#flayed chrissy

[spacecasehobbit]

I've posted about Neil Hargrove being the one to get flayed in S3 instead of Billy, but my other favorite character to imagine in Billy's place is Chrissy. There's just so much potential there!

S4 establishes what the other seasons were already making clear (one of the things that ST actually manages to be pretty consistent in showing!): that the Mind Flayer/Vecna/One chooses victims who are alone, victims who are struggling with feelings of trauma and isolation. In that way, any of Vecna's victims from S4 could have worked in Billy's place.

But!

Imagine a Chrissy who got flayed and then lived through it (maybe the Party et. al. are more motivated to save someone who looks teeny and sweet and harmless; maybe Chrissy isn't as much a fighter as Billy so she grabs El and runs for it when El finally breaks through the MF's control). A Chrissy whose first victims included her abusive mom and the oblivious boyfriend who never really saw her as her own person, and who has to deal with the conflicting mess of feelings left behind in the aftermath of being forced to feed them - along with a whole slew of other townspeople - to a mass-murdering eldritch monster from another dimension.

On the one hand, of course it's immensely traumatizing! She feels so much guilt it seems like she'll be crushed under the weight of it some days; other days she doesn't know how to do anything but cry.

On the other hand, a part of her feels relieved that her mom and Jason are gone... which means she must be a monster, too, right? Only a monster would be glad that their mom and boyfriend weren't around, when the reason they were gone was because she fed them to the monster that killed them.

This now sets her up perfectly to find herself lost, adrift; isolated from her usual peer group, distanced from her dad who is also grieving the loss of his wife, feeling stained with innocent blood no matter how many showers she takes or how many times she scrubs her skin raw, until she winds up seeking out the local drug dealing supersenior just for a few precious hours of escape from her own head.

And maybe the local drug dealer is kinda cute, and surprisingly sweet, and he makes her laugh and smile for the first time in months. And she goes to him at first for chemical escape, but the longer she interacts with him the more she starts visiting for a friend.

(And maybe that makes her feel guilty, too, because she likes Eddie. Likes Eddie, the weirdo school freak who Jason always sneered about and looked down on for his satanist aesthetic and his poverty and his Unfortunate family history.

She likes Eddie the way she was supposed to like Jason but kind of didn't anymore even before she fed him to a monster. She likes Eddie in a way she's not sure she ever liked Jason, because Eddie makes her feel good about herself without ever making her feel like she's drowning in other people's expectations for her life. Eddie makes her smile, and he makes her laugh, and he makes her feel safe.

And she's not sure she deserves any of that, but she's getting pretty damn sure that she wants it.)

So when the Upside Down comes back this time, this version of Chrissy isn't unaware of it. She's still dealing with plenty of trauma and isolation in many parts of her life, but she isn't completely alone except for the one nice boy she's barely met before she dies. Instead, she figures out that it's back so quickly, and she goes to the person she's come to trust the most these days for help and to warn him, too.

And instead of dying in horrible pain, thinking she might be going mad and with no idea what's happening to her, traumatizing a boy she barely knows in the process and setting in motion the events that will lead to his death not long later, she and Eddie are able to face the Upside Down together and get each other through this interdimensional monster's latest attempt at destroying Hawkins together.

[bowie-starss]

Has anyone else ever considered Billy x Heather x Chrissy? All dating each other. I think that would be a cute trio. If there's something of them out there, send it my way!

[gonegrove]

god now i’m thinkin’ about s3 but chrissy and billy got together 4-5 months prior...

like imagine he was on his way to pick CHRISSY up for a DATE and he GOT FLAYED

chrissy didn’t know SHIT about the upside down until like she tried to talk to him at the pool or something and the kids were like OOOOOOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOOOO

[vampire-scones]

I bring you: Heather, Billy, and Chrissy friendship. They are besties. As close as they could possibly be. They would die for each other. They will often have sleep overs as Heather’s place as her parents love both Chrissy and Billy and they have enough faith their daughter is throwing an orgy.

When Billy is having a particularly rough time with his dad the girls are there for him. He alternates between staying at heather’s place and sneaking into Chrissy’s window. When he finally decides he is going back home Chrissy and Heather will apply fresh lipstick and cover him in kisses, just to get Neil off his back for a little bit.

Chrissy always confides in Heather and Billy when he mom is being horrible or if Jason has said something that makes her feel bad. Billy takes joy in making Jason jealous when they happens and both of them will shower Chrissy in compliments whenever her mother is around if they are hanging out at Chrissy’s house. As dinners Heather will often take a little extra food and store it away for Chrissy to eat later. She also loves to empty out all of Laura Cunningham’s perfume bottles into her own empty ones. Laura hasn’t caught on yet so it’s Heather’s favourite way to mess with her.

Heather freaks out a bit when she realizes she likes girls. When she realizes she watches Robin a bit more than a regular person should and when she realizes Robin is responsible for those butterflies in her tummy. She sobs to Billy and Chrissy during on of their sleepovers. She wakes up at 3am and can’t help herself. As soon as Chrissy and Billy are awake they are by her side and holding her. Billy is telling her it’s not wrong. That he likes boys and he hasn’t gone to hell yet. Chrissy just holds her and tells her they will help find her the perfect girlfriend. That they will figure out what way Robin swings for her. And Heather feels a little better. But that night no one gets sleep. Billy and Chrissy don’t mind. They love Heather and would sit with her through anything. And Heather would do the same.

They just love each other.

[twpsyn-who]

You guys know my deeply rotted hate for Harringroveson, BUT this won't leave my mind and I need to share before I. Lose. It.

Soulmates AU where you feel each other's pain/share the same wounds (the idea is "you get hurt and your soulmate takes care of your wounds, then they heal on your body too" or something along the lines). Steve got used to the pain coming from his soulmate, burning under his skin. It was daily, but got better when he got into middle school. Billy got comfort in knowing that his soulmate was going through the same pain as him, twisted as it was (but it stooped when he got in middle school, instead his soulmate trying to heal Billy's own pain and he didn't knew what to do with that besides hurting more and more and more). And Eddie has been suffering for most of his childhood, until he moved with his uncle and swore to himself to help his soulmate heal and never get hurt again/add more to the pain that was already there.

Now imagine the fighting scene between Steve and Billy only... Billy feels pain in the same place he punched Steve. With every punch and kick he feels the same pain as Steve must feel at the moment.

Is not that what stops him from hitting Steve, though. Is the fact that someone was taking care of their wounds while they were fighting.

[courtofmuses]

from here with @chheered

               BILLY   HADN'T   WANTED   TO   GO   OUT   FOR   THE   NIGHT,   knowing   that   it   was   likely   going   to   end   in   blood   and   another   body   they'd   have   to   drag   home   to   feed   to   the   monster   in   the   basement.   Chrissy   had   talked   him   into   it;   however,   so   he'd   reluctantly   gone   along   with   her.   As   the   night   neared   the   start   of   the   new   year,   Chrissy   turned   to   him,   grasping   his   chin   and   pulling   him   in   for   a   kiss.   His   hands   moved   to   rest   on   her   hips   and   for   just   a   moment   he   thought   it   would   remain   sweet,   that   just   maybe   they   would   have   a   moment   where   their   minds   weren't   taken   over   by   something   insidious.   He   was   wrong   and   that   became   apparently   the   moment   her   teeth   sank   into   his   bottom   lip   and   he   tasted   blood.   It   unleashed   something   inside   of   him   and   he   growled   against   her   mouth,   his   bloody   tongue   sliding   into   her   mouth   so   she   could   taste   the   metallic   fluid   as   well,   his   grip   on   her   hips   becoming   bruising.

