#erica Sinclair x Dustin henderson

[leeloooonfire]

A wedding and a falling in love - a ff idea

when Steve and Eddie are finally (legally) allowed to marry, they do it. Not only because Steve is a huge romantic and Eddie would let a horde of demon bats eat him alive if that’s what brings Steve happiness, but because out of spite. To anger all those hateful, disgusting homophobes who went out into the streets to protest against their love. It’s not only for them, but for all the queer kids who don’t have anyone to look up to; who need queer people out of their prime to see that happiness comes and lasts! So, of fucking course they get married.

they plan a beautiful summer wedding under the night sky and fairy lights with all the people they love and who love them in return - Steve’s dream.

There’s even supposed to be a funky lil medieval folk band to play ballads for them - Eddie’s dream.

of course, Robin will be Steve’s maid of honour, Erica Sinclair for Eddie (somehow that’s a friendship everyone expected and no one thought would last) and obviously, Dustin for both of them. (Not necessarily because they think he’ll do it well, but because even at the age of 44 Dustin is a noisy little prick who cannot take a no for an answer.)

so, he, Robin and Erica are going to tackle the responsibility of Steddie’s beautiful summer wedding together.

and here is the thing: we already have the Steve and Eddie love story, and with all its imperfections, it’s true love. It’s honest and hard, sometimes Steve thinks he loses all his hair because Eddie is a maniac and Eddie sometimes wishes for a gateway to hell to open underneath Steve’s feet, but it’s real and so, sooooo good!

what we don’t have, however, is another love story.

one that no one really saw coming.

Robin is busy - not only with Steve and the wedding, but with her love of her life and the little nugget growing inside of her wife, so… Erica and Dustin do most of the planning and the best man/maid of honour shit.

it’s not like these two have much more time than Robin. Erica is one of the best lawyers in the U.S., a hard working woman of the law who fights for those who need her the most.

Dustin, working as an independent astrophysicist, lives and works on the road. It’s Singapore yesterday, Melbourne today and Seoul tomorrow. The man cannot and will not sit still.

but somehow, they make it work - Erica in New York and Dustin in Tokyo, they somehow plan, and plan, and take meetings after meetings to fulfill every last dream of Eddie and Steve and their perfect little summer wedding.

the thing is… Erica and Dustin know each other for all their lives. They’ve been friends since starcourt and even after Dustin left the country to study in London for a bit, they stayed in contact. Just.. random phone calls here and there, email when it started to become a thing and then, eventually, the bi-yearly drunken Skype call when they were in remotely the same time zone.

It’s not like they meet for the first time, but somehow there online meetings to plan Steddie’s wedding get longer and the topics deviate from the cake, the clothes, the band, the seating arrangements etc…

it’s more about… law and dnd and strange objects from outer space and how moon dust is actually more like shards and the moment Erica lost one extremely important case.

and maybe there has been this strange moment filled with electricity and connection between them after Max and Lukas’ wedding in 1997, where they shared a dance while Dustins date and America’s almost-husband stood by the bar and fell in love with each other. A moment both of them never wanted to acknowledge because Erica needs no man, and Dustin cannot fall in love with his best friends little sister, no matter how fierce and stunning and amazing she is.

but now, in 2015…. They’re are adults in their fourties’ and their best friends are finally allowed to marry and the connection, the electricity is still there, even though there are more than 6700 miles and the Pacific Ocean between them.

and it’s just happens - them falling in love.

[sleepyeye17]

He’s a ten

“She’s a ten, bro,” Dustin said. “A solid. Ten.”

“She’s an eight at best,” Lucas said. The gang was in Steve’s kitchen, claiming to be helping with the dinner cleanup, but actually arguing about the hotness of Jane Fonda. Eddie was the only one actually drying any dishes. Steve didn’t really mind. Eddie stayed over enough, he knew where everything went. The boys threw wet silverware in the drawers without even looking. 

“Can we not rate women on their looks please?” Erica said, her head in the fridge. 

“You rate men on their looks all the time!” Lucas argued. Erica shut the fridge door and crossed her arms. 

“Fine. At least agree that everyone has a very different scoring sheet then. I believe that Jane Fonda is a ten.”

“Ha! Told you!” Dustin said. 

“According to me,” Erica said. “You have different tastes. That’s fine. Everyone does. For example, I like Fabio types, and Max, for some reason, likes my brother. God knows why.”

Lucas looked ready to argue, so Eddie thought fast.

“Hey Steve,” Eddie said, “What am I?”

Steve looked up from the dishes, confused.

“Hmm?”

“Am I a ten?”

Steve stared, his eyes sliding down Eddie’s lean torso, his hips, then back up to his face. His eyes flashed darkly. 

“Nah.”

“No?”

Every eye was on them, waiting to see what would happen. Nobody breathed.

“No,” Steve said with a grin. “You’re a natural twenty.”

The room exploded with hoots and cheers and laughter. Eddie beamed and wrapped arms around Steve’s neck. 

“Damn right I am.” He lowered his voice so that only Steve could hear. “But for you I’m always gonna be a dirty twenty.”

[loserharrington]

Steve refuses to play DnD with Hellfire not because it’s “not his thing” but because he refuses to play with anyone else as his DM. he’s loyal to Erica and Erica only (he’s terrified of her)

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Erica to Dustin: You know if you really want to get Steve and Eddie to do what you want, you have to soften them up. Sometimes, I can soften up my parents by calling them Mommy and Daddy.

Later at Steve's house. . .

Dustin: Mommy, Daddy. . .

Steve: What the hell did you just call us?

Eddie: *sarcastically* Sorry, son, Mommy's Aunt Flo came to visit, and she's feeling a little -

Steve: Excuse me, why the hell am I the Mommy?

Eddie: Well, it looks like Daddy's sleeping on the couch tonight.

Steve: You bet your ass Daddy's sleeping on the couch.

Eddie: Hah! So, you admit that you are the Mommy!

Later. . .

Dustin to Erica: It didn't work.

