#i have like personal lore and shit about steve and robin

[formosusiniquis]

Role Swap AU where Chrissy Cunningham is the queen bee of Hawkins High. She’s bitchy and a little cruel and she runs around town with Tammy Thompson and Tammy’s boyfriend Jason. Everyone hates her, they love her, they want her, they want to be her. And Chrissy has set her sights on Jonathan Byers, the only guy in school who seemingly does not even remotely care about who she is or what she’s doing, she’s obsessed. She’s not used to having to make the first move, usually boys come to her and she decides who is worth her time, it’s a process this change in dynamic. So when Jonathan’s friend Nancy’s little brother goes missing she has her opening. She invites Jonathan and Nancy and Nancy’s friend Barb -- that she never goes anywhere without -- to a party, just to get their mind off of things. It’ll be fun.

Nancy doesn’t go, “She just doesn’t know how to let loose and have a little fun Jonny,” is Chrissy’s answer, “it’s so sweet that you brought Barb though I bet she never gets invited to parties like this.” Cause mean girl shit is always just a little different than mean boy shit. Barb still goes missing. Chrissy and Jonathan don’t sleep together but he does stay the night.

Meanwhile Will Byers has a lot going on. His best friend is missing, his mom just got remarried and now he has a sister that people keep calling his twin, and Max found a boy in the woods with a number tattooed on his arm. He likes Jane, they were friends long before Mom started dating her Dad but he doesn’t like that all of a sudden he’s supposed to act like they’re some big happy family. Luckily his Mom is still adjusting to housing and feeding two more people and Dus(ten) can hide out in the attic and Will can sneak food up to him without it being too suspicious. Dustin has weird powers, keeps tapping into the radio his Mom leaves on or accidentally making his walkie talkie pick up Hopper’s police radio.

Karen Wheeler is on her last fucking leg. Her son is missing, her baby boy, and Ted’s only suggestion for help is to keep plying her with uppers so she can stay awake longer wondering when her son is going to be home. Things come to a head when she faints in the grocery store, she’d been light headed all day and something about reaching for Mike’s favorite cereal had her giving way completely. When she comes to, she's staring up at Claudia Henderson, such a lovely woman, a nurse at Hawkins General she set Mike’s arm after he’d had an accident playing with Ted. She asks if she can go with Karen to search the woods again for Mike. Rounded curves, rounded smile, Karen can’t believe that someone believes her that something has taken her boy.

Nancy Wheeler just won’t stay out of Chrissy’s fucking way. She’s asking questions and poking her button fucking nose into everything. And what’s worse now she’s stealing her fucking boyfriend. Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe she’s let Tammy get too far into her head, but it’s a little satisfying ripping up her stupid little notebook.

Dustin can feel Mike Wheeler. Can feel that boy in the bad place who loves his friends and his dragons and his Mom. Dustin keeps trying to get to him, and his new friend Will keeps telling him to stop making all the radios in the house scream and fuzz.

Her head aches. She’s tired. Coffee is safer than those little pills that Ted keeps giving her. A new bottle every time he finds something he doesn’t like in the house. Dinner is late, more pills. The pillows in his chair are flat, more pills. They stare at her but they leave her unfocused and jittery. She has to be focused. Mike is so close, she can feel him. Claudia doesn’t judge her, but Karen can see the way she looks at those little bottles. So different from the way she looks at the lite-brites that are spread across the basement.

It’s not a smear campaign. Not when perfect little Nancy Wheeler is cornering her boyfriend in the dark room. It’s just the truth, Chrissy knows the kind of stuff she’s gotten up to in the dark room, or the kind of things she wanted to get up to if she weren’t worried about getting called a slut. Maybe Nancy should have worried a little bit more about optics and a little bit less about getting to the bottom of things, she’s a reporter shouldn’t she know how vicious the rumor mill can be. The sight of a pistol tucked into a pocket book, the feeling of well manicured nails against her cheek make her think for the first time that maybe she shouldn’t have let Tammy convince her to write rumors on the bathroom wall. 

Dustin says he can get Mike back. That the body they saw in the quarry wasn’t real. Will believes even if Jane and Max are skeptical.

Chrissy goes to the Wheeler house, she’s turned the tides of the rumor mill. Tammy has become a tonedeaf, jealous bitch -- and one of those things is true -- and Nancy has become the victim. Jonathan is there, and she tries to convince herself that there was nothing to worry about until he’s shoving her out the door telling her to run to get out. She does. She doesn’t. There’s a monster in the Wheeler house, it crawls from the basement.

And so it goes.

Then Claudia finds a rain soaked boy in the woods. He’s so small. She takes him home.

Then the Sinclairs move in down the road from Chrissy. A sweet family, it’s hard though to see a family with two small children moving in when she knows there are monsters in the world now. She tries to pretend that everything is normal, but the strain is there, and whether it’s her or Jon things are going bad. It’s hard to blame Nancy Wheeler for it this time.

There’s something wrong with Mike. Something is wrong with her baby. It’s so fortunate that Claudia is a nurse. She’s been cutting back on her shifts at the hospital, but she had told Karen that she could call anytime.

The shoe drops. Jonathan is sweet when he ends things, but Chrissy has never been one to let things go without a fight. She’s prepared to apologize. To ask for one more shot. When a red head with an attitude grabs her. She’s pretty sure her dog ate her step brother and Chrissy seems more capable than Hopper. Next thing she knows she’s got the Byers-Hopper kids, Max, and the neighbor kid from up the road hiding in the back of a bus while she tries her best to backhand spring her way into knowing how to swing a softball bat. Max’s dog looks an awful lot like the monster from the Wheeler basement.

And so it goes.

The summer comes and Chrissy needs to get away from her mom. She gets a job at the mall, but she’s waited so long the only places hiring are in the food court, absolutely not happening, and the record store. The record store where she ends up working with Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson.

Eddie didn’t plan to work at the mall, he didn’t want to work at this neon colored capitalist hellscape, but if he gets busted for possession one more time he’s not sure that Hopper is going to look the other way. The record store is hiring at least, he plans on taking full advantage of the employee discount this summer. Then Queen Chrissy walks in in all of her Ralph Lauren Gap glory.

Chrissy was not a good person in high school, she knows that, but she put her head so far down last year that she managed to graduate early. The hostility coming off of her new coworker is a lot more than she expected. He’s started a board to count the number of times a guy comes in to hit on her and critiques each one ruthlessly. Nerd, jock, and tragic each category has several tallies in it. Maybe it’s the popular kid solidarity or maybe she is becoming a bigger person through the power of babysitting, she feels bad that Steve Harrington is the only one who ends up getting included in the Tragic category. He comes in a lot in his tiny blue Scoops uniform but he hasn’t tried to talk to her once.

Unexpected as it seems, Queen Chrissy is apparently the founding member of the Hawkins chapter of the babysitters club. It’s a never ending parade of children marching through the door and demanding to see her. The Byers boy is his favorite, but the Wheeler kid that had gone missing a couple years ago always has a haunted look on his face. The little curly haired one with the gap teeth seemed to startle her when he came running by, he’s loud and has no sense of what should be an inside thought and not an outside thought, but once he assures her that his mom knows where he is she’s letting him and the oldest Sinclair in through the back to sneak into the movies.

Something weird is coming in through the radio Dustin tricked out with his powers for her. It’s picking up a lot more than the rock station from Indianapolis. Max knows Chrissy will be able to help, she doesn’t expect her new neighbor to be working with her babysitter but she’s heard the shit he gets into at night he should at least be able to figure out if she’s just picking up a radio station all the way in Russia. She brings Erica with her, Lucas has been weird lately hanging out with Dustin a lot lately and ignoring her. She’s not jealous but if he’s gonna hang out with other people she can gossip with his younger sister.

And so it goes.

She’s got no right to be jealous. She is though. Who the hell does Robin Buckley think she is, stealing her kids. All Max can talk about is how cool Robin is. How she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. How she’s in the band. How she’s going to teach Max how to play the drums. Oh Chrissy, did you know that Robin speaks three languages? Chrissy, Robin’s gonna teach us how to say Italian curse words. Robin stood up to Jason for us. Robin, Robin, Robin. Who the fuck is this girl who can just swoop in an make her kids fall all over themselves to sing her praises. They don’t even like Eddie this much and he’s a DnD playing rocker with an unlimited stash of weed. But somehow a band nerd whose only friend is second year senior Steve Harrington has her kids wrapped around her stupid finger.

The last thing Eddie Munson ever expected was to stumble on Steve Harrington lurking at skull rock. Or at least not lurking alone. He startles when he sees Eddie, not fear, just surprise. There’s something desperate and haunted in his eyes when he looks up at Eddie. And then the captain of every team of Hawkins high is begging, begging for Eddie to hand over anything he’s got that will make him forget he’s even a person. He doesn’t deal anymore, not really. He’s promised Wayne and Chrissy and Red and even Karen fucking Wheeler that he would stop. Sticking to stuff that nature provides doesn’t feel like lying. Eddie really doesn’t want to leave someone as fucked up as Steve here alone. It doesn’t hurt that he’s pretty and that shaky little laugh that Eddie manages to pull from him. It’s only a little lie when he tells Steve Harrington to meet him at the trailer park after the game.

One more thing Chrissy can’t stand about Robin, she’s somehow got Eddie attending a basketball game. They’re all there to support Lucas but normally it’s a fight to get the nerdiest of them in the stands. Sure he’s spending more time looking at Steve Harrington, warming the stands with the rest of them now, than he is at Buckley but she knows the band geek is at fault here somehow. She’s really trying to not be a bitch about it but maybe jealousy like her hair and her eyes is just one more wretched thing she got from her mother.

Steve Harrington is floating, and not in the way people usually claim to when they come to Eddie. His eyes are blank and unseeing and Eddie is sure that he’s about to watch the once captain of the basketball team die right in front of him. Then Robin Buckley, screaming and inconsolable and inexplicably in the passenger seat, bumps the radio in her frantic rush to get to her best friend. Bowie starts blaring from the speakers, the neighbors dog starts barking, Max comes out of her trailer and screams. Then Steve Harrington falls out of the sky.

If she could get one thing out of life it would be to finally be free of the Upside Down. But instead she’s in a fiery red hellscape with her ex boyfriend, her platonic soulmate, her arch nemesis, and the human embodiment of a golden retriever. Insult to injury, injury being the giant fucking chunk missing from her side -- maybe now her mom will lay off for a bit, surely now she’s at goal weight -- and the insult being how hot Robin looks covered in the barest hints of demo blood. Even if she won’t shut up about rabies.

Steve is handling this much better than Eddie did the first time. Bouncing around literal hell, sticking very close to his side. It makes him feel a little braver, this beautiful boy looking at him like he’s an action star. He just hopes they all make it out this time. He’s got a bad feeling.

And so it goes.

Steve Harrington is probably going to be hard of hearing for the rest of his life, blood leaking from his ears and left arm broken in two places by the time they take care of Vecna. Robin lost a chunk of her large intestine -- and half a tit, let’s really focus on the important things here Cunningham, I was already only a B cup. But they’re both alive. They’re all alive. Eddie’s been posted up by Steve’s bedside, slowly and patiently teaching a prep sign language, something he wouldn’t have even thought about doing a couple months ago.

Chrissy, the most oblivious bisexual that Eddie has ever had the misfortune of trauma bonding with, has fallen ass over tit for Robin Buckley and refuses to do anything about it. It’d be sweet if it weren’t so goddamn sad. They’re holding hands on Robin’s hospital bed, laughing at a soap that’s playing on the TV. Until Steve screws his face up into the most intimidating little jock scowl he can, a look that doesn’t work as well outside of the locker filled halls of Hawkins High, and demands she stop stringing along his best friend. Robin looks mortified but the challenge lights something up in the late Queen Cunningham. She sets her sights on Robin now. Chrissy Cunningham may not be queen anymore, but she’s still a little bitchy and she always gets what she wants.

[milf-harrington]

i read a fic yesterday (return of the king) where Steve swapped with Eddie at the last second at the end of s4 and ended up being the one who died and had to be left behind and then he came back as a vampire and it just got my brain TICKING.

So role-reversal AU where steve is the one who comes back basically kas-ified as is the common trope with eddie, but where eddie goes to steve, steve goes to robin.

lets say, for funsies, that they managed to kill vecna and max only ended up hospitalised for a broken elbow and a twisted ankle (from falling on it), so everyone has the time and space to grieve.

Steve’s death hits Robin the hardest because he was her person. He was her i-wish-we-could-just-merge-into-one-being. Her ride or die. Her soulmate. And he’d been taken from her, torn apart and left to rot in the very world he’d tried so hard to protect her from. 

The others give her space to let her mourn quietly in her bedroom, dressed in steve’s clothes and listening to his music like if she just tried hard enough she could still merge them together and let him use her lungs to breathe, her heart to pump his blood, her head to share his thoughts. that she could single handedly go from a me to a we.

And then, one day, Robin starts acting weird. She doesn’t know the Wheeler’s phone number and on her way to find it in the phone book, she found the Munson’s first, and when Eddie picks up it’s too a very chipper Robin asking for a lift to the shops where she proceeds to buy an alarming amount of red meat and refuses to answer any questions.

And she’s just- happy. She’s weird and happy and keeps calling Eddie to ask him about Dungeons and Dragons lore and if he can take her to the library or to the butcher and if he can let her borrow his jumper please? I get cold easily. And then she just keeps stealing clothes, from everyone. Sometimes she asks, sometimes she’ll just take a jacket off of the back of a chair and act like nothing happened, sometimes she just sneaks off to go rooting through washing baskets.

