#i swear mike's mom is karen

[lucassinclaer-archive]

s1e2 @ mike

s1e3 @ nancy

if you even care

[kiirotoao]

Season 3 rewatch notes

Wait a minute, I just realized that Mike and Will are the only ones in The Party who’ve canonically been dungeon masters. Idk what that means for them, but, yeah. Another exclusive detail of theirs

Oh, lord. Mike’s arm being torn off in the D&D game better not be a prophecy. If those s5 notes are accurate about Mike being seriously injured… I’m scared.

GOD I’ve never noticed how hard Will breathes in the rain scene. Poor baby he was so stunned 😭😭😭😭

The thing that I love most about Jonathan and Nancy is that they’ve been through the real shit. Arguments and hardship through the supernatural and the struggles of discrimination and privilege.

I love how Max is usually the one who speaks after Will. It’s like she’s the only one brave enough to answer after he says something profound or important. I need more of Max and Will’s friendship and them having well-thought out arguments I swear

Omg I love Erica’s little green star on her cheek. It’s so cute 😭🩷

After watching The Princess Bride, I am fangirling so much over Cary Elwes - it’s so crazy to me that he got him to play such a character! I wonder if they thought of him because of all the physical stunts lmao

As much as Karen isn’t in the know of much of anything in the supernatural story, I love how she’s a picture of raw strength in the Wheeler family, the true head of the household. She takes charge. Stops at nothing to help. Not even in the face of temptation. Go Karen.

DAMN I forgot that Billy dropped an f bomb! I thought that the closest that the show got was when Max got cut off in the hospital, but nope. There it was

Shit, I’m tearing up at that scene when El collapses into Mike’s arms because I know that that was real exhaustion. Poor Millie 🩷🩷🩷. She did such a phenomenal job there.

I LOVE whenever Joyce is angry this season. Now that’s how you demand. Straight to the point, justified in her worry, and cutting past any unnecessary bs while still including the cherry on top “please” or “good day” of politeness out of basic decency. I want to be her when I’m upset.

I’m always so blown away by Maya’s performance when she comes out to Steve. Straight (haha) through the heart, so good. And I always, always smile at Steve’s reaction. So in character, so accepting. No questioning if she’s being honest, just immediately questioning her type and believing that she’s into girls. So, so important.

Oh, no. Holly saw the trees moving in the woods. Thus far, she’s noticed the demogorgon coming out of the wall, and now this. She’s definitely a target next season.

When El tells Billy the memory of his mom, I teared up a little! Something about the way that El says, “you were happy” breaks me, dude. Millie and Dacre did so well.

Also, thinking in foresight of s4, Max’s letter is so heartbreaking. The Mind Flayer made a huge show of killing Billy slowly and painfully. I don’t blame her for being too horrified to move. It really wasn’t her fault. That was traumatic. Sadie did amazing there, too. Ouch.

I’m never getting over the helicopter lights being blue, yellow, and red. Were starboard and port always blue and red? And isn’t starboard supposed to be green? It’s all intentional, I’m telling you

I love how Max and Lucas are supposed to be “butchering” Never Ending Story but those two theater kids actually sound amazing. I just wish they harmonized 😆

Oh my gosh Jonathan did the Byers hold to Nancy 😭😭😭😭 I am not okay 😭😭 I never noticed that

Okay wait. This is kinda horrible. I feel bad for saying this. But y’know how Mike has a Will voice? Well I just noticed that Mike definitely does not have a soft voice for El. I swear, he’s always so loud around her like nothing’s different about her 😂😭 Any time he’s sweet with her he’s just like YEAH. COOL. and it’s kinda hilarious.

Jancy is WRECKING me this season wtf. Charlie and Natalia are so cute 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh my gosh David’s voice kinda breaks at “doze off.” Fuck.

Erica has blue, yellow, and pink balloons plus a rainbow drawing on her door. I now headcanon Erica as pansexual/panromantic, thank you.

AHHHGHH I can’t wait for the original version of Heroes to play next season over Byler kissing when everyone thinks that they might be dead but they’re just surviving in the Upside Down, clinging to each other and having the highest moment of their lives!!!!!!!

This has been my s3 thoughts for the 6-8th time watching? I forget? And I missed a number of moments because I got too absorbed so, oops. Anyway, I love Jancy, I love Jopper, I love the Scoops Troop, I love Suzie, I miss Alexi, Byler is endgame, and this season was way more fun than I remembered and it always makes me laugh. My list of favorite seasons has been shaken expertly.

[bugsbenefit]

Even leaving aside the rest of that ask about Karen, how are the show runners "glazing Cara" according to st twitter now lmao. I swear no one on there understands the concept of just liking the people you work with...

very good point. tbh 'glazing' really lost it's meaning. that's just the thing you say now about characters showing up in the show or marketing that you don't care about that much

but looking at how fandom treats certain characters it is kind of apparent how Karen isn't really seen as big of a deal as the show actually makes her in general. (at last in hyper invested fandom spaces. more regular viewers see her as much more of a main character) which i think causes a bit of dissonance when the show keeps promoting her. because if you think she's as unimportant of a side character as say, Dustin's mom, then you probably would think her constantly showing up on posters and bts footage is undeserved glazing

the thing is that Karen is actually kind of important. she's absolutely not a background character

you have the primary mains like Joyce, Hopper, the kids. more secondary mains that don't really have the hard hitting plot points of the show happen to them but are fleshed out and who the writers still take care writing like Steve, Robin etc. and then Karen falls in somewhere between a secondary and tertiary protagonist

she actually gets things to do each season. she has character arcs. from actually meeting and being suspicious of Brenner in s1, to her worry about Nancy in s3, the Billy situation, even s4 ends with her and Holly at the window looking out at the spores

actual side characters in the show, like Ted, the Sinclairs, Claudia Henderson, don't have any arcs to their characters. they're background decorum when their children (the actual protagonists) are home or need to talk to someone

but Karen falls much closer to actual protagonist status. which also explains why she's consistently featured in the marketing alongside the other mains

which is how the Byers and Wheelers turned into the two big families the show kind of revolves around to begin with. we know the most about them because almost all family members are protagonists in their own right. you have the kids Mike and Will, Nancy and Jonathan. and then the moms. the only difference being that Karen is kept in the dark about the UD plot and Joyce got thrown directly into it in s1 because it was her son that went missing

and the thing that people seem to get stuck on about Karen is that she's the only protag that doesn't explicitly know about the UD

which, honestly, makes her kind of interesting. especially with where they'll take that in s5, because she'll have to be confronted with what's been going on eventually. and what has been tormenting both her children for years. hell, she had such a close encounter with Billy in s3, she would have been in Heather's place that season hadn't Billy still had some semblance of control at that point. and she isn't even aware

Karen has been involved in the UD plot for seasons, there just wasn't any payoff to it yet because she doesn't know

Karen Wheeler, tight rope walker when it comes to getting as close as humanly possible to the supernatural plot without having to actually confront it

but it really boils down to, Karen is, and always has been an important character and the marketing has always reflected that

side note but what i've also seen cause a lot of the 'they're just needlessly glazing xyz' complaints is that sometimes it's just people being pissy their favourite characters aren't getting a singular spotlight on them. i've mainly seen it from solo El or Will stans (still exist in the year of the lord 2024) who don't care about the rest of the cast or plot outside of one character. so when Karen who, 'doesn't even know about the UD' gets so much s5 marketing that's hype that could have gone to someone more important in their minds. again, glazing entering the pantheon of words that lost all meaning on social media

[zia-zee-bee]

How the party would text

i’m writing a story rn and its set present time. the party texts a lot so this is how i think they’d do that

Mike: he texts the most like me lol 😂 lower case most of the time, uses lots of emojis and abbreviations like dw, rn, lol, etc

Will: also lower case most of the time but LOVES ALL CAPS TO YELL, emojis sometimes and uses SOME abbreviations, cannot uppercase names for the life of him

Lucas: The one party member who spells everything out and uses correct grammar. Uppercases the things he should and blah blah blah. Uses funny emojis like 👍, 😁, 💪, etc.

Dustin: uses correct punctuation but nothing is uppercase. really likes putting numbers after their word like two(2), four(4), six(6), etc. copy and paste is the only time somethings uppercase.

Max: worst typer of all time. cnt spel shit unless its a swear wrd, never uses periods, loves using exclamation marks(‼️‼️‼️) and thumbs down 👎, uses letters for words a lot like u r a idiot

El: doesnt understand punctuation marks or apostrophes and loves using emojis cause they show emotion 😁 max turned autocorrect off when el got her first phone and she doesnt know how to turn it back on 😔 always straight to the point

bonus:

Karen: she’ll die before she misspells something

Joyce: she doesnt care if she spells something write. you have to figure it out

Jonathan: a lot like his mom but gets embarrassed when someone cant tell what hes saying

Nancy: shorts texts you’ll ever see. if she can she’ll leave you on read

BONUS bonus:

?: UPPERCASES EVERYTHING LIKE THEIR CAPS LOCKED IS WAY TOO LOCKED

[figthefruitfaeth]

Robin’s First Date.

| 12:36pm | 

“Wow, okay, I’m not taking advice from Mr. Polo for everyday of the week.”

“Hey, those were a gag gift—”

“Right, a gag gift you spent twenty minutes looking for. I got written up cause you couldn’t wear a Saturday on Tuesday.”

“I’m sorry I have standards.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Whatever. Come on—when have I ever steered you wrong? I’m off at 5, plenty of time before your date—”

“No! No. Not that I don’t appreciate it, cause I do and your great and all but...well...our styles don’t exactly mesh.” 

“Right, well that’s cause one of us has eyes and one of us has clashing patterns, so—”

“Oh, and the stripes? They don’t ever—”

“Which is good for you! But I know what the ladies like, Bobbin. I also know what this lady likes. And I know what’s going to get you laid.”

“Gross—“

“So are you gonna let me help you or what?”

“I’m calling Eddie.”

“Eddie?! No—”

| 12:57pm |

“Munson Mansion. This is Eddie, trapped in the wine cellar, speaking.”

“Eddie, I need your help.”

“Oh, hey, hi, what’s up?”

“The date’s tonight and I don’t have anything to wear.”

“Okay...”

“Not anything, but what I wanted to wear was in the washer before it broke and now it’s not gonna be dry in time and everything else is too bright, or too boring, and I’m getting sweaty and maybe developing a rash which is just perfect, I’m going to show up red and gross and she’s never going to talk to me again. God, maybe I should just cancel—“

“Heeey there, settle down. Breathe, in—out, there you go.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be over in 10.”

| 3:09pm |

“This is the Wheeler Residence. Looks like you’ve just missed us! Feel free to leave a message—“

| 3:33pm |

“Wheeler Residence, this is Karen speaking—“

| 4:17pm |

“This is Hop.”

“Oh. Um. HI Chief Hopper, or, Officer? Uh—“

“Who is this?”

“Robin. Buckley. Sir. Robin Buckley. I’m a friend of Steve’s?”

“Right.”

“Right. Right, uh yeah.”

“Well, he’s not here, so—“

“Right, right, no! I was, uh, calling for Jonathan? Is he—is he around?”

| 4:21pm |

“Robin?”

“Jonathan! Hey! Buddy...how’s it going?”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, totally, why wouldn’t it be? Unless, everything’s not alright with you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Just don’t get a lot of calls from you.”

“Right. Well, you know work. Busy, busy! Ha ha...”

“Okay...did you wanna talk? Or...”

“Yes! I did, I did...OW! Sorry, sorry, banged my knee against something annoying. So...I can’t do this, this was a terrible idea...well, you shouldn’t have encouraged me—”

“Hey, if you’re busy—“

“Sorry, that was..my dad! Yeah, he needs help with the car. Tire busted and he’s not strong enough to lift the wheels so he always asks me, cause you know. Guns of steel and all that. But we should talk more. Yeah! Okay.”

“Yeah. Definitely...”

| 4:55pm |

“Family Video. This is Steve.”

“Steve.”

“Robin.”

“...”

“You need me to—“

“I need you to come over.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. What’s Eddie got you in?”

“Well...it’s creative?”

“Robin doesn’t want to go metal, even though metal clearly wants to go Robin. Hi sweetheart.”

“Hi babe. Rob, this is why you shouldn’t’ve asked him. He has terrible taste—“

“Ugh! You love this!”

“I do. For you. And more specifically, taking if off of you—“

“O.K. gross! Disgusting! Stop! Can we focus on me? I’m in a crisis!”

“Alright, alright. Let me clock out. Don’t let him near your scissors.”

| 6:14pm |

“This is the Wheeler’s, it’s Mike.”

“Mike! Oh, Michael, thank God I thought I was gonna have to hangup on your mom again.”

“Robin? Why are you calling my house? Is someone in trouble?”

“No! Why does everyone keep assuming that? Don’t answer that. Listen, I need your help.”

“What? No, I have a campaign going.”

“It’ll take like two minutes—did he say a campaign?—then you can do whatever—no, don’t—What campaign?”

“Eddie?”

“What campaign? Unless I’m mistaken, and I rarely am—HA—we don’t have a Hellfire meeting scheduled till Friday. What is this? A mutiny?”

“No! No I promise! It’s just a one-shot, just to get Will back into things, I swear.”

“You swear, huh?”

“On my life! On The Knights of Mystic Fire!”

“Yeah, you better. I’ll let this slide if you help out Robin. No buts! Or Sir Miklan is getting disadvantage on every throw next session.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“Can you go check and see what Nancy’s wearing?”

“What?!”

“Not like that! Just! We’re, uh, hanging out tonight and she didn’t tell me where we were going and I don’t know if I should bring a jacket, so just go and check, okay?”

“I’m not doing that.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s weird. Here, just talk to her yourself—“

“What—no, Mike—”

“Robin?”

| 6:19pm |

“Nancy. Hi.”

“Hi, Robin.”

“...”

“I didn’t mean to hang up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I figured it was an accident or something.”

“Yeah. You know me, love slipping on things and hitting buttons I can’t..unclick..”