Erica: Dumbass, did I say to call them Mommy and Daddy?

Dustin: Ye -

Erica: NO!

[andy4yippee]

got too lazy to draw max so shes just there. I love drawing steve his face structure is so drawable

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

DUSTIN is so pissed because he has been trying to make Steve play D&D with him forever and all Eddie had to do was look like a kicked puppy while playing with his hair

MIKE is outraged because Eddie is so obviously going easier on Steve

WILL is giving Steve clues on what to do and how to play (no, Mike's distaste for the situation has nothing to do with how Will keeps whispering his plans into Steve's ear)

LUCAS made his character an athlete so that he and Steve can keep talking about sports in character as a revenge for the basketball game everyone missed

ERICA keeps screaming at them to stop flirting and take this seriously

STEVE is having an absolute blast

EDDIE is disgustingly in love

[harringroveera]

Yeah! Why can’t it be both, guys?

[ryan-waddell11]

bear in the big blue house 🤝🏻 stranger things (aka the same show)

[hellcheer-heaven]

Hellcheer Shenanigans: Hellfire Club

Comic reposted with fixed skin tones

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

it's steddiemas!! i am so excited for these prompts!!! i'm sure i'm not going to make something for each day, but there are a good few that i'm excited about; my plan is to make all the ones i do write be one story, but we'll see how that goes 😅

@steddiemas Day 1 - Deck the Halls

pairing: steddie | word count: 1,793 | rated: G

Eddie wakes up too early on November 1st. But hey, when nature calls, you answer.

He takes care of business and is turning back to the guest room he’d crashed in last night when a movement catches his eye.

Someone is awake already, and is weaving a string of artificial greenery along the bottom of the rail where the second floor is open into the living room.

Eddie takes another step forward and sees Steve's face peeking up over the floor, perfectly and completely content. The seemingly always furrowed brow he has is gone, his eyes are soft, and his lips set into a just barely there smile as he hums quietly to himself.

“Steve?” He immediately regrets interrupting Steve’s peace, as he startles at the sound of Eddie’s voice.

He looks up at Eddie briefly, then immediately relaxes back into his task. “Oh, you’re awake! Listen, I love you man,” Eddie’s stomach swoops at the words. “But I'm kinda in a groove right now, so once a couple of the others are up I’ll start making breakfast, ‘kay?”

Eddie nods in agreement despite Steve already looking away back to the garland in his hands. He really wants to ask why in the actual hell he’s hanging Christmas decorations the literal day after Halloween, but what comes out is “How are you not dying right now?”

Steve’s hands pause, and he blinks up at Eddie in confusion so he continues, “You had just as much to drink as I did last night…?”

Understanding floods the other man’s face. “Oh! I have a splitting headache right now.” Steve says, getting back to the task at hand and weaving the end of a string of lights through a gap between the banisters.

“Yet you’re awake. And putting up Christmas decorations.”

“Yes.”

The crease re-appears between Steve's brows, though not nearly as deep as usual. 

“Cool. Cool. Follow up question: why are you putting up Christmas decorations?? It’s only the day after Halloween!”

Steve stiffens at that, his brow furrowed fully now.

‘Shit, take it back asshole!’ Eddie chides himself.

“Exactly. It’s time for Christmas.” Steve sniffs, pausing before he continues in a soft voice, “I like Christmas..”

He doesn’t look back up at Eddie, and is now shoving the garland and lights through each gap in the railing, rather than slowly guiding them through.

Eddie watches him for a couple moments then says, “Alright big guy, what can I do to help?”

Steve is immediately relieved, looking back up at Eddie with a big smile (and no crease between his brows, thank you very much), “Wanna put the decorations on the mantle?”

“Sure thing Stevie,” Eddie smiles back at him, turning on his heel to trot down the steps and hang a left into the living room.

He freezes, taking in everything around him he couldn’t see from his spot in the hall upstairs.

There’s red and green tubs, boxes stacked upon boxes, loose strings of cranberries and shedded artificial pine needles absolutely everywhere.

There’s also a complete lack of any Halloween decorations left in the giant room. 

So, in the last however long Steve's been awake, he has: cleaned up from their party the night before, put away all the spooky decorations, pulled out a department store’s worth of Christmas decor, and is currently hanging garlands from atop a—holy shit!

“Steve! Why the fuck are you up so high??”

Steve twists back at Eddie's outburst, looking confused as all hell. “What do you mean, ‘Why?’? You just saw me upstairs, how else am I supposed to hang this?” he says, shaking his arm full of un-placed pine and the ladder in the process.

“You could’ve put them in from upstairs! On stable ground!” Eddie stresses, scrambling between and over boxes of holiday cheer to get to the other end of the room.

“I’m fine Eddie, I’ve been on a ladder before.” Steve snorts, going back to his lights. 

“Steve, sweetheart, you cannot be up that high on a ladder without someone holding onto the bottom!” Eddie says, finally getting over to him and grabbing onto it with both hands, leaning his weight onto it. “What if you fell? No one was awake! What if no one heard you!”

“Please.” Eddie could hear the eye roll in Steve’s voice, “I was perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, well, Wayne would kill me if I let you commit an OSHA violation.”

“What’s an OSHA?”

“Nevermind, keep working Stevie.”

He continues to work steadily, weaving and pruning the fake greenery to his liking and bunching up the end to stuff between two posts when he decides to come down.

He comes down the ladder and makes to move it when Eddie stops him.

“Oh no you don’t, you’re not going back up there.” he states, quickly letting the ladder fall together back from its extended length.

“I’m not done!”

“Didn’t say you were.” he says, leaning the ladder against the wall instead, out of the way, “You’re just going to do this from up there instead.”

For a moment, it looks like Steve is going to argue, but he gives up before he even starts, huffing petulantly and grumbling up the stairs. “And they call me ‘Mom’.”

“Thanks, Stevie!” Eddie calls after him.

“Yeah, yeah.."