Then comes the day she invites Eddie over, probably a week or so after her initial journey into Weird-Ville, nervously rambling about nothing right up until she closes the front door behind them and runs into Eddie’s back because Eddie’s just spotted Steve-fucking-Harrington peering at him from around the corner. 

Apparently, a not-exactly-dead-anymore Steve crawled through Robin’s window one night and has since taken up residence underneath her bed. 

“He was kinda- not all there, at first.” She tells him, chopping a steak into cubes and dropping them into a blender. Steve, winged and fanged and tailed, leans against the counter and watches her with sleepy eyes. “But we’ve been working on it.”

After the initial pants-shitting shock of having her dead best friend re-appear as a creature of the upside down, Robin had simply accepted it and moved on. Happy to have Steve back no matter what it looked like. 

And what it looked like was blending raw meat, and reading together in the bathroom to bring back his ability to talk, and stealing clothes for the veritable nest Steve was building in her closet. The next step in her plan to re-domesticate her best friend, had been to introduce him to another person: Eddie, evidently. 

Steve promptly spends 5 minutes being a feral little creature, scenting Eddie within an inch of his life like he’d done to Robin, and then attempting to plant him in his nest like a little ornament. 

Just. idk. feral kas!steve seeking out robin for safety, who slowly re-introduces him to his humanity and then his future boyfriend.

[supernovafics]

With your I’ll be there for you series would you be interested in writing about Steve discovering that he has feelings for reader? I think it would be sweet for him to just find even the silliest things she does cute and then him having a little melt down because he realised he’s liked her along. The series is such a great idea! 💭

𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆

"i'll be there for you" universe masterlist

pairing: bestfriend!roommate!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 4.4k words

warnings: explicit language, alcohol consumption, drunk!steve, mentions of steve's dad being shitty, angst

summary: in which steve’s drunk and you don’t hesitate to cancel a date to take care of him

author's note: thanks for the request! probably from the moment i started this series/universe i knew that i wanted to have steve realize his feelings first so this request was quite literally perfect for that lol. this is slightly “while you were sleeping” by laufey inspired hence the title. the slow burn is finally starting to come to an end !! (i’m both happy and sad about that lmao) anyways enjoy<3333

general note: everything in this universe/series can be read as standalone oneshots but to understand the full “lore” it would prob be best to read the other stuff too<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Winter 1986

You were in the middle of debating between a black skirt and a brown plaid one that Robin convinced you to buy when you two went thrifting just a few days ago when the phone rang.

Leaving both options on your bed, you went to the kitchen to answer it, bottomless aside from the stockings you had already put on because of the cold late February weather. 

“Hello?” 

“Hello?”

“Steve?” You recognized his voice for the most part, but he sounded a little different. A little far away, like he was calling from the oldest phone in the universe.

“Oh, hey.” The way he said the simple two words both confused and amused you because it sounded as if he didn’t expect you to be the person on the other end of the line. 

You laughed a bit. “‘Oh, hey’? Don’t sound so disappointed. You called me.”

“I know. Sorry. I meant to call Eddie,” He said, and it was then that you heard what should’ve been obvious from the moment he said “Hello” to you— the way his words weren’t necessarily slurry, just slower than usual. 

He was drunk, and you now recognized the voice that you had become so used to hearing since Steve’s sixteenth birthday when he snuck his dad’s whiskey and you both only had two shots of it before feeling it fully. 

“Why would you call him? Aren’t you two together right now?” You asked, your confusion taking precedence over the amusement you felt in this moment. 

Earlier that day, before you left the apartment to head to your twelve o’clock class, he told you that he was going to tag along with Robin, Vickie, and Eddie to some art show thing after his shift that night at Family Video; you would’ve gone too if you didn’t already have plans for the night. 

“Also, I didn’t know that you could get drunk at an art show,” You added. “I’ll definitely make sure to go next time.” 

“I didn’t go with them,” He told you, and before you could ask where he was, he answered the unspoken question. “I’m actually at a bar right now.” 

Your eyebrows furrowed. “What? Why?” 

“Very long story. Dad shit. What else is new, right?” Steve answered with a breath of a laugh. 

He made his words sound lighthearted and as if whatever happened didn’t really affect him, but you, of course, didn’t see it that way. Without even being with Steve right then, standing in front of him and reading his facial expressions, you still saw through what he was trying to play off as “no big deal.” You’d known him more than long enough to know that anything involving his dad was usually always serious. And whatever shitty things his dad said to him this time around drove Steve to a bar rather than back here to the apartment to frustratingly rant to you, and that only worried you. 

“Which bar are you at?” You asked softly. 

“The only place in town, other than The Hideout, that doesn’t card,” He said and then immediately continued. “But, wait, don’t come here, though. I don’t want you to come get me. That’s why I was trying to call Eddie. I know you have your date tonight.”

Just for a second— actually, probably the entire time you’d been talking to Steve— you’d forgotten about the date, forgotten about the reason why you’d just been debating which skirt to wear, forgotten about what you were supposed to leave for in twenty minutes. And that slightly surprised you because, for the last couple of days, you’d been really excited about it. 

Meeting Jamie felt like a sort of “meet cute” moment that was straight out of a romcom, one that you probably would’ve laughed at because of how cheesy it was. You bumped into him in the hallway on the floor of your apartment. He was your neighbor’s, Miss Johnson’s, nephew, and you learned that even though he went to a college about an hour away, he was trying to visit her more often. He had been in the middle of leaving when you saw him, and you gave a friendly wave and smile at first and he started a conversation with you. You two then spent an hour talking in the hallway before you headed inside your apartment to start studying for a test and he asked for your number, which led to more long conversations over the next few days until he asked you on a date. 

In a way, it startled you how giddy you found yourself feeling about him after only those few days, how easily and quickly you liked him. It was the first crush that you had in a while that didn’t feel completely hopeless. 

But now all of that was the last thing on your mind. It quickly became pushed to the side because you knew that your best friend needed you.

You shook your head in this moment even though Steve couldn’t see you. “No, it’s okay, I’ll come.” 

“No, don’t, don’t. I’ll just call Eddie.”

He’s probably not home right now, was what you wanted to tell Steve, but you refrained from doing so at that moment. Instead, you said, “I’ll call him for you.”

The drunken sigh in relief Steve let out was immediate. “Okay, thanks, I don’t think I have any more change for this payphone, anyway.”

“Okay, just stay put and stop drinking.”

“The bartender already cut me off.”

“Good,” You said before saying a final goodbye to him and hanging up. 

You then picked the phone up again to dial a different number. You, of course, didn’t attempt to call Eddie and you instead called Jamie. He was completely understanding when you told him that you had to cancel the date because of an emergency, and he said that you two could do the dinner and movie on a different night, which you quickly agreed on. 

You put on the brown plaid skirt— quickly deciding that it looked better with the white top you were wearing, anyway— before slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing your coat, shoving your car keys and wallet into the pockets, and then leaving the apartment. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The drive to Webster’s took less than fifteen minutes and the current emptiness of it didn’t surprise you that much. From the handful of times that you’d gone to the place with Steve, Eddie, and Robin, it became a known fact that things didn’t become “lively” until after ten, and it was currently only a little after nine. 

You spotted Steve sitting on a stool at the counter, head down in his folded arms. You sat in the empty seat next to him and tapped the side of his shoulder until he sat up and looked at you. 

“Glad to know you’re alive, Harrington.” 

He smiled at you and you gave him a small smile back, he must have forgotten that he’d told you not to come to the bar. 

“I feel barely alive, actually.”

“Still counts.” 

Steve only looked at you for a moment, taking notice of what you were wearing beneath your unzipped coat. 

“You look nice,” He said and then seemed to realize something and his smile dropped. “Wait, shit, your date. You shouldn’t be here right now.”

“It’s fine. We’re just gonna reschedule it.” 

“I’m sorry.”

You shook your head at him. “No, don’t be. It’s just a first date, anyway. Your drunk ass needing a ride home is obviously more important than that.” 

Steve laughed a bit. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment?” 

“Yes, you should,” You told him and then watched with furrowed brows as he went to grab the short glass that was in front of him, half full of some dark liquor. He was about to finish what was left in the glass, but you grabbed it from him before he could. “Steve.”

“I still had this from before I called you. I can’t finish it?”

“No, because if you end up throwing up in my car on the drive home, I will have to murder you.”

You looked away from him before he could say anything in response to that and waved at Barry, the usual bartender that you became on a first name basis with after your third time going to Webster’s. Since it was the farthest thing from busy right then, he immediately walked over to you two. 

“Hey, Barry, can he have some water?”

He nodded and filled up a glass, sliding it over to Steve and then looking at you. “Glad to see you here. He’s looked like a sad little lost puppy for the past hour.”

Steve stopped mid-sip to scoff. “That’s very not true.”

“Sorry, but I think I have to believe the only other sober person here,” You said and only smiled at the second annoyed scoff he let out, which was hard to take seriously because of his current drunkenness. 

Barry got called over by a group of people that just walked in and you silently watched Steve take a few sips from his glass. When he set it down, you lightly nudged his knee with yours. “Do you wanna talk about what happened with your dad?” 

Steve simply sighed at first. “He came to Family Video today and went on this huge rant about me and what I’m doing with my life. He thinks my job is shit, and even me going to school part-time isn’t enough. He thinks I’m such a loser in comparison to his friend’s kids who are actually “doing things with their lives.””

You frowned and shook your head. “Fuck him.”   

“Cheers to that,” Steve said with a small laugh and held up his glass of water for a second. “He also said that he wants to set me up with this job at his friend’s insurance company, and I immediately said no to that. I’m still not entirely sure what I wanna do yet, but I know it’s not that— some stupid fucking desk job. Especially not one that’s just given to me by my dad.” 

“He’s an idiot,” You told Steve. “And also his bullshit is not at all worth the hangover you’ll have in the morning.” 

“You might be right about that,” He responded, eyes fixed on his now half-empty glass of water and a small amused smile on his face. “But, it felt good for a second.” 

You poked his arm so that he would look at you. “You could’ve talked to me about all of that instead of coming here.” 

“I didn’t wanna mess up your date by coming home and talking to you about all of this sad shit. I knew that you’d just worry about me and probably not go,” He mumbled. “And I feel like a dumbass for still messing it up.”

“It’s okay. Seriously. Honestly,” You told him and then playfully smiled as you said your next words. “And you know that I would tell you if it wasn’t okay. I’d definitely hold this over you for at least a week, and force you to clean out Harold’s cage and do my laundry that’s been building up for the past week and a half. But you’re drunk and sad, and I’m way too nice to make you do any of those things.” 

He laughed at that, which made you smile wider. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” You said before you stood up from the stool you’d been sitting in. “Now, come on, let’s get out of here before it starts getting crowded. Can you walk okay?” 

Steve only nodded in response, which was a nonverbal answer that you weren’t sure if you completely trusted, so you stood close to him as he also got up and pulled some cash out of his back pocket and placed it on the counter. 

He then waved at Barry, and you were certain that he probably didn’t mean for it to be so animated and comical, but it very much looked that way. “Goodnight, Barry.”

The bartender laughed a bit when he looked over at you and Steve. “‘Night, guys.” 

Steve started heading toward the door first and you followed just a few steps behind him. When he stumbled a bit before even making it out of the door, you grabbed his hand and moved closer to him so that he could drape his arm around your shoulders, and then one of yours circled around his waist. 

Leading him to your car was a feat in itself, but once he was settled in the passenger seat and you started driving, he rolled his window down completely and had it like that during the entire ride even though it was freezing cold outside, and that was worse than dealing with his stumbling.

When you made it to the apartment building, his balance was actually a bit more coherent so you didn’t need to do more than just hold his hand during the entire walk to the elevators and then down the hallway to the apartment.

You dragged him to your room and he sighed in contentment when he sat down on the side of your bed; he always liked your mattress better than his own for some reason. 

“Wait, don’t fall asleep yet,” You told him before heading over to his room and grabbing a random t-shirt and basketball shorts from one of his drawers. “Here, put this on. I know you’d be mad at me if I let you fall asleep in those jeans.” 

“Thanks,” He mumbled with a yawn as you handed the clothes over to him, and then you went to the kitchen as he started changing. 

You filled a mug with water and then pulled open the drawer that had the bottle of aspirin in it. Neither you nor Steve were really sure why it lived there instead of in one of your bathrooms, where it probably should’ve been, but you two also didn’t make any effort to move it.  

Steve was already asleep and under the covers when you walked back into your room, and you placed the mug and aspirin on the nightstand on his side. You changed into your own pajamas for the night, which simply consisted of an old baggy t-shirt and shorts, before settling in on your side of the bed. 

It was still pretty early for a Friday night, barely even ten o’clock, but you didn’t mind going to bed because you were actually a little tired. Steve was turned and facing away from you, but you still watched him and his even breathing for a bit, making sure he was okay before you quickly drifted off to sleep yourself. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Steve didn’t know what time it was when he woke up, but he could tell that it was pretty early because he could see the just sun starting to rise. 

The other things he quickly noticed were that he was in your bed and he had a pounding headache, which was a little confusing at first, but then all of what happened last night started coming back to him. 

The shit with his dad, the bar, the accidental phone call to you, and then you coming to the bar and bringing him home— he remembered it all. 

