#joyce calling steve a bully

[queenie-ofthe-void]

The Babysitter Chronicles - Byers

Steve POV 5+1 (immediately follows s2) || wc: 3.9k || cws: check tags || full fic ao3

Henderson || Mayfield pt 1 / Mayfield pt 2 || Sinclair || Wheeler || Byers || +1 Hopper

Can be read as a standalone

~~~

Steve’s filled with dread, standing in front of the Byers’ front door at 6:30am on a Saturday morning. Out of all the kids’ parents, he’s pushed Joyce off as long as he could manage. But he’d promised Mike he’d try, and according to Jonathan, this is the best time to catch her.

That doesn’t change the fact it’s not even light out, and a boy she probably hates is about to knock on her door. Hell of a way to start the day.

He knocks anyway.

Joyce opens the door in a soft grey t-shirt and baggy black sweats. Her hair is brushed through, mascara coats her long lashes, and the smell of fresh coffee wafts through the open door. At least he can find small consolation in the fact she’s been up for a while.

“Hi Joyce, I mean Ms. Byers,” he stumbles, off to a great start. “Sorry to catch you so early but–” 

“No,” Joyce interrupts, voice firm. 

Steve stands there, mouth hanging open around an unfinished sentence. He watches as her eyes harden. She squares her shoulders and stands straight-backed and tall, only reaching about Steve’s shoulder. Joyce Byers in all her fury still makes him feel small, like maybe this was a bad idea.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Joyce says. “But I know why you’re here. And the answer is no.”

“Oh,” he responds lamely, deflating even further. 

Her voice is soft, but she’s unyielding. “The kids like you, and I know their parents are ok with you watching them. Which is fine, for their kids.”

She pauses, and Steve knows what’s coming. Mentally prepared himself for the worst-case scenario. All of Dustin’s logical arguments and Lucas’ hype talks couldn’t prepare him for how thoroughly Joyce flays him open.

“But, Steve, I would never trust you with my kids.”

Even though he's desperate to run, he plants himself like a tree on her front stoop. He's trying not to be that guy. The kids deserve the best version of him, and on some level, he knows cutting out the bad parts of himself includes letting Joyce Byers drag him through the mud.

He tries to hold her gaze, really he does. Her dark eyes are filled with conviction, but he can see the gentleness to them as well. Almost sad, like he’s making her do this to him. 

Joyce grips the door, knuckles white with tension. She takes a step out onto the front stoop, forcing Steve to take a measured step back. The door stays cracked and the smell of burning toast reaches his nose. Nausea rises in his throat.

“They shouldn’t have even been in those tunnels in the first place,” she says, voice growing louder as she gains momentum. “We asked you to watch them, we trusted you with them, and they still almost got killed! And I know, I know, you helped Jonathan and Nancy last year– saved them from that, that thing crawling out of our walls.”

Her eyes flicker over her shoulder, like the demogorgon’s still haunting her house. He follows her gaze, like Billy could still be standing in her living room with a blood-stained, toothy smile.

She sighs, exasperated. At her wits end for being pushed into a conversation she’s probably been dreading for weeks, since it seems she knew what he wanted. “But you’d be with my baby, my Will, everyday. He’s had bullies since kindergarten, and it’s only gotten worse since everything.

“He doesn’t deserve more bullies. And from what I’ve heard, you’re no different. Just like your father.”

Steve flinches– can’t help himself– the sentence ringing through his head.

Just like your father.

“No, no I’m not, I swear,” he chokes on the words as she steam rolls his pathetic lamentations.

“You’ve pushed my boys– and kids just like them– around your whole life, making them feel small for having less money, less friends, less stuff. Every time Jonathan came home with a new bruise or bloodied knees, how do I know that wasn’t you?”

Steve’s watering eyes are fixated on the small, furious woman before him, flushed with a rage familiar to any decent mother protecting her kids. He’s trying so hard to hear her, but his head is filled with static and his mouth feels stuffed with cotton. Steve wipes his hands down the front of his pants, then shoves them in his pockets.

“You called my boy queer! Something I’m sure you heard from your father. I saved for months to get him that camera for his birthday and you just smashed it, like it was nothing. Like we’re nothing.”

Neither of them notice the pair of shadows moving beyond the door frame in the living room. 

“I cannot allow someone like you around my boys,” she hammers home. This is what Nance meant by a thesis statement he thinks deliriously. “Sue and Karen might be alright with it, but my answer is no.”

Steve sniffles and nods stiffly as turns to leave, hoping to at least make it to his car before the tears start. He knows he deserves what she’s said, knows the truth of it in his gut, but he’s stood here long enough. Now it’s time to run and hide, like his mind’s been screaming to since she set her sights on him.

“Mom,” Jonathan says, out of breath like he ran here from his bedroom. He’s appeared over Ms. Byers’ shoulder like a ghost, or a ninja– silent and on the attack. “What’s going on?”

He’s a sleep-rumpled version of his mom, wearing a plain, soft t-shirt, and grey sweatpants scattered with light bleach stains. Steve notices he still has pillow creases on his left cheek. His gaze follows the red indent down to Jonathan’s jawline where a small, purpling bruise is haloed by faded red lipstick.

All of the air in Steve’s lungs is punched out of him, hard and fast. A feeling he should be used to from Jonathan Byers. 

Steve thinks he sees a flash of pastels in his periphery, dashing through the trees to the road. Or maybe it’s his imagination. It doesn’t matter, because he can’t look away from the uncomfortably familiar mark on Jonathan’s neck.

Jonathan must notice. His hand flies up to his neck, wiping the mark and finding a smear of red on his fingers. The spell holding Steve breaks, and he can breathe again. 

Their eyes meet, and Jonathan’s cheeks now match the stain on his fingers. It’s awkward and Steve doesn’t know how to fix it or how to make this easier. Because Steve never knows how to fix things, only how to break them. Something Joyce seems well aware of.

Distracted, Steve’s just now noticing the small shadow creeping up behind Jonathan. He sees the young boy poke his head out from behind his brother’s back as he takes a small step towards the commotion.

“Steve was just leaving, sweetie,” Joyce answers, voice soft and sweet as she turns away from him to go back inside.

“Wait, no that’s not what I meant,” Jonathan continues. He shakes his head and roughly pushes his unruly bangs from his eyes. “Steve, why are you here?”

Jonathan’s looking at him like he knows the answer. And he should really, considering the only reason Mike agreed to have Steve as his babysitter was because Jonathan promised he’d talk to Will about it, and then they’d talk to Joyce. 

A long train of telephone Steve was relying on to get a head start at Joyce’s good will. Which, apparently, never happened.

Steve plays along into Jonathan’s prompting. She’s already said no, so what’s one more try with a little back-up.

“I was asking if I could babysit Will, since I watch the rest of the gang too. Can’t leave any party members behind,” Steve says, parroting Dustin.

“And I was just telling him–” Joyce starts, before she’s interrupted.

“I think Steve would be a great babysitter,” Will says. His hair’s a mess, and he’s straightening out his matching Star Wars pajama set as he steps further into view.

Joyce rushes over to him, squatting down to meet his eyes. “Will, honey, you don’t need a new babysitter. You can still spend time with your friends at their houses, when their parents are home.” Jonathan takes the distraction to wave Steve into the house, silently closing the door behind them.

“But the other parents don’t know about– you know,” Will hesitates, before mustering up the courage to say “about what actually happened to me.”

“Baby,” she says, gently running her hands up and down his small arms. “You know we can’t tell them. We went over this.”

“It’s not about them knowing the truth,” Will says. Steve watches as the boy tries to make himself bigger, taller, even with the slight shake in his voice. “They just look at me like I’m broken. They’re sad when I’m around and they just think I was kidnapped or lost or– whatever the story is. That I was sick or something.”

Steve can’t help but imagine Will Byers, always the shy, quiet kid in the Party, having to constantly withstand the severely misguided pitying glances from adults who aren’t read-in on vast government conspiracies and alternate dimensions. Steve’s almost nineteen and can barely manage alone.

Her brows are knitted tight and her lips downturned the more Will confesses. “Well, Jonathan can–”

“I don’t want Jonathan to watch me anymore.”

Joyce’s eyes widen, confusion painted across her face as her mouth drops open. Steve turns to glance at Jonathan to find that, unlike his mother, he’s not surprised at all. In fact, there’s a light shining in his eyes and a small uptick to the corner of his mouth.

The tension is thick but familial, leaving Steve unwelcome and gawking at a private conversation. Which he supposes he is: both unwelcome and gawking.

“Go on, Will, it’s ok,” Jonathan encourages. He shines with a proud smile, like he’s watching his little brother walk for the first time. 

Will’s hesitant, his eyes downcast as he shuffles side-to-side. Waiting for him to continue, Joyce stays quiet. Steve can’t help but feel envious of Will and Jonathan at having a mom patient enough to hear her son outright, even when she doesn’t agree with him. She saved him from an alternate dimension, but sometimes the little things are just as important.

“When Jonathan dropped me off at Steve’s for DnD last week, it was fine… at first.”

“You both told me that was at Mike’s,” Joyce interrupts, turning a motherly glare at Jonathan who sheepishly avoids eye contact. She rounds on Steve again, closing the distance between them in three long strides to get in his face. “This is exactly what I’m talking about, Steve. What if something had happened and I didn’t know where to find him because of you?”

“Mom,” Jonathan interrupts, irritated. “That’s not fair. We are the ones who said it was at Mike’s– Will and I. I knew you wouldn’t let him go if you knew it was at Harrington’s place, so I told Will to lie.”

“You’re damn right I wouldn’t have let him go,” Joyce argues, turning back to Jonathan. “He’s not safe there! I know Steve Harrington and I know his parents. What if they had been home?”

“They haven’t been home in weeks,” Steve mumbles. He doesn’t mean to say it out loud, catching himself off guard. Years of practicing the lie, and he slips in front of the last three people on earth he’d want to know about his home life. He’d never complain, not to them. 

She shoots him a confused glance, an emotion behind her eyes Steve refuses to consider. But it seems she’s the only one whose noticed he said anything at all as Jonathan speaks up again. Shaking her head, she shifts her attention back to her son. In the midst of the chaos, Steve breathes a small sigh of relief.

“Mom, it was fine– everything was fine. Just–” Jonathan stops. He gestures to Will to keep going.

Will puffs his chest up, holding his mom’s gaze as he barrels on. “I liked having it at Steve’s. It smells nice, like candles, not like farts and laundry detergent like Mike’s basement. He had all the snacks we like, and he’s got a huge table that can fit all our stuff.”

The kid’s smiling now, and goddamn if it doesn’t melt his heart. Steve’ll be disappointed if Joyce says no, but at least he knows for a fact Will felt comfortable around Steve and liked being at his house.

“But after Jonathan picked me up, Lucas said they stayed up and watched movies all night. That Steve even made an ice cream sundae bar and there were a million toppings.” Will’s arguing is starting to sound like a petulant child, a slight whine to his tone, and Steve can tell Joyce is losing her patience.

“Will, that’s something you and Jonathan can do. We’d love to do sleepover nights with your friends.”

“No, Mom,” Jonathan states, strong in a way Steve’s never seen from him before. His only tell is the waver behind his voice. Steve’s willing to bet Jonathan would rather face down another demogorgon than take on his own mother. Yet here he is, sticking his neck on the line for Will.

“What do you mean, no?” It’s barely a question.

“I don’t want to babysit Will anymore.” He quickly closes his eyes and shakes his head, like an etch-a-sketch. “No, wait– I’m not babysitting Will anymore.”

The room falls deadly silent. Joyce’s lips flatten into a thin, white line, matching the color of her knuckles. She looks ready to explode, like how his father used to look before the first blow. 

Steve flinches when she takes a step towards Jonathan, and she clocks his reaction just like before, but ignores him to glare at her oldest son.

“I want to spend more time with Nancy.” Jonathan’s eyes are wide, like he forgot Steve was there, and he can see an embarrassed flush painting his ears. Steve just shrugs. It is what it is, he’ll get over it like he always does. Jonathan relaxes a bit. “I want to get a job so I can take her on dates that are more than just driving out to the quarry.” 

“Jonathan,” Joyce jumps in, “you can’t get a job. You’re grades are slipping as it is and you don’t have time–”

“Exactly! I don’t have time for a job right now. But if Steve starts watching Will after school and some weekends, I can get a job and keep my grades up and spend time with Nancy.”

She’s shaking her head, but Jonathan plows on before she can jump back into the fray.

“Billy Hargrove is a goddamn monster, Mom. He almost killed Steve! And we all know the kids would’ve found a way to get to the tunnels no matter what. Steve was beat to hell and still went with them.” Jonathan points at Steve’s face in emphasis, like a fucked up version of a pretty model showboating a new car. Except the model is the guy who stole his girlfriend, and the car is a has-been with a fucked up brain and no future.

“And last year,” Jonathan continues, “Nancy and I would be dead if he didn’t come back for us. After everything that happened between us, he had no reason to turn around. Hell, I’m not sure I would’ve.”

He doesn’t know Jonathan Byers well, but Steve knows for a fact Jonathan would’ve faced death to save him– to save anyone. It’s not even a question.

Joyce still doesn’t seem convinced. “Everything that happened last year is exactly what I’m worried about, Jonathan.”

“It’s my fault, not his!” Jonathan shouts. “It’s my fault he got sucked into this mess, it’s my fault Nancy left him, and it’s my fault he broke the camera!” Color drains from his face. Steve freezes, staring at him. 

Steve still hasn’t told anyone why he broke the camera– none of them have talked about it, and he never planned to bring it up. Ultimately he’s thankful that the pictures exist, since it provided the only clue to Barb’s death and the Upside-Down. 

But he doesn’t understand why Jonathan took the pictures. And it doesn’t change the fact Steve closes his blinds every night.

“What do you mean, your fault?” Joyce asks, out of sorts. 

He stammers a bit, looking to Steve for help. Steve doesn’t want to have this conversation at all, let alone in front of Jonathan’s entire family. He glares back at Jonathan, tersely shaking his head once.

Lie.

He gets the gist, relief stark on Jonathan’s face. 

“Steve caught Nancy and I sneaking around when we were looking for Barb and Will,” Jonathan quickly recovers. “We didn’t want him poking around, so we let him think we were flirting. But some pictures I had taken of Nancy fell out of my bag, and Steve saw them. That’s why he broke my camera.

“We ran into him and his friends later while they were spraying up The Hawk. I didn’t know it was all Tommy Hagen’s idea, so I got in Steve’s face and I hit him first. He called me queer, and that’s shitty. But he apologized, saved our lives, and bought me a new camera. So–”

Jonathan turns to him and holds out his hand. It reminds Steve of his father, but also of Hopper, which he decides is a more apt comparison.

He reaches out and Jonathan grasps his hand firmly, shaking it up and down just once, yet continues to hold on. Forging a new pact for the future.

“Steve, I’m sorry about everything.” He seems genuine– eyes wet, shoulders set, and back straight. Steve tries to match his posture. He might not be as good with words as Jonathan, but he can at least show this moment is just as important to him. “But you helped protect the kids so we could save Will. And you saved Nancy and me. So– I trust you.”

Steve can’t handle this. It’s too early in the morning for heavy emotions and deep confessions, but Jonathan’s searching for forgiveness in the face of a former bully. Steve steps up to the plate and meets him halfway.

“I shouldn’t have broken your camera, I know how expensive they are and how much it meant to you. I was angry and I wasn’t thinking. And I, I umm–” 

Steve realizes he’s never really had to apologize to someone before. Sure he’s apologized to Nancy, but it seemed like a normal thing for guys to always apologize to their girlfriends. He’s apologized to Dustin, but that’s more like placating a rowdy toddler. 

This feels different, somehow bigger. Maybe it’s because Jonathan’s his own age, or someone his parents have programmed him to think is lesser than himself. Maybe it’s the deep regret that’s made itself a home in Steve’s stomach, rotting away at the memory of a vicious word spat haphazardly at a stranger.

“I’m sorry I called you queer. That’s fuc– I mean messed– up, and I’m sorry.” Steve sighs, running a nervous hand through his hair, less painful with the stitches removed. He almost misses the stinging sensation. “It’s something my dad says all the time and it was the first thing I thought of, and I hate that. I’m not my dad, I never want to be like him.”

Jonathan nods and pulls Steve forward into a hug, and when they separate Steve feels lighter. A heavy weight he hadn’t known about, removed from his shoulders with Jonathan’s help. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think Jonathan felt the same way by the smile on his face.

“Yeah!” Will shouts, unprompted and overly excited for the tone of this entire conversation. There’s a wide grin on his face when he holds up his hand to high-five Steve and cheers “welcome to the Bad Dads Club!”

Steve scoffs, shocked but completely delighted and confused at Will’s eager declaration. Joyce smacks her hand to her forehead and mutters something like jesus christ under her breath, while Jonathan barks out a laugh. 

He grabs his little brother by the shoulder and shakes him like a rag doll until Will breaks out into giggles. “Will,” Jonathan says, failing to keep a straight face, “remember when I explained the difference between family jokes and not-family jokes?”

Will’s smile fades slightly, red embarrassment splashing his cheeks as he quickly glances between Jonathan and Steve, realizing his social blunder. Jonathan squeezes his shoulder and gives him a sad, reassuring smile. But Steve won’t be the reason for the small frown tugging on Will’s lower lip.

Steve holds out his hand, palm up. He smiles at the kid, eyes alight with mischief. “Bad Dad’s Club,” Steve says, like it’s more than just a fucked up childhood and is instead forging a pact, binding them through one shitty commonality. 

Will returns his smile and high fives him, who then turns to his brother. Jonathan laughs again when he pulls Will in for a hug instead, shrugging at Steve.

Joyce’s gaze travels between the three boys standing in front of her, and Steve can see the moment she cracks.

Her stance has softened. Her lips are still pursed, her eyebrows only slightly furrowed, but her arms hang relaxed at her sides and she’s looking at Steve less like she wants to throw him out and more like she doesn’t know what to do with him.

“You get one week,” Joyce says sternly, pointing a finger in Steve’s face. He goes cross-eyed looking at it, but he can still see Will and Jonathan high-five. “One week of picking him up after school. I get done at Melvald’s at six, so you can bring him home at six-thirty.”

Before Steve can wholeheartedly agree, she rounds on Will and Jonathan next, who stand at attention, trying to stay serious through their own excitement. 

“You,” she points at Jonathan, “better keep your grades up if you’re getting a job.”

“And you,” she gestures to Will, “better have all of your homework done when you get home. If you can’t get it done at Steve’s house, then you don’t get to go.”

She backs away from them, taking a deep breath in and exhaling loudly. “Is all of that clear?”

Waves of yes’s pour from their mouths. Will wraps his arms around his mom’s waist and Jonathan lightly punches Steve’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, Ms. Byers,” Steve says as he turns to leave, “I’ll make sure you don’t regret this. Any of you.”

She sighs, a small sad smile on her face. “I really hope that’s true, Steve.”

On the drive home, he realizes she never mentioned the slip-up about his parents’ absence. He’s grateful for it. Talking with adults has never been his strong suit, and his conversations with each of the kids’ parents are starting to weigh on him. 

The Byers’ might not have as much money or means as the Harrington’s, but that doesn’t stop Joyce Byers from being a damn great mom. So he’s not surprised she took note of his own small mishaps. Maybe she’ll bring it up one day, maybe she won’t. All Steve cares about is that he finally has the opportunity to earn the trust of the fiercest parent he knows.