Eddie snorts a quiet laugh, but goes back to his original task. He starts examining the boxes strewn out in front of him, the one labeled ‘GARLAND’ is already open, another boasts the title ‘LIGHTS’, another just says ‘KITCHEN’; after three huge tubs labeled ‘TREE’, he finds a smaller cardboard box with ‘MANTLE’ scrawled onto the side with marker.

You can’t say Steve isn’t organized.

He pulls open the top and starts to pull out the decorations. Everything in this box is colored in the few same shades of red, muted green, a handful more in bright silver. From the bottom, he pulls out a much shorter string of garland than the one Steve’s still fluffing to perfection upstairs, this one wound with a thick red, white, and green plaid ribbon.

“What?” Steve calls down after Eddie starts to laugh.

“More plaid, Steven?” Eddie grins, turning to show the garland in his hands.

This time, Steve snorts out a laugh, “Shut up, man.”

Eddie digs a little farther and comes back out with a small plastic box of thumbtacks and gets to work on the mantle. Using the ribbon to pin the length to the wood above the fireplace, he sets it in place along the edge, glancing up to fluff the fake branches out how Steve’s got the ones upstairs.

He gets into his own groove in no time, going back and forth from box to fireplace and placing the various baubles and tchotchkes how he thinks they should be. The clunky and gaudy seeming holiday themed frames at the bottom of the box throw him off for a moment, but soon there are years of awkward pictures of the shitheads leaning along the mantle.

A little red frame holds one of Max and El laughing brightly in just as brightly colored make-up and clothes, a framed polaroid of Robin and Steve in their Scoops uniforms, one of Will dressed up for Halloween; The pictures all must only be a few years old, Steve didn’t really get to know the kids until ‘84, but this little Dustin in the frame with the 3D train on it, and this one with a very disgruntled-looking Mike with his hair slicked flat in an over-the-top tree frame go right in the front.

“Nancy gave me that one of Mike, if you can believe it. He’s gonna hate that it’s up here.” Steve says from behind him now, a smile in his voice “Claudia gave me this one of Henderson. It’s actually from before their Snow Ball back in Middle school, I did his hair.”

Oh fuck, that’s adorable. Eddie’s heart squeezes in his chest. “You never told me that,” he says, accepting the last frame from Steve. A bright blue one with a Teddy Bear in each of the bottom two corners. This one has a JC Penney professional-looking shot of Erica and Lucas in matching holiday sweaters. Definitely a Mrs. Sinclair specialty.

“Erica gave me that one last Christmas, after everything happened at Starcourt.” he smiles, “They’re gonna hate that they’re all up like this.”

“Good.” Eddie grins, turning to face the other man, “What’s next, Stevie?”

They spend the next couple hours decorating; Steve tackles the tree next, working on it while he directs Eddie what to put up next, and making sure to call him back for any more ladder use at Eddie’s insistence.

At one point, Robin shuffles out from the first floor guest room she shared with Nancy, but she takes one look around and shuffles back down the hall.

Sooner than he thought, Eddie finds himself standing in the middle of a Sears catalog. The tree is huge, a fake one to fit the Harringtons’ high ceilings, covered in multicolored lights, red, green, and silver baubles, stringy silver tinsel, a sparkling star on top. 

The stair railings are lit up along both the top and bottom, the kitchen towels and utensils swapped out for holiday themed ones, even the front doormat is switched out for a Christmas themed one.

Steve is wandering around the place, vacuuming up stray glitter and pine needles, poking and prodding things until he’s satisfied, and Eddie is packing up anything unused and carting the tubs and boxes back to the garage.

After his last trip, Eddie swings back through the door to the living room under the steps at the same time Steve is coming back through the other way, both his arms filled with the last of the unused lights.

They collide, of course, and Eddie bends forward on instinct to catch any falling strings

“OOf–shit sorry, Stevie, I–” he glances up at Steve’s face for just a moment, but looks back up immediately, standing straight and keeping his eyes trained on something past Steve’s face, taped haphazardly to the underside of the doorframe.

“It’s okay, Eds, you oka–what’s wrong—?” Steve looks up as well.

Mistletoe.

“Mistletoe? How’d that–? Eddie, I didn’t– You–we don’t have to—”

Eddie’s lips find themselves brushing against the warm, soft skin of Steve’s cheek before the younger man can collect his thoughts.

He lingers there for a moment, pulling back with the lights in his arms instead. “I’ve got these, sweetheart, wanna get started on breakfast?”

Steve looks completely floored, his face flushed red and mouth agape; Eddie gives him a quick wink, then turns back toward the garage just before his own face starts to burn hot. “Holy shit,” he whispers to himself, smiling wide, “Jesus H. Christ.”

it was 100% robin that taped up the mistletoe in case you were wondering lmao

i looked up to make sure OSHA was around in '86 and it was established in 1970, enacted in 1971. if you assume wayne is a union man like i do, he would've definitely known all about proper OSHA compliance

also, i looked up old pictures of 80s era christmas trees and when abouts fake trees came into popularity (which was in the 80s :o) ) to get the descriptions right, and you just know the harringtons would've been on top of all the trends (though i think steve would prefer stringy strips of tinsel over long garlands of the stuff).

other parts! Pt. 1 (Day 1) [YOU ARE HERE] | Pt. 2 (Day 2) | Pt. 3 (Day 5) | Pt. 4 (Day 6) | Pt. 5 (Day 7) | Pt. 6 (Day 11) | Pt. 7 (Day 13) | Pt. 8 (Day 18) | Pt. 9 (Day 21) | Pt. 10 (Day 25) also on AO3! this year

[to-fall-or-not-to-fall]

Best Stranger Things Quotes (imo)

Reply with ur favorites if I missed any!!!

“Yeah it’s me don’t cream your pants” -Steve Harrington

“Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya big boy? 😏” -Eddie Munson (bonus points for steddie quote!!!)

