#implied steve and max have a sibling relationship

[queenie-ofthe-void]

pre-S4 Robin and Max || wc: ~1.6k || rating: teen || cws: depression, brief mentions of bullying and child neglect

~~~

Robin drops her lunch tray onto the table, falling into the seat with purpose. The young girl across from her startles at the movement. Pulling her headphones down slightly, Max raises her eyebrow in question, clearly annoyed at the unwelcomed company. Robin mimics the look in an overly dramatic way, and takes a large bite of her instant mashed potatoes. 

When Max only rolls her eyes and goes back to her homework– headphones off– Robin considers it a win. The girl’s been pulling away since Starcourt, drawing into herself in a way that’s putting everyone on edge, and the Party is at a loss for what to do. 

The beginning of freshman year was tough on all of the kids, but especially Max. Robin would eye her from across the lunchroom, seated at the opposite end of the table from the loud, brash, super super senior along with the rest of the Party and Hellfire boys. The poor girl would startle anytime Munson laughed too harshly and flinched at the loud bang of his fists on the table, shrinking into herself during his tabletop tirades. 

Needless to say, sitting with the Hellfire boys didn’t last long. Max’s patience for Eddie thinned even further after settling into the trailer across from him, complaining about music keeping her up at all hours of the night– the same electric guitar riffs over and over again. And she’d made more than one off-hand sarcastic remark about Munson’s late night customers causing the dog to howl at all hours of the night.

Robin looks towards the Hellfire table now. Sure enough, Eddie’s flailing his arms around in what is most likely a lecture on The Man. Dustin’s wide eyes and Mike’s entranced smile tell her they’re fully proselytized to the Munson Doctrine now, after a full five months of brain washing. Hopeless, the both of them. She has no idea what they see in the town drug dealer beyond D&D. Mike didn’t even like rock music before he joined Hellfire. Now he’s subconsciously crushing so hard on their fearless leader that he’s starting to dress like him. 

She supposes she’d be a bit of a hypocrite to judge him too harshly though. She only joined the pep band to see Vickie after school.

Cutting off her own dating anxieties, she focuses back on Max. The young girl is more relaxed than when Robin first sat down. She’s hunched over an old copy of Romeo and Juliet. Not one of Robin’s personal favorites, and she’d guess not one of Max’s either if her frustrated huff means anything. Why it’s required reading for freshmen she’ll never understand. But speaking of Romeo…

She looks around again, and her eyes lock on to Lucas’s. He’s staring directly at her with a desperate look in his eye that Robin tries to acquiesce with a tight smile. Another boy in a letterman jacket is trying to get his attention, but he’s shrugged off as Lucas moves to stand. 

Panicked, Robin checks to see that Max hasn’t noticed and shakes her head. A silent plea to not ruin the small ground she’s gained-- the first ground anyone has gained with Max in weeks. Hurt flashes across his face, but he sits down. Robin nods, hopefully telegraphing her thoughts. She can tell he's not happy about it, but he settles back into the conversation with his teammates.

Max dumped him just before Halloween and just shortly after she quit sitting with the Hellfire boys. Lucas had tried sitting with her instead, but the older boys stomped their proverbial toddler feet, arguing that he was already splitting too much of his time between D&D and basketball practice. They couldn’t believe he then had the audacity to spend even less time with them just to hang with some girl.

Needless to say Mike and Dustin had been less than supportive, caving to the peer pressure from the older members and Robin knows it’s one of the reasons why Lucas eventually ended up sitting with his teammates.

Then her mom started pulling doubles during the holidays and Max did her best to hole up in the trailer, refusing to come out no matter how much caroling the boys tried. Robin understands why Max wouldn’t want to go to the Party’s holiday gatherings. The boys were the core unit of the group, backed up by the Wheeler and Byers families. But the Byers’ left and took her best friend with them, the boys were fighting, and they weren’t even sure if Lucas would show up if Max wasn’t there. Robin was one of the few people involved in the Upside-Down bullshit who understood what isolation from the core group felt like, so why not try to include Max in their own tiny group of three.

A few days later, on the coldest day of break, Robin sat in the passenger seat with her fingers smashed up against the beemer’s heat vent and watched out the window as Max opened the door for the only person she was still talking to. The girl put up an argument, but no one can out-bitch The King himself. She let him in and they stepped out a few minutes later, a bag slung over her shoulder and a small dog in her arms. He never complained, even when the house smelled like wet dog for a week later.

Now it’s almost March, and it’s been weeks since she’s talked to anyone. She’s been sitting alone everyday, not answering the phone. So maybe it's Robin's turn to try talking with her, girl to girl.

“I know what you’re doing here,” Max states, hiding her hesitancy under a false bravado, the casual air of her tone undercut by her shifting gaze. “You can tell him to stop worrying, I’m fine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Random Girl,” Robin answers with an innocent wave of her hand.

Max’s deadpanned stare says she’s not buying it. The nickname all but confirms her motives. 

That’s fine, Robin just needs a foot in the door and now that Max has opened said door, it’s like the dam between Robin's brain and mouth has burst. 

“I was just sitting here eating my lunch and minding my own business, when you decided to say something. And honestly, I think that’s pretty good for me considering I’ve been sitting here for almost twenty minutes in complete silence, which– you know– is not really my forte. Normally I like when people talk to me, it’s how conversations are supposed to work, ya know? But when it’s just me I can’t seem to stop and I’ll, like, keep going and going until it gets awkward.”

She can’t stop rambling and oh god she’s going to ruin this, she’s sure of it. Max let her sit here and now she’s going to ruin this for Lucas and the boys and–

“Just,” Max interrupts. Robin takes a deep breath, in and out. Calming herself down and keeping her mouth shut. “You can sit here, alright. But don’t, like, expect anything from me. You’re not going to get me to open up, or some shit– don’t even say language right now Robin I swear– so that you can report back on how I’m doing. Because I’m fine. Really.”

“Why would I report back to Lucas how you’re doing–” Robin starts. But Max interrupts again.

“You know that’s not who I’m talking about,” Max says quietly. Her eyes are turned downward, avoiding eye contact now that the fire’s burned out.

“Max,” Robin tries again, yet doesn’t know what to say. Anything she says will either be a lie, or so genuinely truthful Max might withdraw again. 

“Max, I just want to sit here. Ok? I promise I won’t jump in the beemer after school and spill all your secrets. We don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to! I’ll just sit over here and do homework, while you sit over there and do homework. Because Nancy’s busy with the newspaper now and maybe I can help you with Spanish and just--,” but she stops. She has to be honest. Or at least try without it being too much.

Max is looking at her. Watching intently, searching for something Robin can’t figure out.

She sighs, exhausted but unwilling to give up.

“He’s worried about you. Of course he is. That’s, like, Steve’s whole entire personality.” It gets the small smile out of Max that she was trying for. “But I’m sitting here because I want to, not because he told me to or so I could, I don’t know, gather information for him. Talk to me or not, but I’m sitting here for lunch from now on.”

Max eyes Robin, and must find whatever she was looking for. 

The bell rings, and they both move to pack up their books. “If you’re sitting here,” Max says “then you’re going to have to listen to me gush about Kate Bush.”

Like that’s a deterrent. Hell, it’s an incentive.

“Fine,” Robin makes a show of it, whining and rolling her eyes. “Then you’re going to have to get over it and listen to me bitch about Steve being a dingus and a total loser when it comes to picking up girls at work. I spend too much time with him to not get it off my chest.”

“Totally understandable,” Max says, a huff of laughter escaping behind her restrained smile. “See you tomorrow then.”

Robin turns, bouncing lightly on her feet to her next class after a successful mission. Steve might not have asked her to do this, but she’s doing it for him regardless. For both Steve and Max. 

She can’t wait to tell him all about it.

~~~

@devondespresso thanks for the WIP ask! I've actually been sitting on this for a while, so you gave me a good kick in the ass to finally finish up edits and post. 💜💜💜

[cavinginhisfvce]

'The Fated"

Pairing: Harringrove. Soulmate!AU.

Tw: implied child abuse. brief violence.

Soulmate!AU where the first time a pair of soulmates experience prolonged touch, they're given all the memories of their past lives with one another, if they have any. 

It's almost a myth for soulmates to meet repeatedly in different lives, but if two souls truly belong together, they will meet again. 

Destiny makes sure of it. They call them The Fated.

Billy, who meets Steve and has no idea the older boy is his soulmate until Steve's beneath him, bloody, and gasping, his frame thrashing with futile attempts of hoisting the blond off of him. 

Steve is the first one to experience the cold that overtakes you, his body going stiff as flashes of distorted images dance in his mind.

Billy has his arms wrapped tightly around Steve's waist, a wide smile on his lips as the brunet tries half-heartedly to shove him away, murmurs of dinner being almost done ringing like bells in his ears.

None of the kids seem to notice that the lack of movement on Steve's end isn't a result of Billy's fists, until Billy is also just as frozen, his eyes widening.

Everyone knows the signs of two Fated soulmates meeting for the first time, legend says both become almost like statutes, the only indication of life being their rising and falling chests. 

Teachers scold young students who gossip about it in the halls, all of them wondering if they'll be one of the lucky ones. Someone who has found their soulmate over, and over, no matter what life has thrown at them.

Steve has his arm held above his head, a piece of paper dangling between his fingertips as Billy reaches for it. She's on her tippy toes, pouting when the mystery sheet strays further from her grasp. "Asshole! Give me my damn essay back. I have to turn it in!"

Steve just laughs loudly, finally lowering his hand, as well as his head. "Gimme a kiss and I'll think about it, Dolly."