~~~

[rogueddie]

Eddie noticing the kids turning to Steve more than their family and that they really do see him as their primary parental figure, genuinely, because he's the one always there for them through all the upside down bullshit.

First is Max who'll only talk to Steve about certain things and she pesters him for advice and for attention and rides and general time spent together. She even sleeps over at his house when she needs a night where they can pretend they're just dumb kids together.

Second is Lucas, who gets a lot of sports advice from him and Eddie once stumbled in on them playing catch once. Steve gives Lucas advice on his parents too- mostly because he's worried the whole upside down and secrets will mess up their relationship and Steve gives good advice.

Third is Erica, who is very odd in her affection. It took a while for Eddie to realise that's what it is and not just her bullying Steve. Steve seems to thrive under her hostility too, always keeping a straight face trying to stern with her but Eddie has caught both of them turning away to hide snickers.

Fourth is Eleven. She seems fascinated by Eddie as much as he is her. She drags him around with her often, Max getting a kick out of making him do girly things with them but Eddie genuinely loves it. It's when they want to do things that need adult supervision that Eddie picks up on it; Max wants Eddie to be the acting adult because she knows he'll let them get away with more but El insists on bringing Steve too.

She does it a lot and for small things too. Even just for a ride. Eddie doesn't see them talking a lot, often spotting them sat in silence, but El only looks that comfortable around Hopper and Steve. Like they're her safe haven.

Fifth is both Will and Jonathan. Will is shy and hard for Eddie to read for a while. It's Jonathan that gives it away; as awkward as Steve gets around him, Jonathan is just as keen as will to spend time together as a unit. He often invites Steve to family dinners, like it's a given, like Steve is secretly Steve Byers.

Joyce is worse about it, often calling him her son or her baby boy. Will is like El with him, more comfortable and even willing to open up to Eddie as long as his other big brother is there too.

Eddie is surprised that Dustin is the only one who doesn't seem to fit into Steve's rag tag family.

Eventually he asks Dustin, who laughs, admitting that he's seen Steve as a big brother for years and it's just how they are to the point that Eddie won't have seen them being anything other than brothers.

Dustin also admits that he's been sticking to Eddie more now, calling him his brother in law. And Eddie flushes. Because... yeah. He's into Steve. (Steve is into him, something Dustin is painfully aware of).

The rag tag family bands together to parent trap them.

[ultralightpoe]

Full House - Eddie Munson

Authors Note: Wow. I think I went too far with these, lmao.

Word Count: 5,258

Warnings: Dad!Eddie. That's it.

Description: Stepdad!Eddie and his girls that gives nothing but Uncle Jesse Vibes.

Part ll HERE

(Thank you for the gif @ionlyeverwantedtobeyourequal )

Enjoy!

(Eddie is not the step dad, he is the dad that stepped up)

Eddie Munson was many things in life. 

Triple senior, Satanic Freak, Dungeon Master, High School Graduate, Vecna survivor, Waynes son, and now Mechanic shop owner. But his favorite title came by accident, a truly brilliant accident of course. 

Nancy and Steve had planned a vacation for themselves, the first vacation they had since the birth of their adorable son Edward…..okay they named their kid Vince but Eddie thought that name was ugly and had spent the past 5 years continuously mocking them over it. So, in everything Eddie, he had named him Edward Jr. this week. 

Anyways, Nancy and Steve were having a very lovely trip at Niagara Falls while the rest of the group watched little man. While Eddie was at work Joyce Byers took him, and when Eddie had gigs Dustin took him and they ‘studied’ together which meant Dustin used him as an excuse to play games rather than study for his senior year. 

It was all going splendidly, until Eddie got a call in the middle of his work shift telling him that he would have to go down to the school immediately since Edward Jr -Vincent, had gotten into a little bit of a fight. 

So Eddie booked it, still in his greased out mechanic suit, a bandana on his head and the biggest concern that Steve’s kid would be kicked out of his school while he was away. What had he done to the kids? Had he broken their noses? Made them bleed?

Here was the problem, Eddie forgot that he was talking about Steve Harrington's kid, so when he arrived at the school to see his nephew bleeding and whimpering he realized the mistake. Vinny had gotten beat up, not the other way. 

“What happened, bud? Who did this to you?” Eddie was gonna fuck a kid up, he was gonna scalp someones son. He was going to absolutely annihilate some random ass boy. 

His nephew whimpers, using the back of his hand to wipe away a fresh tear as Eddie takes a gentle hand to assess the damage. “L/n….” 

Eddie was gonna kill this L/n punk. “What’d he do? He been bullying you?”

“You must be Mr. Harrington.” A saccharine voice fills the air, drawing his attention up to an older woman with narrowed eyes. 

“No, I’m Vinny’s uncle actually. Eddie Munson.” He introduces himself, holding out a hand which the woman glares at, and he realizes then that he was still covered in grease. So he pulls his hand back, embarrassed and nervous. “Sorry about that, rushed from work-”

“Never mind that. Let’s go.” The teacher nods her head. “You too Vincent.”

Eddie, now partially annoyed by the use of his nephews full name in such a tone, grabs his hand into his own and follows the old bat into the office where two more three more figures sit. The sight before him makes him stop, blinking slowly as a heat crosses his skin. 

Was he blushing? Shit, he was. 

Sat in the chair is the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, with a small baby in her lap and a small girl softly crying sitting on the edge of the chair, hiding half her face in the womans shoulder. 

“Have a seat Mr. Minson.” The old bat snaps, moving around the desk to sit in the cushioned chair. 

“Munson.” Eddie corrects, sitting in the chair beside yours while trying to keep it cool. Vinny takes the arm of the chair, holding onto some of the fabric of Eddie’s jumpsuit tightly. The woman blatantly ignores him as she shuffles around some of the papers on her desk. So Eddie turns to you slowly, holding out his hand again. “Eddie Munson.”

“Y/n L/n.” You smile, taking his hand in your own. “I am so sorry about your son-”

“I prefer the parents not to talk until I explain.” Old bat snaps out making Eddie sit up straighter. “I brought you both in here because it seems that Motley has violently assaulted Vinn-”

“ASSAULTED?! They are 5!” You snap out as the girl, Motley, begins crying which leads the little baby in your lap to start crying as well. And right on cue Vinny himself starts crying. 

“Woah woah woah.” Eddie starts, pulling his nephew closer. “Bud, why don’t you explain what happened here?”

“She hit me!”

“He pushed me!”

“And then she bit me!”

“He pulled my hair!”

“Okay, ease it up.” You sigh, rubbing Motley’s back in soothing circles. “I am so sorry about your son, and I will totally get if you’re upset but they are 5 and I don’t really know about the assault word-”

“Miss. L/n.” Old bat interrupts but Eddie shakes his head. He will just handle this just as Nancy liked to parent. 

“What can make this better, huh Vinny? Like your dad always says, an apology?”

“Y-yeah….” Vinny whimpers which makes Eddie smile and imitate the whimper voice. “Yeah?”

“Do you think you can apologize, Motley?” You ask and Motley sticks out her tongue to Vinny.  Eddie tries to hold in his laugh at this, the little metal head was not backing down. “Motley.”

“Fine. I’m sorry Vincent.” She snaps out. “But the next time you pull my hair-”

“I think we got it.” Eddie laughs, picking his nephew up. “Let’s go get some ice cream and forget all about it.”

He smiles at the principal before tearing out of the room, keeping Vinny held above the ground as he rushes out of the school. He is rushing too fast to hear you calling behind him, until they make it out of the school. 

“Wait! Sir-” He turns, blushing wildly as he attempts a smile. You smile back, still holding the little baby in your arms and Motleys hand. “I am so sorry about all of that. Motley has been a bit…. Aggressive since her dad left. How about we all go get ice cream and it’ll be on me today?”

And then Eddie, as terrible as it is, gets excited. That meant your single, single and very pretty. So he smiles. “Sounds metal to me.”

The giggle that escaped Motley makes him happy. 

Soon enough Eddie found his entire world wrapped around his three ladies. You, the little 5 year old named Motley and the little baby Ziggy. (Both named after rock music. You don’t like it then name em something else.) 

His life did an entire tilt and he found himself going from the freak to being ‘Daddy Eddie’ as his girls liked to call him. 

- 

“Lemme get the straight.” Eddie starts, holding up one finger and leaning back as he takes in the scene before him, Motley covered head to toe in flour and smiling from ear to ear. “The bag of flour just happened to knock down from the shelf and fall on you?”

“Yup.” The girl nods, still smiling. 

“And you don’t know how the step stool got there?”

“It was there when I walked by.” She shrugs. 

“I see. And you didn’t know that we hid the cookies on that shelf?”

“You do?!” She feigns shock, bringing both hands up to slap her cheeks. “What a coincidently.”

“Yeahhhhh. What a coincidently.” He imitates, bringing his own hands up to slap his cheeks in shock, trying very hard not to laugh at this entire thing. From her covered in flour, or her grammar and especially not the innocent act. Do not laugh. Do not laugh.

  “Motley! What did you do?!” You cry, coming into the kitchen in the pajama shorts Eddie loved so much, to see your daughter covered in your flour. 

You had both been in bed…..snuggling….. When you heard the sound of bowls falling. 

“I am innocent!” Motley cries, waving her hands like she truly could not believe you would think it was her. 

“She’s innocent!” Eddie follows, doing the same as her. “Tell her you want a lawyer, Mot.”

“Motley, do not-”

“I want a lawn mower!” She snaps out before you could warn her away from it. The room falls silent for a second after her words slip out and both you and Eddie try to control yourselves, but before you know it you are cracking up. 

Tears springing from your eyes as you cackle, Eddie finds himself using one arm to lean against the wall as his other arm holds his ribs, pained to be laughing so hard. 

“What’s so funny?” Motley asks, a puff of flour blowing out as she giggles herself which just sends you and Eddie into yet another laughing fit.  “Mama! Daddy Eddie!” 

“What Mot?” You laugh, swiping the tears from your eyes. 

“You’re being mean!” “Aww, we’re sorry Motty.” Eddie coos, moving closer as you do as well. Before she knows it you are both launching to hug and kiss at her, covering both of you with flour as she giggles and screams to escape. 

Eddie steals her another cookie before you take her to the bathroom to shower her off, you both lay with her to read for bed before you lead him back to your room, taking a shower together before going to bed yourselves. 

- 

Eddie was completely at peace, laying on the couch after a long day at work, with Ziggy laying on his chest slobbering all over his shirt. Motley laid on his legs, her head shoved between his hip and the couch as she snored away. 

They were sick, and you were in the kitchen making some chicken soup. Eddie had been in charge of getting them showered and ready for dinner, the only problem was the steam from the shower had cleared their noses which meant about 10 minutes of getting them both to blow into a tissue. And by the time that was done all their energy was gone, so he led them to the couch to lay with them and try to ease their whimpers. 

They passed out soon after and he was trapped in a pile of heat from their fevers and their slobbering snores. But he was at ease right here, their warmth making him just as tired. One hand rubbing Ziggy’s back while making sure she didn’t roll off his chest while the other hand slowly rubbed Motley's scalp. 

Before he knew it he slowly began falling asleep himself, and by the time he woke up he felt your fingers rubbing his forehead very very softly, a small smile playing on your lips. 

“Do you want me to grab them?” You whisper, which makes him shake his head. 

“Let em sleep, they don’t feel good.” He whispers back, turning bleary eyes to Ziggy who was currently crawling her way up his chest, she whimpers and whines until she is able to put her mouth around his nose. The gums touch his skin as she sucks on his nose, and he laughs slowly. “Apparently she is teething too.”

“I’ll go grab her ice pack.” You laugh, moving to the kitchen to grab it as Motley wakes up. 

“Daddy…. I hurt.” She whines and he nods, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the couch to give her room to get up, she does and quickly crawls until her head is in his lap. 

“You want some soup? Huh pretty girl? Maybe we can listen to Elvis before bed.” He offers, watching a small smile break out on her face that she tries to hide. Eddie teases her by leaning to see it and laughing when she covers her mouth. Then he pulls out the big guns, taking up the Elvis voice as he stares at her. “Let’s go eat some soup sweetie pie.”

“Hunka hunka burning love!” She giggles, jumping up to dash to the kitchen, when she passes you she nearly knocks you over but you manage to lean out of the way just in time. 

“What’s the rush?”

“Promised her Elvis after dinner.” Elvis was the king of rock, which albeit wasn’t the rock that Eddie liked, but Motley had grown overly obsessed with him lately and he was cool with that. Anything his girl wanted. 

- 

Blurb song inspo hereeeee . 

The opening of King Creole began, Motley stood on yours and Eddie's bed wearing his sunglasses and his leather jacket. She held a ukulele he had found from a garage sale, and thought it was the perfect size for her to play guitar. 

Ziggy stood on the ground, using his nightstand to help herself stand as she swung her butt up and down to the music. 

Eddie stood by the bed, with his guitar in both hands as Elvis Presley's song blasted through the speaker, wearing his newer leather jacket and a random pair of shades he found on the dresser that he was sure belonged to you.  Motley giggles loudly as Eddie sings the lyrics, playing his guitar to it as Motley pretends to play guitar as well. 

You were at the store and Eddie was supposed to be practicing for his gig coming up, and when you left he had Ziggy set up in her little play crib before Motley came in with the leather jacket on. One thing led to another and they all were playing along. 

“There’s a man in New Orleans who plays rock n roll!” Eddie sings, leaning in at the same time Motley does so their noses press together and then leaning back as she does and shimmying their shoulders. 

They sing and scream, dancing along as you pull back into the driveway. When you come in to get his help to carry in the groceries you are surprised by the loud music, even more surprised by the Elvis playing with the Metal twist to it. 

“Eds?” You call from the door, watching both him and your daughter shimmy their butts to you as they sing before you lean and stop the music which makes them both twist quickly to find you. 

“MAMA!” Motley cries, excitement crossing her face as she whips his glasses off, dropping the ukelele on the bed and launching into your arms. “Daddy Eddie was teaching me guitar!”

“I see that.” You laugh, keeping a hold of her as you lean to kiss Eddie, laughing when you see him in a pair of overly feminine glasses. “Nice look baby.”

“I thought they were very metal.” He laughs, kissing your lips softly, holding your jaw before Motley groans out a ‘ewwwww’.

“Did you like the music?” You laugh, looking down at her. “Even Daddy’s guitar.”

“He made the song better!” She laughs before you set her down. 

“Go get ready. We are having Vinny and his parents over.” At your words she groans, rolling her eyes which makes Eddie laugh out and reach a ringed hand to pull one of her pigtails lightly. 

“What’s with the attitude, pretty girl? Your rock n’ roll career is already getting to you?” He laughs, leaning to kiss her cheek before sliding off his jacket, moving to pick Ziggy up and make his way down the hall as his baby girl giggles happily. 

“I hateeeee Vinny.” Motley groans, following behind and snatching the chain that hangs from his pants to slow him down. “Daddy Eddie, pweaseeee.”

“Ohhhh, not the puppy eyes!” He whines, looking up to the ceiling. 

“No!” You call, covering her eyes. “Not this time.”

- 

Eddie sat on the floor of the living room with his back to the couch, water dripping from his hair onto his exposed chest as Motley sat behind him taking a brush through his hair over and over. He wore a towel around his hips, keeping him covered waist down but all his tattoos exposed as rubbed lotion on them, allowing Motley to have fun playing makeover with his hair. 

You sat near him, your feet in his lap as you read through a book you have promised yourself you would finish for months now.. Ziggy played with her toy blocks near as well, babbling along to the movie that played on the tv. 

Nights like this were perfect, no hustle and bustle and he got to spend time with his favorite girls. 

He rubbed some lotion on the bat tattoos, not really paying attention to what was happening around him only to be interrupted by a sharp gasp falling from your lips. Instantly he is sitting up grunting a bit when the brush Motley was holding puls his hair. 

“What? What’s wrong?” “Ziggy is-” But he already sees her, wobbling as she tries to stand without using anything to help her, blabbering quickly. Excitement courses through him as he sits up, Motley giggling behind him. 

It takes her a moment but she stands, turning to you and Eddie with a tiny smile. “Come here. Come of Stardust.”

Eddie coos gently and Ziggy wobbles, moving to take a step before landing on her butt. 

“It’s okay. It’s okay baby. Try again.” You coo, reaching your arms out. Ziggy giggles and picks herself up again, and once again she tries to take a step. Then, still giggling, she walks. 

Clumsy and heavy, she takes step after step until she falls into Eddie’s arms while everyone coos around her. 

“Da-Ed-ay.” She giggles and Eddie’s heart stops. Oh my god. 

“Did she just….” He gasps out as you tear up beside him. 

“Mix your name and daddy as her first word. Indeed she did.” You laugh, moving forward to kiss his cheek as he pulls Ziggy in to kiss her face all over.  

“THAT’S MY GIRL!”

- 

Eddie was beginning to get a little pissed off, his body thrumming with it as he watches his girls very closely. He keeps a firm hold on the neck of his guitar to fight the urge to punch someone in the face. 

That someone was Gareth. 

His band hadn’t had much exposure to kids, he knew this. The closest any of them had been to a kid was Jeff’s sister and she was only 2 years younger than her brother. So when Eddie had introduced his girls to them they hadn’t really known what to do. But he assumed they would get used to it by now. 

But his friends hadn’t. In Fact they did nothing but complain when Eddie showed up to band rehearsal with Ziggy on his arm and Motley's hand held within his own. She twisted his rings around, smiling from ear to ear when they walked up to the boys. 

Motley had been worried and had taken far too long to pick an outfit since she wanted to look as cool as Daddy Eddie and his friends. She ended up choosing the Hellfire shirt Dustin had made for her 6th birthday and his older jacket, she even let him braid her hair. And when they walked up she gave them a well rehearsed devil look, even sticking her tongue out just like Eddie does whenever she is throwing a fit. 

