. You end up with a present you least expect, and share a dance with friends. When you and Eddie take a turn on the dance floor, things get a little too close for comfort. Can you and Eddie salvage your relationship, or are you too far gone?

Warnings: swearing, female reader, drug use, alcohol use, angst, heartbreak, crying, light smut mention, fluff

Last Christmas Pt. 2

A crowded room, friends with tired eyes...

Eddie's POV

You watch silently as Y/N walks towards the rear of Harrington's humble home with Robin and Argyle to have a little smoke session. Usually you'd join them, since you're quite the stoner yourself. But you can see you're far from welcome, she wants absolutely nothing to do with you. Her words earlier, no feelings at all, ring in your head over and over. "You good, Munson?" Steve asks once the trio slide the glass door shut behind them.

"Not really. But that doesn't really matter, does it?" You say bitterly, taking a swig of your eggnog. Usually you hate the stuff, but you've been steadily consuming it to keep yourself in one piece. Seeing Y/N again feels just as awful as the day she left and never came back.

"Don't say that, man. Of course it does." Jonathan pipes up, flashing you an apologetic look. You just shrug in response, unsure of what else to say. You really wish you weren't having this conversation at all. Clearly you have no chance of getting Y/N back, so what's the point of rehashing the same old shit?

"Even so, do you guys really wanna hear about my extinct love life for the millionth time? It's Christmas, there's supposed to be music and presents and all that holly jolly crap. Maybe I should go, I don't wanna bring you guys down all night." You start getting up to leave, but everyone quickly protests. You sigh, plopping back down into your chair. You know for a fact they'd sooner tie you down than let you walk out that door. There's more of them than there are of you, and Steve is ridiculously strong. "Fine! I'll stay! But can we drop it? Please? I'm hangin' on by a thread as it is." You sniffle, exhaling sharply as tears prick your tired eyes.

"Eddie, we really think you need to have a talk with Y/N." Dustin says, looking away from the claymation elves singing about making toys to speak to you seriously.

You just shake your head, the thought of that alone makes you want to off yourself. "Nah, man. She wants nothin' to do with me. And I don't blame her." Your voice trembles slightly. Goddammit, here come the waterworks.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, dude. Robin told me Y/N still sleeps in your old t-shirt. She used to sniff it for the scent of you when she thought Robin wasn't looking. She cried for hours when it didn't smell like you anymore. And she hums your guys' song all the time without realizing it, "Beast of Burden", right?" Your eyes widen at Steve telling you this. The possibility that Y/N doesn't completely hate you blows your mind. Since the day she walked out the door, she's never contacted you again. She had Robin pick up any of her stuff still at your place, exchanging it for the things you left with her. The only thing missing was that beat-up Mötley Crüe t-shirt, you figured you'd lost it while you were drunk or something.

"Either way, I don't think she's in the mood to talk. I don't wanna hurt her again." You really don't get why everyone seems to have planned this ambush tonight. No doubt Robin and Argyle are working their mojo on Y/N to convince her to speak with you. You'd love it if she did, but you can see it now. She's letting them have an earful, telling them to mind their own fucking business. She's so damn stubborn, it's one of the million things you love about her. Loved, you mentally correct yourself.

"But you're both sitting here like goddamn ticking time bombs. Any minute, you're bound to explode. Unless you resolve this. We're not saying you'd necessarily get back together, but it would be good for both of you to work towards being able to tolerate sitting in the same room." Nancy takes her turn now, and you just roll your eyes.

"You guys really can't let this go, can you? Why do you care so much about mine and Y/N's relationship anyways?" You finish the rest of your drink, setting the empty glass on the floor. You cross your arms in frustration, waiting for this stupid talk to be over.

"No, we can't let it go. Because you and Y/N are our friends, and we love you. And we've had to sit and watch you both be in pain for months. And none of us can make that hurt go away, only you guys can do that." Mike says, hoping you understand how hard it's been for everyone to watch you and Y/N suffer.

You sigh, dragging your palms down your face. Partially in aggravation, and partially to wipe your tears away. "Fuck! Fine! But I'm not gonna force it. If she won't talk, I'm gonna let her be. Fair enough?"

The group nods in agreement, murmuring various 'yes's and 'okay's as they finally drop the subject. "I'm gonna go get the others from outside. I'd say now's as good a time as ever to start the game." Max says, standing up from her cozying up to Lucas. She walks to the door, sliding it open before shouting into the cold. "Hey, potheads! Hurry up, it's time for presents!"

Y/N POV

"Alright, who wants to pick the first gift?" Jonathan asks, taking on the task of supervising this little game. Nobody volunteers, when Robin speaks up.

"How about we have Y/N go first?" She smiles at you, trying to get you in the spirit of things. You roll your eyes, she's incorrigible sometimes.

"Uh, sure. Step on up, Y/N." Jonathan says awkwardly. You take a deep breath, standing up slowly as the weed has finally decided to kick in. You walk over to the tree, looking over the plentiful pile of presents wrapped in shiny paper. You pick up a smaller one, leaving the larger gifts for the others. You return to your seat to open it, tearing the paper to reveal a jar of soaking salts.

"Ooh! These'll make bathtime very relaxing!" You say cheerily, showing everyone what you got. You actually really like this present, long hot baths are one of your favorite ways to relieve stress. Everyone murmurs in agreement, and Robin goes next. She gets a matching hat and glove set, which looks very cozy. Next is Argyle, who opens up a box of fancy chocolates.

"Sweet! I've got major munchies, man!" Argyle says, opening the box and taking one of the sweets out of its wrapper before popping it into his mouth.

"Well, safe to say that gift is out of play now." Jonathan shakes his head, his poor friend clearly doesn't understand the rules. Nobody seems to mind though, it's just chocolate. Next to pick a present is Nancy, who decides to steal your bath salts. You stand up to open another present, which turns out to be a Magic 8 Ball. You're less enthused about this item, but you figure one of the kiddos will take it off your hands at some point.

"Okay, my turn!" Steve says while rubbing his hands together. He picks up a gift bag, pulling a pack of warm socks from under the tissue paper. "Wow, just what I wanted." He says sarcastically, wondering if his parents secretly put a gift of their own in the bunch before leaving town.

