#harringrove neighbors au

[harringroveera]

Not roommates or dormmates but a secret third thing: neighbors AU

[ghostlynimbus]

i cant figure out the timeline for this hellcheer oneshot i want to write

I need Chrissy's brother to be around 2-3 years younger than her for the timeline to make sense for when he gets kicked out, but I also need him to have no idea who Eddie, Billy, Steve, Robin, Heather, and Max are (because if he recognizes them as being from Hawkins, he would have given Chrissy a heads up even if he doesnt know there's any history there)

Do I just hand wave and say he goes to boarding school so he never really got to know anyone close to his age in Hawkins? Why did he get sent to boarding school but not Chrissy?

[writer-in-theory]

'tis the damn season — harringrove relay race

Summary: A modern AU in which Steve has to spend the holidays alone for the first time. It's a good thing his next-door neighbor has other ideas. Pairing: Steve Harrington/Billy Hargrove Rating: T Word Count: 1k A/N: This is my contribution to the Harringrove Relay Race ( @harringrove-relay-race ).

When Robin said she had to go back to Hawkins for Christmas, Steve tried to tell himself it was a good thing. He’d have the entire apartment to himself, which meant he could lounge on the couch in his pajamas and eat whatever he wanted without any comments from his friend. It would be a good thing, because Dustin was always telling them that they needed to learn how to exist apart, citing something about ‘codependency’ or some shit that Steve never bothered to really pay attention to. 

He told himself it didn’t matter that everyone he knew had a home to return to for the holidays, and he was stuck in the rundown apartment he and Robin could barely afford in the middle of San Francisco.

At first, it was even fun. He danced around the living room to his music without any complaints from Robin about the amount of Springsteen that existed on his mixtapes and didn’t bother to cook a single meal on his own when pizza delivery was an easy solution.

But then the apartment grew hauntingly and stiflingly quiet, even when the music still blared. Nothing seemed to solve his loneliness.

At least, until his neighbor made himself known.

It was the guy who lived in the studio apartment across the hall, the one that Robin had lovingly called ‘Malibu Barbie’ after seeing him return one morning with a surfboard under his arm. He was quiet most of the time, with the only proof that he was around being the occasional blasting of his rock music (not that Steve minded, it was proof there were other people around). 

They’d never had any reason to talk before, but Steve supposed December made everyone act strangely for one reason or another.

“Where’s the girlfriend?” Steve’s neighbor asked when Steve came home from work one night, exhausted from the last day of classes before the elementary kids went on winter break. The neighbor looked more casual the usual, dressed only in jeans and a white tank which revealed the beginnings of a tattoo sleeve winding its way down his right arm. He was holding a laundry basket close to his hip, his front door barely cracked open as if he’d started to enter but stopped just to talk to Steve.

“The who?” Steve asked, only realizing a moment later who his neighbor was talking about. “Robin? Gross, no. She’s like the annoying little sister I never had. You know I used to wish for one of those as a kid? Someone thought they were funny sending Buckley my way.”

Malibu Barbie grinned at that one—a devilish thing that made Steve want to swoon right there in the hallway. “Trust me, I know all about annoying little sisters. Mine’s in Seattle right now with her mom.”

“Her mom?”

“Susan married my asshole dad years ago. We haven’t talked since their divorce but Max still thinks it’s funny to call me every week. Something about sibling bonding or some shit,” Malibu Barbie said with a shrug. 

Steve laughed despite himself, suddenly able to picture his neighbor rolling his eyes at every call but still picking up anyway. “See Robin decided we’d just move in together after school. Dragged me all the way here.”

“So where’s Varsity Ken from?”

“Varsity Ken?” 

Steve’s neighbor shrugged at that. “Blame Max. She thinks she’s funny.”

“You must think she’s funny too, if you’re using her jokes,” Steve returned, leaning against the open doorway of his apartment once it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Don’t let her hear that. I don’t need the shitbird getting a big head.”

“Well, I guess she should meet Robin. She’s called you Malibu Barbie for weeks,” Steve laughed.

“Barbie and Ken, huh?” his neighbor laughed. “Guess they’re trying to tell us something. Subtle little fuckers.”

It wasn’t too often Steve got this many laughs in, especially not recently. Hawkins hadn’t been a safe home in years, and though he loved his chaotic life in California he did ache for some of the normalcy that this time of year brought back in Indiana.

“Look, I’m having a lonely movie night tonight. I rented a bunch of cheesy Christmas romcoms and enough candy for twenty people. Come be lonely with me?”

“How do you know I celebrate Christmas, pretty boy?”

“Well do you?”

Malibu Barbie just smirked at that and tossed his laundry basket just inside his apartment before shutting the door. “Hanukkah, actually. But I do celebrate cheesy romcoms with a real-life Ken.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a ‘you better have Reese’s cups’,” his neighbor said back.

“Who doesn’t get Reese’s cups? That’s against the spirit of romcom movie night,” Steve laughed, opening the door to his apartment for his neighbor. 

Robin would not believe him when he told her what happened, if only because she was constantly reminding him that his flirtation skills had dropped considerably since stepping away from the ‘popular’ life back in high school. He’d have to thank her though, because if it weren’t for her silly nickname he’s sure his neighbor wouldn’t be getting settled on the couch in their apartment now. 

“We starting with Love Actually, Ken?” Malibu Barbie called from the couch, lifting the case from the coffee table. 

“Who do you think I am, man? Put it in,” Steve laughed, sitting down as close to his neighbor as he dared, setting a small bowl of candy between them. “And you don’t have to call me Ken all night. Steve works just fine.”

“I kinda like Barbie, but I guess you can call me Billy,” his neighbor said in return.

It was easy to relax with Billy. They watched movies all night, though did a lot of talking the entire time. Steve hardly noticed when the sun set and rose again to start a new day, too busy getting to know Billy Hargrove—the hot next door neighbor who he apparently had a lot in common with. 

Maybe this holiday week wouldn’t be so bad without Robin. At the very least, he’s pretty sure he has the best story to tell when she gets back.

Please look forward to the amazing work from the next contributor, @raven-cl

[shieldofiron]

Got any fic recs?

<3 OMG I would love to.

My favorites of all time are stored in my faves to be buried with tag on my ao3, but here are some recent recs.

Of Soulmates and Colors by @spaceofentropy (Harringroveson, soulmate au, ANGST SOAKED AND AMAZING)

He loves me (not) by NotEvenClosetoStraight (Harringrove SUPER ANGSTY Harringrove Soulmate au- can you tell what WIP I'm working on)

Overboard by @yikesharringrove (Harringrove, omegaverse. Unfinished but incredible, it's a soft neighbors au yes with a lot of angst.)

Also by Yikes, Show Pony (Harringrove and it's A RODEO AU it's amazing. Also unfinished but TREAT YOURSELF because it's beautiful)

Lust for Life by @oopsiedaisiesbaby (Harringrove Onlyfans AU friends to fwb to lovers I HOPE and also there's background munver and it's so soft)

Do Right to Me Baby by @vtforpedro (Harringrove. Everything Lisa writes is like getting wrapped in a warm blanket. Just some classic s2 steve and billy shenanigans.)