“Son of a bitch, you’re really no help at all” -Dustin Henderson

“You know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes 5 seconds? Someone who likes BOOBIES!!!” -Steve Harrington

“Ou-yay are-yay umb-day” -Robin Buckley

Followed by Steve: “Oh-ho-ho!!!” 💀

“My fingers are like arrows, my arms like iron, MY FEET LIKE SPEARS!” -Murray Bauman

“Mornings are for coffee and contemplation. COFFEE AND CONTEMPLATION FLO!!!” -Jim Hopper

“Can we play DND now?” -Will Byers

“I only have like $3.50, so it’s hard” -Mike Wheeler

“If I play do I get one of those cool T-shirts?” -Max Mayfield

Followed by Dustin: “she was being sarcastic”

“It’s forced conforming. That’s what’s KiLLiNg ThE KiDs” -Eddie Munson

“Can’t spell America without Erica” -(the iconic) Erica Sinclair

Followed by Dustin: “that is…oddly true”

“I piggybacked from a pizza dough freezer” -El

“Ahoy, ladies. Didn't see you there. Would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor with me?” -Steve Harrington

“Oooh…I just got the chills. Oh yeah, from this milkshake, NOT your speech” -Erica Sinclair

“Don’t take it so personally. I hate most people.” -Jonathan Byers (relatable)

“This risotto is SHMACKIN’ dude” -Argyle

“Pass me the olive oil” -Jonathan Byers

Followed by Argyle: “That’s wine”

“We all die, my strange little child friend. It’s all a matter of how and when.” -Robin Buckley

“How many times do I have to be right on the money before you people actually trust me?” -Dustin Henderson

Followed by Steve and Eddie: “This kid’s gotta get his ego in check.” “It’s his tone, right?”

“I’m eleven you long haired FREAK” -Erica

“Got me stressed out it’s not even MY girlfriend.” -Argyle

“It’s finger-licking’ good” -Steve Harrington

“Totally tubular” -Lucas Sinclair

tl;dr it’s just a bunch of sass and random humor I totally understand if you didn’t read the whole thing cuz I wouldn’t either

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 8 Season 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Back to Hawkins for spring break. Y/n believed it would just be a quiet time to cherish with her loved ones, but one day in and another mess had already began.

Warnings: cursing

Notes: I warned you that due to my vacation I was probably going to miss a day or two, but we're back. Sorry for keeping you waiting but here is the new chapter and a sweet moment between our couple. Please enjoy the chapter and stay safe 💕

Chapter 7 << Masterlist >> Chapter 9

Dustin was the one to wake you up in the morning. At first, you couldn’t concentrate, your tiredness easily pulling you back to sleep, but that only lasted for a moment. When the memories of yesterday came back, you couldn’t go back to sleep. You got up and went to check on Nancy. She was already up, sitting on the bed waiting. When you walked in, she looked you in the eye and you knew this was going to be a difficult conversation.

“He showed me things that haven’t happened yet. The most awful things. I saw… a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this… this giant creature with… a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn’t alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighborhoods. Our homes. And then… He showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they… They were all-” Nancy’s emotions left her unable to continue.

You were standing near Dustin, listening carefully to her words as she explained to you what had happened yesterday with Vecna. But reliving it wasn’t easy, you knew that all too well.

“Okay, but… he’s just trying to scare you, Nancy. Right? I mean… I mean, it’s not real.” Steve tried to comfort her, but it didn’t work.

“Not yet. But there- there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie’s trailer, but they didn’t stop growing. And this wasn’t the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home.”

“Four chimes. Vecna’s clock. It always chimes four times. Four exactly.” Max said and Nancy nodded at her words.

“I heard them too.”

“He’s been telling us his plan this whole time.” Max came to the realization, making you all fill with fear.

“Four kills. Four gates. End of the world.” Lucas thought out loud before you heard your brother speak from beside you.

“If that’s true… he’s only one kill away.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.” Eddie said, his tone scared, perfectly capturing how you were all feeling right now.

“Try ‘em again. Try ‘em again.” Steve signaled Max to punch in Joyce’s number again. You have no idea how many times you have tried to contact them. All you knew is that each time there was no answer, just like now.

“Anything?” you asked and bit your lip when you saw Max shake her head.

“No. Rang a few times, then went to busy signal.”

“Maybe you punched it in wrong. Try again.” Steve told her, but she immediately argued back.

“I didn’t punch it in wrong.”

“Well, I don’t know.” Steve looked desperate, but Max turned around, calling the number again just to show him she had done it right.

“Dude, I think she knows how to use a phone.” Dustin commented and Steve rolled his eyes.

“I’m just saying, she could’ve typed it in wrong.”

“Same shit.” Max hangs up the phone and you let out a sigh.

“How is that possible?” Lucas asks you all.

“I told you; Joyce has this telemarketer job. She’s always on the phone. Mike won’t stop whining about it.” you shake your head at Dustin’s words.

“No. Nuh-uh. No way. Not being able to reach them for three days is not mathematically possible. We’ve tried every single hour of the day. This isn’t Joyce, it’s something else.”

“She’s right. It can’t be just a coincidence. It can’t be.” Nancy agreed with you, getting up from her seat and walking to the window behind her “Whatever’s happening in Lenora is connected to all of this. I’m sure of it. But Vecna can’t hurt them. Not if he’s dead.” she turns back to you, a determined look in her eye “We have to go back in there. Back to the Upside Down.”

At the sound of her words, Eddie and Steve began arguing back, not liking the idea of going back there. You stood off the chaos, your brain trying to find another solution. Even though you feared there was no other way.

“Let’s think this through, okay?” Steve was now standing up, looking at Nancy who got irritated at his suggestion.

“What is there to think through?”

“We barely made it out of there in one piece.” Steve said.

“Yeah, because we weren’t prepared. But this time, we will be. We’ll get weapons and protection. We’ll go through the gate, we’ll find his lair, and we’ll kill him.” Nancy replied, but Steve wasn’t backing down.

“Or he’ll kill us. The only reason that you survived is because he wanted you to. He’s not scared of us.” he finished and Robin jumped up from her seat on the floor and into the conversation.