"I will happily take those off your hands, Stevie." Eddie says, holding out his hands for Steve to toss him the socks. He catches them with ease, placing them in his lap. Your eyes meet again, and he instinctively gives you a small smile. You return it out of reflex, before realizing who you're looking at. You quickly frown instead, turning away to see what Steve reveals this time. It's a D&D starter set.

"Dammit." Steve mutters, cursing his inability to pick one of the better presents. Next up is Will, taking a chance with a larger box. He tears the paper away, revealing a portable radio.

"Nice!" Will says, very pleased with this find. Jonathan and the rest of the kids take their turns, most opting to open a brand new gift as opposed to stealing someone else's. The next six gifts are a Stephen King novel, the Star Wars trilogy on VHS, a Santa Claus mug with hot cocoa mix, a sketchbook, a knitted blanket, and a Walkman. Max steals the D&D set from Steve, deciding to give the game a try since the boys love it so much. Steve gets to pick for a third time, and he ends up with a thick, cozy scarf.

"Now this I can live with." Steve says, smirking as he’s got something he actually wants. Erica is last, taking your 8 Ball for herself. She claims she'll use it to make any and all further decisions for the foreseeable future. This leaves you empty handed once again, and there's only one gift left beneath the tree. Jonathan hands it to you, and everyone watches in anticipation to see what's inside.

You tear open the paper, pulling the lid off the flimsy box beneath. And inside, is a Santa hat. With devil horns glued onto it. Just like Eddie's. Leave it to you to end up with the gift that your ex-boyfriend brought. The room goes completely silent, and you don't know what to say. Your eyes dart across the room to him again, and he tries his hardest to silently apologize. You can feel the others watching you two, waiting to see what happens next. You look away, inspecting the hat for a moment. You rub your fingers over the fuzzy material, smiling slightly at the hand-stitched letters that spell 'SATAN' on the white brim. "You can trade with me if you want, Y/N." Robin offers, extending her gift to you.

"No, it's fine! It's a cute hat, cheeky." You giggle genuinely, it really plays into the sense of humor you and Eddie used to share. You wanna be a good sport, and not hurt his feelings. You pick up the hat, settling it on top of your head with a big smile on your face. It's very warm, but comfortable. You imagine you look a little silly, but you don't mind it one bit.

"Alright then, looks like the game is over. Anyone need a refill?" Jonathan asks, and every adult's hand goes up into the air. You may have graciously accepted your present, but the tension in the room has only gotten worse. You and Eddie keep looking at each other curiously, but avert your gaze when either of you get caught staring. "Yeah, sounds about right." Jonathan sighs, gathering everyone's glasses to head into the kitchen.

"You really don't mind it?" Eddie asks as the others move on to other activities. The kiddos open Max's D&D box, showing her how to build a character and how the game works. Nancy gets up to put on some music, picking out a Rolling Stones album from Steve's extensive collection. Some Girls, to be exact.

"Not at all, Eds. You know I love shit like this." You reply, realizing you just used his nickname. Maybe you don't need that refill after all. His eyes widen when he realizes what you said, hoping this means you'll talk to him...and maybe take him back. "Don't get any ideas, Munson. I'll get back together with you when hell freezes over." You quip, not meaning it in a hurtful way whatsoever.

"Well, we are in Hawkins in the middle of winter. I'd say that's pretty close." He retorts, making you laugh. It's been so long since he's done that, and you can't help missing it. Jonathan returns with the drinks, and you decide to throw caution to the wind and keep drinking. You're feeling warm and fuzzy inside, despite the perfect storm brewing between you and Eddie. You put it aside for the time being, focusing on enjoying the night with your friends. All your friends.

For the first time in what feels like forever, the group as a whole is able to fall back into the familiar groove you used to share. There's no more worried glances, awkward silences, or talks about your past relationship. Everyone's joking, laughing, and having a great fuckin' time. You have a dance with a few members of your little band of misfits. Steve, Robin, even Dustin. You can't stop smiling, downing a steady stream of eggnog the whole way to keep yourself merry and bright.

You're having a rather uncoordinated turn with Argyle, when the record begins to play a tune you haven't heard in an eternity. "Beast of Burden", the song you and Eddie once claimed as yours. You stop moving, noticing him walking over to you. He's taking his shot, hoping this is enough. "Mind if I cut in?" You look at him, finding his impossibly large brown eyes gazing at you expectantly. He gives you a kind smile, holding out his ringed hand.

"Fuck it! I'm pretty wasted. And everyone else has had a turn. Why not?" You reply with a hiccuping giggle. You take his hand, letting him pull you into his space. He clasps your fingers together, his other hand going to the small of your back. You put yours on his shoulder, sharing an awkward look as Mick Jagger begins to sing.

I'll never be your beast of burden. My back is broad, but it's a-hurtin'. All I want is for you to make love to me. The opening lines remind you of the first time you heard this song with Eddie. It was late one night, in the fall if you recall it correctly. You'd gone on a long drive all over town, not caring about the final destination as there wasn't really one in mind. The radio played real low, and you smoked cigarette after cigarette while staring out the window at the full moon while Eddie drove. Conversation was light, the two of you in comfortable bliss. And then the opening riff spilled forth from the worn stereo speakers in his van, prompting him to turn the volume up. "Shit, this is one of my favorites." You remember him saying, smiling at you to see if you also recognized it. You hadn't heard it before, but you listened closely to the words.

I'll never be your beast of burden. I've walked for miles, my feet are hurtin'. All I want is for you to make love to me. Eddie sang along with Mick, in perfect key at that. It was far from the first time you'd heard his deep, sultry tone. He is in a metal band, after all. But nevertheless, he enchanted you time and time again. And this particular evening from the recesses of your memory was no different. You watched his lips open and close in various shapes to form the lyrics, his face dimly lit by every passing street lamp. This dashboard performance in particular felt different from the others. He was tenderly asking you for something. To love him forever, to have him as yours the same as he wanted to keep you for his own.