U Up? by @weird-an (Harringrove. There’s feelings in this smut and I love it)

Right Round by darkimpala (Munver. SO HORNY. This is how it should be.)

The Grand Facade So Soon Will Burn by @mspoppy9981 (Munver. Just like. UGH WHAT CAN I SAY IT'S SO LOVELY!)

[jellyfishloveletterghosts]

My Harringrove Au List N-Z

PART 1 A-M

Necromancer

Baby Did You Come Back Wrong - Steve brings Billy back and he needs more than a burger and fries to survive. 

I’d Sell My Soul to a Devil - Steve sacrifices himself to save Billy at Starcourt. Billy makes a promise to get him back, it's going to take him a while but he plans to keep that promise. Even if he has to make a deal with a demon to do it. Even if the price isn't right.

Necromancin Dancin - Billy died at Starcout, he doesn't stay that way for long.

Sear Through Me - Billy is an asshole with magic, the upside down latches onto him, and he is an unwilling puppet. When he faces the mind flayer at Starcourt he knows he is going to die. Steve doesn't let him.

You Can’t Kill Love - Chrissy dies and Eddie goes to Steve looking to bring her back.

Omegaverse

Beauty and The Beast - Mr. Harrington takes a rose and instead of paying the price the beast of the castle demands himself, he sends his son in his stead. Billy is not sure what to do with an omega who not only does not cower away from him like everyone else but also seems to think he is a slob and keeps trying his patience. (Magic and Royalty)

Benefits of Surviving - Billy finds Steve at the gate when the demobats attack.It would be a happier affair if they weren't trapped and Steve wasn't on the brink of a heat.

Come On Alpha - Steve is tired of waiting for Billy to make a move, so he takes matters into his own hands.

Everything I do Is To Bring Me Closer To You - Billy has a long way to go before he can make his dream of marrying Steve a reality. (Royalty and Magic)

Find Comfort In Me - Billy needs a comfort omega after surviving Starcourt. Steve is absolutely not who he expected Hopper to hire. He didn’t even know Steve was an omega.

First Impression - Alpha Billy meeting Steve for the first time at Tina's party.

Flirt Like A Bird - Billy wants to woo Steve, he tries a couple of options that haven't gone well. He tries a new tactic.

Giants Blood - Highborn Omega Steve finally realizing Alpha wildling Billy has been courting him. 

Hay In Your Hair, Mud On My Boots (Series) - Loose Yellowstone inspired au

Need An Alpha To Pop A Knot - Steve's an alpha who's never popped a knot, not until Billy comes along.

Omegas Like Us Have To Stick Together - Steve presents at the mall and bites and cries when any alpha or beta gets to close. Luckily Billy shows up more than willing to help when the end game is getting to keep Steve.

Smoke - Billy is ditching class for a smoke break when Steve comes along.

Track In A Crowd - Billy and Steve find each other by scent at a party. (Model Steve/Musician Billy)

You’re My Bitch - Omega Billy fucking alpha Steve and the one time he finally lets Steve knot him.

You’re Extra Special, Something Else - Billy and Max escape Neil and move to Hawkins, where Billy sets his sights on Steve Harrington.

Party Clown

Clown Shoe (Series) - Billy gets a job as a party clown, Steve has some mixed feeling about it but mostly he’s just horny.

Pirates

Part 1 and 2 - A pirates of the Caribbean/ Princess Bride mash up

Professional Athlete

Thaw the Ice - Steve needs a new Coach. Billy is here for the job.

Reanimated

You Will Be Made New Again - Jonathan and Tommy succeed in brining Billy back from the dead, Steve their exasperated neighbor is the only thing that can get him to cooperate. AKA A Frankenstein's monster Billy fic. (Collage/University Au)

Royalty 

Dragons Are Hoarders - The kingdom of Harrington offers up anything in the treasury for the return of their lost heir. Billy just so happens to need something they have in their possession. Things of course do not go to plan. (Magic)

The Jester and His King - King Steve getting railed by his jester. 

Pretty Fool (Series) - Snapshots from King Billy and Jester Steve’s exploits around the castle. 

Roommates 

And They Were Roommates - Steve and Billy are roommates, Billy is less than pleased when Steve gets a boyfriend.

Avoidance Techniques - Billy keeps getting drunk at frat parties, and Steve is his roommate who keeps getting called to pick him up. (College/University Au)

The Case of The Missing Clothes - Steve's clothes have been going missing, he finally finds where they've all been going. (College/University Au)

Fill That Hole in Your Life - Pandemic/Quarantine Au - Billy and Steve figure some stuff out during the pandemic when all they have is each other for company. 

Scarecrow

Have Some Fun - Steve gets drunk and wanders into Billy's corn maze.

Sea Creature

A Bargain - Steve is a lonely merman who seeks out the sea witch to help him find love.

Salt Skin - Friends don’t plan and construct elaborate surprises that take weeks to prepare and involve a contractor, no that’s beyond friend behavior and edging dangerously close to courting behavior. Except Steve had gone and hurtled right over that line and presents Billy with a gift so fantastic he can no longer ignore his feelings. 

The Whale and The Danio - Steve loses his school, and Billy finds him.

Secret Relationship

The Hard Stuff - When Steve comes over and follows Billy to his bedroom, Tommy over hears them fucking and misunderstands what is going on. 

Serial Killers 

Bloody Summer (Series) - Billy meets Steve at summer camp where the counselors keep dropping like flies. 

Sex Worker

Billy with a Cane - Billy never expected to find Steve working in a strip club.

Camboy/Farmer Steve - Billy comes to help Max with her form and runs into his favorite camboy.

December To New Years - Camboy Steve and his budding relationship with Billy.

Roommates with Pornstar Billy - As a joke Billy gets Steve a subscription to the site he works for. If he’s hoping Steve watches his videos well that’s his business. 

Virgin Territory - Steve accidentally admits to knowing about Billy's cam work, things go a lot better than he ever thought they would.

Soulmates

Let Me Take Your Pain - Billy and Steve are soulmates, they don't find that out till they fight.

Love at First Fight - Love at first sight is bullshit as far as Steve is concerned, he has given up on it. 

Space

Frozen Beauty? - Billy sees Steve cryo frozen for the first time when he’s eight, the older he gets the more obsessed he becomes until he finally has his boy.

WSwaBEwaB - Bounty hunter Billy takes a job that leads him to cyborg Steve.

Star Wars

Come To The Dark Side - Steve and Billy are separated by the Jedi. Billy joins the Sith as a way to find his way back to Steve and get some revenge on those who would keep them apart.

Step Brothers

Step Brothers - Steve and Billy’s mom get together, that doesn’t stop their relationship. 

Suggardaddy 

Hardhat Daddy - Steve works at a hardware store and Billy is a rich contractor. 