With a soft groan, Steve slowly sat up in bed, doing his best not to wake you, and then reached over to grab the water and aspirin you left out for him. 

He took the medicine and drank most of the water and then laid back down, turning on his side to face you. Your head was against the pillow and even breaths fell from your slightly parted lips. You looked so peaceful like this, he decided, so pretty.  

Steve thought about you and Jamie, and how happy you had been when you talked about him. Steve also knew how excited you’d been about the date, and even though you had told him that it was okay that you had to cancel it last night, he still felt a little bad about it all. 

He knew that you would probably do anything for him, and that was completely mutual. If the roles had been reversed last night, Steve wouldn’t have thought twice about canceling a date to go pick you up from some dumb bar. And making those sorts of sacrifices for one another never felt like a question, it just always felt like the obvious thing to do. 

It didn’t completely make sense at first, but somehow it was that simple and crystal clear thought that managed to shift something deep down inside of him— it harshly drew the line between best friends and something more. And Steve quickly realized exactly which side he lay on.

Which was confusing because the lines of where your friendship began and ended had always felt so unquestionable— you and him were best friends; nothing more, nothing less. 

But it was different now, it changed, and it was this moment that told him that it actually had been that way for a while; probably since you two moved into the apartment. 

Starting from that day in August your lives became even more intertwined with one another— which didn’t feel entirely possible because of how close you’d been for so long— but it was true. He hadn’t realized how blurry the lines had been getting since then. 

Since you two started beginning your days and ending them in the same home. Since so many nights became spent in each other’s beds; nothing more happening than sleeping and late night talking, but still. Since you two got Harold only a few weeks into living in the apartment, and you both immediately fell into your unserious parental roles in the hamster’s life. Since an unspoken early morning weekend routine fell into place where Steve would make coffee and toast and you’d do the eggs and bacon. Since you two became something equivalent to a married couple that had been together for at least twenty years. 

And then Steve realized that actually maybe this something more had always been there— maybe it had always been so fucking obvious. 

He thought back to the end of Senior year when you two went to each other’s proms and slow danced at the end of the night because you both thought it would be funny, but those moments actually turned into something really sweet and wholesome; and you’d both think back on it during the most randomest of times. 

And then he also thought about smaller things, the parts of your personality that made him feel so goddamn lucky to know you. How you always fiddled with the radio and never settled on a station for longer than a few minutes during perhaps any car ride where Steve was the one driving; something that you’d been doing since the day he got his driver's license and you two went on your first solo car ride together. How pretty much anything you did would only make him smile and playfully roll his eyes or make fun of you. 

Steve wasn’t entirely sure why he was having this sort of “epiphany moment” right here, right now, in your bed as he looked at you peacefully sleeping next to him. 

It, of course, stemmed from you canceling something that he had known you’d been looking forward to for the last couple of days to instead take care of him, he could recognize that. But, what made that so different from everything else you’d done for each other over the years? 

He immediately thought that maybe there was no one straight answer to that question because it wasn’t about what was different. Instead, it was about all of those other moments too. They had slowly built upon each other until it came to this one on this February morning— nine years into your friendship and six and a half months into you two living together— and Steve could finally recognize what it all had meant, and he was ready to accept the truth for what it was too. 

He liked you. More than liked, actually. He loved you, he was in love with you. 

But, you were also his best friend, the most important person in his life, and he didn’t want to be the reason that that ever got messed up. And that thought was what made him finally look away from you and mutter out a soft, “Fuck.”

Steve quickly got out of the bed, and he was surprised, but also completely grateful, that his quick and hasty movements didn’t manage to stir you awake. 

He left your room and went to the kitchen. It was early and he probably should’ve been trying to get a few more hours of sleep, but he wasn’t tired anymore. 

The realization was the only thing on his mind— in a matter of seconds, it managed to completely consume it. 

Everything else that had been happening the past few months finally made complete sense; Steve saw it all in a different way. He now understood why he couldn’t picture any sort of future with Vanessa when he went out with her a few times back in December even though he really did like her, and why he couldn’t see anything with anyone he went out with. Because deep down, he knew that he could only see that with you. It made sense why his dating life had been in such a rut lately and why he didn’t particularly mind it all that much.

When you two would jokingly say that you both were completely okay with ending up “alone together forever,” he realized now that from his side of things, deep down, it had never been a joke. And he wondered if it was the same way for you. 

In an ideal world, the answer would be yes. But, things only felt confusing, and if he was being a thousand percent honest with himself, he didn’t know if that answer was yes in this world.

Steve knew that you really liked Jamie, even in such a short amount of time, so that couldn’t mean that you had any sort of feelings for him. Right? Or maybe you just hadn’t had your own “epiphany moment” yet? Should he tell you about his? Should he tell you about any of what just hit him in the past ten minutes? 

His brain felt as if it was going to fucking explode with all of the questions circling his mind right then, and the coffee he was making failed to distract his thoughts from everything. 

He came to the quick decision that he wouldn’t tell you what he was feeling; it would just be easier that way. There wouldn’t be any way for him to potentially fuck things up between you two if he simply ignored what he was feeling. It was easy to imagine how drastically your friendship would change if he told you everything and you didn’t feel the same. Therefore, he could push it all away to make sure that nothing changed for the worse.

When the coffee was done, he poured some into a fresh mug and took a long sip. Any other time, he couldn’t really stand straight black coffee, but the bitterness tasted good for once; he decided to focus on that instead of anything else. 

Steve wasn’t sure how long he had been leaning back against the counter and sipping from his mug before you came out of your room. It could’ve been one minute or ten; right then, time felt as if it was moving both slow and fast. 

“Hey,” You said, giving him a small smile and rubbing the tiredness out of your eyes. “I’m surprised you’re up already. I definitely expected you to be passed out until at least ten.” 

It felt equivalent to a light switch flipping how quickly Steve felt affected by your smile and simply you in that moment. He’d probably seen you like this a million times before— just waking up and still in your now wrinkled pajamas from the night— but it felt entirely different now. And that was when he knew how fucked he was. 

“Yeah, I, uh, I woke up and couldn’t, um, go back to sleep… So, yeah, just came out here. Made some, um, coffee,” He ultimately responded and then inwardly sighed at how flustered he was right then. He let out a quick laugh. “Sorry, blame the hangover for my inability to say sentences right now.” 

If that was how he was going to act around you from now on, he knew that trying to keep this a secret was probably the most unrealistic idea ever. 

You laughed a bit and nodded, seemingly unfazed by his awkwardness right then, and opened up the fridge. “You think you can stomach eggs and bacon?” 

“Yes to the bacon, but I think I should play it safe and say no to the eggs.” 

“Makes sense,” You said, closing the fridge after grabbing the bacon. You placed the pack on the counter near the stove and then looked at Steve. “You feeling better about all of that dad shit?”

It was almost comical how even though it had been the reason for everything that happened last night, the conversation he had with his dad was the farthest thing from his mind now. 

“I’m good, actually.” 

“Good,” You said, smiling at him and then reaching out to grab his hand and give it a light reassuring squeeze; which, unknown to you, made his heart feel as if it was going to somersault out of his chest. “Remember, the next time this happens, come to me and we both can get drunk here for free. Or we can just run away and join the circus, or whatever it was we agreed on when we were twelve.” 

Steve only nodded and gave you a small smile in response because it felt as if that was all he could do at that moment. If he attempted to say anything, he felt like his words would’ve started or ended with, “I’m in love with you.” 

He changed his decision then. He knew that he had to tell you everything because it wouldn’t be easy to simply bury it down and ignore it. There was no way that he’d be able to keep this from you, at least not for a long time, it was already swallowing him whole. And although he had no idea when or how he would tell you the truth, he made a quick promise to himself that he would do it. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

(requests are open for stuff you wanna see in the universe/series!🫶🏾)

[italiansteebie]

Idk if it was u or someone else that has already done this but I need Steve so out of it (hit his head or high or sum??) he literally forgets to speak English- like maybe he’s just saying stuff in Italian and he’s so confused bcuz no one understands him and he realizes he’s speaking his first language and not English.

Also the party would be drooling after him like?? He’s already cute and he speaks more then one language? Literally screaming!!!

tbh i've probably written something similar to this but for you anon, i'll do it again.

--

steve was walking, and if we want to get technical, he was really wandering, with robin trailing behind him. they weren't paying attention, they weren't really thinking, so.

it just so happened that steve wandered right into an opening door, and he fell back and smacked his head on the side walk. robin proceeded to lose her shit, cackling loudly before realizing he'd actually been hurt.

"oh, shit. dingus. are you okay?"

"oh fuck, i killed him!"

and what a surprise that was. eddie just so happened to cause this brutal door attack. his head was already swimming from the fall and now he has to form words around eddie? really?

"non sono mort." he mumbled, reaching back to run the spot where he hit his head.

"oh my god. he's having a stroke, he can't talk. call 911!" eddie was always one for the dramatics.

"robin, smettila di urlare. per favore."

"is that... italian??"

"non essere ridicolo. sto parlando un inglese semplice."

"steve. oh my god. parli italiano sul serio."

and that caused him to realize what he'd been doing.

"oh no! ha fatto perdere il mio inglese!"

robin doubled over in laughter. she knew it wasn't serious enough to call an ambulance, just knocked a few screws out of place.

"what? what'd he say?! oh my god. i changed steve's language. quick find the reset button!"

this only caused robin to laugh harder, her face turning red and tears leaking from her eyes. steve started to giggle at the sight, but eddie was still watching them, wide eyed.

"are- did i hit steve so hard it started effecting you too?"

as robin sobered up, she took a few shuddering breaths before she realized what just happened. "you speak italian! since when?" she shoved her finger in steve's face.

he groaned, "since always." he brightened, "hey! it's back."

"so i- i didn't change your language?"

"no. he's bilingual."

"oh! so you just decided that for me? you told me that stuff was personal, rob. but what does that have to do with you speaking italian?"

robin laughed shortly, "that's bisexual, dingus. bi lingual means you speak two languages."

"oh. then yeah. im bilingual."

"yeah, we've covered that. but since when?"

steve shrugged. "it'd be odd if i couldn't talk to my mom, right?"

robin shook her head. "it's like every time you open your mouth i found out some new lore about you, steve." and he just shrugged.

and eddie was still there watching this whole thing, trying not to pop a stiffy at the idea of steve speaking italian to him, all slow and sexy- no! bad eddie! steve is hurt, this is not the time.

"so." he dragged out. "i'm okay, ed's." steve assured. "yeah. okay, um. are you... so like. you're one bi... are you the other bi too... or?" eddie said awkwardly.

steve blushed and robin gagged. "yeah. is this your way of asking me on a date?"

eddie nodded dumbly.

"okay. tomorrow? bennys at 6?"

"uh. uh huh."

"sounds good, ed's. i should probably get my head checked out now. a domani, amore mio."

and that was it. suddenly eddie felt like he just got hit with a door. he was still reeling from the interaction when robins distant squealing broke him from his trance.

he shook his head.

steve's got more layers than he thought.

// i did use google translate so it won't be accurate.

"i'm not dead."

"robin, stop yelling. please."

"don't be ridiculous. im speaking plain english."

"you're speaking italian. seriously."

"oh no! he knocked my english loose!"

"see you tomorrow, my love."

[lighthousegod]

Hello and welcome to my rant from my time on Stranger Things Steddie and Friends Twitter for the past few months.

K I'm really pissed but its fine I wrote this all before the poll thing. Now I just. Can't get rid of it. (Me at tumblr headquarters right fucking now)

Anyway. Sorry for the interruption.

The fact that I've seen several ST fans claim most people who like steddie are fetishizing them is already shitty, but what makes it even more shitty is that they focus on them being two white cis guys fetishized by "white girls".

To reference the two white cis guys first, yeah, you got me there. That really is all those two are in the show. And if you wanna talk representation, well shit! Let's do it! Out of the main cast, we have 3 people of color: Lucas, Erica, and Argyle. Lucas is much too young to be in a relationship with either of them and already has one of his own, and Erica is ten years old. Now, I love Argyle, but he was written to be a comic relief character that had no arc and never met either of them. I think that's a wasted opportunity, Eduardo is great and would've done well as a fully fleshed out character, and there is a conversation to be had about whether that character would've been received the same way Eddie was being a white guy. But the thing is, he was never even CAST as a character who could be compared with Eddie- again, his whole character was "funny stoner." THAT is fucked, and people have definitely decided to ignore that fanon. In fact, Jargyle has become a pretty well known ship! Weirdly enough, the content I've seen of them has majorly been from people who also ship steddie! It isn't as popular as Steddie, though, and I don't think that's ONLY bc of half of the ship has less lore than eddie. There definitely is at least some internal bias us white queer folks should take into account when considering what ships we focus on in media.

However, I don't think that's why it's being brought up. I don't think I read tweets from lesbians with she/her in their bios condemning all us steddie ppl who just ship it because "they're two white guys we can fetishize for being in an mlm relationship" bc they're trying to be good allies. That COMPLETELY disregards that transmasc and nonbinary people (ESPECIALLY transmasc people of color) make a BIG chunk of the steddie fandom. Crazy, it's almost like Eddie was written to represent an outcast and literally GOT TARGETED BY CHRISTIANS and a bunch of people in marginalized communities related to his struggles! Except oh, yeah, that'd exactly what happened. And yeah, okay, he's a white guy and it IS pretty shitty that they cast a white dude to represent outcasts in general, but the people talking shit are watching the SAME DAMN SHOW that has a huge fucking cast and still has minimal representation. Fuck, man, Caleb McLaughlin has faced SO MUCH hate from assholes "fans" as the only black main character. Why the hell are people using that very real issue to back their shitty arguments against a gay ship on twitter?