You gladly granted the request, your heart soaring across the universe at the thought of never letting Eddie go. When the song was reaching its end, you had ended up at the edge of Lover's Lake. The maddening man in the sky reflected upon the still, black waters. Stars twinkled overhead, it was the most beautiful night. Eddie killed the ignition, inviting you to the back of the van like he'd done so many times before. You followed him like a moth to a flame, letting him lay you down on the mismatched blankets splayed about the floor. You made the sweetest love you'd ever had, sealing your promise that you thought would never be broken.

The two of you sway to the music, slowly rotating in a cautious waltz. You do your best to loosen up, bringing yourself a bit closer. Eddie's had a considerable amount to drink too, playfully crooning the lyrics of the song to you. Just like the old days. "Am I hard enough? Am I rough enough? Am I rich enough? I'm not too blind to see." Your smile grows wider at him singing for you, you used to love it when he did this. His voice is gorgeous, and he made you feel like the most special person in the world when he'd serenade you with your favorite songs.

The others pretend not to stare as they make their own pairings to dance. You ignore their approving glances and nods. It's like everyone else disappears, leaving only you and Eddie in the room anymore. Your movements are more fluid now, facilitated by the weed and alcohol. You let Eddie lean down to softly sing the repeating 'pretty, pretty girl' part of the song in your ear. His chest is flush against yours, and it's almost as if you've never been apart. You want so badly to just smash the walls down, and let him back in. Nostalgia and longing wash over you, tempting you to take what you've been wanting since the day you walked away.

He pulls back a moment, meeting your hazy eyes. You can see loud and clear that he still loves you, and he can tell you're mirroring the sentiment back at him. You can feel his heart pounding in his chest, the pace staying in sync with yours. Your mouths are dangerously close together, and your breath fans in each other's faces. The sickly sweet scent of rum and sugar cookies wafts between you. He tries to make a move to kiss you, and you almost lean into it. But when you really look at him, you can't help remembering how you two ended in the first place.

You drop his hand and push him away, a single tear falling from your eye. "I-I can't." You choke out the words, frantically looking at everyone staring at you.

"Y/N-" Eddie takes a step forward, reaching for your arm.

"Don't!" You back up again while shaking your head, turning away to leave the room. You push past Nancy and Jonathan, and you begin to sob uncontrollably. You make a break for the stairs, your heels thumping as you bound up each step.

"Go after her, you idiot!" Steve yells to Eddie, and you try to find a place to hide. It's too much, you can't just pretend he didn't break your heart into a million pieces. You can't act like everything's okay now, because it isn't. You hear another set of shoes coming up from the ground floor, just as you run into Steve's parents' room. You slam the door and click the lock, leaning against the wood while your chest heaves.

"Y/N?" You hear Eddie's voice from the other side. Why can't he just leave you alone?

"Go away, Eddie. I can't do this." You say through your tears, pulling the Santa hat from your head. You don't want to wear it anymore. You toss it across the room, refusing to look at it again. You slide down to the floor, your knees tented in front of you. Your head falls in your hands, tears and saliva soaking through your dress.

"Y/N, please? I just wanna talk." You can hear the pain in his voice, and you fucking hate it. You hear him shuffling to sit on the other side of the door, his own stifled cries spilling out. His hand brushes the finished wood, wishing he could feel you through it. "Baby, please. I-" He begs.

"Don't call me that! You lost the right to use that name a long time ago." You shout, turning around to face the solid barrier between you.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Just...I don't wanna be like this anymore." His voice trembles, he's just as shaken to the core as you are.

"I don't either, Eddie. But what else is there? You ended us, when I thought you'd never do that."

"I know. And I'm a fucking idiot." Eddie replies through clenched teeth, he's so frustrated with himself for making such a dumb decision.

"Well, at least you admit it." You can't help cracking this small joke, making both of you laugh on either side of the door. Even though you can't see each other, you know exactly how the other's face and body language looks with every passing word.

"Steve said you still sleep in my shirt. Is that true?" He asks, unable to rein in his curiosity. You gasp at the question, Robin must've said something to him.

"Yes." You say softly, not wanting to admit it. "But only because it's comfortable." You try to make up an excuse, but you already know he doesn't believe you. "Robin said you were really messed up after I left. Is that true too?" You figure you might as well get some confirmation of your own while you're trapped in here.

"Shit, yeah. I don't think I had a sober moment for at least two weeks after you left. It was awful. But I couldn't stand to keep being reminded of you at every turn." Eddie recalls how those drunken, drug-addled days played out. He woke up late, head pounding from the night before. He'd crack open another beer, and smoke a blunt or two before breakfast. All he could manage to eat during that time was Honeycomb cereal and Poptarts. Not to say those stayed in his stomach long, far from it.

By lunchtime he'd be face-first in the porcelain throne, rejecting every last bit of sugary snacks and booze. And the cycle would continue. More alcohol, toss some cocaine in the mix, another joint, or a few. Reefer Rick even threatened to cut off his supply if he didn't stop consuming all the product. He had to work twice as hard to recoup the cost of the illicit substances. And all that did was further remind him of how he lost you.

"Jesus, Eddie. I'm sorry." You can't help feeling bad when you hear the words from his own lips. A secondhand story doesn't have nearly the same impact.

"Not your fault. I did this, remember?" This is absolutely killing you, you can't stand the sullen tone in his voice. It makes you want to unlock the door, to allow him back where he clearly belongs. But that's not enough. You can't put the past behind you and give it a second try so easily. Especially when he could just as easily break your heart again, deeming himself unworthy of you. Just like last time.

"Why did you? We had a good thing, didn't we?" You really want to understand why he made that decision all those months ago. He technically gave you a reason, but was that really enough to end a relationship?

"Of course we did, Y/N. It was the best thing I've ever had in my entire life." Eddie says, complete and total regret working its way through his body. It cuts like a knife, deep and jagged. More tears spring from his eyes, tapping wetly as they land on the hardwood floor below him. His heart aches for you more than he ever thought possible. You're so close, and yet you're a million miles away. If he wanted to act selfishly, he'd smash this damn door to pieces and scoop you into his arms. But he won't, because it's not what you want. And that's the only thing that has ever mattered to him.

