#but it's consistent. and we know for sure they know about joyce and nancy so then you just keep digging

[gayofthefae]

I love the the little details that play so largely into the themes.

Only women are called crazy in Stranger Things.

The magnets? You're making that up to stall. That light? It's just the wiring. The rats? It's just rabies or something. Visions of monsters? Those are just nightmares from your trauma. A giant smoke monster in the sky?...

Let's get that checked out right away, honey. No, it isn't all in your head, I believe you when you say this isn't your PTSD. I believe you immediately. Incoherent drawings? They definitely mean something. Tickle on your neck? That's huge, I trust you. Package from Russia with a coded message?

You're grasping at straws, sweetie.

A great consistent point to make.

It is also notable that many men in the show are on the other end of things consistently but confidently WRONG. Women are right and disregarded. But Hopper ran out of that house saying the drawings were vines. They were tunnels. Dustin explained his epiphany that Vecna worked directly under mind flayer. He was the mind flayer. But they said them so boldly it was never even called out.

Men are both right and wrong but undoubted either way. Women have 100% track records and also doubted every time.

[faramirsonofgondor]

Mike Wheeler Is Traumatized

I know a lot of people equate Mike distancing himself from Will & the rest of the party to him just being an asshole, growing up, or internalized homophobia, but I think it has to do with his trauma SO MUCH. A lot of people ignore that by the end of season 2/the beginning of season 3 Mike is probably the only child who has seen so much gore (besides El, and possibly Will). Like even Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan did not have to see what Mike saw in the lab. While I’m not trying to say Mike has more trauma than the rest of the kids, he definitely has a lot different trauma.

In Season 1, all the of the kids (I’m including Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve as a part of the kids because they’re still teens during seasons 1 & 2) have seen the demogorgon but they don’t really have to see the aftermath of what it does. They know on some level that their life is in danger, but they don’t know exactly what the demogorgon is capable of, just that it took Will & killed Barb. Although Nancy & Jonathan do see the deer getting eaten, it’s not really the same thing as a human. El is really the only one with the knowledge of what the demogorgon is and what it can do, and even then she doesn’t really have all the full facts. I’d say that the goriest thing the kids experience by the end of S1 is El killing the agents and even then it probably wasn’t as impactful because they probably saw those agents as bad guys (because they were). So maybe the goriest thing was Will’s body, but again, they only saw it from afar and then found out that Will was still alive not even 24 hours later. While Wild’s experience in the upside down was definitely traumatic I’m not entirely sure if it can be classified as gory because we don’t know the full extent of what Will experienced.

Then we get to Season 2. All of the younger kids on some level witness Will’s possession, but Mike is the only one who gets to see the full extent of it, and he’s consistently the one who finds Will first during his episodes. He’s the one who witnesses Will’s seizure while Bob, Hopper, and Joyce are still on their way out of the tunnels. He’s also privy to a lot more information than anyone else regarding Will’s experiences with the Mind Flayer. I think Mike himself wasn’t even aware of this fact, because when speaks to Joyce it almost seems like he’s under the assumption that Will told her about the Mind Flayer, when in reality she pieced it together herself. Will also gives Mike insight into his worries about being controlled by the Mind Flayer, but he doesn’t seem to tell anyone else. Now back to Will’s seizure and subsequent hospitalization, when Mike is first presented with idea that Will might forget him, it’s a lot to handle, because it’s not something Mike can fix, but then Will does remember Mike and Mike is relieved. And it’s Mike who Will turns to, who Will tells that he has an idea on how to stop him. It’s Mike who realizes a little too late that it had all been a trap and that there’s nothing they can do to stop it.

Somehow, miraculously, Mike, Will, Joyce, Bob, Hopper, and Dr. Owens make it to safety. But not before Mike has witness thousands of demodogs eating people alive, tearing them apart - people who were only trying to help Will, people who probably had friends and family of their own. And now they’re all stuck, and it’s only a matter of time before the demodogs get to them. Yet, somehow, they make it out, and they’re only waiting for Joyce and Bob when Mike hears her scream. Can you imagine how horrifying it would be? To be the only kid in a situation like that? Mike probably didn’t even know if Joyce was okay or not until she got outside. Can you imagine what was going through Mike’s head? Not to mention, had Joyce actually been hurt, then Hopper would’ve been the only adult left in that situation- and he went back inside. Those few moments must have been so fucking terrifying, because if Hopper died, then who was left to protect them?

I also honestly think in part that Hopper leaving them might’ve been a contributing factor to Mike’s blowup at Hopper - obviously Mike was upset that Hopper hid El, but his breakdown seems to be deeper than that. Hopper has been telling Mike since Season 1 not to get involved, that he’ll handle it, etc. but then Hopper and Joyce leave the kids at the end of S1 and the party ends up losing El, so when confronted with the fact that Hopper had abandoned them again, even momentarily, probably made Mike lose so much of his trust/belief in Hopper to keep him and the party safe. Finding out about El was just the final nail in the coffin.

Anyways, back to Will’s possession. Mike was also the only party to be there when they were trying to get through to Will in the shed. Mike had to witness Will scream that Mike was lying, to let Will go, etc. I think that all of this combined is what really causes Mike to distance himself from Will and the others, not only the fact that he had witnessed such brutality and gore, but also that he feels partially responsible for it. He truly had lost his innocence in a way the rest of the party hadn’t experienced, and the only one who understood on some level was El (because she felt partially responsible too) and that’s why they latched into each other so hard. I also think that’s the reason why Mike insists of ditching his childhood in Season 3, because it was D&D that had sort of started this whole thing to begin with, and it was Mike childlike belief that they would make it out okay, that supporting Will would be enough to stop the Mind Flayer, that made Mike feel like he should’ve done more in the aftermath of Season 2.

However, I would also like to point out that Mike seems to have other trauma that’s not related to the Upside Down that contributes to this behavior as well. Mike has been punished multiple times for not conforming or for acting out throughout the series. When Mike stands up for Will during the assembly in Season 1, he’s pushing back against idea that Will’s alleged queerness should be met with violence and bigotry. While this may have felt rewarding in the moment, this eventually leads to the Quarry scene in which Mike is forced to essentially jump to his death. Despite El saving him, I think this impacted him more than the show lets on. While I don’t El or Dustin fully grasped the implications of this scene, I think for Mike it cemented the belief that any having any perceived queerness was a threat to both his and Will’s safety. And it wasn’t just about him being queer - really it was about Will’s perceived queerness. I think that’s why after this scene we see Mike pushing so hard for romance between himself and El AND for romanced between Will and other girls (pushing him to dance with a girl despite seeming unhappy about it, trying so hard push the whole ‘teen summer romance’ and getting girlfriends thing during season 3). When it comes to sexuality Mike doesn’t just see conformance as a way to stop bullying or as the way he would actually like to behave, he sees it as necessary to protecting both his and Will’s life, because its really saying something that the closest Mike’s been to death wasn’t because of the Upside Down but because of two bigoted preteens. Not even full grown adults. Mike probably already knows some of what Lonnie was like, so the idea that the rest of the town might start to catch on, that someone older might try to hurt them probably plagued his mind at least a little.

I’m honestly a little scared for Season 5 because while I do think Mike started rejecting conformity in S4, Eddie’s death and the whole mob mentality towards Hellfire might set back into his Season 3 mindset of trying to fit in as much as possible. I guess I’ll just have to find out when S5 comes out and I pirate it which won’t be for a while.

Anyways pushing past Mike’s conformity towards sexuality, Mike also does get punished for acting out in S2 and he has to get rid of a bunch of his childhood toys. So Mike may associate getting rid of his childhood with punishment. So maybe when Mike tries to push away from his childhood in S3, it’s really because he feels like he has to be punished (for not saving Will on time, for not warning anyone fast enough, for not seeing through the Mind Flayer’s plot, for being a child and having hope only to see that it’s dangerous to hope, that life can be so harsh and unforgiving).

Anyways, if y’all want me to talk more about this (I have ideas about how this connects more in S3 and S4) or anything else just lmk!

[willel]

When Matt Duffer said: "in S5, I want the original groups back together: the boys+El, Joyce&Hopper, Jonathan& Nancy": did he mean, this is how the characters will be grouped in S5 (but these groupings were very frequent every season?) or these are the OG groups and they’ll be together again (with each other). I’m more interested in the 2nd option (I want to see Will with his friends but with his family too, same with Joyce and Jonathan) but it looks like most people think it’s the first option (the boys/Jopper/Jancy in mostly separated plots). Maybe it’s bc English isn’t my first language, but it sounds a bit ambiguous.

I don't know if those will be the exact groups, but I think he was just trying to express the old groupings that we haven't seen in forever will be making a return.

Sure, the party is usually together a lot but if you really think about it, Dustin hasn't been paired with is friends for 2.5 seasons. I think that's the main thing there. The Dustin and Lucas duo hasn't been together much either.

For the teens, Nancy and Jonathan have been together quite a bit, but maybe now all the teens will form their won group for real. Just teens.

I think Joyce and Hopper are the only two that have been consistently paired up together for each season so eh.

That said, it's a pretty ambiguous statement. I don't think they'll be paired up like this for the ENTIRE season. When Will and El become the obvious targets, I doubt Joyce and Hopper (or Jonathan) will be leaving their side.

[icallhimjoey]

Never Over

♥ ♥  rockstar!Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Following “Only Now”, “Over Now” and “Then Again”, the story continues. You agreed to have coffee with Eddie, because Eddie needs to speak to you. Sure, he wrote that letter, but he needs to have an actual conversation. So you do, and then, afterwards, it sort of… all just, goes to shit.

CW / disclaimer: 18+, language, fem!reader, mentions of smut, angst, substance abuse, hard drugs, alcoholism, lots of being sick, addiction, codependency, withdrawal symptoms

Author’s note: So, I was really convinced that this story was over for me. That the three prior parts to this would remain a trilogy, and that, if I were to ever write for Eddie again, it would be something entirely different. But then I got a message from my girlie and, shit. Here we are.

Wordcount: 10.7K

(find all four parts of this story here)

The rumbling of the engine and the gentle rocking of the vehicle did a good job of slowly letting Eddie fall asleep. It quickly became too difficult to keep his heavy eyelids open still, but the wide grin on his face was there to stay.

It was late, and the day had been long, but Eddie was happy. So very happy. Everything was coated in a light layer of joy, satisfaction, contentment, fulfillment and love. Even grumpy band members with snarky comments coming from the other bunks didn’t spoil his mood.

They weren’t rose-tinted glasses that falsely made him think everything was perfect, because he knew they very much weren’t perfect. However, there was a beauty in being sure.

Eddie felt sure, and Eddie would tell everyone that he felt sure all the time.

You, on the other hand, were very consistently unsure. About everything. Constantly.

The entire week leading up to meeting Eddie for coffee after Nancy and Jonathan’s wedding you��d been unsure. Eddie wanted to talk. Had to get things off his chest. And you’d said, or, had written in your case, that you’d go to meet him. But you were so very unsure about the whole thing.

You were very hesitant. Completely in two minds. On unsteady footing. Wobbly legs. Constantly all up in your head, overtaken by thought and hesitation. Yes, you were going to meet Eddie for a coffee because, why not? But no, you really shouldn’t go to meet Eddie, should you? Especially not after regret found you fast after what you’d done. It was sort of waiting for you at the bottom of the stairs in the grand lobby, where you spotted it in a huge mirror and it kind of scared you.

The person staring back at you was someone who just cheated on her boyfriend. With Eddie. Who was still upstairs, in Nancy and Jonathan’s bridal suite. Asleep.

Regret.

It immediately made you want to sneak back upstairs and take that note that you’d left. You should have never fucking done that. Everything about it had been delicious, but, at what cost? Thank God you at least looked fine. You’d been on top for a reason; not a hair was out of place. No one was to suspect anything had happened.

“Hey,”

Except maybe Steve.

“Where’s Eddie?”

You looked at Steve in the large mirror as you smoothed out your dress, and you didn’t really know what to say. You didn’t want to lie to your friend, but you could hardly tell him the truth, could you?

“Where’s Matt?” 

You omitted Steve’s question with one of your own, as if knowing where Matt was at influenced the answer you’d give him. It would, actually, but that’s not what you wanted Steve to think.

Too late though.

Steve looked at you a second before answering, “Joyce has got him in a death grip, actually got him onto the dance floor– hey, are you okay? Did Eddie leave?”

“I’m fine,”  you smiled, turned to Steve and tried to let your smile reach your eyes. “We talked.”

You did talk. Well, Eddie talked. Eddie got to say a lot of things, needed to get things out that you only half-listened to.

“Long talk,” Steve raised his eyebrows and clicked his tongue. The judgment coming from him made you roll your eyes.

“Yea, well, there’s lots of things to talk about, isn’t there?”

You walked past Steve, ready to get back to the party, but Steve grabbed you by the arm before you could.

“You wanna be honest with me?”

“Steve,” you pleaded, not wanting to get into it. The ‘not now’ followed unspoken, silently. You were trying to do your best to keep all the bad feelings at bay. Everything was so fun a minute ago, you’d been so in control of everything. High on power. Where had all of it gone all of a sudden? You realised just then how fleeting all of it had been.

“Where’s Eddie?” Steve asked again.

“Upstairs.”

Steve’s expression fell and his grip loosened in surprise. You took your chance to escape him and power-walked as fast as your heels could carry you, back into the solarium. You saw Steve enter seconds after you did and were glad he hadn’t gone up to find Eddie but had instead decided to stay out of it.

Smart man.

Smart men minded their business.

But then you saw him walk over to Robin and nod his head before stepping outside with her following his tails. There was no way they weren’t going to talk about you. But, so what? They could talk. You made the conscious decision to not care, because your boyfriend, the very one who didn't dance, was on the dance floor, getting instructions from Jim Hopper as Joyce tried her best to get him to follow her lead. They had every onlooker in stitches.  

Then suddenly something panged in your chest and realisation dawned.

Matt was too good for you.

You didn’t deserve someone like him.

Fuck.

Look at that goofy goober. There wasn't a bad bone in that body.

You were going to have to tell him. Tell him everything. Oh no, and he fucking loved Eddie too. Loved Corroded Coffin. Matt was such a fan, and you had just... ruined all of it, hadn’t you?

Shit.

You saw Hopper applaud proudly, booming voice going, "You got it, kid!" when Matt got something right, and he laughed as Joyce encouraged him, praising him for even trying with her at all.

Yea. You were going to have to tell him.

Not today, though. But soon.

Your coffee meeting with Eddie hadn't gone like you had expected. You hadn't known what to expect at all, really, but you had never anticipated for Eddie to be quite so brutal. So toxic. In a way it helped, because it just proved to you that Eddie was still Eddie, no matter how honest and up front he was now.

He was just sober now. Had a bit more insight and knew how to use his words right.

Walking into the coffee shop, you saw that Eddie was in disguise, already sat at a table in the far back. He had his hood up and was wearing sunglasses indoors which inadvertently only pulled more attention towards him, but it was whatever. It's what celebrities did, and sometimes it genuinely helped, so Eddie wore the uniform of a rockstar that didn't want to be bothered. You got yourself a coffee and sat down opposite him.

You kept your coat on and gave a tight lipped smile as Eddie removed his sunglasses and reached across the table to grab onto your forearm for a moment in greeting as he smiled warmly. Eddie seemed a little nervous, but excited to see you.

You were distant. Cold. You needed to be, because for seven agonizing twenty-four hour days you'd thought of everything Eddie could say that held potential to reel you back in, and you weren't going to do that to yourself.

Eddie wanted to talk. So you were going to let him talk. Talk, listen and then leave. That was the plan.

And so, Eddie talked.

Eddie talked to you with a tilted head, apologetic scrunched up eyebrows and hands that reached to touch you every time he mentioned you. Eddie talked and forgot all about his coffee.

He spoke of childhood trauma that shaped him, his attachment issues, his inability to root anywhere properly and of finding solace in familiarity. How he looked for escapes, easy fixes to cure him from the outside in, and how awful he felt about everything he'd ever done to everyone to make them feel bad.

"Especially you."

You had a hard time looking him in the eye, studied your coffee instead.

"I know you don't owe me anything... not your time, not your friendship, not your love... you owe me nothing, but, please let me give. I want to give, you deserve everything that I never gave before, and I want to give it to you now."

You could tell Eddie went to therapy. These were beautifully crafted words for you, but you didn't want to let them in. Didn't want to let them touch you. Didn't want to let them come even slightly close.

"I'm glad you're better now," was the first thing from your lips. Besides small nods and tight smiles, you hadn't said anything yet.

"I really meant everything I wrote in the letter I sent,"

You nodded slowly, then took the last sip of your coffee and looked at your empty cup for moment. Eddie took your silence as an invitation to repeat the things he'd written. After listening to it for a few seconds, you cleared your throat and interrupted him.

"You don't have to–... I read your letter. I know what it said."

You sounded colder than you intended, and winced inwardly. But maybe it was good that you came off extra harsh, because you saw it take effect immediately.

Eddie's jaw tensed as he sat back in his chair a little. He looked at you a moment, then asked, "Have you told him?"

Matt.

"There's nothing to tell," you shrugged, and it made Eddie scoff. He looked around the room, as if to check if anyone else was hearing this. Nothing to tell? Come on. There was plenty to tell.

Eddie reached into his pocket and retrieved a note. Your note. The note you had left on the pillow that said you'd go have a coffee with him.

"This was cute," Eddie held it up between his index and middle finger, then flung it onto the table where it landed in between you.

You inhaled a sharp breath as you looked at your handwriting.

"So, um, thanks for this Eddie, good luck with–"

"Whoa... hey, you're not just leaving?" Eddie sat up in his seat.

"We've had coffee. You wanted to talk, and you talked."

"But... no, wait, that's not– we slept together a week ago,"

"Shut the fuck up," you panicked, hissing through your teeth as you ducked into your shoulders and looked around to check if anyone had heard him.

"Tell me," Eddie sat up, moved in closer, both elbows back on the table. "What do I need to do to make it right?"

You blinked at him, a little dumbfounded.

"You putting that on me?"

"No, I– I just... I'm just asking, is there anything you think I could do or say that will fix everything I've done?"

"That's a big ask, I don't think so,"

"There's gotta be," Eddie said, confident. "There is. I'm gonna figure it out." and he sat back, legs spread wide with a disgustingly smug look on his face.

There he was.

Therapy and sobriety could do a lot, but it couldn't erase the man that Eddie had become over the past few years.

"Okay, well... enjoy that. I'm gonna go, good luck with... I don't know, life, in general–"

And as you got up, Eddie suddenly shot a hand out towards you and grabbed you by the wrist. For a small moment, you saw 17-year-old Eddie stare at you pleadingly. He almost looked... scared.

"I can't, Eddie..."

You thought of what else to say. Something good, to make him feel better. Something sweet, to make him smile, maybe. But then all you managed to say was,

"I'm sorry."

And with that, you gathered your things, turned your back and walked out. The second you were out of Eddie's sight, you broke, face scrunching up as you let the tears flow freely.

You were going to have to tell Matt. Tonight. You had to.

But then you didn't, did you?

Because what were you going to tell him?

"Hey remember that celebrity that you really love? Yea... same."

You couldn't.

And so, you didn't.

Until a few days later, Eddie called whilst you were at work. A classic move. Eddie knew you wouldn't be able to pick up. Knew he'd catch your answering machine instead. He wanted to leave a message.

"I know I'm not supposed to be calling you, I know this is stupid and I'm crossing all sorts of lines and boundaries, and I'll probably make things worse, but, fuck... what else am I supposed to do? Pretend nothing ever happened? Pretend that I don't think of you every second of every single fucking day? I can't... I don't know how I'm supposed to... that's not– I don't even want that to be an option. I don't want to pretend that having sex with you,"

Eddie paused. Sighed.

"That wasn't just a casual fuck, that was– we used that bridal suite for what it was meant for, I don't care if you don't want to hear it. That was making love. Shit, I fucking love you, I need to... You gotta– what do I have to do, you gotta tell me. There's gotta be something. There's–"

The phone suddenly clicked.

"Hey," a male's voice answered Eddie.

"Is this um... is this Eddie Munson?"

Just over a week after you and Eddie had met for coffee, Steve was meant to meet Eddie ahead of a Corroded Coffin gig. Small venue, not far from where Eddie lived, and they were going to get Indian food. That was the plan. But then Eddie didn’t show, and Steve waited for thirty minutes before asked if he could make a call.

No one answered.

Worry shot over Steve, because Eddie had been good. Eddie had been really reliable these past few months. They didn’t meet up often, but when they did, Eddie would check and confirm their plans several times. Eddie made sure to not fuck up anymore, to be there for his friend, to make this right and prove to himself and to everyone else that he was doing better now. That he was sober and present and better.

But thinking of it now, Steve hadn’t heard from Eddie since they said they’d go for Indian food ahead of the gig Steve was going to attend. That was well over a week ago. He contemplated for a minute but then decided, fuck it, and left the restaurant. Something wasn’t right.

When he rang Eddie’s doorbell, he was buzzed in pretty quickly and it gave him a little hope. Maybe Eddie had just forgotten. Had gotten stuck in a song writing mood where he’d forget all about time and space and was just creative. In the flow. Spaced out, but in a good way. Steve crossed his fingers that Eddie was spaced out in the best way.

But stepping out of the elevator, he walked past a sketchy dude, the type of smug, criminal-looking guy Steve would usually steer clear off, who he saw had left the door open to Eddie’s luxury apartment.

Inside Steve found Eddie on his couch, expressionless, sort of dead-eyed. He didn’t even look up until Steve accidentally kicked a glass bottle that clattered loudly against the floor tiles, and even then it didn’t really seem like Eddie was fully in his body.

“No, no, no, no… Eddie, what the fuck,”

There were fresh coke lines on the table in front of Eddie and bottles just, everywhere. Some empty, some still somewhat full.

Fuck.

Eddie had relapsed, and he had relapsed hard.

The place looked ransacked, like Eddie had partied for a full week and hadn't let the cleaners in. There was just, shit, all over.

Eddie barely even heard Steve, but there was a shimmer of recognition in Eddie’s eyes when he saw him, followed by a disconnected smile.

“Harrington,”

Steve had never seen anyone like this. In this state. He knew Eddie had problems with alcohol – everyone knew of the alcoholism, it had been widely reported before. Just like everyone knew of his stint in rehab. And sure, Eddie used to deal a little in high school. They'd get high on bad quality weed together on Fridays sometimes, but Steve never thought that Eddie was the type of dude to snort actual lines of cocaine off tables. Especially not in his own home. Especially not by him fucking self, alone.

Shit, Eddie had been so good. He’d taken responsibility for the bad things and he’d been so good about everything.

“Forgot about dinner?”

Steve knew logically Eddie probably didn’t know what time it was, or even what day it was. He was about to miss another one of his own gigs, for fuck's sake. But the mention of food did something to Eddie.

Steve saw Eddie grow green in real time whilst he stayed overwhelmingly calm.

He’s about to hurl, Steve thought, suddenly panicked because Eddie’s place only had expensive furniture, the type of stuff Steve could never afford. And Eddie remaining so deeply calm only fucked with him more, because, why wasn’t Eddie rushing to a toilet?