In the assortment of memories, neither of them look as they do currently, especially in the last memory, but it's obvious who they are. 

It's obvious even when Billy is almost a foot shorter than him, and in place of a flat chest is a set of impressive boobs.

They can tell who was who, they can feel the love each had for the other. It's somehow foreign and familiar. 

Billy, despite going under last, is first to break out of the trance, his hands shaking as he scrambles to move from his place on Steve's lap. His eyes are no less wide as he scans the boy for any serious injuries. He lets out a soft sigh when he finds nothing aside from the minor blossoming of bruises and blood trickling from his nose.

He's glad the plate he grabbed early on had slipped from his hand, and shattered at their feet instead of over his soulmate's head.

Once Steve has come to, he searches the room almost frantically with his eyes. Brown eyes find blues, and all Steve can do is stare. 

The room is silent, the air thick as all the kids wait with bated breaths for whatever was set to happen next.

Billy is wholly unprepared for Steve to stand up on shaky legs, and stalk over to him, a flash of determination on his features. His body wants to be afraid, wants to be on guard. But his heart? It has other plans, it stays rooted in its place, even when Steve is cupping his cheeks and leaning in.

He doesn't kiss Billy, much to the blond's displeasure, instead he whispers softly, "My Dolly…"

The younger just barely bites back the smile tugging on his lips, a soft scoff leaving him, "Asshole. That assignment was late because of you."

Steve for his part, laughs out loud. It's a warm, saccharine sound that has Billy's insides turning to goo. He wants to hear it everyday, every second.

Someone clears their throat and walks up to the pair. Without turning his head, Billy knows it's Max. Which serves to do nothing but remind him of why he was there in the first place. 

It's what has him stepping away from Steve, his eyes snapping to the redhead.

"We're leaving. Now, Maxine." 

The younger girl just glares up at her brother, her eyes alight with defiance. "I'm not leaving until I know my friends are safe!"

A laugh bubbles from Billy, but it isn't filled with humor, it's dark, chilling. 

"Max…" He says her name in a sing-song way, the same way he had the day he told Max he wouldn't hesitate to run her new friend group down.

She hadn't believed him, not even when he revved the engine. He didn't go further than that, as expected. 

She tenses up, her lips set in a frown. 

"Billy, please. I know I shouldn't have snuck out...but, I had to be here! They needed me…" 

The girl isn't sure if her brother is even listening to her, he isn't the most rational person on a good day. And if the bruising eye he sported on his way in early is any indication, today is not a good day.

She watches as he tears his gaze from her, his piercing blue eyes landing on Steve. 

"Harrington, I swear to God, if anyone touched Max, I'll kill you myself…" His words are punctuated with a growl, the meaning behind them unsaid, but they ring clear in Steve's ears. 

He immediately squares his shoulders, shaking his head. "It's not like that, Billy. It'll never be like that, I swear." He trails off, noting the way Billy deflates only slightly.

"Then what the fuck is going on?"

Steve can hear the rest of the kids yelling in the background, telling him to shut up, to not say a word. But, all Steve can hear is the treble in Billy's voice when he spoke, all he can see is the haunted look in the ocean blue eyes. A look Steve may not know firsthand, but has seen in enough jaded, hurt people to identify as fear. The fear of whatever happened to them, happening to the person they're supposed to protect and look out for. 

It's that look alone, that has Steve grabbing Billy's hand and tugging him to the Byers' freezer. He can see the look of confusion on his soulmate's face, but it quickly washes away when the taller boy tugs the door open; leaving the corpse of a monster only featured in a horror film's worst nightmare in full view.

There's a ringing in his ears, but it goes ignored when Steve starts recounting the events of the night. He tells him of their past dealing with creatures like this, he tells him about Will. 

By the end, Steve is winded and Billy is gripping his hand so tightly, the brunet could feel the blood rushing to his fingertips, but he didn't let go, because Billy didn't let go.

It takes some convincing, but Steve eventually gets the kids to give them privacy, even if it meant promising they'd go to the tunnels, despite his earlier refusals.

When the kitchen is cleared, Billy all but flings himself into Steve's arms, his breathing pinched as he curls his fingers into the fabric of the taller boy's jacket.

He's not hyperventilating, which is good. But he's also shaking in Steve's hold. Steve can feel the wet heat of tears seeping into his shirt, but he doesn't lessen his hold. If anything it gets tighter.

Steve gets the overwhelming urge to cry after finding out about the Upside Down, he knows what it feels like to choke on the debilitating fear that comes with so much as imaging one of those things alive and gunning for you.

Obviously, he's had the displeasure of experiencing said fear in real time, but he understood the blond's reaction. 

It took a few minutes, but Billy eventually calmed down enough to speak, his words were watery, but his eyes held a determination that Steve couldn't shake if he tried, "you said something about sentient tunnels?"

Again, Steve laughs, his body shaking against Billy's frame as the smaller boy smirks up at him. 

"Glad to have you back, Little Lion."

There's a faint blush that dusts tanned skin, but he's quickly shaking his head, a huff spilling from his lips.

"Shut it, Pretty Boy."

"Make me."

Their eyes meet, and Billy can't do anything more but lean in, and press his lips to Steve's. There's almost a current of electricity, followed by a blanket of content, and wholeness. The feeling of two soulmates reconnecting.

It's the reuniting of a pair that lost each other, only to find their way back. 

[soleminisanction]

I've always really liked DC's in-house choice of referring to their various superhero groupings as "families," but it has gotten a little frustrating recently with people both in canon and in fandom seeming to forget that families aren't just a parental-unit-and-kids formation. They're complicated, and a lot of the DC families are too messy to fit into that neat little nuclear family mode.

Which is to say... here's some scattered thoughts/summaries about how these families are actually structured in canon, because I think it's interesting:

Supers -- The smaller, more traditional Superfamily (Clark, Lois, Kara, Kon, etc.) is a pretty traditional Midwestern nuclear family, with Jimmy Olsen filling the role of close family friend/goofy neighbor sidekick (in the Silver Age, he was Kara's would-be suitor) and Steel feeling more like part of Clark's personal circle of friends. The recent line up, though, with Jon, the twins, Kong and Nat? Starts to feel more like some old dynasty or noble house, complete with fostered foundlings and the Steels acting almost like knights under a noble's banner, possibly reflective of what the House of El would have been on Krypton.

Arrows -- Might currently be the closet to a traditional nuclear family structure. You've got Ollie and Dinah, their younger sisters, Ollie's adopted and biological children, and Ollie's granddaughter through Roy, plus by some counts Roy's co-parent and her sister as "in-laws." Bonnie and Cissie King-Jones are adjacent to but not technically "part" of the family, though I believe it's implied at one point that Ollie might also be Cissie's bio-dad. Pretty straightforward, these guys are actually family and they act like it, for good and ill.

Shazam Family -- Also a literal, actual family. Not originally, the original golden age "Marvel Family" was considerably more complicated and only Billy and Mary were full siblings, but nowadays the whole point of the modern Shazam family is that they're foster siblings united by familial love and that's fantastic. Meanwhile your average Black Adam story is 75% angsty family drama, 25% Egyptian mythology references.

Flashes -- Technically closer to three nuclear families (the Allens, the Wests and the Garricks; four if you include the Quicks), two of whom are united by marriage and all of whom are bound by the Speedforce, which, given its semi-spiritual connections to things like Speedster afterlives, can act almost like a religious force that connects them to the additional members like Avery, Circuit Breaker and Max as Bart's foster-dad. They're a big, sprawling tree with more cousins than siblings, the kind of family that functionally has a reunion every Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Lanterns -- Now these guys are the exception that proves my point about the whole 'family' thing not being straightforward. The lanterns aren't a family, they're a corps. Soldiers. Space cops. Comrades-in-arms. They respect each other, have each other's backs, might even like or care about each other, but those last two are optional, and they don't have the same kind of assumed obligations towards each other that a family would have. They're friends and co-workers, not family, but that doesn't mean their relationships are less significant, they're just different.

Wonders -- Roughly half of them are either one of Hippolyta's daughters (Diana, Donna, Nubia pre-Crisis) or related to them through the gods (Cassie), and the other half (Artemis, Yara, modern-age Nubia) use sister as a term of endearment more in a utopian lesbian commune kind of way. I think they brought Steve Trevor back recently? He's basically the Ken in this equation and perfectly fine with that role. None of which should be surprising if you've seen Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.

Bats -- This is the one that people get really wrong when they try to force it into a traditional family structure. Don't let WFA fool you, the Bats are and have always been way more a snarled mess of tangled interpersonal relationships than they've ever been a cohesive family. Whether Dick is Bruce's son or his brother depends on what era you're talking about, and the former reading is much more recent than you think -- as in "started cropping up in the early 2000s" recent. Barbara is both Cassandra's sister and her mother. Duke and Steph both have living parents and neither of them want or would ever dream of treating Bruce like their dad; Tim was the same way until his dad died. None of the Robins ever lived in the mansion together, nor did Cass. Babs considered Jean-Paul Valley her brother and Huntress is so close to Tim she once hallucinated him calling her Big Sister. They're a beautiful mess of people finding places where their broken edges fit together into something that works for them and trying to reduce it down to a cozy nuclear family is just so goddamn reductive and lazy.

Blue Beetles -- Are only tangentially related to each other. Seriously, they never even get direct mentoring, each one just takes over when the previous one dies and works on completely different rules from the other two. They're complete strangers bound by a legacy and that's honestly pretty fun.