Again, I wanna preface that 90% of these kinds of comments come from lesbians and bisexual people with she/her or she/they in the bio. I thought yall were COOL with the gay and trans people. Yall ARE queer people. Some of them were even big Ronance or Rovickie fans! YALL. WHY IS FRIENDLY FIRE ON??

A lot of this argument is backed by claims that steddie fans ignore canon queer rep, too, and I just don't understand that.

I know. Robin is representation. I am SO HAPPY to have her, and I'm so happy that Maya pushed for it, and as a transmasc person who was not out at the time and likes girls, I felt very seen when watching her coming out scene with Steve. However, I know I don't fully understand the lesbian experience as someone who likes guys too. I know Robin means a lot to wlw fans, especially lesbians. There have been instances where steddies have co-opted that scene to make it about steddie, and that is not okay. (I've never SEEN this happen, but I've seen people talk about it. All the steddie guys on Twitter that I follow were making it pretty clear that that was not cool and pretty fuckin lesbiphobic. I agree, whoever did that, fuck them. Wlw and specifically lesbian wlw relationships have very little rep and Netflix canceled all their shows and it's super fucked.) But besides this, I actually see a LOT of steddie fans who very much love Robin's character. Most of the steddie artists and fic writers I know are also ronance, rovickie, and/or Buckingham creators. A lot of them are wlw themselves!

//I should also note that Will is canonically gay now and I'm super excited, but truly, I just don't see as much appeal in byler because they're so much younger than me now. I totally love Will as a character, and I was around the kids' ages when the first season came out, but I'm in college now. I relate a lot more to the older kids! I'm real happy to have will as mlm rep and I hope he gets his moment in s5. I just didn't latch onto him and Mike the way I did Steve and Eddie! We all got preferences and that's fine.//

All this to say, I'm just so tired of Twitter, man. I just saw a post about how many cis women who claiming its "ableism" to say they have to be around anyone who identifies as masculine, including queer men, queer mascs, cis men of color, butch lesbians, etc. And I've seen a lot of that lately too. It's just so weird to see someone who identifies as a queer woman talk shit abt a steddie fan with a hellcheer shipper.

(man I can't even get into that rn. Chrissy and Eddie shippers in ST fandom are a whole other bout of drama. I've seen steddies be pretty nasty on the issue toward bi women who ship that bc of age difference, which I never really understood because eddie has no confirmed age?? Like idk how he can be a super senior AND 17 on his missing poster but whatever, I'm not stressing abt that as long as you dont make them have a weird age gap on purpose. Hell, I even thought they were love interests at first, too. But DAMN I've seen some hellcheer people that hate steddie. None of this justification type shit either, they just say "it doesn't make sense" and "I'm scared of steddie" and "they ruined the fandom and eddies character" like bro that's literally homophobia. like oogily boogily gay people jumpscare homophobia. So I just don't talk to those guys usually.)

Whatever abt the straight ppl tho they're never gonna get my weird gay stuff. But what SUCKS is when it's other gay people saying this stuff. Like what about mlm wlw solidarity man? Why do I gotta see a rovickie stan and a hellcheer girl talking abt how steddie shippers are all misogynistic and hate women?? Esp when so many are transmasc?? It's getting weird and TERF-y and I just. I wish we were cool again. ST is abt outcasts at the end of the day, it's why we root for them and relate to them. There aren't even a lot of queer people from the 80s around because of the kinda hatred people like us face. Not to mention racism, ableism, misogyny, all of it. For centuries. The people up top all hate us. We gotta have each other's backs and twitter is making us INSANE instead. God.

Anyway I'm gonna go watch the mandalorian now later losers.

[martian-martian-martian]

Stranger Things Characters as Star Trek characters because Why Not and Fuck You:

Dustin - Nog (DS9) Smart and annoying, just a goof. Honorable Mention: Chekov (TOS).

Will - Wesley (TNG) DOn't start hating now, Wesley is smart and genuinely kind. Honorable mention, maybe Rom (DS9) for being such a sweetie. Will has Data potential but humorously I think Data is more extroverted.

Mike - Worf (TNG/DS9) A little stubborn and blunt, good hearted. Mike almost got the Wesley title for being whiny and smart but I wanted to highlight his inner romantic more.

Lucas - Scotty! (TOS) The perfect blend of practical, dedicated, and intense: with a fun loving side. Honorable mention: Odo (DS9) for grumpy pragmatism and a hidden simp.

El - Lal (TNG) Intelligent, compassionate, not quite normal. A litttle teeny bit of Troi in the 'mind powers, good taste in sweets, and sometimes the unfortunate plot ragdoll' department.

Erica - 50/50 Moogie (DS9) and Guinan (TNG) for independant, witty, old soul and gives no fucks. Boss bitches all around, plus Moogie has good fashion sense I think Erica would admire, and she doesn't take no for an answer.

Max - Tasha Yar (TNG) Hard exterior, soft interior. Been though a LOT. Has difficulty accepting love.

Billy - Don't care + L + ratio + Dukat + Brunt + those people who tried to say Data wasn't human + Lore for being a moody cunt with daddy issues.

Robin - Bashir (DS9) Chatty, neurotic, and gay. Also winner of the Lt. Barclay award for being bitchless. Sorry queen.

Steve - 50/50 Riker and O'Brien (TNG) for dad energy, fuckability and sheer Put In Situations syndrome. Also, I've never seen Star Trek: Enterprise but I think a lot of characters have his vibe. Sprinkle of Kirk (TOS) for Gets Beat Up And Looks Hot.

Nancy - Major Kira (DS9) Vengeful, tactical, occasionally flirtatious. Can't seem to get her romantic shit together. TF are you getting massages from O'Brien for? Would probably make out with her own clone.

Joyce Byers - Dr. Crusher (TNG) for being a concerned, yet capable milf. Honorable Mention: Dax (DS9)and no it's not because she's hot it's also because of her youthful energy, her directness, and ALSO she's hot.

Hopper - It's giving 50/50 O'Brien and Sisko (DS9) for Badass Dad Who Throws Punches and Is Inconvenienced.

Eddie - This one was a tough one because I needed someone who can be very big personality yet also very scared and vulnerable. Bashir has the right geekiness, but no (genuine) badassery. Hilariously I think Quark embodies some Eddie energy, and he also fucks, but he doesn't have Eddie's soul and Quark is certifiably a middle aged dude without a youthful vibe. One could say Q, but even in distress Q keeps his cool more. Somebody help me out, maybe there's a Voyager character for this. Maybe an Enterprise person I can't think of.

Chrissy - Leeta (DS9) Beautiful, genuinely sweet.

Murray Bauman - Probably McCoy (TOS but! It's also giving the quirkiness of the Doctor (VOY) with like some distinct Odo (DS9) in the Stop Fucking Around And Be Serious About This Because I'm Paranoid department.

Anyway my biggest lesson from this was that very few Stranger Things characters have the dignity of Star Trek characters. There are no Picards here.

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

The perfect gift 🎁

Can I request an Eddie x reader fluff where it's Christmas and the reader gives him something he always wanted and he starts crying? Idk I just thought it would be really cute :D

Request by anon 💞

Warnings; fluff, a bit of angst at the start

Likes or reblogs are always appreciated 🙂💞 I don't give anyone permission to copy my work

💞

Eddie was inconsolable. His sweetheart, his faithful guitar who had seen him through many years was broken.

It had been a hell of a year what with Vecna, surviving a demobat attack that nearly killed him and seeing the deaths of Chrissy Cunningham and Jordan from the basketball team.

He was lucky to even survive through Vecna's attack and be cleared of the false murder charges that were on him for the deaths.

It's not like Hawkins's PD would believe him if he said that a supernatural being from The Upside Down caused the deaths. Would they?

No, it wasn't until Jim Hopper came back whom everyone thought was dead that he managed to get his name cleared because Hopper knew about all the shit that when on in Hawkins.

With Vecna defeated and the Upside Down no more he and his friends had managed to have a semi-normal life.

The nightmares still happened and the scars from the demo bats were still present, sometimes he would wake up from a nightmare and have severe panic attacks.

One person was always a constant through this.

Yn. She was Robin's cousin and he met her properly when Dustin, Max, Nancy, Steve and Robin were helping him when he was on the run after Chrissy's death from Vecna that happened in his trailer.

He was hesitant to trust her at first, she went to Hawkins, was a cheerleader. She could rat him out to Carver in a second.

But she didn't. She was kind and sarcastic and funny, her sweetness thawed his heart and he fell for her.

They had begun dating once he was out of the hospital and healed from the bat attacks, she visited him every day and they grew closer and closer and fell in love.

She was one of the bright spots in his life, along with his friends and Uncle Wayne.

Speaking of his princess she steps into the trailer and at seeing his anguished face rushes over to him.

"Baby? did you have a nightmare?" he shakes his head and shows her the guitar.

"I've had my sweetheart for years. It's the best fucking guitar and now it's broken. I don't know how long it will take me to save up for a new one" she gently smoothes his hair and kisses his forehead.

"Don't worry babe, we will figure something out I promise"

💞💞

Yn would be the first to admit she knew absolutely nothing about guitars but what she did know is that Eddie's sweetheart was one of his most precious belongings and she was determined to buy him a new guitar.

So she worked harder than ever, took extra shifts and used some of the money she had hidden away for emergencies to go to a guitar shop and buy him a new one.

Nothing could replace his old guitar but she did hope this would cheer him up a little bit.

It was a full hour of searching before she came across one that looked similar to his sweetheart.

The guitar was stunning with beautiful vivid colours and she could imagine Eddie playing on it.

She loved watching him rehearse or play at the Hideout, it was pretty damn sexy.

Immediately she goes to the cashier and tells him that she wants and pays for it then goes home to wrap it.

It's only a week to go until Christmas and she can't wait to see Eddie's face when he opens it. She also purchased a new D&D handbook for his campaigns.

Even though they had graduated high school Eddie still hosted Hellfire night for his little sheeples.

This book was something he wanted and she was fascinated by the d&d lore. The way that Eddie weaved stories for the campaigns was magical and she loved when he made up stories for her.

When she was feeling upset or blue he would make up the most wonderful stories and she would snuggle up beside him and listen intently loving him more and more.

Hopefully, he loved this guitar that she picked for him. She knew it wouldn't replace his sweetheart but she hoped he liked it.

❤❤

It was Christmas eve and she and Eddie were exchanging presents even though they would be spending the holidays together.

Eddie had created a storybook of his stories that he promised to read to her and add to, beautiful perfume and a gorgeous necklace that she treasured.

When it came to him opening his guitar she watched as he gently ripped open the wrapping paper and then the box that she had put the guitar in so it didn't look totally obvious what she bought him.

The look in his eyes when he opened the box made her want to cry with happiness. His eyes light up and he took it out gazing at it in reverence.

"Fuck, baby this is fucking amazing" she beams.

"I know nothing can replace your sweetheart Eddie but I hope this brings happy memories too" he grins and kisses her, over her head and cheeks and then her lips.

"I Love it, princess, this is totally fucking metal!!" he immediately begins to play and the smile on his face is the sweetest as he performs a few songs, smiling in excitement.

It truly was a special Christmas

💞💞

[el-dibidibidorado1]

Nightmares

Summary: You have been having nightmares and Eddie takes care of you.

Warning: Billy being abusive.

Paring: Eddie x reader

Word count: 3k (kinda long)

A/n: I haven't written in a fat minute so it might be shitty. I can't even write a good enough summary. Be kind, please.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

There was always something hidden in your relationship with Eddie Munson, it was things that happened the past few years. There where times when you wished that you didn't walk into the Byers house. That is when it started and now you are dreaming about all of those things. It had finally caught up that the recurring nightmares are tormenting you from having a peaceful sleep.

"Still having nightmares, y/n?" Robin questions. They had seen you falling asleep on the job at Family Video store.  Steve was at your side somewhat holding you up. They still asked you what they where about but deep down you thought that if you told them they would start having them too.

"Yeah" you softly nodded and sat down on the chair next to the break room. This was becoming a nuisance for you.

"I know, but we have to ask. What are they about?" They both took a seat on the floor and looked at you with concern. It was almost closing time they all knew that really not alot of people was coming to the store. You sighed and began mustering up to tell them. It felt difficult to talk about them but they were there too! Why was it so hard?

"Its about what happened at the Byers house and with Will..." You choked remembering the look in Will's face. It terrifies you, almost as if he wanted everyone including you dead.

"Starcourt and...Billy" you pushed back the tears when you said his name. Billy is the person who terrified you the most. The only reason why is because you had some feeling about him, even though he was a racist abusive piece of shit.

  "Billy is, I know I sound like an asshole, but he is dead. He isn't coming back." Steve placed a comfort hand on your knee. It helps to know that he is gone but the scar on your abdomen and the left side of your chest still remain that he was the one who tired to kill everyone.

"I know but when he appears in my dreams I feel like if I'm back there with him trying to fuckin gut me to death!" You whispered feeling the cool tears streaming down your feverish face.

"Even after death he still has a way to get under my skin..." you covered your face and tried to wipe away those tears but more kept on coming out.