Eddie leant forward slightly, only a little, and was just going to throw up right where he was sitting, so Steve darted around, found a sort of long vase stood in a corner and planted it right in between Eddie’s legs. Eddie immediately started filling it up, emptying his full stomach contents until Steve was sure the vein on Eddie’s forehead was going to pop and his throat had to be absolutely aching.

“This isn’t… fuck man, what are you doing? What happened?”

Eddie spit into the vase a few times, wiped a hand at his watery eyes, then at his mouth and sort of... babbled something. Steve could barely follow any of it, none of the noises sounded like actual words, until he caught your name. Eddie said your name and Steve thought Eddie was about to throw up again, but instead, Eddie looked at Steve and seemed a little more present. Sad and fucking hurt, but present.

“Ed… you can’t be–”

A heartshattering sob burst from Eddie's chest.

Eddie broke down and let himself fall onto his couch, curling up into a ball as he cried. Maybe it was the realisation of it all. Maybe it was Steve being there and Eddie being able to see the sheer fear in his friend's face. Or maybe it was just that it had been six consecutive days of this bullshit and he'd barely slept.

Steve looked around, sort of… defeated. Everything was a mess. The apartment had drugs and booze all over. Eddie was drunk, had coke crusted around his nose, was sweating, was crying and was sick. It was all fucked up. He had a gig in two hours. Steve needed to call people. Steve needed to get help. Steve needed to call someone, get help and...

He needed to get rid of all of the shit.

If Steve was going to help, he needed to start with getting all the substances out.

“Here, come on,” Steve took hold of Eddie’s arm and pulled him up. Helped him into the bathroom and sort of, propped him up next to the toilet with his back pressed against the tub. Then placed a glass of water next to him.

“Small sips,” he instructed, not even sure if that really was what was best.

Eddie's cries sounded worse in the bathroom, and Steve didn’t know what to do. Eddie’s voice echoed throughout the whole apartment now and sometimes, it was just wailing that turned into more vomiting, but then other times they were words, things like, sorry, I fucked up, I can't, I don't and your name.

Eddie kept crying your name and it made Steve aggressively wipe at his wet eyes all angrily as he collected bottles and other trash into garbage bags.

When was this shit going to fucking end?

When Steve called you, you let the call go to your answering machine.

You'd been crying and didn't need to talk to Steve right now. You knew Steve knew. Had heard from Matt, who had probably told him everything. Steve would say things like, I told you so. And, you brought this onto yourself. Shit you didn't want to hear. Truths you couldn't really face right now.

But when you heard Steve's voice on the tape, everything changed in an instant.

Steve's voice cracked, like he'd been crying and he sounded desperate. Panicked. Completely stressed out of his mind.

"I need you to come over, I'm sorry... I didn't want to call you, but you need to– I need you. Eddie's been... he's relapsed. It's bad. I don't know what– how I can–"

The phone clicked.

"Steve?"

You'd picked up , and Steve sighed a breath of relief. You were both sniffing down the line.

"I'm sorry," Steve said again.

"Where are you?"

"Eddie's apartment. It's... you need to know it's bad." Steve's voice didn't leave any room for questions. This was serious business. Steve would never call you over to Eddie's apartment if it wasn't absolutely desperately needed for you to be there.

"I'm on my way."

You'd never been to Eddie's apartment before, but you knew exactly where it was. Knew to steer clear of the area. Avoided it at all cost for a very long time, and found stupid excuses when Matt asked about it.

Steve buzzed you in and waited for you outside Eddie's front door. He needed to warn you extra before you were going to walk in, but stepping out of the elevator in a frenzy, you didn't let Steve stop you.

Just waltzed right in.

But the apartment was quiet, and it was just... messy. Kind of disgusting, actually.

You'd already been crying, emotions had been running high all day, so tears found you fast as you clasped a hand over your mouth. Steve caught up with you, said that he'd been cleaning for a little while already, but he didn't know what to do with the cocaine on the table, or the pills he found in the kitchen.

You sort of looked around in silence together for a moment.

This was insane.

You were scared Steve was going to say anything about Matt. About Matt finding out. About you and Eddie fucking in Nancy and Jonathan's bridal suite. But Steve said nothing of the sort.

"Corroded Coffin was meant to be on stage in an hour," with a broom in hand, Steve was a little relieved to now share the burden of all the horror he'd walked in on. He'd also called Eddie's manager. Said Eddie wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be able to make it. Everything told Steve that his manager knew. Understood. But nothing else was said, nothing about drinking, or drug use, and Steve thought that maybe they already knew, because Eddie also hadn't shown up for sound check.

"Where's Eddie?"

Before Steve could say anything, you heard someone cough and retch. Bathroom.

"Wait, stop," Steve tried, but it was to no avail.

You found Eddie, arms folded over the toilet seat, messy head of hair resting atop, heaving.

"My baby," you sighed upon the sight of him, voice cracked, immediately crying. My baby? Where the fuck did that come from? Somewhere deep within, you thought. It pained you on its way out, you could feel it pull up from the pit of your stomach.

Steve frowned at it. He hadn't called you over to let you fall back into old patterns.

Eddie heard you and dove down deeper into himself, moved away a little, but remained on the toilet seat still. Refused to look at you because you weren't meant to see him like this. Ever. Pathetic excuse of a person.

"Eddie?" your voice was soft, small and high-pitched as your throat constricted with emotion as you kneeled down next to him. Eddie turned away, and when you reached a hand to softly touch, not to startle, but to comfort, you felt Eddie was shaking.

Steve stood in the door of the bathroom and looked at his two friends. The two people who'd been his best friends for a long time. One hiding his face into his arms over a toilet bowl, the other now moving from her knees onto her butt to sit with him, resting her chin on the other side of the toilet seat, one hand touching his arm, thumb slowly rubbing dry skin, waiting for Eddie to acknowledge her presence. One of them pretending they weren't even there, the other desperate for a connection to be made. Both quietly crying; your lip quivering, Eddie's shoulders shaking.

If this moment wasn't encased in the most awful, absolutely horrid circumstances, in a bathroom that could really use a fucking clean, Steve would've thought it was almost sort of romantic.

But it was bullshit, is what it was.

Seeing the two of you together like this, something dawned on Steve. Something that he somehow had always known was now staring at him, right in his face.

This was just like when you were 18 and Eddie had been sick after a house party where he'd been laughed at, had been ridiculed by some jocks. You'd sat with him all night until you'd both fallen asleep in the bathroom where you'd left mascara streaks on the floor tiles.

Or like when you'd been in a fight with your dad and Steve and Eddie found you on the steps of Wayne and Eddie's trailer. You'd hidden in their bathroom all night with Eddie on the other side of the door, softly talking to you until Steve decided, this wasn't what he'd come over to Eddie's for, and had gone home.

Or like when Steve had thrown you a surprise birthday party when you turned 19, but Eddie hadn't been able to make it because of work, and you'd just sulked all night. Steve had put so much effort into the preparations, and then, all throughout the party, he had put effort into cheering you up.

It was always the same type of shit with the two of you. Always so much effort. And it was just, never ending. This was who you were. Three friends who just... had a lot of bullshit happening, all of the time. You and Eddie always with the drama, and Steve kind of always there to help. It was always the same story. This was never gonna be over.

"Eddie, what did you do?" you whispered, and your voice revealed a little fear, but it carried mostly care.

"He fucked up is what he did,"

"Steve," you scolded.

"Wha–... am I wrong?"

Steve's anger built. Completely inappropriate, you thought. This was a delicate situation. A situation you'd been completely kept out of before. All those times you hadn't answered Eddie's phone calls all those months ago. All those times Steve told you that, Eddie was going to be fine. He was going to be fine, at some point. Get the help he needed. Get over whatever the fuck he'd been doing. You'd protected yourself and you'd listened then. Trusted that Steve was right. Gained strength in yourself and didn't allow Eddie to be a part of your life.

You had felt guilty then too, but... never like this.

This was the type of guilt that made you pick up when Steve called. The type of guilt that made you not even question going over to Eddie's apartment. That made you want to fix things. Fix Eddie. Fix all of it.

Guilt was the main emotion of the day. The real star of the show.

"Well? Eddie?"

Steve stood in that doorway still, broom in one hand, the other on his hip. Brow furrowed. He looked like his mom and his dad simultaneously, which, you weren't going to mention. You had no death wish.

"You've been crying out for her for over an hour, so I got her for you. She's here. Now what?" Steve spat.

Frustration and fear accumulated into this anger cocktail that Steve was spewing out at Eddie. Inability and helplessness, the complete not-knowing-what-to-do of it all that really didn't help. And now Eddie hid away and pretended you weren't even there and it rubbed Steve wrong.

Steve threw the broom he was still holding which landed hard on the bathroom tiles, making you flinch, before he left the two of you alone. Went back to the kitchen. Started furiously clearing counter tops. Had to not see you for a second.

"Eddie," you whispered, hoping that maybe he'd look up at you this time. Look you in the eye. You recalled how just over a week ago you'd been so dismissive of him. Heartless. Tried your best to come across it, at least. When you still thought that if you let Eddie in, he'd come between you and Matt, not realizing that... Eddie had sort of always been in between you and Matt anyway.

Cold and heartless was not the version of you that Eddie needed right now. And it wasn't the version of you that you wanted to be for him.

Eddie made small noises. You thought maybe he was going to say something, but then you saw his whole torso tense up, making Eddie hunch his back as he threw up again. Your hands were fast to push back his hair, collecting it behind his head into a ponytail that you tied with a hair tie you found near the sink. It revealed his face to you. Bloodshot eyes. Pained expression. Wet from crying. Awful skin.

Jesus Christ, it had just been over a week.

Eddie looked dead if it wasn't for blotches of colour that heaving brought to his face.

Not much came out of him. It was mostly just bile, by now.

Eddie struggled through it, stomach muscles spasming, nose snotting, eyes streaming and you had curled yourself around him all the way, like a backpack, pressing a cheek against his shoulder blade. You held him like that for a while, not really knowing what to say, or what else you could do.

A sudden loud clang made you turn your head. You caught a glimpse of Steve walking away, a huge big stinking vase now placed behind you.

"Rinse that out," Steve called out.

Yes. Good. A task. You could help by rinsing out what was very clearly a vomit filled vase, but when you were about to get up, Eddie clasped a hand onto your forearm.

"Stay," Eddie trembled.

"I'm staying, not going anywhere,"

You squeezed Eddie, carefully, but tightly. He seemed to need it.

"Just gotta clean something. I'll do it in the bath, I'll be right behind you,"

Eddie breathed heavily, tried his best to control it, to relax his stomach and not let it spasm, and let go of you. Rinsing out the vase in the bath was disgusting, but looking at Eddie helplessly sat by the toilet still, you couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of wanting to take care of him.

Wasn't that what it had always been?

Eddie would come back to Hawkins to be taken care of. And you always took care of him without asking any questions. Loved it. Loved him. Just couldn't stand him leaving every time.

Vase clean and turned upside down to drip-dry on a towel, you turned back to Eddie, stepped closer to him and that's when Eddie reached back, took hold of your leg. Tugged your jeans, pulled you down, turned a little, found handfuls of your shirt and pulled and tugged until you were sat on the floor in front of him, legs curled around his hips and his around yours. Arms folded around his back, and his strongly around yours. Embracing each other, impossibly tight, clinging, like that would cure everything.

Eddie cried again, buried his head into your neck. He smelled really bad.

"You're such an asshole," you said, your own lips quivering again. You kind of meant it, but hoped it would bring a little comic relief too.

"I'm a fuck up," Eddie agreed.

"You're both bullshit," Steve suddenly deadpanned and it made the both of you turn your faces to look at him.

"I was thinking, I really shouldn't say anything, because who am I... you know? This isn't my business. But then, you made it my business." Steve rubbed his brow, frowning deeply, clearly annoyed.

"Steve, let's not–" you tried.

"No. Let's!"

Steve crouched down right in front of you, elbows on knees, eyebrows raised high and nostrils flared. This is what Steve did when he was angry and had things to say. He'd get real close before he'd scold. Would make sure that you really heard what he had to tell you.

"I don't care what the fuck is going on here right now, between the two of you, but I'm done with it. It's always the same type of shit with you, like I'm stuck in a loop and there's no way out! Fucking groundhog day!" Steve got back up, intimidatingly towering over you, both hands in his hair before he continued.

"I'm not gonna come 'round and listen to you bitch and moan about why Eddie left this time," Steve said as he gestured a hand at you. Then he turned to Eddie. "I'm not gonna tell you–" Steve suddenly closed his eyes, breath shaking, trying real hard to keep it together. "You can't even fucking look at me straight, dude,"

Eddie was still drunk.

"I'm not gonna do it anymore. You can figure shit out for yourselves. I'm done." Steve turned, was about to walk out, but you stopped him. Said, "Steve, he relapsed," like that magically excused everything. But Steve stopped in the doorway, turned his head a little and said, "Yea, but so did you. Eddie with alcohol and whatever his dealers will sell him. You, with him."

Steve walked away. You thought maybe he'd just go into the kitchen again, but when you heard the front door slam shut, you knew he'd been serious.

You looked at Eddie.

Steve was right. Eddie had no control over what his eyes were doing.

"Let's get you clean. Then, bed."

Eddie obliged. Happy someone took the lead for him. Happy you took the lead for him.

But Eddie wasn't so happy the next morning, when he woke up at 4AM, sheets drenched in sweat. He was fucking freezing. You hadn't been able to sleep much and had set up camp in a comfortable chair that you'd moved to sit closer to the foot of Eddie's bed, where it was easier to watch TV. Volume all the way down.

"You should leave," Eddie croaked when he saw you.

"You should sleep more,"

"Slept plenty," Eddie tried sitting up, but was quickly fought back into the mattress by his own nausea. The pain in his head, in his stomach... he knew just the fix for it.

"If you think you're going to be able to find anything, I threw all of it out. Vacuumed up whatever you had lying around, washed everything else down the drain." You said it a little shaky, unsure of how Eddie was going to react.

Eddie thought for a second. He could definitely stick his nose into a dusty dirty vacuum, didn't feel like he was particularly above that type of behavior.

"There's nothing here, so go back to sleep," you were trying to fight off sleep yourself. Wanted to be awake in case Eddie would... in case something would happen.

Three days passed where you didn't leave the apartment. Three scary days and four scarier nights of caring for Eddie, never knowing if what you were doing was right, but doing them anyway.

You cleaned, finished Steve's job and made the place look tidy. Mess free. Aired it out, let Eddie complain about the cold that you skillfully ignored as you worked. You'd thrown all of it out. All the booze, the pills, the coke, the one discarded dirty syringe you found that you really hoped somebody else had used - you'd gotten rid of everything.

You asked Eddie if he wanted water, tea or a nap every time you caught him awake. And every time he'd sort of, frown at you. Didn't need your soft care, just needed a bit of... anything to take the edge of, but then, he always took you up on it. Always had a sip of water, maybe a little bit of tea and then would lay back down, always tried to go back to sleep.

Eddie slept a lot, but pain would wake him at odd hours. Always covered in sweat. Always shaking. Sometimes you'd worry he'd be sick again, but he'd growl he was just hurting.

Anger seeped out through his skin, and you knew it was never aimed at you, but you'd secretly cry once Eddie would drift off again.

On the second night you'd stayed over, you'd woken up on Eddie's couch around 1AM, went to check on him, and found Eddie drinking his mouthwash in the bathroom.

"Eddie?"

"Oh, shit, fuck–" Eddie scrambled to close the bottle, to hide it from you.

"What are you..." you took a small step back, scared of what you were witnessing.

"Don't leave," Eddie said, voice already cracking, afraid that you'd actually walk out now.

You took another small step back which urged Eddie to launch himself at you, arms encasing your strongly, Eddie's damp body pressed harshly against yours in an uncomfortable hug. One you didn't participate in.

"I'll get you a change of clothes," was all you managed to say when you felt how clammy he was.

Eddie sobbed and muttered things about how pathetic he was as you helped him freshen up. You sat him down in a chair as you changed his sheets. He had to stay close, couldn't really be trusted to be left alone, not even in his own apartment, apparently.

"Go back to sleep," you said when you'd finished, and you wanted Eddie to lay back down in bed so that you could sit in that chair he was sat in now, and watch him. Hold guard. But Eddie sort of looked up at you, and you thought he was going to say something. Something sweet, maybe. Something important. But then you both heard his stomach churn, and Eddie had to make a run for it.

He threw up the mouthwash, bright blue vomit clattered into the bath. Eddie seethed with anger, told you to leave him alone. "Don't want you to see me like this," he cried, and he promised he wouldn't touch the rest of the mouthwash, but yelled at you as you washed it down the drain with shaking hands.

Eddie cried. Vomited until it was all bile again, and you urged him to eat.

"Eddie, what if you die?"

"I won't fucking die,"

"You drank mouthwash!"

Eddie retched more, unable to stop it and unable to quite believe people could feel pain like this.

"You wanna go back to rehab?"

Eddie looked at you as if to say, is that a threat? You looked at him, and your expression read that it was a threat. Eddie didn't want to go back to rehab. Really, really didn't. Couldn't have you near him, but absolutely couldn't have you far. He reached for you, scared fingers dug into your skin, and you held him whilst he held on.

On the third day, you'd gotten Eddie to have a little soup and a few bites of an apple slice. Quite a bit of water, too, and Eddie seemed calmer then. Seemed to finally have snapped out of his mood.

You sat up on top of the covers in bed with him, and put on Pretty Woman.

"I'm not watching that big mouthed wench," Eddie had objected. Didn't want to watch romantic comedies with you. Happy people with happy faces and huge fucking smiles.

But you pretended you hadn't heard him, kept the movie playing until you were both sat against Eddie's headboard leant into each other, Eddie's head resting upon your shoulder and your cheek pressed into his hair.

This was nice, you thought. Almost like old times, a little.

Eddie would cramp up in waves. He'd be fine for a while, lucid, and present, and then suddenly, he'd be writhing. You always had a bucket ready, and helped him through it. Eased him back into his pillows, and would climb back into bed next to him. Always over the covers.

It was awful, but this was the process, you thought. It was complete misery, all kind of gross and disgusting, and Eddie was mortified but grew clingy. Needed you there. And so you were, but always over the covers.

That was, until Eddie, when the movie was nearly finished, groaned a little. His face was blotchy, eyes all red rimmed and his hair a tangled mess. You forgot what Eddie looked like without his bangs stuck to his forehead. He always seemed to be wet.

"You all right? What do you need? Water? I can make you more soup,"

"No, I'm just... cold,"

Eddie let his teeth chatter, and you looked around the room for a second.

"Eddie, it's fucking boiling in here,"

"Can you turn the heating on?"

The heating was on.

You took a good look at him. He didn't look as grey as he had a few days ago, but he still looked miserable. Sick like you'd never seen sickness before.

"I'll run you a hot bath,"

You helped Eddie ease into the water and sat on the ledge behind him, Eddie between your legs, so you could wash his hair. Eddie always loved it when you washed his hair, would really melt under your touch as you massaged soapy suds into his curls. But, his hair was one bit bird's nest, and so now, it was an agonizing job that needed doing. You were as gentle as you could be, but Eddie would wince as you worked to detangle the matted mess in the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, baby,"

"Why does everything hurt so much?" Eddie let his arms wrap around your calves and broke your heart as he silently cried.

Eddie let you wash him until he was all clean and then let you braid his hair after. His hands hadn't left your body since you'd helped him into the bath, and you hoped that it meant that he was over the hump. That this was a turning point, and everything was going to get better now.

That night, you'd slept with Eddie under the covers. You big spooned him. Held him tight. Whispered that everything was going to be fine, and the fact that Eddie didn't seem to be so sweaty confirmed that you were probably right.

It was all going to be fine.

At some point, Eddie turned and tried to kiss you. He pressed his lips onto yours, and for a second, you sort of let it happen. Let your mouths brush together. But it didn't feel right. Eddie was vulnerable, and you were exhausted, and it all felt wrong. So you stopped it. Broke the kiss. Moved your head away a little.

"Let me love you," Eddie whispered. "Let me love you like you always love me,"

"Later, Eddie. You're unwell,"

"I'd be yours, if you'd be mine," Eddie's voice cracked.

Beautiful words that made your chest swell. But these weren't things to dive into now.

"Later, baby. These are things for later."

You didn't reject Eddie, but to Eddie, it felt a little like a rejection, and he buried his face into your neck. Hid in there and kept it there, all snuggled up, until you both fell asleep.

The next morning you stirred awake at 8AM which really felt like sleeping in at that point. Eddie was bone dry. No sweat. No tears. You even detected a little colour in his cheeks.

It was time. Eddie had eaten, had managed to keep it all inside and so, it was time.

You'd done enough.

Home.

You slipped out, wearing one of Eddie's T-shirts still, and didn't leave a note. No dumb, stupid note. None of this was cute, or funny, or in any need of a sad little note that Eddie could keep and then throw at you later. Or, like you'd done, could keep in an old shoe box with other stupid things that you couldn't just get rid of.

You just left. Went home. Sort of trusted that you'd see Eddie later. Maybe. If he really had changed, was willing to at least try to change, like he'd said.

"I'd be yours, if you'd be mine."

You wanted it to be true so badly, but his actions were going to have to speak louder than his words.

You forgot what would be awaiting you at your apartment until you actually stepped inside and were greeted by your own mess. Drawers pulled open, half your clothes on the floor, big empty spaces left where Matt's things used to be. Slapped down and broken picture frames - completely your doing, not Matt's, but glass had shattered and you'd just... left it. You had even ran a bath for yourself, and then had let the soapy water sit and grow cold, because you didn't really deserve a bath, did you?

You remembered how you'd found Eddie's voicemail message two days after he had left it, listened to it with Matt in the room, and listened to it until you heard Matt pick up the phone. The tape had caught his voice, but then it cut off. Matt knew now, but Matt was just as non-confrontational as you were, and had known for two whole days. Hadn't said a word. But the truth had now been spoken into existence with the both of you looking at each other, and there was no way either of you could pretend still. Could pretend to not have heard it. Could deny any of it.

"What else did he tell you?"

It was the worst question to ask Matt, because it revealed there was more to your and Eddie's story than you'd ever told him.

"Enough," was all Matt said, never elaborated.

So, that was it then.

You'd sat on your couch, sort of dazed, stared into space, not even able to really cry even though this was a situation that deserved tears. Then Matt slowly started packing up all his things around you. Matt had stuff all over, hadn't technically moved in with you, but really only ever spent one, maybe two nights a week at his own place. Matt didn't move around with anger, but left the place messy, dropped your things on the floor without caring to pick up after himself. Good, you thought. Stand your ground, Matt. I deserve shittier treatment.

Just before Matt had walked out, he'd said, "If it had to be someone, it's pretty cool that it was Eddie Munson."

It was just like you'd fucking said all along: Matt was too good for you. You didn't deserve someone like Matt.

Self-hatred, absolute vile loathing of every single aspect that build your person, completely consumed you. Regret. Shame. So much guilt. You felt like you needed to hurt yourself because Matt hadn't hurt you enough. He hadn't yelled, hadn't shouted, hadn't said mean things. You only started crying once Matt was gone, and that alone added to all you had to be embarrassed about.

And then Steve called and offered you the greatest distraction of all. Eddie needed taking care of. And Steve was going to let you.

Back in your home now, it all came flooding back, and you sort of fell into the same state you'd been in then. Slumped back on your couch. Crying. Drowning in a weird version of self pity, sort of overwhelmed with how shit it all was. Steve mad. Eddie a mess. Matt gone. You empty. Alone.