Zataras -- There's only three of them and they're literally a father, daughter and cousin.

Martians -- Not really a family because there's only the two of them, but an interesting case where the two survivors of what was functionally a war of mutually assured destruction came together in an attempt to find some peace in the aftermath of what they'd lost.

Titans -- The JLA and JSA aren't really in the "family" category, but the Titans lean into it hard, mostly because they're a textbook found family. They don't mirror a nuclear family structure, they're simply a group of people who came together to form a mutual support network. They're the idealized college friends you grew into your own with, some of them childhood companions and others you only met once you leave home for the first time, but all of them friends that you manage to maintain contact with for life, with everyone coming back together even as you scatter and do your own things.

Young Justice -- Meanwhile, this team is the chaotic group of misfits you hung out with when you were a teenager, especially when you were just starting to be allowed to act without adult supervision. You drive each other crazy, none of you know you're all queer as fuck, and you'd fight a bear for any of them even if they asked you not to. They'd probably be insulted if you tried to call them a family. They come out here to get away from their families, thank you very much.

[steddieunderdogfics]

for friends to lovers theme weekend, i absolutely have to rec “i’ll be two steps on the water” by aliwrites07. it’s just absolutely gorgeous and more people should be obsessed with it

https://archiveofourown.org/works/41197821

i'll be two steps on the water by aliwrites07

Rating: Not Rated

29,153 words, 1/1 chapters

Archive Warning: Creator chose not to use

Tags: Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Queer Eddie Munson, Bisexual Steve Harrington, My Love, Max Mayfield is the Best, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Eddie Munson Have a Sibling Relationship, Supportive Wayne Munson, First Kiss, Recreational Drug Use, eddie has scars too let steve love them, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Lives, Disabled Maxine "Max" Mayfield, she’s half blind, Implied Lumax, because i love them, Title from a Kate Bush Song, Implied Sexual Content, Mechanic!Eddie Munson, mechanic!Max Mayfield, Love Confessions, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, i love these little fruits, im so proud of this

Summary:

Eddie doesn't remember much after he died. *** Or, Eddie Munson cheating death, learning to live, and finding love in the most unlikely of places.

Thanks for the rec!

This rec is a part of Theme Weekend. The theme this weekend is Friends to Lovers.

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!

[maxineholtzmann]

project easy-bake - complete on ao3

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, We're ignoring all of Season Four, It never happened, Chrissy Cunningham Lives, Chrissy Cunningham & Eddie Munson Friendship, Chrissy Cunningham Has a Crush on Robin Buckley, Robin Buckley Has a Crush on Chrissy Cunningham, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson, Getting Together, First Kiss, Eventual background buckingham is implied, Minor Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Sibling Relationship, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson Friendship, Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Eddie Munson Friendship, This whole thing is a romcom, Baking, Hijinks & Shenanigans, No beta we die like Barb

Word Count: 16,911 Chapters: 2/2

Written for @thefreakandthehair's Lex's Spicy Six Spring Fanworks Challenge 2023!

Chapter One Snippet:

“Get your ass off the counter, that’s not sanitary,” Max lightly shoved Eddie's legs, getting flour on his black jeans.

“If you think anything in this kitchen is sanitary , Red, you’d be incorrect. Stop changing the subject–what is all of this for? And why on god’s green Earth do you not want Harrington to know about it?” Eddie scooted closer as Max carefully measured out the second cup of flour.

She paused, considering. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

Eddie perked up, of course , he should have thought of this earlier. “Oh, so that’s it. You have a crush on Harrington. I mean, he’s a bit old for you, but I can see the appeal–”

“What? No! Ew! He’s like my weird hybrid brother-mom.” Max looked at him like he had five heads. “It’s his birthday next Tuesday and I’m trying to bake him a cake but every time I try it turns out disgusting. Sunday it was burnt and yesterday it was raw in the middle! He does a lot for us and I know no one else even knows when his birthday even is and I wanted to do something…nice, for once. If you tell anyone I said that I’ll kill you.”

read the rest on ao3

[hrtbrkwthrs]

Empty

Steve Harrington x gn!reader

Summary: Reader is at their limit but Steve interrupts their plans for the end. (hurt/comfort fic)

Notes: Reader is Dustin's older sibling - you can interpret that however best fits for you. Biological, adopted, half, etc. Any works for this fic! Reader uses they/them pronouns. NO use of y/n. I can't even tell you how long this has been in my drafts bro

Trigger Warnings: no specific mental illness is mentioned but in a general sense, SEVERE depression is heavily implied. Detailed depictions of depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts, almost attempted suicide using pills (all from reader).

This fic has a fairly detailed moment where reader is cutting themselves. I wrote this originally only for myself as a form of comfort. Please THINK before you decide to read this. The most important thing here is for you to stay safe. The sole purpose of me posting this fic is for readers who are similar to myself that might find comfort in this, but not everybody will get the same thing out of this fic, so please please please do NOT read if this will trigger you in any way.

Empty. The room feels empty. Your heart feels empty. Your hope feels empty. The emptiness pierced through your chest like an arrow, cold and sharp and leaving you breathless. Your tears fall from your face like a flood as you sit on the ever-so-slightly scratchy carpet underneath you, one hand brushing over the fabric, the other playing with the necklace you wore around your neck. The necklace with the guitar pick. Eddie's guitar pick.

Eddie Munson was your best friend since the first grade. He meant the world to you. He helped you through your darkest times, the times when depression would hit too hard, the times you'd feel like you were wasted space in the world around you, the times you got too sick to function, the times you relapsed. He stayed there with you until his last dying breath, a breath that shouldn't have come. It wasn't at all fair that he died saving a town that only ever judged him, outcast him, berated him. It wasn't at all fair that he was gone.

He took that last dying breath only days after he witnessed the gruesome death of Chrissy Cunningham, framed for murder, and tragically stuck in the middle of the most cursed parts of Hawkins, Indiana. You'd been there before. Three times. Starting when your little brother's best friend, Will, disappeared. Dustin snuck around in secret at first, but you knew him well. You knew him better than anyone did, aside from maybe himself, so you figured it all out pretty quickly. And that's the thing about the trust between you two - it made it easy for him to tell you everything when you asked. To trust you to hold him in your arms on the most difficult nights, softly singing the lyrics to Heroes by David Bowie to help soothe him as he would slowly but surely fall asleep. Just like you did when you were younger.

Those three times had left you to mourn the loss of your friend, Barb, your little cat, Mews, and the man that made Joyce Byers smile for the first time in over a year, Bob. And as much as you hated Billy Hargrove - the man that abused his sister, Max Mayfield, made racist remarks about Lucas Sinclair, verbally spat in the faces of anybody he spoke to, and beat Steve Harrington to a pulp - even he had died tragically. Though you were sure it wouldn't have effected you near as much if it weren't for the shattered heart of Max Mayfield - a heart that you and your friends desperately tried to help piece back together - it still left your own heart heavy.

The fourth time around was different, though. As your best friend, you had done everything in your power to protect Eddie from the things you've had the misfortune of witnessing before, even if it created a barrier in the middle of your relationship. But the Upside Down had other plans when a monster named Vecna gave Eddie the burden of witnessing Chrissy shake in a trance, eyes rolling to the back of her head, floating, limbs folding and crunching, eyes sucked into her body. He had no choice but to be a part of it all. Vecna gave him no choice.

The monster got into the minds of anybody who was suffering. He fed off of defeat, distress, heartache... it made him stronger. He tried taking Max, and he almost got her, but Eleven brought her heart back. That didn't change the fact that she did die, though, even if only for a moment. It still gave Vecna that little ounce of power that he needed. The power to open up the rift to the Upside Down, a rift that split Hawkins into quarters... the great "earthquake" of Hawkins, Indiana.

You grieved the loss of Eddie Munson, Chrissy Cunningham, and even basketball player Jason Carver, all while praying desperately to anybody above who would listen that Max would wake up from a coma, miraculously escaping death. You all visited her every single day, none of you dared to leave her alone. Her hospital room, despite being arid and lifeless, was unofficially deemed the spot, all of you gathered there to hang out almost every day as she recovered. You covered the room in posters and knickknacks, left behind toys and board games that you could have simply brought back the next time you came, just to mask the bleak atmosphere. It took half a year, but your prayers were answered, and she did miraculously escape death.

Two years later and her body grows closer and closer to fully healing everyday. Her sight came back faster than her smiles, but eventually, she got those back too.

But the reason for your tears as you sit on the floor in a dark, empty room at this very moment, gripping onto the pick that hung around your neck, wasn't to mourn your best friend Eddie Munson. The pick only helped to nudge a few breaths back into you, reminding you about all of the times Eddie held you in his arms and begged you to keep going, to stay alive, trying desperately to convince you of the truth - that everyone around you loved and needed you here, that you couldn't die, not even if it was at your own hand.

The reason was your mind. The way your thoughts were able to make your heart ache, your body shake, your lungs desperately scratch for air. You felt like you were drowning, and to make things worse, you had no one reason why. It was a mix of everything. Everybody you had mourned in your life, every intrusive thought that had you second guessing reality, every time your mind would flash back to every trauma you've experienced.

You turned on music, started watching tv, writing, dancing, anything to help you to slow your thoughts, make them more bearable. But it didn't work. They just wouldn't stop.

You've coped with this burden for as long as you can remember, Eddie, Dustin and your mother being there for you every step of the way as you were in and out of hospitals, therapy, relapses. When everything with the Upside Down kick-started, you thanked whatever higher being out there that your meds were working like they needed to be. It helped to grow close to the new people around you - Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Joyce... Hell, even the little ones, Will, Lucas, Mike, Eleven, and Max. Your support system was strong. You weren't alone. And while it undeniably helped, nothing was cured.