"I'm sorry." Robin and Steve apologized for not being able to help. They both looked at each other and pulled her into a comforting hug. You hugged them like when they survived Starcourt. They both felt you shiver against them and it made them hold you tighter.

The door bell rang making them separate from you and attend the customer. After a few minutes you grabbed your stuff and decided to go home leaving them both to close.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow for school, don't want you driving alone. You could get hurt." Steve walked you to your car and opened the door so you could get in.

"I'll be there around 7:50, okay?" He said before closing the door and watching you leave.

You raced home when you felt your eyes close each time you blinked. Once you pulled into the drive way you remembered that no one was home, they had gone to a family wedding leaving you home. You asked them to stay with everything that has been happening you didn't want the rest of your family to see you.

"Okay" you sighed and pumped yourself to take a shower and go straight to bed skipping dinner. You did as promised and crawled into bed after leaving one of you brothers night light on. You swore that you kept on seeing Billy in the corner of your room ready for something. The softness of the lights and the lullaby that came out of it lore you to sleep.

"Finally." You mumbled. It all felt okay until you opened your eyes and see Will strapped into a  chair yelling and kicking to let him go.

"No, oh god, not this again!" You whimper. Everyone in the room turned their attention on you. Their eyes began to sink into their skull as they all screamed at you. They didn't say anything but scream at you.  In a panic, you  turn and began struggling to open the door as you felt them float towards you still screaming.

  "Fuck!" You pushed it open and fell through and quickly turned to shut the door behind you stopping them from following you. A sigh a relief was cut short when the bright neon lights and smooth shiny floors caught your attention. You began trembling and felt tears trickle your eyes when a presence came behind you.

"If I don't turn, he will go away. Just don't turn" you told yourself out loud. You don't know how long but if felt like hours passed by and they were still standing behind you. You felt yourself crack and began to sob, praying to someone out there to get you out of this nightmare!

"What's a matter princess." Once that familiar voice whispered into your ear you held in your sobbing and froze. A cold clammy hand came around and lifted your shirt high enough to see the scar you had grown to despise.

"I know, you loved me." His voice became louder and his chest was smushed against your back feeling the coldness steep on to your back.

"Poor little y/n. You loved me and I knew all about it that's what made it easy to get to you." He began circling around you and in instinct you closed your eyes not wanting to look at him. His breath was cold and fanning against your face. He began laughing manically until he abruptly stopped.

"Open. Your. Eyes." You shook your head and refused to give in.

"I said. Open. Your. Eyes!" His voice raised with each word. You shut them tighter and refused once more. He let off a huff of frustration and grabbed your face with force. His freezing hands felt like fire against your skin making you whimper.

"You will fuckin do what you are TOLD IF NOT I WILL OPEN THEM MY SELF YOU WHORE!" His voice grew demonic, making his grip tighter and you yelp in pain.

"One....TWO..." a sharp sting pierced your left eye lid. In instinct you began fighting and trying to pull away from his grasp.

"Thr-"

"Okay! Stop! Please stop!" You yelled and slowly opened your eyes feeling blood trickle down your face..

In front of you Billy was standing there with a sinister smile across his face. You shiver in fear as he moved his hand to the back of your head pulling your hair back. He dipped his head into your neck and began licking and biting the same spot he always did. You whimpered in disgust and let it happen, you knew what would happen if you fought him back. He would actually kill you.

"That's right. Stay still." He moved up next to your ear and whispers. 

He pulled back and looked at you. His blue eyes darkened and he pulled into a kiss. Trying to force his way into your mouth. He deeply growled angrily and a sharp sting crossed your abdomen. He did it again! He is trying to gut you...

"LET GO!" with all your strength you pushed him back and began running away from him holding your abdomen in pain.

You ran towards the public restrooms and hid in one of the stalls quietly crying.  The restroom door opened and his foot steps echoed throughout the room. He stood in front of the stall you where in and laughed again.

"Why do you always run to the same spot?" He reached under and pulled you from your feet making you hit your head as you fell. Your vision became blurry and difficult to fight him off.

"Please, Billy! Stop!" You hiccup.

"Please. It hurts..."

"Shhhhhh" he shushed my pleading and began cutting the same spots he always did. He began laughing again and having a thrill hurting you.

"Steve, Robin! EDDIE HELP ME!" You screeched. 

Your eyes opened and took in a deep breath almost choking. Sitting up you rushed into the bathroom and took off all of your clothes to find any sign of Billy's torture. Nothing, nothing but a thin layer of sweat covered you.

"Shit.." you put on your clothes and slowly walked back into your room and looked at the time. 4:56 am.

You had at least added two more hours of sleep but it wasn't enough to keep you working during the day. You decided to reclean the house until it was time to get ready for school.

Steve was punctual when it came to pick his friends up for school and so where you but today you were late. A knock made you jump almost making you spill the coffee that you made, with a glance to your watch you realize that you are going to be late for school.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" You chug down the coffee and run to the door getting your backpack.

"I'm sorry Steve!" You open the door and throw him your backpack as you put on your shoes. He gave you a look of concern and told you that it was okay.

"Let's get going. I don't want you to be late." He gently said kneeling down and tying the lose shoelace. The two of you run towards his car and jump in.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked. All you gave him was a small head shake and put down the visor to look at yourself. Your eye bags looked worst and your face was pale. Let's not forget about your hair, it was a mess.

"God I look like a corpse." You said trying to fix your hair enough to presentable. Steve drove into the parking lot and parked where he used to park when he was in school.

"How do I look?" You asked him. Steve gave you a small smile and pushed a strand of hair behind your ear.

"You look good. Now go inside and give that weirdo a smooch. He called the shop a couple of times wondering if you where there." You couldn't help but chuckle. 

You reached over and gave him a kiss on his cheek and thanked him for the ride.

"Have a good day!" He said before you closed his door. You could tell that he lied about how you looked, now everyone was looking at you as if you were a zombie.

"Man, I feel like one." You mumbled and opened your locker seeing the photobooth pictures of Eddie and you. It made you smile.

"Hey princess" you heard someone whisper in your ear.  With everything that you went through in instinct you punched away that person making them fall giving you enough time to try and run.

"Jesus H Christ!" You realize that it was Eddie and you dropped everything and went to his aid.

"Eddie! Oh shit- I'm sorry." You helped him up and felt anxiety run through you.

"Eddie I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry babe." You gently grabbed his face making him look at you. 

"Its o-okay." He faked being okay and pulled you into his embrace. He knew that you haven't been okay these past weeks. He shouldn't have startled you  like that.

"I'm fine. Sweetheart. I'm fine" he kept telling you and himself but wasn't, you punched the air out of him.  You pushed him back and pulled him by his hellfire shirt down smashing your lips against his.

"Woah" he mumbled into the kiss and gently grabbed your face but you abruptly pulled away.

"Eddie-" you looked at him with hurt in your eyes.

"Please don't call me princess....Ever." he was shocked but he agreed and helped you get your stuff for class.

The two of you walked hand to hand to first period and sat together. Half way through the lesson your eyes felt heavy and anxiety circled around you. You didn't want to see him! You needed to stay awake. Your eyes acted as their own and they closed, the familiar feeling of calmness scared you as that is how the nightmare began.

"Y/n L/n!" You heard the teachers voice but they sounded far away.

"Y/n? Sweetheart?" Eddie called you and softly shook you awake.

"What?" You blinked a couple of times and looked at the whole class gawking at you.

"Miss. L/n are you alright?" You sat up and nodded at the teacher.

"Maybe you should sleep other than go to heavy metal vomit parties with the Freak." Some bitch said. If it was about you, you would have dropped it but it was about Eddie she was talking about.

"Maybe you should mind your own fuckin business, bitch." You spat back.

Eddie could tell that something was up. You are too kind to talk to someone like that. You have gotten angry at people who trashed on Eddie but it was never this.

"What did you say?!" She stood up but the teacher told her to sit back down.

"Look how about we all mind out own business and pay attention. Y/n don't call her names..."  she put on a smug smile and puffed out her chest.

"That's right-"  he cut her off and put her in her place.

"And you! Like I said mind your own business. You don't know what  happened?!"  He said and went back to teaching. You glanced at Eddie and he sighed nervously. He looked like if  he had seen a ghost.

"Eddie, I'm sorry." You whisper. He looks at you with worried eyes.

"You okay?" You nodded and moved closer to him and placed your head on his shoulder. He kissed your head and picked up a pencil and began writing plans for the next D&D campaign. The rest of your classes went with you getting yelled at by your teachers. During lunch you sat with Robin and just looked at your food feeling nauseous.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" As much as it made your heart swell that all of your friends and boyfriend cared about you, it's getting kind of annoying hearing those same words.

"Like hell..." you mindlessly said. You looked across the cafeteria and see Eddie messing around with the basketball team again, it brought a smile to your face. It quickly went away when you thought about what happened in the morning. It pained you when you punched him, no, you felt like hell.

"I hurt him, Robin." You turned and saw her wide eyes and half way eating a burrito.

"What?" She said mouth full.

"I hurt Eddie." You felt yourself cry again. God you are tired of those damn tears!

"How? He doesn't seem hurt." She said wiping her mouth.

"He said something and it startled me so I reacted and punched him in the stomach. He fell to the floor." Her eyes looked like if they are going to come out of their sockets.

"Oh shit" she looked at Eddie and them back at you. She had to help you get rid of this recurring nightmare. It was getting to the point where you feel as if you are going to hurt someone worst than a punch.

"What did he do?"

"He said that he was okay, but I could tell that he was in pain. I don't know what it is, maybe it's like all of the stuff we had done is finally catching up to me. It could be that time of the year, like some anniversary? " You pitched your nose and slammed your hand on the table startling the people around.

"Sorry, sorry!" She apologized for you and didn't know what else to say, so she placed her head on your shoulder to try and comfort you.

Vicky cautiously walked to the table and asked if she could borrow Robin for the rest of lunch.  Robin sat up and looked at you excited.

"She is her own boss." I said and gave her a smile.  Robin hugged you and left with vicky to do whatever band people do.

You picked up your belongings including the full plate of food and walked towards Eddie and his friends. The only people who you knew are Mike and Dustin.

"Hey Sweetheart. Where is Robin?" He asked and offered his seat to you and stole someone else's.

"She had to leave. Is it okay if I sit with you guys?" You asked his friends and not him because he would say yes in a heartbeat, not caring about the rest.

"I'm fine with it." Dustin said and looked at the rest. They all kind of nodded so you sat down and placed the full plate on the table.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" Eddie asked scooting closer to you until he was practically pulling you on his lap.

"No. Go ahead." The boys went ham and grabbed anything they could. You placed your head on his chest and felt your eyes become heavy.

Dustin could see that something was happening to you. In all the years that he has known you, you have never behaved like that.  You almost looked dead to him.

"Sweetheart." Eddie cooed but you where out against him.

"Eddie, you should take her home. She looks sick." Dustin suggested. 

"Yeah, I should." Eddie was practically pulling you up.

"What about the campaign, Eddie?" The two other boys asked giving eddie puppy eyes. Eddie glared at them and shut them up.

"My girl is first over the campaign." He said and began waking you up. Your body tensed when he moved your hair to the side, it happened again and you grabbed his hand pulling it away roughly. Luckily for you only Dustin noticed it.

"Y/n." Eddie said and grabbed your face a bit irritated by still so gentle. You opened your eyes and felt relieved when you saw those doe eyes.

"Let's go home." He said and grabbed your backpack and his lunchbox.

"It was nice sitting with you guys." You said loud enough and ruffled Dustin's hair on the way out. You walked quietly next to Eddie, you could feel tension between the two of you. Maybe it was about time to tell Eddie about the nightmares.

"Did I do something to you?" He broke the silence as the two of you reached his van. You softly pushed him against the passenger side door.

"What? No of course not! As a matter for fact I'm the one who did something to you." You looked down and got angry at yourself for hurting him this morning. You had to tell him, tell him about the nightmares. Half of the truth.

"I've..." you could feel your heart bursting through.  You closed your eyes and balled up your fist. Why was it so hard? You trust eddie with your life. Why?

"Y/n. Tell me." He grabbed your face tenderly and made you look into his big brown doe eyes. They were filled with with worry.

"I've been having trouble sleeping...." you slowly said swallowing thickly when he runs his hand over his face.

"I have these nightmares and they have been tormenting me for the past few weeks." He said nothing and pulled you into a hug, until he opened the passenger door for you helping you in.

"Can we go to your house? I don't want to go to mine." You asked before he closed the door.

"Yeah. That's alright." He pulled you into a honest gentle kiss, you couldn't help but keep his lips on yours. The two of you kissed for what seemed 10 minutes until he pulled away.  It didn't feel sexual but pure.....love if you put it that way. 

It took a couple of minutes to get to his house you would always roll down the window feeling the crisp air touch your face. We got to his trailer and he always tried making it presentable but you didn't mind. You went straight to his room with him behind you. 

You pulled off your sweatshirt leaving you in a tank top. Even if you two have been dating for a while you would always try to hide them... The fuckin scars. But he did the same and taking off his shirt. He had tattoos scattered around his torso making your knees wobble. He kicked off his shoes and threw himself on his bed getting comfortable.

"Come on." He softly said and stretched out his hand to get you to join him. You crawled next to him and wrapped your legs with his and placed your head on his chest enjoying his warmth and the soft beating of his heart.

"Eddie." You looked at him and he hummed.

"Can you read me that book you love? You haven't read to me." He smiled and reached over to his nightstand and pulled out a worn out paperback book. It was being held by some clear tape and it looked like glue also.