The only problem was Gareth and Paul both groaned outwardly, Jeff was the only one that seemed to try and smile, shaking his hand in an awkward wave. Eddie, now irritated and tense simply explains “Y/n had to go and help Nancy with something, I offered to take the angels.”

“Of course you did.” Paul scoffs, turning to grab a beer from the fridge with Gareth and Jeff in tow. Eddie bends down so he was level with Motley, rubbing her arm. 

“Don’t take those geeks to heart, yeah? They’re just nervous. You scare them.” He smiles which makes her smile. 

“It’s okay Daddy Eddie. Papa never liked when I bothered him either. We’ll stay out of the way.” She shrugs, kissing his cheek and taking her chalk set to the sidewalk before he places Ziggy on the couch. 

The papa comment unnerved him and he was already defensive. He didn’t like that they were in a situation that they could remotely compare to their deadbeat dad. It made him sad. 

They start practicing, but soon enough Motley is running up and dancing around in the garage as they play. “PLAY TIFFANY!” 

“Whose that?” Jeff asks, covered in sweat. 

“Please tell me it’s not that teenager that sings ‘I think we’re-’” Just as Gareth starts groaning, Motley begins singing and dancing to it. 

‘Ithinkwe’realonenow. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around!”

“Stop stop stop!” Paul snaps. “This is band practice. You can’t just-”

“I think we should play it.” Jeff smiles. “You have the tape Eddie?”

Of course he had the tape, it was Motley's favorite song at the moment. So, with a deep sigh since he already knew he would get shit for it he pulls the tape from his pocket, holding it in the air between two fingers. 

Gareth sighs, snatching it from him and taking it to the stereo system. 

An hour later and many snide comments, Eddie was about to lose it.  Motley had, at some point, gotten a little upset and chose to sit on the couch with Ziggy who was beginning to get whiny and sad. She hadn’t napped all day and Eddie knew it was time to call it a day before he punched one of his friends. 

“I think I’m gonna get the little ones home.” He mumbles, grabbing the tape from the speaker and putting it in the case as he looks over to where his girls were. Ziggy had her pre-cry face on and Motley was half asleep in the cushions. Eddie shuddered at the thought of how many times Gareth had sex on that thing. 

“Next time don’t bring the rugrats and we can practice actual music.” Gareth scoffs and that tight string in Eddie finally snapped. He pushes closer to his friend, getting in his face as one hand snatches itself in his shirt tightly and in a threatening way, his other hand holding the tape up to his friend's face. 

“THIS IS MUSIC!” He screams, eyes wild before he shoves his friend back and takes a deep breath, turning to where his daughters sit. “Come on, pretty babies. Let’s go make dinner.”

He scoops Ziggy up, then Motley, casting one more glare to his friends before walking off. 

- 

“I cannot believe they would be such assholes. To MY nieces.” Steve scoffs, hands on his hips as he stands next to Eddie. Tonight was the school recital, so both of them were dressed up to attend. 

Steve had dressed himself in a button up with a nice sweater, making sure to match Nancy who was carrying their 3rd kid, the blue of the dress making her light up. Meanwhile Eddie chose a button up with his leather jacket, or well Motley had demanded he wear the leather jacket because it was a part of the look. 

 You, as per usual, looked truly stunning. He made sure to keep a hand on your hip or the small of your back to make sure everyone knew you were with him, that’s right. Eddie the freak munson had the hottest woman around and two of the prettiest and most talented daughters in the world. 

“That’s what I’m saying!” Eddie sighs. “Talking to my girls like that?”

“They are just jackasses who can’t even play guitar.” Steve scoffs once more, looking past Eddie to check the door. “Ah, there they are. DUSTIN! ERICA!”

Dustin spots them, smiling as he holds Erica’s hand and shuffles closer to them. “Is Mike coming?”

“No. He has a date to make El jealous.” Nancy laughs. 

“Where is El tonight?”

“Going out with Max.” Nancy explains, and Eddie feels you tense under his hand. He casts you a quick look to make sure you’re okay, watching Ziggy lay her head on your chest as she plays with your necklace. 

“You good?” 

“Yup.” Your answer is clipped, and Ziggy lifts her head up to copy you with a ‘yupyup.’

“Where’s Lucas?” Steve asks Erica, leaning to kiss her forehead. 

“He had an away game. Asked us to film it.”

“Then asked me to stop dating his sister.” Dustin laughs which makes Steve and Eddie break out in their own fit of laughter. 

“Da-Ed-ay.” Ziggy giggles, reaching for him so he grabs her quickly, kissing her lips to make her happy. 

“I’m sorry? Did she just mix daddy and Eddie?” Steve gasps and Eddie shrugs. 

“I’m telling ya, my girls are geniuses.” He smiles, leading you into the auditorium so watch Motley's recital. 

He sits with Ziggy on his lap, holding your hand tightly in his own as Steve pulls out a camera and squats in the aisle to film everything. 

Motley and Vinny come up to do their dance, the audience laughing loudly when Motley steps on Vinnys foot after he tries to trip her. They both blush, Vinny takes a bow and Motley holds up a rock sign, which makes Eddie cheer loudly and stand up to yell for her. 

- 

Song Inspo for this blurb hereeeeee 

“Aruba, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take her.” Eddie sings, holding Ziggy on his shoulders easily as he dances with you. The Hawaiian shirt you picked out for him is light on his skin as the sun beats down on you both, the sweat from the day sticking to him. 

This was the fourth of July celebration, everyone in the group met at the beach to enjoy the day…… which meant Steve had shown up at 4 am to save the spot. Eddie had already applied sunscreen onto Motley and Ziggy twice, you had done it three times and you both were still scared that the girls would burn. 

You had gotten Ziggy the cutest toddler beach outfit, that included a purple swimsuit; hat; and sunglasses. And his baby girl looked absolutely rocking. 

Then Motley got her very own swimsuit, inspired by her favorite artist of the time Tiffany, and Eddie (who had been practicing braiding hair for weeks, your scalp was sore.) had put her hair into two pleats that she had proudly shown to her Aunt Robin who had spent the next 30 minutes complimenting her favorite niece. 

“Daddy Eddie! Come swim!” She yells out, running up to him. “Puh-lease!”

Now here was the problem, Eddie hated showing his abdomen in front of his friends. It was easy for Steve, who liked to say the scarring was Tom Cruise's amount of cool. Eddie however had never shown them how disgusting his scars were. 

“Daddy daddy daddy.” She calls, jumping up and down as Vinny dashes past to get to Dustin. “We’re gonna play chicken and I need my daddy.”

“Maybe Uncle Lucas can help you.” He mumbles, squatting down with Ziggy still on his shoulders, the toddler pulling at his hair sharply as she blubbers. 

“I don’t want Uncle Lucas. I want my daddy! Only you can help me!” She cries, grabbing his arms. His heart melts, and he tries to smile. 

“Okay pretty girl. Let me get Ziggy settled.” He sighs and she lights up, dashing to go tell Vinny as Eddie moves to hand you Ziggy. 

“I’m gonna help El set out the food. Be careful.” You mumble, leaning to kiss his lips before moving to the table as Ziggy waves over your shoulder. Eddie takes his shirt off, rubbing his abdomen in worry as he makes his way to the water where Motley now stood. 

“See?! My daddy has cool ass scars because he’s awesome and he’s gonna kick your slimy little ass.” Motley brags to Dustin, who stares at her with wide eyes that make Eddie laugh. 

“Language, pretty girl.”

“Sorry.” She blushes, turning back to Dustin. “My daddy has sick scars and he’s gonna beat your toothless ass.”

“Woah.”

And suddenly Eddie felt a little better about his scars, smiling from ear to ear as he lifted Motley up, dashing into the water to help her win a game of chicken.

- 

Thanksgiving was spent at yours and Eddies house, after hours in the kitchen and a quick fit from Motley you had fully prepped the table. 

Now everyone sat around it, trying not to laugh as Dustin tries to convince you to eat the mac n cheese he made, practically shoving the spoon in your mouth. 

“No! I eat that and I die!” You laugh, slapping the spoon away. 

“Who would take care of the kids?” Jonathan gasps in fake astonishment. “Me right?”

“You’d only get the kids if Lucas died.” You shrug which makes Lucas smile in triumph.

“I knew it-”

“And you only get my girls if Erica dies.” Eddie interrupts. “And that’s if Dustin is dead.”

A laugh tears from your throat as Dustin claps, but you’re quick to stop him. “And that’s if Steve is dead.”

“And if Steve has them then Nancy is dead.” Eddie laughs. 

“Who has to die for me to get them?!” Mike asks, face red and puffy. El laughs and Max rolls her eyes. 

“Let me guess, if Nancy has them then I am dead?” Max scoffs, and you go a bit tense. 

“Well in this entire hypothesis that means I am dead, so that’s a bit mean.” Eddie giggles. “Because if my girl is dead then they go to me.”

“No they wouldn’t.” Max laughs, which makes the table go a little quiet. “They’d go to their dad.”

“What?” Eddie asks as Motley giggles out a “PAPA!”

He turns to you, eyes wide. “That true?”

“Technically yes.” You mumble out, looking extremely guilty. “But only because-”

Eddie doesn’t want to hear anymore, he slams his silverware down and storms down the hall, slamming the door loudly. 

“Y/n, I’m so sorry-” Max starts, only to have you glare at her and move to grab Ziggy. 

- 

It had been a week since Eddie talked to you, he slept on the couch and only talked to the girls. The only communication he had with you was through the girls, and that was it. 

He made them pancakes, and took them to school and daycare. 

Right now he sat in Ziggys nursery as he tried to get her ready for the day, her only in a diaper as he sat in front of her. 

“Aw, come on. Gimme a smile, little baby.” He coos, wiggling his shoulders. “It’s such a cute dress and you know you want to wear it. Huh?”

“No, Da-Ed-ay.” She giggles. “Wuv yu.”

“Aww. I wuv yu too.” He laughs. “In fact I love you THIS MUCH!”

He opens his arms out wide which makes her giggle. “How much do you love me?”

“Dis Muck.” She giggles, opening her own arms wide. 

“Our arms are open, we gotta hug.” He laughs, pulling her in quickly which makes her scream and giggle, pushing him away as he kisses her stomach over and over. 

“PAPA IS HERE!” Motley screams from the living room which makes Eddie whip his head around to the door that had been closed. 

What? “MOMMY! MOMMY MOMMY! IT’S PAPA!” 

Eddie stands up quickly, Ziggy in his arms as he swings the door open, meeting your shocked face as you come up the stairs. 

“Did she say-?” He starts.

“I’m hoping not.” But as you are saying it there is a knock on the front door. So Eddie makes his way to the living room with Ziggy in his arms as you run to catch Motley before she answers the door. 

Choosing to do it yourself, Eddie watches with his heart in his stomach as the door swings open and he is met with-

No.Fucking. Way.

Part ll HERE

(Would y'all want a part 2? If you send in requests for blurbs or scenarios of Eddie and the girls I will 100% write them. Send em in.)

Taglist:: (let me know if you want to be removed)

@localemofreak @paradise-summertime @jenniquinn @eddiesxangel

[leo-valdez-is-my-bae]

Basic stuff some Stranger Things fans forgot about

Barb's parents sold their house so they could hire someone (murray) to help find their daughter

Yurtle

Lucas screams like a girl

Benny the diner guy who was nice to El

008/Khali

Keith wanted to get with Nancy

Steve used to be a bully

The councilor at Hawkins high is connected to all of the kids that got Vecna'd

Ted Wheeler is wealthy

Bob used to get nightmares about a clown as a kid

Lucas's dad is the only good father to his (still alive) biological children

Dmitri (enzo) died to help Hopper and Joyce get back to their kids

Murray takes a karate class with 12 year olds

Argyle paid for the gas and food on the cali gang's roadtrip to save El

The most popular girl at school cried at Will's "funeral"

Dustin, Steve, and Robin started trying to crack a Russian code for fun before they knew it connected to the Upside Down

001/Henry doesn't know the kids call him Vecna

Jason died thinking Eddie killed Chrissy

The Byers had a dog

[nobylerdoubt]

Let's Analyze - Every Time Someone Says "Gay"

Warning: homophobia and use of slurs. F-slur will be censored.

One thing I've noticed in Stranger things is that they typically try to avoid saying things outright. I've talked a bit on this blog on their use of "Show Don't Tell." This applies to relationships most often - as our core relationships - the ones we expect to last - typically avoid exchanging I love yous, and tend to show, rather than tell, the audience how they feel about the other person.

This concept of showing rather than telling translates in a big way to our queer characters. Neither Robin nor Will openly calls themselves a lesbian or gay, and no one explicitly refers to them as gay either (outside of bullies and abusers). However on my most recent watch through I couldn't help but notice just how many times the show references homosexuality.

Season 1:

Season 1 we see the most uses of gay words, four total. Three of these reference Will, and one being a reference to Jonathan.

EPISODE 1:

Joyce: Lonnie used to say he was queer, called him a f*g

EPISODE 3:

Troy: I hate to break it to you toothless, but he's not in danger. He's dead. That's what my dad says. He said he was probably killed by some other queer.

EPISODE 4:

Troy: Besides, what's there to be sad about anyway? Will's in fairyland now, right? Flying around with all the other little fairies. All happy and gay!

EPISODE 6:

Steve: You know what, Byers? I'm actually kind of impressed. I always took you for a queer, but I guess you're just a little screw-up like your father.

Season 1 tends to use homophobia as a general way to show who the mean guys are here - not our scientists, or corrupt officials, but our human antagonists.

Season 2:

EPISODE 8:

Billy's Father: So that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror like some f*ggot instead of watching your sister?

Like in Season 1, Season 2 uses homophobia to paint Billy's dad as the evil behind Billy's evil.

EPISODE 9:

Steve: Nancy?

This one I questioned if I should include it - because it's not an explicit reference to gay words. Steve is concussed here and momentarily mistakes Mike for his sister - but it's worth noting that Nancy is also a term used to call someone gay. Especially since this is in reference to Mike, I think this is a very smart a subtle way to allude to Mike's sexuality early on.

Season 3:

Season 3 differs from the first two seasons uses of gay words - instead of having other, more background characters call our main characters slurs and using gay as an insult, we have main characters outright stating, or being told, that they're being gay - but in a roundabout way.

EPISODE 3:

Mike: It's not my fault that you don't like girls!

EPISODE 7:

Steve: But... Tammy Thompson's a girl?

Robin: Steve...

Season 4:

This same idea is carried into the next mention at the start of season 4, where they talk about the possibility that Vickie likes girls.

EPISODE 1:

Steve: Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes 5 seconds? People who like boobies!

After that we kind of go back to our old ways - but with a bit of a twist. Instead of a bigoted background character just being, the mentions start to become more casual and matter-of-fact.

EPISODE 3:

Russian: I am no fairy

There's a bit of a lack of judgement in this clip - the Russian here isn't offended so much as he's denying what he sees as a transaction for sexual favors, or possibly flirting. It's fairly neutral. He's simply saying - hey, I'm not the guy you need to be asking for that.

EPISODE 4:

Erica: Going out? I see he's taken a step down from Max...Chances are he's with your cheater boyfriend.

Here Erica implies that Jason is "going out" with Lucas in a different way - and I don't think she means it literally here (unless there's more to what Erica found under Lucas's bed that was so 'gross'...). I think she just can tell she already doesn't like Jason, and this is something she can say to get under his skin and get him to back off. Again, this seems like a neutral statement - not really judgmental.

So we see that homosexuality is mentioned at least once or twice per season. I think this serves two purposes throughout the course of the show.

To show the audience that the show in general disapproves of homophobia.

To keep homosexuality on our minds.

At the end of the day, Strange Things is not a show about being gay - it's not Heartstopper or Young Royals. It's an anthem for the outcasts, and queer characters have always been a part of that group of outcasts that the Duffers wanted to represent. I think to avoid this idea that these gay subplots "came out of nowhere" these terms being used throughout the show are just one part of the way they've tried to plant this idea that hey, maybe some of these characters are gay.

[great-k1ng-rat]

Yk I only got into stranger things when season 4 came out, and I will NEVER ever understand how so many people were calling Eddie cringe or weird.

Did those people not realize what kind of people this show is about?

They're all nerds, they're outcasts, they don't belong with the 'normal people'.

The original four all got bullied because they were weird and nerdy and different.

Jonathan didn't have any friends.

Nancy felt like she had to change herself in s1 to fit in with the popular crowd.

El was literally experimented on.

Max is a tomboy, she's brutally honest and does whatever she enjoys instead of trying to fit in with the rest of the girls.

Joyce was seen as crazy in s1 for not believing her son was dead.

Hopper is grouchy and rude, people don't like him.

Murray is a literal conspiracy theorist. Just to remind you that when he was first introduced he was living at a secret location so people couldn't track him.

Robin is weird and hyper (Steve's words) and she has trouble with social cues (100% autistic) and she's a closeted lesbian in the 80s.

Even Steve has become a bit of an outcast around s3. He doesn't have any of his old friends, he didn't get into college, he no longer has his status, his dad cut him off.

They're all a bunch of weirdos, Eddie was just not ashamed of it. All those people who hated him are the same people who don't mind it when someone is different until that person is confident about not fitting in.

[percygranate]

⚠️PSA – ickybatz is back! Predators on AO3⚠️

⚠️TW for Mentions of Child Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, Minor Sexual Content, Pedophilia, GROOMING, and Pedophile Conversations. PLEASE read and reblog if you can.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Demobatz is NOT ickybatz, also known as batty-ruski, battyrusk.

I made a mistake by assuming due to the names, and after being in contact with Demobatz, I edited the post. I apologize for this but don't fully regret calling them out, as it helped Demobatz realize they made a mistake and it brought a lot of attention to the issue of predators on AO3 and Tumblr.

In-depth explanation [HERE]!

This 13/16-year-old CHILD is out here asking for pedophilia requests and getting encouraged and groomed by predators.

I accidentally came across it, and I encourage you to report them and everyone interacting with their work. There is a difference between dark romance, dark fics, and straight-up romanticization of children being assaulted.

They write about these children actively partaking and enjoying it, hoping they can please the adult taking advantage of them. These works are clearly written for the type of person that gets off on it.

——— Update ———

Their way of writing to cope with past trauma was groomed and manipulated by predators on AO3.

——— Update ———

——— False Information | Demobatz isn't Ickybatz ———

So much for “Oh, they are a traumatized child and made a mistake.” They now know it's wrong and continue doing it, even worse than before. And people continue to support it.

