#joyce byers is mother

[dieaverage]

ROSE-COLORED BOY — eddie munson x female reader as childhood friends to enemies to friends again to sickeningly-in-love lovers

eddie munson x female reader

series summary: six months after the death of your mother darlene byers, you return to hawkins, indiana to try and make sense of everything. what you don’t anticipate is how much running into him on your first night back, five years after your desertion, will break your heart (and his) all over again.

author’s note: hi! going to be so unapologetically real with you all and say i have no clue of where this is headed, but after my hyper-fixating ass decided to host an eddie munson revival party of one on the cusp of the year of our lord 2024, i knew i had to write something so other people could at least be subjected to the workings of my mind. i hope you like it, and if you don’t, well, that’s a you problem i fear! but seriously if you do have any ideas/directions you would like to see this heading, please please please do not hesitate to let me know! this is my first time posting any of my work on tumblr *gasp* so i mean it when i say criticism is warmly welcomed. <3

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chapter one — spaghetti and meatballs

word count: 1.6k+

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A thin mist descended upon the forested thoroughfare to the town you once felt you knew so well, though were no longer so sure. The weighty four-worded acknowledgement bounced around in your head over and over as you approached the deceptively disarming "Welcome to Hawkins, Indiana" sign, so heavily you were almost convinced it was rousing a sleeping migraine, and yet no matter how many times you repeated the seemingly familiarising phrase under bated breath, it felt no less alien to you.

After all, this was never truly your home. Countless summers spent at your cousins' house, even four begrudgingly defining years clocked up at Hawkins High School, had never allowed you to feel like you had earned the right to label it as such. It was your mother's home, as if she had beat you to staking any claim on it, and now that she was no longer around, any ties you thought you might have had to it felt well and truly severed.

Precarious ties aside, it was here you found yourself, in Hawkins. Mere months after the death of your mother. The offer had unfalteringly been there, "whe- if- it ever gets to be too much, Daphne, you know you can come stay with me and the boys", and yet your eventual acceptance of it made you feel nothing short of an imposter.

Any hopes for a discreet arrival were instantaneously dashed as your Cavalier pulled onto the unforgiving gravelly driveway, your tires connecting with the stones to create a disturbance you were sure could have woken any nearby animals out of hibernation, had they assumed an early one. Hawkins air had a perpetually wintry quality, after all. The front door swung open before you even had a chance to remove your keys from the ignition, and the sight of the emerging sixteen year old boy unwillingly brought a beaming smile to your face.

"Daphne!!!!" he called out, advancing towards you at an incredible and equally terrifying speed.

"Hi, Will!" a laugh couldn't help but escape your lips as he wrapped you into a tight hug, the force of which setting you off balance momentarily. He used to be so... delicate. "You've gotten so big!"

"He's got what, like, a foot on you now?" a voice exclaimed from the doorway, the discerning sarcasm of it all widening your already unshakeable grin.

"Lovely to see you too, Jonathan. And it's a couple inches, at best!"

Soon the three of you were embraced in a group hug, which although you would never admit it, had been long overdue. The slight stinging sensation in your eyes signalling the impending flood of tears prompted your swift ejection from the embrace. "So, where is my darling pseudo sister?" you questioned as you walked through the threshold of the Byers abode, attempting to inject some humour into what had already become a far too confronting display of emotions, and almost as if on cue Joyce emerged from the adjoining room.

"Oh, Daphne!" she cried out, consuming you in a hug that could only be described as motherly. You felt it considerably harder to fight back the tears this time. "Hi, Joyce." you exhaled into her shoulder, trying with all your might to resist crumbling in her arms right there. You had been alone for, what, six months? This exhibition of emotion, or rather, the suppression of it, left you feeling weak, and was perhaps the very reason you had avoided coming for so long.

Darlene would never have earned an award for her maternity, and you often thought that if there were such a scale to measure someone who would, your own mother would, against all odds, find a way to fall below it. She wasn't well, that much had been evident for the entirety of your time together, and increasingly so in the end, but in her wake you wondered how much longer you could accept it as an excuse. Above all else, you felt abandoned. Joyce, and the boys, they were wonderful. Truthfully speaking, Joyce had been more of a mother to you in your formative years than Darlene ever was, and Will and Jonathan, they would always be your little brothers as far as you were concerned. But still, in their house now, observing the three of them together, you helplessly felt like a guest, as if years of intimacy had been erased. Nothing had occurred to suggest this, of course. No, these thoughts were all of your own creation, from the mind you had so wished to desert so many times in the last six months.

“Daphne, honey, you must be starving. What can I whip up for us?”

"Spaghetti and meatballs, Mom, please?" Will exhorted, snapping you out of your self imposed hypnotic state.

"I think we should let Daphne choose, Will." Joyce sweetly urged him. "Daphne, what would you like?" You looked up at her from your place on the couch which you hadn't even recalled assuming, and then over to Will who was waiting in anticipation for your answer.