“Yeah, I do. It’s really cute.”

“Ah, well, I mean, if you say so. Most people find it annoying, but I mean, if you think—ah, well, thank you. I think your cute too, obviously. Um. I mean, not for that, also obviously, cause I don’t think you’ve tripped on anything in your life, uh, so—“

“Robin.”

“Yes!”

“Are you nervous?”

“Yeah! Could you tell?”

“Hm!”

“I don’t know what to wear. I had an idea, and then it vanished and nothing else in my closet felt right. Steve just kept trying to cinch my jeans cause he said that’s what girls like, and Eddie kept suggesting leather, but I sweat a lot in leather, you know? And then I called Jonathan—“

“You called Jonathan?”

“I know, Steve already chewed me out for that. I didn’t really talk to him anyway, I just didn’t know who else to call—I don’t have a lot of friends. But—I don’t know. The outfit needs to be perfect, cause the girl I’m going on the date with, is perfect. And...I really like her. A lot. Like, makes my head dizzy, a lot.”

“Oh, Robin.”

“That’s not a pitying ‘Robin’ is it?”

“No. It’s a ‘you’re very cute and I’m very excited for this date’ Robin. Look, don’t listen to Steve. I’m pretty sure the jeans are more about him getting to check out his own ass than anyone else, and Eddie’s into whatever everybody else isn’t. Just wear what you feel like. You could pull up in PJ’s and I’d be happy. I don’t want the date to be perfect, I want the date to be us.”

“Naaaancyyy! Oh my god that was so perfectly sweet.”

“Does that help?”

“Yeah, that makes me feel better. Still a little anxious, cause on a practical level I still don’t know what to wear, but I do feel better about the not-knowing.”

“Well...if it helps, I’m wearing purple. So you should wear something green, that way we match.”

“That’s smart. I love green.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Yeah, that’s why I wore purple.”

“You were trying to get us to match?! Nancy, do you have a crush on me or something?”

“Well I’m glad to see you’re feeling more confident. Even if it’s at my expense.”

“Ha-ha yeah. Okay, gotta run, I’ve got—oh my god, I’m gonna be late. Okay, I’ll see you at the diner—dressed! Bye, Nance!”

“Bye, Robin.”

[gilmoregirlsbestmoments]

If you enjoyed "Argylle", here are some other movies you might enjoy:

1. "Gunpowder Milkshake" - directed and written by Navot Papushado and Ehud Lavski, starring Karen Gillian, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett and so many other amazing female actresses, it's an insane movie, full of unexpected twists. I swear, no matter what you expect will happen, it never actually does happen. I love it.

The movie follows Sam, a bounty hunter for a company that practically raised her after her mom's disappearance, who receives a seemingly ordinary assassination mission, but her alliances are questioned once an 8-year-old girl is found to be in the middle of everything.

2. "American Ultra" - directed by Nima Nourizadeh and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart and Topher Grace, this one's also surprising.

The movie follows Mike Howell, an anxious, stoner, convenience store clerck, who plans on proposing to his longtime girlfriend, when he comes across two tough-guys tempering with his car, a dormant, primal instinct he wasn't aware of, takes over him and he manages to over take them with ease.

3. "The Art of Self-Defense" - written and directed by Riley Stearns, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots.

The movie follows Casey, an awkward accountant who's brutally attacked by a motorcycle gang. In order to protect himself, he goes out to buy himself a gun, when a stumbles upon a dojo where he takes a trial class and eventually decides to forget about the firearm and instead learn Karate for self-defense.

4. "Dual" - also written and directed by Riley Stearns, starring Karen Gillian, Beulah Koale, Theo James and Aaron Paul, this might be the heaviest movie of the bunch. It's really sad and confusing, but it's also really funny and Aaron Paul absolutely gives his all in his performance, he's the absolute best thing in this movie.

The movie takes place in the near future and follows Sarah, a depressed alcoholic, who's disconnected from her mother and in a lackluster relationship with her boyfreind. One day, Sarah wakes up to a pool of blood on her pillow and when she goes to the doctor, she's told she'll certainly die soon. She's given the option to protect her dearest from the pain of her loss, by cloning herself. The clone will live with the original Sarah until her untimely demise, and learn her every move and get to know her personality so that she could become a perfect copy.

Of course, you should also watch the rest of Matthew Vaughn's films, such as "Stardust", "Kick-Ass" and "Kingsman".

[xx-alice-in-wonderland-xx]

charlie and the chocolate factory ticket winner headcannons!! (Apart from charlie)

(This is from the 2005 movie so their birthdays will be what age I think they were in 2005)

Augustus Gloop:

birthday: August 1st 1990

is German

has a younger sister called Andrea who is 6 years old

his father is a butcher and owns a butchers shop

Comes from a rich family but not as rich as verucas

he rarley eats vegetables

is babied by his mum

his mum does EVERYTHING for him - gets his clothes, cleans his room, wakes him up, gets him food, everything

hates listening to music

is very lazy

loves the colour red

Couldn’t sleep when he got the golden ticket - he was too excited to go to the factory

his mum is called gail and his dad is called otto

is so lazy he’s never hurt himself - yeah he’s grazed his knee as a kid and all that but he’s never sprained his ankle, stretched too hard or broke a bone

After the factory he was stained with chocolate so he has a slight tan now

when he found out Charlie won the factory he was so jealous and mad that he didn’t eat chocolate for a full 2 weeks

has a huge king sized bed

is homeschooled

Veruca Salt:

Birthday: November 2nd 1994

is British but has Swedish, Irish and Scottish heritage

goes on holiday 5 times a year

goes to a private school

teachers pet

only child

her father is in his 60s as her mother is in her late 20s

has seen the queen before

Can horse ride

has a massive bedroom, on-sweet bathroom, walk in closet, study room, eveything

everyone wants to be her friend at school

has a private doctor

her parents are called Ken and Maria

thinks her name is the best

has a pure gold necklace

has pure silver earrings

if she isn’t in the top set lesson at school she gets her dad to complain and move her up to the top set even if she’s dumb lol

was going to be named Kylie but her parents chose Veruca instead

has a personal hairstylist

claims she will never wear makeup when she’s older because she’s ‘perfect looking’

comes from a upper class family

after the factory her parents started saying no to her and she had a huge fit and smashed most things in the house - her parents went back to giving her anything she wants after that

loves the film ‘pretty woman’

never uses slang - always uses complicated words and instead of saying ‘yeah’ she’ll say ‘yes’

Violet Beauregarde:

Birthday - March 3rd 1992

Is American but has Italian heritage

Has a twin sister named Lilla

her parents are divorced - her sister lives with her dad, and she lives with her mom

her mum is a Karen lol

can box

is popular in school

even though she chews gum every single second of every single day she has perfect teeth - people think she has fake teeth

is allowed to swear

Loves nirvana

her mum is called Shona and her dad is called Liam

Is a pure blonde

Her mum tried flirting with mr Wonka to try and increase violets chances of winning

Thought she was gonna win

gets called blueberry girl at school after the factory

after the factory she tried to use makeup and other things to make her not blue but nothing worked

her whole closet is blue/purple

has a pet chinchilla called Gumball

loves the amazing world of gumball

Always has packs of gum on her

likes watching law and order

rarely sees her sister

her and her sister are identical

mike teavee:

Birthday: October 4th 1991

Is American but has Spanish and polish heritage

has 3 older brothers and 2 older sisters called Luca (29), Gary (30), David (22) , Sarah (27) and Tina (25),

his siblings are quite a bit older than him, the one that is the second youngest is 10 years older than him

his Parents had kids in their 20s, then had Mike quite late on

hes the baby of his family and RAGES when they baby him

has a niece who is the same age as him

has atleast one day off of school a week because he wants to play video games and if his parents try to get him to go to school he breaks things

once broke a window with a vase lol

his parents are called Norman and Clara

likes tomb raider, call of duty, watch dogs, hitman, James Bond, GTA, ect

loves heavy metal music

can do a metal scream and it terrifies his parents when he does it

his sleep schedule is he falls asleep at 4am and wakes up at 9am

Loves energy drinks

bites his fingernails when he’s nervous

hates people who call him micheal (his real name)

wants to be a twitch streamer lol

after the factory he found a way to shrink back to his regular size

when he got home from the factory and looked in the mirror he passed out because he thought he looked fresky

thinks Veruca is a brat but she’s pretty lol

has a very short attention span

likes race car driving

hates football

wishes he was born on halloween

has a whole bookshelf full of video games

[andiwriteordie]

hello andi! for the mini prompts, some platonic snarky madcleric gossiping w each other if you would be so inclined? xx

lark!!! oh my god i love madcleric so i am OBSESSED with this prompt!!! they are Best Friends to me, okay? so have this little ficlet!

(also this isn't explicitly stated, but this is set in the same universe as let our walls cave in in case anybody cares hehe)

—

swear i don't love the drama

Wednesdays are Will’s new favorite day of the week.

Okay, that’s maybe a bit of an exaggeration, and Will knows if he tells Mike or really anyone else in the Party that Wednesdays have become his favorite day of the week, every single one of his friends will throw a temper tantrum. Especially when they learn the reason why.

But hey, Will can’t help it. The others can get over it. 

Because Wednesday afternoons at 3 PM are for one person and one person only.

Max Mayfield.

See, the two of them have a new tradition. Every Wednesday afternoon, he and Max will drive over with Rosie the rottweiler to the local coffee shop, buy themselves iced coffees (surprisingly, they have the same exact order), and sit down at the same table near the back of the coffee shop. If someone is sitting in their spot, Max will make up some excuse to guilt them into moving. Rosie the rottweiler even bares her teeth sometimes for an extra dramatic flare.

And yes, Will had been absolutely mortified the first time it had happened, but then Max had joked that the world still owes them both reparations for… you know, saving the world and ending up with a lifetime’s worth of physical, emotional, and mental trauma. The least the citizens of the world could do was allow them to sit in their favorite spot.

So, that had been that. 

Very quickly, Wednesdays had become Will’s favorite day, and every week, he finds himself counting down the days until he and Max are able to hang out again. He consistently comes back from their little coffee shop dates with a grin on his face, and every time, Mike always wants to know what new gossip Will has learned this week.

…

Oh, yeah. 

That’s the other thing about the Wednesday Will and Max coffee dates.

They use this time to talk about everything… and everyone.

“Okay, so catch me up,” Will says, after he’s helped Max into her own chair and taken a seat across from her. “Who is Steve dating now?”

A grin forms on Max’s face, and she takes a sip of her iced coffee. “Some guy who’s going to the same college as him and Robin,” she says. “According to Robin, this guy acts just like Eddie. She says the resemblance is uncanny.”

Ah, Eddie Munson. Unfortunately, Will had never gotten the chance to meet Eddie, but from what Mike and Dustin have both shared with him, Will thinks he… probably would’ve gotten along with him. At the very least, they could’ve bonded over DnD and maybe shared some music recommendations with each other.

Plus, from what Robin has told him about Eddie, it might’ve been nice getting to know an older, gay teenager because when he was young and still in the closet. Maybe he and Eddie didn’t have that much in common besides DnD and liking guys, but still… Will thinks he probably would’ve liked having Eddie as a friend.

“I mean, that could just be a coincidence, right?” Will asks curiously. “Also… I didn’t realize Steve was bi. Good for him.”

“I don’t think he did either,” Max chuckles, stirring her coffee absently. “And look, I’d think it was a coincidence too, but here’s where it gets weird, Will.”

She pauses for dramatic effect, and Will rolls his eyes. Max likes to do that when she’s about to share some really juicy gossip. It’s a bit ridiculous, but honestly, Will loves it. If they’re going to gossip like they’re Karen Wheeler and all the moms of the Hawkins parent-teacher association, they might as well act like it too.

“Guess who the guy looks like, Will,” Max says with a grin.

Will raises an eyebrow. “Who?”

“Jonathan!” Max exclaims, and Will damn near spits out his coffee. 

“No fucking way,” he says, staring at his best friend in shock. “Wait, so… Steve is dating a guy… who looks like my brother but has the personality of Eddie? Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Max nods. “Robin says it’s the craziest thing, but she thinks it makes sense. I mean, your brother’s an attractive guy, so that makes sense, right? And I don’t really remember that much from the week that Eddie joined our little group—you know… ‘cause I was worried about being brutally killed and stuff—but from what Robin can remember, Steve and Eddie really hit it off.”

“Damn.” Will leans back in his chair, still reeling from this new information. “That’s… damn, okay. Well, good for Steve… I’m glad he’s figuring this out and stuff! But… Jonathan and Eddie.”

“Jonathan and Eddie,” Max confirms, taking another sip of her iced coffee. “Crazy, right?” 

“Didn’t Eddie hold a knife to Steve’s throat?” Will recalls, thinking back to the stories Dustin had shared with him from that week. “And I’m pretty sure Jonathan once beat the shit out of Steve the week I went missing.”

Max purses her lips together. “Sounds like he has a type,” she remarks, and Will nearly chokes on his drink again.

“Max!”

“I’m just saying!” Max laughs, leaning back against her chair. “It sounds like Steve’s type is…”

Her voice trails off, and slowly, a look of horror forms on Max’s face. “Oh no.”

Will raises an eyebrow. “What? What’s wrong with you?”

“If Steve’s type is who guys who could beat him up, that means…” Max shudders. “Holy shit, Will. Steve got the shit beat out of him by Billy the first year I moved to Hawkins.”

“No,” Will says flatly. “No, absolutely not.”

“I’m just saying—”

“Steve Harrington’s an idiot,” Will interrupts, making a face at his best friend, “but I refuse to believe that he’d have a thing for your asshole step-brother. He fucking hit Billy with a car, remember? And he confessed later that he didn’t even know Billy was flayed at the time. No way Steve had a thing for him. He’s too good for Billy.”

Max exhales; then, she takes another sip of her iced coffee. “You’re right, you’re right,” she agrees. “God, I thought we were about to have to drive across the country to knock some sense into Steve. Rosie doesn’t like long car rides, so that would’ve sucked.”