You made it through every time, and you thought that should have helped, that it should have put everything into perspective. You're alive, most of your loved ones are alive, you've got a long list of people surrounding you who understand exactly what you've been through... yet it only made your stomach churn with guilt. Guilt that you had no right to be depressed over anything, not when things like the Upside Down existed, not when there were worse things out there. But you couldn't help it. You didn't understand how you couldn't even bring yourself to get out of bed a lot of times, but your friends were getting out of bed, getting dressed, showering, existing every single day...

You wondered why you couldn't do that. You wondered why your mind worked so hard against you every second you were awake. You wondered why you were still alive and not Eddie. Not Barb. Not Bob. If you can barely exist, so weak, so cowardly, so ungrateful, but they were giving their all every single day, then why were you the one who made it out alive?

It was eating you from the inside out. The guilt. The survivors guilt. The guilt of just simply feeling. The fleeting guilt of hurting your loved ones if you were to die, though it was quickly washed away by the knowledge that it wouldn't matter, that they would be better off without you, that you didn't matter enough for anybody to be effected by your death.

You hadn't talked about how you were feeling in two years. Since Max almost died, that guilt had gotten so severe that you just couldn't bring yourself to let anything out anymore. So you held it in. You held it in until you were about to burst at the seams. And even then, you couldn't seem to allow yourself to let it out.

But now here you were, alone in the empty room you sat in, the spare bedroom of your house. The only room that had a lock on the door. Usually, your mom, Dustin, and you were respectful of knocking, respectful of each other's privacy... but you couldn't risk it. Not right now. On the floor beside you was a Coke can - the classic, not the new kind - next to a bottle of pills, a note you had carefully hand-written, and your pocket knife. You had this planned for weeks now, and you finally reached your limit. It was time to set the plan into action.

Your grip on Eddie's guitar pick tightened, if that were even possible. Your forearm wiped away at your tears, which deemed to be useless when the tears fell far too quickly. The emptiness you had once felt moments ago was suddenly gone, replaced with the weight of a burden much too heavy for you to bear. A burden of existing with a mind so relentless. Reluctantly, you let go of the pick around your neck and grabbed your knife, popping the blade out and sucking in as much of a breath as you could take.

Without thinking, you pushed down. The cold sting on your wrist made you shudder, eyes closing in relief. Feeling the blood trickling down your wrist had urged you to open your eyes, to take in the sight of every emotion you endured being put on display. The breath you held finally escaped your lungs, and for the first time in days, you noticed your breathing begin to even out. As if you weren't drowning anymore, yet simply floating at the surface of the water you were once drowning in only moments ago.

You continue your actions, the crushing heaviness you felt in your lungs lessening with each cut. When you felt satisfied with your work, you let the blood trickle down and make a mess. That was the most satisfying part of it all. The visible mess and what it represented; hey, this pain is real, it's not all in your head.

You sighed, your tears lessened just a bit as your breathing evened out and you felt more at ease. Your shakey hands slowly but surely untwisted the cap of the bottle of pills, fumbling a bit more than you should have - damned safety cap. Nevertheless, you popped it open and poured about a dozen pills into your hand, but before you could wrap your other hand around the coke can next to you, you heard the front door open. Fuck.

"I just need to grab my bag! It has all the walkie talkies."

Dustin.

"Dude is that really necessary?"

Mike.

"Can you two shut up and hurry? We've got places to be!"

Steve, ending his sentence with a clap. He must have been the last to enter because you heard the front door shut shortly after.

You winced at the sound. The sound of your little brother talking, not knowing you were about to end your life in the next room. The sound of your friends, Mike and Steve, mostly unaware of your mental struggles and completely clueless to your current state.

You heard shuffling footsteps and indistinctive murmuring between the three boys. Dustin shut his door and you let out a short breath knowing they were finally about to leave - except they didn't.

"Wait, Dustin, where's your sibling?"

Your breath caught in your throat as you tried to hold back from sobbing at the mention of you. The tears were hard enough to control as it was.

"I don't know, probably with Robin," Dustin shrugged it off and you hoped it'd end with that, but it didn't.

"But their car is still in the driveway," Steve speculated, "plus, Robin's working."

You heard the footsteps growing closer to you, and the door to your room opened. "They're not in here," Dustin said with worry. He called out your name, but of course he didn't get a response. He knew you were at an all time low right now, he saw it every day, so of course his first response would be to worry.

The door knob on the spare room that you were in wiggled. "The spare bedroom is locked!" Dustin called out, frantically fumbling with it.

Little did you know, Dustin had been updating everyone of your struggles. He couldn't bear the weight of it all alone. Plus, they all cared for you. They wanted you to be okay. They missed you. They loved you. So they tried to help in every way possible.

"You don't think they're... like, cut-"

Steve cut Mike's words short, "I got a paper clip. Let me open it," he got closer to the door, "step back with Mike, okay Dustin?"

"Okay," you heard your little brother's voice crack and you could tell he was on the verge of tears. You, however, were way past tears. Your sobs had you almost gasping for air as you tried desperately to hold them back, but you know they'd heard them. Quickly, you reached for the bottle of pills before the door swung open.

"Shit," you whispered when the bottle of pills tumbled over.

Steve was quick to hide you from the kid's line of sight with his body. He looked at you with sad eyes, talking in a breath as you frowned at him with guilt.

He turned around, "wait out here," he instructed the boys and turned to face you. He slowly walked closer before sitting next to you on the ground.

He wrapped his arms around you gently as you finally let yourself cry. Sobs ripped from your chest as the tears flooded, and you knew his shirt was already tear-stained. Steve held you long enough for you to finally catch a breath before he pulled away to assess the current situation.

He gently wrapped his hand around your wrist, maneuvering your arm so that he could see the cuts. "How many did you take?" His eyes scanned the still bleeding cuts as he asked about the pills.

"None," you told him, "the bottle tipped over," you frowned, "I made a mess..."

"My love..." His eyes glossed as tears threatened to fall from the corners of his eyes. "You're okay, don't worry about the mess. Let's just get you cleaned up, alright?"

You shook, more than you were before, as your sobs evened out slowly. Steve stood up, helping you slowly get on your feet, and he guided you to the bathroom.

He helped to pick you up and you sat on the counter, but the movement made you realize just how groggy you were starting to feel. You felt tired - exhausted, even - and almost fell over, but Steve held you up. "I got you, baby. You're okay. Stay awake for me, alright?"

He grabbed a wash cloth and wet it before guiding your arm under the water. He did his best to be gentle with you as he helped to clean your cuts. Finally, he wrapped a towel around your arm, instructing you to hold it there as he searched the medicine cabinet for some bandages.

"Aha," he pronounced when he found the bandage wrap that he was looking for. He got some antibiotic cream and covered your now-clean wounds, wrapping the bandage just tight enough around your wrist to help the bleeding slow down and protect the cuts from worsening.

"There. All clean," he smiled at you as he held your wrist in his hand while his other hand covered yours. You were much too tired to try and fake a weak smile for him.

"Now, do you want to talk? Or would you rather watch some movies or something?" Steve gave you options, and none of them included leaving you alone. "Dustin and Mike are here, too. I can call Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, Max... Anybody you want around. We all talk if you want, or we can order a bunch of pizza and binge your favorite show on Netflix."

He rambled more and more options for you to choose from, proving that he would really do pretty much anything to comfort you in this moment. You sighed, but a real smile actually seemed to form on your lips - albeit small, but it was there.

"I think... I'm really tired, Steve..." you confessed, really only wanting to sleep. Steve frowned a little.

"Let's get you to bed, then," he rubbed circles on the back of your hand soothingly. "I'll let the boys know. They won't mind playing some video games or something while we take a nap."

"We...?" you questioned hesitantly, suddenly feeling a bit nervous, but too tired to care enough.

"If that's alright with you? I'm a little sleepy too," he smiled gently.

You only nodded in response.

He'd assumed you didn't really want to talk to Dustin or Mike right now, and that assumption was correct, so he went to update them on the situation and they both understood.

When Steve returned to the bathroom, he helped you down from the counter and lead you to your room, practically tucking you in. He climbed into the bed next to you and the two of you faced each other.

"I think you're fantastic," he said to you, "and you mean a lot to me. You mean a lot to all of us. Especially Dustin," he smiled. "That boy would die for you in a heartbeat."

You frowned slightly, taking in his words as much as possible as your eyes got heavier. "I'm sorry," you apologized.

"No, love, don't apologize. You've got nothing to be sorry for. Pinky promise."

It was a joke between the two of you. The first time you really spoke to each other, you made him pinky promise to keep his end of a bargain - you buy the drinks and he doesn't talk about his hair for the rest of the week. It was funny, and neither of you expected it to mean anything, but it stuck.

"Okay," you smiled at him.

"There's that beautiful smile," Steve tucked your hair behind your ear, careful not to startle you.

"We need you here," he finally began, "you light up the room every time. You're our light. You're funny and kind. You're amazing. You've gone through so so much. You're allowed to be sad. To cry. But please, talk to us when you need to. Please stay."

Steve's words resonated with you, so much so that a small tear escaped from the corner of your eye. "Okay," you repeated from the last time.

And before he could say anything else, your eyes closed and you were asleep.

With him there, you finally got a genuinely good sleep for the first time in a long while.