"Then why?" You hoarsely croak out the words. You're fighting to swallow a wedge in your throat, it's grating and bitter. Like a lump of coal scraping your esophagus. You press your hand against the door, laying your head beside it. You want to be closer to him in this silly, small way.

"Well, it's like I said before. I didn't feel like I was enough for you. You were starting college soon, and I know you're gonna be something great." Eddie smiles slightly at that thought. You have big dreams of saving the world, changing it for the better. He'd listen to you talk for hours about cleaning up the oceans or regulating big corporations that over-pollute. Seeing your eyes light up when you cared about something made him even more helplessly in love with you. "Whereas, I'm gonna be stuck flipping burgers or fixing cars my whole life. Would you really wanna spend your days with someone like that?"

"I told you before, I didn't care about that. I just wanted to be with you. What you did for a job or how much money you had was always a non-factor for me. People do those things their whole lives, and there's nothing wrong with that." You reassure him, speaking sincerely. Just because others may look down upon those who work in 'unskilled' jobs, that doesn't make them worthless.

"But how could I provide for you when I make shit pay like that? You deserve someone who can take care of you, Y/N." You really have no idea why Eddie insists on this idea that he has to be the big spender in the relationship. It's oddly old-fashioned for someone like him.

"Eddie, did I ever say I wanted you to be the 'provider' in our relationship? You know better than anyone I don't subscribe to medieval ideals like that." You don't mean to come off so harsh, but it's a bit annoying that he seems to ignore this rather fundamental thing about you. "Plus, you provided plenty. You were kind, sweet, and loving. You comforted me in my weakest moments, and we made so many meaningful memories together."

"I know, you're right. The more I say it out loud, the stupider it sounds." He chuckles dryly, shaking his head. But there's something else, something he's kept close to the chest this whole time. You can sense the hesitation in his voice, the little hitch in his breath when he forces his tongue to hold back.

"What is it, Eddie? Please, tell me." You ask quietly, wanting to know what he's been hiding.

"I was afraid you'd outgrow me. You'd slowly earn your degree, make new friends. Then you'd no doubt go wherever the planet needs you, and where would that leave me? You'd see how big and beautiful the world is, and being with me would pale in comparison. And then you'd leave, finding a foxy marine biologist instead or something. Then you'd win some kinda Nobel Prize or some shit, and I'd still be here in Hawkins. With nothing to show for it." He realizes how silly he sounds now, how he's spent so long fantasizing about you leaving him behind.

"Thought about that a lot, did you?" You ask, unable to hide the smirk in your voice. You understand his fears, you'd probably have them too if the roles were reversed.

"Every goddamn day, Y/N." He chuckles again, but he sounds far from happy about it. Your face falls, there must be a way for him to see that his anxieties held no water.

"You do realize I would've taken you with me, right? If your hypotheticals ever came to be, I mean." You speak matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Eddie still doesn't understand, does he? Just as he claims to love you to the ends of the earth and back, you feel just as strongly. If not moreso.

"Yes, you big idiot!" You exclaim, grabbing his attention. "I would've had you by my side every step of the way. We would've moved in together while I went to school. Then after graduation you'd come with me to wherever I was interning at, until I’d eventually lead the charge in some world-saving research. And then you'd be right there in the audience while I accept my 'Nobel Prize or some shit', dressed in a cute tux and everything. And then we'd go home to our house, and our pets or plants or whatever." Eddie's eyes widen at your words, he never imagined that you would actually want to spend the rest of your life with him. Him, the metalhead, freak, loser, asshole that deals drugs.

"Thought about that a lot, did you?" He parrots your previous statement at you, drawing light laughs from both of your mouths.

"Every goddamn day, Eds." Another copied comment, and another slip of his nickname. You're headed for trouble if you don't knock it off.

"Fuck, I wish more than anything I could take it back, Y/N." Eddie says, desperately wanting this conversation to end in reconciliation. He wants you, no, needs you in his life. You're like the sun in the sky, the air in his lungs, the ground beneath his feet, the blood in his veins. You are everything to him.

"So do I." You reply simply, the tears have been steadily pouring from your eyes this whole time. As is the case with Eddie, you suspect.

"Would it be so terrible to try again? I miss you so much, it's killing me." There it is. That oh, so dangerous question. You've been simultaneously dreading it and wishing for it all night. How easy it would be to accept him back into your heart, to reignite the burning flame of love you used to share.

"I miss you too, more than you know. But I don't want to get hurt again. I can't go through the hell you put me in a second time." You sniffle, unable to stop yourself from remembering the endless sob-fest you had at Robin's for the first few days after your breakup.

"I promise, I will never let you go again. I'll never be so fucking stupid." He pleads, yanking at your heartstrings.

"But how do I know for sure, Eddie? I was under the impression that the first time would never come, and it did. Who's to say you won't break us to pieces again when things get tough?" As much as you'd love to be together again, you have valid reservations about the prospect.

He doesn't say anything else for a minute, carefully considering what you've said. He feels so fucking awful for hurting you, and he wants to prove himself worthy of a second chance. "What if we move in together?" He blurts out, as it's the first step in your little fantasy about the future.

You scoff, he can't be serious. "Eddie, you don't have to jump the gun like that."

"I'm serious. I wanna be with you, commit to a life with you. What better way to do that than to get a place together? We could look after New Year's if you want. I think there's a place by-" His tone is frantic now, eager to sell you on the idea.

"Eddie, slow down!" You shout, interrupting his babbling. He shuts his trap, his teeth clacking at the force. "Look, it's really sweet of you to offer. But I think we would need time to get reacquainted first, to see if this would even work again." He perks up at your words, hoping this means you're saying yes to him.

"I'm sorry, you're right. But, does that mean we can give this another shot?" He asks expectantly, crossing his fingers and praying to whatever God is up there that you'll take him back.

You sigh, shaking your head as you giggle at the thought. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this. But yes, we can try again, Eds." You say as you stand up, clicking the lock to open the door. Eddie falls forward into the room, almost smacking his head on the floor. You shriek in surprise, and he bounces back up in no time. He scrambles to his feet, his eyes meeting yours for the first time in what feels like hours. He laughs awkwardly, blushing hard as he rubs the back of his neck. You giggle in reply, rolling your eyes at his clumsiness.