Will laughs, and he reaches over, patting Rosie’s head gently. “Well, we would’ve taken lots of breaks, right, Ro?” he says with a grin. Rosie lifts her head slightly, and she wags her tail, clearly excited to be receiving attention from Will. “Anything for you, Rosie. Aw, you know I love you!”

“Dude, stop trying to steal my dog,” Max complains, kicking Will’s shin lightly. 

“Not my fault your dog likes me so much,” Will retorts. 

“Byers, I know you feed her scraps under the table sometimes,” Max deadpans. “It is absolutely your fault she likes you so much. Can’t believe you’re trying to steal a service dog from a blind girl. That’s just a new level of fucked up.”

“You’re a drama queen,” Will deadpans in return. “And here I thought I was dating the world’s biggest drama queen. Nope. That honor goes to Lucas and El.”

A grin forms on Max’s face at the mention of her partners, and she reaches down, petting Rosie’s head. “I wear that title like a badge of honor,” she says dryly. “Especially since it means I beat Mike at something. I know that he probably hates that.”

Will rolls his eyes; then, he takes a drink of his ice coffee, leaning his head on his hand and looking at his best friend. “Okay, so, besides the Steve drama, did you learn anything else from Robin?” he asks curiously. “Because Mike and I learned some really interesting things from Nancy and Jonathan the other day.”

The grin on Max’s face just grows, and she leans in closer to Will. “Robin doesn’t think Steve’s little fling is going to last,” she reports. “Vicki agrees with her, and they’ve got a bet going on for how long Steve will be with the Jonathan/Eddie doppelganger. But other than that… that’s all I’ve got. What do you have for me, Byers?”

Will smirks, sipping on his iced coffee. “Okay, are you ready for this?”

“Hell yeah. I was born ready.”

Will just laughs, and he smiles at his best friend, before recalling the gossip he’d heard from his brother: “So, Nancy sometimes still talks to Murray, right? And they were on the phone the other day, and apparently…”

[ronanceautistic]

mike and eddie headcanons?

Whoops late reply! Brain stopped braining.

Their dynamic is so under-appreciated. I think more than anything, Mike is really lost in the world. He's spent so long living a sheltered life at the end of a cul-de-sac, I don't think he's ever met someone like Eddie before. I think the fact alone that people like Eddie even exist in Hawkins blows his mind a little. And he's 14! A freshman! This is the perfect time to have a completely switch in identity and Eddie is the coolest person he's ever met. He's got the converse, the t-shirts with bands he doesn't listen to. He begged Karen for a guitar for Christmas which he swears he'll one day be able to play.

He's also intimidated by Eddie in a way that Dustin isn't. Dustin is so fixated on D&D that he's not afraid to talk freely around Eddie, because of their shared interest in the game. But Mike is interested in more, he wants to ask about metal, being in a band, the fashion, the hair, everything. Maybe he even wants to get guitar lessons but isn't sure how to ask for them. So until then, he just laughs along with whatever Eddie says hoping for a way in without having to actively ask for it.

On the flip side, I think Eddie is loving seeing this boy turn from someone who wore polo shirts his mom bought him to a mini Munson. Not just because Mike is taking on his style, but because he's breaking out of his shell, shying away from what society wants him to be.

[marypsue]

Fic ask but 🥺🤩and 🤲! Or ⛔️

[from this meme]

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

What I like to call "the thirteen-o'clock moment", after the climactic scene in Jim Henson's Labyrinth, when a character finally understands, after a long and arduous journey (through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered), that all that they need, they have. These are the story moments I live for.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

This is a cruel and unusual question to ask of me, a person who collects favourite fictional characters like pogs.

I gotta say, though, I have never had quite as much fun writing a fictional character as I've had writing Bill Cipher. He's just so gleefully, audaciously, bad-joke-fully awful.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

Have a sample from the Stranger Things ageswap AU that I swear was written before season four was even announced:

...

Mike’s dad is waiting in the parking lot with the Beemer when Mike gets out of class. It kind of puts a crimp in his halfassed plan to try to catch Will before he heads home, but it also gives Mike an excuse not to hang around with Max and Lucas, so he can’t be too mad about it.

“Call me if you hear from Dustin, okay?” he says, to Lucas, as they step out of the stale hallways of Hawkins High and into the crisp November air.

“Yeah. Same to you,” Lucas says, giving a halfhearted wave as Mike jogs across the concrete and asphalt to his dad’s car.

Karen’s sitting shotgun. She flashes Mike a smug grin, and jabs her thumb back over her shoulder at the backseat. Mike rolls his eyes, but he goes around to the back door.

There’s a huge platter of deli meat and cheese back there, and another one full of veggies with a little carton of dip in the middle, along with a full box of donuts. Mike stacks the meat on the veg and pushes the donuts out of the way so he can sit. “What is this? Are we catering a PTA meeting?”

His dad frowns into the rearview mirror. “Sorry, forgot about your project. I can drop you at the library once we’re done. I just thought we could take some food out to the Byers’, let them know we’re thinking of them.”

“Food?” Mike gives the deli platters another look. “I think usually people give casseroles.”

“You know Dad’s been banned from the kitchen since the Thanksgiving incident,” Karen pipes up, and their dad rolls his eyes.

“Was that Lucas I saw?” he asks, obviously changing the subject. Mike groans, letting his head flop back against the headrest. His dad leans past Karen, waving at Lucas like a huge dork. Mike squeezes his eyes shut so he doesn’t have to see the look Lucas must be giving them.

“Who’s that girl with him?” Mike’s dad sounds a little too deliberately casual as he asks, “New girlfriend?”

Mike groans again. “Dad. Can we just go?”

His dad sighs, but he finally puts the car into gear.

“Where’s Carol?” Mike asks, as they head south through town.

His dad’s eyes flick up to meet his in the rearview, but it’s Karen who answers, with just a hint of sarcasm. “Too busy working.”

“Well, her job is so important. Those old ladies’ hair isn’t going to cut itself,” Mike agrees, and Karen snorts. Their dad lets out another long-suffering sigh.

“Would you two cut Carol some slack? I know you love your mom, but you don’t have to pick sides.”

“Who’s picking sides?” Mike asks, and Karen nods. Mike wonders if she’s just agreeing with what he’s saying, or if she knows what he means. He’s not picking on Carol to defend his mom. His mom’s let him down way more than Carol ever could. At least he doesn’t expect anything from Carol.

If they’ve got to pick sides, Mike’s picking his own first. Every time.

The Byers’ house even looks sad, all small and dark and shabby, with its porch roof hanging low over the front door. Mike stands awkwardly in its shadow, trying not to let the top tray go sliding off the bottom one, trying not to knock them both all over his sneakers, as his dad knocks.

“Shit,” Mike’s dad mutters, glancing back at Mike and Karen. “Should’ve got buns too -”

The door flies open. Joyce’s dad always kind of looks like he’s glaring, but Mike thinks this glare is more surprised than unhappy. “Steve?”

Mike’s dad spins back to face the door, like he’s just as surprised by Joyce’s dad as Joyce’s dad is by them, even though he’d been the one who drove out to the Byers’ house and knocked on their door. “Jonathan! Uh, hi.” He gestures lamely behind him, at Mike and Karen. “We brought food?” He makes it sound like a question.

Joyce’s dad looks around between the three of them like he really can’t believe his eyes. “Food,” he repeats. And then, offhand, “Hi, Karen.”

Karen raises the hand not holding the box of donuts in a half-wave.

“Figured you’d have enough casseroles,” Mike’s dad says, getting a little of his composure back. “Look, man, I’m – we’re all really sorry. I hope she’s okay.”

Joyce’s dad’s expression softens.

“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, I do too. You – wanna come in?”

Mike’s only been inside the Byers’ house once or twice, picking Karen up or dropping Joyce off. He doesn’t know the way to the kitchen. Luckily, Karen marches in like she owns the place, and all Mike has to do is follow her.

They’re trying to figure out how to fit the deli platters into the fridge with the margarine tubs full of leftovers and the jug of milk when Will walks in. “I heard the door. My dad said you were in here,” he says, and then beams at Karen. “Hi, Karen.”

Karen beams right back. “Hey. Finish that dragon painting yet?”

“It’s still in progress. I haven’t figured out how to get the scales to glint gold just right yet.” Will raises a hand to rub the back of his neck, his eyes flicking up to meet Mike’s as he says, “Want to check it out? It’s in my room, down the hall. If you figure out what it’s missing, let me know.”

Karen gives him a double thumbs up, and dashes out of the kitchen. She’s back in a second though, poking her head around the doorway to say, “Make sure you get one of those donuts before your dad eats them all,” and then she’s gone again.

“You paint,” Mike says, in the silence Karen leaves behind her. It’s stupid. He knows this isn’t what Will wanted to be alone to talk to him about.

The look Will gives him is wary. “Yeah.”

“Cool. That’s cool,” Mike says, aware that he sounds like a total braindead idiot. But Will smiles, a little, so he figures it’s probably okay.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, definitely. I mean, I paint like my dad cooks. And my dad’s cooking is why you guys got the deli special.”

Will lets out a bright, surprised laugh. It’s surprisingly nice to listen to. He casts a guilty glance back over his shoulder, towards the living room where their parents are still talking, but the smile doesn’t totally leave his face.

It starts to slip when he turns back to Mike, though. “That girl -”

“Gone when I got back this morning.” Mike shakes his head. “I left some food and a change of clothes. In case she comes back.”

“Good idea,” Will says. “Are you going to go check?” He takes in Mike’s look of confusion, and explains, “If she came back.”

Mike hadn’t thought about it.

“Later,” he says. “My dad’s on some kind of parenting kick. And -” He stops before he mentions Dustin. After all, it’s not like Dustin’s missing. Mike just…doesn’t know where he is right now.

Will nods anyway, though, like it makes sense.

“After dinner?” he asks.

“Nine?”

“Nine,” Will agrees. “Meet you there.”

And then the conversation grinds to a creaking halt. More to save himself and Will from standing around blinking at each other in awkward silence than anything, Mike says, “So…dragons?”

[wontbyers]

People who think Karen is homophobic or wouldn’t support Mike, because she’s married to Ted who is a Reagan supporter.

Okay, and Joyce was married to Lonnie who was actively homophobic towards their son, that means she’s homophobic and wouldn’t support Will either?

If you want to say “Well Karen is still compliant/married to Ted and Joyce & Lonnie are separated”—Lonnie left them. Joyce didn’t throw that trash out herself despite knowing what kind of things he said about Will, she still tried to push him to spend time with the boys (recall the flashback where she’s yelling at him about never showing up bc he was supposed to take Will to a baseball game, and Jonathan is showing Will The Clash?)

Yet we all love Joyce and recognize how much she loves her children and how supportive/proud she would be if Will came out.

Rub your brain cells together please. Some people see the world in such black and white as if there only exists the two states of perfect allyship and violent homophobia. There are grey areas.

All homophobia is bad, even the “passive” form of “I disagree with that lifestyle” and I’ll grant you Ted Wheeler is homophobic, but even he is not shown to be vicious about it the way Lonnie was—which Joyce was complacent to.

Meanwhile Karen has shown that she personally would be supportive of Mike and doesn’t want him to have to hide things from her, ultimately wants nothing but his safety, AND Mike canonically feels safe enough with her to seek her out for physical comfort when he’s at his low points (losing Will s1, end of s3) even if he hasn’t verbally confided in her.

People just want the Wheelers to be worse than they are because they’re projecting on Mike or something I swear to god.

(And don’t take this as me saying they have the perfect dynamic or aren’t at all dysfunctional, that Mike doesn’t have issues with opening up about his problems because of his home life, but seriously his mom would be supportive of him, give him that much???)

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Loving the sailors while hating the beach (White Demon’s Love Song, Part 3.)

Series description: A new job was what the reason you found yourself on a lonely roadtrip on the western coast, ending up in the woods of Olympian Peninsula. Yet a sudden car malfuction was what cause your unplanned stay in Forks. To your surprise, there was a lot of sinister things going on under the veil of fog.

Part summary: As you spent another day with the mysterious man who invited you to stay at his place as a sign of his selflessness, you started to notice that Forks really is a strange town. And on top of that, that Jacob might be hiding something.

A/N: NCIS Forks be strong in this chaper, oh boy. 

Tagging: @missdictatorme​

Word count: 4.2 K

Twilight playlist: ✨ Twilight Crackheads ✨

Series masterlist: H E R E

The night fell on Forks slowly, almost as if it was lurking around for some time before covering the streets. For some time, you've been sitting in a super-small cubbyhole named the 'Administrative office'. Administrative up your ass, you barely didn't knock off the brooms you've been sharing the room with. It shouldn't surprise you that you were falling asleep while writing small numbers into the boxes. You've also picked up a few phones - for such a small town, there was a lot of cars just suddenly breaking down. But Jacob sometimes even took small jobs around in the smaller towns around forks - like La Push, Beaver, and Sappho.

It wasn't even nine hours when you were snoozing with your head in your palm because you've simply fallen asleep. Also, it was weird to see Jacob walking around the whole building, checking on the heating - as if he wasn't turning the heating on in such cold. It was summer and the city was still cold as hell. And this mechanic wasn't turning on his heating system? What kind of crazy he was? The man has woken you up after ten minutes, sending you to bed - yet you didn't know that he didn't walk to bed that night. As soon as he heard snoring coming out of the visitor's bedroom, Jacob made sure the door to the small flat were locked before he ran into the woods. It was time to check with the other guys - Jared and Paul, two of his friends from Sam Uley's spent their whole day on the northern route, trying to find out something more about the unwanted visitors of Forks.