[carolperkinsexgirlfriend]

can you see the stars in your dreams (and do they have a lot to say about me) - Part 14

Or: a secret Admirer AU

TW: homophic language used due to internalized homophobia

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 4 || PART 5 || PART 6 || PART 7 || PART 8 || PART 9 || PART 10 || PART 11 || PART 1 || PART 13

Steve doesn’t know what’s worse, not being able to see the expression on Eddie’s face, or the moment he turns around and he can see it. He looks like Steve just shot his dog. But, wouldn’t Chrissy be the dog in that metaphor? Steve drops it before Robin can somehow sense his train of thought and burst into the room with the sole purpose of punching him.

“So, what?” Eddie asks, voice sharp and angry. “This was all just some joke? Pick on the freak? Make him think a pretty girl actually likes him?”

Any sadness he’d been feeling is wiped off his face now, masked over with a tired sort of rage. It’s tempting to go along with Eddie’s assumptions. Yes, it was all just a joke. Yes, they’d all been laughing behind his back for weeks on end. After all, Eddie doesn’t look hurt, he looks pissed.

But, it’s too late. Steve had already seen the anguish in Eddie’s eyes before he’d banked it.

“No,” Steve murmurs, only noticing that Eddie’s mid-tirade when he stops talking. His head’s buzzing too loud to hear much else. “It wasn’t a joke.”

Eddie scoffs, waiting in pointed silence until Steve raises his head and meets his eyes. “Then how do you explain all this?” He gyrates his hand around the room, encompassing all four of their bodies with jerky movements. “Huh, Harrington?”

Steve swallows. He hopes it’s not as audible to everyone else as it is in his own ears, but by the way Eddie’s gaze snaps down to it before pulling back up to meet his eyes again, that hope is futile.

“I just—” Steve starts, forcing himself to keep looking at Eddie, even as his eyes flay him open. “It wasn’t supposed to get this complicated.”

“What does that mean?” Eddie asks, gritting out every word, body leaning toward Steve like he wants to reach across the distance between them and strangle him.

“I just like you, okay?” Steve snaps. Eddie jerks back like he’d just taken a blow. “I liked you, and I thought this would be a good way to, I don’t know, work through it?”

“You like me?” Eddie asks, almost laughing, just like that day in the cafeteria when he was singling out the jocks, just like he always does when something’s not funny but he’s pretending it is.

It hurts anyway.

“I’m sorry,” Steve mutters, staring down at his own lap, unable to look at anyone in the room. “I didn’t mean to make it your problem.”

“Didn’t mean to—” Eddie snaps, and Steve sees an abrupt enough movement that Steve’s afraid Eddie’s going to hit him. Steve jerks back into the couch, heartbeat rabbiting in his chest, but all Eddie’s done is stand, hands clenched, mouth snarling. “How the hell is tricking me into thinking Chrissy Cunningham liked me not making it my problem?”

“Eddie—“ Jeff cuts in, tone a warning, but Eddie doesn’t even seem to notice.

“You really think that’s ‘not making it my problem?’” Eddie asks, throwing finger quotations around it mockingly as he glares down at Steve. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Steve feels small, wishes he was smaller—he wants to sink into the cracks of the Munson’s ratty couch and never be seen again. This moment is too much for him.

He’s known ever since that moment in the cafeteria when Eddie’d pressed his lips to Chrissy’s hand that they’d end up here. He knew, but he’d kept writing the letters, kept Chrissy embroiled into his mess. Chrissy who’s standing silent and shocked behind Eddie, hand pressed to her mouth as Steve’s mess implodes around him.

“I’m sorry,” Steve replies, voice small. He’s not sure if he’s talking to Eddie, or Chrissy, or hell, even Jeff. He just knows that he really, truly is sorry.

“You’re sorry?” Eddie demands, and he’s pacing now, hands fisted into his own hair. “You’re sorry for what? For derailing my life? For making me think someone might actually like me? For what?”

Steve doesn’t say anything as he watches Eddie’s movements become more frenetic. He’s pulling his hair hard now, and all Steve wants to do is reach out and grab Eddie’s hands, make him stop hurting himself. But, it’s not his place, so he clenches his hands into fists atop his own thighs and looks up at the boy he likes unraveling at the seams. Because of him.

“The first time a girl actually likes me and it’s you.” It lands like venom, leaching through all the sinew and bone of Steve’s body and turning his beating heart into a pulpy mess. “What, you thought just because everyone calls me a freak that I’d be a quee—”

“Eddie!” It’s Chrissy and Jeff, both shouting out at the same time, clearly trying to get Eddie to stop talking before he says something irreversible.

It’s too late: Steve’s already heard him.

He doesn’t know what his own face is doing, but when Eddie finally looks at him, his face goes white, then turns sort of green like he’s going to be sick. When he takes a halting step forward, Steve can’t help the way he presses further into the couch, hands shaking where they’re still clenching in his lap.

He wants to scream, or cry, or die so he doesn’t have to do this anymore. But, Eddie’s right, this is all his fault, so the least he can do is offer up an explanation.

“It’s not Chrissy’s fault,” Steve says, looking down at his own shaking hands, willing them to lie still. “Or Jeff’s. I dragged them into this, so don’t be mad at them, okay?”

“Steve—” Chrissy says, voice choking with emotion.

“I was afraid.” Steve talks right over her, doesn’t even look her way. He can’t, or he’ll break. “But, that’s no excuse for making you have to deal with my bullshit.”

“Steve,” Chrissy tries again.

“I’m sorry.” Steve finally looks up from his lap, meeting Eddie’s fathomless eyes. “I’ll leave you alone now.”

Steve gets up on shaky legs and walks to the trailer’s front door, giving Eddie a wide berth. No one says anything as he makes his way through the small living room, or when he opens the door and steps through.

It’s only as the door’s shutting closed behind him that he hears Eddie say, “Shit Harrington, wait.”

Steve doesn’t. He walks down the Munson’s drive and straight out of the trailer park.

No one follows him.

***

The silence hangs like a noose in the trailer after the click of the door closing quietly behind Harrington’s drooping frame. Eddie stares into nothing, entirely blank.

“That was cruel.” It’s Chrissy who says it. Chrissy, who pretended to like him, who led him on, who…was just trying to protect her friend.

“Not any crueler than he was to me,” Eddie mutters, still staring at the closed door feeling inexplicably like he should run after him.

Instead, he turns his back on the door and tries to forget the slope of Harrington’s shoulders as he’d walked out on him.

His brain’s full of fog, emotions swirling around too quickly for him to catch any of them. He can’t make sense of any of this. Not Chrissy who pretended to like him or Steve Harrington, who actually did, not—

“You—” Eddie starts, eyes focusing as something else takes over his brain as he sets his sights on Jeff. “You knew?”