You move closer to him, wrapping your arms around his neck while his go around your waist. You're standing in the threshold of the room, looking up to see some mistletoe hanging right above your heads. "Well, would ya look at that? Seems like the Harringtons have the right idea." Eddie says, returning his gaze to yours. The air between you is different now. It's no longer somber and heartbroken, but filled with unbridled joy and a dash of booze-fueled lust.

"That they do." You reply, just barely above a whisper. You can't stop staring at each other's lips, the familiar scent of Christmas treats dizzying your heads in your proximity. Eddie's just about to bring his lips to yours, when-

To be continued...

[henrysglock]

Several opinions that would probably get me banned from the ST subreddit (at least some of them lol)

1) Nancy and Steve would have a toxic relationship if they got together again

2) Jason would've killed Eddie if he actually catched him (even if on accident)

3) Argyle is not a bad character and actually important to the plot + I'm so happy that Jonathan finally got a friend that isn't his girlfriend!

4) Max will probably stay blind even if she gets revived AND THATS OKAY

5) Hopper was absolutely not ready to take care of El in s2. Yes he gave her food and clothes but he abandoned her for days! (That whole argument he had with her aside) also in s3 he acted like a helicopter parent

6) Mike kissing El in s1 was rushed

7) Brenner is the actual villian of the whole story

Agree. They're not right for each other, even though Steve's grown up. Nancy's not built for a "6 nuggets" life, and she expresses as much when she says it sounds like a nightmare.

HARD agree. Jason would have murdered Eddie, undoubtedly.

YES! YES YES YES!!! Argyle my beloved <3 He's the unsung hero of this season. Where would be be without him? Stranded in Cali and completely cut off from Hawkins. That's all thanks to Argyle.

SPEAK!!! SPEAK!!!! Max should be permanently disabled after Vecna's attack, and that should be okay. She doesn't need to be magically healed in order to live a full and happy life when she wakes up, and honestly it would be very deus ex machina if someone were to magically heal her. Ew.

Anon you are on FIRE tonight!! Hopper wasn't mentally or emotionally prepared to care for a high-needs child. El is a high-needs child. She's traumatized, socially and emotionally stunted, and she's not nearly old enough to be left on her own. In ST3 he was a toxic overbearing father. Miss me with that.

Absolutely. It drives me up a wall, even if I understand why they stuck it in there the way they did. Was it purposeful? Can I see the logic behind it? Yes and yes. Does that mean it's not rushed and painfully awkward? No.

Anon. You are 7 for 7 tonight. Brenner and his curiosity without morality is the root of the entire conflict. If he hadn't been involved with the Creels the way he was, we wouldn't have a story. Kate Trefry just said it herself: There's a reason One ended up the way he did. He wasn't born like this. He was shaped. Brenner was that ultimate shaping force in our villain. Brenner, from the start, has been the ultimate evil in Stranger Things.

Send me unpopular opinions!

[bluedalliances]

Or read it on ao3, that's cool too <3

When it becomes evident that the end of the world won’t be a one night event, but a slow burn catastrophe, domesticity starts sneaking back into everyone’s lives. At first is subtle, someone sleeps in one morning, the older teenagers open a few beers under the sun, and Max’s laugh, loud as always, can be heard from the street. They need the small things, silly little pleasures that keep them from going absolutely insane while they wait for hell’s next move.

In those moments, Will realizes, the headquarters (Steve’s place) feel like an actual home for everyone.

His mom and Mrs. Henderson start knitting together on the couch. They say it’s because they’re going to need extra blankets if the situation extends into winter, but they spend most of the time talking and trying to teach anyone vaguely interested how to use the needles.

Soon after, Max decides it’s the perfect time to show more stuff to El, and Dustin jumps into it immediately. He picks a corner in the living room and makes a small but extremely organized archive with all their comics, books, movies, and tapes.

Even if everyone is leaving their favorite things there, Will is afraid there will be no place for his interests. After moving to California, he had gotten more and more into world building and fantasy, writing and illustrating all the campaigns he once would have shared with his friends. However, last time he saw any of them, they had been less than interested in games, monsters, or stories. And sure, they had been playing at Hellfire all year, but he still can't shake the memory of Mike’s bored rolls and Lucas’s amused look, like he was trying to indulge a child with his silly games even if he wanted to make fun of him, or the way they would cut every session short, never getting to finish their last campaign.

In the end, it’s Gareth who gives him the push he needed. One afternoon, the boy knocks at his bedroom door, looking nervous and rambling about how he thought maybe Will would like to put his D&D books next to his and Eddie’s ones, but of course he doesn't have to, it was just an idea because everyone said Will was a great DM and filled his books with notes and that sounds really cool, you know? They end up talking for hours while they go through whatever the others left and add Will's stuff to it.

It's an odd collection, and now there’s always someone showing something to El or fighting to be the one who does, but also going through the homemade library themselves, listening or talking about their own interests, as they realize they can share everything they love with the others. They even bring the older ones as “guests” to talk about different things. Jonathan and Eddie introduce them to punk, metal, and poetry, Nancy brings her scrapbook of “inspiring women of history”, Steve shows them his favorite romcoms and explains which things actually happen in real life and which ones they should never put up with, Argyle and Gareth go on a long discussion about the merits of Latin American music and their favorite protest songwriters, and Robin explains the use of idioms and sarcasm. At first, they extend the invitation to everyone, but have to put a quick stop to it when Joyce tries to give them the most awkward attempt of a bees and birds talk. Later that night, Will tells her that Steve made sure they knew everything they needed to a while ago, and immediately makes her swear to never do something like that again.

As the sight of small groups gathering in the living room becomes an everyday thing, Steve picks up baking again. That one involves a short talk between Hopper and Owens, where Jim ever so subtly informs him that while his kids might have lost everything, they will not be losing the joy of their hobbies, specially if they involve chocolate. After that, there’s always a “Steve” package in their government-provided supply boxes, and the house starts smelling like cinnamon and lemons all the time. Everyone loves it, especially Eddie. It doesn't matter how early you wake up, you can find him in the same spot on the counter every morning, holding a cup of coffee and smiling in silence as Steve makes breakfast for everyone.