Their fucking apology was absolute bullshit. And everyone that came to their defense should be ashamed of themselves.

——— False Information | Demobatz isn't Ickybatz ———

↓ Here are AO3 accounts supporting this. ↓

Yes, they put warnings on their work and say “Don’t Like It, Don’t Read It!” But I would like to show you what they are writing, and how they are getting the attention of predators. I am sure you have to agree with me that they and everyone supporting this need to lose any type of platform they own. Demobatz should NOT be in any contact with these men.

⚠️They encourage each others to write this and Demobatz, A 13/16-YEAR-OLD, is actively putting themselves in danger by making “friends” for roleplay, and exchanging social media, with very likely, PEDOPHILES. They are actively getting groomed by people that know what they are doing.⚠️

——————————————————

↓These are their two original works↓

Financial Struggles — The summary says it all. But I feel like I should point out their conversation under their post.

Mother’s Milk — Sexual Assault of a male baby.

——————————————————

↓This is their work in the Stranger Things Fandom↓

Their work “Deceit” which is taking requests and actively posting has, as of May 21st, 16 Chapters.

1 — “Using this as a coping mechanism for my own trauma. Please request, any age is allowed❤️”

2 — Eddie Munson, 25 y/o | Reader, 17 y/o

3 — Uncle Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson | Reader, 6 y/o

4 — Eddie Munson, 20 y/o | Reader, 12 y/o

5 — Steve, 19 y/o & Eddie, 20 y/o | Reader, 14 y/o

6 — Dad Steve | Reader, 8 y/o

7 — Dad Steve & Eddie | Reader, 8 y/o

8 — Big Brother Steve | Reader, 4 y/o

9 — Big Brother Billy Hargrove | Reader, 6 y/o

10 — “Posting this so that you all can give me ideas on what to post next❤️ Anything is allowed/ age can be whatever you want♡♡!”

11 — Billy & Steve | Reader, 3 y/o

12 — Hopper & Joyce | Reader, 4 y/o

13 — !BILLY HARGROVE AND A NEWBORN BABY!

14 — Billy | Reader, 6 y/o & Max, 7 y/o

15 — “It hasn't been a week and I'm almost at 2,000 reads! Thank you all so much♡♡ Feel free to drop suggestions, request or even ideas/blurbs♡♡”

16 — Big Brother Eddie / Reader over the years, starting at 6 y/o

——————————————————

They actively encourage pedophilia and put themselves on a silver platter for predators.

If you are still trying to justify these types of works, please do it off anon and openly so you can be blocked since you are part of the problem.

Do not send threats, bullying, or harassment their way. Block and Report.

If you know one or more of the interacting blogs, call them out.

⚠️UPDATE: 22nd of May⚠️

Dear fellow Bloggers, Demobatz pedophilia fic “Deceit” has been taken down!

Yet their two original works (mentioned above) are still there. I ask you to keep reporting them!

Demobatz is currently using Wit as their social media to exchange ideas for their CSA & incest Erotica, and worse, to roleplay with potential predators.

⚠️Update: May 25th⚠️

AO3 has removed their account or they deleted it themselves. Their Wit profile has been deleted.

Due to this post, my blogs keep getting shadowbanned and reported.

⚠️Update: May 26th⚠️

DEMOBATZ CONTACTED ME AND I CAN CONFIRM THIS APOLOGY TO BE REAL!

In-depth continuation and explanation [HERE]!

⚠️I turned off Reblogs as the original post with false information is still making rounds and therefore people are missing information.⚠️

[ladykailitha]

Of Butterflies and Backstrokes Part 6

Hello! It seems that people haven't quite adjusted to the new schedule yet, is there anything I can do to help get this in front of people? Just let me know and if I can do it, I will. Everything but changing the days of the week it's posted on, of course.

In this chapter we have Steve training Will's class and a couple of bullies emerge, and Steve makes some progress on the trauma front.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

~

Steve waited as all the kids and their parents came shuffling in. Joyce wasn’t there for Will but Jonathan was, with his arm over his shoulder whispering comforting things. Other than Will’s friends there were two other kids in the class. Troy and Angela. Angela was pretty blonde girl and Troy had curly brown hair and square face.

He could see the two of them whispering in a corner and Steve immediately knew they would be trouble. Their parents didn’t seem to be much better, so he braced himself for a long six weeks.

“Everyone listen up!” Steve called out after blowing on his whistle. “I’m Mr. Harrington and this is Miss Buckley. We will be your teachers. You will listen to both of us equally as one mistake could prove disastrous. Here are the rules.” He went on to list all of the rules and pointed to the signs that had them written out in big, bold letters.

“All right,” he finished, “girls go with Robin, boys come with me.”

Steve could see Troy eyeing up Will and knew trouble was brewing. But he knew how to nip it in the bud before it got started.

“Will could you keep an eye on them while they change?” Steve asked casually. “I need to ask her about the schedule for Saturday.”

Will blushed a dark red but nodded.

As Steve walked away he could hear Troy ask why their teacher would need to talk to Will’s mom. He smiled broadly. He of course did ask her about the schedule because he was thinking about taking Eddie up on his offer, but didn’t want to do it if Tommy was going to be there.

When he came back, there was an awkward tension in the air that was there before. Troy was off to the side, glaring at the four other boys, while Lucas and Dustin were trying to hide grins behind their hands.

Whatever had been said after Steve left, it certainly left an impression on Troy. Now to see what Troy would do with the information he was given to him.

Steve led them back to the kiddie pool where the girls were waiting with Robin. Angela was fake shivering and chattering her teeth.

“I don’t know why we have to shower before we get in the pool,” she whined. “It’s not like I’m dirty or anything.” She looked up at Steve through her eyelashes and batted them with a pout on her lips.

Oh no. Steve thought bitterly. She was one of those. Look, he knew he was a good looking guy, he wasn’t blind or stupid. But he faced many a crush from one of his students and he was going to have to have Robin deal with her exclusively. Because he didn’t want to lose his fucking job.

“No matter how clean the person is,” he said dryly, “the fact that you rode here in a car, walked out in the open air, and stood around other people means you have dirt on you. And because we don’t want you messing with the chemicals in the water that work to keep the pool clean with those dirt particles you bathe or shower before getting in the pool. Plus if you don’t want your pretty blonde hair turning green, taking a shower before hand will help limit that from happening.”

He turned and looked at all the other students, ignoring her shocked expression. “Does anyone have any other questions before we get started?”

The rest of the class looked at each other, shaking their heads. He nodded curtly. “Good, the only thing we’re going to do today is get used to being in the water.” He held up his hand to stop the protests. “I don’t care if you gone to the pool before. This is about building up stamina first.”

The kids grumbled but did as they were told. Robin and Steve had them wading back and forth doing laps and by the end of the two hours (with breaks in between) all the kids were exhausted.

“Why am I so tired?” Mike groaned as he flopped gracelessly on the bench to wait for his mom to come pick him up.

Some of the parents had stuck around to watch, but Mike’s mom had errands to run and left him in Steve’s care. She had stayed for the safety speech though, he had to give her that, Troy and Angela’s parents didn’t even do that. Hopper had been one of the ones that stayed through the whole thing, cheering Ellie on.

As the last kid was bundled off to their parents Steve sat down on the bench Mike had recently vacated and pressed his head against the wall. Not every class had troublemakers but having two in a such a small class was a nightmare.

“You okay there, Stevie?” Eddie asked, gently. He moved to sit next to Steve on the bench.

Steve rolled his head to the side to look at him. “First day of class is always the hardest. Learning the dynamics and singling out the bullies before they take hold and completely ruin the class.”

“Yeah?” Eddie asked with a lopsided grin. “You get many of those?”

“Depends,” Steve said, “there are always going to those entitled assholes who think they’re above the rules but that doesn’t always translate to bullying others. But if there is going to be a bully, it will absolutely come from that kind of person.”

Eddie snorted. “Don’t I know it?” He leaned his head back against the wall too. “When I was on the swim team, I was surrounded by kids who had their own swimming pools, personal trainers and parents who came out to meets. That wasn’t me.”

Steve breathed out through his nose. “More money than sense doesn’t make you the best swimmer. Just ask my dad. The fucker thought that if he kept pushing me that I would have had gold medals in every event I participated in. You wouldn’t believe the lecture I got when I only came in fifth my first Olympics. Even though everyone was telling him not to expect me to medal against twenty year olds.” He shook his head.

“Do you miss it?” Eddie asked softly. “The rush of diving into the water, the only sounds are the roar of the crowd and the rushing water, the way your body slices through the water, the thrill of hitting the touch pad and looking up to see your time?”

“More than you’ll ever know,” Steve said, his voice cracking. “But the best thing to happen from that horrible accident was my dad walking away and never speaking to me ever again. I can live without him, even if the trade off is that I can never get into the pool again.”

“My dad didn’t care what I did,” Eddie huffed, banging his head on the wall. “As long as I wasn’t a snitch. It was my mom that took to swimming every day, worked ten hour days seven days a week to keep up with the fees and shit. Probably wouldn’t have had to work so hard if my dad didn’t spend the money on booze and the slots.”

“So what happened?” Steve asked sitting forward and looking at him directly.

Eddie let out a derisive snort. “My mom got sick, like cancer sick and my dad in all his dumbassery thought the best way to pay for medical bills was to borrow money from a loan shark who had him knocking off rich people’s cars to pay him back.” Eddie gripped his fists together tight. “He got caught by police while she was literally on her death bed. She was calling out for him. And by the time the cops released him on bail she was gone.”

“God,” Steve huffed. “And I thought my dad had the monopoly on shitty behavior. Yours really takes the shit pile, man.”

Eddie snorted. Then the snort became a giggle and soon he was laughing so hard. Steve just watched with his head tilted. He wasn’t sure what he said to make him laugh like that, but he would do it again in a heart beat.

“Yeah, Stevie,” Eddie said once he could speak, “king of the shit pile, my dad.” He looked at his watch and then stood up. “My break is almost over, so I’ve got to go. You take better care of yourself, yeah?”

Steve smiled up at him. “You, too, Eds. You tell Murray not to work you so hard. You’re doing community service not slave labor.”

Eddie gave him that closed mouth dimpled smile that never failed to make Steve’s insides melt and then walked away, waving over his shoulder.

If someone were to walk by just then, Steve would adamantly deny staring at Eddie’s ass. He was watching respectfully, thank you very much.

Eddie not wanting to get back into get back into swimming made more sense after their little talk. Steve wasn’t sure he would want to get back into a sport that he only had one cheerleader for and she was gone, either.

At least Steve had Robin, but who did Eddie have now that his mom was gone?

He decided he was still going to go the staff swim, though. He wanted to see how good the boy was. Because even if Eddie never wanted to compete, Steve wanted to see him in action.

~

Saturday rolled around and Steve drove Robin to the rec center. They pulled into the near vacant parking lot. There was Nancy’s station wagon and a beat up old van.

Robin touched his shoulder. “If you don’t want to do this, you can drive off, right now and I’ll tell people you had a migraine. Okay?”

Steve shook his head. “If it gets too much, I’ll just go spend time in the endless pool.”

She gave him a squeeze and got out of the car, Steve following close behind. They entered the pool area, Steve hanging out a little behind Robin. Eddie spotted them first and he hopped out of the pool with a big grin. Jonathan and Nancy who had been chatting with him, turned the direction he was looking with their expressions going to from confusion, to surprise, to glee.

Eddie ran to go get a chair and set next to the pool about three feet from the edge. “For his majesty!”

Steve huffed out a laugh as he sat down. “I’m just here as spectator, don’t get your hopes up.”

Nancy and Jonathan shared a glance and then grinned.

“Whatever you say, man,” Jonathan huffed. “It’s still good to see you.” He moved away from the edge of the pool a little then created a wave that splashed Steve.

Steve just flinched away from the water so it wouldn’t get in his eyes. “Robin, get him!”

Robin who had been wearing a blouse and shorts over her swimsuit, looked at him briefly, before stripping right there and diving at Jonathan, taking him with her. Eddie and Nancy looked at each other and then nodded.

Nancy went for Robin and Eddie went for Jonathan and they wrestled in the water making bigger splashes then the one Jonathan made to get Steve.

Steve yelped and got to his feet, running away. Finally the four of them stopped and Eddie pushed his long hair out of his face, grinning up at Steve. Steve smiled back. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

~

Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

Tag List: CLOSED

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

9- @chameleonhair @sadisticaltarts @dreamercec @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mac-attack19

10- @aol19 @eriquin @tartarusknight @gloomysoup @morallyundefined

[ven0moir]

BYCHANCE TIMELINE - speculative theory

This goes by the hand of what I've shown before here. This theory is just a small part of a larger narrative, and whereas Will's arc is central, his relationship with his friends and family will be crucial this season. So what you're seeing here is me trying to narrow down what I believe his arc with Chance, specifically, will entail. I see this as one of the loops Will needs to break to Be Free--one storyline ingrained into a larger narrative--its not what the season will focus on entirely, but an important aspect of it.

ACT I. Bychance introduced in EP1

Full circle moment as Bychance joins the narrative pattern established through Stancy, Mileven & even Joyce and Lonnie--which I'll be calling Jonnie for short. They start off with Will reading a note [ left in his locker ], with a time and place to meet. Then we see them together. This rattles the audience a bit--some will actually approve ( like they did Mileven & Stancy ), some might cheer bc it means their ship's endgame now that Will has an 'official love interest' ( Milevens ), some might question if this is real/a vecna vision or something, and others ( Bylers ) question it and are taken aback bc this might feel ooc of Will to them. Which it is, yes, but that's kind of the point.

He's conforming half-way. He refuses to date a girl and lie about who he is, yes, but at the same time he's sneaking around with a jock/bully, who is part of the group that tormented Hellfire in S4, nonetheless. And, just like Nancy did Steve in S1, makes excuses for his behavior. ( callback to S1 )

"He's a good guy deep down, he just needs some time to come to terms with who he is. It's not like I have options, anyway. What are the odds of meeting someone else like me in this town?"

In Will's case, the van scene was a metaphorical self-sacrifice. A part of Will, a very important part of him, died in that van--not to mention the whole forgotten birthday thing. So he's now trying, forcing himself to move on and find coping mechanisms.

However, I really do think the point of Bychance is to serve as a lesson, yes, but also to give Will a little bit of a 'vacation' and allow him to live a little, damn. He surely deserves a break.

ACT II. Flashback to their first meeting

The details of their first encounter remain to be seen but we either see them get together in real time ( aka this happens before we see them kiss ) or we see a flashback of their first meeting, which might be similar to Mileven's ( it happens by chance--pun intended--in a way that feels cold, it's raining, there's danger looming, etc ). However, Bychance might mirror BenChar from Heartstopper more than Mileven's first scene. The reason being that it is widely accepted within the town that Will is queer and we even have bullies in S1 talk about Will's queerness ( potential S1 callback here? ), so it might be safe to assume that Chance is aware of the possibility of Will being queer and at some point the opportunity presents itself, and the two exchange words. I expect coded language being used, reinforcing one of the show's themes.

"Is it true what they say about you? That you're ... yknow. Different."

I'm putting BenChar here as a very loose example, because I don't think Will would get outed like Charlie--the truth is he never even had the luxury of hiding to begin with. As far as we understand, everyone just knew. I also assume the show would show us moments of Will trying to connect with Chance/talk to him but Chance doesn't seem interested in that, like Ben with Charlie, and then the reality begins to sip through--this isn't real, Will is just looking for a replacement for Mike. Sound familiar? Because if we see S5 Bychance paralleling S1 Mileven ... yikes.

Another theme that BenChar has in common with Stranger Things is the idea of secrecy--which is basically what Mike had to do in S1, hide Eleven and therefore his relationship with her. Not out of malice, but for safety reasons. Chance and Will would be in the exact same spot. Again, if there are noticeable parallels ... yikes.

However, I'm not sure what exact vibe Chance brings to the table, but he definitely cannot come across too intense bc it'll spook Will. So he needs to be stealthy, like a ninja. ( Like yknow, how Steve said as he crawled through Nancy's window in S1 that he was 'stealthy like a ninja' and like in S2 when he said to Dustin that some girls like you to be aggressive like a lion, but others like you to be stealthy like a ninja ).

To Chance, Will is a conquest, but he might be like Ben as in he's not totally unredeemable--and if subtextually he's supposed to be this personification of Will's trauma, then we can expect he reminds Will of Lonnie, Vecna and ... Mike. Just like how Mike reminded El of Brenner, Hopper, etc. Yay, more WillEl parallels.

Lonnie = father figure--he's in Joyce's S1 shoes here. He feels like he's losing his mind. ( Either due to old UD trauma, new UD trauma recall, irl trauma, or bc of the van scene. Or everything. It depends on how much angst the Duffers want S5 to have. )--so when Chance comes knocking at his door, he lets him in, initially thinking he's making a choice for himself. Vecna = someone who used his mind and body for his own purposes. Mike = an illusion, a lie/fantasy. ( as per s4, this is what Will currently believes ).

Similarly to BenChar, Chance might act out the tough and roudy bully in public, and pretend Will doesn't exist, but then be sweet in private.

This is also in a way similar to Stancy, where Steve offered something more surface-level and encouraged Nancy to suppress her feelings instead of expressing them, even if that wasn't his intention. And similarly, El didn't show interest in Mike's hobbies when he tried to introduce them to her--not El's fault, she simply wasn't interested.

ACT III. Bychance getting caught ( by either Mike or Jonathan? ) 

Mike/Jonathan is investigating something related to the supernatural, or going some place and sees Bychance by pure chance ( this stops being funny after a while ), connecting with: Jonathan seeing Nancy with Steve in S1 Jonathan finding Jonnie in an uncomfortable position in S1 And thus helping the narrative come full circle. If we want to say it is a combination between these two, then my bet is, it is Mike who finds them. Mike sees his Will, with someone else ... yikes. But also, he sees him .. with another guy. In a compromising position. I'll ... talk about Mike later since he's the most puzzling to me, but for now I'll just say I think it's a VERY different thing if he'd seen Will with a girl. If he had, total drama queen tantrum, but with another guy?? Oh boy.

But back to Will--The implication of bychance paralleling or being contrasted with Jonnie is the idea of returning to a toxic place out of desperation & for comfort--a coping mechanism. i,e Will's relationship with Chance is the consequence of and is shaped by Will's UD + irl trauma. This dynamic gives Will a false sense of control and perpetuates what he began in the van scene--he's still Will, but is making the wrong choices. Gotta love consequences.