Jeff grimaces, but straightens his spine and tilts his chin up like Eddie’s the enemy now. “Yeah,” he says, all flippant, as if Eddie’s world isn’t shattering around his feet. “I knew.”

Eddie laughs, can’t help it with the way anger’s pooling in his gut. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“It was Steve’s secret to te—”

“Screw Steve!” Eddie shouts, suddenly enough that Chrissy takes a startled step back. “You’re supposed to be my friend.”

Jeff scoffs, stepping in front of Chrissy. “Your friend?” he demands with an incredulous laugh that makes Eddie want to strangle him. “You didn’t even tell me about the letters in the first fucking place!”

He stomps forward, coming at Eddie like he’s going to do—something, Eddie will never know what because Chrissy wraps her arm around his waist and pulls him back with a chiding, worried, “Jeff.”

Eddie stares at the way her fingers curl proprietarily into the fabric of his t-shirt, the way he steadies under her touch and takes a step back, the way he stands in the cradle of her hold like it’s his birthright.

“Hold—hold on,” Eddie says, holding his hand out like that’ll stop the dots from connecting in his own mind. “Are you two—”

He doesn’t finish the thought, can’t put words to what he’s accusing them of, not right now. But, as he flails his fingers between them, they both look at the floor, in goddamn sync, even with their own guilt. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

Anger’s always been Eddie’s worst enemy; he’s pretty sure it’s an inherited trait from his pa, the way rage makes his blood boil, makes him take things too far, makes him react like verbal words are a physical threat. Just like his pa, no matter how much he doesn’t want to be.

“So, you what?” he asks, whole body shaking with the force of his anger. “Decided to lead me on while fucking my best friend?”

He laughs, sharp and mean when Chrissy jerks like he slapped her. He clenches his fist against the desire to do just that.

“You don’t get to talk to her like that,” Jeff replies quietly, like that’ll make him the reasonable one.

“Fuck o—“

“You don’t own her,” Jeff interrupts him, Eddie screams in his throat, wild with the fire burning through him.

Jeff sighs, low and disappointed, just like Uncle Wayne does if Hop picks Eddie up for some trumped-up charges, or he fails another pop quiz, or he brings in more money he can’t explain to his Uncle. 

The thought of Wayne is what does him in. Even in absentia, that old man brings him back to himself. Eddie shudders, takes a step back and stares at the carpet beneath his toes, trying to bank his anger back beneath his ribs where it can’t hurt anyone else.

“I’m sorry we hurt you,” Jeff continues, voice soft, soft soft. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what was going on. But Eddie?”

It takes a long moment for Eddie to drag gaze away from his own feet and up to Jeff’s face. Jeff waits, silent, until Eddie meets his eyes.

“You need to figure your own shit out, too,” he says gently. “Because if you don’t? You’re going to hurt everyone around you, not just Steve.”

Eddie looks back at the door Harrington—Steve—had walked through, feelings twisting around on themselves until they’re choking him.

“Harrington,” Eddie starts, throat catching on the consonants of his name like it’d been years since he last spoke. “Did he really—?”

He can’t finish this thought either, hopes Jeff or Chrissy will pluck it from his mind and answer it for him.

“Like you?” Jeff asks, waiting for Eddie to nod his assent before answering. “Yeah, man. He does.”

The present tense is what does him in. Does. Steve Harrington, king of the jocks, liar, boy, likes him. Enough to write letters to him. He doesn’t know what to do with this, where to put it in the reality of his life.

“Oh.”

“You can’t tell anyone, Eddie,” Chrissy says, taking a step around Jeff to look up at Eddie with pleading eyes. “They’ll kill him.”

It’s only then, staring at the terror on Chrissy’s face, that the magnitude of the secret he’s just learned sinks in. Harrington, lady-killer, probable prom king, jock extraordinaire, is queer.

The vindictive part of Eddie he tries to keep caged wants to sling this around— Harrington’s just comeuppance for every time he’s made the rest of them feel less than, feel like a freak. But, even with his anger barely banked, Eddie knows the punishment wouldn’t fit the crime.

Harrington had, what? Laughed snidely behind Hagan after standing by while he’d seen a nerd get his books knocked out of his hands? Had been born with a perfect face and perfect hair in a castle of a house, so he’d been idolized for it.

Telling wouldn’t take that all away—it’d leave Harrington dead.

Even Hagan doesn’t deserve that.

So, all Eddie says is, “I won’t,” quietly, hoping she believes him.

She sighs, slumping into Jeff, trusting him to hold her up. Eddie doesn’t want to see it anymore; he can’t be in the same room as those two and not let the fire in his blood bleed through to his words.

He stands, stiff, unsure, and asks, “can you guys just go?”

“Eddie—“

“Jeff, please,” Eddie asks, voice breaking on the last word.

“Okay.”

Jeff ushers Chrissy out of his trailer and, just before the door shuts behind him, Eddie calls out, “Jeff?”

“Yeah, buddy?” Jeff calls back, not turning back around, not closing the door.

“I’ll call you,” he says, hoping it’s loud enough for his friend to hear. “Okay?”

Jeff doesn’t point out the lack of time frame or the way Eddie’s voice shakes. He’s good like that, always has been, no matter how mad they get at each other. “You call, and I’ll pick up.”

Without another word, Jeff lets the door close. Eddie stands there stationary until he hears the sound of a car starting, kicking up gravel all the way out of the trailer park. Only then, does he collapse onto the couch and bury his head in his hands.

It’s a mistake—the pressure of his hand making pain bloom hard and fast on the bruise on his eyes. Eddie groans, tired, in pain, and completely done. He wants Uncle Wayne to brush his hair out of his face, wants Jeff to sit at his side, or Gareth to light a joint for him, or Chrissy to bump their shoulders together. 

He wants—

The bag of frozen peas Harrington had handed him have gone mushy and warm.

The trailer’s quiet, and Eddie’s all alone.

PART 15

[chheered]

know we have yet to interact with nancy and chrissy, but i just wanted to say that i think your twist on chrissy is cool and unique and i can't wait to explore a dynamic between her and nancy!

[himbosandhardwear]

Steddie I Different First Meeting I Lollapalooza/Musician AU I 1.6k I SFW I Side Buckingham

Chrissy is talking but Eddie only catches every fourth word. It's not his fault, the guy walking in front of them is wearing the shortest possible shorts one could wear in public and not get arrested, and the back of his thighs, and the rest of him as far as Eddie can tell, are covered in little brown beauty marks. It's like walking behind a sexy train wreck. 

“So what do you think?”

“Mmm?”

“Eddie! This is important! Pay attention.”

He finally looks away. “Yeah. Italian. Whatever.”

She rolls her eyes. “I already decided on dinner, you jackass. I'm talking about going home for Thanksgiving.”

That's a huge no. He scrunches his nose to indicate how stupid an idea he thinks that is. 

Before she can further berate him, the guy and his girlfriend stop at a random door and walk inside. He's devastated. His soulmate, lost forever! 

“Oh, that's actually on our list!” Chrissy says, stopping him with an arm. “You wanna just go now?”