“And for good reason. We were wrong about Vecna. Henry. One. Sorry, what are we calling him now?” she received different answers from all of you “Right. We’ve learned something new about Vecna/Henry/One. He’s a number like Eleven, only a sick, evil, made, child-murdering version of her with really bad skin. But- but- but- My point is, he’s super powerful. He could turn us inside out with a snap of his fingers. It’s not a fair fight.”

“So then why fight fair? You’re right, he’s like Eleven. But that gives us an upper hand. We know Eleven’s strengths. And weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?” Erica questioned Dustin’s words.

“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna.” he explained and Lucas chimed in.

“That could explain what he was doing in that attic.”

“Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I’ll bet you he’s back in that attic, physical body defenseless.”

“Defenseless? Yeah? What about the army of bats?” Steve argued, pointing at the scar on his neck. Even though you hated how hurt he got, you couldn’t agree with him on this.

“We’ll fight them off.” you finally spoke up, eyes all on you “Distract them, somehow. Gain their attention so we can slip through to Vecna.”

“And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?” Eddie tried to get up from the couch he was sitting on but immediately sat back down when he heard your not-so-helpful explanation.

“I don’t know. But once they’re gone, we have our chance.”

“It’ll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin.” Dustin said after you.

“You think this is a good idea?” Steve asked you and you shrugged your shoulders.

“I think this is our only idea.”

“That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna’s killings. I mean, at least on one that I can decipher. We don’t know when he’s going to attack next. We don’t even know who he’s going to attack.” Robin tells you, bringing up a good point.

“Yeah, we do.” you look up and stare at Max “I can still feel him. I’m still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me.”

“Max. You can’t. He’ll kill you.” Lucas tells her, eyes sad, not even bearing the thought of reality behind his words.

“I survived before. I can survive again. I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly don’t care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just… whatever it is… whatever you do… try not to miss.” you felt the responsibility lay on your shoulders, and you made the silent promise to protect her and everyone in this room at all costs. No matter your outcome.

So, once again the planning began. First of all, you needed weapons. Loads of them. And Eddie knew just the place to get them.

“Check this out. The War Zone.” he sets down on the table the phone book and you lean over his shoulder to see what he is pointing at “I’ve been there once. It’s huge. They got everything you need for, uh… well, killing things, basically.”

“Do you think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?” Robin asked you and you shrugged your shoulders.

“Well, lucky for us it is, so… this- this place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops and, uh, angry hicks.” Eddie said.

“If we’re trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn’t go to some store called the War Zone.” Erica raised a good point, making Dustin point at her.

“Normally, I’d agree, but we need the weapons. So… I think it’s worth the risk.”

“Me too.” Lucas agreed with Nancy.

“Yeah, but is it worth the time? It’ll take all day to bike there and back.” Dustin asked the group and Eddie answered back.

“Who said anything about bikes?” you looked at Eddie with confusion in your eyes.

“What, you got some car we don’t know about?” Steve asked with irony in his tone.

“It’s not exactly a car, Steve. It’s not exactly mine but, uh… it’ll do.” he said with a smirk on his lips before turning to Max “Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?”

Max indeed had something he could use. She digs out of her room her old Halloween mask of Michael Myers and Eddie puts it on to hide his face from anyone who might accidentally spot you. You get out of the trailer and start following after Eddie. You end up at a van across the park, the couple living there were sitting right outside listening to the radio, so you carefully made your way to the other side without being seen.

Eddie opens the window and throws himself in. You shake your head as you walk to the window.

“I can’t believe we’re stealing a van.”

“Believe it.” Steve told you and helped you get inside before heading in himself. You land on top of the built-in couch, thankful that it wasn’t the hard floor.

“Y/n, help!” you hear Dustin whisper-yell at you, so you turn around and grab his hand pulling him inside with as much power as you had. After you made sure the rest were getting in without any trouble, you followed Eddie and Steve to the front, watching in shock as Eddie hot-wires the van.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Steve asks him.

“Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire. Now, I swore to myself I wouldn’t wind up like he did, but now I’m wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, you know, I’m really living up to that Munson name.” it was obvious he wasn’t very fond of his father, if not by his words then definitely by his tone, still you couldn’t help but be impressed by his quick technique.

“Impressive.” you tell him and feel a set of hands land on your shoulders. You turn your head and see Robin behind you.

“Uh, Eddie? I’m not sure I love the idea of you driving.”

“Oh, I’m just starting this sucker. Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya, big boy?” Eddie looks up at Steve with big smirk on his face, making Steve confused. Eddie however doesn’t pay attention to your faces, and finally starts the van, music interrupting the quiet immediately making you targets “Saddle up, Henderson.” Eddie tells you with the same smirk before you start hearing yelling from outside.

The couple had finally realized there were intruders in their van and began knocking on the windows to stop you. You do as Eddie told you and hurry to buckle yourself in the passenger’s seat while Steve motions for Eddie to get out of the driver's one so he can start the car.

“It’s just a car.” he tells himself, building up the courage to drive this thing before addressing the rest of the group “Everybody, hang on to something!”

“Steve!” you call out for him when you make the mistake of looking at the woman who was cursing you for stealing her van. The angry look on her face makes you anxious and full of guilt.

“Drive, Steve! Drive!” Dustin yelled and the car finally started going. It was a harsh start so you held on to everything that your hands could reach “Shit, they look pissed.” Dustin pointed out when he saw the owners from the back window.

“It’s not everyday you lose your house and car in one fell swoop.” Robin said.

“Hold on! Hold on!” Steve warns you and harshly turns the car, hitting some garbage cans in the process. He groans as he makes one final turn, exiting the trailer park and getting on the road, tires endlessly screeching.

You were an hour into the trip, silence overtaking the vehicle. You were looking around the road, staring at the trees passing by, when your eyes shifted over to Steve. He looked more relaxed behind the wheel now than he did when the journey first began.