Sugar Sugar (Series) - Years after Starcourt a rich and successful Billy runs into a struggling Steve. Billy just wants to take care of him.

Trans

All I Want For Christmas - Billy makes a request for Christmas.

Transmasc alpha Billy - story idea for how he ends up in Hawkins and meets Steve. (omegaverse)

Transmasc Billy/ Nonbinary Steve -  Just some hc’s for them.

Tramsmasc Billy rocking Steve’s world - Thinking about trans masc Billy rocking Steve’s world and blowing his back out with his monster strap.

Vampires

The Calling - Steve gets caught by the demodogs in the tunnels, torn to shreds. He’s on the cusp of dying, no way around that but Billy makes sure he wakes up again. 

Vampire/Werewolf

Bite - The fight at the Byers doesn't happen but Steve still finds his back against the dirt.

Sink Your Teeth In - Billy isn’t going to let Steve starve.

Werewolf

Shifting Pleasures - Billy takes things out of hand one night. Steve might have fun but that doesn't mean Billy isn't in trouble for not asking first.

Time Travel

If I Could Turn Back Time - When they find themselves in the past Steve is willing to risk the future they know if it means a chance to save Billy.

Zombie

Reunited - Steve and Billy reuniting during a zombie apocalypse.

[hemera989]

harringrove feat. kingsman au, body shots, and face-fucking! southern billy, british steve, and one very enthusiastic blowjob >:3

“Oh, this is just… fantastic.”

“What, pretty boy, never had to share a room before?” Billy chuckles. He shucks off his leather jacket, tossing it onto the hotel room’s wooden table before pulling his smokes out of his shirt pocket. Steve is close behind him, a scowl on his face as he watches Billy light up. “I didn’t see any signs.”

“It’s just good manners,” Steve grumbles. “There isn’t even an openable window.”

“Maybe we can crack the door open,” Billy says, practically a purr, around his cigarette. He sucks in a breath, and blows it out smoothly between his lips and into Steve’s face. The man narrows his eyes, waving the smoke away sullenly. So uptight, Billy thinks, grinning. He could stand to loosen up a little. “But I don't know how much you want our poor neighbors overhearin’.”

Steve scoffs, nose wrinkling. He takes his suit jacket off with much more care, placing it purposefully over the back of the table’s chair and smoothing it down, tsking at wrinkles invisible to the eye. “Don’t be crude.”

“I was talkin’ about business,” Billy says, falsely innocent. “Whatever could you mean, Agent Merlin?”

ao3

[imsodishy]

Fic Stats Meme

Rules: Give us the links to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and your fic with the least amount of words.

thanks for the tag @grey-sides and @callieb 💜

Most Hits: Act like it (Hits: 3,673) Harringrove, post season 2 autistic Billy Hargrove, slow burn, T

Billy has a tone problem. Billy has other problems too.

Second Most Kudos: Relationship Chicken (Soup) (Kudos: 238) Harringrove, AU, sick fic, fuck buddies to boyfriends, T,

Steve’s not being clingy. He’s not. Billy going radio silent for four days isn’t even weird. It hadn’t even pinged on Steve’s radar. Was Steve sulking at home waiting for his phone to ring? That’s nobody’s business.

Third Most Comments: Piggyback (Comments: 19) Billy and Max, Gen, A different take on the Memory El saw in Max's head in the finale

Skating at the drainage ditch is a compromise. Max would rather be at the arcade, but she’s not allowed there unsupervised and Billy has to babysit her today, but he wants to be out in the sun like all the time, like he’s a lizard or a cat or something so her Mom suggested this as a compromise.   

Fourth Most Bookmarks: Good Times Gone, and You Missed Them (Bookmarks: 22) Billy thinks he's tracked down his mother, but he actually finds a half brother, Gen, background Harringrove

It's a smallish house, not exactly run-down, fading buttermilk yellow paint. It's got a porch slapped on the front of it that looks like a later addition. There's a carport, but no car.  Billy's been loitering in the walkway long enough for it to be suspicious to anyone watching so he hustles up the path. The last thing he needs is some nosy neighbor calling the cops on him. 

Fifth Most Words: Surf, Sun, and Sirens (752 words) Harringrove, T, Steve on vacation rescued by a siren.

Drowning is a lot different than Steve expected. There’s way more sunshine for one thing.   Not that he's spent a lot of time thinking about how he might plausibly drown, but there were moments (drunk the quarry, drunk at lover’s lake moments mostly), where it seemed like a possibility. So, stone cold sober, on vacation in California it's a bit of a surprise.   Not as big of a surprise as the mermaid though.  

Least Words: Maybe Christmas, Perhaps... (326 words) teeny tiny little Harringrove Christmas ficlet

“Wait,” Billy says, looking right, left, and out the back windshield just to get his bearings and make sure he’s not crazy, “We’re going the wrong way.” “That would be true,” Steve replies, “If we were going to my place.”

no pressure tags: @lazybakerart @ariesbilly @ghostlynimbus @robthegoodfellow @ anybody else!

[iggy-poe]

Thinking about a Harringrove AU where Max and Billy have an actual sibling relationship and end up leaving California the second Max turns 18 to escape their family for a little bit. their plan is to come back in a year or twos time, but for right now they don't want to be found after Neil's abuse and reign of the house became too much.

they end up in small town Hawkins post s2 events, in the middle of november, in some small shitty 2 bedroom apartment. The walls are thin and to make matters worst they've moved in next to two rowdy college aged boys and one of them hosts DnD at ungodly hours on sunday (and sometimes saturday) morning every week. And when they don't have a pack of brats shoved into the apartment next to them, they're either blasting metal that shakes the walls, or this weeks top 20 radio hits.

Billy's a little bitter about the shit neighbors he got stuck with, until he's moving some new furniture into his apartment one day, and one of them, the cute brunette, is determined on helping him carry everything up the stairs, especially because Max was being absolutely useless. by some some stroke of luck, they end up hitting off and turns out Steve, Billy learned his name finally, isn't too happy about the early morning teenage scream fest that goes on in his apartment on the weekend mornings either. Which is how they end up spending pretty much every weekend together, either Steve coming over to Billy's apartment to sleep on the couch, or they ditch all together and spend their mornings out grabbing food or doing something dumb together.

It isn't a long before they're pretty much inseparable and hanging out at any chance they get, even when its not the weekend. At this point, Steve has become a 3rd resident in their apartment, and Max isn't surprised when they both fall hard for each other, but are too dense to realize their feelings for each other.

and there's a side plot with Max working as a cute little carhop waitress with roller skates and a 1950's diner uniform at a local drive in diner in town, and El frequently visits her on her night shifts when she can't sleep bc of nightmares, and they spend hours talking and passing time while Max works because pretty much no one in Hawkins wants a milkshake at 3 a.m on a wednesday night.