Eddie's so in his own head he doesn't understand what she's talking about until he reads the door and sees ‘Medieval Torture Museum.’ 

Eddie has a full blown joy filled conniption on the sidewalk. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” He grabs her and shoves her towards the door.

“Asshole, this is silk,” she mumbles. 

He ignores her. His mole-covered soulmate is still in line, so Eddie gets to stand directly behind him while they wait. His hair is so swoopy. He wants to jam his fingers in it and fuck it up.

“Welcome to the Medieval Torture Museum,” a woman standing at the podium drones in a manner fitting a 70 year old Walmart greeter. “Please no flash photography and watch your step. Have a great time.”

Eddie watches as Soul Mate and his girlfriend make eye contact and attempt not to giggle. It's exactly the same thing he and Chrissy just did behind them. 

Once it's their turn to pay and get their little stickers, Eddie is already foaming at the mouth to follow up the stairs. Chris dicks around, struggling to figure out where to put her sticker. Eddie swears at her under his breath while his Soul Mate gets away.

“It's silk, Eddie!”

Fed up, he takes the sticker from her, baps it onto her forehead, and runs away.

He's glad he left her when he gets to the top of the stairs in time to hear Soul Mate mutter, “I'd pay a drug lord to do that to my dad.”

His girlfriend answers, “I'll do it for twenty bucks and first pick out of his wine cellar.”

They shake on it in front of the mannequin display of a Columbian Necktie.

Eddie is more in love than ever. 

“That's not medieval,” Chrissy points out when she meets them upstairs. She's unbuttoned the blouse enough for Eddie to see the sticker is now stuck to her collarbone. 

“If you're gonna get nit-picky, I'm pushing you back down the stairs.”

She gives him a doubtful look. “Daria down there would save me.”

He huffs a laugh. 

They catch up with his new boyfriend as they stand critiquing the Impaling wall, he follows as subtle as he can through the next room too. Luckily, there are other people mingling about, so Eddie doesn't look too obvious, but it's imperative he stay close enough to hear every comment made.

“That would fix me,” the guy says a lot, especially at the display of a man having his head squeezed until his eye pops out. Eddie can relate, he gets migraines too. 

He does get distracted when Chrissy opens the door to the giant metal bull, because he can't miss the opportunity to try to shove her inside. She wails, kicking him directly in the dick. He drops her in favor of dry heaving the pain away. It's totally worth it because he catches Soul Mate watching. 

“Don't even think about it,” Soul Mate’s girlfriend says. 

Soul mate scoffs. “Like you'd even fit.”

“Bitch!” 

They wander off.

Eddie waddles after, slowly.

He's reading a plaque about flaying when he hears the two of them mutter, “Henderson,” at the same time. He turns and finds them high fiving over a display of a guy with his tongue nailed to a board. 

“Is this a sex thing?” Chrissy asks, holding up a metal cock plate with spikes attached. 

“Without a doubt. I'd venture to say most of this stuff is. Also remind me to have something like this guy drawn up for wardrobe,” he wiggles the one with a boar on the front, “it's so me.”

“Ugh, you're the worst.” 

He stops giggling when he looks up to find Soul Mate looking him up and down, not in a ‘I must have you’ kinda way but a ‘I know you from somewhere’ way. He's not a fan, that's for sure, a fan would've clocked him right away, stupid ball cap on or not. He's sweating his ass off in a sleeveless tank top and jeans, and his tattoos are fairly recognizable. 

Eddie, not shy in the least, gives him a little wave, wiggling the metal boar dildo at him. “How about this guy? Think he'd fix ya?”

The guy chokes on a laugh, embarrassed to be caught looking but not so much that he looks away. “Only one way to find out,” he manages to say just loud enough for Eddie to hear, not so loud that the entire room hears it. 

His girlfriend slaps his bicep. “Don't flirt with Eddie Munson!” She hisses. Not in a ‘you're standing next to your girlfriend’ kind of way but in a ‘flirting with famous rock stars is ill advised’ kinda way.

Hope springs eternal! “No, do. Do flirt with Eddie Munson,” Eddie, shameless in the face of possible love, says back.

Soul Mate moves closer. “Eddie Munson? The Coffin guy? Melted Coffin? You're the Melted Coffin guy?” 

Despite the lack of musical awareness, Eddie is still smitten. “Sure. Melted Coffin.”

Chrissy snickers at his elbow. “Does that make you guys one half of Spoon Goons?”

“Ha!” Soul Mate's girlfriend cackles, holding up a hand for a high five. 

Chrissy gives her a demure tap, actually blushing, like the useless lesbian she is.

“What's a Spoon Goon? Are you guys drug dealers? Why would she know you and I don't?”

Chrissy rolls her eyes up at him, the ‘I lament ever being nice to you in high school, you are embarrassing me’ look.

“They're in Scoops Troop, dumb ass. You've never seen them before because you don't listen to pop music.” She turns back to her new crush. “Sorry, he's allergic to dance beats. Also,” she looks back up at him, “where do you think your drugs come from? The Drug Fairy?”

“That was my nickname in High School,” he quips. 

“It wasn't but it might as well have been.”

Eddie turns back to his Soul Mate and holds out a hand. “Eddie Munson.”

Soul Mate wastes no time shaking, grip firm, hands huge. “Steve Harrington.” He takes his hand away to backhand his friend in the shoulder. “This is Robin. Buckley. Platonic Soul Mate and huge cock block.”

“Huge Cock Block was my nickname in High School,” she says, shaking Eddie's hand and then Chrissy’s.

“Cunningham, Chrissy.” 

“Holy shit!” Robin exclaims. “You're Christine Cunningham? Wait, of course you are, oh my god, I heard all about what you did to Axel Rose last year. That was fucking epic.”

Chrissy, still holding Robin's hand, goes scarlet red. “Oh. Ha. Yeah, he's a dill weed.”

Robin gives her an unwarranted snort. Though calling Axel Rose a dill weed is pretty accurate, it's probably the tamest thing he's ever been called.

Eddie glances over at Steve. They share a look. ‘Can you believe how useless lesbians are?’ 

Eddie nods toward their still clasped hands, pointing out the total lack of awareness on both of their parts. Steve snorts. 

The girls go on a tangent of their least favorite artists to tour with, which is when Eddie gets while the gettin’s good and starts scooting away, Steve equally cat-like beside him. They back toward the next room, side by side, until they bump into a mannequin display of various ways to tickle someone to insanity. 

“Huh,” Steve mumbles, distracted from their getaway. “That can't be right. That claw thing just looks like it would feel good.”

“I'm pretty sure I have one of those at home.”

Steve glances over. “Oh yeah? Where's home?”

“Currently, L.A. Originally? Bout an hour south of Indianapolis.”

Steve's eyes light up. “No shit? I'm from an hour north of Indianapolis!”

“That's insane.” 

“Seriously. Ha.” He plays with the rope contraption on the Blood Eagle display. “You guys are playing tomorrow night, right?”

“Yeah. Nine o'clock. You guys?”

“Sunday at Four.”

Eddie nods, files that away. “The girls are probably gonna fall in love and try to move in together, you know that right?”