You just sat like that. Stared into space, tears running all the way down your neck into the collar of one of Eddie's T-shirts you were still wearing.

Then, your doorbell rang.

You looked at your buzzer a minute, not really moving.

It rang a few more times, until it stopped.

A little bit later, footsteps followed on the stairs, and then, a knock on your door. A muffled mention of your name.

"Eddie?"

You got up, opened the door and found him there.

"I rang different doorbells until someone let me in," Eddie explained, but you didn't really react to that.

Eddie was here.

Actions were going to have to speak louder than words.

He was here.

Eddie looked over your shoulder, behind you, eyes scanning your pigsty of an apartment.

"Oh, shit," he commented, looked at your tear-stained face that was still staring up at him, gaze empty, because that's how you felt. All empty.

"Okay. Come on, your turn. Go sit down." Eddie took you by the shoulders and guided you back to you couch where you let yourself fall back on your spot.

"Tea?" Eddie asked, and then answered for himself, "Tea."

Eddie made you tea. Then started tidying. Cleaning. Just started putting everything in places where he thought they belonged. Did things wrong, but you didn't correct. He took broken picture frames, threw out shards of glass and tucked the photographs into a drawer. Ran a laundry after. Emptied the bath and rinsed and scrubbed the soap rim the water had left behind. Dishes next.

Eddie was sweating, more than was normal, and you knew he was struggling still. Probably felt sick to his stomach. But he was here, and for the first time in for fucking ever, you felt your battery charge with Eddie there. Eddie was charging your battery instead of draining it. Weird, but this was it. The thing. Eddie said there had to be something he could to do fix it. This was it. Eddie was fixing it.

Eddie saw you had three messages waiting on your answering machine, then told you, "Hey, you've got three messages waiting on your answering machine. Want me to play them for you?"

You nodded.

They were all from Steve.

"Hey, are you still not back home?" followed by a heavy, frustrated sigh, "You're going to end up killing each other, you know that right?", then a silence, followed by a loud beep.

Second message.

"I hope you're not answering because you're at work, and not still wiping vomit of Eddie's chin..." a beat, then, "You're like the wrong sides of two magnets who try to keep pushing themselves together. It's not gonna work!" another loud beep.

Third message.

"If you're not answering because you don't want to talk to me, I get it... I shouldn't have called you over to Eddie's place, I didn't know what I expected to happen, but... I spoke to Matt, just that afternoon, and he... sort of explained what happened, and, seeing you and Eddie be all cutesy– it made me mad for him. Matt's a good dude, you know he didn't deserve that... but guess what he said? He was like, this is going to be the best story ever – Eddie Munson stole my girlfriend. Can you believe that?" Steve fell silent for a second, then said, "Sorry I yelled at you. Please call me back when you get this... I'll call again tomorrow if you don't."

Loud beep.

No more messages.

Eddie just looked at you, tried to gather your reaction, but you were giving him nothing.

"You OK?"

With your eyes trained on your coffee table, you gave your head a tiny shake no.

"You wanna nap? Lay down for a little bit?"

They were words you'd said to Eddie many times over the past three days. Instead of answering him, you slumped sideways, rolled yourself up in a little ball, knees against your chest. Eddie immediately stepped closer, took a throw blanket and tucked you in.

"Can I lay with you?"

Eddie hovered, but you didn't answer. Couldn't answer, your throat had closed up with all these negative emotions, all of them aimed at yourself. You didn't deserve softness right now. So then, Eddie didn't lay with you, but instead sat down in a chair. He could just sit there while you slept. Not touching, but, he was close. That was all he wanted, anyway. To be close.

You woke up when your phone rang.

Eddie was quick, tiptoed to the phone as fast as he could and hoped it hadn't woken you up.

"Hello?" he answered, voice hushed.

There was a silence on the other end of the line, and then, "Munson?"

"Harrington," Eddie smiled a little smug smile, happy he caught Steve on the phone.

"Yea?" Steve asked, and Eddie knew what he meant. "You're actually doing this?" Steve challenged.

"I think we might be... well, I am, anyway. We'll see if she'll let me."

Steve laughed, but it was humorless. It said, yea, we'll see about that dipshit. Eddie understood. Therapy had made him understand that everything was going to need proof. He'd ruined trust with everyone. This was nothing new, especially not now that he'd relapsed.

"I swear to God, Eddie. I'm not-"

"I know. I heard you the first time."

Steve scoffed.

"You seemed pretty out of it then,"

"I was," Eddie confirmed. "But you were very clear,"

"No fucking it up, Eddie,"

"I won't."

"Remember? Be mindful."

Oh, Eddie remembered.

"Hey Steve?" Eddie swallowed, knew his words weren't enough, but needed to say them anyway. "I wanted to say I'm sorry, and, um... thank you... you didn't have to, you know... just, thanks."

"You're good. Is she there?"

Eddie turned around and saw you were awake.

"Just woke up, hang on - it's Steve, you good to talk to Steve?"

You held a hand out as you sat up, knowing the cord could easily make it to your couch, and Eddie passed you the handset as he sat back down in his chair.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing out of your mouth, voice all strained.

Steve was silent for a second. He couldn't just accept that and move on.

"You were right. I'm total bullshit," you admitted.

"Hey," Eddie frowned.

"Sorry, we're total bullshit,"

That wasn't what Eddie meant, but that did make him smile. You heard Steve sigh.

"You're not bullshit. I actually think, and this is going to sound fucking wild coming from me, but I talked about it with Robin and she agrees... I think you actually might just be perfect for each other,"

Eddie was close enough to hear Steve on the other end, and he placed a hand on your knee. Let you know he agreed, too. He really fully fucking agreed.

"Stop, you're going to make me cry," you joked, but actually meant it.

"You gonna let Eddie comfort you this time?" You could hear Steve's smile in his voice, could picture it perfectly and copied it.

"I think I might, he's doing a fairly okay job right now," you looked at Eddie. "You've done plenty, Steve,"

Passage of the token. Eddie squeezed your knee.

"I love you, but..." Steve searched his mind for the right words. "But, you're just... a lot, the both of you,"

That made you laugh. He was fucking right.

"Could you still handle, like... 50 per cent of me?"

Eddie leant over, whispered, "Ask him if he can do 40, I'll easily do 60,"

"40?" you asked Steve, and Steve laughed.

"30 and it's a deal,"

Eddie heard, loudly said, "I'm not watching romantic comedies with her, dude!"

"All right, all right. 40."

You laughed and loved how it felt to laugh together, all three of you. You couldn't remember the last time the three of you laughed together like this.

"Love you Steve,"

"I love you too. Hey, is it weird if I come over? We could do a late lunch, maybe?"

Eddie took the phone from you, said, "Yea, no, that's gonna be weird,"

"What? Why?" Steve was confused, but it only lasted a second. "Oh gross, you're going to be open about fucking now, aren't you?"

"Bye Harrington,"

Eddie didn't even properly hang up the phone, but had simply dropped it to the floor instead before moving over to kiss you.

He then fucked you right there on your couch.

Afterwards you'd looked around, had said, "We're even now," and Eddie had burst out laughing. "Oh no, sweetheart, we're far from even. Are you forgetting who caused you all this trouble?" Eddie said, and when you just looked at him. He then pointed a fat finger at himself.

"Yea, but, did you not reach for a bottle after what I said to you?"

You'd placed blame for his relapse fully with yourself, and Eddie gasped, couldn't believe you were actually being serious and hugged you close.

"Baby, I'm not the way I am because of you. It's because of all the..." Eddie waved a wild arm around.

You understood.

"Foundations for this shit show were laid long before I'd ever even met you," Eddie kissed into your hair. "Don't you ever say anything like that to me again. We're not even. I've got a lot more work to do, trust me."

And so you did. Decided you were going to trust him.

Eddie got more help. More therapy. More AA meetings. More keeping busy with other hobbies, like cooking. And baking. He made sure he'd see you every day, would never stray too far, even though you literally lived above and worked in a bar... this was never going to be easy. But Eddie had you, and he promised he'd take care of you and of himself.

You found a way to be together, and then, seemed to never not be together. Joined at the hip again, but without Steve this time 'round.

Steve came over all the time, though. Visited at least once a week. For lunch, or for dinner. To watch romantic comedies with you, and Eddie would join, just because actually, if he didn't focus on her mouth too much, Julia Roberts wasn't that terrible of an actress.

The band had taken a short break, and Eddie had decided they should be open with the public about why. Said it would actually help a lot if people knew about how difficult addiction could be. Would make it less of an awkward conversation whenever he had to explain to people he was actively practicing sobriety.

And Eddie did good. Got real good at all of it again. Had good days, and then good weeks. He felt more and more himself, and Wayne recognized it too. He kind of had his nephew back, said he'd missed him a lot and hadn't known if he'd ever really would get to see him again which had made Eddie cry.

Eddie was doing good, and Eddie knew a large chunk of it was because he had you now.

But then, after a few months of doing good, touring was back on the table, and Eddie immediately grew nervous.

Loneliness was Eddie's biggest trigger, and it wasn't being alone that was an issue, because on tour, you were never really one hundred per cent alone. There were always people all over. Everywhere. All the time. The real issue was the feeling of being alone, especially when surrounded by so many. Eddie's cure for this dull ache of loneliness had always been a lil' drinky drink. Just, a little sippity sip, a tiny little drop. Just one drink, you know, to take the edge of.

Eddie knew this about himself, and so, he was nervous. Scared. Sort of, riddled with anxiety.

You'd suggested some form of training. "We can sleep apart from each other for two consecutive nights, only call each other when we can find the time, just to try it out? See what that does? And then if that goes well, do three or four nights next..."

At 3AM on that first night, Eddie had snuck his way into your apartment and into your bed. Hugged you real tight, like he'd been gone for months.

"That was only a few hours," you'd croaked after checking the time.

"Few hours too many," Eddie'd whispered.

"How are you ever going to do this?" you were more awake then, wanted to have a talk. Face this head on.

"I don't know. I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't cling to you so much," Eddie said, worried you'd judge.

"That's all right," you were quick to make sure he didn't feel any judgment. "I quite like being clung to,"

"I promise I'll get better at this,"

"It's going to take time," you warned, knowing tour started just over a month from then.

"Someday, I'll be better." Eddie snuggled closer, eyes closed, tired.

Someday didn't come fast enough, just like you'd predicted, and so, with some creative paperwork and serious conversations with your landlord, your boss, Eddie's management and the band, arrangements had been made.

Eddie needed you there. And you had your own thing, your own personal problems, serious issues, with Eddie leaving. So, it really worked out for the best for the both of you. The solution to both of your problems was one and the same. You were going to go on tour with them.

"Did I not tell you that you're perfect for each other?" Steve had said with a goofy smile when you told him.

You became part of the Corroded Coffin entourage, not with any other specific job than just... being there. It took a some adjusting, because Eddie was different when he was Eddie Munson of Corroded Coffin. There were certain expectations, and Eddie felt like people wanted him to fall into his rockstar patterns, do the things he always did when out on the road. Go to parties, bring parties back to hotel rooms, invite who ever seemed like a fun time onto the bus, drink a lot. You had no idea how Eddie would've even done this if you hadn't been there and, you'd never tell Eddie this, but you were convinced that he probably would've killed himself.

You slept on the tourbus together, had tried to squeeze into one bunk together, but that was only really doable for naps. There wasn't enough room to even roll over without shifting and scooting your whole body when you laid in a bunk alone, by yourself, so doubling up was never comfortable for long. Not for the long stretch of rest Eddie needed after shows. That's when you'd sleep on bunks opposite each other. You would remind each other how many more nights until you'd share a hotel bed again, and then let the rumbling of the engine and the gentle rocking of the bus lull you to sleep. You'd close the curtains to your bunks enough, but never all the way, always leaving a gap so you could see each other.

And sometimes, even the small distance between your bunks was too much distance, and Eddie would reach out a hand from underneath his curtain. You'd grab it and then you'd fall asleep holding hands that dangled in the middle of the walkway.

Everyone else hated it.

"This is worse than when they'd sleep on top of each other in one bunk those first few days,"

"Close your eyes and go to sleep, man. You don't have to look at it,"

Salty comments would come from bunks beneath you, and from behind your curtains, you'd smile sleepy smiles at each other.

Happy.

Eddie was so happy. So sure that this was it now.

Not perfect. Far from perfect actually. There were going to be hard days to struggle through, difficult moments he wouldn't know how to deal with.

But he knew you were going to be there. Was so very sure you'd be there. And he'd be there too.

Eddie was happy.

Had his past with you.

Cherished his present with you.

Felt sure about his future with you.

And that was all he'd ever really need. You.

the end

---

The Taglisted: 

@ghostinthebackofyourhead @dirtyeddietini @jasminearondottir @josephquinned @cancankiki @sidthedollface2 @dylanmunson @munsonsgirl71 @alana4610 @emmamooney @sadbitchfangirl @thatonefan-girl @paola-carter @eddiemunsonfuxks @figmentofquinn @haylaansmi @thewondernanazombie

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(taglist currently full, sorry)

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

Until The End

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Female Byers!Reader

Genre: follows show plot lines, but will diverge from canon at times.

WC: 16.2K

Warnings: curssing, my writing not making sense at times, that should be it (let me know if theres something i missed)

Summary: The end is here. Will they win the fight against the ferocious monster? Will they find the lost boy? Will Steve Harrington stop being a dick? We shall find out.

A/N: I’ve somehow managed to finish all of season1 within like two weeks or something, i’m shocked i’ve been able to write all these installments back to back. I would like to also let you know that i start my new job, so my writing is definitely going to be less consistant when uploading. I’m gonna try and make sure I continue writing, i’m just a little worried about burn out, but we’ll worry later.

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You heard some commotion and then a hand shaking your shoulder. You slowly opened your eyes and saw Hopper standing before you. Your neck was aching and your butt felt numb, your whole body felt stiff as a board. You sat up, arching your back and throwing your arms out to try and loosen up the muscles.

“Is mom here?”

“Yea she’s with Jonathan and Nancy.”

You nodded your head to Hopper and stood up to walk over to the desk. Joyce was looking frazzled, but at least she looked more rested and put together. She was talking to Jonathan and then she saw the cuff on his wrists.

“Why is he handcuffed?”

“Because he assaulted a police officer ma’am,” Officer Callahan spoke up beside you.

Joyce looked to Hopper who was still standing near you, “Hopper do something!”

Hopper sighed then looked at Callahan.

“Can you take the cuffs off?”

“No can do Chief.”

“And why is that?” Hopper was starting to get annoyed because his order wasn’t being followed.

“Well, you should see what he had in the trunk first.”

“What?”

‘Oh crap’

Hopper, Powell, and Callahan all left the four of you in the bullpen to check the trunk. Joyce turned to you when they left and pulled you into an embrace. She smelled strongly of cigarettes and it made you crinkle your nose, but you didn’t pull back from her hug. Her arms wrapped around your shoulders and one of her hands went to your head, holding you in your place with your face squishing into the crook of her neck. Your arms wrapped snugly around her waist and you squeezed her.

She pulled back and held your face between her hands. You loosened your arms and they held her waist gently.

“How you doing honey?”

You gave a quick chuckle and just shrugged your shoulders.

“Holding up, you?”

Joyce gave a tiny smile and shrugged her shoulders as well.

“Holding up.”

The sound of the front door opening along with footsteps pulled the both of you out of your moment and saw Hopper coming back with the box filled with everything. He placed the box down and Joyce moved to look through the contents. Her brows were furrowed and her lips pursed. Jonathan was looking between Hopper and Joyce while Nancy kept quiet and just looked at the box.

“What is all this?”

“Why don’t you ask your son? We found it in his car.”

Hopper spoke to Joyce while looking at Jonathan. Callahan and Powell just stood behind and watched. Joyce turned to Jonathan with a shocked face.

“What?”

“Why are you going through my car?” Jonathan questioned.

Hopper leaned forward, his hands flat on the desktop and closing in towards Jonathan’s face, “Is that really the question you should be asking right now?”

He then leaned away turning his body then turned back looking at your little group. He looked at Jonathan then Nancy and finally you.

“All of you, my office, now.”

“You won’t believe us,” you piped up from the back.

Hopper leaned back in, looking at you, and softly said, “why don’t you give me a try?”

And then he walked away leaving all of you behind, Jonathan turned his head to you and the both of you just made eye contact. Callahan came over and finally unlocked the cuffs. Jonathan rubbed the sore rings circling his wrist from the friction. He and Nancy slowly rose from their seats and made for Hopper’s office, you and Joyce followed with her behind you and a gentle hand on your back.

…

The five of you now sat in Hopper’s office.

You, Jonathan, and Nancy sat on the seats by the wall. Joyce was in the seat by the desk, and Hopper was half sitting on the front of his desk. Jonathan pulled out the photograph he showed you at the funeral and handed it to Joyce. She took the picture and gasped at the image. Her eyes were darting to every inch of the paper, a slight shake now present in her body. She then handed the picture off to Hopper who took it.

You just watched this interaction in complete silence. Saw the way Hopper looked at the picture then to Joyce, then to Jonathan, and back to the picture. Jonathan was biting his nails, Nancy was just hunched over a bit, and you were bouncing your right leg up and down. You were waiting for someone to say something. Finally, Hopper looked up at the three of you.

“You say blood draws this thing?”

Jonathan and Nancy looked to each for a moment then Jonathan said, “we don’t know.”

“It’s just a theory,” Nancy spoke up.

Hopper looked back at the picture. Joyce gave a slight shake of her head. She stood up from her seat, tapped Jonathan on his knee and pointed to the door. She walked away and he looked to you then followed her out the door. With a quiet click of the door, it was now just you, Nancy, and Hopper. You looked at Nancy and she had a worried expression spread across her face, you wanted to comfort her, but after earlier, you think better of it.

You look at Hopper and see he was already looking at you. You shrunk a little into the cushions to make yourself smaller. His gaze was very intimating, even if it wasn’t meant to be. He was still holding the picture in his grasp, though it was held very loose now. He cleared his throat.

“So your mom tells me you saw Will?”

You gave a small nod, “yea in-in the wall.”

Honestly, if you keep saying it like that someone is for sure going to throw you into a loony house soon. You don’t know what Hopper knows, but he seems to be more open-minded about this whole situation. The last time you saw him was at the morgue looking at a fake Will. Something between that time and now must have convinced him something wasn’t right.

It went back to silence in the office. With you being the closest to the door you could just barely make out what Joyce and Jonathan were talking about, but it was muffled by the walls. But then you heard someone yelling. It didn’t sound like Joyce or Jonathan, so someone else came into the station yelling about something. Hopper must have heard it too because he got up from his desk and threw the door open leaving.

You stood up from your seat and walked to Joyce and Jonathan outside the door. The three of you could hear the commotion happening in the bullpen. Some lady was yelling at an officer, sounded like Callahan. Then you heard Hopper’s booming voice yell out, “what the hell is going on!”

Then the conversation was a bit quieter, barely able to make out a full sentence. You walked a bit closer to the corner and peeked around to look for the scene. You saw Hopper, Callahan, and Powell standing with an older well-dressed woman and her son. It looked like his right arm was broken, he had a sling over his shoulder. 

You heard Powell say, “there was a fight chief.”

The older woman yelled at that, “a psychotic child broke his arm!”

Callahan was speaking again and the lady apparently didn’t like the tone he was giving. Hopper looked stressed at this whole interaction.

“Will you please take a statement,” Hopper spoke out.

He then made a hand gesture probably signaling to get her out. He then started to walk back in the direction of his office when he heard something the lady’s kid said that made him stop in his tracks.

“She had no hair and she was bleeding from her nose.”

Hopper then turned back around and walked back over to them. He began to question the kid about her appearance and then the kid said the child could do things.

“Like make you fly, or piss yourself.”

That got a snort from you, even Powell seemed shocked at the comment.

Hopper held a hand up and asked if she was alone, the kid said ‘those losers’. That got your interest.

“What ‘losers’?” Hopper asked.

The boy scoffed, “Henderson and Wheeler.”

Your eyes widened, ‘What the hell was going on!’

…

“We got to go.”

Hopper rushed back over to his office to grab his coat and keys. Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy looked confused, but you heard their conversation. Dustin and Mike got mixed up in something that Hopper knew about. You all rushed out and ran over to Jonathan’s car. Hopper at the wheel with Joyce riding passenger, and the three of you in the back.

Hopper drove to the Wheeler residence with urgency. When he pulled up a few houses away he got out and pulled some binoculars up to his eyes. You were squished in the middle so you couldn’t get out of the car, but you could just barely make out a bunch of cars and people. Nancy got out and looked at her invaded home.

“I have to go home.”

“No, you can’t,” Hopper said with the binoculars still up to his eyes.

Nancy didn’t like that answer, “my mom…my dad are there.”

“They’re gonna be okay.” Nancy started to walk away back to her house, Hopper followed just behind and grabbed her upper arm.

“Let go. Let go!”

“Hey!...”

You couldn’t hear the rest of their conversation, but you watched them. Hopper pointed to the sky and you saw a helicopter. They were still looking for them. He then started to pull her back to the car and pushed her to the backseat. Joyce and Jonathan got back in their seats as well. All of you in Jonathan’s car just sitting, waiting for the next move. Hopper looked at Nancy in the backseat.

“Look, we need to find them before they do. Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”

Nancy looked frazzled, “no, I don’t.”

“I need you to think,” Hopper said sternly.

“I don’t know. We haven’t talked a lot. I mean, lately…” she sighed and slid down the seat.

“Is there any place your parents don’t know about that he might go?” Joyce asked with urgency.

“I don’t know.”

An idea came to mind, “I might.”

Everyone looked at you.

“Well not exactly where they are, but I know how they communicate. We need Will’s walkie.” 

Hopper rushed to the house and when you arrived everyone filed out. You lead the way to Will’s room with everyone following behind. You opened his door and started to look everywhere possible. He never kept it in one place, always throwing it around when he was done. Joyce checked under the bed and found it. You took it from her quickly and checked to make sure it was on the right frequency and then you spoke.

“Mike, Dustin, Lucas, anyone?”

No answer.

“It’s (Y/n), Will’s sister. Your favorite older sibling.”

Still no answer.

Hopper held his hand out and indicated for you to pass it.

“Listen, kid, this is the chief. If you’re there, pick up. We know you’re in trouble and we know about the girl. We can protect you, we can help you, but you gotta pick up. Are you there? Do you copy? Over.”

With no immediate reply, Hopper sighed and set the walkie on the dresser and now you would just have to wait. Hopper looked at your group.

“Anybody got any other ideas?”

You all looked at each other and then you heard static, then a voice.

“Yeah, I copy. It’s Mike.”

You breathed out a sigh. They were safe.

“I’m here. We’re here.”

Hopper picked the walkie up, “where?”

“Junkyard.”

Hopper gave you the walkie then ran out of the house.

…

It was dark by the time Hopper came back with the kids.

You, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy were all in the living room. The three of them were on the couch, Jonathan biting his nails again and Nancy looking around nervously. You were seated on the chair with your legs pulled up. The silence was suffocating with no one having said a word in the last hour.

The sound of tires on gravel broke the silence and lights shining into the living room told you that Hopper was back. You all stood one by one and then Joyce led the way outside. You were the last one out so you saw Nancy as she rushed away and shouted, “Mike. Oh, my god. Mike!”