[starkstruck27]

Alright, I've got another AU idea: Sleeping Beauty, but make it Harringrove

Billy is the son of a King in the sunny Kingdom of the Crocus Vernus, and after his birth, his parents throw a huge party to celebrate. It's during this party that Billy, like all the princesses and princes before him, will receive his gifts of virtue from the Charmlings, a group of fairies that can enchant people however they please. Charmlings are mostly adolescents until they use their powers up and become regular mortals, who then grow up to run houses of new Charmlings and help them hone their gifts. These adult Charmlings are known as "Watchovers", and Charmlings that have used their gifts but are not quite old enough to be Watchovers just yet are known as Charms.

Anyway, there are 7 Charmlings coming to the Prince's birthday celebration, and they, along with their 2 Charms and their 2 Watchovers, are ecstatic. It's their first time enchanting anyone of importance, and they can hardly wait.

The Charmlings take turns at the boy's cradle, bestowing gifts of virtue most could only hope of having. First up is Will, who bestows Kindness, then Lucas, who bestows Long Life and Good Health. Elle bestows Strength, Erica, Charm and Humor, Mike, Bravery, and Dustin, Intelligence. Finally, just as Max is about to bestow her gift, the palace doors burst open, and everyone turns and gasps.

The Dark Force, as he is known to most, enters the throne room. A mysterious creature known to curse others for his own amusement and pleasure, the Dark Force is feared by all, and as soon as she sees him, Billy's mother snatches him up out of the cradle and attempts to shield him. However, the Dark Force is not one to be fooled easily, and he goes over to the queen, unfazed.

Queen Kiara asks what he wants, and the Dark Force says only that as an act of revenge for the realm that cast him out like an old sock, he's cursing the prince to death on his 18th birthday. The Dark Force (also known as the Mind Flayer or Vecna to some) leaves the palace then, saying that the royal bloodline shall end with the prince and that the kingdom shall fall into ruin.

Queen Kiara, distraught and afraid for her baby, begins to weep with her son in her arms. Everyone is shocked and afraid for the baby boy, and they quietly murmur among themselves as they try not to notice the queen's hysterics.

Eventually, Max, the last Charmling, walks closer, and says that while she cannot break a curse that strong, she can soften it, so that instead of death, the prince will merely fall asleep until somebody who loves the prince with their whole heart makes a great sacrifice or takes a great risk for him so as to prove their devotion. There is a catch, though, if the young prince ever breaks somebody's heart, the curse will be brought on earlier than expected. Being the prince and having been gifted with all these virtues, and already being handsome, he's bound to do that to many a princess or duchess who came to court.

Because of this, Queen Kiara asks if the Watchovers of the Charmlings would mind taking him in and keeping him safe until the curse is broken. Though a bit apprehensive, the Watchovers, Joyce and Jim Hopper, ultimately decide to do so, and that evening, they take him away.

For 17 years they raise him in their house, which is just on the edge of town, close to the border of the neighboring kingdom, Paeonia. During those years, he befriends a young boy just a year older than him, named Steve. They become very close, and it isn't until they're older that Billy finds out that he's the prine of Paeonia. Still, this changes nothing about their friendship, since Steve resents his heritage a lot of the time and he continues coming back, so Billy knows he's truly his friend.

Then, on Billy's 18th birthday, nothing is changed. Except, when Steve goes to find him that day, he only finds the 7 Charmlings and their 2 Watchovers, weeping over him. He looks like he's just sleeping, but the Charmlings tell him about the curse, and he vows revenge. At this, Billy stirs a bit in his sleep, and Max tells Steve that it was the curse that stirred, and now, if he truly cares about Billy, he's the one who's going to have to break it.

Steve accepts the challenge, and he goes back to the Crocus Vernus palace, leaving the Charmlings and their Watchovers to keep an eye on Billy while he's gone. He tells the queen and king of what's happened to their son, but while the queen is devastated by the news, the king seems indifferent to it, and Steve can tell something is wrong.

Knowing that something isn't right, Steve decides to risk his neck to find out what's going on, and after asking around among the palace staff, he's directed to a duchess named Heather. She tells him to ask a maid named Chrissy, who is in love with the palace musician, Eddie, who is part Darkling (a dark Charmling, who can turn out evil, but most often turn out good, and though they age like mortals, they retain their magic for their whole life), and says he knows a guy, but he needs a day or two to set it up.

Steve is impatient, but he waits, and he's introduced to Murray, an All-Seer (a rare, almost extinct race of magic users seen as crazy and deceiving, but can really see almost anything, past or future, if they concentrate). Murray reveals that the king was consorting with the Dark Force to kill his son, so that he would be able to rule for longer and he wouldn't have to give up his crown. He planned on striking up a deal that would make him immortal, and eventually killing his wife so that he could rule forever without dealing with the law that his son would take over ruling once he became of age.

The only problem is, there's little proof, so Steve risks his neck again to sneak into the dark world with the help of his best friend, an apothecary named Robin. She helps him to make a plan so that they can find the contract that the king signed, then they can go back to the palace and prove that he's the one that set it all up.

So, Steve risks everything yet again to find the queen and show the contract to her. The king almost kills him, but Steve stands and fights, allowing the queen time to flee. Once the king is subdued, he and Robin follow the queen, all the way to the royal council, who are the only ones that have the power to impeach the king. They do it as soon as they see the contract.

Finally, Steve tells Robin to help the queen get herself together after finding all of this out about her husband, and to take her to see Billy as soon as the queen feels ready. While this happens, Steve takes one last risk in sneaking back into the dark world to safely return the contract, and when he succeeds, he ventures back to the Charmling house and back to his sleeping prince.

When he gets to the house, it's just moments before Robin and the queen arrive, and when they all go in together, expecting the worst, they find Billy, sitting on one of the sofas and drinking tea with the Charmlings, awoken from his curse. He listens to the tale of the trials Steve and Robin (but especially Steve) went through, and immediately knows that his acts of heroism are what broke the curse. He goes to Steve and drags him outside, asking if he did it because he loves him, since he knew that was a stipulation of the curse and he just needed to know for sure. Steve says that of course he does, and he kisses Billy, only stopping when they hear giggles from the Charmlings inside as they watch from the window. Steve and Billy shoot them a look and Robin chuckles and herds them away, and Billy turns back to finish kissing his hero.

The next day, Billy, Steve, Queen Kiara, the Charmlings, and the Watchovers all go to the palace, where Billy is crowned King of the realm. When his mother, with a knowing smile on her face, asks who will be his queen, Billy smiles sheepishly and looks to Steve. He nods, and Billy asks his mother how she'd feel about joining forces with the kingdom of Paeonia and having two kings residing on the throne. The queen's smile grows impossibly wider as she takes off her crown and walks over to place it on Steve's head. She says it'll need a bit of fitting, but it'll do for now. At least, it will until they can have it fixed for their wedding. And how would Steve look in a dress if she had a wedding gown made for him? Steve blushes, but Queen Kiara and King Billy both just laugh, and walk off together to start planning the wedding.