"Gotta clear out my throat!" He made the loudest and most disturbing noise making you giggle.

"Okay, ready?" You nodded and got comfortable again.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..." you looked up at him again and began taking all of his beauty.

"..it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." He read with a smile on his face. You don't know how long he read for but you remember falling on his arms, peacefully. No Eyeless people, no yelling Will and the most important thing No Billy. Just Eddie Munson.

"Can we stay like this forever?" You asked before you fell asleep.

"I'll stay like this for as long as you let me." He said and admired your face. You were long asleep when he ran his fingers gently across every part of your face, tattooing your skin into his.

"Sleep well my darlin." He said kissing your nose and getting comfortable to fall asleep with you.

[kohanayaki]

.:Survive the Tide:. (Eddie Munson x Reader) Ch 3

The gang takes refuge in your house in an effort to keep Eddie safe and come up with a plan to defeat Vecna. You find yourself grappling with your budding feelings, the loss of a friend, your resurfacing past with Billy, and the return of a fight you thought was over. Luckily, you don't have to do it alone.

LINKS:   Part 1    Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5

___________________________________________________

Ch 3 .:In Some Other Life:.

“So this. . . thing-”

“Vecna,” Lucas supplied as you paused.

“You really need to stop naming these things after D&D monsters,” you sighed.

“Seconded,” Eddie grumbled, “it's confusing and mostly inaccurate.”

“So Vecna,” you corrected yourself, “has been targeting mostly young adults in Hawkins and uses their trauma to get in their heads and kill them?”

“More or less,” Max said grimly.

“Why?” you asked, “I mean, not to assume this thing has any real motives, but this is a step up from what we've dealt with before. You said he spoke to you, like real sentences and shit.”

“Yeah,” Dustin said, “He's definitely the most sentient being we've come up against from the Upside Down. The demogorgon was pure brawn, the mind flayer was pure brains, but Vecna has both. Not to mention the power to affect people in the real world without even crossing through the Gate.”

“Fantastic,” you deadpanned.

“As far as motive goes,” Robin said, “we've. . . got a theory.”

“Something tells me it's not good,” you said.

“It's not,” Dustin grimaced, “if we're going by traditional D&D lore and cross-referencing that with what he's been doing so far, we think his goal is the same as within the game.”

“Which is?” you asked warily.

“Destroying the foundations of the multiverse and reshaping reality to his will.”

You turned at the sound of Eddie's voice. Seeing him just sitting on your couch felt somehow surreal. A week ago he was the person who gave you inexplicable butterflies whenever you thought about him. Three days ago he was the person who ditched you at the movies and hadn't reached out since despite knowing your close friend had just died. An hour ago he was the person who had murdered said friend, and now. . .

You drew in a deep breath. You had to focus on the situation at hand; you could sort out your feelings later.

“Right,” you said, “So in D&D this is the guy with the cult, right? Should we be worried about him having a following?”

Eddie, Dustin, and Lucas stared at you like you'd grown a second head.

“What?” you huffed, “I pay attention when you twerps talk about your campaigns.”

“Color me impressed, if not somewhat concerned for my privacy,” Dustin said, earning an eye roll from you, “But yes, you're right. The Cult of Vecna doesn't seem to have any real world parallels, but we think he might be trying to build something like it.”

“When he had me trapped, he said it was time for me to join him,” Max said, “I saw everyone he took, and they were. . . ” she swallowed hard, the image all too clear in her mind, “they were almost on display. Like trophies on a wall. I don't know exactly what his plan is, but he's keeping everyone he's killed for a reason.”

Your stomach churned at Max's words, feeling your breathing turn shallow at the thought of him keeping Chrissy's body in that awful place, even if it was in another reality.

“Plus, we know the Mind Flayer was trying to do the same thing when it-” Steve faltered, trying to avoid mentioning Billy, “When it started taking over people's bodies in the real world,” he said carefully, “That thing was building an army.”

“And if we assume that most creatures from the Upside Down share the same goal,” Lucas said.

“That means we're royally screwed,” you finished.

“Not if we had El,” Nancy pointed out.

“El's the one with the superpowers?” Eddie asked.

“The one who's on the other side of the country and doesn't have superpowers anymore,” you amended, “What's your plan? Just waltz into the Upside Down through the Gate that doesn't exist anymore and kill a mostly invincible, mind-controlling monster without knowing where he is or having any idea of how to take him down?”

“Actually, we know where he is,” Robin said, “Nancy's a genius and found out Vecna had some sort of connection to the old mansion at the edge of town.”

“It used to belong to Victor Creel,” Nancy said, “That guy in the 50's everyone thought murdered his family. But Robin and I visited him, and he told us that what actually killed them was something that killed in the exact same way the recent victims died. It made him see visions of his past, of his worst fears. It lifted his wife into the air and broke her bones. It's the exact same curse.”

“Patrick was attacked when we were at the house investigating,” Robin continued, “and all the lights went crazy, just like they did the first time the demogorgon appeared.”

“So you think Vecna's lair is that house in the Upside Down?” you said.

“Almost certainly,” Dustin nodded, “Although finding a Gate and a way to kill him is still a work in progress.”

“When isn't it?” you sighed, “But I'm seriously proud of you guys for figuring all this out. It's not your first rodeo anymore.”

“We saved the world three times, we can do it a fourth,” Dustin grinned.

And for the first time in the last torturous few days, you found yourself smiling.

“I know we can,” you said. As you looked around the room you almost chuckled at the sight of this ragtag team of unlikely friends. If anything you looked like a knockoff Breakfast Club, not what you'd picture when you thought of a team of heroes. But the fate of the world as you knew it was once again placed in your hands, and you knew you would succeed. You had to.

“I'll, um. . . I'll just be a minute,” you said, getting up from your seat, “Anyone need water or anything?”

You were met with a chorus of shaking heads and muttered 'no, thanks' as you headed to the kitchen. You opened your fridge unit and fished out three frozen pizzas from the back. Not the most nutritious, but they'd do. You placed one on each rack of your oven, letting it do its magic. As you stood there waiting for them to finish baking you took a deep breath, your fingers instinctively coming up to massage your temples. Every part of this scenario was becoming increasingly unbelievable the more you thought about it. It felt like your brain was racing to catch up with its own thoughts, and a wave of fatigue washed over you.

Suddenly, Dustin's head popped out from the doorway and you immediately brightened, not wanting him to worry.

“Pizza?” he said, kneeling to stare straight into the oven.

“I could tell you guys were starving,” you said.

“How'd you know?”

“You twiddle your thumbs when you're hungry,” you grinned, “Steve might've taken my job, but I was your babysitter first.”

“Not a babysitter!” you heard Steve shout from the living room.

“He can keep telling himself that,” you chuckled, “Besides, you've been on the run for days. Can't imagine you were able to stop at a Burger Chef while you were hiding Hawkins' most wanted.”

Dustin gave you a pensive look. Even in a situation like, this your first instinct was to take care of them first.

“You seem. . . strangely calm for someone housing a fugitive,” he remarked.

“Oh, trust me, I'm not,” you said, “but the alternative doesn't help anyone.”

“(Y/n). . .”

“I'm fine, Dusty,” you said, “Maybe not right now, but I'll be okay.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. You kept your eyes trained on the kitchen timer, watching the minutes tick by.

“I saw what keeping everything inside did to Max,” Dustin said after some time, “I don't want that to happen to you.”

“You don't have to worry about me,” you promised, turning to fully face him, “I'm not going anywhere. Who else is gonna save your ass?”

“I think it's about time for us to save you for once,” Dustin scoffed playfully.

“We'll see about that,” you said. Another, more comfortable silence returned between the two of you. “You know I'm not going to let anything happen to you guys, right?”

“I know,” he said.

Dustin managed to go all of two seconds before flying at you, arms wrapping tight around your waist. You felt your eyes well up as you returned the hug. Dustin had always been like a little sibling to you; all of the kids had. You made a mental promise that you would do whatever it took to make sure everyone made it out of this alive, for their sake.

The high pitched sound of the kitchen timer rang out in the room, making the both of you laugh through your misty-eyed moment.

“You're turning me soft,” you said, playfully pushing Dustin away from you.

“You've always been soft,” Dustin said, “don't worry, I'll keep your secret.”

You huffed, concealing your smile as you got the pot holders out of the kitchen drawer, opening the oven door. The smell coming off the pizzas made your mouth water, and you reached in in anticipation. But just as you were pulling out the first tray, you bumped your arm on the top of the oven right above where the mitt's protection ended.

“Shit,” you cursed, quickly setting down the pizza down on top of the stove and pulling your hand back to inspect the angry burn on your arm, “Damn it. Dustin, could you please take the rest of these out and tell everyone it's time to eat? Carefully.”

“Will do,” he said, slipping the oven mitts on.

You ruffled his hair gratefully, making your way down the hall to the bathroom. You switched on the light and started the faucet, running your burn under the cold water. You hissed at the initial sensation before it began to sooth the pain.

As you looked up you were met with your own reflection in the mirror above the sink, although it looked like a stranger was staring back at you. Your eyes were red and puffy, dark circles hanging from beneath them. You were wearing the same pajamas as the day before, and your hair was an unprecedented mess. You stifled a laugh.

You looked like hell.

The thought seemed to click into something in the back of your brain, your mind drifting to the last time you had said something similar about yourself. Before you knew it, you were replaying snippets of the past  in your head, one thing leading to another. . .

“Hey sweetheart,” Billy grinned from ear to ear as he let himself in, sliding past the door you opened with ease.“God, you look gorgeous.”

“I look like hell,” you retorted.

“Still just seeing gorgeous over here, doll.”

“Laying it on a little thick, Hargrove,” you laughed, “I'm already your girlfriend, if you didn't know.”

“I do know,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as his hands trailed down to slide into your back pockets, “and I'm considering myself pretty damn lucky right now.”

“(Y/n)?”

“We could go to California.”

“You'd actually come with me?”

“Billy Hargrove, you're an even bigger idiot than you look.”

“(Y/n).”

“I'm so fucking sorry. (Y/n), please. I made a mistake.”

“Yeah you did, Billy. The same mistake. Three Times. God, I can't believe I actually bought your lies.”

“I wasn't lying. Not when I said I loved you. Hell, you're the only person I've ever even said that to since-”

“We're done, Billy. Please just leave.”

“(Y/n)?!”

“No. . . god, no. Please, Billy, hold on. . . fuck, someone help!”

“It's okay. . . Just. . . let me look at you.”

“(Y/n)!”

You jolted as someone grabbed your shoulders, shaking you slightly. You forced air back into your lungs, your hands trembling. As your heart rate finally slowed back to normal and your eyes could register what was in front of you, you realized that the person calling your name was Eddie, his eyes darting across your features.

“Hey, are you there?” he asked frantically, “(Y/n), tell me you're with me!”

“Yeah. . .” you blinked slowly, “yeah, I'm here.”

Eddie's shoulders visibly lowered as he sighed shakily, releasing his grip on you.

“Jesus, you scared me,” he said, turning the faucet off, “you weren't seeing that clock or anything, were you?”

Your eyes widened in horrid realization.

“No,” you shook your head, “Nothing like that. I'm sorry. . . I didn't mean to make you worry.”

“Don't apologize,” he said, and you could hear the tiredness in his voice, “I'm sorry for shaking you, guess I'm still kinda frazzled. When I saw you staring into space like that, I freaked. It was just like. . .”

He trailed off, and neither of you had to finish the sentence aloud to know what he was thinking. The ache in your chest when you pictured Chrissy's smile reignited like a fresh wound ripping open, and you fought the stinging in your eyes for the umpteenth time in the last few hours. Eddie could sense your pain so clearly it was as if it was a physical presence in the room, and his own heart broke seeing you like this.

“I couldn't save her,” he said; a helpless, sardonic little smile taking over his lips out of defensive habit. “I was right there and I did nothing, except run. Which is what I do now, apparently.”

“There's nothing else you could have done,” you said, placing a hand on his forearm in an attempt to ground him, “you can't blame yourself for this.”

“Never tell a Dungeon Master what is and isn't possible,” he said, his attempt at his usual lopsided smile coming out as more of a grimace than anything.

“Eddie,” you said softly, “I'm serious, please don't think like that. You couldn't have known how things were going to play out. If you take on the weight of what might have been if you did. . .”

Unwanted memories flashed through your head; The neon signs of Starcourt Mall blurring around you as you ran as fast as you could towards the Mind Flayer. The splatter of hot blood that hit your face as it ran Billy through the chest. Max's screams. The look in Billy's eyes as he told you he just wanted to look at you in his last moments because it felt like going home.

“. . . you'll just drive yourself crazy,” you finished, fighting hard to keep your voice even. “Vecna feeds on negative emotions. Fear. Anger. Guilt. We're already trying to save Max with borrowed time. I can't have him going after you too. I can't.”

“What, the monster-slaying princess wouldn't come to my rescue?” Eddie quipped, a tiny shimmer of that lost light back behind his eyes.

“Of course I would,” you smiled weakly, “But I'd like to avoid that all together, if possible. So please, for the sake of my own rapidly deteriorating mental state, don't think that any of this is your fault.”

“Guess I could make an exception to my usual thought process,” he said with a wry smile.

God, he looked. . . exhausted. Dirt streaked his face, and dark bags hung from his sallow eyes. You couldn't imagine he'd been sleeping well the past few days. His hair was flat and matted, his clothes covered in grime and new tears in the fabric.