Steve shrugs. “We're in Sacramento at the moment, LA wouldn't be a stretch. I'm a wiz at U-Hauling at this point.” 

“Good. So we should do our best to support them. Fucking immediately is probably the best course of action, you know, just to make sure we're compatible.”

Steve doesn't look over but Eddie sees his lips get tucked in, trying to smash his smile down. “You had me at ‘weird torture pig dildo.’”

“You had me out on the sidewalk, I would've followed you down a manhole.”

“Play your cards right, you still might.”

“I love you.”

They're still making eyes at each other when the girls catch up.

“Eddie, Robin and Steve are coming to dinner with us.”

“Yeah they are,” he agrees immediately, throwing an arm around Steve's shoulder.

“Did you know their drummer doesn't have any collarbones?” Chrissy says as they make their way back toward the front stairs.

“Holy fuck, Cunningham, I'm already a sure thing, you don't have to keep selling it.”

[steviewashere]

here's some modern au/no upside down au/no supernatural elements au head canons of mine that are kind of stupid Stobin Edition (this is all to get in the minds of their characters in my text fics lol) a list:

Steve and Robin are sending each other selfies while on the toilet. They are having in-depth conversations about their bathroom breaks. They are having a phone, speaker on, conversation while using the toilet. One of them's already in the bathroom? The other is barging into that unlocked bathroom to continue a conversation. "Hey, Steve, hand me that new roll of tp?" Steve tosses it with a quick shout of, "Alley-oop!"

They are watching Chopped while eating dinner (a frozen meal they added garlic seasoning to). They are criticizing every last little detail.

Robin helps Steve with his frosted highlights. He touches up her roots. They are gossiping about their neighbors and their on-again, off-again marriage.

Robin is constantly criticizing Steve for using an Elf bar. They will, however, throw back enough shots to consider themselves hazards.

They are karaoke partners. Even when they're in relationships with their respective partners (Eddie and Chrissy in this AU), they always perform with each other. Robin makes Steve sing some Chappell Roan, he knows none of the lyrics, he ends up just being her hype-man.

Steve is a big Stardew Valley and The Sims 4 fan. Robin indulges in Animal Crossing. Eventually, Steve forces Robin to play Stardew with him and Robin does the same with Animal Crossing. (They both enjoy their games).

They have matching build-a-bear stuffies that they dressed up to look like each other. Each with a sound button that plays out an "I love you" from the other + them breaking down into giggles in the background (they were there with each other when they recorded the voice boxes, they simply couldn't stop snickering each time they tried to get the messages recorded).

When they're drunk at home, they are curling up on the couch to watch reruns of Friends and to eat straight out of a tub of butterscotch ice cream. They fall asleep curled into each other and their respective partners (Eddie and Chrissy again) take care of them; Chrissy covers them with a blanket and Eddie takes a photo that will eventually be printed and go up on the wall (to sit with the other ones already pristinely framed).

Steve sometimes goes into Robin's room and just face plants into her bedding and screams. Robin comforts him by petting his hair and prompting, "Another stupid customer?" And Steve just goes off. Robin does the same to him from time to time, but she does it significantly less so.

They go to the zoo/aquarium and point at all the paired animals and say, "That's us." Their favorite pairing is a platonic set of sea otters that are constantly holding hands or helping the other retrieve food. (Sometimes they leave crying).

They go on plenty of 3am drives when the other can't sleep. Blasting music and laughing the entire time. Stopping at a gas station to get slurpees. Going home when the sun is up and then falling asleep in one of their beds.

Constantly giving each other the weirdest nicknames possible. At one point, Robin was just Bobby Flay for two weeks straight.

They buy a whole cheesecake from Wal-Mart and then go drive around town, while eating slices the entire time. (Totally not based on experience lol)

Robin always throws Steve a little birthday party because it's the one thing he never really got with his parents and he never knows what he actually wants to do on his birthday.

Steve takes Robin out for birthday pancakes and fro-yo. And then always finds an antique mall to let her loose in (she spends an hour inside just the first three booths).

On that last note, Robin is an antique mall girly, always looking for mugs, sweaters, vinyls, and horror novellas. Steve likes going into collector's shops for three things: baseball cards, Funko Pops, and Amazing Spider-Man comics.

Robin drags Steve to the local soccer/football team's games. Steve takes her to hockey games.

They paint each other's nails and gossip. Steve picks out a pale orange and Robin goes for a dark purple.

Matching costumes on Halloween (even if they've got their partners). Ketchup and mustard. Scarecrow and Tin Man. Batman and Robin (you know who's who). Their best ones were Peter Pan and Tinerbell (guess who was Tinkerbell)

Instead of how they met in the show, they met in high school. In detention of all places. Robin was tardy for the third time that week to her third period class. And Steve was caught trying to leave campus to get lunch. They still have that very emotional bathroom scene, just in a public high school men's bathroom (disgusting, I know).

Steve doesn't come out to Robin until he's like twenty-one/twenty-two. It takes him being on his own for three/four years at that point to finally feel safe enough to come out. His parents are very conservative. (Also, for extra angst on this one, his family eventually finds out at Thanksgiving—where he is then told to leave and then he's shunned. He becomes a Buckley that same day when he goes to Robin's parents' house to seek her out. It's the first Thanksgiving where he's allowed to be himself.) Also...Steve is gay. Comphet Steve Harrington...yeah. Yeah.

Brunch at a Mexican restaurant: margarita pitcher, sizzling fajitas, and people watching. The perfect best friend date to them.

Still work at Scoops Ahoy! just after they meet in school.

Instead of Family Video, they end up working at a local music shop. That's where Steve meets Eddie, browsing through the Metallica tapes for his refurbished Walkman. Chrissy is hanging out with Eddie the next time he comes in. Robin then meets Chrissy, who is searching for a girl in red vinyl (she gets so excited to lead Chrissy over there. and to then recommend her a bunch of artists. she nearly faints when she gets Chrissy's number)

Okay. That's all I've got for now. Maybe more later.

[stevethehairington]

okay so. overall review:

actually not as bad as i expected it to be! and not as bad as i thought it was going to turn out while i was in the trenches there lol. i still wished it focused a little more on eddie's home life/relationship with his dad and uncle AND his friends, and had way less of the romance stuff (read: none), BUT i will admit that there ended up being a lot less of the romance stuff than i initially expected and a lot less than it seemed like there would be while still in the middle of the book.

the paige stuff still made me uncomfy bc i didn't like the power dynamics there (paige had something eddie wanted desperately, and i don't like the idea that that could have had something to do with his "feelings" for her/why he engaged with them ((esp bc let's be real — he didn't seem super torn up over not getting to be with her in the end)) or that she used that to her advantage bc there was ALSO something in it for her) BUT i will say they did make it slightly less skeezy than i expected bc she was only a couple years older than him instead of like. significantly older like i expected.

i do wish there was more about eddie's friends and their fallout and reconciliation. his friends were super important to him and he just. dropped them. like that. and there was BARELY any blowback. like yeah there was a fight with ronnie, but we never actually got to see the reactions of any of the other hellfire/corroded coffin guys, and i would've liked to see that. same with the reconciliation, it felt very minimal — i would've liked to see more of how that played out too.