It takes place the very next day, and ironically, it's Steve who oversleeps and almost doesn't make it to his own wedding ceremony. Thank goodness Billy was there to wake him up just in time.

[hellcheerficdatabase]

The Boys Next Door

Author: @mspoppy9981

Rating/Warning: Mature

Chapter Count: 15/15 (Part 1 of One Way Ticket Out of Hawkins series)

Description:

Lifelong friends Steve and Chrissy move from Hawkins to Los Angeles. Steve is working at his dad’s new real estate office and Chrissy is looking forward to a change of scenery and new experiences.

They also get some hot neighbors.

Inspired by “The Girl Next Door” 2004 film and by so many great fics I am a fan of.

Tags: Alternate Universe- no vecna, alternate universe- modern au, angst, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, besties Chrissy and Steve, this also focuses on harringrove, in addition to Hellcheer, fluff, smut, eventual smut, Chrissy is a sweetie, Alternating POV, multiple chapters, part of a series, status: completed

[foeyayshippingweakness]

WIP Folder Gamer

Tagged by @suzie-shooter

Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

oh my god, all of them? because there’s a lot of goddamn wips,,, then in no particular order:

big brain bnha pen pal aizawa platonic yandere mode vs toshinori reitober collection 10 years babon alex gets sold out guren snowed in yalex dp snippets yalex reason for living stuck in a lift no glory yalex soulmate au prompts yalex dominion au the death of an assassin yalex truth serum yalex neighbor au yalex febuwhump collection yalex amnesia au reitober shuttlecock noragamj kaishin adachi tohru adayu post-canon ghost au the man in the basement start up MAD AI but I love him dlmbo pt 2 electric boogaloo bodyswap au badzawa choi bois silent criminal ginko merchant volo galactic boss cyrus seven dimiclaude firefighter au ghost!yassen dp yalex snuff torture!au yalex lost love au nightmares and daymares chuguo rainy day weirdo study habits orphanage au s2e1 jailed au large flowers manchester christmas markets whodunnit au yalex uh oh alex rider umbrella dk thawne reveals himself au 5 times otto octavius lets peter go (and the 1 time it was the other way around) bar time travel quentin beck badzawa shigadeku arcade skbf strangers from hell miyusawa cut exorcist soulmate prompts zhen hun instead of brain there is obikaka chuguo hunger games au ghost!ian gongzi YASHIROOO SENSEI POTO rk series zeke tqqeiiowu traitor!deku ian maybe has rights komahina danchou chisaki hawks 5 + 1 damian yalex altar i am not into watersports au yalex prison infiltration au yalex hanahaki au what on earth alex knows something yassen doesn’t know yalex crush yalex reincarnation au yalex mission fic my boy my boy my boyyyy yalex close-contact serum vampire!yassen pt2 electric boogyloo yalex cannibalism au living room lawrusso BITCHASS VECTOR harringrove flower and muzz ballroom dancing venomous tomarry got me shook fitzward (the feels) natsume assassin’s creed bram stoker’s reservoir dogs hannigram snapped danno blakefield (GHOST AU) the outsider feral dimitri the scorpion and the frog chuguo uwu snk time travel witcher yan nantian obikin time travel chuguo amnesia guro chuguo groundhog day fengyu blood donation fluff in which shen wei doesn’t seem like he’s breathing squidgy baby dystopia TPN coraline au 5 times tony’s suit didn’t listen to peter (and the one time it did) rolling thunder hetalia self-insert ineffable husbandos nope town of salem the best android au zoom three musketeers pew pew pew morra holy fuck oh! holy backyard mad king kahl STILES (heart) WayWay SQUIP fright night CC/WBC IZAAAAAAYAAAA-KUNNN StaB StaB StaB Cain or Cas alibaba hello neighbor my own wizaad newmann guuuregory dippin dots corpse party kurooon whammy darkpilot patrick hockstetter UNABOM Buzzfeed Unsolved push-ups trollhunter fucking shit frosthawk green-eyed monster DLMBO2 who the fuck’re you in the eye of the storm this used to be a ziggy stream fluffy meachums

I probably missed a bunch just because. some of them are labeled by pairing, some by fandom, some by ??? and sometimes I just can't be arsed LMAO

Tagging @dirigibleballoon, @noneedbebest, @fatcatsarecats

[witchsickness]

um!!!!!! excuse me the tags on your last ask !!!!!! As someone who’s worked a summer job in vineyards before this new au is gonna be my favourite thing ever i can just tell already. the best part of working on vineyards is that you get to do wine tasting (aka get shitfaced on good organic wine for free) hehe. and you’re in the sun all day, which i think billy would love. man the tan lines i got from this job. also if you’re in a french family/business, you get to shit talk the Italians and their wine all day long which is also extremely fun in my humble opinion. idk when that’s gonna come out but now it’s all im gonna be thinking about, hope you’re happy. also if there’s anything you wanna know about the field that the internet can’t tell you, im your girl !!

omg now you got me thinking of a harringrove romeo-juliet-esque au where they’re the offsprings of two feuding neighboring wine-making families, one of them italian and the other french. they spend their time sabotaging each other and insulting the enemy wines until wink wink they finally get a taste of each other’s wine and a decades-long feud suddenly and very homoerotically gets resolved

i’m a sucker for billy being tied to the concept absolution / washed clean. and the idea of him, all day under a cleansing sun. oh MAN. and it works so perfectly in the context of this au bc boy’s running from his past. but under the scorching august sun, closing his eyes and forgetting the weight he’s carrying is the simplest thing. nobody cares about who he is and what he’s done. he can just. exist

anyway genuinely devastated to shatter your dream but idt my notes will ever evolve into an actual fic </3 it’s such a niche concept that i know very few people would care about and it? doesn’t seem worth the effort? but omg i have like. pages of notes. a whole story. so feel free to hmu if you wanna hear more! i’ll be super stoked to share it with you. and then you can make fun of me for being so wine-clueless <3

[nagdabbit]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by the ever lovely and incomparable @sybilius 💜

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

251,933

3. What fandoms do you write for?

aew/wrestling right now, stranger things in the fairly recent past, marvel in the far distant past but those fics have been lost to time and we're not gonna revisit them ever

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

all of my top five are st harringrove fics, which checks out

lamp-bright rind - celebrity chef billy, unable to cook lawyer steve, they're neighbors, there's mistaken identities, there's cooking lessons, there's healing, there's kittens named after varying kinds of pasta

lit up like a match - soulmate au with trans billy. the idea being, what name would appear on your soulmate if you were trans

keep me in your glow - a sequel/companion to lit up like a match

sugar, butter, flour - the first st fic i wrote, a tiny stranger than fiction-ish au, but without the author narration

to carry within us an orchard - a prequel to lamp-bright rind where billy and robin get extremely drunk and bond