At first, the werewolves weren't entirely sure if there was any vampires close at the moment. If it wasn't just some... Re-awakening of the spirit animals. That was until two days ago - now, the whole packs have transformed once again. Every night Jacob had turned into a wolf, he growled sadly when he realized there was someone he hadn't heard before - first, it was Quil alone. The man was confused, as most of them. Both of them were praying for Quil to be the last. But he wasn't - Embry and Seth coming right the night after Quil's turning. Leah was the last to join. In the meantime, Sam's pack turned at once as well. It was just like five years ago.

'Welcome back to the game, chief.' - Seth's happy and joyful voice started to talk inside Jacob's head. As he was getting closer to the manger of the Calawah river, he could hear two other wolves joining him. It was Embry and Seth - rest of the pack got their tasks the last night and went on a watch and tracking the vampire pack. Jake could hear most of the things Quil and Leah told them. - 'We know they are here. We captured the smell...' - The leader mumbled to Seth, running along the river. They weren't sprinting because there wasn't a reason to do so. Quil nor Leah hadn't smelled the rotten tomato stench the whole day, as if the vampires had suddenly disappeared into the thin air.

'Don’t worry, Jake. We'll take all of them down.' - Embry answered from the other side. Dear Lord, Jacob almost didn't notice that Embry is there, even if he knew that he's coming. He could be so quiet at times. - 'I'm silent like death, yeah, suit yourself.' - Embry answered Jake's flow of thoughts, making a few pampering sounds. This was how the wolves were laughing. To some, it could sound almost horrifying, but it made Jacob giggle as well. Giggling, when the boys were in their animal forms was a wild combination of growling and strange throat sounds. - 'Yeah, but admit, it's strange. No stench, no track, we can't find them. It's like playing blind man's buff.'

The vampires seemed to be poking around in the woods as if they were trying to find a blind spot. Maybe they already did find some. But Charlie, when Jacob was calling him earlier, didn't report any missing person. Yet all of them were sure that as soon as the vampires find the smallest cranny in the defense, it will go down. As soon as they smell a chance, it will go down. At last, this half of the pack was on the meeting point. Sam was already sitting there, watching Jacob approaching the estuary of the Bogachiel and Quillayute rivers. - 'Keep it down for a moment, alright, boys?' - Jacob asked Embry and Seth, who were waiting in a respectful distance. Embry was almost always quiet and Seth, even though there was a huge grin on his face, knew better than talking to alphas communicating. - 'I have news from Quil and Leah. They were walking the trail up at Calawah. What about your people?' - There was no greeting needed - the russet wolf simply shook his head at the bigger, black one. - 'Nothing. It's like searching for a ghost.'

Jacob had to say, that even if he wasn't in Sam's pack anymore, he liked that Sam kept it simple - no matter what happened, Sam never gave anyone too complex orders. - 'Nothing on our part of the territory as well. We will be trying to search through the North, there's lesser of us. Would your pack take the South?' - Jacob planned on trying to search through the whole Northern region, up to the Ozette Lake. There was a lot of tricky canyons smaller rivers, pounds and the vegetation was thick there as well. There was a suspicion that maybe, this time, this group of vampires was hiding next to a water source. He already had experience with the leeches hiding in the sea, why wouldn't they bivouac in a lake? - 'Sure. I'll send Jared and Brady to Hoh Ox, Lucas, and I will go a bit western closer to Oil city. We'll gather here in the morning and give all the information to Seth so he can tell everything to the morning patrol, okay?' - Without answering the question, Jacob and the rest of his small pack got up, running through the ice-cold waters of the river.

Most of the night, it was quiet and calm - sometimes, when the silence was too long, Seth started to throw in some jokes. Most of them were pretty cringe, but some made Jacob snicker under his breath. It was almost time to regroup and set to the meeting point when the whole pack felt it through Embry's eyes. The fur on the back of his neck stood up, his whole body tensed, and growls unintentionally escaped through his tests. Just as he saw a woman standing on top of one huge cliff, looking down on him, the pack tried to get to Embry's position as soon as possible.

The animal wasn't holding anything back - as soon as it saw the woman, it sprang forward to kill her. But she just leaned her head to her shoulder, furrowing at the sight. It appeared as if she wasn't even taken away by seeing such a huge wolf. Based on the stench, she realized this wasn't just some wolf, but she hadn't even flinched. - 'Embry, don't!' - Jacob cried out just when Embry made his way onto the cliff, trying to take the cold woman down. Yet just when the wolf almost caught her ankle in his mouth, she jumped down while still studying every move the animal made.

She wasn't supposed to attack, no. Her posture was strictly curious, careful - the woman might tease them a bit, see how they react, but she surely wasn't about to strike back. She was a scout, sent there by her pack to study the animals. Sam's pack might've encountered another one. - 'Back off, Embry. She's just playing with you!' - Seth, who realized it as well, called out. - 'He's right. wait for us and then we'll try to chase her down!' - Jacob yelled at his friend and jumped onto the lake's beach, circling at the woman's back. It didn't take too long until Seth slowly walked out of the woods on the other side. The woman was quietly scanning all of them and Jacob's size certainly did surprise her. Embry was huge - but Jacob was even bigger.

'We won't catch her, no matter what we do. She isn't going to attack.' - Seth realized and started analyzing her back. At this, the woman smiled and started to lean her head just like Seth was. The pack was still closing on her, but as soon as she would feel threatened she'll simply run away. - "Interesting." - She mumbled and closed her eyelids a bit. - "We don't wanna hurt you. We won't be attacking you or your packs - we just want free access to the city, that's it." - The woman cried out. A terrifying grin appeared on her face for a second as the thought she might succeed. The deep growling came from everyone's mouth at the same time, giving her exactly the answer she needed. - "So you have chosen death. I'll tell it to the others." - And with that, she disappeared. As if she wasn't there, as if she just disappeared into the thin air. The wolves watched each other. The scent didn't lead them too far into the woods, it was as if the woman was just a dream.

Forks, 9:00 a.m.:

You were sleeping in the bed, safe and sound. Your mouth tasted disgusting, and you had a slight headache - you didn't even want to see your damn hair. Even if you knew it was just a lie, the room felt too warm for a moment. For the first time during your road trip, you weren't feeling cold. Lazily, you searched for your phone and read through the news and such. Then your eyes flought to the clock - oh Lord, Jacob had to open the workshop already, hadn't he? And there you were, laying in the bed, covered in a thick blanket.

Never in your life before, you had dressed as quick as you did that morning. Just when you wanted to run into the bathroom, as you opened door to your room, you heard snoring shaking every piece of pottery. With a straight face, you looked at its source - it was the man himself, somehow puzzled on his small sofa - his hands and one of his leg were laying on the ground, his hair was way messier than yours and also, the blanket was too small for someone like him. Jesus, he must've come back so late, you didn't even want to stop yourself.

As you were tiptoeing around the sofa, you noticed something - his feet. They were covered in soil and needles as if he was walking around in the woods barefooted. What was he doing late, in the woods, and barefooted? Was he searching the best location for a grave? Was he checking out his secret killer case hidden in the woods? With risen eyebrows, you locked yourself in the bathroom. At first, you thought he was just working late. That was it. But the soil on his feet made you insecure. Quickly, you brushed your teeth, combed your hair, and sneaked out of the flat. For a moment, you were thinking about walking to talk to Charlie.

While standing in front of the back door, you were biting on your lower lip and tried to figure out what to do. But in the end, you closed the door again and walked to the 'Administration office' to work on another part of the messy paperwork. Dear Lord, Jacob was bad with bureaucracy. In this, he was honest with you. Sometimes, you couldn't even read what was written down on the paper - so you were re-writing the text and sums on a fresh document while lamenting about his messy handwriting. Jacob came in barely half an hour after you. Yet the man was so quiet he almost gave you a heart attack as he stood in the cubbyhole's doorframe. - "Morning to you too." - The man grinned at you when you finally realized he's standing there and yelled out loud for the God's sake. - "Am I looking that bad?" - The man looked all over his body to see if there was something wrong. He was now looking way better than when you saw him laying on the sofa.

His hair was put into a man bun once more, he changed his clothes and presumably took a quick shower. You didnt know what was hiding under these socks. - "I just... Didn't hear you coming. I was really into reading your 'Volkswagen repair... Re-hair..'. Fuck, I can't read it." - With that, you sighed and tried to figure out the hieroglyphs once again. Jacob grinned at your attempts and drank a sip out of his mug of coffee. Silently, you looked him in the eyes - there were deep, black circles. Well, you weren't surprised. Sleeping on that sofa must've messed with him. Yet even the color in his face seemed to be fading away. - "Man, you have coffee?" - You cried out instead of asking him weird, personal questions. - "Uh, I don't wanna break it down to you... But most people have coffee at home or at work. You want some?"

And he brought you the promised cup - along with a slice of apple pie from Mrs. Peterson. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Jacob was working on his cars, humming most of the songs playing on the radio, while you finished the first few months of that year's paperwork. With an overly concentrated face, you categorized the papers into files, thoroughly writing the months they've containing. That was it for the most part.

Sometimes, when your ass started to hurt, you walked around the workshop, and once, you were so courageous that you took your jacket and walked into the freezing Forks. You never walked too far - but dear Lord, wasn't it cold? The mist wasn't supposed to come out of your mouth in August. It couldn't be more than 46 degrees outside, Jesus Christ. And Tacoma was even more on the North.

You've discovered a few peculiarities on your way. There was a real good looking steak restaurant, a library, and a local high school... Which didn't look like high school at all, in your opinion. For the locals, it was clear as a day you weren't from Forks - mainly because anyone who was from the North wouldn't be shaking because they felt cold. The more courageous ones even stopped you, mostly the older women living in the town just so they could brag about talking to the new girl in town. However, they were respectful and nice, always laughing at your attempts to joke.

"Huh. I was thinking about searching for you. I thought you might've frozen somewhere." - Jacob hummed from under the car he was working on at the moment. It looked like an old minivan. Oh, you'd like seeing me freezing somewhere, might as well get your goal easier, huh? You thought to yourself. You also noticed that the radio was playing the Sea Wolf song (which you've heard at least ten times since you arrived at Forks) and that Jacob knew every word of the song. Well, he couldn't be considered a singer, yet this was slightly against your care of this huge man being a killer. What killer would be singing a love song so blatantly? - "I just met some lady named Karen Newton? She was nice, but I couldn't get out of the conversation, dear Lord." - "Oh, old Mrs. Newton? She's super nosy. What was she asking you about?" - Suddenly, his face appeared from under the car as he was searching for his rug. - "The basics, I guess. Why I'm here, what's my name, how old I am... She seemed very happy when I told her how old I am." - Throughout the small talk, you've taken off your jacket and sat on the 'Administration office's' chair while looking at Jacob drinking a whole cup of super hot coffee. His eating and drinking habits were making you a bit uneasy, but whatever.

"Dear Lord. I'll tell you why is that." - The man sat on his small chair as well, looking back at you. - "She has a son named Mike. And she's trying to find him a girlfriend... Again. Do expect the boy suddenly appearing here soon." - Oh. Okay. So she wasn't just nice... She was trying to figure out if you're good enough for her son. Mrs. Newton didn't seem to be thrilled by your career choice, but her eyes started to shine when you answered her question about having a partner. - 'No, I'm single.' - You told her. That was a misstep. - "But, worry not, even though he's not on my list of favorite people, most people say he's a nice guy." - "Unbelievable!" - A squeal came out of you as you started to laugh from the bottom of your belly. - "I'm here one day and you already think about who I should date. Oh God, that's why I don't like small towns!"

Jacob smiled into his mug. He hadn't seen someone laugh so hard for a long time - and honestly, it was nice to take some time off the vampire-hunting thing to think about stupidities like dating and such. - "I just think that two weeks is a lot of time. This seems like fun." - The man mumbled and climbed back on his small assembly bed. You couldn't understand how the thing could be still standing on its small wheels under his weight, but you weren't wrapping your brain around it too much. - "I also saw a pretty dope steak house like... Five minutes from here." - Okay, this was interesting. His head appeared from below the car once again. - "Do I look like I'm looking for someone to date? No, thank you." - With that, he disappeared again, leaving you to sit there with a subdued expression.

This was straightaway rude. There was the cold, annoyed man once more. And yes, it almost ruined your day. Jacob just flipped at least by 180° in front of you, showing you the fed up man once again. It was the mysterious Bella, wasn't it? Also, who was asking him out on a date? There was a cool-looking restaurant near the workshop and you didn't want to cook all the damn time. Dear Lord, you were in the temptation to spit something about split personality disorder, but you just sipped your coffee to keep your mouth shut. - "All I'm saying is that instead of sitting there the whole time and cooking all the time, we might at least consider take out." - Well, you were firing in the same tone as he was. Under the car, he muttered out a few curse words. The man realized he might go too harsh after you.

It was just... It sounded like a date proposition, to be honest. And there was a lot of going on for Jacob at the moment - the stress of shifting again, a vampire hunt... And to be honest, he still didn't get over what happened with Bella - so even though you didn't have any idea about who the hell she was, you were right in this. - "Sure. Take out sounds good." - Jacob told you when you were sitting in your cubbyhole once again, continuing to do your job.

The rest of the day was more or less quiet and calm - Jacob finished the minivan and started to poke around with your Beetle, at least until an old man came for the car. As you got to know when he introduced himself, this was Mr. Newton and Karen's husband. When he realized who you were, he started to apologize for his wife and the bunch of super-weird and awkward questions. He promised you that in any case, his son won't be asking you out just because Karen liked you. No way in hell.

It was that evening when Jacob finished half of the first step with your car - he cleaned most of the inside, mainly around the engine, and started to make a specific list. Said list was meaningless to you since you didn't know jack shit about cars. But Jacob seemed to know what he was doing, so you just continued with doing what you were doing. When the Sea Wolf were playing for the seventh time, that day alone, you were already sure about every word in the chorus. You were singing it along with Jacob.