She rushed to Mike and pulled him into a hug. They stood in the middle, the Byers at the house and Hopper with the kids by his truck. Mike just stood in the hold like hugging isn’t something they usually do, it was a bit funny, but it made you miss Will.

Nancy pulled back from Mike with her hands on his shoulders, “I was so worried about you.”

Mike still seemed shocked by the hug, but replied.

“Yeah, uh… me, too.”

You looked at the group of kids and saw Dustin and Lucas, but you noticed the girl was their new mystery friend. She was wearing the same outfit you saw her wearing last time, misuse the blonde hair.

“Is that my dress?” Nancy asked while looking at El.

…

“Okay, so, in this example, we’re the acrobat. Will and Barbara, and that monster, they’re this flea. And this is the Upside Down, where Will is hiding. Mr. Clarke said the only way to get there is through a rip of time and space.”

“A gate.”

“That we tracked to Hawkins Lab. With our compasses.”

“What is this, Doctor Who?” you murmured.

When all of you regrouped in the living room the kids sat you all down so they could try and explain how the Upside Down works and what they found. They were explaining with a piece of lined paper that was marked in red ink. There was a straight line horizontally down the middle, a stick figure on top, and a dot for the flea with an arrow pointing below the line. Basically saying the monster was able to move between the two planes while you couldn’t, not exactly.

Now the kids were a bit smarter in this field so they understood these certain things better than you, so you needed them to baby talk you through this situation. Dustin must have noticed everyone’s confused faces because he sighed and then explained.

“Okay, so the gate has a really strong electromagnetic field, and that can change the directions of a compass needle.”

‘Okay, sure’ was all you thought.

“Is this gate underground?” Hopper asked.

The girl, Eleven, El for short, spoke. 

“Yes.”

Everyone turned to her. She was looking at Hopper and he was looking back.

“Near a large water tank?”

She nodded, “yes.”

You looked at Hopper wondering how he knew that information. Luckily Dustin asked the question for you. “How do you know all that?” with a slight stutter to the words.

Hopper didn’t say anything, just breathing in and out. Mike spoke for him.

“He’s seen it.”

Joyce spoke up, “is there any way that you could…that you could reach Will? That you could talk to him in this-”

“The Upside Down.”

“Down. Yeah,” Joyce whispered.

You were just watching this whole interaction from the sidelines. Seeing the way the boys were looking at each other, how Hopper and El would stare at the other. How Jonathan was holding Joyce’s hand tightly. How Nancy was looking at her brother and then to her clasped hands.

El nodded to Joyce. And then Nancy spoke up, asking a question to El.

“And my friend Barbara? Can you find her, too?”

She gave a subtle nod of her head. Nancy looked relieved at that silent answer. She pulled a piece of paper out of her coat pocket and handed it to El. You looked over her shoulder and saw it was the ripped photo of Barb sitting on the diving board at the Harrington home. El stood up, walked into the kitchen, and sat at the table, placing the photo in front of her. Everyone stood up and followed her. Mike pulled his walkie from his backpack, turning it on into a static frequency. You watched as her eyes raced behind her lids, the lights flickering above the table. She then opens her eyes and looks solemn. 

She says, “I’m sorry.”

Joyce, with Jonathan’s hand resting on her shoulder, looks scared. She starts stuttering.

“What? What’s wrong? What happened?”

Your heart breaks the way that El’s voice cracks with her reply, “I can’t find them.”

Joyce releases a tiny try and Jonathan walks back into the living room. Your arms are crossed over your chest and you close your eyes. ‘Just because she can’t find them doesn’t mean they’re dead’ you had to remind yourself. You open your eyes again and look at El, she’s looking at everyone or the table. You barely know this child, but you could already tell she’s had a shitty life before she was found. You walk up to her by the table and squat down with a hand on the table to steady you. With you closer to the ground you were closer in height to her. She turned her head at your presence. You gave her a closed-mouth smile.

“Why don’t we get you cleaned up? How does that sound?”

Her eyes darted around, she was searching your face, maybe looking for something. When she seemed satisfied with her findings she gave a small nod. You stood up and held a hand out for her to take. Her hand was so tiny, just like Will’s in your much larger grasp. You felt the tears coming back but they didn’t fall. 

You walked her down the hall and led her to the bathroom. You opened the door and looked at her, she was just staring. “Do you want me to stay with you? I could clean your face?”

She turned her head up to look at you while you looked down at her. She gave a nodding of her head. You lead her inside, closing the door behind you. Closing the toilet lid you motioned for her to sit down, while you grabbed a washcloth from under the sink and ran it under the lukewarm water. You looked to the side of you and saw El with her head down and just picking at her skin near her nails. You walked over and squatted again to be just below her chin, placing your hands on hers to stop the fidgeting. You looked at her face, she had smears of dirt covering her nose and cheeks.

“May I?” you asked while holding the washcloth up.

She just nodded again. Slowly placing one hand under her chin and with the other holding the cloth you gently wiped away the dirt and grime. You noticed her eyes starting to water and you didn’t know if you should say something or pretend to not notice. With both her cheeks cleaned you started on her nose. Again you were slow and gentle, not wanting to hurt her even just a little bit.

“Why do they call you Eleven?” you asked, the question having been on your mind for a bit.

El just slowly pulled her sleeve up and showed you her wrist. There on her wrist, in black permanent ink, was a tattoo with the number 011. You smoothed a delicate thumb over the marked skin and then looked at her.

“I’m so sorry sweetie.”

You could see the tears rolling silently down her cheeks. You ran your knuckles over the wet skin and then placed them on her knees. The two of you are just looking at each other. You saw her leaning forward and then placing a finger below your eye in a similar fashion you did to her. You touched a hand to your face and realized your tears were falling as well. You laughed, you don’t know why, but you just did. Maybe you were going insane.

“The bath.”

You looked at El and her eyes were lit up by an idea.

“What?”

“Bath,” You looked behind you at the empty tub and back to El. 

You just furrowed your brows and said, “okay.”

…

You all drove to the school in your two cars. Jonathans and Hoppers.

Apparently, the school holds about 1,500 pounds of salt. 

You decided to go with Jonathan and Hopper to help with grabbing all the needed salt for the bath. Hopper’s in the shed throwing the ice to Jonathan who throws it to you so that you could put it down. A working line is always faster.

“Hey, wait. It’s not gonna snow next week, is it?” you grunted with each bag of salt Jonathan threw at you.

Hopper just gave a breathy exhale, “worst case, no school.”

“Even if we find Will in there…” Jonathan asked as Hopper continued to throw salt bags.

“What are we going to do about that thing?” He finished his sentence.

Hopper grunted, “we’re not gonna do anything. I don’t want you anywhere near this, all right?”

More salt was coming, it felt like it wasn’t gonna stop.

“Your mom’s been through enough already.”

“But he’s our brother,” you outspoke.

The salt stopped being thrown. Hopper stepped out of the shed so the both of you could fully see him. He was looking intensely at the both of you, he was serious. 

“Listen to me. The both of you. I’m gonna find him. All right?”

He placed both of his hands on each of your shoulders and held the both of you in place. His gaze looked back and forth between the two of you trying to make sure he was conveying his urgency. He was trying to make sure the both of you got his message through your thick skulls.

“You gotta trust me on this. I am going to find him.”

He released the hold on your shoulders and went back into the shed and threw a bag of salt into Jonathan almost making him fall backward. He then threw the bag at you. The cycle of throwing continued as before. When Hopper had thrown pretty much all the bags of salt, the three of you trudge your way into the middle school gymnasium where the kiddie pool was filled with water. You, Hopper, and Jonathan each cut open a bag of salt and poured it into the full kiddie pool.

When almost all the bags were full Dustin placed an egg to see if it was buoyant enough for El to float freely. It sank so you had to dump more salt into the water, second time the charm, right? Dustin placed a new egg in the salt water and it floated perfectly. Relief filled you because you were tired of cutting open bags of salt, your arms felt like they were gonna snap off.

Mike set up his walkie and tuned into a static frequency again. When everything was pretty much ready for El she took off her coat and socks, she also took off the watch she was wearing and handed it to Mike. Joyce handed her the taped-up goggles and placed them over her eyes before stepping into the pool. Hopper and Joyce both had a hold of each of her hands and gently guided her body into the water. All of you sat around the outer edge of the pool watching as El sat down and let the water hold her weight.

The fluorescent lights started to flicker above you, everyone looking up with an air of amazement surrounding them. El was floating with her arms stretched out beside her and her dress billowing around her. She didn’t speak for a few minutes and then she did.

“Barbara?”

Nancy perked up at the name of her friend. El started to breathe heavily like she was seeing something she didn’t want to. Breathing picked up in its already fast pace and the lights started pulsating and then they blacked out.

“What’s going on?” Nancy whispered.

“I don’t know,” Mike replied.

Nancy started to worry when El didn’t say anything more about Barb.

“Is Barb okay? Is she okay?”

El started whispering, “Gone. Gone. Gone. Gone.”

Nancy started to cry hearing El say that Barb was gone. She leaned against Jonathan for support and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder pulling her in. Joyce tried shushing her and reassuring her, “it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Her breathing was still coming in harshly and she was starting to yell, “gone!” Joyce and Hopper reached into the water and held her arms trying to ground her instead of wherever she was in her head. Joyce was giving her reassuring rubs while Hopper was rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.

“It’s okay, we’re right here.” 

She kept rubbing her hand up and down, “We’re right here, honey. It’s okay, I got you. Don’t be afraid. I’m right here with you. It’s okay.”

Her breath eventually evened out and she was back to her normal pace.

“Castle Byers.”

Joyce looked at you and Jonathan with hope in her eyes. You were gnawing on your bottom lip with worry, if you kept it up blood was sure gonna be drawn. Your hands were grasping the edge of the pool, giving you something solid to keep you level-headed. You don’t know what you would do if after all this time she says that Will is ‘gone’. All this time of searching for him, getting your hopes up after seeing him alive.

“Will?” El said.

You and Joyce both gasped.

“You tell him…tell him I’m coming. Mom is coming.”

El was talking to Will, telling him Joyce was coming for him, to hold on. You then heard the walkie crackle with life and then a voice, his voice.

“Hurry.”

Just the one word brought tears to your eyes. He was alive, but barely holding on. You don’t know the effects of staying in this Upside Down for a week, especially on Will’s fragile and small body. Joyce started to speak to Will through El again, her voice giving a stutter to her words.

“Okay. Listen, you tell him to…to stay where he is. We’re coming. We’re coming, okay? We’re coming, baby.”

You could hear whimpering coming through the walkie and then El sat up and pulled the goggles off her eyes. Her breathing was heavy and jagged. Joyce pulled her in close and held her over the lip of the pool.

“Oh, okay, okay. I’ve got you.”

She was giving her reassuring kisses on her temple and kept murmuring, “You did so good honey. I got you.”

She began to cry and it broke your heart into even smaller pieces at the sound and look on her face. You looked at Nancy and her face was pulled into a frown, her eyes glassy. She just stared into the water, watching the ripples, probably thinking about Barb. 

When El calmed down you grabbed a towel and with Joyce, the two of you helped pull her up and out. You wrapped the fabric tight around her small frame and tried to rub warmth into her body. You squeezed her in a firm hug, a hand going to the back of her head to keep it pressed to your shoulder.

“Thank you El,” you whispered in her ear.

You released her to the care of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. The three of them sat together on the bleachers, El leaning on Mike with Dustin sitting beside him and Lucas a seat above rubbing El’s arm and making sure the towel was tight around her.

‘Good kids’ you thought with a smile on your face.

You turned to your group of older adults. Hopper was throwing his coat back on in a hurry. “So this fort. Where is it?”

“Uh, it’s in the woods behind our house,” you stuttered.

“Yeah, he used to go there to hide,” Jonathan said.

Hopper with his coat and hat began to rush out of the gym and down the abandoned hallways. You, Joyce, and Jonathan looked at each other and then hurried after Hopper. Hopper pushed open the door heading for his truck, you three still following. Hopper turned around to the three of you where he heard your rushed feet.

“Hey, get back inside.”

“What, are you insane? No, I’m-” “Look, if something happens to me, I don’t make it back-”

“Yeah, but then I’ll go. You stay. Are you kidding me? He’s my son, Hop. My son.”

You and Jonathan stood behind just watching this argument. You didn’t want either of them to go into the Upside Down, especially your mom, but Joyce seemed firm in her decision on going with Hopper. She turned around to both of you. Your arms wrapped as a security blanket and a frown tugging your lips.

“Now, listen, I need the both of you to stay here..”

“No.” “Mom, please-”

“No, you guys need to stay and watch the kids.”

“No, mom,” Jonathan pleaded.

She hugged Jonathan as he kept pleading, “I can help.”

“Please, I need you to stay, Jonathan.”

She released him and then grabbed you in an embrace, the both of you holding each other tightly.

“Please don’t go, mom,” you whimpered out.

“It’s gonna be okay honey,” she cooed.

“Joyce!” Hopper yelled from his truck.

Joyce reluctantly removed herself from you, sending you off with a kiss on your forehead. You and Jonathan just watched as she hurried over and got into the passenger seat. Hopper backed out then sped off into the night leaving behind his taillights until they faded completely.

…

The both of you walked back into the gym after staying outside long after Hopper’s truck disappeared into the distance. You were greeted with the sight of Nancy sitting in front of the tiger's mural with her knees up. Jonathan walked up to her and slid down the wall beside her. 

You walked over to the gym doors for a moment to see how the kids were doing. The three boys were talking amongst themselves while it looked like El was taking a nap after using all her energy.

“We have to go back to the station.”

You whipped your head at Nancy’s words. Even Jonathan was surprised.

“What?”

“Your mom and Hopper are walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there. And we can’t just sit here and let it get them, too. We can’t.”

Jonathan was nodding his head at her reasoning. You understood as well, but you still didn’t like the idea they were falling towards.

“You still wanna try it out?” Jonathan asked.

Nancy held her voice firm, “I wanna finish what we started. I want to kill it.”

“Okay, cool, yeah, but what about the kids?” you spoke to the side of them.

They looked at each other like they forgot about that part. They got up from the floor and looked through the windows like you did earlier.

“They’ll be safer here, away from everything,” Nancy stated firmly.

You didn’t want the kids to be by themselves, but you didn’t want to leave Jonathan and Nancy behind so you joined them as they rushed out the doors and towards Jonathan’s car.

…

“Jonathan, you go.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re a guy and breaking into the police station is very gentlemanly.” Jonathan just huffed a sigh and got out of the car. You knew he was gonna do it anyway, you just wanted to annoy him a bit. You and Nancy watched as he slowly opened the front door and crept inside. Suddenly Nancy rushed out of the car in a hurry.

“Wait, Nancy-”

Your protests were hushed with the closing of her door.

You flopped against the backseats and sank low in case someone came by. The minutes felt like an hour before the both of them were back in the car. Jonathan was holding the box, but Nancy had something new in her hands.

“Whatcha got there Nancy?”

“An idea,” a fire extinguisher. She grabbed a fire extinguisher.

And with that, the three of you drove off to your possible death.

…

Jonathan was speeding down the empty highway going thirty over the speed limit. You were gripping onto the leather seats with such force that you thought claw marks were going to be left behind.

“Jonathan I know we’re in a hurry, but can you slow down just a little!”

“Seriously (Y/n)!” “I don’t want to possibly hit a deer!”

You could see Jonathan roll his eyes in the rear-view mirror. You wanted to say something about this sudden attitude about you caring if you got into an accident, but it fell off the tip of your tongue. Jonathan took a hard right turn into your driveway and in the process, you slid into the door, your head making contact with the window with a smack to the temple. You cradled the small wound with your hand as Jonathan turned the car off and he and Nancy got out of their seats heading to the trunk. You got out a second after, just slower.

“What the hell, Jonathan!”

Your cry fell on deaf ears as Nancy and Jonathan grabbed the supplies and headed inside. You stood by the car for a moment just watching this whole scene almost from an outside perspective. You threw your arms out in an exasperated gesture.

“It’s like I’m not even here,” you muttered.

You walked into the house and saw Jonathan and Nancy already working on stepping the house up. They were screwing in the bulbs that for some reason were off their strands. You began to do the same process as them since the house was pretty covered in them so it wouldn’t take a while. Once that part of the plan was done Jonathan grabbed two giant nails, the mallet, and a bear trap. He brought the items into the hall and hammered the nails into the ground so the bear trap was kept in place. Nancy was watching him do the whole process, and while they did that you took Nancy’s baseball bat and some nails from the cupboards. 

A regular wooden bat wasn’t gonna do anything, but a bat with nails… now that could do some damage. Satisfied with how it turned out you looked at Nancy and saw she was loading the revolver up and Jonathan was pouring gasoline in a line down the hall.

‘Your poor house was about to be wrecked…even more’ you sighed.

You looked around for the rifle but saw it nowhere in sight. You turned to Jonathan and Nancy, “Did either of you see the rifle?” 

They both shook their heads. You huffed a sigh, ‘cops probably took it’. You’ll have to ask Hopper if he could get it back for you later. Realistically the rifle isn’t the best gun for this type of close contact ‘hunting’, but damn did you want a shot at it.

With the bear trap set, the gasoline to Will’s room set, the revolver loaded, and your new nail bat, you were ready. Well not like ready ready, you think you might throw up soon if you kept thinking about that monster coming to get the three of you. 

You were pacing the living, the bat leaning against the wall so you didn’t accidentally stab yourself with a nail. You were wringing your hands together and rubbing them on the side of your thighs trying to rid them of the sweat being produced due to your nerves.

‘You were doing this, you were really doing this.’ you kept reminding yourself.

You felt Nancy’s eyes on your nervous form. Out of the corner of your eye, you see her getting up from the couch and walking over to you. You stop your motions and she stands before you. You could tell she was just as nervous as you, but she was doing a better job of keeping it contained. Her hands were gripping your upper arms and she gave a quick shake of your body.

“Everything is going to be okay, (Y/n).”

The way she said it was like she was trying to convince the both of you that your half-cocked plan was gonna go smoothly. You know any plan ever made never goes smoothly or even accordingly, it’s a common movie trope you’ve seen plenty of times. But you just gave a nodding of your head for the both of you and she smiled at you. 

She dropped her arms when she heard Jonathan walking back into the room from the kitchen, he was holding two sharp kitchen knives. He handed one to Nancy then turned to you with the other, you shook your head no with a grimace on your face. The three of you stood in a triangle, Jonathan and Nancy facing each other and you with your back to the ouija wall.

“Remember…” Jonathan started to remind y’all of the plan.

“Straight into Will’s room. And-” 

“Don’t step on the trap,” you finished for Nancy.

Nancy nodded, “wait for the yo-yo to move.”

“Then…” Jonathan flicked the silver lighter on giving the message.

You were gonna set that bitch on fire.

“All right, you ready?” Jonathan asked Nancy.

“Ready,” with a nod of her head.

They both raised a hand with the other holding the knife. You had to look away not wanting to see the blood. “On three,” Jonathan said. With your head turned completely away from the scene you could only hear them speak.

“One…two…”

He hesitated going into three, “you don’t have to do this-”

And the comment made you turn your head a bit to look at Nancy. Her face was screwed up tight, getting herself prepared for the slice in her palm.

“Jonathan, stop talking.”

“I’m just saying, you don’t have to-” “Three.”

You didn’t have enough time to turn away so you saw as they sliced deep into their palms, their blood spilling out. A shiver ran up your back at the impending thoughts in your head.

“Christ,” you whispered.

…

You grabbed a piece of cloth and ripped it up and handed a piece to Nancy and Jonathan as they tightly wrapped it to stop any bleeding. You looked at your ruined carpet and saw the dark red of their blood already seeping into the fabric, it’ll be coming. The two of them went to sit on the couch and you went back to your pacing. You were gnawing at the skin of your thumb when you heard creaking. You stopped in your tracks to see if Nancy or Jonathan noticed as well.

“Did you hear that?”

The three of you stayed quiet to see if there were any more noises. There was nothing for a few seconds, “it’s just the wind,” Jonathan supplied. He was probably right, but still, you were on alter.

“Don’t worry. My mom, she said the lights speak when it comes.”

“Speak?”

“They blink, kinda like how El’s powers manipulate the lights,” you added.

“Just think of them as alarms.”

“Just without the blaring noise.”

Nancy and Jonathan looked at you with your comment and you just shrugged.

“What?” They both just turned their attention back to each other.

They started to have a quiet conversation, hushed whispers. You just ignored them and continued with your pacing and nail-biting. You grabbed the bat and swung it around to see how the weight felt in your hands, not bad.

Loud banging shattered the tense air, your heart jumping in your chest and a gasp escaping your lips. The three of you stood still to see if it would happen again, your bat at the ready in case it was a trick of sorts. The banging continued and then a voice shouted from the other side of the wood door.

“Jonathan? You there, man? it’s…it’s Steve.”

‘Steve!’ your brain went alert.

“Listen, I just want to talk!”

He continued to bang on the door and because the other two were taking too long you went to it. You leaned your bat on the other side of you and opened the door just a crack. He was there, leaning against the house in the dark with just the porch light illuminating his features. 

His hair was a bit unkempt, probably running his fingers through the strands or tugging the roots. You could fully see the damage that Jonathan landed upon his face earlier. A cut on the upper bridge of his sculpted nose, a cut on his plush kissable lips, and the left side of his eye and face were covered in dried blood and broken skin. 

Steve looked taken aback at the sight of you. His eyes were a bit wide and if the circumstances were different you would have felt nervous under his dark brown gaze.

“(Y/n), hey, what are-”

“Well, one, I live here, and two you should go, Steve, it’s for your safety.”

“What, safety? Just- I’m not trying to start anything, okay?” You would have loved for him to come into your home and see before you Steve Harrington apologizing to your brother and, maybe you as well. 

You just saw as he squeezed his eyes and licked his bottom lip, wincing as he touched the dirty cut. You badly wanted to clean off his blood and fix his wounds, try and kiss him until he felt better, or kiss him until he was dizzy and couldn’t feel any ounce of pain, but you couldn’t. Not now, probably not ever.

You looked behind you in the house making sure everything was still okay. You sighed out and looked back to Steve through the crack, “I understand Steve, it’s just now isn’t the best time.”

You heard footsteps coming behind you and saw Steve shift his gaze to the person standing behind you, “Nancy?”

Of course, this was your cue to let her handle the situation. You stepped away from the door, grabbed the bat, and then walked further into the ruined home. You could hear their conversation in the doorway. Steve pleads with Nancy and Nancy tells Steve to leave, maybe he would listen to her instead of you. His words came out rushed and stuttering, trying to convey that he was sorry and that he messed up.

“Hey, what happened to your hand?” he now sounded concerned with Nancy’s state.

He started to sound protective and worried. You saw Nancy’s arm get yanked forward, and then she pulled it back into the house.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

A beat of silence and then Steve spoke again with the noise of protectiveness overtaking.

“Wait a sec. Did he do this to you?” “No,” Nancy stated firmly.

Steve started to push against the door making Nancy’s feet slide across the wood flooring, they started to argue.

“Nancy, let me in!” “No. No! No, Steve!”

With Steve being taller and stronger he was able to stumble into the home. His head was whipping around, looking from the string of lights, to the tarp covering the wall, to you and Jonathan. You saw his eyes look down to the bat you were holding in your grasp and a questioning look took over his face.