The last thing to come is Eddie’s campaign.

What he planned to be a simple one shot to entertain everyone on a rainy day, quickly turned into a six-week adventure that now is close to its end. They finally found the BBEG, an undead wizard that’s behind decades of hardships in the reign, and are close to defeating them, but also close to death. Lucas is down, Dustin and Mike are paralyzed, and even if Will hasn't rolled below 17 all night and Erica’s Barbarian is a force to behold, they are in trouble. Gareth has been getting shitty rolls all night, and he’s the only one left before it’s the Lich’s turn. If he fails, Eddie will attack Will, it’s the logical thing to do, and facing such a dangerous monster without a cleric would inevitably end up in TPK.

“Let's face it, I can't do it, we’re all gonna die,” says Gareth as he buries his face under his hands.

Will pats him on the shoulder and tries to ignore the tingling that spreads from his fingertips when they graze on skin over the neckline of Gareth’s shirt. “We’re not gonna die, you got this,” he goes for a smile, but is pretty sure it comes out all wrong and stiff.

Gareth meets his eyes, barely leaving his hiding place, but before he can do anything else Mike interrupts.

“No, he’s right, we’re gonna die.”

Everyone turns to glare at him. There have been long talks lately about the way things are said within The Party and how they can be hurtful.

“What?” Mike looks around the table, suddenly defensive. “The highest he rolled today is an eleven! It’s okay, it happens to everyone from time to time, I’m not trying to be an asshole here.”

Gareth sighs, and Will is pretty sure he’s ripping out his own hair with the way he’s pulling at it.

 “He’s right, guys. I guess I really upset the Fates this time.” Even if it starts in an overdramatic tone, playful and filled with the group's usual drama, he suddenly sits straight and turns to Eddie. “Do you think it’s because I didn’t let that Demodog eat Biscuit? Maybe his life was supposed to end that day and now they'll punish me for ruining their plans.”

He’s so serious about it that Will can't stop the laugh that escapes him, and a second later everyone follows. Even Steve, watching next to Max from the couch, lets out an amused snort. Leave it to Gareth to make a world out of a few unlucky rolls.

“Don't laugh, this is serious!” By now, Gareth actually heard himself and is fighting to keep a straight face. In his last attempt to keep himself from laughing, he goes back to his theatrics, whining and pouting. “Will, you’ve been doing great today, tell the Fates I’m a nice guy, share your luck with me.”

“You want guidance? Can I guide him for this?”

He’s looking at Eddie now, but two answers come at once, one from the DM, the other one by his side.

“This is not an ability check.”

“Sure, give me a good luck kiss.”

Even if he says it lightly, Will turns to him so fast, a twinge of pain runs up his neck. Silence falls around the table and he can feel everyone’s eyes on them. Gareth looks shocked by his own words as his face fills with red, and Will would find it cute if he wasn’t so sure he looked the same.

“You know what? I'm feeling generous.” Eddie’s stunned expression turns into a gleeful grin. Mischief takes over his eyes, and Will realizes this is the mean DM everyone talks about. The sight quickly finds its way to his top five most scary experiences and, considering their history, that's not a small achievement. “I’ll allow it as a blessing, if you actually kiss Gareth”.

As soon as he says it, hell breaks loose around them. Everyone wants to have a say in this.

Will should’ve expected that. During their first session, he discovered that, with Eddie, role-playing beats every rule in the book. Truthful to his theater kid nature, he’ll allow anything if it makes the game exciting. And exciting it is, if the fluttering of Will’s heart is something to go by.

As everyone laughs and yells and argues around them, he looks at Gareth and finds him already staring.

“You don’t have to”, the older boy says. “Eddie doesn't realize he makes people uncomfortable sometimes, but he won't press if you say no.”

Will thinks about it for a second. He could say no, and no one would give him shit for it, but he needs to know. Even if it’s not the time and everyone’s looking, even if he’s scared to death, he needs to know if he needs to rip these fluttering feelings apart before they grow too big and dangerous.

Is this a rosebush or a baobab?, he wants to ask.

But thoughts need translation sometimes, so he says, “Would it make you uncomfortable?”

“Kissing you?”

As Will nods, he sees Gareth’s eyes falling to his lips and back to his eyes. A small smile is taking over his face, hesitatingly, and Will’s not nervous anymore. He knows that smile, it’s the same one he sees before Gareth hands him a cup of tea and the last of Steve’s cookies, as he asks him about his campaign ideas or listens to his honestly annoying rant about the pros and cons of choosing the Moon Circle as a Druid.

It’s a familiar smile, kind and welcoming.

He’s already getting closer when Gareth finally says, “never”.

At some point, everyone went silent again and now they’re waiting for a show.

“Whenever I look at you, I see the fire of your bloodline, Gareth the Great.” Will cups Gareth's cheek and leans in until their noses are touching. He doesn't make his character’s voice this time. He wants Gareth to know this is all him. “When you speak, I feel the warmth that runs through your veins, and when you stand by my side, I feel invincible. I believe in your power,” his last words are said against Gareth's lips, barely above a whisper for him to breathe in, “give him hell.”

And just like that, he does it. It’s a soft kiss, gentle and sweet, filled with untold feelings, but there’s no doubt to it, Gareth is kissing back.

“I feel very lucky right now, Will the Wise.”

As they pull apart, the world regains its shape and Will can almost hear his friends’ surprise. El is slapping Max’s arm in excitement as they giggle, and Eddie gives a smug smile to Steve. Will would see it if he had half a mind to stop looking at Gareth.

Gareth, who’s smiling and reaching for his dice without taking his eyes away from Will either.

“I cast fifth level fireball.”

Only then, he turns back to the table and rolls both dice, his own and the one given by a kiss.

The rattling against the table seems to go forever, but Will can't tear his eyes from Gareth’s face to see what’s going on. He knows it’s good when the other boy turns to him with the brightest smile he’s ever seen.

“Natural twenty, for a total of twenty-seven with Will's dice”, he announces. Everyone roars again, and the air feels alive with their excitement.