When you finally woke up from your nap, Steve wasn't in the bed anymore. You frowned slightly, until you heard his voice bantering with Mike and Dustin's in the living room. A sigh escaped your lips as you rolled out of the bed and headed into the living room.

Dustin was the first to notice, not bothering to pause whatever video game was on the TV as he dashed towards you. His arms wrapped around you immediately, "you're awake!!"

A small smile formed on your lips as you pat his head and hugged him back, "I'm awake."

"I love you so much," Dustin mumbled against your shoulder, tightening his grip on you. "Please stay."

Your hug tightened around him this time before you pulled away and looked into his eyes, "I'm not going anywhere, Dustin."

Mike stared from afar, his attention on you and making sure you were okay had occupied his mind, any attention towards the video game he was playing with Dustin was lost.

Steve made his way over to you, Dustin going back to the couch to let the two of you speak. "How are you feeling?" Steve questioned.

"I don't know," you admitted, "but I finally got some actual sleep for the first time in a while." A weak chuckle escaped your lips.

"That's good..." Steve ran his fingers through his hair, "you know, uh... well, Dustin isn't the only one who really needs you here. I mean, Mike was lost trying to process what had happened... he was terrified. And, well, I..." he stopped himself there, inhaling deeply and averting his eyes from yours to the ground.

His hand rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, his eyes meeting yours again as he continued, "I can't lose you."

Your breath caught in your throat as you studied his eyes and took the time to process what Steve had just told you.

Before you could say anything, he continued his words in a frantic effort to explain himself, "I, uh, I know we weren't ever very close.. I mean, before I started hanging out with your brother, I was... kinda a shitty dude," he let out a breathy chuckle, "and you were so shy, you hung out with Eddie, who didn't exactly get along with my clique, and..." he paused, letting out a deep sigh before continuing his ramble, "what I mean to say is, letting Dustin drag me to your house that night to help him explain all of this upside down shit to you... Well, it led me to you, so..."

You raised an eyebrow at him, the corner of your lips curved upwards, fully understanding what he was saying, but teased him anyways. "So....?" You pushed for him to finish what he was saying.

"So, I guess maybe I should thank the little shit," a breathy laugh escaped his lips as he joked with you.

You giggled quietly and put both of your hands on either side of his face, locking eye contact with him. Judging by the way your cheeks burned, the blush on your face was prevalent, you were sure. His left hand went to your waist, pulling you in a little closer as his right hand gently curved around the back of your neck.

"Can I kiss you?"

You nodded in response, "Yes," you whispered.

He leaned down and brought his lips to yours, kissing you slowly. He had to force himself to break the kiss before he was in too deep to stop, the closed-lip, dopey smile on his face as he looked at you would have made you think that he was in love with you, if you didn't know better.

Or maybe, you were on the right track. Either way, you knew you had a friend in him, and everybody that you cared about truly did care about you, too. You finally felt safe for the first time in a very long time.

divider credits: @cafekitsune @silkholland

[thestobingirlie]

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair

Characters: Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler, Steve Harrington

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dead Steve Harrington, (for now) - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Grief/Mourning, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Sibling Relationship

Summary:

Battles, bruises, and lost big brothers.

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

The Man That I Could Be

by ohstars

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Character: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Nancy Wheeler Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Stranger Things 3, Post-Battle of Starcourt (Stranger Things), Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Angst, Sexuality Crisis, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington-centric, Fix-It, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Grief/Mourning, Non-Canonical Character Death, but it's not a main character, Everyone Has Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Secret Relationship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, but not, Break Up, Shotgunning, Recreational Drug Use, Getting Back Together, still figuring out the story so pay attention to the tags, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cigarettes, Alcohol, lots of smoking, light mentions of alcohol, they drink but passively, steve has a nicotine addiction, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Unreliable Narrator, Period-Typical Homophobia, Vecna's Curse (Stranger Things), Eddie Munson Lives, Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 Rewrite, Stranger Things 4 Fix-It, Eventual Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Eventual Smut, but that could change, Panic Attacks, Disabled Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Sibling Relationship, Secrets, steve has an issue with making everything a secret, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Misunderstandings based on reputations, gets heavier than anticipated, Past Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Underage Rape/Non-con, referenced once in chapter nineteen, not a major theme Words: 325,968 Chapters: 26/26

Summary

"Steve Harrington isn't straight. It's been a few weeks since he sat on that bathroom floor at Starcourt with Robin, where she shared her biggest secret with him and unintentionally unlocked an entirely new side of Steve. Since he’s had to come to terms with being open to exploring that side of him, but he's finally acknowledged that he's most likely, definitely, without a doubt into guys." -- After coming to terms that he may be queer, Steve Harrington does a little exploration on his own and meets the one and only Eddie Munson. Just as things are going well and accepted the fact he's falling for Eddie in their own little bubble, Steve's world is shaken by a tragedy he can't quite talk about. And when the dust settles and he's nearly ready to put the pieces back together, his worlds collide when he realizes his Eddie is the same Eddie playing D&D with the kids. The same Eddie who's now wanted for murder thanks to another upside down monster. How will he save the day when he can barely focus watching his ex mingle with his monster fighting team?

[uglynavel]

Update for my Harringroveson fic (Creature In My Mind)!!

Chapter 1 has been completely revamped/rewritten!!! Chapter 2 has been posted as well!

Creature In My Mind (10352 words) by MariWolfe Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Billy Hargrove/Eddie Munson, Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Characters: Billy Hargrove, Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Henry Creel | One | Vecna Additional Tags: Disabled Billy Hargrove, billy gets vecna'ed instead of max, Good Sibling Billy Hargrove, Love Triangle but not really, Mutual Pining, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Requited Unrequited Love, steve harrington gets chronic migraines, billy has chronic pain, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Protective Eddie Munson, Protective Steve Harrington, Susan tries to be a decent stepmom, Minor Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm Summary: For some reason the universe had decided to give Billy Hargrove a second chance at life and he'd be a dumbass to waste it. He didn't come out completely unscathed having to deal with multiple heath issues all while trying to finish school as the entire school and town treats him like a freak. Other than that it looks like luck is finally on his side until he starts being tormented by nightmares and headaches. CHAPTER 1 HAS BEEN REVAMPED AND REWRIITEN!!

[rigginsstreet]

Sometimes I get so mad that Billy antis watched season 2 where Lucas stalked Max and then he, Dustin and Mike got offended and angry when she told them to stop then watched Billy while he implies to Max that his dad beat him for having of color friends and warned her not to hang out with Lucas after he watched Lucas follow her for an entire day (I would also tell a younger sibling to not hang around with someone who yells at you for setting personal boundaries and makes out that you're a bad person for not wanting those boundaries violated but that's just me) and decided that Neil isn't racist and Billy is? I don't see any of them complaining about the fact that Lucas was made a villain for half of season 4 or that someone tried to murder him with their bare hands or that a guy was sent to r*pe and murder Erica. No one called out Mike for his racist jokes in S1/2 they don't complain about the fact that Dustin is often overly rude to him or how they thought he was weird for taking what happened in s2 to heart and changing how he treated Max offscreen. Why didn't we get to see Max and Lucas' relationship develop but we get Mike losing it over Eleven developing interest in being something other than the girl locked in his basement. No Billy yelling at Lucas after he accidentally helped Steve kidnap Max and pretending that he would run over him is the worst thing anyone has ever done to Lucas. We all know the Duffer brothers doubled down on Billy being a racist after everyone called them out for Lucas's storylines and how they made him behave in season 2. It wasn't exactly subtle timing. Sorry for ranting.

i dont know that anyone was out here tryna rape erica. granted i did not watch season 4 but.... i dont know that that was what was happening

but regardless of that, its lack of media literacy on the audience's part. everyone has failed english and fully bought into the notion that so long as a protagonist says its correct, then so it shall be. like this is precisely why so often old media is looked back on and we're like "oh, hey, this was kinda fucked up actually". its perspective. and the stranger things audience lacks the hell out of it.

contrary to popular belief, the writers are not god. and you actually have to take into consideration WHY they chose to frame things the way they did. billy is a character thats written because they needed a villain. they literally said themselves they wanted a "human villain". and it was supposed to be steve but that failed so they created billy. and thus decided to put all this shit on him, despite it actually making no narrative sense and you dont need a microscope to see it. like its laid out plain as day. there is such a lack of follow through and blatant contradictions between how billy is meant to be viewed and what is actually taking place in his interactions with other characters. antis are just willfully ignorant. must be nice going through life that stupid but i dont share that experience so fuck me i guess.

[made-ofmemories]

When Life Tears You Asunder, But You’re Not Alone

(Chapter 20/20) - epilogue

General Warnings/tags: Found family, implied Wayne/Susan in future chapters, Max & Eddie have a sibling like relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort, Lumax and Steddie make appearances throughout the chapters but the primary focus is on the familial bonds between characters

Chapter specific warnings/tags: Steddie, Lumax, Susan x Wayne, corroded coffin, just pure fluff from start to finish

Word count: 3064

Summary: Billy was a pretty shitty brother, there was no denying it, but Max still finds herself mourning for the sibling relationship they never got to have. With him gone she thinks so are her chances of ever having the big brother figure she’s always wanted. Then in a turn of events that she never saw coming, Eddie Munson waltzes into her life. Or more like, almost runs her over.

Notes: Here it is, the final chapter. This is a little epilogue for you set a few years after the original 19 chapters. We decided to post a little early to make up for last weeks later chapter.

The detail of Max’s dream car was taken from the runaway Max book.

I do recommend reading on AO3 for optimal reading experience. We’ve been working on this fic for so many months now and it really has been a labor of love. It has been a pleasure sharing it with you and if you could spare a moment to leave a comment (even just a single word or a key smash) it would make our days.