I LOVED EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN SECOND OF WAYNE MUNSON CONTENT, THAT MAN IS A GIFT HE IS AN ANGEL I ADORE HIM WITH EVERYTHING IN ME. IF THERE IS ONE THING THIS BOOK HAS DONE IT HAS SOLIDIFIED MY STANCE THAT WAYNE MUNSON IS THE BEST GOD DAMN CHARACTER AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM.

as for eddie — i think the author did an alright job finding his voice. there were times where i thought she really nailed it, but there were also A LOT of times where i thought "he would never say that!!" "he would never do that!!". it wasn't very consistent, but overall it wasn't awful and there were some good parts!

the other characters we know and love that made cameos — VERY fun to see them (gareth, chrissy, jason, hopper, will, jonathan!!!) gareth was ESPECIALLY fun to see because they really embraced that feral chihuahua boy energy we love to assign to him. BUT. i am SO incredibly upset with how badly they massacred my boy tommy h (whOSE LAST NAME THEY COULDNT EVEN GET RIGHT I MEAN W H A T!?) they fucking. got his characterization SO BAD. it was awful. i am. personally offended by it (joking, mostly rhsjsi). (as a tommy lover i am. devastated tho. HE WOULD NOT DO THAT!!!)

OH ALSO — reefer rick. WHAT a fun dude. hes out here in his robe and bunny slippers drinking darjeeling tea, living it up. what a guy.

id like to give a huge FUCK YOU to principal higgins too! they made that dude a straight up MONSTER. he was unnecessarily CRUEL and some of the things he said straight up to eddies face,,,,,,, sir what the FUCK. i know the 80s was a different time but jesus fucking cHRIST was casual cruelty and bullying from grown ass ADULTS commonplace? i sure hope not.

ALSO FUCK AL MUNSON LIVES ALL MY HOMIES HATE AL MUNSON LIVES. that man was AWFUL, TRULY HONESTLY GENUINELY THE WORST. neglectful and cruel and downright AWFUL. NOT ONLY DID HE CONSISTENTLY ABANDON EDDIE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE BUT THEN HE DREW EDDIE INTO HIS SCHEMES, CONNED HIM, FUCKED UP REAL BIG, AND THEN LEFT EDDIE IN THE ASHES OF THEIR — OF HIS — HOME AS THE ONLY PERSON LEFT WITH THE COP WHO GOT SHOT AND IS LIKE SLOWLY BLEEDING OUT. TALK ABOUT FUCKING TRAUMA WHAT THE FUCK. i hope he got flayed ALIVE by charlie greene lmao it would serve him right that absolute twat waffle.

also, im gonna be real. the end of that book was actually INSANELY depressing. like, it tried to be positive because you gotta end on a positive note right? but it just fell. COMPLETELY flat. bc we all know what happens to eddie in canon. he's sitting there reenrolling in school, peacoking around about how he's GOING to finish high school and he's GOING to graduate and he's GOING to show principal higgins that he CAN do it and that he ISNT the fuckup deliquent he's convinced he is. BUT WE ALL KNOW HE DOESNT FUCKING GET THAT IN CANON. he's taking waynes advice and fully embracing who he is and he's learning to be comfortable in his own skin and to rise above all the noise of people who don't like him and think he's a freak. ONLY WE KNOW HE NEVER TRULY GETS TO DO THAT EITHER BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW HOW IT ENDS IN CANON. so yeah it just ends up being a REALLY fucking BLEAK ending because all of that "positivity" is absolutely tainted. it's fucking soured. and i am once again INSANELY INFURIATED about eddies death. so fuck the duffers, again.

also, eddie munson literally never caught a fucking break. not one fucking break. his ENTIRE life was just one series of tragedies after the other and it truly just continued on that way until he fucking died. honestly, its a goddamn MIRACLE that he has ANY ounce of positivity and optimism and hope left in his life when we get to him in s4. thatd how utter dogshit a hand he has been dealt in life. and it only.got worse from there. and i will NEVER forgive ANYONE involved in his creation for that.

so yeah! that concludes my journey reading flight of icarus. it was a wild ride lol.

[glitterfang]

Coming Home

written by @sunflowerharrington, art by @glitterfang

word count: 27,514

archive warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence

pairings: Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Chrissy Cunningham & Jonathan Byers, Chrissy Cunningham & Heather Holloway, Chrissy Cunningham & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Brief Chrissy Cunningham/Steve Harrington, Chrissy Cunningham & The Party (Stranger Things)

characters: Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Steve Harrington, Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Heather Holloway, Doris Driscoll, The Flayed (Stranger Things), The Mind Flayer (Stranger Things), The Party (Stranger Things), Scoops Troop (Stranger Things)

additional tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stranger Things 3, Canon Rewrite, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, canon character death, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, POV: Chrissy Cunningham, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Steve Harrington/Chrissy Cunningham makes a brief appearance, First Kisses, Coming Out, Bisexual Chrissy Cunningham, Lesbian Disaster Robin Buckley, Battle of Starcourt (Stranger Things), slice of life but that life isn’t always a good one, Kissing, Swearing, The Author Regrets Nothing, The One Where Everyone’s Sad All The Time, Sad Times in Hawkins, Everyone Needs A Hug, Bee’s-Writing-Typical Violence, Smut, but it’s not out there or anything (it’s over the clothes and a fade to black)

beta readers: @slavicviking, @ghostdeb and @withacapitalp

She’s fallen for her. Not like a tumble, but a full on wipeout. It’s the kind of feeling that lasts longer than the universe; the kind of feeling that’s greater than the number of planets and stars in the sky. It’s that head over heels kind of feeling she’s never felt before until now. She’s—

Chrissy Cunningham is in love with Robin Buckley.

read on ao3!

[bananahoneycomb]

jason x eddie x chrissy idea:

Jason has had a fixation on Eddie since middle school. He is actually afraid of him not only for the obvious reasons that he's been taught to be afraid of Eddie, but Jason was a little guy and Eddie was tall and loud. He has nightmares. In high school that carries over even when Jason gets his growth spurt. Thing is it's not all fear, even if that's all he recognizes. Something something the fear and arousal reactions are so similar. It's part of why he always rises to the occasion if he things Eddie is asking for trouble.

Anyway, alt S3. Jason and a friend of his we never have seen are messing with Eddie but then that guy is flayed and there is chaos. Jason gets hurt and expects Eddie to bolt and leave him to die. Nope. "Man, I'll break your nose maybe but I'm not going to leave you to die. Would you have left me?" Jason likes to think not, but he's not sure.

After getting patched up Jason is in Church that Sunday before school starts up. There is a sermon (maybe the lost lamb one?) that just makes him sit up and fully believe 'it's a sign!' because now he is going into school with the mission of becoming friends with Eddie Munson (maybe telling himself he's going to show everyone he's just a lost sheep or something equally Jason like). Everyone is confused. Chrissy comes around fast though. Another odd trio for Hawkins high.

However, Jason picks up on Eddie and Chrissy having feelings for each other and gets jealous but it's really double jealous. Dreams of fighting Eddie again and like the scary dreams from when he was a kid but they turn to kissing. He picks a fight with Eddie. Eddie is like what the hell? we've been good! Jason calls Eddie on his feelings for Chrissy and Eddie won't deny it. Jason shoves. It turns to a scuffle and someone gets pinned. Jason kisses him, freaks out. Eddie comforts him but Jason runs.