“If you want to rest up and take a shower here you're welcome to, by the way” you said.

“You trying to tell me something?” Eddie huffed playfully.

“Well, you do smell like dirty swamp water.”

“Don't like the new cologne? All the basketball players wear it,” he grinned— his first genuine one that week, and it was impossible not to notice how his entire face brightened.

“Down the hall to the right,” you laughed, a warm feeling spreading through your chest, “You can leave your clothes outside the door and I'll toss them in the wash.”

“Thanks,” he said, “Seriously. Don't know a lot of other people willing to risk their hides for me. . . What won you over? My roguish charm?”

“Go take a shower, Eddie,” you bit back a smile, and your silent 'you're welcome' was not missed by him. As he left down the hallway your heart felt just a little bit lighter.

As you heard the water start to run you stopped by the door, seeing his clothes in a pile on the floor. You picked them up and tossed them in the washing machine for a quick cycle.

As you busied yourself with tidying up the rest of the house, you poked your head into the living room to see the kids eating the pizza you'd made and joking around with each other. A sense of relief came over you as you saw their smiles. They'd been through so much, but they were still able to laugh like that in the face of the end of the world. It was something you'd tried to pick up from them.

You were pulled out of your thoughts by the alarm going off, and your vision sharpened as you looked up at the machine and opened the door. You caught Eddie's shirt before it could come tumbling out, and you stared at the now-familiar Hellfire Club logo on its front. Just a month ago he had lent this  to you, and now it was frayed at the hem, small gashes cut in the sleeves. You shook off the thought as you loaded everything into the dryer, turning the heat on high.

“Need any help?”

You turned to see Steve lingering in the doorway, fingers tapping against the wood of the frame.

“I think I've got it, but thank you,” you said, “Did you eat?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, “thanks for that. Paranormal investigation really, uh, works up an appetite, y'know?” He bit the inside of his lip, unsure whether or not to follow through with what he really wanted to ask you.

“What's up?” you asked, noticing his eyes still on you.

“I know this is kind of a stupid, relative question,” he said, “but are you okay?”

“Probably not the first word I'd choose,” you told him honestly. You watched the clothes in the dryer tumble in circles, squeezing your eyes shut for a moment before turning to Steve.

“I just thought it was over,” you said, your voice raw and tired.

“I know,” he sighed, “me too.”

“I feel like I'm giving myself whiplash,” you said, “There are moments where it's fine, then all of a sudden the tiniest little thing will remind me of something, and I just spiral.”

“(Y/n), you have to give yourself a break,” Steve said, “I know your first instinct is to make sure those kids are alright, because it's mine too, but you don't have to take on everything by yourself.”

You nodded stiffly, trying to ignore the lump in your throat.

“Come on,” Steve said, pulling you into his arms.

“Why does everyone feel the need to hug me today?” you grumbled, your words slightly muffled by his shirt.

“Because you were robotically doing laundry while staring into the void,” Steve said plainly.

“Point taken,” you said, “You're a good friend, Harrington.”

“Yeah, I'm kind of the best.”

“Don't ruin it.”

“Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I kind of need those.”

At the sound of the new voice you and Steve jolted apart, turning to see Eddie standing in the hallway fresh out of the shower. His hair was still wet, small droplets dripping down his shoulders and chest. The only thing he was wearing was a towel wrapped around his waist and a bemused smirk on his face; There was a tinge of bitterness in the latter that flew over your head, but that was mostly because you were busy staring.

Eddie's eyes flickered between you and Steve, his gaze ultimately settling behind you on his clothes in the dryer. You forced yourself to snap out of it.

“Right,” you coughed out, flustered, “Um, here. They just finished drying.”

“Thanks,” he said. He stepped forward and reached around you to open the dryer door, and you felt your face burn as the distance between you dissipated in an instant. You could feel the warmth coming off his body, the scent of your own shampoo in his hair. You stood there frozen, unable to get another word out before he disappeared back into the bathroom to change, the door closing just a little too loudly.

“Subtle,” Steve snorted, “both of you.”

“Whatever you're talking about, Harrington, I suggest you stop it,” you warned.

“Come on, it's almost physically painful to watch you dance around each other,” he groaned, “You're worse than me.”

“Nothing's worse than you,” you scoffed, flicking him in the forehead.

“Hey, watch the hair,” he said, slapping your hand away.

“And we're not 'dancing around' anything,” you insisted, though your heart pounding against your ribcage betrayed you.

Steve leveled you with a look, and you both knew the words that had just come out of your mouth were a blatant lie.

“Whatever you say.”

Meanwhile Eddie was in the bathroom, trying to shake the water out of his hair and that ugly feeling out of his chest. As he began to get dressed he found his thoughts wandering back to you and Steve, and why the hell it seemed to bother him so much seeing you be such good friends.

Eddie didn't usually let things get to him; he'd been used to being met with ridicule and comparison his whole life, and he thought he'd done a pretty damn good job of not giving a shit. But for some reason Steve Harrington in particular had a special way of getting under his skin. He seemed like the antithesis of everything Eddie was; popular, athletic, and from a well-off white picket fence family. The fact that everyone seemed to collectively agree he was an asshole helped, but something noticeably shifted in him his junior year. He stopped hanging out with Tommy, Carol, and the basketball team, instead mostly spending time with you and Nancy; and the next year, Robin. When Eddie first met Dustin, he would always go on and on about how cool Steve was, and Eddie had to admit he was a little jealous of the way his new Hellfire recruit seemed to idolize him.

And now it was dawning on him just how close you and Steve were. It was completely understandable; you and Steve had been through hell and back, almost literally. Eddie always saw you two together even after Steve graduated, and the rumors that you were dating spread like wildfire at Hawkins High, though Eddie had never given them any thought until now.  

He sighed deeply, slapping his face lightly with his hands to pull himself out of his thoughts. He looked around for his belt and his chain, and when they came up nowhere he realized you must have taken his things so they wouldn't get ruined in the wash. His heart softened, his irrational bout of jealousy quickly replaced by a tinge of guilt. You were a good person; it wasn't your fault you were so damn likable.

As he exited the bathroom he could hear a vaguely familiar Rolling Stones song playing upstairs, from what he could only guess was your room. He slowly walked up, stopping in front of your door which was cracked slightly. As he knocked it swung open a little further, and he saw you look up at him from your seat at your desk.

“Hey,” you said, your eyes widening as you realized you still had his stuff, “Oh, right.” You got up from your chair, crossing over to your bedside table where you'd made a small pile of belongings you found in his clothes; including a half pack of Marlboros, a lighter, a few stray guitar picks, and of course his belt and chain.

“Feeling any better?” you asked, handing them over. Eddie took them gratefully.

“Well the swamp water smell is gone,” he said, scratching lightly at the back of his neck, “And my clothes don't stick to me like a latex glove anymore, so that's a plus.”

“Glad to hear it,” you chuckled.

As Eddie used the mirror to adjust his chain, he caught sight of the rest of your room behind him. A string of Edison light bulbs lined your ceiling, casting a warm glow over the space. A few different scented candles were burning in the corner where you were reading. Countless books and VHS tapes lined the shelves by your bed, and your walls were covered in movie posters, vinyl sleeves, and pictures of you and your friends. The record player on your desk was still spinning that Stones song, and Eddie understood why you'd come here for a little peace of mind.

As his gaze swept across the floor, he noticed a box full of cassette tapes at his feet, and Eddie grinned at the sheer variety you owned. There was everything from Prince, Elton John, and The Beatles to Megadeth, Iron Maiden, and Metallica. As his eyes landed on a certain tape wedged in the side of the box, he grabbed it in disbelief.

“Hold on, is this mine?” Eddie turned to you with a look of mock scandal as he held up a copy of Dio's Sacred Heart between his fingers.

“No?” you said sheepishly.

“Lies.”

“I swear, I was going to return it,” you said.

“And more lies,” he tutted, turning the tape over in his hands, “but it is kind of the best album ever, so I understand your criminal behavior, though it isn't excused.”

“Didn't you say you shoplifted this from Family Video?”

“That's different,” he waved off, earning a small smirk from you as he leaned against your desk. It was only then that he saw what you were reading through before he came in. It was a worn red notebook, wide-lined and filled with scribbled guitar tabs.

“That was Billy's,” you said when you followed his gaze down to the book, your heart squeezing slightly in your chest.

“He played?” Eddie asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” you said, “He wrote his own songs too, even though he never had a band. Mostly metal, but he actually penned a few soft rock ballads for me. . . Don't ever tell anyone I told you that.”

“Cross my heart,” Eddie swore with a small grin. He thumbed through the worn out notebook, the binding almost immediately flipping open to a page in the middle. A polaroid picture doubled as a bookmark; It was a front facing shot of you and Billy sitting on the hood of his Camaro. You were beaming at the camera, squinting slightly against the sun as the wind whipped through your hair. Billy was looking at you with a small smile on his face, his expression surprisingly serene. Next to the photo were loosely connected tabs scrawled on stray pieces of paper, wedged in between the pages of lyrics, written and rewritten again and again in a web of songwriting process that Eddie was familiar with.

He never knew Billy Hargrove that well. How you had befriended the gruff playboy was a matter that confounded all of Hawkins High, but Eddie suspected it had something to do with the way you threatened Billy the first time he made a move on you, which led to him immediately giving you his number. Billy wasn't the most pragmatic student, always in some kind of fight and sending half the basketball team to the infirmary at least once. Although Eddie was okay with the latter offense, there was no denying Billy Hargrove spent a lot of his time being a grade-A asshole. Your messy breakup was proof enough of that. Hell, he'd almost run over Dustin and the kids with his car. But. . .

'Girl, you're the California breeze that sends me on my way.'

Looking down at the pages in front of him, he almost chuckled as he imagined Billy writing something like this.

“He was complicated,” you said, as if you'd read Eddie's mind, “not an excuse for how he acted sometimes, I know. But I think. . . in some other life, you would have gotten along really well.”

Eddie let out an amused little huff at that as his eyes lingered on the tabs for the solo. It was slow, intricate, and covered in detailed markings that showed off Billy's play style. Eddie could hear it clearly in his mind as his gaze drifted across the annotations. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he could almost feel Billy watching him read through it, a self-satisfied smirk on the west-coaster's face as he knew Eddie was impressed.

Some other life, huh?

A sad, nostalgic smile tugged at your lips as you re-read the familiar lyrics.

“He died a hero, and we can't even tell people that,” you said quietly.

“Billy knew about all this Upside Down stuff?” Eddie said in surprise. You nodded.

“Last year, his body was taken over by the Mind Flayer. That explosion at Starcourt Mall? That was us fighting it. In the end he was able to fight back against its control, and he sacrificed himself to save El's life. To save all of our lives.”

The crease in your brow deepened as that feeling of fatigue crept up on you once again.

“I thought that was the end,” you said, “But now I can't help but feel like he died for nothing, because it's not over. It's what had me so spaced out earlier when you found me in the bathroom, and-”

“No way,” Eddie said, making you look up. There was an intensity in his eyes you hadn't seen before; a sincerity that caught you off guard. “Not a chance he died for nothing. If he didn't do what he did last year, you wouldn't be alive to save the world again right now. If I've learned anything about myself in the last week, it's that outside of D&D, I'm no hero. What he did? That's some certified heroic shit right there. In my experience, if someone sacrifices his life for the rest of his party, he did it so that they could live theirs to the fullest potential. Jumping back into this shit head first, being as fearless as you are after everything you've seen. . . I think he'd be proud.”

You stared at him, your eyes immediately welling with tears, and Eddie's own widened in horror.

'Shit,' he thought, panicked, 'Definitely didn't want her to cry. What the fuck is wrong with me? What do I do? I can't just take it back. What if I make it worse? How-'

His train of thought was derailed completely as you suddenly threw your arms around him. Eddie stood there for a moment, frozen, before slowly wrapping his arms around you in return. Standing there with you in the warm light, your bodies seemingly fitting together perfectly, it just felt right.

“Thank you,” you whispered, and Eddie thought his heart would leap right out of his chest. He felt your tears start to soak into his denim vest, but he just held you tighter; the embrace was something he didn't realize he needed just as much as you. He put up a damn good front, but he was fucking terrified, and if he seriously thought about what was going on for more than a second, he was afraid his cowardice would make him run as far away from this as he could and pretend like none of it was happening. But you grounded him more than you could ever know.

You buried your face into his shoulder, breathing him in like your life depended on it. This was your third hug of the day, but the first that you had been the one to initiate. Dustin, Steve, Eddie— everyone in this house had become such a crucial part of your life. No matter how fucked up things got they were always going to be there, you had to remind yourself of that. You and Eddie stayed there for a moment in each other’s arms, and for the first time the entire week your mind quieted, and you felt truly at ease.

Read Chapter 4 Here !

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List is always open!  

[lesbianrobin]

Ahh I hope you’re getting some sleep but also bc I am petty and easily annoyed I hate the way a lot of the fandom writes Steve’s self discovery as just being like “wow wait there’s a word for liking both, cool then I am bisexual and finally able to act upon my feelings only now that I’ve discovered a label”. For one, it reminds me too much of the chronically online debate that hyper focused on this idea that all aspects of queerness must be labeled first and then experienced through that label and it’s accompanying identity markers. It also feels so demeaning to act like in a time pre internet where many people were forced to live in limited information silo, they couldn’t act upon their attraction or live queerly until they found out about bisexuality etc. And Steve canonically is not that good at remembering names of things, this man would simply not be the one who needs to know the name of something before he can act. I do like the idea though that Steve would explain it in the context of a sports metaphor bc that tracks. Robin would definitely call herself a lesbian and dyke tho. Also secondly these teens are living in rural Indiana, they aren’t gonna know shit about larger community intra-politics,they’re focused on finding joy in a hostile place.