Co-written with the wonderful @ladydorian05 and crossposted on AO3.

Series masterlist

-------------------------------------

Max is sitting at the kitchen table when Eddie walks in. The space is a lot bigger than what either of them had been used to in their respective trailers, just one of the perks of the little house Susan and Wayne had managed to afford. Eddie hasn’t lived here for a while now, but he still has a key and visits when he can.

Most of his time now is spent at the apartment just outside of Hawkins that he shares with Steve and as of the past couple of months, Robin, who occupies the spare room they have to have to avoid people's very correct suspicions that they’re anything more than just a couple of dudes living together. 

“It just makes sense, I drive her to college every day and she spends most of her time here anyway.” Steve had explained, though he really didn’t need to, Eddie was never going to say no to him. Robin was important to Steve and she’d grown increasingly closer to Eddie over the years too, Eddie was more than happy to have her around.

It’s not much, but they make it work. It puts Steve and Robin closer to college and Eddie is grateful for any distance he can put between himself and Hawkins no matter how small.

“Hey,” Eddie greets, taking a seat opposite Max who is tapping her fingers against the wooden table between them.

She doesn’t say anything, just slides a paper envelope across the table.

“What’s this?” He asks, picking it up and flipping it over in his hands, it’s still sealed.

“It’s from MIT,” Max explains.

Her friends had received acceptance letters from their schools of choice over the past month or so, including Dustin who had gotten his MIT letter a week earlier. She was happy for them all, but being the last one had only made the wait for her own response that much more nerve wracking.

“Oh shit.”

“Yup.”

“You should open it.” He holds it out towards her, but she refuses to take it pushing it back in his direction instead.

“You do it.”

“Max- I, I really don’t think-”

“Please?”

Eddie sighs, “Alright,” He says, ripping open the envelope. He pauses before he pulls out the letter enclosed inside and meets Max’s eyes from across the table, “Are you sure?” She nods and he starts reading. He lets his expression drop, his brow furrowing and expression morphing into one of disappointment and sympathy.

“What is it?” Max asks frantically, “Is it bad?”

“Dear Miss Mayfield,” He begins reading aloud, “We are delighted to offer you admission to our mechanical engineering program-”

“No way.” She cuts him off in her excitement as she jumps up, rushing to read over Eddie’s shoulder, “That can’t be right, I… I got in?”

“Yup.” Eddie says with a shit-eating grin spanning from ear to ear.

“You asshole! You made me think they rejected me!” She scolds with a punch to the shoulder, but it’s impossible to wipe the smile from her face, “Oh my god I have to call Lucas, and Dustin, and, and- oh my god.” 

“Congratulations, Red!” Eddie calls after her, laughing as she rushes off in her excitement, likely towards the nearest phone.

Max is still on the phone when Wayne and Susan return home. Wayne is carrying a bag of groceries which he sets on the kitchen counter with a greeting to Eddie as he passes.

“It’s nice to see you, Eds.” Susan adds, letting her hand brush against the back of his shoulder as she passes. Eddie returns her warm smile with one of his own. 

“Someone sounds excited.” Wayne says from the other side of the kitchen when the sound of Max’s chatter carries into the room.

“This came in the mail this morning.” Eddie can’t hide the smile on his face, he’s already read it at least 5 times since Max ran off to the other room to use the phone and he hands it over to Susan now so she and Wayne can see for themselves. 

Wayne crosses the kitchen and places a hand on the small of Susan’s back as he leans in to read the letter. They’ve been together for the better part of 2 years now and Eddie still isn’t used to them being so… domestic. He doesn’t mind it though, Wayne seems happier than he has been in a long time.

“She got in!” Wayne exclaims with a chuckle at the same time Susan lets out a squeal of excitement.

“What’s going on?” Max asks, rounding the corner only to immediately be dragged into a suffocating hug by the pair of them as soon as she’s in sight. 

Susan catches Eddie’s attention over Max’s shoulder, gesturing for him to join in and who is he to refuse a family group hug? He practically throws himself into the mix and Max lets out a little “oomph” at the impact.

“As much as I’d love to stay here and be smothered to death,” Max lets out a grunt as she tries to wiggle her way out of the embrace, “We’re going to the diner.” She says looking to Eddie, who is hearing of these plans for the first time. 

“We are?”

“Yeah, the others are going to meet us there, come on!” She explains, already pulling on her shoes.

He knew the party had agreed to celebrate once all the kids, he really was going to have to stop calling them kids now that over half of them are legal adults, had gotten their acceptance letters he just hadn’t realized it’d be happening so quickly. 

“Have fun, we’ll celebrate when you get back, ok?” Susan says, still clutching onto the acceptance letter, Eddie thinks she’d probably frame it if Max would let her.

“Ok.” She calls back, already out the door, leaving Eddie jogging to catch up.

“Hey!” He exclaims when she swipes his keys from his hand.

“I’m driving.” She beams, rushing towards the van before he can stop her.

The diner is surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon, at least it was quiet until Max, Eddie, and 8 of their friends showed up and overtook the booth in the corner of the room that they usually occupied. How Max was able to get all of them in the same place at the same time so quickly, Eddie has no idea. Some days he struggles to even organize movie nights with Steve and Robin and they both live with him.

Eddie finds himself on the vinyl bench that squeaks against his jeans every time he moves, wedged between Steve and Gareth. Gareth had become an official member of the party after he and Will had started dating. He had technically graduated the year previous but chose to take a year out of school, he’d be attending the same community college as Steve and Robin in the fall. Max sits opposite them on a chair upholstered with the same creaky fake leather next to Lucas. 

It’s going to be strange, once they’ve all gone off to do their own thing. Gareth, Robin and Steve are the only ones staying, the rest of them are going to be scattered across the country which means no more impromptu diner visits, no more movie nights with the whole gang crammed into their tiny little apartment, no more D&D sessions held in Mike Wheelers armpit of a basement. He’s happy for them, he really is, but a selfish part of him wishes they’d stay forever. Especially Max.

“Hey,” Max says, kicking his leg under the table to get his attention, “You ok?”

“Yeah.” He says with a smile. The others are still chattering unaware of the exchange, their loud voices and laughter drowning out their quieter conversation.

“You were thinking too loud.” She explains, face twisted with skepticism. She doesn’t believe him.

“I’m ok, I’ll be ok,  promise.” He assures her and he knows it’s true.

--------------

Summer brings with it warmer weather and conflicted feelings. The pride of watching the kids graduate and begin preparing for college mixed with the sadness of knowing they’ll be leaving sooner than any of them are ready for. 

Eddie barely holds it together at the sight of Max sitting cross-legged on the floor of her room as Lucas helps her sort through her things. He nearly breaks when he sees her packing up her denim battle vest in the college box, she’s accumulated quite the collection of patches and pins since the Christmas of ‘86.

He knows he’s not alone, Susan doesn’t even try to hide her tears, and Steve is barely holding it together most of the time. He gets it, Steve has spent the better part of 5 years looking out for the little twerps and suddenly it feels as though they don’t need him anymore even if that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Most of Max’s summer break is spent at the garage with Eddie after Mr. Carson offers her a part-time summer job. She loves it, finally getting to do more than run silly errands and hand over tools to the people doing the actual work and in her spare time she helps Eddie work on his little side project that lives in the corner of the garage for most of the summer. He refuses to tell her who it belongs to, just that he’s fixing it up for an old friend. She can’t imagine any of Eddie’s friends driving something like this, a cherry red ‘68 camaro Z/28 with two thick white stripes on the hood. 

It’s a week before she’s due to leave for Massachusetts and she and Eddie are at the end of their shift when he tosses the keys at her from across the garage.

“Want to take her for a test drive, make sure everything is working ok?” He asks gesturing with his head to the Camaro, and she’s in the driver’s seat before he’s even finished the question. They never let her drive the customers’ cars, especially not ones that look like this. 

Eddie hops into the passenger seat just in time to see her grin when she turns the key in the ignition and listens to the engine roar to life. 

“This is awesome.” She beams, even though all she’s done is ease the car out onto the street. 

“Go left here.” Eddie directs, leading them onto some of the quieter roads on the outskirts of town. 

The smile never leaves her face the entire time that they spend cruising along the roads in the evening sun, following Eddie’s directions.

“I have something to tell you.” Eddie blurts out about 10 minutes into their journey to nowhere in particular. 

“Oh god, I knew it was too good to be true,” Max groans, “You let me drive the car to soften the blow when you tell me you’re dying or whatever.”

“Jesus, Max. That’s where your brain goes?” Eddie chuckles, “It’s a good thing.” 

“Ok…”

“Corroded Coffin got a record deal.”

“What?!” She explains, her head whipping to look at him and the car swerving into the road so quickly that Eddie has to reach over and correct the steering before they end up destroying all of their hard work, “Are you being serious?”

They’d been working hard lately, writing new original music, traveling more, doing more gigs, and Max could always be found in the front row. Eddie had even cut his hours at the garage to accommodate for his music. They deserved it, Max still never saw it coming.

“Yeah, Red. I’m serious. We’ll have to move, only temporary to start with, but eventually.” He shrugs, ”Steve’s going to stay here for now, but he’s going to try transfer schools for the last year of his EMT program before he starts his paramedic training and internship. Wayne has Susan now, once Nancy has graduated Robin will probably follow her wherever she wants to go, you kids are going off to college. There’s nothing keeping me here anymore.”

“Oh my god, you better come tour in Massachusetts so I can brag to everyone that I know the band.”