"Spaghetti and meatballs sounds great. Gotta love Italian!" you exclaimed, and Will and Jonathan high-fived quietly from across the room. Joyce shared a knowing look with you and giggled before turning back towards the kitchen. It brought a certain degree of reassurance to you that some things truly never change, one of which being the Byers boys' inability to grow up.

"Joyce," you scurry behind her, "thank you. I- it's been a... weird couple months, but being with y'all, it's already helping."

"Oh, Daphne," Joyce pushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear, "I thought about you constantly. I wanted to make the trip down to Austin, to be there for you, but with the boys and then work-"

"I know. It's okay. I'm here now. You don't have to worry anymore."

"Easier said than done." Joyce gave an unassured look. "Please, just... don't hesitate to talk to me, okay? If it's too much. You're like a daughter to me, Daphne, and I know the boys think of you as a big sister. This is your home. For as long as you want it to be."

You promptly gave her a cuddle, hoping it could express your gratitude in a way you knew your words couldn't without risk of activating the waterworks, before announcing, "Hey, I think I might head out for a while after dinner. Check out that booming Hawkins nightlife. I can't even remember the last time I got a drink here."

"And legally, at that!" Joyce countered playfully, you giving her a slight push to quiet down, afraid that Will or Jonathan might wish to learn a thing or two of your teenage antics, ammunition you certainly were not ready to equip them with.

"Hey, I handled my alcohol well, okay!" you argued, though not compellingly.

"Law enforcement might disagree." she laughed, her head elsewhere, presumably recalling your countless run ins with the Hawkins police department.

"Okay yes, somewhat of a troubled teen..." you admitted, "but you know, I got over it. I went to college. I grew up." Joyce met your eyes with a smile, "I know you did. I'm so proud of you, Daph."

Eventually, dinner was ready, and the group had no sooner sat down at the dinner table before Will had engulfed the contents of his plate, now proudly demonstrating its emptiness to Joyce. "Finished! Can I please go to Mike's now?" he asked her with eyes so wide you feared they could momentarily eject from their sockets, making the question posed that much sweeter.

"Alright, alright." she giggled, "Just be careful, okay? Biking at a reasonable speed will not hinder your chances of escaping dungeons or slaying dragons, I promise."

Will met his mother's failed attempt at understanding his favourite game with an unforgiving roll of the eyes before the table burst into laughter with Will pulling Joyce into a hug, and then Jonathan.

"See you later, Daphne!" he exclaimed before wrapping his arms around you and hurriedly darting out the front door, leaving you once again with an aching smile plastered on your face. What a sweet boy, you thought to yourself.

"A couple hours and he already has Daphne wrapped around his finger!" Jonathan said jokingly, sending both you and Joyce into laughter once again. "What can I say, he's a good kid!"

"Once upon a time, you were too, Jonathan!" you said wiggling your finger at him with an air of mockery, giving a playful nudge to his shoulder before grabbing your bag and heading out the door.

Closing the door behind you, you catch sight of Will wheeling his bike down the rough driveway. "Hey, wait up!"

Even from a distance you could make out his cheesy grin, and you couldn't help but think about what a heartbreaker he would make one day.

"So, Will the Wise! Off to another campaign?" you proclaim as you reach him, and the use of his nickname only causes his smile to grow wider.

"You remembered?"

"How could I forget?! I was only gone a couple years. Will the Wise's legacy, now that will last centuries." you tease.

"I really missed you, Daphne. So did Mom, almost as much as Jonathan!"

"Jonathan? Wow, he said that? Can we get that in writing?"

"Seriously!" he slapped your arm lightly as the briefly shared portion of your journey came to a close, preparing to mount his bike for the ride to the Wheeler house, "I'm so glad you're home."

With what felt suspiciously like watering eyes approaching, you swallowed harshly before taking his hand in yours. "Me too."

[jonathanbyersphd]

Seventeen years of my life... packed up in one day

[thegoodmorningman]

You better have a Good One, Mom. (Or else...)

[gaysforbyler]

One of my favorite pieces of Byler evidence is that Mike treats El the same way he would treat Will.

Like how in S3 he tries to regulate how much El uses her powers, saying that she’s putting herself in too much danger. The problem is, El hates that. She loves her independence, and being able to make decisions about her own body, since that was something that has always been taken away from her.

Will, on the other hand, never stands up for himself. Mike knows that he would sacrifice himself for the greater good without fuss, and needs someone to tell (or demand) him to stand down. Will needs someone to assure him that the weight of everything isn’t on his shoulders alone, and to protect him from people who will walk all over him.

[irememberhope]

Is there a fic out there when after season 4 Steve doesn't trust/react well to Joyce and Hopper? I just think that him being the oldest and real adult left in Hawkins to deal with and protect the kids would mess him up a bit.

Like, I understand Joyce left because she wanted to protect her blood children and El, but none of the other parents are read in on the situation. She left the rest of the kids after another super traumatic experience where multiple people they knew and cared about died and only Steve, Nancy, and Robin could support them. Not to knock Nancy and Robin, but the show doesn't show them supporting the kids the way Steve does, so it all ended up on his shoulders.