“What is…what the…”

“You need to get out of here,” said Jonathan as he tried to push Steve back to the door.

Steve was pushing back against Jonathan, “Whoa. What is all-”

“Listen to me, I’m not asking, I’m telling-”

“Steve, it’s better if you just leave, now,” you tried to reason with him.

You didn’t want him mixed up with this whole mess.

“What is that smell?” ‘Gasoline’, you supplied the answer in your head.

Jonathan and Steve kept pushing at each other, both of them trying to get the upper hand. You stood back, the bat raised high above your shoulder ready when needed to swing. You looked over to Nancy and saw she grabbed the revolver and turned to point it at Steve.

“Steve, get out!”

“Nancy!” you yelled.

Jonathan backed off Steve and Steve was holding his arms out to show he wasn’t any threat. His confusion probably just grew tenfold, what with Nancy holding a freaking gun at him.

“Wait. What is going on?” he stuttered.

“You have five seconds to get out of here.”

You were looking between Nancy and Steve. Nancy was holding herself firm, not a single waver in her body as she was pointing the gun. Steve was looking between Nancy and yourself, the two of you holding the weapons in the room.

“Okay, is this a joke? Stop. Put the gun down,” Steve said to Nancy slowly.

“I’m doing this for you.”

Your heart took a hit at the words, but you ignored it. Now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for yourself, all you wanted right now was for Steve to leave here in one piece. You don’t know when the monster will come, but if Steve doesn't leave soon he’ll be in danger.

“Steve, please leave, please,” you whispered the last word out.

He looked in your direction when you spoke and you saw the way his brows furrowed and flared his nostrils. You saw the way his chest was moving with his breathing, it was steady but was coming in hurried. You just kept looking at him as he was doing the same, your surroundings blurring just leaving the two of you.

You didn’t even notice the lights blinking, you didn’t hear Jonathan call Nancy, you didn’t hear what Steve was saying when he tore his gaze from yours. You didn’t hear anything for a whole minute, didn’t see anything outside your tunnel vision. You didn’t notice any of that, not until Jonathan shook your shoulder and was yelling your name. 

Nancy was still pointing the gun at Steve and she was counting down, Steve getting jumpy with each number she counted to.

“Three…”

“Whoa, wait! Wait!...”

“Two…”

“Nancy just put the-” “Nancy! The lights,” Jonathan yelled over everyone.

You looked above you and saw the lights blinking furiously. It was here. You turned around in any direction trying to gauge where it might come from. Jonathan pulled you closer with him, Nancy, and Steve. You now held the bat low in front of you with your back to Steve as he stood behind you.

“What is going on!” “Steve, shut up!” you yelled.

Jonathan and Nancy were back to back, Nancy with the revolver and Jonathan holding the mallet. The three of you were moving around like you had ants in your pants, not staying still in one place. With all the lights blinking you didn’t know the exact location of the monster. You saw Steve out of the corner of your eye, he was just watching the three of you.

“I don’t see it!”

“Where is it?” “I don’t know!” “Where is what?” Steve yelled over the noise. “Hello? Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going-”

A loud crashing broke off Steve’s sentence and all four of you turned at the noise. A spot in the ceiling just above the hole in the wall was cracked, the plaster falling to the floor. You could see underneath was something moving, something was trying to push itself into the room. Your grasp starts to get sweaty again and the bat clatters to the ground behind you, forgotten in your mind. 

Your breathing was coming in too quickly for it to have a steady rhythm. Unconsciously you gravitated toward Steve and grasped onto his wrist that was beside you. You weren’t able to see Steve turning his head to look at your panicked face, you were too busy watching as Nancy held the gun and shot at the hole, she kept shooting at whatever was making its way through. She only stopped when Jonathan wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her away and down the hallway. Your brain kicked into fight or flight mode and it chose flight, so with Steve’s wrist in your hold, you pulled the both of you away. You followed just behind Jonathan and suddenly remembered the bear trap.

“Jump!” you yelled to Steve behind.

“Oh, my god! Oh, my god!” he was screeching from behind.

When Steve got into Will’s room Jonathan slammed the door shut.

“Jesus! Jesus! What the hell was that?”

“Shut up!” Jonathan and Nancy yelled.

…

When the lights stopped flickering and the yo-yo wasn’t snagged, the four of you slowly left Will’s room and looked into the hall. The monster didn’t fall into your trap. You could just barely feel Steve’s body pressed close to your back as you crept down the hall and closer towards the living room. Jonathan led the way with Nancy just behind him. You weren’t sure if it was your mind playing tricks or what, but you felt Steve lightly grasp the back of your jacket keeping you closer to him in the back. You turned your head to look at him but he wasn’t paying attention.

The four of you stood in the living room looking at the damage. You sighed through your nose and closed your eyes, a moment of peace. You opened your eyes when you could faintly hear Steve muttering behind you. His hands wouldn’t stay still, whether they went to his hair or slapped the outside of his thighs, tugging at his dark green sweater, they didn’t stop.

“This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy! This is crazy! This is crazy!” He just kept repeating the words like a mantra.

He jumped to the landline in the kitchen and started to dial a number, presumably nine-one-one. Nancy stormed over to him just as he held it to his ear, she grabbed it and threw it onto the floor. Steve threw his arms out and asked with a bit of a higher pitch to his voice, “what are you do- What are you doing? Are you insane?”

“It’s going to come back!” Nancy yelled at his face. “So you need to leave, right now,” she held firm.

Steve, with an expression rivaling a puppy’s face, looked from Nancy to Jonathan and then his eyes landed on you. Your bottom lip pulled in between your teeth, arms crossed over your chest with your hands in fists. A sullen look was displayed across your face, you wanted him to stay, so so badly. You wanted to pretend to live in a fantasy dream with Steve where there was nothing wrong and the two of you were happily in love, but that wouldn’t happen, and it especially wouldn’t happen today.

“You should go, Steve,” you quietly stated.

With a distorted expression Steve ran off into the night, and for your sake, you hope he drove off far away from this mess. 

Just a few minutes after Steve slammed the door behind in his departure the lights started to pulse again, it was back for round two. Swinging your body around like you did the first time, you were looking around trying to pinpoint the entry point. You also then realized you haven’t been holding the nail-studded bat this entire time. With the strobing of the lights, it wasn’t easy to look around you without your eyes starting to water.

“Where is it?” “Come on, you son of a bitch.” “You see it?” “No, Where-”

“Anyone seen the bat?” “(Y/n)!” “What? I can’t see-”

And then the lights burnt out, shutting the three of you in complete darkness. Your heart was jumping out of your chest, your legs shaking so much they could give out at any moment. You could probably only see a step in front of you, but your ears were on high alert. Then the growling came, that sick, hungry growling of the dangerous predator. You turned in the direction of the noise and saw it looming over the three of you.

“Jonathan!” you cried.

Jonathan turned a second too late and the monster lunged at him, pinning him to the ground, its monstrous mouth opened and drool was pooling from the mouth onto Jonathan’s face. Your fear kicked even higher with Jonathan in danger. “Jonathan!” you and Nancy screamed in terror. The monster leaned in closer and fully opened its mouth over Jonathan's face, it was just like your dream. Its mouth opened like a flower, Jonathan peering into the rows of teeth before being consumed.

“Go to hell, you son of a bitch!” Nancy said while pointing the gun.

She shot a few rounds to get the monster off Jonathan. When it stood on the ground it stood to the full height it possessed, it almost touched the ceiling. You were still looking around for your bat or anything at this point to hit it with. Nancy continued shooting until the gun clicked, no more bullets. The monster was roaring, its mouth fully open now.

You grabbed Nancy and pulled her into you, the two of you slowly walking back into the dining room. This was probably it, you were going to die similarly to your dream. At least it was distracted, Joyce and Hopper searching for Will without worrying about the creature getting them. They’ll find Will, bring him home, he’ll get to be a kid again, it brought just a once of peace to your screaming mind.

With your distracting thoughts, you weren’t able to see the figure moving in the dark with a bat running at the monster. With a grunt, Steve swung the bat at the creature. He started to lure the monster away from the two of you, giving you a moment to catch your breath. You saw the way Steve effortlessly was twirling the bat and landing hits on the body. He was pushing it further into the hall until you heard the sounds of the demonic screaming. It hit the bear trap.

“He’s in the trap!” yelled Nancy.

“He’s stuck!” Steve yelled out.

“Jonathan, now!”

The three of you watched the monster thrash in the hall, lights going berserk through the house again. Jonathan came up just beside you and flicked the lighter and threw it onto the gasoline trail. Your hallway caught on fire along with the demon stuck in the flames. You held your arm over your face to block out the heat wafting your way. Its screams were like those of a T-rex dinosaur, something loud and booming. Not wanting your house to burn to the ground you ran for the fire extinguisher Nancy took from the station and opened fire.

“Get back!”

With the fire out, and the lights off, the only thing surrounding you was the smoke wafting into the cramped space. All of you were coughing from the inhale. When it cleared you all crept slowly toward the trap to see the damage. With the smoke still clouded it was a bit hard to see, but you didn’t see a single trace of the monster behind.

“Where did it go?” Nancy coughed out.

“No, it has to be dead,” reasoned Jonathan. 

Steve held an arm out to keep you a few feet back from the bear trap. You grabbed his arm and just leaned forward to try and see anything. All you could see through the smoke was the burnt spot and what looked to be bubbling flesh on the closed trap.

You heard Jonathan gasp in front of you and saw he was looking up. You followed in his action and saw the trail of string lights, slowly this time, lit one by one. The four of you followed the trail, Jonathan and Nancy in the very back with you still behind Steve who was in front holding the bat. You watched as the lights stopped before the trap and then went back out of the hall. Following in its path you all watched mesmerized as the trail led to the front door.

“Mom?” you gasped.

If this was your mom and Hopper, they were in the Upside Down looking for Will right now.

“Mom, is that you?” Jonathan questioned the open air.

“Mom!” you cried.

Jonathan walked to the door and you pushed yourself forward to be beside him. With all four of you standing on the dark porch, you looked at the flickering street light, and then it stopped. “Where’s it going?” Nancy asked, “I don’t think that’s the monster,” Jonathan quietly said.

“What does that mean?” Steve asked.

“It’s our mom,” was your teary reply.

…

Finally having dealt with the monster and helping Joyce and Hopper, you were allowing yourself to have a breakdown, a moment alone, whatever you chose to called it. 

You walked back into the house and made for your room, shutting the door behind you. You sat on the floor and leaned against your bed. With your knees pulled in tight you wrapped your arms around them and threw your head down. 

You could have died, Jonathan and Nancy, and Steve could have died. You weren’t of any help, you froze, dropped your weapon, and couldn’t find it when needed. If Steve didn’t suddenly come in with your bat the monster probably would have killed you. You wouldn’t have been able to see Will again, and you would have caused Joyce actual grief.

The tears fell silently at first, just slowly and quietly falling from the seams of your closed lids. You felt their coldness as they ran down your cheeks like raindrops falling from the sky. When your tears started to fall a bit faster your breathing started to become more panicked, harsher. You couldn’t breathe, it felt like you were choking. Your vision was blurring, your surroundings felt like smoke slipping through your fingers, and a terrible headache was starting to pulse at your temples.

You didn’t even hear the knocking at your door or see it open to Steve peeking his head through. You didn’t even notice as he hesitantly walked to you and crouched before you and dropped a gentle hand onto your shoulder. Only when you felt the comforting squeeze on your shoulder and the feather-light touch of fingers moving your hair away from your face were you able to be grounded back into the present. You lifted your head from your protective cage and looked at Steve who was leaning forward. He drew back a bit when he saw your face was now in view and dropped his hands.

“Uh…I could- I could leave if you want.” With a shake of your head and a grip on his wrist, he stayed with you. Steve nodded his understanding. He moved to sit beside you as you both leaned against your bed. Turning your head you looked at Steve as he was looking around your room with a ghost of a smile on his bruised face.

“You should probably clean your face or something.” “Huh?”

He turned his head in your direction when you spoke and at his confusion, you pointed out his bloodied face. He made an ‘oh’ with his mouth, lifting a hand to his face and lightly touching the wounds. He was looking over your face, his eyes zipping across your facial structure. You didn’t know if you had any injuries, you didn’t feel any pain. Lifting a hand to your face you touched your temple, your cheek, and your nose. Didn’t feel anything.

“Do I have any bruising?” you asked Steve while he was still searching for something.

Steve shook his head ‘no’ and that was it.

The both of you are just sitting in the growing silence, neither of you knowing how to have a proper conversation. You were a grade below Steve in school so you didn’t share any classes, not even extracurriculars. All you knew was that he was on the swim team and the basketball team, he probably didn’t know anything about you. Like how you took drawing so you were able to do the activity with Will, or how you helped with the photography club because of Jonathan. You even tried out for the volleyball team but you didn’t make it past the second round of tryouts.

The two of you were strangers to the other, two different classes. That’s why it’s not much of a surprise he took a liking to Nancy, and it won’t be a surprise when you never get him if you even got the chance.

“You okay?”

That one question broke the silence. You looked to Steve and saw he already had his sights on you, it probably never left when you turned yours away. With a shrug of your shoulders that was the only answer, you gave for a moment, and then you spoke.

“I’ve just been having a shitty week.”

“I can see why…I mean, what the hell did we just fight?”

You chuckled. Yeah, what the hell did you just do? The four of you did something out of a horror movie or something. A group of rogue companions fighting a fierce evil to save someone they care about, like a D&D campaign the boys would do.

“You’ve been pretty out of the loop until tonight. Kinda why I didn’t want you to stay,” you whispered the last part.

You hoped Steve wouldn’t hear it, but he did. “Well if I wasn’t here, something bad could have happened to Nancy, or you.”

“What about Jonathan? you kinda still have to apologize…for earlier.”

His face screwed up when you mentioned earlier today at the theater alley. It got a bit tense again when you mentioned it, but it was something that Steve had to face if he wanted forgiveness and to show he understands his mistakes. You wanted to see Steve change and show his true character, not this fake ‘King Steve’ persona.

“I’m- I’m really sorry about all that. I shouldn’t have said any of that about Jonathan or your family. And I’m sorry for what Carol did at Lenny’s and what she said…about Tessa Anderson. Nicole said she heard that rumor about you and so Carol used it. I thought it was fake, but when I saw the way you froze and everything…I’m just- I understand if you can’t forgive me. I’ve been such a shitty person and I know it’s late to try and change that, but I want to try, for myself and-and for Nancy.”

You hated that you felt the twitch of jealousy in your bones. You wanted Steve to change for himself, just himself, but if Nancy is a reason for him wanting to be a better version of himself, you’ll take it. 

“Well, I’ll accept this apology, but you’re gonna have to work each day to prove you’re changing for the better. And I would like for you to apologize to Jonathan, as soon as possible.”

Steve nodded his head as confirmation.

Then it went back to silence, but it was a bit more comfortable now. He knows you forgive him, and you know he’s working on being a better person. Maybe, because of this weird situation, only a few of you are stuck in, it’ll make you closer. Maybe this will give you a chance to be closer to Steve than you’ve ever been. It gives you a bit of happiness in your chest at the thought of finally getting closer to Steve, someone who has always just been out of reach.

The silence was broken when you heard footsteps coming down the hall and stopping before your room. The door swung open and Jonathan was at the entrance. He looked between you and Steve with a pucker to his brows. He looked shocked to see Steve beside you, but he didn’t comment on it.

“We gotta go to the hospital.” “What? Why?” “Will,” that was the one word to get you up and moving.

…

When Jonathan stopped at the hospital the two of you sprinted so fast to the desk asking about Will.

Joyce was in the lobby with Hopper and when you saw her, the happiest of tears sprung to your eyes and you had the biggest watery smile. You hugged each other like you’ve been separated for a month and not just a few hours. You parted from her, allowing for Jonathan to get a rib-crushing hug. 

You turned in the direction of Hopper and threw your arms around his waist in an unexpected hug. It probably was weird to hug someone you weren’t exactly close with, but Hopper was someone you felt you could trust in this crazy situation. You felt how his body tensed when you slammed into him and how he hesitated to move his arms, but then they fell to your upper back and he gave a comforting rub.

“Thank you, Hopper.” “No problem kid.”

You pulled away from Hopper and looked at Joyce.

“Is Will okay?”

She nodded her head, “yes, they say his breathing is stable.”

You breathed a sigh of relief. You looked to the hospital doors when you heard footsteps, you saw Nancy and Steve walking. Then suddenly you remembered an important thing, “where are the kids?”

“They’re in the waiting room, but El…she was gone,” Hopper answered.

“What do you mean, gone?” Nancy questioned.

Hopper sighed, “they say she was fighting the monster and then, vanished.”

Your tears returned for the missing girl. You were starting to get a fondness for her, she deserved to be able to live a normal life. Not whatever she had before. Your thoughts of El were cut short when a nurse called for Joyce, “you can see Will now, follow me.”

Joyce, Jonathan, and you followed the kind nurse as she weaved through the crowded hallway and stopped just before a door, and held her hand out. You peered into the room from the doorway and saw him. Will had tubes attached to his nose and a needle sticking out his arm for the fluids. His eyes were closed and you could see the faint rise and fall of his chest. You cupped your hands over your mouth as you walked further into the room, you didn’t want to make a noise to wake him. Joyce and Jonathan sat on one side of his bed and you sat on the other. 

The three of you now just waited until he awoke from his deep slumber.

…

Will woke up a few hours later.

You were laying your head on your crossed arms that rested on his bed, trying to get some much-needed sleep. You felt someone shifting around and noises in the room, then a gentle pat on the top of your head. You squeezed your eyes against the harsh hospital lighting when you looked up and saw Joyce and Jonathan standing beside the bed. You looked to Will, he was already looking at you and had a smile on his face.

‘You’ve missed that smile so much’ 

“Hey buddy, I’ve missed you,” said quietly with tears in your eyes.

“Where…where am I?” Will asked with a cracked voice.

Joyce sniffled and looked at Jonathan, “you’re home. You’re home now.”

“You’re safe,” Joyce whispered.

“Jonathan,” Will said his name like he was remembering.

Jonathan had tears falling from his eyes and running down the side of his nose. He grinned at the sound of Will saying his name again and the moment brought the waterworks for you.

“Yeah, it’s me, buddy. We missed you.”

“We really missed you,” you added to Jonathan’s sentiment.

“Are-are you okay?”

You saw as Will pointed to Jonathan’s bandaged hand. Even when he was in danger for a week the first thing when he woke up was to make sure Jonathan is okay. In just that small moment, you made a promise in the back of your mind. You will be protecting Will from any future danger that comes his way, nothing is going to be taking him from you ever again, not if you can stop it.

You tuned out the conversation they were having and when you refocused the three of them were smiling at each other.

“Oh, hey, uh…”

You bent down to the side of you and grabbed a box and placed it on the bed in front of you. Will was looking at you and then into the box you grabbed. You smiled his way and he returned a twitch of his lip.

“We, uh…we brought you some stuff…so you don’t get bored in here.”

The box was full of different things that Will could use for drawing when he was back in his regular state. Right now he couldn’t do too much moving around.

“Also…uh, I made you a new mixtape. There’s some stuff on there I think you really might like.”

Jonathan grabbed the tape from the box and held it out for Will to take. The two smiled at each other, and then Will turned his head up at Joyce. She was just stroking his hair this entire time, a smile was imprinted on her face as well. Will turned his head to look at you and you grabbed his hand that was close to you. Your family was whole again, and your heart never felt fuller.

…

When the four of you had been talking with Will for a few hours you thought it was time to let the kids come and visit him. You kissed Will on the forehead and left the room, leaving Joyce and Jonathan with him. You walked to the waiting room and through the glass, you could see everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler with Holly, Hopper, Steve with his face still busted, Nancy checking her watch, and then the three boys. Mike was leaning forward on his thighs while Lucas and Dustin were sleeping, Dustin resting his head onto Lucas’ shoulder, if only you had a camera right now.

You opened the door to the waiting room and looked at Mike, giving a nod of your head. He jumped from his seat and started to shake Lucas and Dustin from their nap. He was yelling, “guys. Guys, he’s up. Will is up. Guys, Will’s up.” Dustin and Lucas pushed at each other when they woke up and the three of them were off. 

“Guys, down the hall, third door on the right!” you yelled to their departing figures.

You turned to Steve and he was already looking at you. You gave a tilt of your head out the door, then headed out. You heard Steve follow a second later and walked beside you. You stopped at the vending machines and pulled a few bills you had in your pockets. You were taking your time looking for something that you could snack on, you haven’t eaten in a few hours or something. You finally just selected some M&Ms.

“You know you can get your face checked out, we are in a hospital.”

You bent down to grab the candy and then stood up and looked at Steve. 

“Yea, probably should. I mean it’s not like my parents are gonna ask about it, they’re out of town right now.”

“Are you sure you want to go home to an empty house, after what we saw?”

Asking the question felt like you were trying to invite him to your house, well back to your house, just under better circumstances. You know that, personally, you're gonna be having nightmares for a while. That creature, the Demogorgon, something the kids called it, will be haunting you for months.

You didn’t realize that you stopped talking or zoned out. The feeling of Steve’s elbow hitting your waist caught your attention. He had a delicate smile brightening his darkened features.

“You trying to invite me over, Byers?”

You smirked and rolled your eyes at his comment, “you wish Harrington.”

Then you thought about it for a moment, “just…if you need someone to talk to…our number is in the phone book.”

The two of you stared at each other after that and it just felt…nice.

“Well I’m gonna- I’m gonna head back to Will. So, see ya, Steve,” you said while walking backward in the direction of Will’s hospital room.

“See ya, (Y/n),” a wave of Steve’s hand.

You turned forward and continued on your walk, the butterflies in your stomach not settling for a second after the conversation. Maybe something good came out of this terrible thing.

…

The next few weeks were quiet, a good quiet.

Will had to stay in the hospital for two weeks, so you would visit him almost every day and stay until you weren’t allowed anymore. They only allowed Joyce and Hopper to stay overnight, them being the adults and all. When school was over you and Jonathan would make your way to the hospital and entertain Will. He was in better condition each passing day. 

Sometimes the boys would come with the two of you after school and stay until their parents picked them up or they left with you and Jonathan. They would talk about stuff that happened at school, or a new D&D campaign they were preparing for when Will was back home. Seeing them interact together made you so happy, they were back to being normal kids, and not kids who witnessed terrible things before their own eyes. Sometimes Mike would mention El and the mood would dip a little with the mention of the missing friend.

Nancy and Steve even would drop by once or twice. At first, it kinda shocked you, you thought Nancy only visited because she was picking Mike up, but she stayed for a little and would keep you and Jonathan company when Steve wasn’t with her. When Steve came by the first time your heart picked up pace. You saw the way Jonathan’s jaw tensed at the thought of Steve being there. He told you that Steve talked with him the following day after Will was back, Jonathan said he accepted the apology but told Steve it would be fine if they didn’t try to become friendly. They were civil around each other, but neither of them went out of their way to be friends. Honestly, Steve and you were becoming a bit closer, and with you becoming closer with Steve you noticed how Jonathan was becoming more protective.

-

You were having nightmares almost every night. 