“That’d be a crit hit,” says Eddie with a proud smile, the mean DM facade falling in pieces. “Add six D6 for me.”

That’s so many dices that Gareth has to borrow a few from Will and Dustin to do it in one go.

“Ohgodohgodohgod,” says Gareth as he counts, “that’s— 68 fire damage.”

Shocked voices take over the room and Holly mother of a Demogorgon gets mixed with fuck, fuck, Gareth that’s insane and that must’ve been a really good kiss.

 “Children, children. Be silent for a minute.” Eddie stands up from his place at the head of the table and looks straight at Gareth, putting an immediate stop to the noise.

“I regret to inform you, Gareth the Great,” he says before a long pause that has everyone holding their breaths and at the edge of their seats, “that you’ll have to use that one brain cell of yours and tell me how you want to end this motherfucker.”

A grin spreads across Eddies face as the gleeful screaming comes back.

Gareth stands up and starts acting his character’s moves, one hand extended in front of this body. “You all see sparks surge from my face. They start right under Will’s fingers and travel down to my arm and hand, where a small spark of fire forms. It gets bigger as it travels through the air and you can see it's purple, just as Will's clothes. It fills the far side of the room, engulfing the Lith and turning him into ashes.”

“As the Lith turns into ashes”, Eddie takes over, “you, Gareth, hear his voice in your head. He promises to come back, to end you and your party, to make you regret ever crossing his way. But right now the fight is over, you can heal your companions and take a good night's rest. Is there anything you want to do before we wrap up for today?”

“I'm going to hug Gareth and whisper, ‘you made it’,” says Will.

“Only because of you.”

They're staring at eachother again, and Will realizes that, just for a moment, he feels no fear.

“Okay, love birds,” interrupts Erica in her character’s voice. “Let's heal mister can’t-do-anything-without-fainting and get out of here, I need a drink.”

Everyone laughs at that as Lucas complains. They still have to find the Lich’s phylactery and find out what waits for them in this adventure, but that’s a story for another day.

[atmilliways]

I want to read an absolute clusterfuck of fake dating miscommunication where Steve asked Eddie to fake date in order to show Will it's okay to be gay.

Now, this is patently ridiculous. (And I absolutely adore reading fics in which it happens anyway.) Eddie is so aware of how ridiculous it is that he takes it for a flimsy excuse for Steve to ask him out. And, well. Steve is hot, thoughtful, delightfully bitchy, and sometimes a kind of a bonehead, but ultimately a good guy. Eddie could do worse. So he accepts.

As far as Eddie is concerned, the relationship is actually real; the "fake" part is just a pretense, like gay training wheels. Kind of a dumb way for Steve, who's used to heterosexual relationships where the rules and roles are more or less clearly defined, to talk about comfort levels and boundaries and shit, but everybody has to start somewhere. It's not like Eddie has ever really dated before so, like, whatever.

But Steve is actually serious. He really wants Will to feel more optimistic about his romantic future, and has thrown his whole ass into this dipshit idea. He's relieved that Eddie agrees, because Will lights up even more every time the kid sees them together, even though they keep it subtle enough that the rest of the kids don't pick up on it and out them to all of Hawkins with their loud mouths that can't keep secrets. (Ahem, Dustin.)

Robin was not let in on this plan, because Steve has gotten too used to the nearly supernatural way they can talk using only facial expressions and vibes. If she's acting a little weird, it's because she's miffed that he didn't tell her about his bisexual awakening. (Which he has not, in fact, had. Yet.)

Nancy has a sneaking suspicion that something is going on, but she's missing 99% of the context here and has never really thought about people being gay before. She decides to investigate why Steve and Eddie are suddenly so close, getting incredibly mixed signals from both of them and even Robin when she asks her. (Over the course of the story Nancy also goes through her own private journey of gradually realizing that she might be bi, and that maybe she should break up with Jonathan and spend some time alone to figure out wtf she wants, who she even is as a person now that both high school and the Upside Down problems are over.)

Jonathan just wants to find a way to balance having shit tolerance no matter how long he smokes and using weed to self-medicate for the back pain from being brutally KO'd with a chair in season three. Argyle just wants to help him, make pizza, and chill.

Maybe it all comes to a head like that one Thanksgiving episode of Friends where everyone just kind of explodes. They each shout whatever is topmost on their mind at each other, leaving Joyce standing in the middle of the room like, "... That is a lot of information to get in thirty seconds," then snapping into Mom Mode and responding to each of them in turn. For Steve and Eddie it's like getting their heads knocked together to end a fight only, you know, nicely.

I just. I want to read about all of them being so dumb and no one knows what's going on.

[strawberrybyers]

i’m kind of intrigued at how the creel family and the wheeler family mirror each other

henry wanted to show his parents who they really were. he wanted to pull back that curtain and show what was really behind it. henry’s parents wanted to be that perfect family that lived in a suburban house with their two kids as if they’re the ones who did life right. henry despised the lies. he despised the conformity. he found an unconventional bond with spiders, a creature many are fearful of. this new relationship allowed him to fully accept he was tired of pretending. hiding. lying. as he let go of trying to fit the mold his parents shaped for him, his father was naive and believed a demon had taken over their house. it revealed a reflection of who his father really was: a man pretending. a man who could never see what was in front of him because it was all just a show. but his mother? his mother knew it was him wreaking havoc in the house. how could she not? a mother is not able to pretend in the same way as the father as mothers are the ones expected to take on the full emotional brunt of their children. this led to doctors and his mother wanting to lock henry away to fix him as they believed he was broken. he didn’t allow them to though. he fought against their last attempted act of conformity.