I also don't know how far the show will go depicting this dynamic--my guess is worst case scenario it goes all the way like Stancy, but it could also be like Jonnie where it falls apart before it goes too far. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

ACT IV. Roles reverse--Chance sees Mike and Will sharing a tender moment after Will has a traumatic experience?

This moment with Nancy was right after her encounter with the tree, so maybe something related to that tree we're seeing Will associated with? Also, I have no idea where this scene would take place logically--I have 0 clue where the Byers are staying after all. But somewhere where Chance could realistically go to. This scene with Stancy was after Steve wasn't too supportive of Nancy and went to apologize to her house, but then saw Jonathan and Nancy together--his reaction was to break Jonathan's camera. So this could maybe have something to do with the scenes surrounding the bullies that we have seen. If Chance at some point is an active participant in a force that hurts the party to get back at Mike/(Will) then this could be what sets Will up for the final Bychance act.

And I know that adding Chance to the mix might appear as just more drama for Byler but imagine the golden opportunity here to 'show don't tell' the audience through a third party that has stakes on the situation. Because it's not the same if Jonathan or Karen or anyone sees them together, there's room for plausible deniability there.

But the boyfriend of one of them seeing and getting jealous? Yeah that says he saw something there that the audience should be seeing too. Because what if it's like ... a combination between this scene and S2 Mike giving Will comfort and holding his hand?

Now this could technically be done through El too--and there's a parallel in S2 where she got jealous over Mike and Max even though there wasn't anything truly there. But quite frankly I think that was something that they'd have done with S4 El.

ACT V. The break-up ( the closing & breaking of the cycle )

So, I'm not entirely sure about the flow of this yet bc part of me also wonders if they'll just kill off Chance like they did Bob in the middle of the action or something. Yikes. Hell, maybe Will gets possessed by Vecna and kills Chance himself, who the hell knows. This could go SO MANY WAYS.

But I do hope we see a moment of catharsis for Will where he chooses to reclaim his self-worth. That feels more to me like the point of Chance as well.

My current guess is perhaps the energy of this scene is a combination between BenChar and Jonnie, with Will being angry and hurt and finally realizing he deserves, and wants, better than this. More than this. Chance is a test he must pass before he's ready to face off against Vecna AND get together with Mike ( which will probably happen towards the end for sure ).

And perhaps the Duffers will go with the concept of 'chance' in its metaphorical context, and I'm way too attached to the pacing and tone of S1, but considering all of the S1 callbacks we saw in S4 ... there's just something so compelling and powerful to me about Will having a previous romantic experience before getting with his One True Love. Otherwise Byler risks feeling too ... perfect to me in a way that feels ... stiff. But maybe I'm wrong and they have a better way to do it than Bychance!

I just honestly cannot shake these:

Our first impression of Chance being him wearing the number 22. Lucas saying 'I'm tired of feeling like a loser, so now we have that chance' with a poster that says "MEET AT"

Tigers ( jock + cheerleader ) making out next to an INVITATION to a GAME with a day + time.

Jason asking if Mike Is Somewhere, "by chance". It's giving Deadpool level of self-awareness & meta, it's giving Shawn Levy. Who worked on that movie, btw. And is the dude who said this:

"Without getting into where we go later in season 4 [Volume II], I guess I'll just say that there aren't many accidents on Stranger Things," Levy tells EW when asked about Will's sexuality. "There is clear intention and strategy and real thought given to each and every character. So, if you came away from Volume I feeling those bread crumbs of plot and character, it's probably no accident." source

Oh, so you mean me perceiving the tigers are heavily queercoded might've been intentional, strategic and really thought out? And sure, that might not really mean anything Bychance related, or it might just mean something else. But the scene of Lucas in Hawkins and Will in rink-o-mania being connected through music ...?

And then we just saw Chance on the scene, inviting people over to party, and a Chance/Mike lookalike extra behind Will with a shirt that says 'I love contact sports'? Really?

Really?

It's giving 'happy belated birthday, Will!'

I know I'm delusional af atp I do not even trust myself, it's 6.00am and I just needed to get this out before the self-doubt crept up on me again, but it is becoming clearer to me how Bychance fits into the narrative--and it is so seamless to me that im over here like LET'S GO TIGERS, LETS GO TIGERS

I don't know, man. I don't know. But either way, this is fun as hell, which is the point of analysis, no? Regardless of whether or not this happens, or does so in a metaphorical way, we'll see!

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Six

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: A frantic Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce look for Nancy in the darkness before uncovering the truth about the lab’s experiments. Steve starts accepting his babysitting role. Steph and Will are running out of time.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 15,845

🎲Date: 12/13/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; References To Broken Friendship; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Talks of Mental Health Issues; Bullying of All Kinds; Physical Fighting; Lying; "Death" and Talks of Death; Brief Mention of Corpses; Gun Use; Implied Unloving Parents; Implied Child Abuse; Implied Drug Abuse; Blood & Gore; Arson & Alcohol; Will & Steph's Mental Strain - Joyce's Too; Hopper Being a Great Cop & A Total Mess; Dustin Being a Slight Asshole; Steve's 'Asshole Era'; Steve's Emotional Damage. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: I am sooooo sorry this took so long! It was never my intention to have neglected it for this long, but here it is. Hopefully it lives up to your expectations. Also, small heads up, I've only re-read this over a few times, so hopefully everything makes sense and looks good. Thank you for your patience ❤️. Enjoy!

You know what they say… Curiosity kills the cat. Or in this instance…

Curiosity kills the Wheeler.

Now she was staring at something truly horrifying, something that was like out of a Stephan King novel or out of an exorcist movie. This… thing was huge. When she first caught a glance of it at Steve’s house she never pictured it that big. An eight foot, lanky, twisted limb individual that was feasting on a poor deer. Her breath was caught in her throat, its munching sounds found its way into her ears rocking her to her core; Her dying flashlight was shaking in her hand.

She needs to leave, go back through the tree before this thing decides it wants desert. Yet, luck was not on her side, as soon as she took a step backwards something crackled beneath her feet. On cue the monster turns around with a shriek, causing her to drop everything and run.

“Jonathan!” She screams, hoping that he – someone – would hear. Then her heart skipped a beat when she got a reply. “JONATHAN!!”

“Nancy!”

She twisted around the trees, the beast right on her tail–

“I’m right here! Nancy! Just follow my voice!”

Follow his voice. Follow his voice. Follow his voice. Follow his– The thing decided to lunge, which she manages to get out of the way in the nick of time, running in a new direction.

“Follow my voice, Nancy, I’m right here! Nancy?!”

She pulls herself to a halt, clinging onto a tree and taking a breather. She hears him but she just can’t see him! Everything was starting to blur and look the same to the point she doesn’t even know where the damn entrance is!

“Jonathan…?” She whispers, and chokes down a sob as she hears the beast growling and lurking around somewhere behind. Is this it? Is this how her life was going to end? In a place that people probably won’t even believe exists? She shook to her core, the beast footsteps starting to fade, but what good would that be if she didn’t know where she was going?

But something must have answered her prayers as a hand suddenly covers her mouth, startling her as someone quietly and quickly shushes beside her ear. Her stomach dropped to her ankles, as she fearfully followed the hand to… she couldn’t even finish the thought she was so taken back. She was completely baffled to find it belonged to the Police Chief of Hawkins.

The Police Chief? She thought, her mind of course strolling to the dread and the worst of it all. Did her parents call because she was gone? Did Hopper get abducted like poor Will and Stephanie? What could it–

Once he registers that he has her attention (mostly), he silently tells her to follow him. Obliging, she stays close, following him right back to where she came through.

Relief fell through her, then once again horror when that growling came back at full force. The two parties stop, frozen as the beast returns a few paces behind them; Then… 

It charged. The next few seconds were a blur for Nancy– 

Barely remembering how he grabbed her and held her close–

Barely registering him taking out his firearm and taking shots–

Barely recalling as he yanked them both backwards into a tree–

.

.

.

Both Jonathan and Joyce let out a scream when someone’s hand shot through the bubble.

“HELP!!!” It shouts, their eyes widened.

“Hang on!!” Joyce yells, as her and her son use a death grip on his hand, planting their feet into the Earth and pulling with all their might. All it took was their faces to turn bloodshot red before finally seeing the upper half of Hopper’s body. “Ugh– COME ON!!”

And one more large yank from the both of them sent them flying across the forest floor, and Hopper crashed flat on his back with Nancy in his hold.

Hopper immediately squeezed the sobbing girl comfortably, reassuring her softly. “It’s okay. I got you. I got you…”

“Nancy!” Jonathan sighs with relief, him and Joyce crawling over to see them. He helped them sit up, the two of them covered in a weird goo, both looking like they had just seen hell and survived. 

As the four of them tried to process the last few minutes, they gazed upon the tree that was slowly closing itself back up. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Eleven!” Her name erupted his throat for the thousandth time tonight. Steve’s not quite sure what time it was, but it was definitely dark and freezing cold, yet he refuses to give up. “Eleven!”

Once he was completely sure his mother was dead asleep it was easy enough to slip out again. Dressed as warmly as he could, flashlight in hand, baseball bat in the other with a backpack full of supplies for anything that he might need along the way. He even brought an extra jacket to sling around the kid when he found her. He was left circling around the junkyard and the area around it; And of course it had to be all wooded, the perfect place to hide.

“Eleven!” He shouts again, then sighs, his breath could be seen in the air. “Look, kid, I… I don’t know if you can hear this, but if you can, I’m not mad about what happened. Frankly, I’m more worried about you. And that’s the god’s honest truth, I swear, I just…” Another sigh. “It’s cold, and I don’t want you freezing. I just… I-I just want you to be alright, kiddo. Okay?”

Of course he was expecting an answer, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to get a reply which was correct. Instead, he was met with a heavy wind blow that sent a chill through his body.

Shit… He frowns. “Listen, if I don’t see you in the next few hours or you don’t want to approach me, just… please consider going back to Mike’s place, or… you can even come to mine.”

Then he mentally slapped himself. Of course she wouldn’t know his place! “Um, if– if you remember where Will’s house is, I’m not too far from there. The woods across the street just take that straight through. The walk’s about… forty minutes, and uh, my house has a big pool in the backyard and… I’ll be waiting for you. Um…”

It kind of hurts that he’s not getting an answer.

“I’ll probably have to repeat what I just said in a few hours but–” His face morphs into something warm and greeting. “I really hope you heard what I said. And please consider.”

Nothing again, and Steve prays that she hears him, I mean, that’s all he can do as he starts his walk back up again; Shouting her name over and over until the sun starts to rise.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

She felt him pull the blanket around them closer before snuggling against her side – not just for warmth this time, but for comfort, something they both desperately needed now. Steph and Will found themselves sitting inside Castle Byers, both trying to stay snug, both trying to process what had happened in the last few hours, those…

Those hours that they couldn’t even believe just happen. 

“So…” Steph begins, fiddling with the walkman in her hands, the one that apparently saved her from the nightmare she was in. “You just played music?”

“Uh, huh.” Will said, nodding.

“And…” Her hands shook at the slightest. Just thinking about it made her skin crawl. “How did you know how to do that?”

“I didn’t.” He frowns, visibly upset. “Like I said earlier, when I accidently turned on the boombox, the music was scaring the monster away. So I thought, maybe, whatever had a hold on you would have the same effect.”

“Well it worked.” She lays the device in her lap, sighing into her hands, thinking. “Listen, Will, I’m going to be blunt.” She meets his worried gaze. “I don’t think we’re going to make it.”

Steph hated how easily those words slipped out, how easily it was to admit that they were stuck in a rut. Her fingers clawed at her thighs as she continued, “I mean, I have faith in your mom, I really do, but we’re running out of time here. And who knows if she’s even figured out a way to get to us, if she knows where we are. We’re both…” She swallows. “We’re both physically and mentally tired, we’re starving and cold too. I mean, if that thing doesn’t kill us, then the cold certainly will. Look at us, we’re shaking and we have layers upon layers of clothes that slowly are not doing much for us. We’re slowly dying at this point.”

Will says nothing knowing she’s right. He’s lost count how many pairs of socks were on his feet, or sweaters he has under his jacket. “Then… what do we do?”

She sighs again, rubbing her forehead (and putting her brain into overdrive). “Alright let’s stop and really think. We obviously weren’t the only ones brought here, right? Remember the girl from Steve’s pool?”

“Yeah.” He straightens up a bit, catching on what she was trying to explain. “From the looks of it, that thing caught her off guard.”

“See, that’s what I was thinking. What if that thing–” She shakes her head. “You know what, we got to give it a name. Can’t keep calling it ‘thing’ or ‘beast’, it’s confusing. Um…”

Will suddenly recalls what started all this indirectly. “...I got beaten by the Demogorgon.”

“Huh?”

“I rolled a seven, and I needed to roll a ten, so I ended up getting beaten by the Demogorgon.” He locks eyes with her again. “We got beaten by the Demogorgon.”

She clenches her jaw. “The Demogorgon. That’s what is hunting us.” Steph says, while nodding. “Okay. Okay. Alright, so what I was thinking is that Demogorgon is like a wolf. It kills its prey, and drags it back to the den, its home, this place, to feast.”

“So… it’s hungry, and this whole place is its home?”

“Correct. The thing is, who knows if we are even the Demogorgon’s first victims? There could have been plenty of people before us that got dragged here. There’s probably been more people than the girl at the pool we saw.”

“So if it’s dragging people here, then it’s somehow able to travel between here and Hawkins. Like it’s using a gateway.”

“Correct. But I don’t think it’s using one gateway, I think there’s somehow more than one.”

He tilts his head, curious. “How so?”

“Remember what you said? The girl looked like she was caught off guard. But–” How does she phrase this? “But she was scared like we were scared when we first saw that thing. Now, I mean we’re still scared anytime we come across the Demogorgon, but not like the first meeting, right?”

“Yeah.” Will said, after taking a second to process it. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“See? Every time we encounter it, it comes out of nowhere.”

“Like it portal-hops, almost.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“So out there…” He starts looking more hopeful. “There’s at least a few gateways. So all we have to do is find one, and maybe it’ll take us home.”

Steph nods before frowning. “There’s only one problem about that. Every time we try doing something to help us get out of here, the Demogorgon shows up. I mean, this evil version of Hawkins is still Hawkins. It’s huge. We’ll never be able to search around without having to worry about it showing up.”

“We have to do something then.”

“Yeah. I mean–” She shrugs. “What can we do? Music and guns seemed to only stun it.”

“Unless, we figure out a way to not stun it. What if…” Will couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth next–

.

.

.

“What if we kill it?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper let himself close his eyes as he rested at the table, sitting in nothing but his boxer briefs and undershirt. His (dry clean only) uniform had been shoved into the wash in an attempt to get the sticky goo off as he’s second in line for the shower. He was still trying to process what he just went through in the last hour. Another world, real monsters, the lab, the Staties, the fake bodies, everything. It was way too much for the forty-two year old man to wrap his head around. Way too much for any sane human being.

My god… what have I gotten myself into? He was pulled from his thoughts when someone rattled the table as they sat down.

“Look, we gotta go through this again.” Joyce pushed eagerly, hands flat against the news articles Hopper brought over.

The Police Chief looks at her tiredly. “I told you everything that I saw.” He replies, then takes a puff of smoke from his cigarette. 

“Oh, my gosh.” She rolls her eyes. “Tell me again.”

Just before Hopper could continue, her son came into the room, looking mentally and physically exhausted. “Is she alright?” He asked, getting a nod.

“Yeah.” Jonathan said, nervously fiddling with his hands as he took a seat with them. “She’s showering right now.”

“That’s good.” Joyce said, before turning her attention back on the other adult. “Continue.”

“Upstairs or downstairs?” He asks, softly. 

“Upstairs.”

“There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was… there was this kid’s room–”

“How do you know it was a kid’s room?”

“It’s.. M-More like a prison.”

“So why would you think it was a kid’s room, then?”

Hopper inhales sharply. “Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal–”

Joyce perks up. “You didn’t say there was a drawing.”

“Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said ‘Eleven’ on it.”

“Was it good?” Both Joyce and Jonathan said in unison, both having the same idea.

Hopper looks between the two, confused. “It was a kid’s drawing. It was stick figures.”

Joyce then sighs herself, getting up quickly to fetch something before slamming it down in front of him. “Wasn’t Will.” She clarifies, as he takes in the skillful drawing, confusion going away instantly.

Although that went away, something else took its place.

His eyes widened. “Earl…” Hopper mutters, setting the drawing aside to grab the news articles, shifting them around to find something he just thought of. “The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny. Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe…”

“Maybe, it wasn’t?” Jonathan asked, him and his mother leaning in closer to what the cop was digging around for. 

“Look…” He flashes the piece of paper at them, a woman plastered on the front of it all. “This woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government… Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if…” A look of horror crosses his face. “I mean, what if this whole time I’ve been… I’ve been looking for Will… I’ve been chasing after some other kid? What if this goes so much deeper than we thought?”

“So you’re saying that, maybe this Brenner guy is taking kids for some… experiment?” Joyce asked, trying to get some clarity. 

“Maybe yes, maybe no.” He replies, his fingers subtly twitching against the table. “But I know in my gut that the lab has something to do with your son’s disappearance. It has to. There’s too many paths crossing for them not to be.”

“Okay, but if that is the case, why Will? And where does Stephanie fit into this?” Jonathan asked.

“Here’s the thing about Stephanie, with all the evidence we have, I think she simply was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. I think Will was always the main target, she just happened to be there when they decided to move in.” Hopper sighs. “Where is she now? I don’t know. But they must have crossed paths with her once if they managed to make a fake corpse that looks like her.”

The teenager took a moment to think everything over, before shaking his head. “This is getting… insane. Really insane.”

“Tell me about it, kid. I know.”

“Then what’s the next step? Where do we go from here?” Joyce asks, but before she got an answer, Nancy had entered the room. Semi-damp towel wrapped around her neck, and dressed in clothes she was given, she comes in with a distant look that she tries to play off.

“Thank you for the clothes, and shower, Ms. Byers.” 

“Oh, no need to thank me. Um…” Joyce takes a step towards her with a warm smile. “Listen, it’s late. How about you stay the night?”

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked, surprised. 

“Yes, I’m sure. Just… call your mother. I wouldn’t want her to worry. Uh, Jonathan–” She gets her son’s attention. “Why don’t you show her where the phone is and get the extra blankets and pillows out?” She awaits for them to disappear from sight before turning back to Hopper and asking,  “So what’s the next step?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It wasn’t until she had to get Joyce on the phone to confirm she really was at the Byers Household that Nancy was allowed to stay. They came up with some excuse that Nancy was helping Jonathan with some homework and it went later than expected. Luckily, Karen bought it, and now her daughter was wondering how she was even going to get any sleep. Every time she closes her eyes… she sees that thing. That monster stalked her like prey, and was this close to snagging her and the Police Chief and ending their lives.