Eddie is worried so gets Chrissy. They find Jason. Jason assumes Eddie told her and that's how Chrissy finds out. They both hug him and cuddle pile each other until they all fall asleep. When they wake up Jason is spacey and asks them to kiss each other. After being nervous they do. Then Chrissy kisses Jason. Then Jason pulls Eddie close and stops short but Eddie kisses him.

*

This whole thing came into my head why I was fixing a toilet so if it's shit that's why

[katyawriteswhump]

the power of love part 7 (steddie, stobin, steve whump fic)

Steve has a habit of surviving near death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

(also on AO3 here)

Chapter Seven

Eddie POV

Steve insists on being pathfinder lead for the next hour. 

Eddie’s gotta admit—following Steve, as he thrashes his way through the undergrowth, is the best entertainment that banishment has provided yet. Steve’s tight-fitting pants don't do any harm. Goddammit, the perspiration patches on Steve’s shirt make Eddie sweat even harder than Steve is.

“You need the fedora hat,” calls Robin, “and you’ve totally nailed the junior Indiana Jones look.”

Steve smirks over his shoulder. “I was channelling that guy out of Romancing the Stone.” 

“Michael Douglas? No way as hot.” Eddie flashes his best flirtatious grin with ever greater confidence. This afternoon, Steve has begun returning them. “Stick to Indy, man.”

By the time they reach the logging camp, however, they’re all beyond exhausted.

Eddie’s feet are raw with blisters, and Robin’s been complaining of the same for the past hour. She limps through the door of the first cabin they come to, which fortunately turns out to be a bunkhouse. She throws down her pack then throws herself onto the bottom of one of two sets of bunks. Steve collapses onto the other lower bunk and appears to fall instantly asleep.

Eddie considers crawling up onto one of the top bunks and seeing if sleep takes pity on him.

He doubts it would. The choppers were a stark reminder of the nightmare reality snapping at his heels, and he’s wired as hell. He begins to unpack their supplies. Robin, having taken a moment, sits back up.

“We should check this place out,” she whispers. “There must be a clean water supply somewhere, maybe a generator. Definitely canned food and that kinda stuff, for when the loggers come back in the autumn.” 

“I guess it’ll make a change from cardboard-flavoured cereal.”

“God, I know, right! I’d literally murder for some Count Chocular right now.”

They split up to search the various cabins. Eddie hits the jackpot first, in the guise of a crate of bottled beer. 

“Seriously?” says Robin, when she meets him outside the bunkhouse. Eddie sits on the beer crate he’s dragged out, taking a well-earned rest. “You’re gonna get buzzed?”

“You got it in one, sister.”

He doesn’t feel the need to justify this—I saw Chrissy butchered in front of my eyes. I’ve spent a week on the run from the cops. I BASICALLY DIED IN A WHIRLWIND OF EVIL KILLER DEMOBATS. And now I’m on the run again, with Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington, and I’ve fallen stupid hard for him. Oh, and there’s a small but real possibility he’s been flayed. Or something else freaky along those lines.

Robin hasn’t quit scowling at him. His smile is the first overtly false one he’s bothered with for a while:

“Forgive me, Robin. I’ve reached the point where, to quote my sweet old Granny—there ain’t nothin’ fuckin’ like it for me nerves. ’Course, she favoured hard liquor.” He offers one of two bottles he’s gotten out to Robin. “Want one?”

“I’ll stick to the cardboard cereal.” Her scowl lessens, though she remains deadly serious. “Look, promise me you won’t give too much to Steve.”

“Why?”

“What kinda pea-brain question is that? Despite the super-commando act, he’s still struggling, it’s totally obvious. Getting trashed is not gonna help.”

“Yeah, but… he’s improving, right?” Her slight wince betrays that, once again, they’re thinking the same thing. Perhaps Steve’s getting stronger, because he’s getting closer again to Lover’s Lake, Hawkins, Vecna, the Hive-Mind, and yet… “You know our little worst-case scenario, Rob? I’m still not buying it.”

The wind rustles the nearby trees. In sync, Robin’s hunched shoulders soften a little. “Me neither. Hand on heart, if Steve had a link to that evil shit, any at all, I’d sense it by now. Although… Was it just me who thought it was weird when the choppers came over, and then it suddenly clouded up?”

“Yeeeeaah, that really was just you. I was too busy eating dirt and shitting myself.” Now he thinks about it, mind, it was darn convenient.

She shrugs. “I guess I’m super-paranoid that way. I literally spent my Middle School years spotting aliens everywhere.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Then I realised they weren’t aliens. It was the Fae all along.”

“You sure it wasn’t dragons?”

“Now you’re being ridiculous.” Her laugh sounds as manic as his latest crazy smile. On the other hand:

“Maybe Steve really is getting better naturally,” he ventures, “and the set-backs are because he’s been overdoing it. I mean, yeah, we keep an eye out for anything cuckoo, watch for connections, make sure he takes rests, but… Time heals, huh?”

“Not always.” She purses her lips, veering straight back into scary mode. “Steve doesn’t like people to know, but since his second major concussion, he’s not supposed to drink. Of course, he does sometimes, but—”

“Message received. I’ll just have the one—for medicinal purposes, ’kay?” 

“Please yourself. Then wake Steve long enough to put our own bedding on those disgusting bunks. I don’t wanna be bitten to death by bed bugs.”

Robin stomps off toward the camp generator. Eddie is executing the important business of prying the top off his beer, when Steve appears, leaning in the cabin doorway. “Why did you both let me… Hey, is that beer?”

The top pops off with a treacherous fizz. “Uh, no?”

“You’re a useless liar.” Steve closes in. His messy, sleep-mussed hair renders him totally edible. 

“You got me.” Eddie darts his tongue nervously across his lips. “This indeed is the amber nectar of the Gods. You want some?” 

There’s a skewed logic behind Eddie’s offer. If he told Steve he couldn’t drink, like he was his mom or something, Steve would probably get mad. He opts to play a good cop, bad cop routine with Robin, who… 

Eddie glances toward the generator.

She’s not there. If bad cop isn’t gonna show, then he needs a Plan B.

“I guess I’ll have one.” Steve stretches to take the bottle. 

“Just gonna test it. Been here a while.” 

Eddie takes a glug, splutters it out across dusty ground. “Oh man, it’s worse than cat-piss.” He’s only slightly exaggerating. “There’s a reason those lumberjacks left this garbage behind.”

Steve yawns into the back of his hand. “Gonna be honest. I’m not supposed to drink anyhow. Long story.” Ooookay. That went easier than predicted. “Got any water left?”

“Yeah. By my pack.” Eddie hurries into the bunkhouse, and Steve follows. It’s the last bottle, so he hopes Robin’s busy locating fresh supplies. Though that proves the least of his worries.

Half a minute later, he’s sitting on the edge of a bunk, thigh-to-thigh with Steve. They pass the bottle of water and a bottle of beer between them.