Sometimes it was you being chased by the Demogorgon and then it would eat you. Other times it's a dream where you witness someone being ripped to shreds from the sharp talons of the creature. Sometimes the person was Jonathan or Joyce, sometimes Hopper, and a recent one involving Steve. You and whoever was with you in the dream would be running away and then the monster would grab them and you would just stand frozen in fear. You would just be helpless and watch as they released a blood-curdling scream from the depths of their lungs, blood seeping from their wounds where the claws seeped into. They would cry out your name, a plea for help, and you would just shake with fear and fall to the floor. When the monster was done destroying their body it would just drop their body to the floor and it would start its way towards you, its next victim.

You would awake in a sweat, your heart feeling like a hummingbird trapped in a cage. The darkness of your room felt like shadows were watching you, enjoying the torment you were suffering from in your sleep. Sometimes you would go to Jonathan’s room and crawl into his bed, or just check to make sure he was completely safe and alive. Sometimes you would just sit in your bed and cry yourself back to sleep or not even sleep at all, you would just move through the day in a zombie-sluggish state until your body collapsed in on itself. One time you passed out in school and awoke in the nurse's office. 

Sometimes when the dream involves Steve you would walk to the landline in the kitchen, pick it off the receiver, and with a finger hovering over the numbers ready to dial his house, you would then decide against it and go back to your room. You would find relief when you saw him walking the halls in the morning, sometimes he was with Nancy, and other times he would visit you.

-

You were starting to distance yourself from people, well, not like you had many people to distance yourself from anyway. You started to keep your distance from people even more, you would spend your lunch on the bleachers by the track field. Now you said to yourself, ‘keep your distance, distance equals fewer people getting hurt’. Now see that worked for a little until you became friends with a girl one day. 

The two of you just minding your own business, you were reading a book for your English class when you heard a voice speak up beside you.

“You a Charles Dickens fan?”

You looked up from the pages of your book, A Tale of Two Cities, and peered up at the girl standing before you. Her shoulder-length brunette hair with blonde highlights, her face splattered in freckles, and her eyes were shining with a friendliness behind their sea green color. She wore a couple of silver chains that rested against her collarbones, a simple maroon sweater, and black denim jeans covering her body, and she wore red converse that looked to be covered in scribbles.

You looked back to the book and then at her again.

“Um, not really, school assigned.” “Ah, you in Mrs. Welshes' class?” You were taken aback by her question, “yea, fourth period.”

“Oh cool, I have her second period.”

You nodded your head with a closed mouth. You didn’t want to try and get friendly with her, better she stays away from you, for her safety. You began to subtly pack your belongings into your bag and grabbed your lunch. 

“Hey, you think we could study after school some day? I kinda need help with English,” the girl asked out of the blue. Again you were taken aback by her forwardness to someone she just met. You were getting ready to decline her, but then when you looked at her something in you said, “yeah, I would be up for that.”

“Cool, you free tomorrow?”

“Uh, yea, I can clear my plans.”

You were planning on just going home and locking yourself away, but one day wouldn’t hurt. Plus, you know Will would be happy to know you were hanging out with someone other than Jonathan, “do you two have friends that aren’t each other?” he asked one day. It was funny, but also kinda true, maybe distancing yourself from people wasn’t the right idea when trying to overcome your trauma. 

Before the girl could leave you remembered you didn’t ask for her name.

“Um, I didn’t get your name?”

“It's Robin… Buckley, Robin Buckley, that’s my name.” “(Y/n) Byers. So I’ll meet you at the library after school tomorrow?”

“See you then, Byers!”

-

Now, with your nightmare consuming your mind every time you close your eyes for more than an hour, you aren't sleeping. So, because you were starting to get desperate you resorted to…drugs. Not hard drugs or anything, just weed. You knew a kid at school who was a dealer, so you approached him one day during lunch. 

Munson was sitting at his table with his group of friends and they were talking away about something. You approached from behind and tapped Eddie on the shoulder. He looked surprised that it was you, but it washed away and was replaced with a charming smile.

“Byers, what can I do for you?”

You leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “I was hoping I could buy something, you know?”

He pulled away from your close contact and lifted his brows. You were biting down on your bottom lip and waiting for some type of reply from him. He looked conflicted at your request, but when you turned your eyes on him, he looked sad. He could probably see the redness in your eyes from all the rubbing you did with the palm of your hands, or the dark purple circles growing each day under your eyes. Maybe also the way you were holding yourself, you were swaying to a nonexistent breeze, your legs feeling like they could give out any minute.

“Yea, just give me a minute.” You nodded your head and backed away from the table while he talked with his friends. They looked from Eddie to you and then at each other. Munson stood from the table and walked to you with a hand held before you. “Shall we?” he asked, that charming charisma still in place. You slapped a palm onto his and with a tug, the two of you left the lunchroom. 

If you felt eyes watching your back as you departed you didn’t bother checking to see the culprit.

-

You quit Lenny’s Pizza.

Actually, you were fired because of how many days you called off or just didn’t even show up for your shifts. You weren’t too upset at the loss of the job, you hated it anyway. 

Yea, you weren’t making any money currently, but you had enough saved up that you were able to buy small Christmas gifts for everyone. Also, the thrift store was a close friend of yours so you were able to find a majority of things that you knew everyone would like when you scanned up and down the many aisles. Although when you thought about getting something for Steve, you faltered. You wanted to get him something, but you weren’t sure if that was crossing some type of line. Sure the two of you were getting closer, but were you close enough to get him a gift? You held off, for now, maybe for his birthday, you would get him something.

One day, a week before Christmas, there was a knock at the front door. With you being the only one home, Joyce and Jonathan working, and Will at the Sinclairs, you were a bit spooked. You trudge up from your seat on the couch in front of the TV and walk to the door. Slowly you opened the door a crack and then all the way when you saw who was on the other side.

“Steve?”

Steve was standing in a dark brown coat to fight off the winter chill, his hands stuffed into the pockets of the coat. His cheeks were flushed with a rose tint that slowly was kissing the tip of his nose and ears. The wind swishing caused the strands of his hair to be pushed and pulled into different directions, it still held its shape though. He was grinning at your surprised face and his eyes drifted over your body.

“Cute pants.” You looked down and saw that you were wearing a pair of Star Wars pajama pants and a giant oversized t-shirt. You blushed when you become self-conscious about your appearance before Steve. Pushing hair behind your ear you let a chuckle out and stood aside with an arm out.

“Would you like to come in?”

“Thought you would never ask.”

With the door shut and Steve inside he removed his hands from his jacket pocket, and he was holding something within his grasp. It was a small white box, something like a jewelry box. You heard your blood rushing in your ears and your heart beating a second faster. It was kinda like that one dream you had. ‘Are you psychic?’ you questioned for a second.

Steve cleared his throat and it drew your attention away from your thoughts. He was fidgeting with the small box and he kept a darting gaze from you to anything else in the room. He was leaning from the balls of his feet to his heels. You took two steps closer and the gap between the both of you shrunk. Steve looked up from the box and held your curious look.

“I- I, uh, I thought I would bring you your gift early. I wasn’t exactly sure if you would even like it, but I asked your mom and even Will if they thought this was something you would be interested in so, so if you don’t like it, just blame them.”

You giggled nervously at his rambling and at the idea of him talking with Joyce and Will, trying to see if the gift he got for you was something you would enjoy. You took the box from his hands, a subtle shake in the hold, and you held the box like it was made of glass. You slowly opened the box and inside was a ring. It was silver all around and hugging the band was roses etched into the metal. It was something subtle, but so beautiful in its design.

“It’s stunning,” you looked up at Steve with a smile over your lips. 

He looked relieved at the comment. He released a small breath he must have been holding in, along with the tension leaving his shoulders. His face lit up in a similar smile as yours. You pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto each finger to see if it fit. It fit the most comfortably on your index fingers, ‘a new ring to wear everyday’ you thought with a grin.

“I feel bad, I wanted to get you a gift, but I wasn’t sure what you might have liked.”

“It’s fine, maybe for my birthday you could get me something, you know when we get to know each other more.”

Just the whole sentence sent butterflies swarming into my stomach. He had the same idea as you, waiting for his birthday. And the fact he said “when we get to know each other more” made you so ecstatic, he wanted to be around you. But you had to remind yourself that he just wants to be friends, and he’s still with Nancy. At least Steve Harrington was now within your grasp, something that was always just seen as a dream.

…

It was Christmas day and everything was great.

Will had been at home now for almost a month. His health was great, with no visible side effects of the Upside Down, but know he’ll probably be haunted by the memories. Will has been going back to school, but once a week he has to visit Hawkins lab so they could make sure his brain and body are doing okay. Sometimes you join him and Joyce when they go, the doctor, Dr. Owens seems nice enough. You don’t trust the lab though, they made everyone sign NDAs so you couldn’t mention anything. It’s not like people would believe you if you explained the series of events and how they actually unfolded.

You and Jonathan were on your way to the Wheeler’s home where Will stayed since early morning so the boys could play their new campaign. You wanted to drop off your gifts for Dustin, Lucas, and Mike. Joyce doesn’t want Will riding around on his bike anymore, well, mostly during the night she doesn’t. You looked out the passenger window and watched as light drops of snow fell from the sky, barely starting to coat anything within its reach. When you reached the big home, you rushed to the front door hoping to fight away the cold creeping in.

Mrs. Wheeler opened the door and had a welcoming smile gracing her stunning features. She ushered the both of you in the front door. “The boys are downstairs,” she said with a smile and headed to the kitchen. You opened the basement door with Jonathan behind you and you could hear the boys talking loudly about something having to do with their game.

“Jeez, what’s that smell?”

“Smell like prepubescent boys, you gotta air this thing out, Mike.”

“Have you guys been playing games all day, or just farting?” You and Jonathan joked with the boys.

Lucas chuckled, “Oh, that’s just Dustin. He farted.”

Dustin’s smile fell when Lucas started to make fun of him, “Dustin farted,” and he blew some raspberries his way.

“Okay, very mature, Lucas.”

You grinned at the boy's interaction. You walked to the table and held out a bag to Dustin and Lucas, then you handed one to Mike. You watched as they opened the gifts and smiled at the trinkets you found at the thrift. Happy with the items they recevied, they jumped from their seats and hugged you around the waist which you reciprocated with pleasure, and a head ruffle. Jonathan nodded to Will and you watched as he collected his stuff and followed behind him up the stairs.

“Bye boys, stop by the house soon,” you said while walking up the basement stairs.

With a chorus of tiny voices and “okays,” you closed the door. You stopped through the kitchen to wish Mrs. Wheeler a ‘Merry Christmas’ and met up with the boys near the stairs. You saw Nancy coming down as you turned the corner and gave her a wave. She smiled back and called out to Jonathan. You stood beside Will at the door and watched as Nancy stopped before Jonathan. She was holding a wrapped box in her grasp.

“Uh…” “Merry Christmas,” she said with a smile on her lips.

“Thanks, um…I…I didn’t get you anything.” You watched as Jonathan stuttered during the exchange. A tug of your lips was all you showed to your amusement at this moment.

“I…I feel bad.” “No. No, it’s, uh, it’s not really a present.”

That piqued your interest.

“It’s, um… Well, you’ll see.”

And then you watched with widened eyes as Nancy leaned forward, a hand on Jonathan’s chest, and a delicate kiss placed upon his cheek. You turned your head down to Will and saw he looked just as surprised as you with the interaction. You ruffled his hair at the look on his face. 

Looking back at Nancy and Jonathan, Nancy held a shy look on her face, and you could see a smile playing on Jonathan’s lips.

“Merry Christmas,” was all he said to her.

He turned around to you and Will, “you ready?”

“Yeah,” Will nodded his head.

“Let’s go.”

“I’m starving,” you spoke.

The three of you walked back out into the snowfall winter air, Will in the back with you and Jonathan up front. “All right. Buckle up.” Will leaned his head forward and pointed to the wrapped box sitting in the middle, “can I open it?”. Jonathan smiled at him and nodded his head, “yeah, sure.” With excitement Will grabbed the box and began to tear through the neatly done paper. You looked down at the box and a smile appeared on your face. It was a new camera.

“Wow. Pretty cool,” Will said.

“Yeah, pretty cool,” Jonathan chuckled.

When you got back home Joyce was almost done with making dinner. You all decided to just open your presents right now since there weren’t many. Jonathan was testing his new camera out, taking photos of anything at the moment that captured his attention. He took some photos of you and Will as you opened presents. You grabbed one that was labeled with your name and gently, but still with excitement you ripped the paper off the item beneath.

“Holy shit!” you screamed.

Under the wrapping paper were three new vinyl albums that you haven’t been able to buy. You were smiling ear to ear and looking at Jonathan just as he snapped a photo of you, the flash blinding you for a moment. He pulled the camera away and was smiling back at you.

“You like them?” “Are you kidding, of course!” you beamed down to the records.

Super Trooper by ABBA, The Game by Queen, and Rumors by Fleetwood Mac were placed delicately onto your lap and you just gazed upon them. You’ve been wanting them for a while, but the record store a town away was always out of stock.

“What you got there?”

You looked up at Jonathan thinking he was talking to you, but then you turned to Will as he was pulling a big box from under the tree. “That one of yours?” you asked curiously. “Yeah,” Will said while looking at the box.

“Looks pretty big,” Jonathan faked curiosity.

He took another picture, this one of Will, and the flash caused another moment of black spots in your vision. You tried blinking them away and saw Jonathan walk away. “Be careful. You’ll break it,” you warned Will as he was shaking the box to hear the contents inside. You felt overjoyed as you looked between Will, as he ripped a small hole trying to peek within the contents, and looked at Jonathan as he was snapping photos of Joyce in the dining room placing the food onto the table. You placed the albums on the couch and walked to the table.

“They’re so runny.” “Mom, it’s gonna be great,” you said while she criticized her potatoes. “It’s definitely an Atari,” Will stated as he sat down.

“An a-what-i?” Joyce asked.

“The green present. It’s an Atari. I felt Dustin’s today, it’s the same exact weight.”

“What are you, Batman? Why such a detective?” you giggled.

“Really, well…we’ll just have to see, won’t we?” Joyce played coy.

Just as you were about to eat Will stood up from his seat,

“Hey, no more snooping,” called out Joyce.

“No, I forgot to wash my hands. I’ll be right back.”

The three of you looked at each other for a moment and then dug into the food. You grabbed some potatoes, green beans, some turkey, and ham, when suddenly, “oh I should get my polaroid.”

You stood from the table like Will and walked down the hall into your room searching for the chunky camera. When you found it hidden under a pile of stuff you checked if there was film already inside, when nothing came out you checked your drawers for a new pack. When a new pack was inside and the top layer was spat out, you left your room.

Just as you left your room you could faintly hear coughing from inside the bathroom. You stepped in closer and leaned your ear against the wood door. You could hear Will coughing and then the sink water running. You waited until the water was turned off and saw the doorknob turn. Will stepped back when he saw you in front of the open doorway.

“You okay?” you whispered.

He hesitated, but then he quickly smiled and said, “yeah, I’m good.”

He walked back to the dining table, but you stood in your spot a moment longer. You weren’t sure if he was telling the truth or what, but you didn’t want to be pushing him on the matter. You walked back to the table and sat down.

“Mmm. Hey, mom. Did Will tell you about, uh, the game?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“No. What game?” “I threw a fireball at him and…” Will imitates an explosion with his mouth, “dead.”

“Wait, what is… You mean, this is…”

“It’s just Dungeons and Dragons, mom,” you quelled her nerves.

“Dungeons and Dragons, right.”

“It’s fun. (Y/n) you should play sometime.” “I would love to Will, it’s just that I think the boys wouldn’t like an inexperienced player ruining the game flow.”

“That’s just an excuse to not play,” Will retorted.

“No, I would love to play, it’s just very complicated.”

As you all continued in the easy and cheerful dinner conversation, the snow outside continued to fall fast and cold. It covered every inch of the surface that it could find. The warmth of your home being able to block out the coldness from outside, keeping the four of you in your quaint jolly cheer. Everyone with a smile taking control of their facial features, not a single one of you thinking of the events that took place a month prior. 

If someone were to see the scene from outside they wouldn’t know about the horrors the four of you have seen and wouldn’t know that some of you can’t escape them. They wouldn’t know about the destruction this house has seen and the damage done to it so you could defeat a demon. They wouldn’t know that the young boy was trapped in another world for a week and was on the brink of death. No, all they would see is a happy family of four eating at the table, talking about their friends, talking about ideas on their gifts under the tree, talking about anything.

The family wouldn’t even know about the impending horror looming in the back of the forest. Watching with its evil eyes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and ruin the happy image it’s currently watching. No, it’s biding its time. You won’t even know it's there until it’s too late.

But that’s something to worry about later.

------------------------

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[deanismysavior]

Nancy and Mike both tell people they love them, yet we see with Nancy, she can't say it again a year later because she doesn't love Steve anymore. we've seen mike say I love you once before when she wasn't in the room and couldn't admit that's what he said in the s3 finale. we see him say it again in the s4 finale and the outcome of that isnt so positive - el blatantly ignoring him in the cabin, not going to delve into that here though

out of the couples that have been set up for endgame (jancy, jopper, and lumax), none of them have said I love you to each other. in fact, all love in the show is directed towards family, stancy, things people love and Jason saying I love you to Chrissy at the start of 4×01 and we know how that relationship ended.. all in all, mosquito's future isnt looking to good

not sure if its been brought up before, but its interesting to thing about

You're absolutely right about that. The Duffers have consistently shown us that they don't like for things to be said outright, that actions and depth are more important to relationship building than words alone. We don't need to be told that Lucas and Max love each other, because we can see it. We don't need to be told Nancy and Jonathan love each other, because we can see it. We don't need to be told that Joyce and Hopper love each other, because we can see it. So why does Mike need to tell El he loves her outright nine times when he couldn't say it at all before? The Duffers have illustrated time and again that actions speak louder than words and that we should pay attention to what we see over what we hear. There's a reason the only times we ever heard an "I love you" was between couples where the love was not matched, because if it was there, it wouldn't have to be explicitly stated.

[erikiara80]

Things are a bit confusing.

In S2 the Upside Down doesn’t seem stuck on Nov 6th 1983 at all.

In S4 Nancy says that the UD is stuck on Nov 6th and it seems true, at least from what we see in her bedroom. The Duffers also confirmed that time is stuck on that day, but of course writers can’t tell you well, it’s not completely true. It would be a spoiler.

So, let’s see what we see in the show. 

We know that in S1 the Duffers and the other writers had like 30 pages where they explained everything about the UD. They already knew how it works and what it is. But they weren’t sure if they could continue the story, so maybe there are things that have changed. But in S2 they knew they could complete the story. And that’s when things get weird, if the reveal in S4 is true.

Season 1

Will and Joyce communicate through the Christmas lights on Nov 8th, and when Joyce is in the UD there are no lights in her house. So rewatching S1 now it really seems that the UD is stuck on the day Will went missing.

Visions don’t count. Henry can make you see whatever he wants. For example. In Will’s first vision there’s water in the sink. But there’s no water in the UD

Season 2 

In 2x02 we see the flashback of El waking up in the UD. Not a dream or a vision. And we know it happened while Joyce and Hopper were saving Will. But the classroom looks exactly like the real one. And when El leaves, she walks on the door the monster broke down. So it’s not Nov 6th here, it’s a week later.

Then we have Will’s visions. I said they don’t count, but they’re all in the present. The whole season is consistent with that.

See? Same car. Same day, October 1984. And in the third vision: this car

And this car

Will hears the demodogs in two different directions, so he looks to his left, then to his right. They wanted us to notice these cars? Who knows.

But there’s another real moment in the UD in this season. The ending scene, with the MF looming over the school. That’s not a vision. Many people have noticed the lights and said it was an error. But what about El waking up in the classroom, when we know it happened a week after Nov 6th? The ending scene could be a mistake. But both the ending scene AND the opening scene of the season? I doubt it. Unless they decided that the UD is stuck on Nov 6th later... But it’s not easy to ignore this after S4. 

In S3 there are only visions, of Billy talking with MF!Billy.

Season 4

The visions in this season are different from Will’s, they’re more nightmarish. Henry wanted to scare his victims as much as possible. But they’re still in the present (like Max’s at school or at the graveyard) And the snow ball scene is not really the UD, it’s her happy memory, where she tries to hide from Vecna. 

So, at this point, the only times in the show we can be sure the UD looks like Hawkins on Nov 6th are when Joyce is in her house in 1x08 and Nancy is in her room in 4x07.

The Duffers said that the UD being stuck on the day Will went missing will be the key plot point of the last season. They could’ve been much more vague, but...

Anyway, I trust them, and with all the callbacks to S1 we saw in S4, and knowing they included in S5 many S2 ideas, I’m sure they have a good explanation. But I admit this is weird.  

Maybe the UD is stuck on Nov 6th now but it wasn’t before? It happened after Will’s possession in S2? But why? Wouldn’t it be a bit complicated? Or maybe the only people who can see the UD in the present are the ones with powers, so Henry, El and in S5 we’ll find out, Will too?

I can’t wait to see what this all means!

[wheeler-things]

Alright, I previously alluded to the fact that I have some opinions regarding the OTHER two unaccounted for D&D antagonists as foreshadowing, so here it is (this is sort of just me rambling at 2 AM but I needed to get these stray thoughts out of my head before I could sleep):

(Note: this is a spin off from this post where I was speculating about the possibility that Vecna foreshadows something other than Henry Creel, and I'll be referencing my conclusions from that in this post as well because that post inspired/brought about this one.)

So, in terms of the Thessalhydra, I highly suspect that it's foreshadowing for the creature with the gaping mouth that Nancy saw in her vision. Like, we're definitely seeing whatever that creature was in s5, because they wouldn't have brought it up otherwise, and Will's painting makes the Thessalhydra relevant again so... yeah, I'm pretty confident about this one.

Regarding the Juju hoard... well.

Okay, so, I'm of two minds on this.

Because it's introduced in s3 and it's a hoard of basically zombies which are attacking a town, which Mike's PC self sacrifices in a fiery explosion to destroy. And in s3, we have the Flayed who are basically a hoard of zombies attacking Hawkins, which Hopper (who has so many narrative ties to Mike I swear to God, Hop is literally just Mike, but straight, a more bitter adult, and good at sports rather than science) self sacrifices in a fiery explosion to destroy. Of course, Hopper improbably survives, but imo that also makes sense, because what does Mike do when Will shows his frustration? Offers to walk it back and "finish the campaign for real". It all fits.

But...

Okay, so here's the thing.

We all know there's something up with the spores.

I've seen lots of people expressing irritation about them, as well, because they used to be treated as very serious/dangerous when the Lab was sending people into the Upside Down in s1-2, and the characters (especially the Party) took precautions when they went into the tunnels in s2, but as of s4, that seems to have gone out the window.

However, I actually don't think this is inconsistent at all. Because what happened in s1-2? Nancy went into the Upside Down without a mask and came out fine. Will certainly didn't have a mask all s1, and he might not have been totally fine but there was never any implication that the spores did anything particularly harmful to him. Hopper went into the tunnels without a proper mask and came out fine. Joyce and Bob went in without masks and came out fine. Mike went in with a mask but it fell down (I believe? Sorry, I'm not going back to 100% confirm this right now), and he was fine. Dustin's mask fell down and he got sprayed directly in the mouth with a bunch of spores, and he was fine.