This. Freaking. Close.

I mean… how would Jonathan and his mother explain to her family what happened? To explain how she was eaten/killed by a beast with no eyes?  Speaking of…

“You feel better?” Jonathan asks, as he looks up from fixing up his bed when enters the room. 

“Yeah.” She said, nodding. 

“That’s good. Um…” He shifts nervously on the balls of his feet, gesturing to the object at hand. “I-Is my bed okay? Do you need another blanket? Or–”

Nancy shakes her head. “I-I can’t take your bed.”

“Trust me, my mom will kill me if I offer you the couch.” He chuckles. “Just take it. I’ll sleep in Will’s room.”

“You sure?” She asks, and he nods. “Okay.”

“Okay.” He repeats, and starts making his way to leave, but–

“It’s just, um…” Her hands squeeze together tightly. “I… I don’t wanna be alone, so….” She adverts her eyes. “Can you, like, stay with me tonight?”

“S-Stay?” He slurs, surprised.

She shakes her head slowly as she sits down on the bed. “Yeah…”

“Uh, y-yeah. I-I’ll stay. Um–” He looks around the room. “Just let me get–”

“Can you just come sit? Uh, you can… take half the bed if you want or…” She groans quietly into her hands, before shuttering visibly. “Jesus…”

Jonathan immediately sits down as well, taking in how scared she is and tries to find the right words. “You know, it… it can’t get us in here.”

“We don’t know that.” Nancy whispers, looking at him “Every time I close my eyes, I just… keep seeing that... thing. Wherever I was, that place… I think that it lives there. It was feeding there. Feeding on that deer.”

“Hey, I won’t let it get you.”

“But it got everyone else? That means that if… if Will, Stephanie and Barbara…”

“Hey.” He wraps an arm around her shoulder, giving her a side hug. “My mom said she talked to Will. Talked to Stephanie. If they’re alive, there’s a chance Barbara is, too. That means that she’s… trapped in that place. We just have to find it again.”

She gives him a puzzled look. “You wanna go back out there?”

“I don’t know.” He frowns. “I’ll see what my Mom and the Police Chief say tomorrow, then I’ll make a decision.” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Dustin springs up and off the couch when he hears the front door open and shut. Walking the direction of where it was, he was nearly bulldozed over by his big sister, whose arms were crossed and had a sour look upon her face.

“Where have you been?” He asked, following her closely behind. “You didn’t walk me home from school, and you’ve been gone for six hours now. Mom’s worried sick and is looking for you.”

“Well I’m fine. I just wanted to clear my head.” She mutters, heading for her room.

“You could have cleared your head when you came home. You could have just told mom you wanted some time alone. You didn’t have to freaking disappear on us.” What will their mom say? She’s been freaking out and fearing the worst and his sister’s acting like it’s nothing! What’s her deal? “Phanie? Phanie you listening? Phanie–”

“Jesus, Dustin–” She turns around to face him, stopping in the middle of her doorway. Her sour expression had faded into a certain sadness he couldn’t pinpoint. “Just– I’ll explain to mom what happened, I just… I just want to be left alone.”

His shoulders slack at her tone. “Okay. That’s fine. It’s just, we were just worried, you know? You normally don’t disappear like that. We… should I call Steve to let you know you’re fine? I’m sure he’s worried–”

“I don’t want to talk about Steve. I don’t want you to, or mom, I don’t even want to see him again.”

“Phanie…?”

“I don’t–” She laughs quietly on the verge of tears. “I shouldn’t even be crying. It’s not like he cares, or that he wants to be my friend anymore, or… h-he acts like he doesn’t so… fuck–”

“Stephanie–”

“Just leave me alone!”

Then she slams the door in his face without a warning or word. 

.

.

.

That was over two years ago, and he still doesn’t know the full story (and even doubts that he ever will). His sister told their mother they had a bit of a disagreement that led to their falling out, ending all discussions and/or thoughts about the boy; Everything she had that held any memory of him was long stored away. Or so he thought.

Dustin still couldn’t wrap his head around why she was still wearing this damn necklace he gave her. Out of everything that they gave one another, he would think that this gift was the most sentimental of them all, so why keep it?

He examines in his palm almost wanting to chuck in the trash, but another part of him wants to wait until he gets his sister back to ask her, ‘Why? Just why?’. 

Phanie. I just don’t get it. Is there something I’m missing? But his thoughts were abruptly stopped when his walkie fired up with feedback. He sets it aside and grabs the walkie, pulling up the antenna to listen.

[ ‘Dustin, you copy?’ ]

“Yeah, Mike. I copy. What’s up?”

[ ‘Meet me at my place. We got to go over a few things.’ ]

“Copy that. Over and out.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Will couldn’t believe where all the confidence suddenly came from, especially given their situation. But for some reason, it all felt so right to say.

Stephanie stares at the boy with her big blue eyes, a little bit shocked by what he said. “You want to kill it?” She asked, to confirm.

“Yeah.” He says, adrenaline pumping his veins. “What if we kill the Demogorgon? If we kill it, it might be our only shot at finding a gate unscathed.”

She blinks. “That’s… that’s not the most terrible idea I’ve heard. But how does one kill a thing like that?”

Will hums, brows pushed together in concentration. “Music?”

“Music could work.” She nods. “However, from what you told me, one boombox seemed to just scare it off. There’s no electricity, it’s not like we can broadcast a song over the radio, we’re going to need a lot more boxes. Plus, who knows if we have to play the same song on all of them. There’s no way everyone in town has the same cassettes.”

“True.” He bites his lip. “Guns? We can go get more.”

“Guns could do the job. But when you faced it back at the house? Did it look injured at all? I shot after we talked with your mom.”

“Hmm.” He stops to rack his brain again. Did it? “I think it was injured, but it surely didn’t stop it from coming after me.”

“Okay. So if we use guns, I mean we’re going to have to rapidly fire after rapid fire.”

“That’s going to be too hard.”

“Yeah.”

“So what do we do?”

Stephanie stops to think for herself, pulling the blanket close when she gets a chill. And that’s when the lightbulb went off. “Cold.” She gasps quietly. “This place is cold. It must like the cold. If it likes the cold, then–”

“It hates the heat.” Will perks up excitedly. “Heat is the weakness, then–”

“We can kill the Demogorgon with it.” She couldn’t help but smile at the revelation. “Alright, quickly. What is stuff that’s flammable?”

“Flammable? Um, matches, gasoline, lighter fluid–”

“Alcohol.” She replies. “If we can get all those things, find a good place to set up a trap, overload the shit out of it with everything it hates, and we kill it then…”

“We might be able to go home.”

Their gazes lock again, and suddenly they felt like they were finally on the same level, save wavelength with their thinking. They finally found something that could bribe them into not losing their will to live.

“Then let’s go shopping.” Steph said, grinning. Her words kickstarted them to pack everything up and crawl out of the hideout. Before they took off, she stares down at the walkman again, thinking. “You know, just thought of something.”

“What?” Will asks, looking up at her.

“Remember when we said that maybe we could hear people if they were only thinking negatively?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, they say when playing your favorite music, your brain releases dopamine, giving you a sense of euphoria. What if playing the music keeps all the bad things away?”

“That makes sense. You did say when you were trapped in that place, it got all brighter when the song was playing.”

“Yeah. It did.” She looks down at it again, fascinated by how such a basic thing saved her life. 

“Maybe you should wear it while we walk there.”

“You think?”

“Yeah. Better safe than sorry, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She sighs. “Okay, I will. But listen–” She makes sure she has his full attention. “If you start feeling weird, or you get a headache, or your nose starts to bleed, or anything unusual, you need to tell me and I’ll hand it over. Capish?” He nods. “Good. Got ‘The Clash’ cassette?”

“Yep.” He nods, patting his pocket.

“Alright. Let’s go.” She slides on the headsets and starts the song before taking his hand.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce was nervously fiddling with the cigarette in her mouth as she waited for Hopper to get off the phone with some kind of news. She hopes it’s good news, she hopes that he’s able to use his connections to get some kind of push in the right direction.

Come on, Hop. Don’t let me down. She soon watches him hang the phone on the receiver, and turns her way. “Did you get it?” 

“I got it.” Hopper replies, waving the piece of paper around. 

“Got what?” Jonathan interrupted as he entered the kitchen. “Mom?”

“Um–” She briefly looks over at the Police Chief. “We found out where that Terry Ives woman lives. We’re going to pay her a visit.”

“Oh.” He looks between them for a second. “Just the two of you?”

“Listen–” She places her hands on his shoulder. “It would be best if just me and Hopper went alone.”

“Mom–”

“She’s right, son.” Hopper cuts in. “Something big is going on, and it would be best and safe if you and Nancy stay behind.”

“But, Chief–”

“If the lab is really behind this, then it’s better that they don’t know the two of you are involved in solving this, alright?”

As much as he hated to admit it, Jonathan knew he had a point. “Alright.”

“Just… make sure Nancy gets home safe, and stays out of trouble.” Hopper glances over at Joyce. “I’ll get the car started up.”

“Okay.” She says, watching him leave. “Listen–” She pats her son’s chest to make sure he’s paying attention. “If you want to, you can stalk up on ammo for our guns, that’s fine with me. However that’s not an invitation to be going after that thing we saw. Guns are emergencies only. Alright?”

He cracks a small smile. “Alright.”

“Good. And only if Nancy feels up to it. But I have a feeling that she’s not leaving until she gets some answers too.”

“Okay, mom. I got it. We’ll be good.”

“Good.” She says, just before Hopper honked his horn and shouted something incoherently. “Okay. I got to go. Love you, and be safe.”

“I will.” He squeezes her hand real quick. “You too. Be safe.” He anxiously watches her leave, and that’s with him knowing how skilled Hopper is. He knows she’s in safe hands, but still. They still haven’t puzzled all the pieces together yet. Who knows what is still missing and awaits. 

“Where did they run off to?” Nancy asked upon entering. She was dressed in her old clothes from yesterday, freshly cleaned, and her brown locks tied back in a ponytail. 

“Actually that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Jonathan says, all business now. “They figured out something last night. Something about the lab and having a connection in all this.”

“The Hawkins Lab?” She gives him a strange look. “What does a research lab have to do with all this?”

He sighs. “I think it’s time to get you up to speed.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Strange.

The forty year old science teacher at Hawkins Middle school surely wasn’t expecting any kind of guest today. Nor someone so special like the woman before him. Dressed very nicely, hair done perfectly, and with a bright smile she shared with him why she’s here with much excitement.

“-and we’re making a newsletter, which we’ll send out monthly.” She continues as she hands him over a pamphlet that says: ‘The Indiana AV Club’. “It’ll showcase all the latest equipment, as well as how-to articles, which the kids write themselves.”

His face lights up as he reads. “Oh, that’s neat.”

“What we’re really trying to do here, Mr. Clarke–”

“Uh, please, call me Scott.”

“Scott.” She tests, her smile growing bigger. “What we’re trying to do here, Scott, is to connect kids from all over the state and give them the support and encouragement to pursue careers in technology. We feel these are the kinds of kids that are going to make Indiana proud.”

“I agree, yes.” He nods. “Completely.”

Hook.

“So, you know any kids you think might wanna participate?”

Line.

“Oh, I have a few in mind.”

Sinker.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Dustin is this close to shoving his friend’s head into a wall. He swears, out of all his friends, both Mike and Lucas are constantly fighting for the title of ‘Most Hot Headed/Overexaggerator’. Will was too quiet to ever play peace-keeper, so naturally this role fell on him. But man… after knowing them both for so long, it was really hard to keep the ‘peace’ part of the role up.

“I just... I can’t believe she didn’t come back.” Mike repeated and paced around the basement once more.

“She’s gotta be close.” Dustin tries again to reassure. 

“She said it wasn’t safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn’t betray us–”

Dustin bites his lip. “Mike, calm down.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled at her. I never should’ve done that.”

“Mike, this isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, it’s Lucas’.”

“It wasn’t his fault, either.”

That got the Wheeler to stop moving around and give a stern glare. “It wasn’t his fault?”

“No.” Dustin said, standing his ground.

“So you’re saying he wasn’t way out of line?”

“Totally, but so were you!”

“What?” Mike scoffs.

“And so was Eleven.”

“Oh, give me a break!”

“No, Mike, you give me a break!” The Henderson jabbed his finger at him. “All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes. I was the only reasonable one. Shit, hate to admit it, but even fucking Steve Harrington was being reasonable. The bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rule. You draw first blood…”

Mike shakes his head and throws his hands in the air. “No! No way! I’m not shaking his hand.”

“You’re shaking his hand!” 

“No, I’m not.”

“This isn’t a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?”

Mike crosses his arms and looks away. “No.” He whispers.

“Good.”

“Kids, that boy Steve’s here.” Karen yells from above, the boys perking up with a bit of hope. They waited (im)patiently for him to come down as he strolled in with a new layer of Fall clothes and a tired face.

“Well?” Mike asked, nervously.

“I’m sorry.” Steve said, making them frown. “I walked around those woods for six hours, and then I even waited to see if she would show up at my place. Nothing.” 

“Shit…” Dustin mutters.

“Well, thanks for looking.” Mike said, genuinely. 

Steve nods in reply, shifting his weight around on his throbbing feet before asking, “How’s Sinclair?”

“We were just about to go check.” Dustin answers first, moving around them both to grab his backpack.

“We are?” Mike asked, confused. 

“Yes, Mike. We’re doing this now. We’re going to get Lucas. And then we’re gonna find Eleven. Alright?” He sighs, before looking at the oldest teen. “Steve, thank you for looking, we’ll take it from here.”

Steve straightens out his posture immediately as the kid starts trying to leave without. “Hey, hey, hey–” He maneuvers in front of him, blocking him from the stairs. “This wasn’t a one time thing. I’m staying with you guys.”

“Dustin, come on, man, we talked about this.” Mike said, turning their roles around. His friend’s shoulder sagged and he muttered something under his breath. 

Steve takes a quiet inhale before addressing him. “Look, Henderson, I know you hate me, you have every right to hate me, but right now you need all the help you can get.” His jaw tightens. “Not to mention, whoever’s responsible for all this doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty. They’re not going to care that you guys are twelve year old boys. You need me, whether you like it or not.”

Dustin lets out a long, angry exhale as Mike locks his gaze with the older boy.

“Now, let’s go get Lucas, let’s find Eleven, find the gate, and pray that it leads to your sister and Will.” Steve finishes, and the curly haired kid exhales again.

“Fine.” He huffs.

“Good. We’ll take my car. Will go to Lucas’ and then I’ll take us to the woods. Capish?”

“Capish.” They say, as they follow him out of the basement. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Will looked around the store wondering where they even began. His big doe eyes then turned to the teenager who pushed a shopping cart over to him. “What do we grab?”

“Whatever we can.” Steph says, grabbing a cart of her own with a smirk. “And obviously you don’t have to worry about the price.”

That got him to laugh as they migrated around the store, filling up with stuff they talked about. The teenager found herself starting with certain alcohol that she knew could be considered “flammable”. Some of the numbers were… extremely high and made her question people’s choices (And she thought the whiskey Steve and her drank at the Snow Ball was strong).

Thank god I never drank imported Vodka. She keeps filling her cart up, just as Will comes around the corner with something.

“Hey, hairspray’s flammable, right?” He asks, holding up a can.

“Uh, yeah. It is.”

He hums, taking the cap off and harmlessly spraying the air. “Huh. That’s probably not going to do much though.”

“Probably not.” She says, making him nod and was about to leave when an idea struck her. “Wait.” He stops. “I’m actually getting an idea. Whatever hairspray you can fit in that cart, do it.”

“You know how to build the trap?” He asked, hopeful.

“If I’m picturing this all out correctly, I know this is going to work. But we’re going to need a shit ton of stuff if it’s going to cover the whole place.”

“And where’s that place?”

“Remember that old building with the broken clock tower I took you to?” He nods. “I know that place like the back of my hand. If I’m picturing the trap right I think I know exactly how to set everything up.”

“And we’re going to need a lot?” 

“A hell lot.” She hopes her imagination won’t let her down on this one. She starts pushing her cart towards him and heads off for a new one while saying, “Keep grabbing everything flammable, I’m going to get some tools.”

“What kind of tools?” He asked, curiously.

“Basic tools. Hammer, screwdrivers, saw–”

“Saw?”

“Yeah. Saw.” 

“What’s the saw for?”

“‘Cause–” She turns around with a smirk. “It’s completely illegal, but a sawing off the front of a shotgun makes the impact more intense, right?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve stayed a few steps behind the boys as they knocked on the door and awaited their fate; Which seemed dreary when Lucas saw who it was. 

“What do you want?” He snapped, and it wasn’t until Dustin slapped Mike in the arm he finally got his answer.

“I drew first blood, so…” He holds out his hand, Lucas’ eyes scanning him head to toe for any signs of a lie. 

The Sinclair sighs, thinking it over. “Okay, I’ll shake. On one condition.” He crosses his arms and stands tall. “We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate.”

“Then the deal’s off!” Mike scoffs, and turns around to leave.

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

“No, no, not fine!” Dustin said, stopping Lucas from closing the door.

“Guys, seriously?” Steve said, blocking Mike from taking another step. “Stop acting like you’re six, and talk it out like your age.”

“Come on!” Dustin claps his hands together, tackling this head on. “Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?” He watches his friends stare in confusion and sighs. “We couldn’t agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!”

His little speech managed to knock some sense into them, and all seemed hopeful till…

“Yeah, I agree.” Lucas said, and gestured to everyone. “But this is the party, right here. The three of us.”

“El is one of us now.” Mike said, as he got an eye roll for a reply.

“Um, no, she’s not. Not even close! Never will be. She’s a liar, a traitor–”

“She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn’t mean to hurt you. It was an accident!”

He scoffs. “An accident?”

“All right, accident or not… admit it, it was a little awesome.” Dustin said, unintentionally digging a bigger hole in the ground for them.

Lucas blinks (with Steve face palming in the background). “Awesome?”

“Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!”

“I could have been killed!”

“Which is exactly why we need her. She’s a weapon!” Mike explains. “Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket? That’s like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We’re no use to Will and Steph if we’re dead.”

Lucas shakes his head, clearly frustrated, clearly fed up. “If you two and Steve wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, ’cause I’m not spending my time on her anymore. No way! I’m going to the gate. I’m gonna find them.”