“You doing okay?” you ask him and for a second he turns his head to look at you, before returning back forward to focus on the road.

“Not half bad… considering this is a house.” he jokes and you giggle. The sound of your laughter ignites a very precious thought he’s had for quite a while, only now feeling the courage he needed to share it. With everything that’s happening it’s better to tell you now than be too late “Yeah, it’s… it’s silly, but I- I’ve actually… I always had this dream that I’d have this really… really big family. I’m talking, like, a full brood of Harringtons. Like, five, six, kids.”

“Six kids?” you stare at him, mouth open in shock.

“Yeah. Six little nuggets. Three girls, three boys. And- and then every summer, I figured all of us Harringtons, we would pack into something like this and… just see the country. You know, the Rockies, Grand Canyon, maybe Yellowstone. End up in some beachside town in California. Spend a week parked in the sand. Learn how to surf or something.” a small fond smile appeared on your face as you listened to him, but you still weren’t able to let down the number.

“Well, that all sounds great, but I can’t carry six kids.”

“Who says I’m talking about you?” Steve asks humorously and you scoff at his teasing.

“Oh really? Okay, so then you better go find that someone, because I’m not doing it.”

“Come on, we did a great job with these ones.” he points to the back, obviously talking about the kids.

“This is different. They’re grown, not babies. I went through it with Dustin, trust me it is no easy job.”

“I don’t know. I feel like if you’re with the right person, it’s easy.” you couldn’t help but blush at his words. However, you also couldn’t control the laughter that came over you when you started analyzing your current situation “What?” he asks you confused over your reaction.

“I just can’t believe you’re telling me about starting a family together, but the idea of moving in together scares you.” you didn’t want to make him feel bad with your laughter. If you were being honest, you had gotten over that a long time ago. If he wasn’t ready for such a big step, you wouldn’t force it upon him. You loved him, and your relationship, and that was enough for you.

Steve, on the other hand, was biting his lip knowing he had to speak to you about the misunderstanding and explain to you what was actually going through his head at that moment “Y/n, about that, I-” your smile died down when you realized his voice was smaller than you had expected “When you asked me that, I didn’t hesitate because of you… I hesitated because of myself.”

“What do you mean?” your eyebrows scrunch.

“I need you to believe me that I do want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to move in with you, it’s just… I’m afraid I’m not enough for the world outside of Hawkins. Here… it’s secure. Here I have a job, a house, my friends. Out there I’m no one. I have no skills to show for myself, I’m- I’m useless.” your heart breaks at his words. You hadn’t realized this is what concerned him. If you knew you wouldn’t have reacted the way you did. God, you feel like an idiot. Especially when you easily see through him and understand where this was coming from.

“These aren’t your words, honey.” it wasn’t hard to decipher his words. You’ve had the ‘dad talk’ plenty of times, and it always starts with another one of his dad’s comments about Steve’s education and/or his job. There is one specific word he uses when he speaks with his son: useless. You hate that word so much; it sickens you to your core. Because Steve is anything but that.

“Is he wrong?” his voice breaks and your hand grabs his free one, desperately wanting to console him.

“Yes.” your voice is stern, and your eyes never move from the side of his face. He couldn’t bear to face you, because if he did even for a second the tears would spill out before he could stop them “Because he doesn’t know you. Not the way I do. We do.” you point to yourself, and the others at the back “You are smart, and strong, and capable of achieving anything you wish to. And I know that because I know how determined you are. Steve, you have risked your life so many times for us just because you wanted to. That night at the Byers’ house, you came back to help us even after we told you to leave, even after you were scared. You stayed. You faced your fear back then and you can do it again. And this time I will never leave your side. I love you, Steve. More than you know, and I want to help you chase your dream. Whatever it may be.”

His eyes finally met yours and he could see just how much you truly meant everything you just said. He doesn’t know what he wants to do, but right now he’s felt more sure than ever that if he’s with you, he can make it. He slips his fingers in between yours and brings your palm to his lips, a soft kiss landing on your skin.

“I love you too. Thank you.” you smile at him and stay with your hands connected for as long as you could.

When you arrived at War Zone you decided to split the group, so only you, Steve, Robin, Nancy, and Erica went inside. Your eyes scanned the huge store while trying to guess how many people were here.

“So much for avoiding angry hicks.” Robin commented.

“Let’s be… fast. Yep?” Nancy said, and you all agreed.

You went your separate ways, each of you having different tasks to complete. You were in charge of finding some clothes for all of you as you desperately needed to get out of your dirty, ripped ones. You scan the clothing aisle to find anything that could be useful and fighting an interdimensional demon appropriate. You found a brown jacket and showed it to Steve, who nodded his head in approval. It was an army jacket that you decided to pair up with a camo T-shirt and new pants. You also found a deep green jacket for yourself and a new black shirt, so you could remove your old one.

You both went to one of the dressing rooms and quickly changed to avoid all the weird stares you had been getting from the moment you got there. After you were done you gathered some more clothes for the rest and headed over to Robin who had a cart.

“How many of these do you think we need?” she asks you, holding up a bottle of gasoline, as you place the big pile of clothes in the cart.

“Five or six.” Steve responds and starts putting in more.

After you had sorted the clothes as much as you could in the cart, you looked up and realized that Robin’s attention was focused elsewhere than the matter at hand. You follow her gaze with curious eyes, eventually letting a smile grow on your face when you see who she is staring at. You lightly hit Steve’s shoulder, pointing towards Vicki and he immediately understood what was going on.

“What are you gonna do, Robin? Just stand here and gawk at her?” Steve teased her, but Robin was too distracted to come up with a good comeback.

“Shut up.”

“Go talk to her.” you gave her a little push. You bit your lip when you saw her take a step to go to Vicki, but everything got ruined in mere seconds. Your smile slowly faded when you saw a guy go over to Vicki, talk to her, and kiss her. It broke your heart, so you could only imagine how Robin was feeling.