When it got late, it was time for you to perform a subtle observation of Jacob's behavior. Around the same time as the previous evening, you pretended that you're sleepy as hell - and told him you're going to bed. And since you got to the bed, after a proper hot shower, it was the waiting game from that point on. You've been pretending that you're sleeping and you did so for such a long time that you almost fell asleep for real. But creaking of the floor made you aware that he ended his work in the shop. For a moment, it seemed that he's listening if you're sleeping. After a few pretty convincing snores, you've heard the door creaking again and the door to the small flat locking. With your breath hitched, you tiptoed to the window, leaned your thighs into the warm hearing, and looked from the window - you've heard him locking the garage, so the only possible exit was right under your window.

And he soon came out - he was half-naked, dressed in some torn pants, barefoot again, looking around as if he was making sure that there's no-one who would be watching him. There was a small moment where your breath hitched completely. What in the world was Jacob doing there, without a t-shirt when it was still just 46 degrees there? Quickly, he ran to the woods - and he didn't come out for the whole half an hour you've been looking at the exact spot where he disappeared.

Your throat got swollen as you climbed under the blanket again. Sure, you had the suspicion he might hurt you at some point, but you knew that the fear is irrational for the most part. You've been just freaked out by large dudes since... That happened. This was making you feel very uneasy and unsafe. Who would disappear in the woods dressed like that when it was so damn cold? How long was he just walking around? Or what was he doing in there?

Could he be a killer of sorts? Was this man dangerous? Did he hurt someone before? Bullocks, you stopped yourself. Charlie seemed to be fond of the man. And he was the crown cop of Forks. No way in hell police chief would be in on this as well... Or would he? The terror was making your sleep very bad. You were waking up every half an hour because you had pretty vivid, intense nightmares.

It was at around three in the morning, you've been up for some time, when you heard Jacob walking into the flat, locking the door behind him. He was... Limbing? It sounded as if he had trouble walking straight - he knocked something over on his way to the sofa. When he crashed there, a loud sound made you aware he did so, you heard him whine for a while before he got up again - presumably to put some clothes on. Then, after some time, you heard his body falling onto the small sofa once more. With closed eyes, you've been listening to the whole process and the silence after. After another hour of laying in the bed, not letting out a single sound, you carefully got up. Deep snoring was residing through the few rooms Jacob had in his flat. You've opened up the door carefully, making sure it won't creak and stuck your head out. With a furrow, your gaze scanned the sleeping man.

Again, his hair was let down, the blanket was too small for him and his whole feet were covered in the soil. Did he think you won't notice? As you closed the door, you sighed against your will. There has been something going on in Forks - and Jacob was heavily involved in this. You decided to observe him for at least two days, to make sure he does this regularly and then... What will you do then? As you laid under the blanket again, your legs got cold and you finally realized what you had to do.

You had to follow him and see what was going on.

[eskawrites]

Anyway Nancy hates cooking because she isn’t naturally good at it. There are very few things Nancy isn’t naturally good at, so when she’s 8 years old and accidentally dumps too much salt into the pan—and when Ted mutters something about how the food is inedible, despite Karen’s pointed praise of how Nancy made them dinner—she decides she’s never going to cook again.

That’s unrealistic, of course. Her mom all but forces her to help out in the kitchen, no matter how much it stresses out little 8, 10, 12 year old Nancy. She can chop vegetables and stir pots, but she refuses to touch the seasonings.

Once she’s a teenager, and her parents start leaving her to watch Mike and Holly once in a while, she finds herself floundering even more in the kitchen. After burning eggs, letting pasta boil over, and nearly poisoning her siblings with undercooked chicken, Karen starts making sure she always leaves leftovers if she and Ted are going out. It might be her imagination, but 14 year old Nancy swears her mother gives her a disappointed look every time she points out the leftovers in the fridge.

And once when she’s 16 and spending a rare night alone, she steps into the kitchen, determined to do this right at least once in her life. She ends up with little burns on her arms and a small cut on her thumb, frantically opening windows to get rid of the smoke. She gives up, fighting back angry tears as she cleans the dishes so no one knows she was even there. She goes to bed without eating at all.

Meanwhile you have Robin, who doesn’t really think she’s naturally talented at anything (even though she very much is) and so she doesn’t mind being bad at something at first. She’s creative and flexible, and the last thing she expects is perfection. If she messes something up in the kitchen—which she does, often—then she either comes up with a way to fix it or she tries again. She also has plenty of time on her hands with her parents either working or hanging out with friends so often. Her mother teaches her a few basic recipes, and by the time she’s 10, her parents deem her competent enough to feed herself whenever.

So she does. And, because she’s Robin and she gets bored easily, she makes a habit of finding new recipes whenever she can. She cuts them out of magazines or memorizes the ones she overhears other women sharing. Some of them take a few tries, but the more she learns, the more she enjoys cooking.

She loves it even more when she can share what she cooks with someone else. Once she learns Steve only gets home cooked meals when he has dinner with Dustin and Mrs. Henderson, she makes a point of keeping his kitchen stocked and cooking whenever she stays the night at his house. Which means she cooks for them—and for whichever munchkins are around at the time—nearly every day of the week.

So Nancy is hanging out with everyone at Steve’s one afternoon, and they dig through the abundance of leftovers in the fridge to make dinner. She asks when cooking became part of his babysitting resume, but the kids all jump to tell her that it’s Robin, actually, and how have you not had her food yet, Nancy, she’s such a good cook

A week later she goes over to Robin’s house to study with her and finds her in the kitchen, wearing an apron, a streak of flour on her cheek, beaming at Nancy when she walks through the door. “You didn’t have to make cookies just for our study date,” Nancy tells her. “I know. I wanted to. I like baking.” “What? Why??”

Cue Robin talking about how she loves cooking, loves the creativity, loves playing music and doing something that lets her move around a lot without thinking too hard, and especially loves getting to share with others, when so many of her childhood meals were just made for one.

“You don’t like cooking, I take it?” Robin asks. “Not my thing,” Nancy says quickly, not meeting her eyes.

Robin comes over for dinner at the Wheelers and brings a pie. Karen adores her just for the gesture, but when it turns out to be amazing, she decides Robin is her new favorite of all her children’s friends. Even Ted gives an absent compliment after taking a bite, and Nancy quickly excuses herself from the table.

Robin finds her upstairs later, pretending like everything is fine. She asks if the pie was really that bad, and despite holding back tears, Nancy laughs.

And it’s stupid, because Nancy knows she’s good at many things, and in the grand scheme of things she doesn’t give a fuck about cooking. But she’s just so bad at it, and she doesn’t like being bad at things.

Not to mention the fact that she doesn’t remember the last time she got a compliment from her father, but she sure remembers him insulting her food.

So Robin sits down beside her and tells her about the time she ruined her mother’s favorite pot by burning chili in it. She spent four hours trying to scrape a rock hard layer of beans and peppers and stewed tomatoes from the bottom before her mother found out. She had to save up for two months to replace it.

“But I’ve had your chili,” Nancy says. “It’s amazing.”

“Yeah, once I learned how to not turn it into charcoal.”

Robin tells Nancy, not for the last time, that her father’s an asshole. And the next time she cooks dinner for the two of them, she casually asks if Nancy wants to help.

Nancy doesn’t. Robin says that’s okay, too.

But Robin’s kitchen is such a pressure free environment. There’s music playing, and dishes everywhere, and she can’t use an ingredient without spilling it. So one day, Nancy nervously walks up behind her and wraps her arms around Robin’s waist. She stands on her toes and rests her chin on Robin’s shoulder and asks, quietly, “Can I help?”

Robin asks what she wants to do. So she chops vegetables and stirs the pot. Next time, she lets Robin guide her through stacking layers of lasagna. After that, they make Robin’s favorite vodka sauce. The next Saturday morning is spent trying to flip pancakes. There are plenty of mistakes and much more laughter, but even the ones that fall apart still taste good.

Nancy decides cooking really isn’t for her, but she doesn’t mind being in the kitchen with Robin one bit. Maybe, even, she learns a thing or two along the way.

[lovemikage]

— dear diary...: the worst confession.

back to the beginning (masterlist). / a brief intermission.

a/n: hi! omg we're done with the series...that's crazy...thank you all for being here and i hope you like the conclusion <3. this is kind of a monster n took me a lot of time to write and is also NOT BETA READ OR PROOFREAD so if there's mistakes my bad og. MWAH <3 also we don't find out how the letters are sent out but let's assume it's reader's little sister because i'm not creative enough to figure out sm else

wc: 4.78k

cw: none, just mildly suggestive stuff like twice. no outright smut, mostly toothrotting fluff and angst

summary: coming back to hawkins may have been the worst decision of your life.

This was the worst day of your life.

That title had previously been held by eighth grade picture day, when Michael Wheeler spilled chocolate milk all over your new white dress during breakfast. 

Funny how that works.

You were wrong.

As soon as you get out of your mom’s car you’re frowning, the sight of a familiar black impala in the driveway next to yours making your heart heavy. He was home. You hoped he didn’t notice you were too, even if your mom had probably told Karen.

As soon as you get out of your mom’s car you’re frowning, the sight of a familiar black impala in the driveway next to yours making your heart heavy. He was home. You hoped he didn’t notice you were too, even if your mom had probably told Karen.

Unpacking your things was even more depressing; countless polaroids lined your walls, ones you’d been adding since you were little. The smiling faces of you, your friends, and your family tug on your heartstrings. You miss when you were younger and the only worry you had was whether Steve Harrington would be at the mall that day or not. You run a hand over them, fingers pausing over the ones dedicated to Max and Mike. Your heart hurts.

After a bit of unpacking and organizing (and a few small mental breakdowns), you decide that maybe a nap would do you good; you were starting to get annoyed by the constant sniffles. 

It feels like the second you close your eyes Eleven, Will, and Dustin are bursting through your door, faces flushed and chests heaving like they’d ran here. 

“Up, up! Wake up! Wake up, code red–” Dustin’s screaming and your eyes pop open, sitting up in your bed and rubbing at your eyes to try and assess the situation. Once you’re satisfied no one’s dead (which is the only reason they should be waking you up, as far as you’re concerned), you turn your murderous glare towards the curly haired boy, which seems to be the only way that gets him to shut up.

“Sorry,” He smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with an open palm, “It’s just –”

“They found the letters.” El and Will say it in tandem, faces contorted in worry. You notice El’s fiddling with her fingers, something she only does when she’s nervous. 

You swear you feel the entire room fall away – you’re launched into space and the world around you goes fuzzy.

You come to again and see your three friends looking over you, infinitely more worried than before. You distantly hear Dustin ask if they need to hide your body and you groan, a hand coming up to hold your now pounding head while the other swats him away from you.

“God, off, please, you’re smothering me –” You sit up slowly, running your hands down your face with a deep sigh. Of course this had to fucking happen now. 

You pull one of your stuffed animals to your chest, pulling your knees up and practically curling in on yourself for some type of comfort, “Okay, so – slowly. They what?” 

“The letters. They found them. We don’t know how, yet, but –” Will’s panicking more than you are (externally, anyway), his leg bouncing while he speaks. 

“They all got them this morning. They asked us if we knew, and –” El spots your suddenly (even more) panicked expression and smiles fondly with a shake of her head, “I’m not mad. Don’t worry. Will explained everything to Dustin and I…”

“We’re so sorry,” It’s Dustin speaking now, his voice genuine. You know it’s bad when even he doesn’t want to make a joke, “But they all want to talk to you. The three of them, anyway.”

You know exactly who he’s talking about immediately. Your head dips down so you can scream into the plush bear. Was it too late to fake your death? 

– 

After lots of panicking, some yelling, and a bit of awkward clarifications (“Why the hell didn’t I get a letter?” “Dustin, you’ve been dating Suzie since we were like, thirteen.” “Oh. Yeah.”), the familiar sound of your doorbell rings throughout the house and the four of you look at each other like deer caught in headlights.

“Baby, Lucas is here to see you!” Your mom’s voice floats up the stairs and you feel your heart get caught in your throat. Fuck. 

“Just – just send him up, mami!” You gulp down the lump in your throat and nod to the others, slowly rising from your bed and making your way towards the door. You let it click closed behind you, leaning back against the frame to take a deep breath. You can do this.

You smile as you watch Lucas ascend the stairs, handsome as always. He’s always been the one out of all of you with the most style and it shows, varsity jacket hanging around his shoulders and the coolest sneakers to match. You get why fourteen year old you had such a big crush on him.

“You’re back!” Is all Lucas can say once he gets to the landing, arms shooting out to wrap around you and bring you into one of the most suffocating bear hugs you’ve ever experienced. It’s the best feeling in the world.

You relax almost instantly, arms looping around him to hold him close, head resting on his shoulder. “I’m back,” You say through a laugh, tears brimming your eyes. You really missed him; he’d been the one to keep you sane for nearly four years, and a bond like that isn’t easily forgotten just by going to different schools.

You pull back and then you’re both silent for a few seconds; it feels like an eternity. You keep your head to the ground, too scared to look him in the eyes, and his hands are shoved into his jacket pockets – you’re both the picture of an awkward conversation.

But then you hear him laugh and you tilt your head up to look at him, eyebrows furrowed together.

“You feel butterflies in your tummy when I smile? Really?”

Your hands shoot up to cover your face, shaking your head in embarrassment and scrunching your nose, “God, really? I was fourteen! When you’re fourteen you’re always overdramatic!” Despite your words, you’re laughing, a full belly laugh that shakes your shoulders and makes your eyes crinkle up at the edges.

Lucas only chuckles with you, pulling you in for another hug and letting his head rest on top of yours. For a second, it’s just that – a comfortable silence, only pierced by periodic laughs. 

He pulls away but keeps his hands on your shoulders, making sure you look up at him, “We’re okay, yeah? Promise. And – Max doesn’t care either. She’s got her own shit to sort out, but…” You know what’s coming next and you cringe. Shit. 

“Talk to her soon, yeah? She’s home right now…” The boy trails off, averting his eyes for a second before turning back to you, face suddenly serious, “I’m not mad either. She wouldn’t tell any of us what the letter said, but it’s not really hard to figure out…I love you, yeah? Always.”