And the door slams shut.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It took a bit to get up to Bloomington but they made it; That’s all that matters. Hopper parked his car on the gravel driveway, him and Joyce getting out and cautiously moving towards the front door of the residence. It took several knocks until a petite blonde woman answered. She seemed on her toes just like they were.

“Can I help you?” 

“Hi, we’re looking for Terry Ives. Does she live here?” Hopper asks.

Her brown eyes darted between them. “Who’s asking?”

“The Hawkins chief of police.” He flashes her his badge long enough to give her a good look.

“And… you want to talk to my sister?”

“Well, if your sister’s Terry Ives, then, yeah, we do.”

She frowns, looking a bit apologetic. “Okay, well, you can come in, but if you want Terry to tell you anything, you’re about five years too late.” She lets him and guides them to the living room. “Terry, you have some visitors.”

Joyce presence herself in front of the woman in the rocking chair, the similarities in their features were enough to tell the Byers that these two were definitely sisters. 

“Hello. My name’s Joyce Byers. Uh, this is Hopper.” She begins, the woman turning her distant gaze off the TV towards them. “We drove over from Hawkins. Um, you see, uh, my son… he’s been missing for almost a week now, and, um, we were wondering if we could talk to you about your daughter, Jane? If there’s anything that you could tell us about when she was taken…”

“What was your relationship with Dr. Brenner? You guys keep in touch?” Hopper asked, observing from the doorway carefully.

Joyce fumbles with trying to unfold the picture for a second. “This is, uh... this is him. This is Will. Uh, you may have seen him on... on the news. Uh…”

Hopper casts his gaze to the relative, confused/concerned. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I told you, you’re wasting your time.” She replies, sadly.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

The four shopping carts rolled inside with ease, the duo looking around the place, that long been abandoned in their world, that they found use for. Stephanie nods after a while, the trap she thought of earlier was now fully registered.

“Yep. This is the place.” She said, while slinging the guns off her shoulders and putting them to the side.

“Where do we set it up?” Will asked, still not picturing it like she is.

“Everywhere. Let’s leave no square inch untouched.” She locks eyes with him. “And then we’re going to practice, over and over so we don’t get caught in them. Alright?”

“Right.”

“Good. Let’s get everything out. There’s no telling when the Demogorgon will return.” They’re both running out of time. For their sake, their sanity, they have to find a way out soon or they’re done for. So, thus starts the grueling process of trap making.

Will made sure to listen carefully as she explained what needed to be where – where to pour the gasoline, where to stick the trip wire, where to hide, etc. And they did practice like she said, in one area that was a pool of alcohol and gasoline just below where the broken bell tower stood, she showed him where to step on the bricks in order to not get any liquid on them. It was hard, especially when he knows they’re going to be running instead of walking when the Demogorgon does show up, but damn it to hell! He will not mess this up. He’s going to stay calm and stick to the plan that he wholeheartedly believes is going to work. 

Will finds himself setting aside another Molotov cocktail, before looking over at his companion. She was in the zone trying to saw their shotguns in half, which is a very hefty task on hand. The silence was starting to get to him a bit though, and there was still a… lingering question that was bothering him and wanted to ask, but should he? Or was it safer to make something else up? He ponders as he grabs an empty bottle before deciding to just come out and say it. What’s the worst she can do? Say no?

“Hey, Steph?”

“Yeah?” She said, eyes still trained on what’s in her hands.

“I have to ask again, but…” Should he back out? Should he–

“What is it?”

Well, here goes nothing. He takes a deep, quiet breath and says, “What happened between you and Steve?” She immediately pauses her actions, making him shrink quickly, like he was flinching away from someone’s attack. “You don’t have to tell me, I know it’s a touchy–”

“It’s fine. Really.” She meets his gaze. “I think I probably should talk about it with someone. Especially after the whole… floating-mind game I was in. I saw… a lot of memories of him.”

He fiddles with his hands nervously, curiously. “So…”

Stephanie sighs, her face flashing with pain. “I don’t know. One day he just pretended he didn’t know me.”

He blinks. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes grow distant as she recalls everything. “I remember that day clearly. We would always meet up in the doorways at school, and he wasn’t there that day. Mind you, we were both getting older, more responsibilities were being added onto us; And it was around the same time Steve was really getting into sports, so I thought maybe he was talking to one of his coaches.”

Another sigh before continuing, “Eventually, I found him, ran up to him, and I noticed he looked a bit sad so I asked him if he was okay. He told me he didn’t know who I was.” She catches the boy starting to look as hurt as she was. “I thought at first, maybe he was upset at me over something, so I tried all day to ask him what was up, and when the school day ended he just told me he has no idea who I am and why I’m bothering him and… left. We’ve never spoken again after that. Our… ten years of friendship ended just like that.”

Well…

Jesus H. Christ.

Will had no idea how to respond to this.

“Wow. What a…” He shook his head. “What a douchebag.”

She chuckles dryly. “Yeah, well, he wasn’t always like that. He’s not like what he is now. Trust me.” Then there was a bit of anger in her next words. “I suspected his parents might have threatened him with something to break our friendship. But I don’t know. Could be wrong about that.”

Will gives her a confused look. “What do you mean by that?”

She frowns, but it wasn’t directed at the said teenager. “Let me tell you a bit about Steve. He comes from a line of… rich people. Generational wealth. And due to this they have certain standards. Standards that Steve has to follow to the T.”

He blinks again, thinking. “But…” Another head shake. “But Mike’s family is not like that. I mean I know they’re not as rich as Steve’s, but still.”

“Well, a lot has to do with how Mike’s parents were raised. Not to mention, even though it might not seem like it sometimes, Karen and Ted do love each other in some way. And they really love their kids, and want nothing but the best for them. Tough and nurturing, in a healthy way.” Steph’s frown deepens. “But as for Steve’s, that nurturing and toughness goes a bit differently. Not exactly healthy.”

“How so?” Will asked, on the edge but invested in this tale.

Steph gives it some thought on how she should move forward. She had really only one story that would make sense of it all (or at least it wasn’t as violent as some of the other ones). She sets her stuff down, giving him her full attention now.

“I might have mentioned it to Dustin, or you guys, how I met Steve. Right?” She asks, waiting to confirm.

“Yeah. You said it was school.”

“But I never told anyone the full story. Not even Dustin or my mom knows.” She bites her lip and adverts her eyes for a split second. “Not even Steve knows.”

He tilts his head. “How does that work?”

She takes a deep breath. “It was probably a few weeks before the school year ended, and my class was to make cards to celebrate Mother’s day that was coming up. I remember being really excited about it. I drew my card, school ended and now I had to wait to be picked up. My mom mentioned earlier she might run behind because of work, but no biggie, I didn’t mind waiting.”

She could still picture it, holding her card close and humming a tune to herself as she waited and waited outside in front of the entrance of the Elementary school (The good old days, she calls it).

Stephanie was fiddling with her own hands now as she continued, “Kids started leaving one-by-one, and soon as I was the only one left. Or so I thought. I… suddenly heard this arguing, it was very loud, very terrible sounding, and… curiously I went to check it out, and there he was. Him and his mom. And… she’s yelling at him, telling him how crappy the card was, and how it should’ve been better, or this what he should have done, etc. And–” She swallows, hands tightening together. “Steve’s on the verge of tears, and he’s trying to come up with an explanation for her, and he promises he’ll do better and… um…”

“What?” He says, a bit scared for what was next. Especially when he saw the haunting look on her face.

“She… slaps him. Right across the face. And it was one of those slaps you know it hurt just by the sound of it.” His eyes widened. “Then, she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back to the car.” She sighs and shifts in her seat. “I was so shocked by it, ‘cause I never witnessed something like that before, so…”  She shakes her head with a small groan. “God. I think at first I… I befriended him because it was out of pity, but that soon went away quickly. We became two peas in the pod in just one day. Never, ever alone.”

“That’s…” He was lost for words. “That’s so awful– So wrong. W-Why would they think that’ll make things better?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“But…” His fingers clenched his pants legs like a nervous tick. “D-Did they do anything else? We’re they always like that?”

Stephanie’s face morphed into total sadness now. “Listen, there’s a lot of stories I can’t tell you about his parents. They’re not exactly… kid friendly, to put it lightly. But yeah, they’ve done a lot of that, and a hell lot more.”

“Jesus.”

“But that’s why we worked together so well, Will. We complimented each other. He had shitty parents, and I was dealing with a shitty dad. We both helped each other navigate around that.” And ain’t that the truth. “But, besides all that negative stuff, he was a great kid. Me? I was a quiet kid, like you. I kept to myself most of the time, but Steve helped me come out of my shell. As for Steve? I helped him live a little, I helped him have a life that his parents never wanted him to have.”

“T-Then they should be grateful!” He says, sitting up straighter, more lively in his seat. “Y-You befriended their son. You were always there for him.”

“Will–”

“You helped him. Why should they be so upset about all this?”

She gives him a pitiful look for his sweet little heart he had. “Because I wasn’t perfect.” Her throat suddenly felt like it wanted to close up. “I wasn’t rich, I was a wild card. I had a sad, workaholic mother who was trying to keep us afloat, and a father that gambling 24/7 to the point we almost went bankrupt. There were a lot of cons in their eyes compared to the pros, which is probably zero.”

Despite the reasons, Will still couldn’t understand. She did nothing wrong! They should be mad at her. “But you were their son’s friend. That shouldn’t matter.”

She smiles just a tad and says, “You’re so sweet. I wish more people in the world could be like you. That’s why…” How does she cheer him up? “You gotta marry someone who is as kind hearted as you. So the legacy lives on.”

He snorts (Bingo!). “You sound like my mom.”

“Well, she’s not wrong.” She smirks. “But… I’ll tell you something funny about Steve. Maybe you can use it against him since he’s dating Mike’s sister.”

“And what’s that?” He asks, skeptical. 

“Guess what his middle name is?”

“Mmm… I don’t know. What?”

She grins. “Steven Grant Harrington.”

“Steven Grant–” He gasps. “Captain America!”

“Yep.” Steph chuckles. “Captain America. I remember when Steve told me his name, I started laughing. He was confused and I told him the truth. At first he was a little mad, but when I explained who Captain America was he seemed cool with it.”

“That’s awesome.”

“If you ever want to tease him, just call him Grant.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely remember that.” He finds himself smiling too and picking back up the empty bottle to continue his work. “My name’s Jacob.”

She perks up. “Jacob?”

“Named after my mom’s father.”

“That’s sweet. I’m Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth?”

“My mom is a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan. I’m honestly surprised that wasn’t my first name.”

“Where does Stephanie come from?”

“Grandmother. At least that’s what she told me. But who knows? Knowing my mom… she got it off some cheesy magazine about cats.”

That seemed to do the trick for cheering him up because Will broke into a belly laugh that she hasn’t heard in a while. To her, besides “Separate Ways”, this was probably the best music she’s heard in a long time.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“This is weird without Lucas.” Dustin finally said after a long period of silence in the car. It felt weird, super weird not having all of his friends together at once. It already felt weird when Will disappeared, but now there’s no Lucas? Not much of a group anymore.

“He should’ve shaken my hand.” Mike said, just as Steve scolded him not to put his feet on his dashboard.

“He’s just jealous.”

Mike’s face morphed into confusion as he turned his whole body around to look in the backseat. “What are you talking about?” 

Dustin sighs. “Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind. He’s your best friend, right?”

“Yeah... I mean, I-I don’t know.”

“It’s fine. I get it. I didn’t start going to our school until the fourth grade.” He looks away, not wanting Mike to see the hurt in his eyes. Except Steve did. He caught his gaze in the rearview mirror and frowned. 

Damn it.

He forgot Steve knew the reason he didn’t go to public school right away thanks to his sister. 

He tries to act tough and tell him off. “I don’t need your pity Harrington, alright?” The tone made Steve break away and Mike give him the strangest look ever again.

Damn.

Damn this situation. 

Dustin sighs. “He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters. What matters is that he is your best friend.” He swallows. “And then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement, and all you ever want to do is pay attention to her.”

“That’s not true.” Mike reassures him. 

“Yes, it is. And you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of zero. Now everything’s weird.”

“He’s not my best friend.”

Dustin laughs. “Yeah, right.”

Mike sighs, reaching over to tap in the arm to get his attention. “I mean, he is, but so are you. And so is Will.”

“Can’t have more than one best friend.”

“Says who?”

“Says logic.”

“Well, I call bull on your logic, because you’re my best friend, too.”

Dustin notices his genuine expression and smiles, satisfied with the reply. “Okay.”

“Okay.” 

“Uh, hey, guys.” Steve interrupts, slowing the car down a little as the past pays a local grocery store. All eyes were on the front, spotting how the automatic doors were shattered and there were boxes of food laying around the parking lot filled with men in blue. “So… I’m assuming that might be…?”

Mike nods. “Uh... definitely. We’re going in the right direction then.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The sister, Becky, brought them to the kitchen table, offering them cigarettes and some water while promising to explain. “She was a part of some study in college.”

“MK Ultra?” Hopper asks, getting a nod.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” She sighs. “Was, uh, started in the ’50s. By the time Terry got involved, it was supposed to be ramping down, but the drugs just got crazier. Messed her up good.”

“This was the CIA that ran this?”

Becky stared at for a second before a small smirk bestowed on her face. “You and Terry would’ve gotten along. ‘The Man’, with a big capital ‘M’.” Another sigh. “They’d pay... you know, a couple hundred bucks to people like my sister, give ’em drugs, psychedelics. LSD, mostly. And then they’d strip her naked and put her in these isolation tanks.”

“Isolation tanks?” Joyce asked after sparing a look with Hopper.

“Yeah.” She nods and stares explaining with her hands. “These big bathtubs, basically, filled with salt water, so you can float around in there. You lose any sense of, uh… sense and feel nothing, see nothing. They wanted to expand the boundaries of the mind. Real hippie crap. I... I mean, it’s not like they were forcing her to do any of this stuff. The thing is, though, is that she didn’t know she was pregnant at the time.”

“Jane.” Joyce whispers, getting another nod. She takes in a sharp inhale and asks, “Do you have any pictures of her?”

Becky paled and made sure they were both listening carefully. “I don’t think you guys understand. Terry miscarried in the third trimester.” Her words were like a knife to their heart, catching them both completely off guard.

“What?” Hopper said without realizing it at first.

“Come.” She says, standing up and making them follow. She takes them to a bedroom, a baby room, filled with a crib, toys, and anything else a newborn needs. “She keeps all of this up. Been doing it for 12 years.” She takes a seat, allowing them to walk around and observe. “Terry, uh, pretends like Jane is real, like she’s gonna come home someday. Says she’s special. Born with ‘abilities’.”

“Abilities?” Joyce asked, confused.

“You read any Stephen King?” Becky asks, surprising them again. She laughs. “You guys look scared, actually. I mean, it’s all make-believe.”

“What... what kind of abilities?”

“Telepathy, telekinesis… You know, shit you can do with your mind. That’s why the big, bad Man stole Jane away. Her baby’s a weapon, off fighting the commies.” She takes a long puff of her cigarette, frowning. “You know, the doctors all say it’s a coping mechanism. You know, to deal with the guilt.”

Joyce locks eyes with Hopper again before continuing, “Do you think there is any chance she could be telling the truth? Ab-About having had the kid.”

“There is no birth certificate, nothing from the hospital. Doctors and nurses all confirm that she miscarried.”

“Yeah, but that could’ve been covered up.” Hopper says, straightening up. “Right?”

Becky smirks again. “Like I said, you and Terry would’ve gotten along.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After Jonathan explained what Hopper had found to Nancy, sure enough, his mother’s hunch was right. The eldest Wheeler needed some answers, and wasn’t going home until she got them. So he took up his mother’s suggestion and decided to stock up on ammo, getting ready for whatever comes next. 

“Monster Hunting?” He teased, as they came out of the store with a few boxes. He was poking fun at her response to the clerk asking why they were buying so much, and could help but laugh.

Nancy cracks a smile as she pops the trunk. “You know, last week… I was shopping for a new top I thought Steve might like. It took me and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, you know? And... and now–”

“You’re shopping for shotgun shells with Jonathan Byers.”

“Yeah.” She chuckles.

“What’s the weirdest part? Me or the ammo?”

She gives him a playful look and says, “You. It’s definitely you.” Then their little moment was immediately ruined when someone honked their horn and rolled their window down to shout:

“Hey, Nance! Can’t wait to see your movie.” 

The highschoolers laughed as they drove off quicker, stunning them both.

“What the hell was that?” Jonathan asked, as she shrugged. But then it hit her. “What?” She suddenly takes off. “Wait! Where are you going? Nancy!”

It didn’t take long for him to catch up, finding her staring up at the local theater sign. The movie that was playing was called: “ALL THE RIGHT MOVES”, and was followed by a very unpleasant word mixed into her name that was written in bright red spray paint. 

“Oh, Jesus.” He mutters, but before he could apply any comfort, she stormed off again. “Nancy!” He followed her again, this time down an alleyway where he saw all the douchebags of high school were standing around and giggling. 

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Nancy yells, getting their attention. 

Tommy, the one who had the spray paint can, takes center stage with a cocky look and attitude. “Well if isn’t the star of the show.” His eyes then trail to Jonathan. “And the devil himself. How we all doing?”

Nancy grits her teeth and smacks him across the face, the crowd ‘ooh-ing’ as he takes it like a champ. “What the fuck are you doing? Why would you write that?”

“‘Cause it’s the truth. You… have one fight with your Boyfriend and suddenly he’s not good enough for you, huh?”

“What?”

“What did you say to him? What was so bad that he suddenly isn’t showing up to school anymore? Or…” He jerks his thumb in Jonathan’s way. “How you just decided that the weirdo is better than the King? Come on.”

“Seriously?” Nancy scoffs. “You think I’m the reason that Steve’s not showing up at school? Unlike you, I’ve actually called him and even went to his house, to which he told me specifically that he was fine. Why hasn’t he been showing up? I don’t know! Maybe because he had to attend an old friend’s funeral yesterday?”

Carol snickers and laughs. “The nerd? Stephanie fucking Henderson? You really think those two were ever friends? He just felt sorry for how fucked up her family was and took pity.”

“Yeah.” Tommy says, grinning. “A drug addicted mother, a father arrested for illegal gambling; Two ‘fantastic’ people managed to fucked their own son over and give him all kinds of birth defects and diseases. I’m surprised your family gives them so much pity.”

“W-Wait…” Nancy pauses to try to wrap her head around what she had just heard. “Claudia…” What? “Ms. Henderson isn’t a drug addict.”

“Awe.” Carol pretends to pout. “Looks like Steve’s parents haven’t gotten close to you yet. What a shame.”