Robin could not tear her gaze from the kiss in front of her, her entire stomach doing a flip when Vicki’s eyes fell on her.

“Oh, Robin-” you tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and ran quickly away from you. Steve called after her, but it was already too late. You looked at Steve and told him to continue getting everything you needed. In the meantime, you were gonna be looking for Robin.

“That girl knows how to play hide and seek.” you murmured under your breath, your eyes scanning the store for any sign of your friend. You were looking for the past ten minutes and the only thing you found was insane prices for insane products.

Suddenly something hit you from behind startling you. You turned around, ready to confront the person who did it, when you realized it was just Erica who had hit you with her own cart.

“We need to go.” her tone was serious, making you immediately anxious.

“Why, what happened?”

“They happened.” she pointed behind you. You scrunched up your eyebrows at her behavior before turning around and seeing what made her act like this.

“Shit.” the whole basketball team, the one chasing Eddie and the kids were here doing the same thing you were. Gathering resources for their big hit.

After that, you all acted very quickly. You had to pay for what you had, find everyone who was missing, and leave the store without getting caught. As Steve was at the register with Max and Erica, you and Nancy were able to find Robin who was hiding in one of the dressing rooms. She didn’t waste any time when you told her what was happening and helped you carry the shopping bags to the car. Steve opened the door and one by one you all headed inside.

“What happened?” Lucas asked you all.

“We gotta go.” Steve said and, in a hurry, settled the bags he was holding down before climbing onto the driver’s seat. You quickly followed behind him.

“Your old friends are here.” Erica informed Lucas who cursed at the realization.

“Let’s go!” Dustin repeated at you, making Steve raise his voice as well.

“I’m going! I’m going! Just sit down!” he started the car and took off for Hawkins to continue your plan.

Your eyes roamed across the hill, landing on all the separate groups of your party. Lucas was with Erica preparing the spears, Max was watching Nancy fix up her gun, and your brother was making shields with Eddie. Well… they were actually goofing around but it looked like they did a good job on them. And it was nice seeing your brother aloof for even just a moment.

You were in charge of gearing up your clothes, making them as protected as you could for your and Dustin’s groups. After you had found a quiet place to relax, you began preparing your plan. Nancy divided you into three teams: The first team was Lucas, Erica, and Max who had the role of the bait to lure Vecna, the second team was Dustin, Robin, and Eddie who were going to distract the Demobats, and you were part of the third team with Steve, and Nancy who were going to kill Vecna.

You all agreed with the plan at first but right now something wasn’t sitting right with you. Watching Dustin out there laugh and have fun pulled on your heart. You’ve been over this road four times now and you’re worried something bad is going to happen. You didn’t want anyone to get hurt. However, as his big sister, Dustin was your priority.

You always made sure to be with him in moments like this, learning from your mistakes from 1983 when you left the party to go with Jonathan and Nancy to fight the Demogorgon. That same night you all lost Eleven. Dustin’s sad face for the next months was so clear in your mind, even now. After that moment you made a promise to yourself to always help him and protect him in big and small things.

Leaving him now in that group without you, just… felt wrong.

“We finished up with the bombs. How is everything going on here?” your head snapped to your right at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice. Despite your worry, his presence always pulled a small smile on your face.

“Great. I just finished up with Dustin’s uniform. And my own…” your final words were paired with a sigh, expecting the confusion that quickly covered his face.

“You’re sure this isn’t Robin’s? You’re supposed to be on our team, remember?” his hands inspected the clothes filled with gear that was meant to protect group 2 from the bats.

“About that… I think it’ll be better if I stay with Dustin.” you finally said.

“What?”

You stood up from your seat, your lips letting out a sigh as you took his hand into yours for both of your comfort “Steve… This is our fourth time doing this. Our luck is running out and I have to make sure that he’ll be okay. I hate leaving him alone and I know you can take care of yourself, and it kills me to leave you behind but… I have to be here. I need to protect him in any way that I can.” you were playing with his fingers by the time you finished talking, your eyes watching your hands move, only focusing back on his face when his left hand touched your cheek.

“Okay, I get that… It’s gonna be weird not having you with me during the fight for the first time, but I can deal with Robin, it’d be fine.” you smiled and leaned in to leave a peck on his cheek “Just be careful. I want a girlfriend to come back to at the end of this.”

He chuckled at the end, obviously making a joke, but you couldn’t help but feel bittersweet at his words. Because you wanted to come back to him and fight for all of your safety. However, you also knew that if a sacrifice was needed, you were willing to take it. For them.

“I will.”

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[foreverautumn89]

After unwrapping presents, the kids will ball up the wrapping paper and throw it at each other and have a playful battle. Last Christmas Day when opening presents, Steve came back into the room while they were doing it and instead of telling them to stop he just said 'Hold your fire, hold your fire' with his hands up in defense and they stopped briefly so he could walk through and immediately resumed doing it while Jonathan, who was laying on the couch smiled up at him laughing at the way Steve was saying 'hold your fire' acting as if getting a ball of wrapping paper were life threatening. Steve laid down on the couch with Jonathan and cuddled up against him, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed the back of Jonathan's head and they they laid there happily watching the kids wrapping paper war.

[munsonson]

What instantly turns you off from a Stranger Things fic? For me it’s anything villainizing Nancy, particularly in Steve stories. It bugs me so much.

[buckley-simp]

Pov: Robin Buckley's camera roll 📸

[hopelessmidwesterner]

Sugar Babe

Finally got around to finishing this, first published fic on this account, who cheered?! (pls gimme feedback/requests)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Plus Sized/AFAB Reader ★ Established Relationship

Warnings: swearing, allusions to sex, mentions of ADD lol

WC: 1.3k

*Alternate timeline: a few years after the events of season 4 (spoiler: he lived)*

Inspired by the 1971 song 'Sugar Babe' by Stephen Stills

You were an outlier; you and Eddie both were for an endless number of reasons. One of the most prominent ones to oblivious outsiders looking in was the fact that you were only in your early twenties but you behaved like a couple who’d been married for at least a decade. It grossed the kids out, it warmed older adults’ hearts, and it made your friends of the same age a little envious. Neither of you really saw it as abnormal because it just felt normal; not forced, not overdramatized, not rushed, none of that. It was just natural, good old fashioned love as Wayne liked to describe it.