You smile, though this time it’s tinged with sadness. You didn’t think you were ever prepared to deal with this. You wished you’d had the choice of when to do so.

But you nod, trying to give him some form of reassurance even as the pit in your stomach grows, “Mhm – I love you too, Luc. Always.”

“Oh thank god–” 

You hear a collective sigh from behind your door and roll your eyes. Lucas eyes you with a raised brow and you shake your head, pushing the door open and hearing the three behind it yell out various versions of ‘ow’. 

“Nosy,” You chide, though your smile is fond, motioning towards Lucas to come into the room, “C’mon. I need a good pep talk if I’m ever stepping out of this damn house.”

—

You ended up requiring a bribe to leave your room – it came in the form of a strawberry milkshake Dustin made Lucas go get for you (after a lot of arguing as to why Dustin couldn’t drive yet).

The car ride to Max’s was mostly quiet. You told them that they could just wait outside for a bit, not wanting Max to think you brought all of them to listen; in reality, they were your only ride if things went south – which the knot in your stomach kept telling you they would.

You step out of the car with a heavy heart, ducking your head back in to address your friends, “If I'm not back in fifteen, assume I’ve killed myself and come get me. Thanks.” 

The gravel road crunches under your sneakers as you make your way towards Max’s trailer, hands shoved in your jacket pockets and breath so shaky you can hear it. Once you finally reach her door you take a deep breath, slowly bringing your fist up to knock on the door. You can do this, you can do thi–

The door falls away from your hand and swings open. You jump back with a yelp, eyes widening and body tensing up. 

“Sorry –” You’re met with a mess of red hair and a light smile, big blue eyes watching you in amusement, “You were taking really long. I heard you guys pull up – I’m not deaf, you know. Didn’t mean to scare you, though.”

Max pauses. Waits for you to laugh and tell her she’s fine. Realizes you’re not going to. 

“Um –” She steps away from the door, motioning for you to come in, “Come in. Just – head to my room. Mom’s not home.” 

You nod, gulping down the lump in your throat and walking towards your room looking like you’ve got your tail tucked between your legs. Unbeknownst to you she flips the car off, unable to stop the smile that curves her lips at the offended glares she gets back.

You perch yourself on the edge of her bed, entirely unlike the way you used to just plop down on it after school. You kick your legs out in an effort to distract yourself, hands kept neatly in your lap. Much too proper for Max’s taste. She eyes you from her place against her dresser, frowning slightly. 

“Hey – who are you and where’s my best friend?” Her words come out playful – trying to be, anyway, but it just makes you realize how shitty the situation is, “Let her out for a bit, please? College couldn’t have changed you that much.”

You sigh, eyes flicking up to meet hers with a sad smile, “Hi, Maxie.”

“There she is,” The redhead can’t help but grin, pushing herself off of her dresser to sit next to you on the bed. She knocks her shoulder against yours, “I missed you, y’know. You didn’t even come back for Christmas. You love Christmas. And I didn’t know why, but after reading the letter…” It seems she has to steel herself before speaking, “It wasn’t ‘cause of me, right?”

Your eyebrows immediately scrunch together and you shake your head vigorously, eyes widening, “No! No – god, no, Maxie, it wasn’t you. It could never be you –” You grab her hands in yours, marveling at how soft they are and trying to put on a reassuring smile, “I promise, okay? I just … needed to be away. This place smothers me.”

She nods, and then a silence falls over the room. You’re both staring at your shoes, wondering where to go from here. The contents of the letter hangs over the both of you like an uncomfortably weighted blanket.

“Frisco’s really nice during Christmas, you know–” It’s a way to bring it up without bringing it up, “I’m glad I chose the university there…you’d really like it.”

“I’m sure I would –” You don’t look at her but you can hear the smile in her voice, “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but – for what it’s worth, nothing you felt was…wrong. I felt the same. I was just scared, and – you know I hate being scared.”

Your head actually does lift up this time, looking at her in disbelief. You’re so angry at the hope that stabs through your heart you almost shut down again. 

But you can’t keep running away from this. 

“You did?”

“Mhm, I did,” Max meets your eyes, nodding. Her smile is sad and her eyes are watery. Your heart hurts – Max never cries, “I think that’s why I told you first. You’re the only one I felt comfortable enough with…but then you left, and I really only had Will to relate to.”

“I’m so–”

“Shhh,” She shakes her head, finger pressed against your lips. It surprises you enough that you actually listen, “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? We were kids. And I’m gonna keep that letter forever, just so you know – it’s special to me. And nothing’s gonna take that away.” 

You feel hot tears stream down your face. You hadn’t even realized they were forming. 

“I wanna give you something, okay? As a welcome back gift. Maybe a bit of closure.”

You’re confused, but you nod, stock still while you wait for her to go grab whatever gift it was, expecting to see a bag or something. 

But then you feel her soft hands cup your face, cold skin cooling your burning cheeks. She’s pulling you closer; your eyes go wide and you try to move back.

“B-but – Maxie, Lucas –” 

She laughs again, and the furrow of your brows only gets deeper. What the hell was happening?

“He said I could do this. He figured it would help us both…accept ourselves, or something. I don’t know. He’s oddly supportive,” Max shrugs, the picture of nonchalance, but her hands on your cheeks are shaking. She’s scared, “We – we don’t have to. I just thought you might want–”

“Do it, Maxie–” Your voice is soft, barely above a whisper, “Kiss me. Please.”

She surges forward, your confirmation all she needs to press her lips to yours. It’s soft, but there’s so much passion behind it – years of pent up feelings bubbling back to the surface. It’s everything you ever thought it would be and more, your body immediately melting into hers. Your hands steady themselves on her waist, trying to hold you up. You swear you could faint.

It takes a bit before she pulls away – there’s no tongue and no touching, but it somehow feels more intimate, just your lips moving together and trying to say everything you both never could. When she pulls away you’re both breathing heavily, and your eyes are glassy. You feel dizzy.

You both stare at each other for a second, smiling like maniacs. And then you start laughing, girlish giggles similar to the ones you shared when you used to talk about boys with El. The weight on your shoulders gets just a bit lighter.

“Better?” She asks between laughs.

“Much.” You nod, lunging forward to tackle her in a hug. You’d missed her so much.

“Aye, tiger, be careful –” Max giggles, fiery hair splayed out on the sheets behind her. She looks so pretty, you think, but the heartache is gone. It’s just wistfulness, now. A bittersweet feeling. 

She looks at you with raised eyebrows and a wide smile, “You wanna sleep over?” 

You nod eagerly, toothy grin matching hers. You guys stay there for a second, hugging and cuddling like old times. It feels like you’re a little high schooler again.

“Did she kill herse– woah, jesus – when I said you guys could kiss, I didn't mean to go this far!” Lucas’s voice pierces the silence and you immediately roll off of Max, shaking your head.

“We’re clothed! Oh my god, we’re clothed–” 

“...You told them they could kiss?” Dustin’s voice is laced with judgment, matched by Eleven and Will’s scrunched up faces. 

“Oh my god, yes, Dustin, I’m a supportive boyfriend –” Lucas shoots back, removing his hand from covering his eyes, “God. Don’t scare me like that again, I almost regretted it–”

The four of them stop, then, taking the two of you in. Your smiling faces and glinting eyes.

“All good?” El asks, silently cheering inside that she has her best friends back. 

“All good.” You and Max say it at the same time, nodding – before turning to each other and laughing, “Jinx.”

“Good.” Will says, clasping his hands together – that was two out of three, and you probably wouldn’t even have to deal with the third until tomo–

“Hello? Hellooooo?” The static voice of Michael Wheeler sounds through the old walkie on Max’s desk and you swear your heart drops into your ass. Fuck.

You all look at each other with panicked eyes, mouths agape.

“Earth to Max’s house. Look, you don’t have to answer, but – tell y/n to come talk to me? I know you’re all there, I asked her mom. Mike, over and out.”

“God, why does he still say that?” Max shakes her head, a look of disgust on her face.

“No clue – it’s stupid, right? I keep telling him it’s stupid,” Will shrugs, matching Max’s face.

They all look at you, then, and another silence falls over the room. This time it’s filled with dread, and you’re reminded of the remaining weight pushing you down.

Max looks at you with a soft, sad smile, her hand on your shoulder; you feel El’s smaller one on the other side. 

“Guess no sleepover today.” You sigh, clasping your hands together before putting on a fake upbeat tone, “I’m gonna need another milkshake to get through it. Ice cream, anyone?”

—------

The five of you pull up to your house sipping milkshakes, your own already half done. Anxiety sipping. 

You notice Mike’s impala isn’t in the driveway and your shoulders collapse in an odd sense of relief. Maybe you would be able to wait until tomorrow. At least then you could prepare.

“Want us to wait?” Max asks, expression concerned. 

You shake your head, offering up a smile to your friends – it’s the opposite of reassuring, but they know you’re trying, “M’good. I’ll call you guys in the morning, yeah? Be by the phone.”

They all nod; your legs feel like lead when you get out of the car. They wait until you get in the door to drive away, and you watch them leave, processing how for the first time since all of this happened, you’re alone. Well and truly.

There’s a note on your bed from your mom when you get in your room: ‘Mike was over. Why haven’t you talked to him? Your dad and I are going to the casino tonight, so don’t wait up. We might not be home. Please don’t shut yourself in your room, okay? We love you. – Mom.’

You sigh, setting the note on your bedside table and plopping yourself down on your bed with an ‘oof’. You hate when she’s right.

You have about ten seconds of peace before you start hearing tapping at your window – it’s inconsistent and it sounds like hail. You know what it is immediately.

You walk over, parting your pink curtains and shoving your window up, narrowly dodging a rock in the process, “You know you’re supposed to stop when you see me at the window, right?”

“I didn’t see you!” The dark haired boy below you is whisper-yelling, looking at the handful of rocks in his hand before dropping it in embarrassment, “I thought I’d have to bring the boombox out or something, you’ve been ignori–”

“I’m not ignoring you!” You lie, irritation lacing your voice, “Just – come in, okay? I’ll go down and let you in, you’re going to get a co–”

Mike nods, already getting ready to scale the ladder at the side of your window before he registers you’ve stopped talking, looking down with a raised brow. He looks up with scrunched features, shaking his hair out of his face, “What?”

“They’re not home, stupid. Come through the front door.” You shake your head, shoving your windowsill down and closing your curtains again. 

Shit, shit, shit. 

It’s all you can think while you walk downstairs, taking two steps at a time before swinging open the front door. You’re greeted by the sight of Mike Wheeler, all lanky limbs and dumb doe eyes. You want to hit him.

“You weren’t supposed to be home.” You start, frowning.

“Wha–”

“Your car. It wasn’t in the driveway.”

“It’s in the garage. I figured you’d run if you saw it.”

God. You hate how well he knows you. 

“Well – come in. The bugs are going to eat you alive out there.”

You step away from the door, gesturing for him to walk in. You’re already walking up to your room when you realize he isn’t moving, turning, “Are you going to follow me or not?”

“Oh, ri – yeah, yeah, cool –” He’s nearly tripping over himself to catch up to you, following you up the stairs like a lost puppy. 

You settle yourself on the edge of your bed, feet kicking while you wait for him to figure out where he’s gonna go. Mike decides on your desk chair, gingerly picking up the stuffed animal that had been perched on it and holding it close in his lap. He knew better than to be mean to them.

“So –” You begin, hoping that if you act dumb this would be easier, “What did you need to talk to me about? Is it because I wasn’t answering your letters? I was just bus–”

“It’s about a letter, yeah, but you know it’s not about those ones,” Mike shoots back quickly, eyebrows raised in a knowing look. It shuts you up, gives him a bit more confidence to say what he does next.

“You’re in love with me?”

You have to breathe deeply. This sucks. You’d hidden it for years and it had to come out like this? You feel hot embarrassment flush your body and you try to deny it at first.

“I wrote that over a year ago–”

“And then you left and didn’t talk to me for that next year, so consider us back right where we left off. Are you in love with me, y/n?”

You contemplate lying. Or jumping out of the window and killing yourself. Both sound lovely right now. 

But then you look up and meet his gaze – it’s one of a desperate man whose entire world seems to have fallen apart in the last week. One who needs reassurance. 

And just like that, you feel yourself fold. You never were good at hiding things from him.

So you nod, the tears you thought you weren’t hydrated enough to produce welling up in your eyes, falling down into your lap.

“I–I am, Mikey. Always have been, you read it–” You sniffle, a sorrowful smile on your face. You don’t think you’ve ever been this embarrassed in your life.

“I–”

“Don’t. Please? Don’t try and let me down easy, or something, or say ‘it’s not you, it’s me’, just – just forget it? We can move on like it never happened, I swear–”

“Jesus, let me talk, will you?” He strides towards you in what seems like a flash, big hands cupping your cheeks and gently pulling your head up to meet his eyes, “You never let me talk.”

You nod, trying not to meet his gaze. Every time you blink another tear falls against his skin and you mumble a sorry, but then he’s shushing you, thumbs wiping at your tears. 

“You look pretty when you cry,” Mike murmurs it under his breath but it’s loud enough for you to hear, and your teary eyes go wide for what feels like the twentieth time today. Pretty?

“You’re so dumb,” He continues, shaking his head and chuckling a bit while he pushes a strand of hair from your forehead. His voice is so soft, his touch so gentle. You feel yourself nuzzle your head into his hand, leaning into his touch. It’s addictive.

“I love you too,” It’s those words that make your breath hitch. You feel like you’re having a heart attack, your heart beating out of your chest and your stomach doing somersaults. He loves you too?

“And I wish you would have told me sooner. By the time El came around I figured you didn’t like me – don’t look at me like that, I was twelve,” He rolls his eyes, knowing that even if you aren’t talking you’d figure out a way to judge him somehow, “And then by the time we broke up, you were gone…they’d taken you. That’s how I saw it, anyway–”

He sighs, pulling you closer so your head is resting against his stomach, lean muscle underneath more comforting than you remember. His hands rub circles and trace shapes into your shoulders, your back, remembering how much it used to soothe you. 