Why would the characters bother to waste time with figuring out masks on top of everything else in s4 when they have never seemed to be necessary?

Sure, the government insisted on its agents wearing full protective gear when walking into the UD, but that's easy enough to rationalize, given that the local Hawkins monster hunters arguably have the most experience with the UD at this point, and... government rules are not always put into place because they're necessary. Sometimes, there are added precautions just in case.

I think it would be really easy for the protagonists to have come to the consensus that all the masking and protective gear was there because the government didn't yet know what they were dealing with/because it helped cover the butts of whoever was calling the shots, on the off chance it turned out the spores WERE dangerous. But our crew knows better! They may not have a massive sample size, but they do have a sample size that consists of most of their group, which seems to suggest that breathing in the spores is harmless. So, why bother with protective gear if it's just going to get in the way while you're running/fighting/if it's just going to slow you down while you're prepping for a fight, when you "know" there's no benefit to it?

...However. I've been thinking about Hopper's story about his exposure to Agent Orange, and...

"I used to think I was cursed. Ever since I was eighteen. Got some letter of induction in the mail. Uncle Sam wants me to go fight some war in the jungle. Charlie's moving South like a plague because of commie bastards like you, and... You know, I'm happy enough to go. Prove to my old man I'm not the piece of shit he thinks I am. I get over there, I must test well, and they put me in the Chemical Corps. There I am. I'm just a kid, you know? I'm eighteen years old, eight thousand miles away, and I'm mixing up these fifty-five gallon drums of Agent Orange. With just these kitchen gloves, you know? We used to clean out these buffalo turbines after a run, and just be inhaling the stuff. No masks, nothing. 'It's not chemical warfare; it's just herbicide to kill plants.' Harmless. That's what they told us."

Except, of course, Agent Orange was not harmless. Not in real life, and not in the show.

And the writers/producers connect it implicitly/narratively to the Upside Down, because Enzo (I cannot remember his real name to save my life rn) listens to this story, and then immediately starts talking about the Demogorgon. And then the scene cuts, and the next thing we see is the government agents inspecting Wayne Munson's trailer and deciding, upon realizing that a Gate has begun to open in his ceiling.

And what I find really interesting is that Hopper's description of their protective gear ranges from makeshift (like the masks and goggles the Party and Steve use in the tunnels in s2-- an attempt at safety and better than nothing, but nowhere near the level of protection they should have) to nothing at all (like all of s4 and many of the instances in s1 and s2 when the Lab isn't physically forcing someone into properly protective gear).

And now the spores are falling over all of Hawkins. Everybody in that town has been exposed.

And I'm just saying... "apocalypse scenario where if you've been exposed to the spores and you die in the UD/near an open UD gate, you come back as part of the UD's army/transform into something mindless and hungry and tied into the hivemind"? It seems like we could be going there.

Which would potentially build something of equivalence to Will's Juju hoard.

And... look, it's me. I can't not link this back to my developing Mike-as-Vecna theory. Excuse me while I take a break from theorizing and write a mini bullet point fic about this concept, I guess:

I can so clearly see a hypothetical scenario in my head, where Mike throws himself in front of a deadly blow that was meant for Lucas, and he's lying there dying with the Party all around him absolutely horrified, presumably gathered up in Will's arms lbr, and, like.

Essentially (unknowingly) trying to recreate his sacrifice in the s3 campaign just, like, ever the strategist, begging them to burn his body as soon as he's dead (I assume they'd have fuel and lighters on them if they're neck deep in an UD-based apocalypse scenario), because he can't come back to hurt them if his body is burned to ash.

And, like, Lucas having to steel his jaw to try and follow through on just that (because I can't imagine Dustin doing anything but freaking out/possibly having Eddie flashbacks, and Will... yeah, no, that's not happening, so it's really just up to Lucas to follow through).

But Will's having none of it.

I say, while my brain wildly chants "s2 Halloween parallel! Will's grasping onto Mike's corpse and desperately calling for him, begging him to wake up and just hold on until help gets there, until Will can take him home! Lucas reaching out to touch Will's shoulder, to take Mike's body out of his grip, and Will shoving him away and clinging tighter to Mike! Lucas trying to gently but urgently talk Will into letting Mike go, and Will absolutely refusing, maybe even suggesting that Lucas and Dustin should get out of there just in case, but this is Mike and Will's staying."

And then there's movement from Mike-- who was definitely dead a moment ago-- in Will's arms. Movement, and everyone's flinching back/Lucas and Dustin are hauling Will back. But, somehow, Mike's coming back to life without any of the usual changes most corpses go through before they become part of the hivemind. Maybe not 100% healed, maybe still very much in need of medical attention and lots of rest, maybe still in pain, but alive again.

Somehow, impossibly, he's still Mike, and the instant that's obvious, Will's ripping out of Lucas and Dustin's grip to go back to him, while Lucas and Dustin are left looking hesitantly between each other and Mike, because this isn't how it's supposed to go, and they're glad Mike's alive, somehow, but also, this can't bode well.

Spoiler: it does not bode well, because the only reason he wasn't turned into anything is because Mike is already tied to the UD, and at least his repressed emotions in the shadow monster are already hooked into the hivemind so he's needed alive but not as a drone, and it's the weirdness of him being Fine that pushes everyone (or maybe just a select few at first) to start to understand what's going on with Mike and how it connects to the UD.

ANYWAY, with that mini fic-adjacent detour out of the way...

I also think if the spores have the ability to turn people into hivemind-linked monsters, then this could link to the idea that Henry is actually slowly being turned into a Demogorgon or something similar (my beloved-- I love that theory so much you don't understand). AND might actually be able to explain a bit about how Will ended up developing his powers (assuming, as this theory tends to do, that Will developed his powers, in whatever capacity they end up existing in s5, from exposure to the UD rather than via experimentation or spontaneous development).

Bringing this back from my previous post...

^ link to the source site

I'm just saying... it says some wizards who want to gain "godlike supremacy" (it's Henry it's Henry it's Henryit'sHenry) are turned into these monsters. Some. Not all.

I'm just saying... Henry as a "wizard" wandering the UD, seeking to control it, being hooked into the hivemind and slowly (so slowly he doesn't notice what's wrong) being turned into yet another piece on the Mind Flayer/shadow monster's chess board vs. Will as a "wizard" (I mean, it's what he plays in D&D) wandering the UD, just wanting to go home, being hooked into the hivemind, but through that being gifted abilities he has yet to fully understand/utilize. Idk I can see it, that's all I'm saying. Plus, s2 Mike, who may be connected to the UD, identifies Will as a cleric when he actually plays a wizard... I don't know, something something Will was given the tools/the power to "fix"/"heal" the UD all the way back in s1, but simply hasn't realized his potential yet? I don't know. That's probably a Bit Much to actually happen in canon, but I find it so interesting to consider.

Anyway, that's all the rambling I have in me for the evening. Glad I got it out of my head, even if it's maybe-incomprehensible.

[0aurelion-sol0]

Oh shit... I just noticed something.

When the Mind Flayer has taken someone as a host or comes into contact with someone, he makes them relieve their worst memories in their life or memories that hurts them on some level.

This is what happened to Billy when he was a host and when El was facing against the Mind Flayer at the end of season 2. (Though she probably remembered it in the moment but she was also literally touching the Mind Flayer with her powers at this point.)

That means...

All these people (and maybe the rats too...) were remembering the worst moments of their lives while slowly losing their own sense of self and control of their minds and bodies.

Now let's turn to Will and El.

When Will went into the Upside Down and had the vine inside him putting all the larvae in his body, he gained an ability to see into the Upside Down. They called it the True Sight. But Will couldn't control it compared to El who can see through the Void by putting a blindfold on her eyes. The powers are similar but yet very contratry.

When Will had the Mind Flayer inside him and than was ejected by his family and Nancy, he gained powers.

When El was bitten the Mind Flayer and had him inside her leg but than ejected it, she lost her powers. Again, complete opposites.

And now in season 4, the El's storyline consist in her going back to a lab-like place with Brenner. Her old abusive figure from the past who apparently forced her to do something not good or will force her to do something not good.

We don't know if it's from the past, the present or the future. But given David Harbour's recent claims, it seems that this scene is happening in the past. And I talked about it here, the color grading in this scene is so unusual for ST who prefers blue/orange/red colors. It means that something bad has happened, is happening or will happen in this place. So if we are getting flashbacks of El's worst moments in her life, I am pretty sure it's because of the scar or whatever the Mind Flayer left in her.

But catch the tea...

When Will was possessed and in a comatose state...

We did not see what memories he was reexperiencing. We didn't have one type of hints or info what memories he was experiencing. And the symptoms were the same, he slowly forgot about his life and the people he knew just like Billy. Will only remembered Joyce and Mike, not even Hopper and Bob who have been a very important presence in his life during that time.

Why didn't the Duffers show us the memories he was experiencing ? Especially when El said to Joyce that she was watching them in 2x09 and she saw Will through the Void. She probably at some point could see him closer or even touch him and hold his hands considering he was in a comatose state. Even when he was unconscious and was in The Upside Down in Castle Byers, she was able to communicate with him.

Why didn't we see that ? Was she not able to tap through his memories ? Did the Mindflayer not want her to see those ? (We could argue that because he was in a comatose state, The Mind Flayer couldn't see a thing but you would think that a psychic watching you from another dimension who opened the very gate to your own dimension would ignite some sort of connection.)

Yes in 3x06, it was a trap but even in season 2, he tried to see everything that was happening and know the location of where Will was.

So why didn't we see all of this when we could have very much seen it ? It it another one those deleted scenes like in Season 1 or is it something hidden that the Duffers don't want to show us now ?

Perhaps, it is because there is more to it ? 🤔

Which brings me back to again, another post I've made, here, about the Mind Flayer not doing his red storm when he tries to possess Will.

[carolinahope]

Stranger Things S4

It was a jumbled disjointed mess. It had some top notch acting and some really lovely moments. But as a cohesive narrative it was severely lacking. 

I had hope Vol. 2 would tie at least some of the plot lines together but no dice. It, for the most part, felt as though they sacrificed characters in the name of plot. And to be honest, I’m not sure the plot was worth it. 

The only somewhat coherent plot was the Vecna/One/Henry reveal. Bringing back Brenner served no purpose other than revictimizing El. And I still don't understand why we needed to waste time on Sullivan. We definitely spent too much time in Russia in Vol. 1 and too little time in California. 

I already ranted about the retconning of Steve’s character. His dream is sweet and understandable for an only child of absentee parents. And I do hope he gets it one day. But him saying he always wanted it with Nancy? It just shows how little he knows her. The fact she never got to express herself about it irks me as well. Although I decided to take Robin interrupting them and saying they were indeed on the right path even though she thought they were going the wrong way, as an indication that the path both Nancy and Steve were on - the separate path, was indeed the right one. 

The thing I hate the most about the forced return to a Stancy romance is how it destroys three characters with one stupid decision. The biggest damage was done to Jonathan. But it also reduced Nancy to a prop. And undid a lot of Steve’s character development. And the more I think about it, the angrier I get. 

Other two characters whose journey seemed all over the place and without rhyme or reason are El and Robin. 

Robin seemed like a totally different person for most part. Her friendship with Steve luckily remained intact but I hardly recognized her between the seasons as the same person. And it was not a thing of learning more about a character. It was learning different. And it was jarring. And then in the last scene they went and just gave this new characterization to Vicky for a good measure. Make it make sense, please. 

With El what bother me the most was the inconsistency of her speech patterns. Which doesn’t seem like much but it kind of shows how they don’t really have a handle on where she is on her journey. And she mostly seemed to be there just for exposure of the Vecna/One/Henry plot line which is a crying shame. 

Dustin was the absolute MVP of the whole season. His scene with Eddie’s uncle was pure gold. Heartbreaking as it was. I loved his friendship with both Eddie and Steve a lot. They did at least something well. 

Argyle was the best addition ever. The way he just rolled with everything but also was unhinged in his very own way the whole time. Delicious. 

I was never fully invested in Joyce and Hopper but they were absolutely adorable in Vol. 2 and I couldn’t be happier for them. They are the perfect team. And their matching outfits were golden. And of course Murray. Murray makes everything better. 

In Vol. 2 they also finally remembered what an amazing big brother Jonathan is. Those two scenes with him and Will were heart wrenching but oh so beautiful as well. And the acting, top notch. 

Speaking of acting, Sadie Sink, what a performance. I could wax poetics about her all day. 

As much as Eddie’s death hurt, to me, narratively, his was the only satisfying arc. I wish I could watch a whole ass show about him but within the story he did it all and it was really hard to imagine where his character would go had he lived. Other than prison for murders he did not commit. Or on the run. And that would be even more unfair. 

On a shipping note, the Jonathan & Nancy reunion gave me life. And Mike’s love and trust being El’s power supply was so satisfying and consistent and beautiful. And Max and Lucas being probably the healthiest and most mature couple of the lot. 

Yeah, can you tell I’m disappointed and angry? Now I don’t really have expectations for S5. But hopefully the only way is up. *fingers crossed*

[buffysummers]

i completely agree about everything you said about Jonathan like about his character and like not caring if he dies only caring that it'll hurt Will and Joyce, but truthfully i don't think they will kill him off because of everything that family's been through already. what i'm terrified of and think is very likely is Steve dying and i really don't want that to happen :/

i really hope i'm wrong because it feels like they're hinting at it way too much so that we won't see it coming when it's not him but someone else who dies but also that shot of Dustin in the latest trailer has me so worried and like it could maybe be Eddie (which i don't want either but it's better than Steve dying)

what are your thoughts about Steve dying or like who else do you think it could be if not him?

I'm pretty sure the Duffer brothers said awhile ago that they'd never kill off Steve? I think there would be too much backlash since he's literally the fan favorite of the show, I'm pretty sure.

Having said that, I think I could see Steve sacrificing himself to save one of his children or to save Nancy or Robin. I really hope he doesn't die, he's one of my favorite characters.

I think it's too obvious to kill off Max since she already survived Vecna once. I think it would be kinda anti-climactic and a bit redundant. I could see Nancy being killed off, but since Vecna is after her next, it would also be a bit too obvious, too, since she's literally in danger currently? I just feel like them alluding and kinda hyping up killing people off and then having it be one or two of the main cast members that Vecna has already gone after would just be... idk, silly?

All of the characters seem expendable to me except for Eleven at this point. I also feel like them killing off Eddie won't pack as much of a punch as any of the original characters since he was just introduced. (Eddie because, like, why are they making killing characters off such a big deal if it's going to be a new character lol. But who knows, they're kinda dumb.)

So, I think Eleven and Eddie are safe. And probably Will, because of his season one arc. Him dying would feel like a repeated storyline. Same for Hopper. Can’t have that cliffhanger, revive him from the dead, and then kill him off the next season.

It's just tough to gauge what they're gonna do because they aren't exactly the most original or talented writers. Like, are they gonna go for a story that makes sense, a story that's going to hurt the most, or just go straight for shock value?

I also HATE that they're making such a big deal about killing off characters because it shifts focus from the plot and ofc it's going to be what viewers focus on.

tldr: I have no idea lol. But here’s a list of what is logical based on the writing and what *I* consider to be good/consistent writing:

Safe: Eleven, Max, Hopper, Will, Nancy, Eddie

Unsafe: Everyone else

[carnationcreation]

Can you do a Jonathan Byers one-shot where the female reader is a Hawkins Lab experiment who has super speed and was known as Seven and escaped the lab with Eleven and they were adopted by Hopper and she started dating Jonathan and during the fight with the mind flayer she tires herself out and faints and he goes into cute concerned boyfriend mode?

TITLE: New Life (Jonathan Byers x Hopper!reader)

✌🏻Masterlist 

💕 Request an imagine here!

🥰 Join my tag list here!

Request: yes!

Prompt/summary: Reader is an escaped experiment from Hawkins lab, after being adopted by Hopper with her sister El they struggle to adjust to the outside world. 

Word Count: 1,155

Warnings:  none

Authors note: I was listening to Dumb by KOPPS and Branded by NateWantsToBattle, really sets the vibe of most of the scenes

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

(Y/h/c) = Your hair color

(Y/f/b)= your favorite band

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

 She knew the blood dripping off her feet would attract the hounds.

At this point it didn’t matter if she wanted to give up, she’d be dead either way. The hounds would tear her apart. If they were going to catch her they’ll have to keep up.

Her powers only worked if she had enough energy. After a full night of running, both super sonically and regularly, she was exhausted. The clothes she had escaped with were torn and she had bruises on her body from the times she fell over branches and rocks sticking out of the ground. She knew she would have to find food soon, but she didn’t have any idea of how to get it.

The growl in her stomach went away for just a little bit, then it came back with a painful vengeance. Her days at the lab consisted of being locked in her room or being put into the tank. What little she could remember about her life before was stripped away in a matter of months and the more she thought about it the more her head hurt and she came up empty. 

Her vision was going in and out. Her feet felt like lead and she knew she wouldn’t be able to run much longer.

Maybe, she thought, if I just lay down here. I’ll be dead before they find me.

It was an optimistic thought. What she didn’t expect was to feel someone gently picking her up. Her body sunk into him. She couldn’t have been more than 13 years old but she had a number lower than 11...

Hopper turned her wrist over and saw the tattoo on the girls small wrist. A tiny 07 was drawn there, surely she had to have been there before El.

By the time he had gotten back to the cabin El knew he had her and was bringing her home. 

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

The next few months were terrifying for the girl. She couldn’t speak much, just like El when she was first found. After days of trying to feed her and get her to talk it wasn’t until El presented her own tattoo that the girl seemed to relax. The only time she would eat was when El was in the room, the only time she would sleep was when they were both in bed.

Her powers were a struggle. She had to learn she couldn’t use them around other people. And people. The girl had spent her entire life locked away, only seeing other humans if she was useful enough. So being introduced to knew people was terrifying. They soon found out she was probably around 16-17 when they took her in for a check up with a private doctor. Hopper pulled some strings so it was no questions asked, and an adoption paper was formed a few days later.

She found some comfort in Nancy, who took the girl under her wing buying her clothes and teaching her how to keep her hair in order. The (y/c/h) was finally starting to grow out from the horrible buzz cut she had when she was found. 

Then she met Jonathan.

At first he thought she hated him, because whenever he was around she would cling to the people she deemed safe. Nancy assured him she would warm up to him eventually, but there was still a voice in his head that said she wouldn’t. 

She grew close to Will after he gave her a drawing he had made for her. He carefully explained that it was her in the game that they play. He drew her as an Elf, one with the power of speed, he drew her with long wavy hair that was styled half up half down and a glorious crown on top of her head. She kept the drawing in her bedroom and looked at it before going to bed. Jonathan wouldn’t lie, he was jealous his brother bonded with her before he did. And besides, Will was a few years younger. But still he waited patiently to see how you would react to him.

Slowly you started warming up to him. After a while you started to look curiously at the camera he always carried with him.

”It’s a camera,” he said handing it to her, “Look, place your finger right there, and press it.”

the girl jumped as the flash went off. Jonathan grabbed the picture that popped out of the top of it and shook it a few times. The girl watched in wonder as the picture of Jonathan slowly appeared on the film. She pointed excitedly to it.

”Yes you did a good job!” he smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back.

As time went on Joyce invited the two girls over to their house more often. (Y/n), as Hopper had named her on the fake birth certificate, would wander in to Jonathan’s room to look at the pictures that were scattered on the walls. 

”Have you ever listened to music?” Jonathan asked her one day.

She shook her head and looked at the small cassette he had in his hands. He popped it into the radio and she stared with furrowed eyebrows at the machine. 

“Not much into rock huh? I guess we can find something you’ll like.”

Slowly, the two grew a friendship. Jonathan made it his personal mission to find out what kind of music (Y/n) would like best and also adjusting to her new life. They eventually landed on (y/f/b), and whenever he knew (Y/n) was coming over he’d have a tape ready for her to listen to. Will would join in occasionally on their music sessions.

They both soon learned how starved (Y/n) was of physical touch. Growing up as an experiment didn’t leave much room for hugs or gentle touches. She’d let Will lay in her lap whenever he wanted and hugs were always exchanged when they saw each other. The first time Jonathan tried to brush her hair out of her face with his hand he saw he flinch, his heart fell and thoughts of what might’ve happened to her to cause that raced through his mind. Soon enough he could reach for her hand without her pulling away. Soon enough she started reaching for his too.

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

Jonathan did his best to keep the girl away from Star Court. (Y/n) had stayed home most of that summer. With all the fireworks going off and all the people milling around she didn’t feel safe enough to go out. It wasn’t until the rest of the kids came to the cabin to give El the chance to find the Mind Flayer that she learned about what all the experiments at the lab where truly for.

Billy had found them.

They were trapped inside the mall after everyone split up to complete the mission. Mike frantically spoke into the walkie-talkie trying to get in contact with the Scoops Troop. Eleven moved the car as the mind flayer made its way into the mall, everyone ran to hide. They could hear Dustin finally talking over the walkie-talkie.

The mind flayer stalked around the food court. From her place behind the car (Y/n) could hear it making its way over. El and (Y/n) made eye contact, they both nodded and El’s group ran for cover in the Gap store. The mind flayer heard movement and went to turn and (Y/n) ran and threw a knife, hitting it in the leg to distract it, but by the time it turned around she was gone. (Y/n) ran over to the group and picked El up, they ran to a back hallway trying to get the injured El to safety.

 Billy stalked his way down the hall to the four.

“Billy please, your name is Billy Hargrove you live at-” Max cried before hitting her and knocking her against the wall. Mike stood between him and the girls but it was no use. Before they could even properly react he knocked both Mike and (Y/n) out and took El with him.

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

Jonathan found them back there, he woke them up finally and they raced back out to the food court to execute Plan B. 

(Y/n) ran back and forth at the first floor, sing rope to tie up the Mind Flayers legs as the others threw fireworks in it’s face to distract it. Soon enough they fan out. With Dustin yelling frantically to close the gate. We all ran for cover and watched in shock as Billy stood up. He faced the Mind Flayer, and when it shot it’s nasty tongue out Billy blocked it from hitting El. Arm after arm reached out and impaled the boy. Max screamed. (Y/n) saw her chance and used the last of her strength to run down and grab El, Mike, and Max to bring them to safety. Finally a big explosion went off from below and everything went dark. 

When (Y/n) woke everything was dark. All the lights had went out and the fire department was loading her up onto a stretcher. Jonathan ran up beside her and got onto the ambulance with her.

“Jonathan?” she said meekly.

“I’m right here (Y/n), I’m right here.”

“Where’s El?”

Jonathan paused, “She’s with my mom. She’s safe just injured.”

“Hopper?”

Jonathan didn’t respond. Tears formed in (Y/n)’s eyes as she began to sob. 

“(Y/n) I promise you we’ll keep you safe. You’re going to be fine.”

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

It was 3 months after the battle of Star Court. Joyce had adopted both El and (Y/n), who still hadn’t fully recovered from the loss of the person who has showed them so much love. (Y/n) had grown closer and closer to Jonathan. Clinging to him after she got out of the hospital. The Byers had finally decided to move. (Y/n) laughed at Max and Lucas’ terrible rendition of The Never Ending Story. She watched as El tried to use her powers once again on the stuffed Koala in the closet. 

“Don’t hurt yourself El,” (Y/n) yelled from the living room. 