5. Do you respond to comments?

i used to be really good about it, but about the time i was finishing lamp-bright rind, i had what i affectionately refer to as a "hit burnout so goddamn hard i lost my entire mind and will to take part in the ever-loving hell of online existence" and just like. stopped writing for a long while. and as i started getting back into writing, and actually logged in to ao3, the number of comments in my inbox genuinely frightened me and the imposter syndrome portion of burnout recovery hit like a freight train, and i still just can't figure out how to make myself hit reply. i cherish the ones that i do get tho. like, so nuch

this has been ✨🌟 therapy appointments are only so long we haven't made it to that part yet 🌟✨ with your friend daggs

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i don't think ive written anything with an angsty ending, now that i think about it. not posted, at the very least. the choked out series, if id ever got around to still caring about it enough to finish it, would have had an HELLA angsty ending (the draft after mox left wwe and popped up to attack elias)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

lamp-bright rind. just pure golden softness. the dewy soft, morning light, quiet of a kitchen with your beloved, while a ring box weighs down your pocket kind of happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

not since the way back of the marvel fandom, when i could scarcely sting a sentence together

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

i have, but not well and i generally stay away from writing it

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

never been posted, but there is a hobbs and shaw/13 rounds 3: lockdown wip that lives forever in my docs and will never be published

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that ive ever seen

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, but i think it would be fun!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

oof. shit. eddie/mox (/renee). they compel me.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i feel like the bookshop will never get finished and i hate it. like, i know how it's supposed to end, so, just gotta get there

16. What are your writing strengths?

pfft i have no goddamn idea

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

too many words for too little meaning

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i don't think ive included other languages in what fics ive posted, so i haven't actually had to think about how id do it all that much recently. i dont speak a second language, despite my entire family being and speaking swedish, so i feel like i struggle with using other languages in my writing. like, i have no real or true context for how this conversation would go, so i feel like i fumble and use the wrong words or sentence structure

whatever language is being spoken, i like to actually see it in fics. like, i don't like to see it already translated and in english until I've reached the end of the fic. when im in it, i like to actually hear the language and use the context of the story to understand it. or if the narrator isn't the one speaking, have them translate it in character, however (un)reliable they might be. that's just a personal preference tho

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i was a bandom baby in the way back of middle school and that's as close as we're getting and we will speak no more of it

20. Favorite fic you've written?

probably come through callin'

it just. kinda happened very suddenly, at a time when i really needed it and it's just really, extremely important to me

tagging anyone and everyone reading this, if you can read it you have been tagged tell em daggs sent ya

[metalheadcowboy]

Stevie’s in denial...

[draculcid]

@harringroveweekoflove HWOL February 10, 2021. Day 1: Neighbors AU.

Just a welcome gift, huh? :)

[hargrove-mayfields]

You’re The One I Want To Go Through Time With

Day one of HWOL is finally here!! So excited to share all I’ve written! For today I chose the prompt Neighbors AU!!! You can read this on ao3 also as part of the collection as well!!  Hope y’all like it!! 

Word Count: 11,952

Rated: G

It finally happens when he’s 15 years old. It’s not like he hasn’t seen it coming, but Steve gets kicked out.

In the very beginning of a particularly brutal Hawkins summer, he had decided to invite Tommy over to smoke weed in the pool house. He thought nothing of it, but the neighbors complained about the smell, and, coupled with every other act of his deemed irresponsible, immature, disgraceful, by his stuck-up parents, a couple of blunts was apparently the last straw.

They tell him the Harringtons had a reputation, an air of elegance and respect they had to upkeep, so they couldn’t just let him bring drugs onto their property. He thought it was ridiculous, considering that they were allowed as much wine aging in the cellar and expensive whiskey propped up on a hutch as they wanted, but when he’d brought it up he’d gotten nothing but a stern look.

They’d been through this a thousand times over, how worthless and terrible a son he could be, grounding him for bringing too many girls home, taking his car away when he failed a class, so he knew to expect a punishment.

This is obviously the next step, the throwing him out on the street thing, for years he could feel the neglect and tension starting to build up and boil over. Sometimes, they’d even hang threats of it over his head, so now that was told he had to be out of the mansion by the end of next week or there would be consequences, it couldn’t be too much of a shocker.

Though at some point, he’s got to wonder if they ever really thought as far ahead as consequences, or if they just knew they trained their boy well enough that it never got that far. If only he had more of a spine.

Now, as unsurprising as the scenario may be, Steve was still absolutely in no way, by any means ready to be thrown out on the streets before he even had his driver’s license.

In the case of emergency, like the time Stephen Sr. got just a little too rough and popped his wrist out of place, or when they’d left him alone for a month at age 9 and he went three days without food because he didn’t know how to turn the stove on, he had his aunt, the thankfully much more compassionate counterpart to his mother, who lived over in California.

The minute they’re gone, having passive aggressively hurried off somewhere, probably the country club or something, to complain about how disappointing their son was with their rich friends, Steve grabs a suitcase from the closet and gives his Aunt Margaret a call.

Before he knows it she’s got him a flight booked, a written agreement from her sister that proved taking him in was legal, and a set of luggage. Three days later, he was flying first class towards the rest of his life.

~~~~~~~

Touching down in San Francisco has got to be the most surreal thing he’s ever done.

He’d never even left the Midwest before, his farthest ventures being into the three states surrounding his home state, so to be charted off to the west coast? It’s an experience alright.

Aunt Margaret is there waiting for him, her jet black permed hair a few inches above the rest, her brown eyes sparkling with the kindest smile he’s ever seen as she runs up to hug him.

She takes all of his bags, swatting his hands away when he tries to carry even one, and makes him sit in the car while she shoves it all into the trunk.

He wasn’t used to not being the help, since that’s all his parents ever really saw him as anyways, only valuable as their son if they got something out of the time they spent with him. It’s got him feeling weird the whole drive back to the Margos apartment, like he’s in some alternate reality where people are nice to him for a change.

She lives in one of those shared places, a duplex where the house is divided into two halves for two different renters, the very kind his mother would’ve turned her nose up at despite having been raised in one herself. Margaret told him there was a mother and son who lived in the other half, but they’re quiet enough, and polite.

Just pulling up outside of the house, Steve already knows it’s everything he’s ever wanted.

The house itself, painted a pale shade of peeling yellow and missing the majority of the shingles off of the roof, is actually a reasonable size, a direct contrast to the mansion he grew up in, fit for a dozen but occupied by one most days.

Brutal summer heat has dried up the lawn and the garden so they aren’t perfectly tailored, not trimmed by underpaid staff or watered by automatic sprinklers. All across it there’s a scattering of ornaments, like colorful pinwheels in the front garden, and plastic flamingos standing guard by the mailbox.

There’s even a rickety old fence, all mossy and broken up to mark the edges of their property, so different from the white vinyl fence in his backyard at his parents house.

It would seem too that the garage was only big enough for one car, not three like he was used to, and that the makeshift gravel driveway leading up to it was at max capacity with only his aunts Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, and a dinged up old Karmann Ghia the same color as the house parked in it.

Basically, there were none of the telltale signs that a neglected rich boy lived there, and from that alone he already knew he belonged here.

His aunt hurries him into their section of the house, theirs is the right side, so he can get to resting off the jet lag before he starts unpacking, but he’s far too distracted taking everything in to worry about being a little drowsy.

The rooms are small and the ceilings are low. Where there would’ve been beige and white and other sophisticated tones, there was a rainbow of colors in Margos apartment, from the curtains to the carpet, the Afghan on the back of the couch to the little trinkets in the entertainment center and windowsills.

He notices that, to accommodate for the heavy summer heat, there was a fan spinning in the corner, and all the windows were left wide open. His parents had the windows painted shut back home.

It might’ve been overwhelming, being thrown into a place like this so suddenly, but in his heart he knows this was what he was made for: a cozy life with someone who treated him with the bare minimum of respect.