“Sure thing, Red.” He smiles.

“Who knows?”

“Susan, Wayne, Steve and now you. I’m going to tell Dustin and the others tomorrow.” He explains and Max nods in understanding, “Oh, take the next right.”

She frowns, a little confused but takes the turn anyway, “This isn’t the way back to the garage.” She knows this road like the back of her hand.

“We aren’t going to the garage, we’re dropping the car off.”

“Dropping it off where?”

“With its owner.”

She’s still suspicious, she knows him well enough to know when he’s up to something but she can’t figure out what it is just yet so she goes along with it. 

“Alright what’s going on?” She turns to him, putting the car in park where Eddie had instructed her to pull over, on the driveway of their home. Steve’s car is there too, something that wouldn’t usually raise suspicions but something is definitely going on and she wouldn’t be surprised if Eddie had roped him into it somehow.

“It’s yours.” He states simply.

“What is?”

“The car, it’s yours.” He clarifies, “If you want it, I know it’s no barracuda and I didn’t know if getting a camaro would be too much, y’know because of Billy and all but-”

“You’re shitting me.” 

“I knew it, I should have asked before buying it, but it was the only car worth repairing  in the lot and-”

“Eddie. Stop talking, I love it!” She assures him, taking off her seat belt so she can launch herself over the center console and pull him into a slightly awkward hug.

“We all chipped in.” He explains once she’s let him go and nods to the front door where Wayne, Susan, and Steve are standing. So that’s why Steve is here, “You sure it’s ok?”

“It’s perfect.” She says, still not entirely convinced she isn’t dreaming.

“I’m still going to get you that barracuda,” He promises, “Once Corroded Coffin makes it big.” 

Watching her and the rest of the kids go that August may have been one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do, even if he knew they were leaving to follow their dreams, even if he knew he could always keep in touch with them on the phone, even if he knew that they will see each other again. But those are all logical facts, and right at that moment, Eddie was anything but a logical, rational thinking being. Steve is the first to break, Eddie doesn’t hold back his tears for long after that.

 It’s three years later in the summer of 92, when Eddie and Steve arrive in a 70’s purple Plymouth Barracuda to the party’s annual Hakwins reunion. 

“Holy fuck! No way!” Max shouts when they get out of the car and Eddie throws her the keys.

“Yes way. I promised, didn’t I.”

“Holy shit! Thank you, Eddie!” She runs to him and jumps into his awaiting arms.

“Anything for my little sister!” Eddie spins them around before letting her shoes touch the ground again, “Come on, help us with our luggage before you take it for a ride.”

They unload their bags from the back seats and the suitcases from the trunk between the three of them.

“Why did you guys bring so much stuff?” Max asks, setting down a black duffle bag with a huff of exertion.

“Steve’s skin and hair care products.”

“Yeah, sure, blame it on me.” Steve leans over closer to Max and cups a hand around his mouth as he faux-whispers loud enough for Eddie to hear very clearly whilst pretending he’s being stealthy about it, “He packed three more suitcases, had to convince him to leave them in the tour bus.”

“He made me leave my sweetheart on the bus, can you believe it!?”

“I’m more surprised you went along with it.”

“It was that or leaving my stay-in comfortable clothes.”

“Babe, two weeks, it’s just two weeks until you’re reunited with your other sweetheart for the Indianapolis dates.” Steve assures him with a tone that screams ‘long-suffering boyfriend’. Max has missed this, listening to them bicker over the phone just isn’t the same.

“Two agonizing weeks.” Eddie dramatically places an arm over his eyes.

“Did you bring the tickets?”

“Never doubt me, Red. Backstage passes and all that.” Eddie says digging in his pocket and producing a lanyard which he dangles in front of her.

There’s a new ring on his left hand, or one she doesn’t recognize at least, but she only gets a quick glimpse before he’s stuffing the lanyard back into his pocket. He usually tells her when he gets new jewelry over their weekly phone calls. 

Wayne and Susan greet them from the kitchen when the three of them walk through the front door, arms filled with Steve and Eddie’s luggage. Eddie gets enveloped by his uncle’s arms first and then Susan’s.

They’ve been timing and organizing their vacation days so that the four of them, well five with Steve, could spend some time together before Corroded Coffin’s first concert date in Indianapolis and Lucas had promised to stop by for dinner later that night after his shift at his summer job.

Max helps them move their things into the room Wayne and Susan always have ready for Eddie. She’s about to leave, let them unpack and have a bit of privacy when Steve practically shoves Eddie her way.

“Go, have fun driving your dream car for the first time.” Steve smiles at them, “I can unpack our stuff. Just be careful with the speed limit, Hopper may still be the Chief, but if another officer pulls you over, you will be getting a ticket.”

“Yes, mom.” They reply in unison.

With a reminder from Susan to not be late for dinner, they jump in the car. Max takes them down the same road they took when Eddie gave her the keys to her Camaro for the first time. After she’s had enough, for the day at least, of speeding up and down the empty road, she drives them to their spot in the quarry right in front of the water.

“Shit, this brings back memories.” Eddie muses, stretching his back as he climbs out of the passenger side.

“You talk like an old man,” Max snorts, “we were here just before I left for college a couple of years ago.”

“An eternity ago!” he exclaims, dramatically throwing his hands in the air.

“Come sit your ass down, you drama queen.” He takes the place she’s patting to her right, “Tell me, what have you been up to since we last talked on the phone like… what? 6 hours ago?”

“7, I called you when we were at the gas station.” He tells her, “Got recognized by a couple kids as I was leaving, well teens really, it was pretty cool either way, I’m never going to get used to that.”

They catch up on everything they didn’t feel comfortable sharing through a phone, about how things are going between Max and Lucas, and all the little things and juicy tidbits from their lives, in the serene space that has been theirs for years now.

“So… Are you going to tell me where you got that new ring? You told me about the snake one with red gems for eyes but you didn’t mention this one.” 

“Well, that’s because I didn’t get it myself,” Eddie says, toying with the new addition on his left ring finger, “Steve gave it to me.” his cheeks redden as he admires how the gem in the center of it reflects the light from the afternoon sun.

“That’s nice of him, he really knows the kind of jewelry you like… wait a minute, let me see it,” she grabs his wrist and pulls his hand closer to her so that she can inspect the ring. A silver band with a black stone.

“Hey! Careful with the merchandise!”

“No fucking way! Damn it, Steve! This means Wayne and I owe my mom 50 bucks!”

“You guys still remember that bet!?”

“Of course we do! We’ve been waiting for this to happen since Steve followed you halfway across the country.”

“It might be frowned upon by the law, but fuck the law and neither of us is really religious so,” Eddie shrugles his shoulders. “It's fairly recent we haven’t decided if we’ll have a party, some kind of made-up ceremony or whatever.”

“I’m happy for you guys,” She smiles sweetly at him.

“Thanks, Red. I’m happy too.”

“Good.” She says, stares out at the water for a second then turns to him with a frown when something occurs to her, “Just don’t tell mom yet, I don’t have 50 bucks to spare right now.”

“Not to worry, we’ll make the big announcement when we decide what to do.” he laughs, “But on that note, we better go back, it’s getting late.”

Max takes them the long way home, making the most of the late summer sun. Dinner is already on the table when they walk in. Steve is in the kitchen with Lucas, pouring out 6 glasses of water, and Max doesn’t even stop to toe off her shoes before she goes to greet her boyfriend. Steve shakes his head and gives them a fond smile as she drags Lucas outside to see the barracuda parked in the drive. Her ‘cuda.  

Dinner is a noisy affair, excited chatter overlapping as everyone takes their turn to catch up with each other after months apart.

And everything in the world is good.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

Completed Works

All of My Love: Steddie (Steve POV) || ~1.1k words || rating M || cws: getting high || It's my boys being soft and falling in love over a week of Led Zeppelin || ao3

Confessions: Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~2.3k words || rating: T || cws: post-vecna, post-stancy, angst, robin buckley just being herself, not nancy wheeler friendly || ao3

Gentle Noise: Steve & Max (Steve POV) || ~1.6k words || rating T || cws: implied child neglect and abuse

Just the Girls: Robin and Max (Robin POV) || ~1.6k words || rating T || tags: depression, child neglect, platonic stobin, max and steve have a sibling relationship

Hear Me Out, Keep Me Guessing: Steddie (Eddie POV) || 2.5k words || rating T || tags: alternate first meeting, pre-S4, fluff and angst, Steve is the best babysitter || ao3

Immortal Eddie Munson (bittersweet): Steddie (Eddie POV) || 373 words || rating G || cws: none || As the Party ages around him, Eddie's reminded of how much he's loved.

Immortal Eddie Munson (hurt/no comfort): Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~1.6k words || rating E || cws: DEAD DOVE. All CWs are listed at the top of the fic PLEASE do not ignore them || Eddie watches his loved ones age and eventually leave him behind. This is an alternative telling to bittersweet.