mike’s home life to the outsiders looks like an achievement. they’re the model family that everyone looks at and wants what they have. because it looks good, doesn’t it? the nice suburban home, a long marriage, three kids, shopping at the nice stores. but, when you look behind that curtain, you see who the wheeler family really is. karen and ted have a lifeless marriage. karen, the forced representative of how the perfect wife should be, clings on to an inappropriate fantasy of being with the teenage pool boy. ted is a man who takes on the titles of “husband” and father”, but never actually partaking in those roles. the wheeler couple are just another husband and wife pretending. nancy secretly dreads the lineage of conformity because she witnesses it with her parents. she doesn’t want to be living in the suburban house at the end of the cul-de-sac letting societies expectations puppeteer her life. she breaks away from the identity projected on to her by being a bad-ass who is able to shoot a gun, write the story she wants to write, and be with the boy she’s in love with. jonathan is not the boy society expected her to be with. he’s an unconventional choice in the eyes of many. nancy’s breakthrough of her molded identity of who she should be became more of a struggle as sexism was trying to force her back in. karen saw how this upset nancy and was able to get nancy to open up to her. once again, a mother always knows. this shows the kids find comfort in karen at an arms length distance as she isn’t in the know about everything, but she knows her children better than ted. ted lacks the ability of seeing who his children really are because why would they be anything else other than what’s normal? mike is trying hard to be as normal as possible. but he’s growing tired of pretending. hiding. lying. mike lives by “friends don’t lie” and he’s known to get upset if he discovers a lie according to will. the fatigue of pretending to be someone else caught up to mike. his grasp with the hand of conformity is loosening as the days go on, especially since he joined hellfire club. he’s wearing the clothes he wants. he’s hanging around the people he wants. hanging around eddie— someone who is categorized as a satanic freak— was the stepping stone towards mike’s acceptance of who he really is. eddie’s entire being is a “fuck you” to conformity. unfortunately mike isn’t able to reveal all of who he is. he even tries to take a step back into his previous identity when he arrives to california. argyle calls him out for wearing a knock-off. it’s another item that’s been adopted into this game of pretend. it’s another glimpse of someone else who sees him for who he is. karen sees mike. she wants him to know he can tell her anything as she thinks maybe he has feelings for will and the suppression of it needs to be released. society’s homophobia keeps it locked in. society will make mike feel like he’s wrong. he’s broken. he needs to be fixed for being gay. luckily for mike he will able to fight the last battle of conformity with will by his side.

knowing all of this it does seem as if eddie was right when he said forced conformity is the real monster.

[sidekickjoey]

You're On Your Own, Kid (You Can Face This)

Graphics & writing by: @sidekickjoey Beta: @steddieasitgoes Art by: @ja0netholmes/@bittlebarnes and @danadaria Part of @steddiebang 2023

Read on Ao3

A week out from Robin leaving and everything about his world changing, Steve finds himself both closer and impossibly further away from knowing what his future holds.

Chapter 5 - Pick The Petals (preview under the cut)

It’s a week out from Robin leaving for Connecticut, and Steve still hasn’t asked Eddie.

It’s rather upsetting, knowing he needs to do something but feeling so physically incapable of doing so. Steve has wrestled with the feeling for some time now, waking with it haunting him like a ghost and hearing its taunts as he falls asleep in Robin’s spare bed and his colder one back home. He isn't even really sure what he is so afraid of, which complicates things astronomically. Asking Eddie a simple question that would solve all of his problems with one yes shouldn’t be scary. If anything, doing so as soon as possible should be something he jumps to do, just to end his suffering.

And yet, Steve can’t bring himself to do it.

At the beginning of this torment, when Robin let him go free from her house, he had claimed he needed to wait a bit. He couldn’t just up and leave Hawkins in the middle of his spat with his parents and expect to not be followed like a hawk, after all. It would be better, he reckoned, to wait. An unsuspecting foe is better than one on guard. Robin had reluctantly agreed, and with a pinky-swear promise that he’d get to leaving eventually, he was let off. 

By day three, when Robin revived the conversation moments before handing in her resignation letter to Keith, Steve had changed his story. His new claim was that he was waiting to see Eddie to make the first move. ‘Can’t ask the guy something if he isn’t around, you know?’ Robin’s eyes had never rolled quite so far into her head, especially given Steve not only had Eddie’s number in his possession, but also access to it in the Family Video database before him. But, she held her tongue, and Steve held on to his excuses. 

The weekend should have been where all excuses ran out. Eddie was among a number of close friends invited over for a movie night at the Wheeler household, as was Steve. The guy most definitely would be present and available for Steve to talk to about this, or really anything for that matter. However, despite Eddie casting curious looks his way and trying to start up conversations about how he’s doing, practically begging for an in, Steve managed to not go through with asking him. He let Eddie go, leaving his future slip perpetually back in limbo and refusing to do anything else. 

Now, he knows he is only a matter of hours, not days, from his hesitancy becoming a problem. He knows his friends are slowly but surely on their way out. He knows that his window to head out with them, and to do so with Eddie by his side, is slipping away like they are. Nancy and Jonathan had even brought up leaving earlier than planned at the movie night. Argyle wants to go sight-seeing with them before all three end up muddled with work and responsibilities for ‘the man,’ as he put it. Jonathan doesn’t want to leave him hanging, especially when his ticket to NYU is sitting in his drawer placing a ticking clock on their in-person friendship. Nancy is too kind to let him do so, so it’s as good of a done deal as any.

Robin is set to leave on Friday. Her parents, ever adamant about following their only daughter off to her new start, are eager to take their time and move her into her new dorm room together. Steve is grateful to know she won’t be all on her own to do so. However, he also knows this means he's only got a few days left to figure things out with her around and, sue him, he's not ready to lose her yet. He wants to sit down and plan with her like the entire party used to plan for Vecna. He wants to make sure with her that everything is air-tight about his plan so that he won't screw up his words and scare Eddie off. The thought of going into all of that alone is enough to keep him up at night. Unsurprisingly, it does. He mourns her absence before it even comes and, worse then, neglects to reach out to her for fear he may never let her leave.

All his worries, fears, and stressors come to a head on Monday afternoon, when Steve is fresh off of a stint at Family Video. The day had been a hectic one, filled with a few large parties of middle schoolers looking to rent out any movie they could get their grubby little hands on. With Robin gone, Steve had been the only one around to fend them off. After nearly losing his voice ordering them around and threatening baselessly to quit more than five times, he's exhausted. He wants nothing more when he arrives home than to feel the sweet embrace of a shower and the comfort of a quiet bedroom, away from anyone and anything that could bother him. As such, he doesn't think twice about pushing inside his home and running up the stairs to it. 

His mother, however, does.