“And then when I finally realized that maybe I should get off my ass and do something, you were gone.” 

Mike pauses, laughing almost bitterly to himself, “Wanna know a secret?”

When you nod against him he smiles to himself, “I figured it out that night, too. In my room. When I said you were my number one girl I wasn’t lying – haven’t even looked at anyone since then. Everyone else just started to look like you. – Look at me, please?”

You pull back, eyes glossy with tears, puffy and red. One of his thumbs strokes your cheek, his own voice sounding choked up, “There she is. You’re so pretty…god, we lost a lot of time, didn’t we?”

You continue looking up at him and he laughs, this time paired with a shake of his head, “You can talk now, nerd.”

“Finally, God, that was the worst – don’t you know not letting me talk is t-torture?” You glare up at him through your tears, bottom lip jutted out in a pout. He thinks it’s the cutest thing he’d ever seen. 

“Can –” You hiccup, sniffle a little, “Can you kiss me now? If I have to go through any more embarrassing confessions today, I’m going to pass out from emotional exhaustion. I just wanna skip to where we’re happy and you’re my boyfriend.”

Mike rolls his eyes at you but nods, unable to stop the grin on his features, “We can do that. One question, though –”

You tilt your head in confusion, brow raised but still encouraging him to continue. 

“My big doe eyes? My big hands? My shaggy hair? You were kinda whipped, huh?”

“Oh my god, shut up shut up, if you don’t kiss me in two seconds I’m going to punch y–”

And then you feel the soft press of slightly chapped lips against you. You taste the cotton candy chapstick he’d never stopped buying after you gave one to him when you were twelve. You finally understand what movies and books mean when they say fireworks went off after a kiss. Everything feels right, and Mike’s tongue sliding against yours feels like the most natural thing in the world. The way you both inch up the bed until he’s hovering above you feels like it was meant to happen, and the way you press your noses together and giggle feels long overdue. That weight on your shoulders falls away completely. 

It’s perfect.

– 

“Virgin still? Blink once for yes and twice for no,” Your hand shoots out to smack Dustin’s cap off of his head, rolling your eyes when he shouts ‘hey! No violence!’.

“None of your business, Henderson – what me and my boyfriend do is confidential.” Your words are met with a groan from the rest of the group – except for El and Will, who only give you happy smiles. They haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. You hadn’t stopped referring to Mike as your boyfriend for the entire day, too high on the adrenaline of finally being able to call him yours (and being newly deflowered). 

You hadn’t had a movie night with your friends in the Wheeler’s basement in a long, long time. You’re mad at yourself for thinking you hadn’t missed it.

“He might be your boyfriend, but does he have great hair and really big muscles?” Steve interjects, flexing his arm and letting his hand squeeze the muscle that bulges out. 

“Oh, or really pretty blue eyes?” Nancy smirks, eyebrows raised.

“But is he, like, the total package? Cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids?” Jonathan grins while he walks down the stairs, his arm draping over Nancy’s shoulders easily. 

Your hands shoot up to cover your face and you curl up into Mike’s side, shaking your head fervently and squealing, “Stop it! Oh my god, you guys suck, I was a baby! Those don’t count!”

The sounds of breathless laughter fills the room and you peek through your fingers to look at all of your friends, for once feeling like you don’t have to run away from them. Like maybe you could stay a while.

✧･ﾟ — taglist (thank you for being here!): @dilflover3333 @bbymochi1 @amourrs @fentibeauty @moonylantsovs @sage111222 @ronaldiary @thel0v3hashira143 @livieweasley @larryrickardlover @littletroublegirl444 @fairyqueenxx007 @maxmayfieldsrealgf1986 @southernvamp @cybergiirl @softpia @the-great-himbo @honeydotc0m @honey-with-tea @sl0thsblog @stiles-stark @thecraziestcrayon @all-for-kpop @universce @73vyn @matthiashelvarsgf @ch4ot1ccoff1n @luv4mike @ihyperfixatetoomuch @queenelizabethsleftnipple @emilymay07

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Prologue Season 1

Pairing: (eventual) Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: The beggining of the story. How did Y/n Henderson get herself into this mess? How did she deal with the loss of a dear friend and how will she survive the bullies and monsters?

Warnings: swearing

Notes: Hello people. We are back and running. This backstory is going to be eight episodes (maybe an extra epilogue at the end, I haven't figured things out yet), but I do want to make sure I finish this before the new season. It was pretty challenging to make sure I didn't miss any information I had put on the character on the other chapters, but I think I managed. This whole backstory thing made me realise it was pretty stupid of me to not start from season one from the beggining, but oh well, what can you do. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and be prepared for some angst this time around! Stay safe! 💕

Gif not mine

~~New Journey Masterlist >> Chapter 1

" You sure you don't need any more help?" you called out for your boss at the diner. He had decided to close early, since not a lot people were coming in today. November had just hit and the nights were becoming even colder, so it wasn't pleasant to be out.

" Do not worry, Y/N. I can close my store just fine, I'm not that old yet." he winked at you after his joke and you couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Mr. Miller was one of the sweetest people you had met. When you decided to get a job to help your mother and save up some money for yourself, you were certain you wouldn't enjoy it so much. Sure, being a waitress at a diner had its disadvantages, especially in a small town like Hawkins where everyone knew eachother, but the rest of the stuff certainly knew how to pass the time without a sweat. Plus, the gossip was always fresh, so you weren't really complaining.

" Okay, Mr. Miller, but don't complain tomorrow if your back is hurting." you sent him a smile as he was cleaning the floor.

" Oh, I sure will! Goodbye, my dear." he waved at you before continuing his cleaning.

" Have a good night!" you told him while putting on your jacket. The moment you opened the door to exit the diner, you cursed yourself for not bringing extra clothes with you. As nice as the diner was, the uniform you had to wear was just awful during the winter. A dress cutting just above your knees, making them shiver from the cold. What was even worse was that you had to ride home with your bike. Jonathan had called you during your shift informing you that he was going to take another shift at his job, so he couldn't come and pick you up. You didn't like the idea in the slightest at the beginning, but you knew he was in a same, if not worse, economical situation with his family, so you couldn't be mad.

In the end, this left you alone at night in the cold riding your stupid bike. You tried to ride as fast as possible to keep your body warm. You were closing in at the Wheeler's residence and your eyebrows furrowed when you saw Dustin's bike still outside on the porch "Oh my God, they are still playing?" you had accompanied Dustin to Mike's just before your shift had started ten hours ago, you couldn't believe they hadn't finished yet. Even though you longed to head home, you couldn't, in your right mind, leave the kids to go home alone at this time, so you made a short stop to go and collect them.

You parked your bike next to theirs and quickly ran to ring the doorbell, begging for some more warmth. Finally, Mike's mom, Karen, opened it "Oh, hi sweetie, here for your brother?"

" Yes, I saw his bike outside and decided to come and take them all home. They have been playing for quite some time now." you answered as she welcomed you in.

" They sure have, let me call them for you while you warm up. Nancy's in her room if you want to say hello." she smiled at you and headed to the basement's door.

" I sure will and thank you." you told her and you walked up the stairs to chat a bit with your friend. You met Nancy when you were just thirteen. Your mother, Dustin and you had just moved to Hawkins, Indiana. You didn't expect making any friends that fast, but Nancy had introduced herself to you when you were sitting alone at the cafeteria on your first day. She came with a smile on her face along with another girl, Barbara. It made you so happy and relieved to finally have some company. You were beyond excited when you found out your brothers had become friends too. It made you feel like everything was coming together, that this change wouldn't suck.

You were a lot closer back then, than you were now. Not in a bad way. You still hang out a lot of the time, you just found yourselves in different situations. She was very into studying, being at the top of the class and she loved socializing, even if she mostly talked to you and Barb at school. You, on the other hand, focused on your family, doing everything you could to help them, since you didn't have your father here.. And you also didn't love the idea of talking to new people, especially at school.

Another big difference between the two of you is that you still liked hanging out with your brother's friends, the 'party' as they called themselves. Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin had become inseparable after meeting eachother. It was because of them that you met Jonathan. His quiet persona made you want to explore more within him as a child and you were both glad you did. He was and is being viewed as weird around the kids at school, but you knew he's sweet and kind. Him and his family have been through a lot of shit because of their father, so he prefers to keep to himself and his close ones. You're just glad you're one of them.

When you reached your friend's room, you saw her on her bed talking to the phone. She had told you earlier at school that Steve Harrington promised to call and a smirk made its way on your face.

" Oh, is that Steve you're talking to? Have I walked into something inappropriate? Should I leave?" you teased her and she threw a pillow at you, but you caught it with ease.

" Shut up. No, I'm just talking to Barb." she explained to you and you walked over to her bed. You sat next to her and took the phone from her hands.

" Hey Barbara. We need to stop this madness she's got going on about Steve." you spoke to your friend on the phone about the infamous boy that has caught Nancy's interest.

Steve Harrington. He was the most popular guy at your school at the moment. He even had a stupid nickname, 'King Steve'. You didn't like him, you didn't like anyone from his clique, especially Tommy H. and Carol. Oh, you could not stand them. Always making fun of people because they didn't fit their definition of 'cool', just because they were unique, different. They always found a way to annoy you and Jonathan when you passed them on the hallways, calling Jonathan a 'weirdo' and you 'pathetic'. They started calling you that when they saw how much time you spent with your brother and his friends, saying you had no actual people your age that cared about you.

That's why you were so shocked that Nancy actually liked and went out with one of them. At first it felt like a betrayal, but she assured you that it was nothing to worry about, that he wasn't as bad as he seems. After a month of them just 'talking' you decided let your feelings of hatred aside and start teasing Nancy about her new crush.

" Oh, stop it you two." you heard Nancy say as she snatched the phone from your hands, bringing it back to her ear "Barb, I'll call you right back." she informed her friend, hang up the phone and turned to look at you "What are you even doing here?"

" Well, I'm here to annoy our brothers by ending their campaign. Can you believe they are still playing after ten hours? I mean Mike told me that he had prepared something extreme, but not like this."

" I can't believe that you still are involved with their games." she said while she hugged the pillow she had earlier thrown at you.

" It's not my fault that I can see how fun they can be. If you didn't ignore your brother now that you have become 'cool', you would have known." you sent her a smirk, when her phone rang again making you gasp "Oh, speak of the devil. Could that be dear Steve?"

" Alright, I think it's getting pretty late. Time to go now!" she took your shoulders in her arms and moved you towards her bedroom door. You started giggling because you knew you were correct, her cheeks immediately flushed when she heard the phone ring.

" Okay, okay! I'm going! But no funny business on the phone, young lady." you pointed your finger at her, when you stepped on the hallway. She just rolled her eyes at you and said 'goodbye', before shutting the door. You smiled a little at her behavior and it grew even bigger when you saw your brother coming up the stairs "Hey, Dusty. Ready to go?"

" Did you have to come? If you just ignored us, Mike's mom wouldn't even remember we were downstairs and we would finish." he complained.

" I highly doubt that." you ruffled his hat, but something caught your attention "What're you holding there?"

" Oh, a piece is left from our pizza and I wanted to see if Nancy wanted it." you found it adorable. You knew Dustin had this small crush on your friend since he met her, even though he denied it. He was crushed when he saw her with Steve one time at your school.

" She's a little preoccupied at the moment, so I'll take that." you opened the box and placed the piece in your mouth. You were starving.

" What's she doing?" you both started walking down the stairs, heading towards the front door.

" You know that saying 'curiosity killed the cat'?" you rhetorically asked him, as you finished the pizza.

" She's talking to that idiot, isn't she?" he looked up at you.

" Maybe, but that's none of your business. Goodnight, Mrs. Wheeler." you placed the pizza box at the kitchen table and waved goodbye at Karen.

" Goodnight, dear." she responded.

You closed the door behind and you picked up your bike just like the kids were doing "I don't get what she sees in him." Dustin continued complaining and now he had made his friends curious as to what you were talking about.

" Who?" Mike asked.

" Your sister. She completely ignores us now." your brother got on his bike. You just shook your head, while you waited for them to get going.

" She's too cool now that she's dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington." Lucas pointed out and your head snapped towards them.

" Boys, language. And don't blame Nancy for anything, that's what happens when you grow up."

" So why are you still hanging out with us?" Mike asked you.

" Cause I don't want to grow up. Now come on, it's freezing out here." you sent him a smile and started biking towards your house. The kids said their goodbyes and after a few seconds all of you were riding together. They started telling you all about the game and how they are going to trick Mike into thinking Will didn't roll a seven. The kids loved having you around. Sometimes Dustin argued because he didn't always want to be with his big sister, but he did agree that when you were apart of the campaign you brought so much life into the story.

Lucas was the first to get home "Goodnight, ladies."

" Kiss your mom 'night for me." Dustin teased back and you just chuckled. You knew it was all fun and games around their age "Race back to our place? Winner gets a comic." he said towards Will, who immediately had a mischievous look on his face.

" Any comic?"

" Yeah." Dustin agreed, but he regretted it the second he said it. Will had already speed up his pace, way ahead your brother "Hey! Hey! I didn't say 'go'! Y/N!" he whined at you, but all you could do was laugh "Get back here! I’m gonna kill you!" he tried to catch up to him, but to no avail. Will was going to win this one.

" I'll take you X-Men 134!" he yelled as he continued to make his way towards the Byers residence, since you had arrived at your house.

" Son of a bitch.." Dustin muttered, when he stopped in front of your house, catching his breath. You approached him and placed your bike at your usual place "You just gonna let this happen?" Dustin turned to look at you.

" What do you want me to do? He clearly won." you smiled at him, kind of enjoying his annoyance.

" No, he clearly cheated." he put his bike next to yours.

" Don't worry, you're gonna win it back, just have to play smarter." you placed your arm around his shoulders and headed inside.

___

" Sweetie, could you get that? I'm heading out." you heard your mother call out for you. The phone was ringing.