Jonathan walked in from outside with Nancy and sat down beside the girl on the couch.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” he said. He kissed her temple as he wrapped his arm around her.

“Scared,” (Y/n) said.

“Scred? Of moving?”

(Y/n) stared at the floor, “Yeah...”

“We’re going to be okay, we’ll have a fresh start. No one will know where you came from other than Hawkins. They’ll just know you as (Y/n), the girl that’s really fast and has the prettiest smile.”

Their powers were gone. It was hard to adjust to at first. Both (Y/n) and El felt so empty inside, but they knew it was for the best. Maybe they could lead a normal life. (Y/n) slowly became more comfortable with the affection between her and Jonathan. And he began to introduce her to people as his girlfriend. What little (Y/n) knew about relationships all pointed to the fact that she cared about Jonathan. Not in the way that she cares for Will or El, but a different kind of care. She didn’t mind being called his girlfriend. 

She heard El’s sobs from the bedroom and left Jonathan’s embrace to make sure she was okay. After reading Hopper’s letter they both sat on the floor sobbing until Joyce told them it was time to go.

Boxes were loaded in to the U Haul and hugs were exchanged among the kids. (Y/n) looked back on the house from the front seat of the car, watching as her friends waved from their spot on their bikes. She smiled through her tears and waved until she couldn’t see them anymore. 

“Babe?” Jonathan said.

She turned to look at him.

“This is going to be our new life, away from any monsters in Hawkins. We’ll be back for Thanksgiving, I promise.”

She smiled and buckled in to her seat. She reached for Jonathan’s hand and he pulled it up to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Her heart swelled at the small gesture, before turning to stare at the road ahead.

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

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[janeirl]

idk if it’s too much to ask but BESTIE can you pls give me a review for episode two as I need feedback smh 😔

YES BESTIE OFC i’ll do the best i can

(anyone who hasn’t read it and wants to read it scroll really fast bc this contains spoilers!!)

let me just start off by mentioning how consistent the attention to detail is?? it is never too overboard nor too little and it’s incredibly refreshing seeing writing that gives me the impression that it has a lot of heart and soul in it. like you can feel every emotion the characters are experiencing through the words, and it is so easy— for me at least —to picture just exactly what’s going on.

each character is focused on and not one is completely left in the dust; and i’m obsessed with how well lucas is written. you really hit the nail when it came to his personality and it is clear that he is conflicted with his position regarding the basketball team. we know jason and the other players are considered lucas’s “friends” (in quotes since we know it’s not necessarily true), so obviously there are gonna be and perhaps continue to be times where lucas defends them— and i really hope that he realizes soon enough that the party will always be there for each other despite the members all being in their own ruts. and every time i see mike refuse to acknowledge his growing confusion + feelings for will i want to SCREAM and that’s such a good thing; like the fact that i’m reacting like this means the script is so good to the point where it quite literally feels legit. max’s struggles at home and the rockiness of her and lucas’s relationship, with lucas doing the best he can to contribute is super nice to read and can allow readers to have more of an insight to how they interact alone post s2-3; thank you so much for highlighting the love they have for each other. nancy and robin bonding for the first time put such a huge smile on my face. them teasing each other, coming to terms with the disappearances might meaning something— it’s so, so realistic and entertaining. nothing is moving too fast nor too slow; the pacing is perfect— and i’m pretty sure it took me around 50 minutes to read, which i find impressive considering that’s the show’s usual episode length.

i want to focus on eddie for a second because..... omg. i am LOVING the way you characterize him and made him into such an enjoyable person to read about. every time i get to see his POV i get so excited !! his devotion to the club is exactly what i imagined when i first heard about him + the hellfire leaks, and i adore how he is so willing to protect dustin and mike from jason. i can feel the adrenaline and anger through the fight scene and it is definitely something i can genuinely see close to happening in season 4. it’s interesting to see eddie panic as everything unfolds before him, but his sarcasm and being a smart-alec gets the best of him, of course, as the basketball team begins to antagonize him.

will and el, by far, are so accurately written. el trying to contact hopper— and failing :( —is totally happening next season; along with the troubles at school, feeling lost + hopeless, and the subtle tension at their new home. i feel so bad for joyce, and my heart quite literally broke with the picture of hopper. and then jonathan and argyle??? their whole dynamic is to die for. argyle’s care-free lifestyle juxtaposition to jonathan’s normally stressed nature just clashes together sooo well. overall, when it comes to the byers’s situation, i can’t wait to find out how will handles the resurfacing upside down episodes. as for hopper’s situation.... oh boy...... FREE HIM YURI 🙏 if he tries anything suspicious i’m gonna scream n shout. ALSO the idea to make brenner the “american”??? chefs fucking kiss. i did not see that coming at all and it fits SO well. i wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been the “american” all along next season tbh.

i seriously have no complaints if i’m being honest. the best advice i could give as of currently is to make sure to proofread thoroughly enough to where there’s no grammatical errors. i really, really hope you continue to make scripts for stranger things 4, and maybe even make something of your own creation! your script writing is spectacular.

[mrvdocks]

Plus One

Steve Harrington has had an eventful life. He's slain monsters, saved the princess, and earned his dignity back. But that was in the past.

It's seven years later, 1994, and he's still finding himself. His friends have been up to other things though, getting married and inviting him to those weddings.

It's the last thing he wants to do, but his roommate decides to make him go through all four weddings in hopes of finding someone.

And so it begins.

(chapter one)

It’s been seven years since the gang has had any incident or warnings or dreams about monsters. Things have died down in Hawkins. So much so that it’s starting to feel normal again, or whatever normal is for everyone else. 

Steve feels like an outsider, though. Everyone he knows is getting married. Nancy and Jonathan, Robin and Kali, Hopper and Joyce, hell even Tommy and Carol tied the knot in Vegas. All of these, weddings he’s been invited to. Except for the latter, they sent him a postcard with a phallic drawing in the back. 

He was used to moping, even if Robin had threatened to make him listen to disco to cheer him up. You thought it was funny though, it showed he had some emotion after all. 

It’s not that he couldn’t continue his womanizing streak. It’s just that after feeling that connection with Nancy, he didn’t want to see different people in the morning. He wanted the one. 

It didn’t help that his parents would call all the time now. Asking him things like if he’d found a girlfriend yet, or a steady job, or be constantly reminded that the clock was ticking. He was painfully aware. 

He’d just come back from his stint as a bartender in some dingy club in lower Manhattan to the somewhat comfortable apartment he shared with you and Robin. Well, that is, until Robin decided to move in with Kali. Robin had taking a liking to you, you weren’t as girly and deluded as the other applicants they were going through and you certainly weren’t as bothersome.

Envelopes and bills spilled on the black mat you’d picked out, warding off visitors or unwanted guests with a foul word written on it. He gathered them, going through them as he opened the door. Nothing but bills and subscriptions.

What a joy to be an adult.

He let the things fall onto the taped up coffee table on its last legs and collapsed onto the faded green couch.

He heard the pitter-patter of your feet running into the living room. “Oh honey, you’re home.”

He snorted. “Haha, funny.” 

“What? No ‘Hey how’s your day?’ or ‘Good Morning’?”

“Good Morning.” He mumbled face down.

You smirk, settling onto the arm of the couch. “How bad was it?”

“Oh god, so bad.” He lifts his head up, eyes rolling for dramatic effect. 

“I’ve never had to clean vomit before in my life and now I feel so bad for what you have to go through.”

“Ugh, ok there’s a difference between cleaning up after drunk assholes and poorly malnutrition-ed dogs.”

He groans, stuffing his face back down. “My back is killing me.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry Grandpa, do you want me to rub your back or maybe your feet?”

His head lifts up again to narrow his eyes at you. “You’re only four years younger than me, this is your future! But also, yes please.”

You roll your eyes in amusement. “I’m never going to be like this at your age.”

He chortles. “Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm. Unlike you, I have a life. I’m active!”

“I’m not sure sitting with a pack of popcorn and watching sci-fi tv counts as being active.” 

You gasp and rip the pillow from underneath him to hit him with it. “You’re the one who cried when Scully and Mulder -”

“Ahhhhh! No! Shut up!” He plugs his ears with his fingers. 

You erupt with laughter, falling off of the arm and onto the floor. 

You share a fun moment together before he groans again about his back. You think to resolve this with the expensive purchase you’ve been hiding. You rush into your room, if it could even be called that, grab the basin, fill it with water and back into the living room. 

“Here, kick off your shoes.” You kneel down, turning on the machine and placing his feet into the water. 

His tone changes the moment he feels the warmer kick in. He throws his head back in content and comfort. You take his shoes and place them near the doorway. 

“Did you see this?” You ask, the gold of a letter catching your eye. He hums in response.

You use the keys to rip it open, the hard cardstock nearly giving you a paper cut. You’re greeted with a beautiful invitation, all black with gold lettering and cursive writing. 

“You are cordially invited to share in a celebration of the union of Dustin Henderson and Suzie Smith.”

Steve’s eyes fly open as he turns his head to face you. “Let me see that.”

You pass it to him, getting comfortable in the little space and trying to remember where you’ve heard their names before.

Steve chuckles to himself, scanning the whole invite. “He did it. He really did it.”

“Dustin...is he the one you’re always talking about?”

“Yeah,” he smiles to himself, thinking of how much time has passed. “Kind of like the little brother I never had. Wow, I haven’t seen him since he was 15.”

You’ve never seen Steve so happy before. He doesn’t talk much about his life back in Hawkins and neither did Robin. You could only assume it was as boring like your own hometown and thus the reason for their leave. 

“Isn’t this the fourth wedding you’ve been invited to?” 

He sighs. “Yeah but, I don’t even know if I’m going to any of them.”

Your brows furrow. “Why not? You said it yourself this is like your brother.”

He lets the invitation fall onto his lap. “Because - I, I’m not as interesting as they probably think I am.”

“Pfft. So what? You want to entertain some people to spruce your ego or something?” 

“No,” he crosses his arms. “It’s just everyone’s getting married, my cousin just had like his third kid, oh and this guy at the bar was showing me his grandkid and crying like crazy.”

“So? Everyone’s different, things don’t always have to match up. You don’t have anything to prove.”

He squeezes his eyes closed and runs his hand through his hair.

“How about this? We go and we just try and set you up with someone. Doesn’t matter who. It’s four weddings, there’s bound to be some marriage material in there.”

He side smiles, contemplating. “Alright.”

“Good,” you clap. “You need this. Plus there’s something wrong with the plumbing and we have to leave while they fix it.”

He groans. 

January 13, 1994

Nancy & Jonathan’s Wedding

Portland, Maine

One Day Before

The airplane ride wasn’t too bad. Actually no, that was a lie. There was mostly turbulence and you spent most of the four hours freaking out and thinking that there was something going horribly wrong. Steve wouldn’t stop laughing at you though, faking that your seatbelt had come undone too many times. You shut him out by grabbing a blanket and trying to lull yourself to sleep without thinking about how you were suspended in mid-air on a death trap. 

It didn’t work as well as you’d hoped, being able to hear Steve’s poor flirting with the flight attendant. You rolled your eyes, but you had to give him some credit. He was starting early.

Steve shook you awake shortly after touchdown, poking at you. “Alright good, you’re in one piece. Can’t afford to claim you as extra baggage.” 

You faked a laugh and pinched him, earning a yelp from him and eyes from other passengers.

One confusing cab ride later, you both had arrived at a pleasant looking hotel. It looked over the ocean, which smelled and felt so incredible. It was cloudy now, the sun hiding away and making the hotel the sole focus of your attention. 

You struggled to get your suitcase up the stairs, eventually giving up and letting Steve carry it while you carried the other bags. 

“Geez, what’s in here, rocks?”

“Hey! I didn’t know what to bring exactly so I brought a little of everything.”

“You look like you packed for two weeks, we’re only going to be here for two days!”

“I work hard to look good, Steve. Which is less than I can say about this number.” You gestured to his wardrobe consisting of a worn henley, frayed at the end of the sleeves, a denim jacket and brown boots you stole from him from time to time. 

He looks up and down. “I think I look good.” 

You ignore him, continuing up the infernal stairs, mentally making a note to join Robin on her retreats. 

You two are trying to catch your breath at the desk when you meet the attendant. 

“Byers wedding.” You huff out. 

When you’re handed the keys, you steer Steve into an elevator, not even bothering to look at the massive set of stairs even if they were decorated beautifully.

“Hurry.” He whispers, dragging the suitcases. 

“I’m trying! You’re the one who packed all these jackets.” 

“It’s cold, do you want us to freeze?”

“No, but we could’ve done with two!”

You both finally arrive to your room confused. 

“Wait, why did she give you only one key?” Steve asks, hand on his hip like a mother.

“I don’t know, you’re the one that booked it.” You shrugged, sticking the keys in and opening the door.

“I clearly said two people in one roo - I see my mistake.” 

A single king bed stares back at you both, tidied up with a towel teddy bear in the middle of it. 

You glance at Steve, meeting his eyes before glancing back to the room. You both stay silent.

“I’ll take the floor.” You both say in unison.

“No, no, you can take the bed. Since you say you always need your beauty sleep.” He gestures to your face.

You snort. “Me? No, Grandpa, I think you need it more than I do. Wouldn’t want you breaking your back at the wedding and outshining the bride.”

He mimics you in a high pitched voice, prompting you to laugh. 

“Listen we can figure it all out once we get everything unpacked, okay?” You wave him off. 

He shrugs. “Fine by me.”

The tv plays in the background while you brush your teeth. Steve settles in the huge bed, patting down his pillow. 

Once you’re done, you wet your fingers and rush into the room and flick your hand at Steve. You get him right in the face.

“Hey! I’m trying to sleep here.”

“You’re no fun.” 

“Yeah well, we can have as much fun as we want tomor- what’re you doing?”

His train of thought is interrupted by you slipping into the bed. 

“What? You really thought I was going to sleep on the floor?” 

He chuckles nervously. “No.”

It amuses you. “Relax.” 

He slinks back into bed, one arm under his pillow and the other atop his forehead. You grab one of the extra pillows and wrap your arms around it, your right leg climbing on top of it. 

A few minutes pass and the pillow is too uncomfortable and sweaty so you discard it onto the floor somewhere. You huff. 

You glance at Steve who’s snoring lightly.

“Steve.” You whisper. 

Nothing.

“Steve!” You whisper a little louder.

He hums in response. 

“Are you asleep?”

“I was.” He whispers back.

“Can I..hug you?”

That gets his attention. His arm leaves his face, now looking at you through sleepy eyes. 

“What?” 

“Can I hug you? I can’t sleep without the pillow making me sweaty.” 

“Uhh, what about Danny?”

“We broke up. A while ago.”

His mouth drops into an O shape. 

You shake your head, dismissing the thought. “Nevermind.”

Steve hops onto his elbows, “No! No, it’s okay. Really.”

You turn back, trying to see if he’s serious. When that sorry look is apparent, you nod. 

“How do you - oh okay.”

You get close to his right side, swinging your leg over his waist and wrapping your right arm over his chest. He can smell your shampoo. 

“Cuddling doesn’t have to be sexual by the way.” You murmur into his chest.

He almost asks you to explain that but when he hears your soft snoring, he forgets. 

[marypsue]

For the fic ask thing: Question 1, 3, 5

from this meme

1. Is writing cathartic or stressful for you?

Yes.

3. Do you have any upcoming WIPs? How far along are you with them?

I always have way too many upcoming WIPs. In order of how close (I think) they are to finished, though:

The Monster Stranger Things Longfic, currently titled the road goes ever on, is about...a third of the way through the final chapter? And then it needs extensive second-draft work, so it may not be ready to post until after I’ve finished

The sequel to the kids aren’t alright, currently titled put your curse in reverse. I’m currently drafting chapter 12 of what I had roughly outlined to be 14 chapters, though it’s looking like it might end up being closer to 15 or 16. I am always, always guilty of fic sprawl. This one is going to need less second-draft overhauling, though, so it might be ready to post before the monster longfic is. 

This Bob/Joyce/Hopper time loop fic I’m calling how many times (do you want to die), which I thought at first would probably be much too angsty a title for what was going to be quite a silly little fic and then...I actually thought about what it would be like to have to live through the demodog attack on the Hawkins lab over...and over...and over...again. I am on the final loop and trying to figure out how the hell to solve the entirety of season 2 in one day without Kali who I sadly could not figure out a way to fit in, but once I do...it’s over for you bitches.

The Stranger Things ageswap AU which has the working title that same small town in each of us, which I’ve actually posted some samples from! (There are also some samples from the monster longfic in this tag, too. I really should have consistent tags for posts about each of my WIPs. That would be smart.) I have no idea when this is going to be finished, because I’m still trying to figure out a good chunk of the middle, but I have most of Nancy’s plot sorted and one really great scene for her for the ending that I really want to get to, so it’ll happen eventually.

The sequel to the sequel to the kids aren’t alright, which has the working title former heroes who quit too late. It’s got an extensive outline and I am very very very excited about some of the things I’m planning with it because I think I’ve figured out how to solve some of the major issues I had with s3 in canon. 

The Nancy/Jonathan/Steve bodyswap fic that I mentioned in a previous post, which has the working title why can’t we be ourselves like we were yesterday, which comes from New Order’s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, the theme song for OT3s in the 80s. I don’t know what the...actual...content of this one is beyond the four scenes I’ve written and the vague impression I have of what each of the characters needs to take away from the experience. I’ll get back to you on whether it’s ever actually going to get finished. 

(And also I need to finish Something Borrowed, Something Blues. I should also finish Imbalance, but...I’m starting to feel like that may have become impossible due to circumstances beyond my control.)

(Also also, I have not given up on finishing that original piece about the changeling and the AI who fall in love and also there’s King Arthur and superheroes. I’m very attached to it, It’s just...I’m going to remain very attached to it even after I’ve cooled a little on cranking out AU after AU for Stranger Things.)

5. Share a snippet that you’re proud of from an upcoming fic/chapter.

Have a scene from the bodyswap fic because otherwise I don’t know if it will ever see the light of day.

Jonathan really hopes Family Video makes its employees wear nametags. Otherwise, he’s not sure he’s going to know who ‘Robin’ is.

He shouldn’t have worried, though. Because he recognises the girl behind the counter when he comes rushing in, from the mall. And she recognises him, too, by the way she frowns. “Harrington! It’s two minutes to nine. What happened?”

“I thought my shift didn’t start until nine?” Jonathan asks, mentally cursing Steve for not keeping better track of what time his shift starts and Nancy’s mom for holding him up and whatever mysterious Upside Down bullshit put them in this predicament in the first place.

Robin frowns a little more. “Yeah, dingus. You’re two whole minutes early. If you’re gunning for my Employee of the Month title, you’d better be ready to do better than that. I’ve got this one sewn up.” She reaches across the counter to ruffle Jonathan’s – well, technically Steve’s – hair, and Jonathan jerks backwards in shock. Robin takes it in stride. “And your lustrous locks are somewhat lacking this morning. Where’s your vest?”

“My what?”

Robin tugs at the ugly green polyester vest she’s wearing with a knowing smile. “I knew something’d have to give to get you here any earlier than five minutes late.” The words are accusatory, but the way she delivers them is – fond. “C’mon, I’m sure Keith’s got a spare kicking around somewhere. Can’t help you with the hair, though.”

“That’s all right,” Jonathan says, sounding a little faint to his own ears. He hadn’t realised Steve had made an actual friend his own age. Last he’d heard, via Nancy, Steve was still spending most of his free time acting as the president of the local Babysitters’ Club.

Jonathan’s got to admit it’s a weird relief, though. He’d felt – maybe just a little guilty, when Nancy’d dumped Steve and Steve had immediately stolen Jonathan’s former title as Hawkins High’s biggest loner. Without King Steve making them untouchable, the asshole power couple of Tommy H and Carol had lost a little of the asshole and a lot of the power. Jonathan can’t honestly say he was disappointed. The fact that, once he’d ditched them, Steve might not have any other actual friends except for Nancy hadn’t even occurred to Jonathan until it was too late.

Robin’s still looking suspiciously at him. Jonathan swallows, hard. “I’m – trying something new. With the hair.”

“Yeah?” Robin gives the top of his head a long, assessing look. “Try something else.”

[share-the-damn-bed]

You answered everything perfectly with regards to your last post. Do you think Steve and Nancy are actually going to come back together? Or what do you think is going to happen?

*deep sigh* I know what I want to happen and I have tried to think rationally enough to predict what I think will actually happen but this all hinges on the underlying assumption that the ST4 writers are also approaching the story with the characters' best intentions in mind with a strong consideration of previous character development and events from prior seasons. It's what they should do but I don't trust them. at all. (Forgetting Will's birthday was a huge blow to my trust.)

So if the writers are trying to write Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan consistently, I don't think Steve and Nancy are going to get back together. I love Jancy but I also love Steve and I can't see this being a good move for anyone involved. I can't make sense of the paralleled Nancy/Jonathan scene in episode 1 if that is the case. I understand the lying part (We're fine! Everything's great! *narrator: It was not and they were not*) but the honest exploration of why they love each other (also first time they've dropped the "L" word for fans) doesn't give a lot of room for genuine Steve/Nancy rekindling (especially with how superficial the moments are). I'm pretty sure the ship teasing moments in episode 6/7 were to pack an emotional gut punch for when Nancy gets Vecna'd. I really don't think we are going to see anymore flirty Nancy and Steve moments after she is released from her trance. I really hope they get a chance to talk honestly about everything. Steve and Nancy AND Nancy and Jonathan. Hell even Jonathan and Steve (but that is merely a dream not something I think they'll do).

BUT if the writers are solely thinking in terms of fan service and keeping hype alive between ST4/ST5 I could see them wanting to keep building the St*ncy moments, have Jancy reunite but leave things open ended this season so social media teams can milk fan engagement over the break. (which... bleh.) Even though I hate it, I think the probability of either happening is 50/50. My trust in the writers is that low. And if the second option happens, all bets are off in ST5.

Warning: Potential Spoilers for Volume 2

I don't think in either case St*ncy will rekindle in ST4. We know from some of the leaks that apparently Jancy will reconnect, there's a forehead kiss, and that they are both at Hopper's cabin in the end. This doesn't exactly scream "Jancy is fine and we no longer have to worry about St*ncy" but I think it is a good sign. However, I am very very hesitant to trust leaks even from trusted sources that have been right thus far. I have been burned before. I have had a reliable, never-been-wrong source for leaks in other fandoms before intentionally put out a fake leak (that the show runners wanted to get out into the general public to make the finale plot twist *that* much more devastating) so I always take leaks with a grain of salt ESPECIALLY surrounding finales.

As for what I want to happen by the end of this season...? I want Will to have moment with Jonathan where he basically tells him to leave (lovingly of course. People have wanted this from Joyce but I think it will be much more meaningful and make a stronger case if Will is the one to tell him to put himself first for once.) I want Nancy to process her guilt, realize that she misses Jonathan and still wants to be with him (would LOVE for some of their memories to be what pulls her out of her trance). I want Steve and Nancy to realize it's over between them and that it can never work out between them. I would love for Steve to realize that he needs more from 'the one.' Maybe even realize he may need to leave Hawkins or take a different career path. Idk, this guy is also suffering from a lack of character development this season. I need Jonathan and Nancy to talk honestly about their future and their feelings. I need this more than I need the air I breathe but I am not getting my hopes up.