~~~~~~~

Eventually Steve does fall asleep, the switch from Eastern Standard to Pacific time just being too great for his body. He doesn’t really mean to, he thought he’d just lay down for a minute while he was putting his clothes away in his new dresser, but he ends up sleeping until it’s almost dark out.

He goes looking for Margo when he realizes the house is empty, an irrational pit of dread growing in his chest at the familiarity of being alone, and finds her out back.

The yard also seems to be shared with the other house, a wispy line of barely showing through grass separating the two where a divider had once been, but had since been ripped up.

His aunt is with another woman, a blonde lady who he assumed was from the next door apartment, were sitting in mismatched lawn chairs, cigarettes glowing as the sun got lower and lower in the sky.

Margaret beckons him over once she notices him, and shows him off to the woman. It’s not at all like his mother would’ve done it, none of the flaunting him to make a good impression. This is more like her wanting to introduce him because she genuinely cares.

In a way, it almost makes Steve more uneasy. He could handle all the fake stuff with only the slightest hint of discomfort at being gawked at, because most of the time he’d never have to see those people again, but this was astronomically different.

“Maria, this is my nephew Steve.” Deep blue eyes seem to take him in, accompanied by a polite smile that makes his stomach drop for no good reason.

He panics, shifts into the role of the perfect little socialite he’d been working on his whole life. Without thinking, he extends his hand for her to and produces the generic response his mother’d trained into him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms..”

She takes his hand, but looks a little surprised about doing it. “Hargrove. But we don’t have to do formalities.”

“Right.” It feels awkward to Steve, but judging from the laid back attitude of the women, it’s not a universal sentiment. That only makes it more embarrassing, to be the only one bothered by it.

His aunt leans back in her chair, tapping the ash of the end of her cigarette and tells him, “Go ahead and grab a chair Stevie.”

He straightens his back out and scans the yard, expecting a chair to already be propped open somewhere. The confusion must be apparent on his face when he finds nothing but grass and more grass, because his aunt specifies, “By the shed, kiddo.”

His parents always told him they weren’t allowed to have lawn furniture except the pool chairs cemented to the ground, because they said it didn’t fit the lifestyle they tried to lead. Even the concept of a shed would’ve been insulting to their tastes.

He's done enough growing up to know now that they were just afraid to look too much like they were people who lived in rural Indiana instead of in true big city luxury. They couldn’t risk seeming too much like they weren’t in the upper middle, it would be a disgrace.

The contrast between that and just sitting out there and not having his guard up is so, grounding. Not having anything at all to do but just, sit and appreciate instead of performing and worrying, it’s a lot to take in at once.

He was so nervous the whole way up, even though it was his aunt and he already knew she was nice, that they wouldn’t get along, since that’s the way things always were with his own mum, and lord knows he hardly ever even spoke to his father.

But it’s really not tense at all, actually, it’s sort of the opposite. For once in his life he feels free of expectations, and takes the moment to just exist. Ruthie and Stephen Sr. had long ago made sure that was a concept he could barely understand.

It’s not too long after that that the screen door to Maria’s side of the house swings open, scaring Steve so bad he almost tips his chair over as he startles.

There’s a boy who he’s guessing is about his age leaning out the door, but from the distance he’s at and with how dark it’s getting, Steve doesn’t see much else about him. “M back momma.”

“Okay baby.” The screen door clicks shut again in the next moment, and Maria offers Steve an apologetic smile “You’ve gotta excuse my Billy. He’s not too good with other kids.”

“No, it’s alright.” He assures her, like a polite social butterfly should.

Maria goes in a little while after that, and Margaret and Steve follow suit, since the sun’s almost all the way down.

But Steve’s curious now. He wants to know more about the boy, Billy, he thinks was what Maria called him. It’s only right to wonder, being that they’re neighbors now and all.

It gets brought up later that night, when they’re watching TV on the couch, a thrifted, feather stuffed thing he thought was simultaneously the most hideous and most comfortable thing he’d ever sat on.

“I didn’t know you had neighbors.” He’d been trying to work himself up to talking about it, sitting in the corner of the couch in a little ball and picking at his nails as he worked up his courage.

It was funny, being so nervous over casual conversation, but he guesses he could blame his parents for that one.

His own mum wouldn’t have even paid him any mind, at most pretending to listen while her eyes stayed trained to the television or magazine or coworker in front of her and hummed a non committal response, but Margo turns her whole body on the couch to face him while she answers him, with a complete sentence even. “Oh, people used to come and go all the time over there.”

“How long have they been here? Maria and her son?”

She thinks for a moment, a little surprised at her nephew's interest in the topic of their neighbors. “I don’t know, probably about a year or so now.”

“What’re they like?” He comes across as maybe a little too eager, and his aunt notices.

“What’s got you so curious?” There’s a teasing bit of reprimanding in her tone, just enough to suggest that she knows he’s being a nib-nose, but doesn’t mind it.

And he feels himself flush, because he is being nosy. To try to save face just a little, he comes up with an excuse that isn’t quite a lie. “Nothin’, just knew all my neighbors back in Hawkins, I guess.”