Add in the fact Joyce up and abandons her kids when she learns about Hopper being alive, and then even more terrible things happen, and I feel like Steve would not trust the adults anymore and truly resist ans get upset when they try to parent him or take care of *his* kids.

So I'd anyone has fic recs or wants to write one... let me know...

[thelesbianluthor]

I want to see Joyce mother Robin and Nancy so bad. I need good mother, kind mother Joyce who knows the shit that these kids have to go through, giving these two girls a hug because they deserve it!!!

[phoebebuggers]

also joyce comforting el before she went in the sensory deprivation tank like no one had ever done that for her before...she has experienced no maternal love...

[lucassinclaer-archive]

STRANGER THINGS LADIES APPRECIATION WEEK: DAY 2 FAVORITE DYNAMIC

You're a very brave girl. You know that, don't you?

[strawberrybyers]

happy mother’s day to karen wheeler and joyce byers 💐

[astreinomane]

Happy Mother's Day to all these wonderful moms!

[hawkinsincorrect]

Jonathan, to Joyce: My mom has no idea we're high.

Joyce: You’re high?!

Jonathan: Oh, sorry.

Jonathan: *turns to Argyle*

Jonathan: My mom has no idea we're high.

[bestsistertournament]

Propaganda Under Cut:

Emma Swan (Mother of Henry Mills): Emma always wanted what was best for Henry whether she was in her life or not. She did everything to protect and nuture him from when he came back into her life.

Joyce Byers (Mother of Jonathan + Mike): Joyce encouraged Will's interests and hobbies. When Will was taken into the Upside Down she fought to find him even going into the Upside Down to rescue him. She was very protective of him afterwards rarely letting him out of her sight.

[jonathanbyersphd]

The Byers Family in Stranger Things 5

[morgodrawings]

Happy (late) Mother’s Day! To one amazing mom Joyce Byers

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Hopper to Joyce: Joyce has no idea I'm high.

Joyce: You're high?

Hopper to Wayne: Joyce has no idea I'm high.

[f1rewr1t3r]

Hi! I was wondering if I can request joyce byers + daughter!reader? Like readers exhausted from school/work and Joyce is exhausted from work and since both the boys are out Joyce and reader decide to have a little mother/daughter bonding time? (Also can it be hc’s also is it ok if readers 1 year younger than Johnathon making reader have the middle child syndrome)

request: YES or NO

Mother Daughter Bonding Time w Joyce HeadCannons

Joyce Byers x Platonic!Daughter!Reader

A/N- sorry its a bit short but i hope y'all like it

@thequeenofcupps

(ik its El but cut me some slack pookies <3) set around season 2-3

Joyce

You

together

Other

~ Joyce tries to make time for all her kids but with everything going on with Will and Jonathan, plus work, it gets very hard to make time for all of them equally

~ Donald has recently had to "let go" another worker leaving Joyce the only one currently working at Melvald's.

~ He has been giving her more hours which she happily took cause she thought they could make use of the extra cash

~ You are a year younger than Jonathan, being in your junior year of high school. SATs were coming up and you had been studying NON-STOP.

~ and when you weren't studying, you were working.

~last summer you had taken up a job at Starcourt Mall to make some extra spending money for the fam as well as to help with bills.

~Plus being the middle child you were already slightly overlooked, even more now since everything with Will happened

~ needless to say, you were both stressed to the max

~ Both of the boys were out. Jonathan was with Nancy, and Will was with the usual group.

~Joyce just got back from closing up the shop and you were in your room studying.

~It had been a while since she checked up on you so she decided to lightly knock on your door before going in

~"Come in"

~"Hey honey"

~"Oh hey mom"

~"Whatcha doin"

~"Just studying"

~ she felt so bad that you were working yourself to the bone. She took note of the boys being away and she had an idea

~ "hey I know its been a bit since we last spent some time together so what d'ya say we both take the rest of the day to just relax and hangout"

~ "I'd love that"

~You both headed to the grocery store and picked up a few things. Your favorite snacks, Joyce's favorite cookie dough, and the stuff to make your favorite dish for dinner.

~you also rented Annie from the video store

~when you got home it was around 5:30 pm so you put the groceries away and you both freshened up and changed into some comfy pj's

~Joyce made your favorite dish for dinner and afterwards you made her favorite cookies

~While the cookies were in the oven, you both sat on the couch and talked about work, school, and pretty much anything.

~When the cookies were finished you watched Annie and continued to gossip and just spend time together as mother and daughter.

~ while watching Annie, Joyce would get you to sit on the floor (on a pillow or a cushion) and brush/Braid your hair depending on the length

~ you both ended up falling asleep on the couch

~ Joyce woke up and realized that y'all had fallen asleep

~ she got you a blanket and let you sleep while she started to pick up the coffee table

~ "mom"

~ "yes honey"

~ "i had a lot of fun today"

~ "me too honey, now go back to sleep and get some rest."

~ Let's just say that after that night, Joyce made a conscious effort to spend mother daughter time together every week or two