Now, don’t get anything twisted, the both of you certainly weren’t the perfect couple but you were perfect for one another and that was what mattered. You had plans to get married but not for awhile; 25 at least as you’d said whenever a family member brought it up since you’d been together for a few years already. There were times, however, when Eddie considered just full sending things because of how overwhelmed with love he felt: pawning a ring from the shop just outside town, taking you out some place nice, and proposing even if it threw you for a loop, even if neither of you had more than a few hundred bucks at a time. But he knew that wasn’t how either of you wanted things to play out so he practiced restraint, even on nights like tonight. 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“You can do whatever you want to do, you can be who you want to be. Just remember that me and you ain’t all there is to bein’ free.” Your singing was soft and clearly zoned out while you stood at the stove in Eddie and Wayne’s kitchen, eyes honed in on the pot that crackled and popped with searing oil and slivers of potato. Your boyfriend watched you from the opposing counter where he was supposed to be working on a tattoo for someone who’d paid him to design something; a simple sword with song lyrics wrapped around it that resembled vines. It was good money and something he loved to do, but he loved you more. 

“People need love. People need trust. People need one another and that means us. My sugar babe. Believe me, sugar babe.” You didn’t notice him slip off the countertop nor did you seem to hear him slink towards you. If you did, you made no efforts to turn towards him or to ask what he was up to so he continued onwards, sly as a fox. 

“Everyone knows it ain't easy when you get it all together in your heart. It's the easiest thing to do to be pleasin'. Folks ain't made to live apart.” You smiled and hummed as you felt the familiar embrace of Eddie’s arms wrapping around your midsection, his chin settled on your right shoulder so he could see what you were seeing. 

“People need love. People need trust. People need one another and that means us. My sugar babe. Believe me, sugar babe. I'm on your side, sugar babe.” He husked the words with you like they were a prayer and you gushed as you kept an eye on the fries. This was your song, at least one of them, and he called you Sugar Babe as often as he could because it got the biggest smile on your face; prettier than the stars. 

“Let yourself be open, honey, learn to bend. Remember, everyone gets scared, but I'm still your best friend…” He stole a kiss to the side of your head right above the temple and you turned this time, giving him the invitation to grab your hips with a little jig in his stride. 

“When you forget about yourself and think of things to do to make me happy, then you love me girl, like I love you, oh-oh-oh…” He turned the charm up to 100 by tucking a lock of hair behind your ear, keeping his warm hand there since it always made you soften. You gave him that sarcastic smirk he loved and he began to lean in, going for the kill. Your eyes fluttered shut when he got close enough for your noses to bump but then a sharp gasp left you as the pot began to sputter a little louder. 

“Oh, shit! Gotta turn ‘em.” You spun around like a top to do as you said, the edge of your elbow brushing across Eddie’s chest; a punch to the heart. You were lucky you were cute. An audible noise that sounded like a mix of irritation and adoration left Eddie so you furrowed your brows while you watched the golden fries bubbling inside the amber colored oil. 

“What?” You asked in question, side eyeing him. He snorted and waited until you’d turned all of the fries over; having set the big spoon you were using back down.The moment it clattered against the spoon rest, he let out a long chuckle and grabbed at your waist once more. 

“Nothing, ‘s nothing, Y/N.” He paused and met your eye as you cocked your head towards him; there’s those pretty blues. “Your ADD is just going ham right now.” You frowned and geared up to give him a sassy defense but he finally gave into his temptation (one of them, at least) and chased your lips with his own; shutting you up mid–sentence with a hungry hold. You gasped into the kiss but melted all the same, similar to putty in his hands and in turn, you held his face with gentle palms that he swore could heal. Your lips finally parted for the sake of air and you clicked your tongue at him once you caught your own breath. 

“You interrupted me.” You said with an accusatory tone, unable to help the giggle that fell through when he started tickling at your ribs. Asshat. 

“That I did, Sugar Babe.” 

“Ass.” He rolled his eyes at you like a diva. He even did the hair flip for fuck’s sake. Drama queen. 

“Oh, whatever. You liked that.”

“Says who?” You challenged it though it was true; this was part of your dynamic with Eddie, after all. 

“Says the pink in your cheeks, Sugar Babe.” You fumed at that and he snickered since you turned an even deeper shade of pink, causing you to grimace at him with a saucy wiggle back towards the pot. Another eye roll came from him even though he knew you couldn’t see him and he sighed with a nonchalant lean forwards, grabbing you and hoisting you up as if you weighed nothing. 

“Eds.” You groaned out of irritance though you made no efforts to stop him; not even any squirming when he had you comfortably settled over his shoulder.

“What?” He whined back in mockery of you, earning a light slap to the middle of his back. 

“Put me down. It’s not good for your back, ya know.” He disregarded your words with a grunt that may as well have said ‘oh, as if’ and he kicked the door to his room open before gently flopping you down onto the center of his bed. 

“Good one, babe. You should try standup.” He toed back to shut the door with his butt and he pulled his shirt off of himself, finding you with a confused gaze that amused him in some odd way. He tilted his head at you inquisitively and climbed on the bed, reaching for you with protective arms. 

“What about the fries?” You asked him shyly. Even after all these years, you still got a little meek during these moments of intensity where all of his attention was on you and you only. He grinned with a shaking head and held your face, squishing at your cheeks just lightly enough to get a low noise of annoyance out of your mouth. God, he loved annoying you. 

“Honestly, sweetheart?” He paused for a moment to kiss you; a long and hungry embrace of battling tongues, clashing teeth, and racing hearts. Butterflies filled both of your stomachs and this time it was his cheeks that turned a deep shade of fuchsia.

“Fuck the fries.”