But she wasn’t upset with him, it wasn’t her intention to get him to shut up, like it would’ve been had he heard the same thing from one Ruthie Harrington, so she answers that question too. “I don’t know, they’re nice, sort of reserved, but I’ve never had any problems with them.”

~~~~~~

The two boys are properly introduced for the first time the next morning, when Steve goes out to fetch the mail for Margret. It feels like the least he can do for bumming off of his aunt.

Stepping out on the porch just shy of 8 in the morning and not seeing dewey grass, or the early sunshine muted behind rolling fog and dreary clouds is something he’s going to have to get used to.

Summers in Hawkins were always muggy, full of thunderstorms and unpredictably dreary days. San Francisco is so bright, so different, and such a relief.

While Steve basks in it, the already warm breeze and the sun shining bright, the neighbors’ door opens up and Billy comes out to do the same, standing on his tip-toes to reach up into the mailbox beside the door, holding a traveler's mug of coffee in the opposite hand.

When he turns around to go back inside, Steve, staying true to wanting to get to know the other boy better, has taken a few steps closer, and has extended a hand for Billy to shake, the same sort of introduction panic he’d felt last night.

But, Billy, seeing that his hands are a bit preoccupied by a stack of bills and a cup of coffee, just offers a sheepish smile.

Steve settles for a formal introduction without a handshake, though it’s still too stiff an interaction to really get to know him beyond the awkward new rich kid in town. “Hi. My name is Steve Harrington. I’m uh, I'm your new neighbor.”

“Pleasure to meet you Steve Harrington. M’Billy” They stand there, neither of them making any move to do anything but just look at one another. Billy clears his throat and shakes the coffee cup towards Steve, sensing that maybe this was the place for hospitality. “You want some? My momma always makes too much.”

“No thanks. I’m uh, allergic to coffee beans.”

“Huh.” He seems amused by that, scrunches his nose up like he doesn’t believe it, and Steve wants to curl up and disappear. “I’ll see you later then, Steve Harrington.”

He watches the other boy turn back to leave after that, and still sort of just stands there before his brain comes back on and he realizes he should say something in return. “Right, uh, bye.”

It’s just a moment's passing, but Steve can’t get the interaction out of his head.

He chalks it up to being nervous that his new neighbors won’t like him, the fear that Aunt Margo will send him back to his parents if he can’t get along here, and that makes logical sense, except, what he’s caught up on is Billy’s crooked smile, and his blond curls that lay just past his ears, messy from just waking up and bleached from the sun, and the spatter of dark freckles across his nose.

First full day in California and he has a crush on the neighbor kid. He can’t believe himself.

There isn’t very much time to mull that fact over though, because, over breakfast, what his aunt calls her ‘special occasion breakfast’ of cinnamon rolls with ice cream, she tells him she’s going to do some errands today.

And that’s alright, he tells her he’ll be fine all by himself, and he is, for the first few hours, but the more time she’s gone, the worse and worse he starts to feel. It’s that worry again, that deep rooted fear that he’ll be left alone forever.

Experience has taught him to try to calm himself down, to catch his breath and try to focus on the fact that he knows he’s being irrational, but those techniques don’t cut it, as they often don’t, and he’s sending himself further into a panic attack trying to think too hard about it

Sitting inside, he gets stir crazy, feels suffocated by everything that had before been inviting to him, so he goes for some fresh air out front. Watching the road for so long, just waiting for the Oldsmobile to pull up, he starts to feel antsy again, so he goes out back where it’s quiet instead.

There’s a glider on the porch back there, an old rusty thing that squeaked every time Steve rocked it forward or back, but the calming motion of it is probably the only thing keeping him from spiraling too far.

He doesn’t really know what time it is anymore, only that he’s hungry, and that the sun’s going down, and that he’s been sort of zoned out back there for a long while. He feels hot and cold at the same time, and he’s lost in his head.

The sound of a screen door gently tapping against the side of the house brings his eyes up from the spot on the ground he’d been staring at with tears in his eyes, but it isn’t his aunt Margaret coming home, it’s just Billy.

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, leaning against the wall between the back doors, he says real quiet like, “Momma told me to ask if you wanted some of the dinner she made.”

He shrugs. “I’m alright.”

“I figured.” Billy looks at the floor while he tries to figure out how he wants to approach this. For a long moment, neither of them say a word, no sound between them but distant field crickets, until Billy asks, his voice quiet enough it barely registers in Steve’s mind. “You okay?”

If he’s being entirely honest, Steve doesn’t really know if he’s okay. He trusted his aunt enough to move all the way across the country with her, and yet he can’t manage enough trust to believe her when she said she’d come home from some errands? Doesn’t sound too okay to him.

But he’s not in Hawkins, he’s away from the people he knows for sure wouldn’t be coming back for him unless it was to pull something like they had and treat him like garbage. So in a way, he guesses he’s better than ever.

Unable to think of any words that might convey what he’s thinking, Steve just shrugs again, but Billy seems to get it. He sits down next to Steve on the glider and plants his feet so it won’t move, and so Steve’s attention will be on him.

Knowing he’s got Steve’s focus, since he looks over at him with glossy eyes, Billy tries to reassure him, “Your aunt’s a good lady. She wouldn’t leave you.”

“Who said I thought she would?” It sounds pathetic, wet and stuffy with the remnants of tears he hadn’t known were falling, but there’s a vulnerability he couldn’t hide behind even the toughest of masks that reveals he isn’t being honest.

“The way you watched for her car said enough.” It makes Steve feel exposed, having a total stranger see right through him, but Billy explains himself. “When my momma went out looking for this place, I was sure I’d never see her again.”

“Why did you guys move here?” If he was going to psychoanalyze Steve, he felt it was only fair to ask Billy a pressing question back.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me.” He deflects it back onto Steve in a way that might’ve seemed cocky, but it's obvious he’s just trying to avoid the question.

Steve won’t let him win this one though, maybe just to save his own ego, or pretend like he hadn’t been caught crying by someone he met that morning, or maybe it was just because he had asked first, but he wants Billy to answer, so he tells him, with the slightest hint of a bashful smile playing at his lips, “You first.”

“Stubborn.” He cracks a smile back though, and goes ahead and goes first at the other boys insistence. “My dad’s a real nasty s.o.b. Would get drunk and mean for no good reason, so momma took me and we high-tailed it before he did anything too drastic.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting, why he even felt like it was any of his business, and he doesn’t know what he should say to that.

For lack of a better response, he gives his own little life story summary. “My parents were rich. They didn’t want me, so they have the time of day for me. No matter what I did they punished me for it, grounded me, hit me, sent me to Christian school, until they just got sick of me, I guess.”

“That sounds pretty shitty.” Billy offered.

“Yeah, yours too.”

After a while, Billy, sounding for a moment like he’s a lot wiser than any 14 year old has the right to be, says “What matters is we’re here now.”

Steve feels so touched hearing that. It was so simple a thing for the other boy to say, but coming from Billy after he’d just shared what he did, it means a lot more than just basic condolences.

Hardly anybody had ever been that genuine in anything they said to him. Steve can hardly force a response out of his shocked mouth. As he looks over at Billy’s face, still turned up towards the sky, he sees all that meaning there illuminated by the stars, and he's able to mutter a breathless, “Yeah.” in response.

They both jump when the door flies open, and aunt Margo comes running over to Steve. Frantically she explains that she’d been trying to make sure everything was legal, only to find that some of Steve’s papers were missing, and they had to try to track them all down and get some of them faxed, and it ended up taking way longer than expected.

It feels nice to be understood. Just a few years ago his parents left for what was supposed to be a three day trip to Indianapolis, only they didn’t come back for what was almost two months. Once they were home they didn’t even mention it, just continued going about their business as usual until it was time to leave again. His aunt taking the effort to explain herself was already a vast improvement from that.

He lets her pull him into a big hug, accepts her apology as the air is squeezed out of his lungs, and when he pulls away from her, Billy’s gone.

~~~~~~~

Finish reading on ao3! You can find this posted under the same title by ej_writer or as part of the hwol collection over there! Sorry tumblrs word limits deemed this too long!