Stuck: Steddie (multi POVs) || ~1.5k words || rating T || cws: dissociation, unlabeled neurodivergencies and mental illness || Steve and Eddie struggle to recover after a chaotic day with The Party || ao3

Tiger Club: Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~6k words || rating: M || tags: meet cute, single dad steve harrington, dustin and max are twins, teacher eddie munson, eddie and chrissy are best friends, fluff and humor || Unaligned pick up times force Eddie to meet all of the Harrington twins' family members except for their elusive Dad, and he's totally normal about it. Ao3

WIPS

The Babysitter Chronicles: Steve and The Party 5+1 || rating: T || ao3

A Desperate Fool: Steddie (Eddie POV) || rating: M || cws: hurt/comfort, break-up fic, rockstar!eddie regular guy!steve, Modern AU || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven || Part Eight || Part Nine || Part 10 || Part 11 || Part 12 || ao3 (Homesick)

Steddie Microfic Master List

#QueenieWritesStories

Current brain soup ingredients include

Steve Harrington (Steddie)

Formula One (Carlando)

The Magnus Archives (JonMartin)

Lord of the Rings

The Locked Tomb trilogy (Griddlehark)

The Clone Wars (501st shenanigans)

Stormlight Archives (shakadolin)

Percy Jackson

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Over the Garden Wall

Arcane

What We do in the Shadows

Our Flag Means Death

Anything N.K. Jemisin writes EVER

[cavinginhisfvce]

a snippet from a drabble that totally spiraled out of control and is turning into a full blown fic.

loosely based off the quote

"They never want to discuss what triggered you. Just how you reacted."

it was supposed to be 500 words, max. but now, im 2k+ words in with no end in sight.

[reineyday]

Not to mention, Billy has actively done more for Max than Steve ever has. Realistically, Steve hasn't done anything except disrupt a fight with Billy 9which Max had to finish) and kind of bumble around in her proximity without having much direct influence on her or what happens to her. Not in the way the likes of El, Lucas and even Dustin have.

Billy spent years bearing the brunt of Neil's wrath for her. Years taking the punishments for her actions, especially actions she knew would get Billy in trouble. Billy spent years ferrying her around like a cab service with nothing in return. Billy suffered his possession alone even though he had to have an inkling Max was involved in something weird. Billy only begged her for help when he was literally being cooked alive in a sauna.

Billy died for her. Died saving her and her friends when none of them did anything remotely close like that for him, even when they were basically confirming he was possessed. Nobody tried to save him then. They were only concerned with stopping him.

sorry anon im replying late lol. i believe this is a message in response to this post about people calling steve the brother max deserves.

UH i mean, i wouldnt understate what steve's done for her emotionally. like yeah she had to finish a fight steve technically started (which is a hilarious way to put it btw and totally true besides) but i think he was an "adult" figure that made her feel safe on a night that was scary af, and billy, for whatever reason, was definitely terrorizing her and her friends and making her feel unsafe at the start of s2.

as a kid who's just moved to a new town and found out monsters exist and almost got eaten by one in the bus before steve stepped in, he's definitely an important older brother figure for her. my argument is mostly that calling steve the brother max deserves is snubbing billy in a way i cant imagine anyone with siblings would ever do or say.

like yeah steve and max went through Some Stuff, but max and billy have also lived in the same house with neil and theyve seen each other at home, by virtue of the fact that theyre a family unit. they know stuff about each other, where they came from and who their parents are, that other people dont know and wont ever know in the same way because the knowledge they have is first-hand. their sibling relationship matters, even if it's clearly in a bad place in s2, and as someone with siblings, i could never imagine saying that someone else would be the sibling i deserved and disregarding the ones i have, even if they treat me badly. there's always going to be unspoken solidarity there.

i think that solidarity and the fact that billy and max were clearly on better terms at the start of s3 are why she tried so hard to save him, and grieved him so much that vecna targeted her. and yeah i do agree that no one tried to save him the way they tried to save will, which isnt fair to either billy or max.

(re: your other points, it's never confirmed in the show's canon how long they were siblings and exactly how much responsibility billy had over max, so as much as i hc those things and enjoy exploring them in fic, i try to keep it to canon to be as accurate as possible in the case of antis lol. all of that is just implied, and unfortunately implications arent enough proof for people approaching billy from a bad faith angle. alas.)

[steddieunderdogfics]

The Men We've Become (series) by ohstars

@oh-stars

Rating: Explicit

370,749 words, 5/? works

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings

Tags from First Fic in Series: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Stranger Things 3, Post-Battle of Starcourt (Stranger Things), Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Angst, Sexuality Crisis, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington-centric, Fix-It, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Grief/Mourning, Non-Canonical Character Death, but it's not a main character, Everyone Has Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Secret Relationship, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, but not, Break Up, Shotgunning, Recreational Drug Use, Getting Back Together, still figuring out the story so pay attention to the tags, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cigarettes, Alcohol, lots of smoking, light mentions of alcohol, they drink but passively, steve has a nicotine addiction, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Unreliable Narrator, Period-Typical Homophobia, Vecna's Curse (Stranger Things), Eddie Munson Lives, Stranger Things 4 Vol. 2 Rewrite, Stranger Things 4 Fix-It, Eventual Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Eventual Smut, but that could change, Panic Attacks, Disabled Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Steve Harrington & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Sibling Relationship, Secrets, steve has an issue with making everything a secret, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Misunderstandings based on reputations, gets heavier than anticipated, Past Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Underage Rape/Non-con, referenced once in chapter nineteen, not a major theme

Summary from first fic in series:

"Steve Harrington isn't straight. It's been a few weeks since he sat on that bathroom floor at Starcourt with Robin, where she shared her biggest secret with him and unintentionally unlocked an entirely new side of Steve. Since he’s had to come to terms with being open to exploring that side of him, but he's finally acknowledged that he's most likely, definitely, without a doubt into guys." -- After coming to terms that he may be queer, Steve Harrington does a little exploration on his own and meets the one and only Eddie Munson. Just as things are going well and accepted the fact he's falling for Eddie in their own little bubble, Steve's world is shaken by a tragedy he can't quite talk about. And when the dust settles and he's nearly ready to put the pieces back together, his worlds collide when he realizes his Eddie is the same Eddie playing D&D with the kids. The same Eddie who's now wanted for murder thanks to another upside down monster. How will he save the day when he can barely focus watching his ex mingle with his monster fighting team?

Thanks for the rec! This recommendation is apart of our Writer's Wednesday! All of the recs today are written by @oh-stars. Want to nominate an author? Fill out this form!

You can submit fic recs to our asks or the submission box!

[qprstobin]

With the whole sibling dynamic of Nancy and Jonathan's relationship with their siblings (and their friends) vs Steve's relationship with the party is how you see them interacting outside of the Upside Down related stuff.

Outside of the Upside Down stuff, we are never really shown, in canon, Nancy or Jonathan interacting with the kids other than their own siblings. The only time I can think of is Nancy dancing with Dustin at the end of s2. And it is implied, especially in s1 and s2, that they don't really think of the other kids much outside of being their younger brothers' friends.

But on the other hand, we do see Steve interacting with the kids outside of the Upside Down stuff. We see him helping Dustin before the Snowball at the end of s2, and we see him interacting with all the kids in s3. Sneaking them into movies, his handshake with Dustin, and giving him ice cream. (And it is kind of Upside Down related, but the way he is the only older teen to get a letter from Max in s4).

I think this is why, in fics, Steve is given that sibling dynamic more, and with more of the kids, because we he him interacting with them in normal settings more than we see Nancy or Jonathan. (I'm not saying this is a good or bad thing, just my opinion as to why it happens.)

I get to an extent what your saying, though I kind of disagree with it. Especially because I was talking specifically about the relationships with their own siblings getting erased, though I mentioned Nancy and her brother's friends because people have this weird thing where they seem to try to make her look bad bc she doesn't spend much time with them during Upside Down crises.

Anyway! Wrt Nancy and her brother's friends, I know we don't see it a lot on screen, but it is present in the dialogue imo. Nancy may not spend a whole lot of time on screen at this point, especially in the scenes we see her because quite honestly in s3 and s4 we see her in career mode, but we get dialogue that makes it sound like she has and does see them. She dressed up for one of their DND campaigns before! The you've always been my favorite Dustin comment also I think speaks to her spending more time with them than you'd think. Also I feel like Nancy's interaction with Dustin at the snowball was pretty significant to my point?

I think the implications you get in s1 and s2 are more so a growing pains thing anyway. Yes she's bitchy and short with them, but she's also a 16yo who has her first boyfriend and is acting out lol. Of course she doesn't want to hang out with her brother's nerdy friends then, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about them.

When I say that we don't see Steve actually interact with the kids (other than Dustin, which was never my point, Dustin and Steve being surrogate brothers is extremely canon) on screen I mean that like, yeah he sneaks them into movies, but it's not like they are hanging out in the ice cream parlor. We don't actually see him driving them anywhere or anything. I do think it's likely that all of that happened, it is very much implied that they hang out more. But we don't see that on screen.

The fact that Max leaves Steve a letter is very telling for their off screen relationship yes! And like I said, I do think from UD stuff too that Steve is big brotherly to Dustin especially (because that is the one relationship we do get on screen), Max, and the Sinclairs, but like we don't actually really see Steve interact with Will or El very much if at all lol. Mike is mostly just antagonistic to him. (I don't think Mike actively dislikes Steve, I think Mike just is prickly but I digress.)

And with Jonathan... well it doesn't matter if he doesn't hang out with the other kids, the main complaint there was straight up that his character is hinged on his relationship with his siblings and that is erased and/or given to Steve even though I can't even think if we've ever really seen Steve interact with Will. Nothing about the other kids lol.

Also like, tbh the reason people make Steve big brother to All is because he is a fandom fave. Which I get! Steve is my fave too! I love big bro Steve so much, but like there's no canon evidence why Steve should have a closer relationship to Will (and arguably El) than Jonathan. There's really no canon evidence why Mike should be closer to Steve than Nancy either. That was more so my point in the whole thing. Especially when people use it to villainize Nancy. I understand why fandom does what it does, but I disagree about the canon support personally.