Okay sorry final thought, but in my opinion I think it’s actually more likely that Steve and Robin know about the same amount of gay lore . Robin has already told Steve everything she knows, and is just so relieved to have someone that she can share all the little crumbs of culture she’s collected while being closeted. And then later Stave takes her to gay bar up in Chicago or Indy and honestly Robin kinda dances and is overwhelmed but he’s just like vibing bc drugs and sex are not new to him. The man was popular!and keg king! In season one it is implied he has sex with girls regularly! Idk it just feels so strange when people insist that somehow he’s a prude or inexperienced, like your Puritan upbringing is showing, regular meaningless sex is actually fine. (Also strong agree that Eddie is a virgin, that man stood on a cafeteria table to lecture about DnD, who looks at that and is like hmmm yes, someone who is getting down and dirty regularly)

i agree with everything u said here!! god ESPECIALLY re: labels. steve just is not the kind of person who would need a clear label and definition in order to understand himself. like i can understand him finding comfort in realizing "bisexual" is an established term and it's common enough to be A Thing but like you said it just makes no sense for steve to act like he's totally baffled by his own attraction to people up until someone gives him a word for it. i could see that with a character like nancy because she tends to like things to be very clear and defined but steve is very much the type to go with the flow and just trust his feelings!

like this is the guy who confessed to his crush on the bathroom floor after puking just because he saw the opportunity to be honest about how he felt even though the moment was objectively not romantic at all. steve listens to his heart and does whatever feels right in a given moment and i think he's more than capable of understanding his own sexuality without relying entirely on a label.

ur just So right it's a very like. online take on sexual identity and self-discovery nckdncnfnc

[peterpparkrr]

the lost boys (ch. 2)

Series: the lost boys

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Summary: Steve takes Eddie home with him. The gang begins to form a plan.

Word Count: 1.4k

A/N: Remember when I said I was going to figure out the lore of this world and explain all of Eddie’s cool powers? Yeah, that’s gonna happen next chapter lol.

previous chapter // next chapter

Steve likes to think that by now he’s pretty used to weird shit happening to him. But even after fighting demon creatures something about driving Vampire Eddie Munson back to his house seems to take the cake as a bizarre feeling settles in his stomach as he watches Eddie fiddle with the radio as they drive along in silence.

“You have to invite me in,” Eddie explains as he stands on the Harrington’s stoop. Awkwardly left behind as Steve walks into his house, turning in confusion when Eddie stops suddenly.

“Oh, uh, right. I grant you permission to enter my house,” Steve says as he awkwardly flourishes his arm out behind him in a broad sweep, ushering Eddie inside.

“Okay, freak, it doesn’t have to be weird like that,” Eddie mutters as he steps over the threshold and moves past Steve as he shakes his head.

“How do you know?” Steve protests as he follows Eddie down the hallway. “Have you been invited into anyone else’s house? You wouldn’t know if it only works if you use old-timey talk.”

“Yeah, no,” Eddie replies. “That’s definitely not how it works.”

Eddie wanders into Steve’s house. He’d been here before, one time, a few years ago for a rager. Not that Steve had been the one to invite him, Tommy H. had probably begged Eddie to come with ‘party supplies’ and, well, when King Steve threw a party, people showed up. 

Eddie had always looked back fondly on that night, he’d made absolute bank off the throngs of teenagers that were desperate to try a joint.

But devoid of the throngs of teenagers, Harrington’s house was surprisingly… empty. 

Utterly lacking in personality, the walls were various shades of beige and empty other than a few frames filled with staged family photos of Steve and his parents. There was plenty of carefully selected, matching furniture, but it looked like a showroom, not like anyone actually lived here. 

“What?” Steve asked as he watched Eddie study his house with a level of intensity that Steve found deeply disconcerting. He’d never liked people prying into his life, around his house.

“I’m just soaking in how the other half live, King Steve,” Eddie quipped as he glanced back at Steve.

“I’m gonna call Henderson and Robin, let them know… well,” Steve says awkwardly as he heads towards the kitchen. “You keep… snooping.”

Eddie grinned. 

Steve’s voice faded as Eddie shuffled out of the living room and made his way up the stairs, poking into the doorways as he made his way along the hall.

A bathroom.

The master bedroom, which looked exactly like the rest of the house. 

And then at the end of the hall, he found the only room in the house with any personality at all. 

Steve’s bedroom. 

The wallpaper was ugly as shit. And it matched the curtains which felt deeply irresponsible. 

But there was a bookshelf full of trophies. Basketball trophies, swimming trophies, and even a few T-Ball trophies. 

There was a pile of Family Video VHS tapes stacked on the desk topped with a sticky note with what looked like Robin Buckley’s handwriting in all caps proclaiming “WATCH THESE, DINGUS”. 

A framed photo of a sports car on one wall. 

A Farrah Fawcett poster on another wall. Tasteful.

The closet was full of preppy clothes that Eddie would rather die than be seen in, and a bat covered in nails which was… strange but understandable.

He found a box of condoms in the drawer of the bedside table but that was by far the most scandalous thing he’d found.

The room might have been bland to anyone else, but Eddie appreciated the glimpse into Steve Harrington’s psyche. It was weirdly fascinating to learn that Steve Harrington, or whoever did his laundry, folded his socks, and that they were organized by color. Or that what appeared to be the only book in Steve Harrington’s possession was The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

“Finding anything interesting?” Steve asked as he leaned against the door frame. He wished he knew what Eddie was thinking, he didn’t know why exactly he suddenly cared what Eddie Munson thought of him, or of his belongings, but he couldn’t help feeling curious.

Eddie whipped around. Maybe he should have felt guilty, or at least like he’d been caught. 

“You are painfully boring, Harrington,” Eddie replied. “Seriously, how can someone so hot be so lame?”

“Whatever, the others will be here any minute,” Steve replies with a roll of his eyes before he pushes off the door frame and into his room, flopping down on his bed as he looks up at Eddie who’s suddenly very busy studying Steve’s cassette collection.

“Don’t you have any real music?” Eddie scoffs as he thumbs through Steve’s cassettes.

“This is good music! Just because it’s not heavy metal doesn’t mean that it’s bad,” Steve argues

“Sure, but this is decidedly not good music,” Eddie counters. “Wham!? Seriously?” He scoffs as he holds up the offending tape.

“I like it,” Steve replies defensively as he snatches the tape out of Eddie’s grasp, curling his fingers around it protectively.

“You are an enigma, Steve,” Eddie replies, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, It’s not too late for you, I’ll get you onto the good stuff.”

Steve’s about to protest when the doorbell rings. 

And then keeps ringing.

“Dustin,” Steve explains over the incessant ringing.

“Alright, I get it! Give me a sec!” Steve shouts into the air as he pushes back off the bed and down the stairs, Eddie trailing behind him.

Steve opens the door to find both Dustin and Robin standing on his doorstep, Dustin’s finger still jamming at the doorbell.

“What the fuck happened? Why were you being so weird?” Dustin asked, clearly annoyed as he pushed past Steve, only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw the figure behind Steve.

“Eddie?” Dustin choked out.

“Oh shit,” Robin muttered as she followed Dustin inside, stopping beside Steve at the door.

“Surprise,” Eddie replied weakly as he waved his hands awkwardly at his sides.

“Holy shit I thought we lost you,” Dustin muttered into Eddie’s chest as he hugged the older boy tightly. 

“Yeah, me too,” Eddie replied as he squeezed Dustin back.

“I’m so sorry, I thought you were- I didn’t feel a pulse- did I leave you for-“ Dustin begins to ramble out his apologies as he takes a step back from Eddie, his eyes never blinking, like he’s scared Eddie will disappear. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m not mad,” Eddie is quick to console him. Assuring Dustin that it’s not his fault. “And I was, y’know, dead,” He adds with a shrug.

“Oh,” Dustin replies quietly. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Robin questions.

“Let’s sit down,” Steve says as he gestures for everyone to move out of the entryway.

“I’m a vampire now, Robin,” Eddie explains once they’re all sitting down in Steve’s living room, on the furniture that doesn’t look like it’s supposed to be used.

“Holy shit!” Dustin gasps as he gapes at Eddie, his mouth hanging open.

Robin’s wide eyes found Steve and it was all Steve could manage to shrug half-heartedly and nod to her which she, for some reason accepted. 

“What does this mean? How did that happen? Was it the bats?” Dustin starts questioning. “We need to tell the others,” He adds.

“Woah, woah, woah, slow your roll, kid,” Eddie replies as he holds up his hands. “I’m still a wanted man, I can’t just waltz back into town.”

“People thought I was a satanic cult leader before, now I am literally a monster, I think suddenly reappearing is just about the worst thing I could do,” He adds. “No one else can know, at least not yet.” 

“Okay,” Robin replies, slowly nodding. “Then what’s the plan?”

“Eddie lays low,” Steve says. “And we figure out how to clear his name.”

Eddie’s gaze flies to Steve’s in surprise.

“You deserve to have a life, just because you’ve got weird powers now doesn’t mean you can’t have some sense of normalcy,” Steve tells Eddie with a shrug.

“I mean, if El can come to school I don’t see why we can’t figure it out for you too,” Dustin replies as he starts to nod in agreement with Steve. “But we’re gonna need some help.”

“I mean, El and Hopper, right?” Robin replies.

“I’m sorry, police chief, Hopper?” Eddie clarifies. “That’s your plan?”

“His daughter’s got freaky superpowers, if anyone is gonna be able to help us, it’s gonna be him,” Steve assures him.

“Fine,” Eddie replies. “Who cares if I get impaled on a stake? Let's go talk to the police.”

“Former police chief, he lost his job when everyone thought he died,” Dustin points out

“Oh, well that makes me feel so much better.”

[pcrfectstorms]

Thoughts, feelings and theories post vol 2;  i promise this is the last post i’m going to make about it for now, since i want to actually write but below the cut for spoiler reasons.

okay, so basically i think wills painting was foreshadowing next seasons new villain. if they’re sticking with dnd villains then next season it’s going to be borys. he is by dnd lore a red dragon who’s literally glowing red of magma who’s wings are engulfed with clouds of smoke, which mirrors the imagery of the final shot in vol 2, also by dnd lore he’s not a ‘born’ dragon, rather her transcends through classes to become one which could play into the time jump the duffers have said they’re going to do. so, in that time however long it is, i’d say it’ll probably be 2/3 years to take the kids into their junior or senior year of hs, and in that time vecna has been reco-operating in the upside down, getting stronger to come back more powerful than before. borys is canonically more powerful than vecna, like serious hit points if this dude even breathes on you more powerful than vecna, and we know 001 ascended to being vecna so who’s to say he can’t again

for max i think there is a few ways her story could play out. so, El can’t find her bc while she physically died in the real world, mentally she was still in the upside down, trapped by vecna, vecna said it himself he takes all of what the person  is when he takes them, so while el is astral projecting into her mind and finding nothing it’s bc she’s literally not there she’s in the upside down, somewhere, right? so either, when they finally do defeat vecna she’ll be ‘freed’ and we’ll get her back or, those letters she wrote will play into it, bc again, vecna takes everything, so her memory is possibly wiped, and those letters are going to help bring her memories back, and thus being max back

I am holding onto the theory that eddie isn’t dead, that's the only way his 'death’ makes sense. Because you can't tell me the ONLY person who cared was Dustin, like FUCK OFF. you also can't tell me they would have left his body in the upside down when he was literally like 100 yards from his fucking trailer, where the gate was, no fucking way they would have left him in there; no way dustin would have LET them leave him there. nope, rejected. so, because he's still a wanted man, they're helping him hide, keeping his safe, and in s5 we'll see him again. and if not, fuck the duffer bc the literally only killed him for shock value and bc they don't have the writing skills to figure out how to redeem him with the townspeople 

robin’s ‘love interest’ storyline with bullshit and just queer misery for the sake of queer misery. giving vickie a boyfriend just to break robins heart and so she can bitch to robin about her boyfriend, like really? giving the only canonically queer character who’s only real conversation with her ‘love interest’ centred around a man, nah get the fuck outta here with that shit. that scene did not pass the bechdel test. frankly, the duffers can take dollar store molly ringwald and fuck off. robin deserves a hot, thicc gf not some dollar store version of herself with a bad hair cut, i know its the 80′s but jesus fucking christ vickie’s lewk was tragic even by 80′s standards, i said what i said and i don’t take it back.

steve wanting a big family is cute as fuck, but franky nancy doesn’t deserve him. i did not watch 3 seasons of his growth for him to regress back to his high school girlfriend who couldn’t even tell him she loved him. no thank you, i don’t want it. you can keep that duffers. fyi, i love nancy, this isn’t nancy hate, this is just a big fat no to stancy in their current canon state.  

things i did actually like included; JOPPER KISSING!!! El and Hop reunion, Brenner finally fucking dying, Dustin and Eddie’s play fighting scene, lumax rising before max was ya know, literally rising, and the byers boys scene in the pizza shop. otherwise, i reject vol 2 as canon and would like to sue the duffers for emotional damages, thanks lmao.