And being this close to Steve, now Steve seems so much better? Exchanging chitchat about how long they can hideout here, and if any of them have the skills to hunt a deer or something?

It sends tingles up and down Eddie’s spine.

The way Steve looks at him underlines exactly why Steve was angry last night, when Eddie “assumed” he was straight. Eddie suddenly can’t look Steve in the eye. Trouble is, he then can’t stop staring at Steve’s mouth—those shapely, slightly chapped lips, moist and glistening with water and bad beer.

Then Steve blindsides him with: “Do you honestly think you died, Eddie? Before I did the CPR?”

“I dunno, Harrington.” Eddie squirms on his butt, all kinds of defences flying up. “It was like a dream. Apart from that, it wasn't a dream. It was a place, and Dustin was there, and Robin was there, and you were there, too.”

“Wow. Seriously?”

Eddie cackles out a mocking laugh. “I’m misquoting ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ dude.”

“Oh.” Eddie glances sidelong. Steve appears… oddly crestfallen. “It’s just… You know, I said when I get hurt, I feel like I come back different each time. I mean, I don't know if it's true or not, but... I never knew you before... and I know you now and... and…” Steve fluffs his hair. “Jesus, I’m blabbering.”

“Nah,” says Eddie. “You sound like you’re getting somewhere.” 

Compared to the meltdown my brain is having.

“Okay, well, here it is. I like you, Eddie. I really like you.” 

Eddie half wants to flee for the hills. He fixes on a beetle scuttling across the dirty floorboards. “Dude, you sure you’re not in love with Wheeler?”

“I… I… No!”  Steve doesn’t sound angry, only bewildered. “Yeah, I believed that once, and maybe I was. I guess she fitted in so many dreams I’ve had of my future, and I owe her a lot. But now I’m with you, and…” Their eyes finally meet. Steve’s earnest warmth sends a brutal shockwave through Eddie. “I know this seems fickle, but…” His gentle laugh is too much. “Who knows? Perhaps it’s because Nance has never been dead. Or, near dead. You know, we’ve gotten that in common, right?”

“Riiiiight,” Eddie says, stupidly, then, “Screw it, I like you too, Stevie. I really like you.” 

They fling their arms around each other, and tumble into the kiss.

For Eddie, the sensations are like no make-out session before, such is the hunger that zings between them. Eddie’s so blown away, that the brush of Steve’s lips seems to kindle an actual crackling, electric friction..  Damn, the boy can kiss! 

Eddie’s gotten a semi already, fingers threading up through Steve’s hair, toying at the nape of his neck. Steve does amazing twisty things with his tongue. Gnng! You wanna kill me again, Baby? Even the scrape of Steve’s shallow stubble totally unhinges him.

They work the kiss with their whole bodies, striving to get beyond close, as if they could slide beneath each other’s skin. Eddie can’t help wondering—can they get each other off, before Robin gets back?

Then something changes.

He senses Steve gasp, then moan into Eddie's mouth with something other than dumb teen passion. His arms, clinging around Eddie, falter and slip away.

“Stevie?”

Too late. Steve crumples against Eddie, totally senseless. 

“Steve?” squeaks Eddie, struggling to stop Steve slipping to the floorboards. “Robin! ROBIN!”

Part 8

tags: @estrellami-1 @kal-ology (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far :)

(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3)

[henrysglock]

Hey. Hey. Look at me.

There is a good chance that "Henry" wasn't an active participant in Will's flaying in filmed canon.

In Chapter 4 of the VR game, "Henry" is banished into memories of his own past by the Mindflayer, and he spends all of Chapter 5 in a Shadow-Based NINA-like simulation as punishment for failing to break Will.

Not flay. Break, because he works on the Party and Will the same way Vecna "breaks" Max, Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick. Not flaying.

In the VR, "Henry" was gone, banished into his own memories, before Will's flaying. We don't receive confirmation that he escaped the mental maze. Chapter 5 is the last "Henry"-POV chapter, too, meaning that we are never shown "Henry's" active involvement in Will's flaying or Billy's flaying.

Going off the VR, and knowing how picky the Duffers are about writing One, there's a solid chance "Henry" simply wasn't in control after the "viewmaster" part of Will's story (read: pre-flaying).

[starry-eyed-steve]

Max taking the risk in season 2 is the reason she survived so long, and it will (hopefully) be the reason she gets saved in season 5.

I love the angsty lumax scenes comparisons/parallels like every other person, but it's not true that Max getting involved led to her being in a coma in s4. I think people want an angsty Lucas arc for the last season where he blames himself for everything, but I need someone to reassure him it's not because he got Max involved in s2. I believe his guilt will mostly stem from him not being able to stop Jason in time, letting Max go through with the half-baked plan and, in general, letting Max isolate in the months leading up to Vecna. (Which is already enough. Someone needs to give him a hug in s5)

Max being part of the group by accepting the risk, actually saved her life in multiple ways.

In s3, the chance of her dying due to Billy would have been significantly higher than it actually was. Billy would have gotten possessed either way. It was Karen's fault, not Max or the party, that he was at the wrong place at the right time. If Max hadn't known about the Mindflayer or El, she wouldn't have suspected anything, thus making her an easy target to get flayed as well.

If she were to survive s3 on her own, Vecna would have still targeted her because she felt guilty about Billy dying not because she witnessed it but because she wished that something would happen to him to make the abuse she suffered from him stop. And when something did happen, she blamed herself. Her complicated relationship with Billy is the reason why she got cursed. It was never because she took the risk. Her issues stem from outside of the supernatural things. Without Lucas and her friends, she wouldn't have survived the first attack. She would have been confused like Chrissy, Patrick, and Fred, not knowing what was going on and then dying a horrific death.

Taking the risk ensured her to live as long as she did because she had the opportunity to get information that were vitol for her physical well-being.

But taking the risk also gave her the opportunity to live a more fulfilled life. In the beginning of s2, Max was super closed off. She was scared to get close to anyone because of her brother. He was threatening to harm people if Max disobeyed him (aka him trying to run the party over as a scare tatic to get her back under control after the argument). So she pushed Dustin and Lucas away. It was easier and safer for everyone involved. If we take Runaway Max as canon, then Billy actually physically harmed one of her friends, so it's understandable that Max tries her hardest to stay away in the beginning. Only due to Lucas and Dustin constant persuading and pushing she opened up a bit more. And then when Lucas told her the huge secret she was suddenly a part of something so big she had to allow herself to trust others because her life was dependent on it. It gave her the opportunity to be honest and vulnerable to an outsider, which also then led her to free herself from her brother's control by the end of s2. Meeting Steve and the rest and seeing that someone was willing to protect her from her brother's abuse gave her the strength to set boundaries, which then allowed her to be happier and more open. She met El and found amazing friends in the party, which she wouldn't be close otherwise. It also allowed her to have a different relationship with Billy. In s3, they seemed to be more relaxed before everything went south.

Without getting involved, she probably would still be the closed off girl she was at the beginning of s2. She would still be under Billy's control until he died. And then she would be alone without anyone really looking out for her, which would lead to her definite death in s4.

Lucas saved her physically and emotionally by giving her the opportunity to take the risk. And because of that, she can still be saved in s5.