" Yeah!" you finished putting on your mascara and quickly went to answer the phone "Hello?"

" Hey, dear, it's Joyce." the voice responded and you smiled.

" Good morning, Joyce. What's up?" you saw Dustin enter the kitchen making himself a peanut butter and jam sandwich. A year ago Joyce asked you to start calling her by her first name, saying you had spent too much time at her house to keep up with the formalities. It was a bit weird at first, but you got used to it.

" Um. . Did by any chance Will stay the night at yours?" you could hear it in her voice, she was very anxious.

" No- no, he headed home after me and Dustin arrived at our house. We were with him till then. Did something happen?" your brows were furrowed and Dustin was also looking at you, silently asking what happened.

" Um, you know what? I bet he just left early for school. Thank you, Y/n." she explained trying to reassure you, but you were not sure she was telling the truth.

" Wait, Joyce, are you sure everything's fine? Because you don't sound f-"

" Yes, yes, everything is good. Bye, sweetie." you tried to ask again what is happening, but she hung up the phone. You stood still for a second, before hanging up the phone as well.

" What happened?" Dustin asked, his mouth full of toast.

" I- I'm not sure.. Joyce can't find Will." you took a sit at the kitchen table in front of your brother.

" What?" he asked surprised, his chewing stopping.

" Yeah, but then she covered it up by saying he must have left early for school.. Don't you always meet up before heading there?"

" Yeah, every morning.." you could see he was starting to get worried about his friend, so you decided to change the subject.

" You know what? I bet everything's fine. Come on, get ready and go find him at school, okay?" he nodded his head a bit reluctantly, but he followed you outside as you both rode towards your schools.

You waited on the parking lot as you usually do to wait for Jonathan, but he was taking longer than usual to arrive.

'Maybe something really is off..'

It concerned you a lot when the first bell rang and he still hasn't shown up yet. After that you made a mental note to yourself to go check up on him during lunch, but now you had to go and get your stuff from your locker.

As you were approaching the locker, your head filled with the worst scenarios about what had happened to the Byers family, you saw Barbara and Nancy talking in front of your lockers. You were glad you found them there, you needed a distraction. You went next to Nancy and opened your locker while you listened to their conversation.

"... We just... made out a couple times." you rolled your eyes and spoke up, startling only Nancy since Barbara had already seen you.

" 'We just... made out a couple times'. Oh my god, I still don't understand why you like him so much." you joked as you took a book on your arms, holding it tight.

" Y/n, you said you would be supportive." Nancy whined a bit at your comment, but you knew she didn't really mind. She had accepted the fact that for you Steve will forever be the boy that made fun of you when you first came into town. He will forever be the obnoxious jerk of the basketball team, even if she could see, he wasn't truly like that.

" Of what? The relationship you're pretending that doesn't exist?" you raised your eyebrow at her. This whole time she was pretending that the time her and Steve were spending wasn't a big deal, like she didn't actually had a massive crush on him. You smirked at Barbara as you saw your friend's cheeks turning red once again.

" I- What are you even doing here? Don't you typically come on in early with Jonathan?" Nancy asked, avoiding your comment.

" He didn't show up today, I'll go later to see if everything's okay. And why are you changing the subject? Did something happen last night?" your voice had a teasing not at the end. You closed your locker and walked over next to Barbara silently asking what happened.

" He called." she smiled at you.

" Aha! Was it the call that interrupted our conversation yesterday?" you softly nudged her arm.

" Maybe.." Nancy said with a sly smile, as if she was remembering what her 'lover boy' had told her.

" Nance, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous." Barbara said and you nodded your head in agreement. Even if you didn't like Steve's group, you had to admit there was something so appealing about being 'famous' around school.

" No, I'm not" Nancy argued back.

" Uh, yes you are. The moment you are in their radar it's a done deal." you replied.

" You better still hang out with us, that's all I'm saying." you knew about Barb's worries. One time when Nancy had 'ditched' her for Steve during lunch, she came and sat with you and Jonathan. You talked about how Nancy looks like she's starting to actually enjoy their company. You remember Jonathan laughing at that comment, but you didn't know what to think. You didn't liker her going out with these people, but you couldn't possibly stop her from doing anything.

Nancy turned from her locker to give Barbara a confused look "If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol-" the girl next to you continued to explain her thoughts, before she was interrupted by her best friend.

" Oh, that's gross! Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time..." her words trailed off, when she opened her locker and saw a note falling from inside. You leaned forward to read the note that had with big letter the words 'Meet Me. Bathroom. -Steve' on it.

" You were saying?" Barbara teased, while Nancy smiled at you two, asking if it was okay to go.

" Just go." you waved her off and watched as she hurried to find Steve "Ahh, young love... Disgusting." Barbara giggled next to you.

" Come on, let's go to class."

___

You were tapping your foot against the floor, as you were pretending to listen to your teacher's lecture, when someone knocked on the classroom's door. Everyone's heads turn and watched the principal come inside with the chief of the police next to him, Jim Hopper. You didn't have a good feeling about this.

" Excuse me for interrupting your lesson, but could we borrow miss Henderson for a minute?" now all the heads turned towards you. You felt small due to all the eyes starring at you as you got up from your seat and made your way out on the hallway.

" Is everything okay?" you asked reluctantly, your feet following the men heading for the principal's office.

" We'll see." you heard Hopper say.

You entered the office. The principal sat on the chair behind his desk, motioning for you to take a seat. You placed yourself in one of the chairs in front of the big desk, watching as Hopper took his time to sit next to you, turning the chair to face you. One of his officers had come as well, leaning his body against the wall.

" You were yesterday with Will Byers, is that correct?" the Chief's voice filled the room and his words had confirmed your fears.

" Has something happened to Will?" you panicked. Will was the sweetest kid you had ever met, you didn't know what you would do if something bad happened.

" Were you with him." Hopper repeated himself. You didn't like him. You didn't have many interactions with the head of the police, thankfully, but everytime you did he always had this mean look on his face, like he didn't like anyone or anything.

" I- I, uh, yes. I was with him for some while yesterday."

" Can you tell me what happened?" you knew that it wasn't really a question.

" After my, uh, shift at the diner, I took my bike and started heading home. As I-"

" Around what time was that?" he interrupted you.

" My shift ended at 7:30, but I left the diner around eight o'clock. I was helping Mr. Miller with closing the store. After I left, I rode pretty quickly to get back home, cause I was freezing, but as I passed the Wheeler's residence, I saw my brother and his friend's bikes still parked there, so I stopped to take them home."

" Your brother's the one with the hat, right?" Hopper pointed to his head.

" The one with no front teeth?" the officer that was with him spoke up. You don't think his comment was to be mean, but it still made you give him a nasty look.

" Yes, Dustin Henderson, that's my brother. I went to go and collect him and his friends, Lucas and Will, and take them back home, since it was getting pretty late. Lucas was the first one to arrive at his place. My place was next on our road so.. Will was left alone to get back home. What happened?" you were very worried now. It hadn't crossed your mind that maybe you should have made sure Will had gotten home safely. You felt so stupid now. You were the oldest, you had the responsibility of making sure all of them are okay.

" Which rode did he take, you remember?" he ignored your question once again, making you more angry.

" He always takes the one where Cornwallis meets Kerley. The kids call it-"

" Mirkwood. Yeah, yeah, I know.." he sighed, adjusting his hat on his leg "Do you remember maybe any unfamiliar behavior with Will last night?"

" I- no. No, Will was the same sweet kid he always is.. He was actually a bit more energetic. Him and my brother had a race back to our place. Will won. Could you please tell me what's happening?" you were getting very impatient. You wanted to know what's actually happening here. If it was your fault..

The chief looked at you with his grumpy eyes and you could tell he was reluctant about telling you, but he eventually gave in "Joyce Byers has reported Will as missing. He didn't came home last night and we are trying to find out what has happened."

" What?" you didn't want to believe it. What had happened to Will last night?

" Do you by any change believe he would want to ran away? I know you are close with the kids and that they trust you. Maybe even more than they would do with a parent or a sibling. Has he told anything about going to Lonnie Byers?" his elbows fell to his knees as he leaned forward, your eye levels matching.

" Who, his dad? No way. There is no way Will would want to go to him. That's the last place I'd look." you looked him in the eye and he considered your words, before getting up and putting his hat back on.

" Alright, I think that's all we need for now. If you remember anything else come and see us."

" What? That's it? You don't know where Will is at all? Are you kidding me?" you stood up from your sit looking at him desperately.

" Miss Henderson, please, calm your voice." you heard your principal tell you, but your eyes were focused on Hopper. He turned to look at you once again.

" I promise you we're doing the best we can. Thank you for your help." that was the last thing he said before opening the door and disappearing with his colleague.

You didn't know what to think or do. Your thoughts were filled with unanswered questions and your body was frozen from the shock. You stood there until a voice pulled back into reality.

" Head back to class, Miss Henderson. The day isn't over yet." you looked at him, silently saying a quick goodbye and got out from his office. You stayed a bit on the hallway while recollecting your thoughts, until you made a decision.

" The day is over for me though."

You couldn't possibly stay here and pretend that all is well. That nothing is happening till the end of your lessons. You walked outside to the parking area and took ahold of your bike, speeding through the roads.

___

You were sitting for maybe forty minutes at the Byer's porch, waiting for either Jonathan or Joyce to return. Your heart was beating faster than it ever had before, your hands were trembling and cold sweat was running from your forehead. You were ready to start crying at the thought of what could have happened to Will, when you heard a familiar engine approaching.

You looked up and saw Jonathan and Joyce inside. When they got out you could see they didn't expect to see you here at all. you got up from where you were sitting and slowly went over to them.

" Hopper, he came into school and asked questions about Will. I knew something was happening ever since you called me in the morning, but I didn't know it was that serious." you felt tears in your eyes. Joyce saw that and pulled you in for a hug.

" We don't even know what's happening. What did Hopper ask you?" she sniffed when you broke your hug.

" He asked me to tell him what had generally happen last night when I took them from Mike's. How and when Will left by himself. Typical police stuff.. Oh! And he also mentioned Lonnie, like he would have anything to do with this."

" Oh, screw him with his Lonnie theory." she mumbled and hurried to get inside. You guessed he had talked to her about it too, a little too much.

Finally, your eyes fell on Jonathan, who looked just as exhausted as Joyce. You couldn't imagine what he was going through, both of them. If you felt bad, they must be feeling it ten times more. You immediately pulled him in your arms and he didn't miss a second returning it. He really needed that. You were one of the only people he could truly let his guard down.

" It's going to be okay.. All is gonna be well." you tried to reassure him with your words while your hand went up and down his back. It wasn't working, but it was the only thing you could do right now. How can you comfort a person who just lost a sibling? A son?

After a minute you felt Jonathan slip away from your arms. You looked up to see his eyes slightly red "I'm going to make a missing poster for Will, wanna help?"

" I'm sorry, but I wanna go and also check on Dustin. I just stopped by to see how you were. I'm pretty sure Hopper interrogated him as well and I don't know how he took it. This whole thing must have him so confused." you ran a hand through your hair and sighed.

" Hey, I get it.. All of us are really shaken up. Go find him." he gave you a weak smile that broke your heart. You wanted to stay with him a bit longer, you knew he needed it. A distraction from this mess. But you also both knew Dustin was just a kid with a missing friend. He was your priority for now.

" Call or leave a message if you need anything. I'll come in no time." he chuckled, agreeing to your statement "I'll come tomorrow morning for the posters, okay? Bye!" you rode, away waving back at him. He replied with a small and weak wave, before putting his hands on his pockets and headed inside.

Your head turned back on the dirt road, riding back towards the schools. This time the middle school. You were certain Dustin needed a break and taking him back home would be the best idea. School can wait.

~~~

I want to say a big thank you for all the people who are tolerating my ideas about this story and still wanting to keep up with it. I know I don't actually know you, but I love you guys! Also, another thank you for the new people joining in. It always feels nice when you see people enjoying something you put out there, so thank you all and I hope you like this first chapter!

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[cleacc]

A Visitor

Synopsis: You're Mike's sister and there's a surprise visitor in your house.

Warnings: Swearing.

Genre: fluff

You woke up because of the noise that's coming from the basement. You looked at the clock and saw the time. It's 9 am.

"What the hell?" You said as you forced yourself to get up from your bed. You rushed downstairs to check on what's going on in the basement when your mom, Karen saw you.

"Hi sweetheart goodmorning!" She said while holding a pan in her hand.

"Hi mom" you said grumpy.

"What happened?" She asked.

"It's so noisy. It's 9 am!" You said shouting.

"Oh it's Mike and his friends. They're playing D&D."

"Really?! 9 am in the morning and they're already playing?!" You asked annoyed.

"Calm down sweetheart. Here have some pancakes."

"Later mom. I have to talk to Mike first."

"Okay. But be kind okay?"

"Yeah, yeah whatever."

You're now going down the stairs to the basement when you hear another screaming.

"What the hell mike?!" You screamed.

They all looked at you with a surprise expression. There's will, Lucas, and Dustin. But, There's another person that you're not familiar with.

"Hi....?" You said looking at the tall man.

"Hi!" He said smiling at you.

"And you are...?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. He's Eddie. He's the leader of The Hellfire Club." Mike said introducing you to Eddie.

"She's my sister, Y/N."

"Hi!" He said smiling sweetly. You raise both of your eyebrows, Acknowledging his greeting.

The four boys looks at you and Eddie back and forth. They're sensing some chemistry.

"Breakfast's upstairs. You all should take a break first. Eat, so you guys have some energy." You said looking at all of them.

"And.... Eddie?"

"Hmm?" Eddie hummed.

"Don't be shy. Make yourself at home." You said and went upstairs.

"Yes. Make yourself at home Eddie, this will be your true home soon." Dustin said elbowing Eddie.

Eddie looked at Dustin pissed, Dustin stopped.

Mike, being a protective brother he is, he glared at Eddie and spoke.

"Come on, you heard her. Breakfast is upstairs."