“His parents have a lot of dirt on a lot of people.” Tommy said in a sickening way. “Especially the Hendersons. There’s so much that this town doesn’t know about them, it’s shocking. Stephanie has a shit ton.” He chuckles. “God, the Harringtons can bury her to the center of the Earth with all the dirt they have on her.”

Then they all started laughing at the cruel joke it was, and Nancy was ready to go off when Jonathan took her by the arm and started stringing her away.

“Let’s go.” He says, calmly, but the bullies weren’t done yet.

“You know what, Byers? I’m actually kind of impressed.” Tommy says, trailing them. “I always took you for a queer, but I guess you’re just a screw up like your father.” He shoves him forward. “Oh, yeah. Yeah, that fucking house full of screw-ups. You know, we shouldn’t be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family.”

“Tommy, stop.” Nancy hisses, as he shoves Jonathan again.

“I mean, your mom– I’m not even surprised what happened to your brother.”

“Tommy! Shut up!”

“I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you, but the Byers, their family, it’s a disgrace to the entire–”

And that was the final straw as Jonathan turns around and sucker punches Tommy in the face. It took a brief second for him to recognize he got hit before all hell broke loose. So much so…

That this day ended with one of them in handcuffs.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The leaves crushed beneath their feets as they continue their trek along the train tracks, occasionally yelling the girl’s name. From where the trashed grocery store was, it laid directly near the forest that they’ve been wandering for a while now – staying in the direction they think she went. It shouldn’t be that hard then, right? Wrong. Going in one freaking direction didn’t seem that bad, but the tall trees didn’t seem to end any time soon. And what if she broke off? What if she went some other way? Then what? How many days will it take for them to comb the area until they find something? 

This all feels so… pointless. Steve admits in his thought. I mean, he probably combed at least nothing less than a quarter of forest last night, and he didn’t find anything! Nothing to point him in the right direction. And now, he and the boys actually had a lead and… nothing. Nothing at all. As much as the tiny voice in his head telling him to stop and go home, he knows Eleven’s the only way of finding their loved ones. 

And that is if she wants to help us after all this. He frowns, thinking about that. What if they find her and she blows them off? Then what? Do they just truly forget about her and move on? Nah… 

He knows that’s not the right answer either. But what if–

“Should we split up?” Mike asked, knocking the teenager back into reality.

“Absolutely not.” Steve immediately says, as they all slow down to talk. “Like I told you guys, whoever’s involved in this is not afraid to get their hands dirty.”

The kid sighs, remembering. “Yeah. You’re right. I forgot…”

“But what if we do?” Dustin said, shrugging.

Steve squares up and stands his ground quickly, prepared for an argument again. “Henderson–”

“No, seriously. What if we do? We can get it done quicker.”

“No. No splitting up.”

“We’ll get done–”

“I don’t care if it’ll get done quicker. We’re staying together. End of story.” Steve finishes, as he starts walking again alongside Mike.

“Then what do you expect us to do, Steve?” Dustin snaps, stopping them all once more.

“What?”

“You said it yourself, you checked the woods last night and didn’t find a thing! And that was just around the junkyard.”

“And your point being?”

“Yeah, man. What’s this about?” Mike asked, confused.

“This place is huge!” The curly haired boy yelled, throwing his arms out. “And you think just the three of us are going to cover it all today?”

Steve blinks, more puzzled by the question than the attitude. “Well… no. Of course not–”

“Then we should split up! Cover more ground.”

“Henderson–”

“Look, it’ll be easy. You continued this way, Mike goes left, I go right, and then–”

“Oh, my god– we are NOT splitting up!” Steve explodes, silencing him. “You can argue with me all you want, but it’s not going to happen. We are going to keep looking together, or you can march your butt straight back to the car and we’re done. Got it?!”

The boys stay quiet, Steve’s flushed face turning normal before walking away, Mike on his heels once more.

Dustin chuckles dryly under his breath. “You’re so useless…”

“What was that?” Steve perked up, slowing down again.

“You’re useless. Here I am having a solution to our problem, and you don’t want to take it.”

The eldest scoffed. “I am not useless. And only turned down your ‘solution’ because it’s too dangerous.”

“So what if it’s dangerous? This whole thing has been dangerous since the beginning!” The boy yells, throwing his hands in the air. “Will and Phanie taking a gun, a girl with real life superpowers, fake bodies, other worlds leaking into ours– this whole thing has been dangerous! So we might as well continue dipping our toes into it!”

Mike cuts in quickly after noticing the tension in the teenager’s form. “Dustin, I know you determined to find Stephanie, but maybe–”

“No, Mike! No ‘Maybes’! We should be taking risks at this point! I mean–” Dustin groans. “God!” He points at the oldest. “You’re so fucking stupid! I-I don’t know how or why my sister ever cared for you. I don’t know why she still cares for you! It’s so… fucking bizarre!”

“Dude…”

His response made Steve scoff again, trying to play it cool. “What are you even talking about? She doesn’t care about me.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dustin said, hands on his hips to look stern. “Well… news flash Harrington, she does. Even after what you did, she still gave a damn about you.”

“I…” What is he going on about? “That’s… that’s not possible.”

“Well, here then!” He digs around into his pocket, and fiercely tosses something at him. “Is that enough proof for you?” 

Steve manages to catch it before it hits him in the chest. Expecting something completely different, of course that gold chain with a red pendant catches him off guard. A gift he gave to her many years ago for her birthday… one that she still had.

She… kept this? He was so surprised he didn’t notice Dustin moving past him, beckoning for his friend to follow. Mike hesitates for a second, feeling empathy towards the older teen before he ends up leaving with his head hung low. His thumb brushes over the initials, swallowing hard as his heart clenches at the memories.

“Oh, yeah?” He shouts, turning around in their direction bitterly. “I’m still going to look for Eleven, you shitheads! And you’re going to regret going off on your own!” He doesn’t know why he half expected them to stop and turn around, but it was enough to make him cuss and go another way.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce closed the car door a little more than she should have before covering her face with her trembling hands. This did… not go as planned as they thought.

“Hey…” Hopper interrupts her thoughts, softly. 

She sniffles. “What?”

“We’re gonna find him.”

“Yeah, like Terry found her daughter?”

He swallows, subtly, trying to keep it together – to be the strong one right now. “We’re close.”

She shakes her head. “B-But Tw-Twelve years? Twelve years she’s been looking for her and– oh god. Stephanie. W-We… we have to look for her too, and–”

“And then Jane shows up at Benny’s five nights ago, which means we’ve got a chance.” He inhales. “You know what I would give? For a chance? You know what I would give?”

“Hop–”

She was cut off by the sound of his walkie’s static, followed by Callahan’s voice. 

[ ‘Hey, Chief, you there? Hey, Chief?’ ]

He fishes it from his side, hitting the button. “Yeah, go ahead.”

[ ‘Yeah, a fight broke out here and–’ ]

Hopper bites his lip. “Cal, I don’t have time for this–”

[ ‘It’s Jonathan Byers.’ ]

Well that stopped him from hanging up. Him and Joyce both froze and looked at each other with confusion. 

[ ‘Uh, you haven’t seen Joyce, have you?’ ]

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

After shouting her name for a while, Mike nervously decided to ask, “Don’t you think that was a bit harsh?”

“What?” Dustin glances at him. “Do you think it was?”

“Uh… yeah.” He shrugs. “A little.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Dude–” Mike stops them both. “Listen, I get it. You’re upset ‘cause he hurt your sister. But you don’t think it’s weird he’s helping us then?”

Dustin tilts his head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” How does he put this? “I mean, have you ever wondered why he stopped being friends with your sister? Like… did he have a reason for it?”

“Mike–” The warning starts.

“Here me out.” He holds his hands up. “What if he had to? What if he didn’t want to stop being friends but he had too? I mean, if he just broke the friendship because he hated her, then why is he here helping us? Have you ever thought of that?”

Well…

Of course not. 

His eyes widened at it, at the slim possibility that there may have been a reason for all this. But just as he says his friend’s name, Mike froze at a sound.

“Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“El!” Mike looks around, hopefully. “El!” 

But as the leaves kept rustling around, the sound getting closer, he had waited for the girl to come out from behind the trees and…

Totally not a pissed off Troy and James.

“Hey, there, Frogface.” Troy hissed, popping open his switchblade.

“Toothless.” James grinned maliciously. 

“Shit!” Dustin screams, hitting his friend in the arm to make him go. “Run, Mike! Run! Come on!”

The bullies take off after them yelling, “You’re dead, Wheeler. You’re dead, Henderson! DEAD!!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, back at the police station, Nancy was waiting impatiently (Both wanting to leave, and wanting the front desk lady take forever to make an ice pack).

“Do you think we’ll be out of here soon?” She finally asked.

“You, yes. Him, no. He assaulted a police officer.” Flo explained, her reply was unsatisfying.

“Well, how long are you gonna keep him?”

“You and your boyfriend have big plans, do you?”

Nancy shakes her head and laughs. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Flo gives her a look. “I think you better tell him that.”

“What?”

“Only love makes you that crazy, sweetheart.” Flo hands her the homemade ice pack. “And that damn stupid.”

When she leaves the words lingered in her head more than she thought they would have. She has a boyfriend for Christ’s sake! They shouldn’t be making her think too much about her and Jonathan’s relationship…

Right?

“Found some ice.” Nancy says, as she walks up to where he’s sitting – handcuffed to one of the officer’s desks. She smiles, trying to hide the thoughts as he locks eyes with her.

“Thanks.” He says, leaning into the ice pack as she holds up to his bruised side. It doesn’t take a genius to know that something was bothering her, prompting him to ask, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” She reassures him, reassures herself. “Everything’s fine.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Everything okay?” Will asks, as he finishes loading the last of the ammo up when Stephanie reenters the building.

“Yeah. Everything’s fine.” She says, nodding. “Alright, the wire is set around the building. Whatever direction the Demogorgon comes from we’ll know. That should give us a good starting point towards a gate.”

“Right.” Just as he said that, their little decoy light flickered on and off rather quickly. They locked eyes with each other, the girl mouthing, ‘Be Ready.’

“I’m going to check a trap real quick.” Steph says the code word, before disappearing.

“Sounds good.” Will takes a deep breath, reminding himself to stay strong and not stray from their plan. We got this. We got this. It’s going to work, and we’re going home.

He turns away from the open space of the room, facing the wall. His eyes trail to the shotgun hidden by his feet, the light flickering again, telling him to start kneeling to the floor. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stick up, a low growl from somewhere behind him as he acts like he’s fixing the light to stay on. He felt the presence move closer and closer, he could hear the boney fingers cracking open, its face slowly doing the same. Just when he notices the shadow looming overing him, he shouts,

“STEPHANIE!”

The girl suddenly comes out of her hiding spot and slashes the nearest hand clean off. A shriek erupted from the beast, and just before it could retaliate, Will took a shot with the gun – officially starting their trap. Will took shot after shot, while Steph swung the axe into places she could get, ultimately backing the beast into some wiring, evidently knocking it over temporarily. 

“Let’s go!” She shouted, and they were off on a run… and soon was the Demogorgon. 

Just like they had practiced, they ran across the stepping stones with ease, heading for the stairs as the beast bathed itself in a concoction of liquid death. About a quarter of the way up, she swung the axe high and skillfully hacked some rope in half, her and Will covering their heads with their elbows to protect themselves from the raining shards of glass and nail from the tarp they put up. The Demogorgon shrills again and tries to navigate through the sharp storm.

Will takes a good look back at the girl and asks, “You ready?”

“Yep. Let’s finish this.” She replies, getting a nod and a flash of determination as they continue to run all the way to the top. 

The Demogorgon was met with Molotov cocktail after Molotov cocktail, courtesy of the Byers boy, bidding enough time for Steph to slip by to the other side of the tower without falling. With the rope in her hand, she signals the boy she’s done, and switches roles with him. Dropping the axe and taking the hand gun from her side and starts firing. Will takes this chance to move away, grabbing the other end of the rope and begin entangling it.

Their plan was to trip it over the edge, falling back below to the toxic pool – but I guess cutting off its hand seemed to fuel its rage as the tripping technique doesn’t seem to be effecting it like they hope. The Demogoron thrashed its good arm around, managing to nick Will in the bicep.

“Will!” Steph shouts, her worries making her loosen her grip. She almost gets sliced as well, having just enough to react and jump backwards. The rope slips from her hands, her body stumbling into the wall, the beast taking an opportunity to charge. She scramblings out of the way, running to the other corner to scoop up the shotgun they placed there, and fires away.

“Stephanie!” Will yells, scaredly. No. This wasn’t the plan. They need to get that thing to fall or they can’t finish it off. But how? Their tripping plan didn’t work? Come on, come on, come on! Think! What else?

His eyes frantically looked around, they had weapons, they had rope, what else? And that’s when he finally noticed it. 

The bell! He mentally gasps, getting an idea. “Stephanie!!” He shouts her name, and starts running to scoop up the discarded axe. “Get as close to the edge as you can!!”

Steph didn’t question it, knowing she didn’t have many options left in store. She starts aiming directly at the face, hoping her shots make it as she stands her ground. If she gets hurt by the Demogorgon, she gets hurt. Trusting her little partner in crime, she kept pelting it until she noticed where its footing was, and took another shot in its mouth. Then, using all the strength she could, she uses the butt of the gun to strike it, its heels dipping right over the edge–

Will lets out a yell of frustration as he swings the axe right into the rope that was holding the bell up. Snapping and dropping almost immediately, it manages to clip the Demogorgon, sending it free falling to the floor. It screams all the way down, the two of them meeting to look at their results. The pair watches as the beast tries clawing the broken bell of its lower half – splashing the alcohol and gasoline around, re-bathing itself in it.

Without muttering a word to one another, Stephanie digs out a lighter, switching it on; No hesitation as she lets it slip out of her fingers. The impact of the lighter caused the place to shake a little, the heat from the flames were so intense that she ended up shielding the boy’s face when it landed. 

Its scream turned up by a hundred as they made it down the stairs, carefully avoiding the flames until they came to a safe spot. Sure enough, the Demogorgon was definitely Barbequing now. They could smell the burnt flesh, its discolored blood spilling out, and becoming weaker and weaker, all as they watched with disgust on their faces.

Fill with unexplained rage, Stephanie, who had one last load in the chamber, takes a step forward. Then another… then another… then another, the flames itching to get her too. The Demogorgon’s hand flopped around on the ground in its poor attempts to get her, its mouth opening for one last weak scream–

She sticks the short barrel in the center of it, the shells doing its job as the trigger pops. 

Droplets doused her face, letting the gun fall along with its head, the creature officially not moving anymore.

Now they’re outside, the flames still could be seen through the murky stained glass window. The two of them just stared at it, dirty clothes and tired eyes, stomach grumbling from their worked up appetite. However, they weren’t done just yet.

“Just in case?” Will broke the ice first, looking at her with a blank expression that she returns.

“Just in case.” She repeats, before fishing out another lighter. “Care to do the honors?”

He takes it with his bruised hand, flickering it on and watching it for a second before throwing it at the foot of the building. The line of gasoline they poured around it erupted like fireworks, like…

Like it was their grand finale. A big old ‘Fuck You’ to this shitty place.

But despite the wave of emotions, the one of disgust, then nothingness… It soon ended with them laughing and crying of pure relief that they could finally breathe in a place like this.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve was this close to picking a fight with a freaking oak tree. He knew he shouldn’t get mad, I mean… Dustin did have a point about splitting up, but he knew he couldn’t risk that. He saw whomever these people were not afraid to get their hands dirty, and couldn’t risk anything happening to these kids but…

Jesus.

Dustin was really pissing him off. But he also wasn’t pissed off? The necklace he threw at him, the very one he gifted to the older Henderson all those years ago, the one he was for sure had been thrown in the trash at this point, was now in the palm of his hand, was fucking taunting him now?! I mean, Steve kept a box of things that he got on his and Steph’s adventures, but that was him. He thought after breaking her heart at school, he was sure that she would have trashed everything he’s given her over the years.

I guess he was wrong about that.

He rubbed his face with his hands, biting his lip as guilt started creeping back. It was guilt about their friendship, but there was also some that came from the boys he decided to freaking abandon moments ago.

Abandon. He just abandoned those kids because he was mad! Them being assholes or not, he should’ve been the grown up here and stood his ground despite if it meant potentially strangling Henderson. I mean what if something happens to them? How the hell would he explain that to their parents?

He completely stops, mentally slapping himself. “God. What the fuck am I thinking?”

Just as Steve was about to turn around and go looking, he heard something. He carefully looks around, starting to think he imagines it until he swears there was a person like shadow casting out from behind a nearby tree.

“Eleven?” He takes a hopeful small step forward. “I know that’s you. I can see your shadow.” That statement was enough to confirm it when the shadow moved slightly and the leaves rustled quietly. “Hey, can you come out? I just want to talk.”

But what did he expect? Just for her to come out and run into his arms? No. Of course not. However she was right there, just four steps ahead, and he’s not losing her this time.

“Listen, I’m not mad, okay? And I’m not just saying that so you can come out. I mean it. And…” How does he word this? “I don’t know why you chose to mess up the compass, you clearly had a reason, a reason I kind of agree with Wheeler, I think you wanted to protect us. Why? From? I don’t know, but I want to know. You have to tell me, you have to tell us.”

Please say something. Or move a bit so I know you’re acknowledging me. But neither of that happens, so he keeps going.

“I promise you, none of us are going to be angry. But you have to understand, time is of the essence right now, we have to find Stephanie, we have to find Will. So…” He knows his voice trembled at the end, but who cares. Maybe the honesty will help his case. “Please. Will you come out? Come out and talk to me? Please, Eleven?”

It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Or in this case…

Screaming.

Steve’s head snapped in the direction of where he just came from, the familiarity of the screams made his stomach drop.

“Shit.” He mutters, looking one last time at the tree before taking off, hoping he isn’t too late for whatever reason they’re screaming for. Him running away was the missing chance of him seeing the girl’s gaze on him with a frightful face, wondering too what is happening to her friends.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The boys were running out of steam fast. It didn’t take long until their bullies had surrounded them, just off a trail that wraps around the whole quarry. With their stomach turning, and their hearts pounding in their ears, they scooped up any “weapons” they could find for defense.

“Stay back! Don’t come any closer!” Mike said, before chucking a rock at James.

The bully laughed at the terrible aim. “Nice throw, numbnuts.”

Dustin, in one last attempt to fight them off, comes full swinging at Troy with his stick – a complete fail too. Now, he was struggling to break free from his hold, as the switchblade was placed just under his chin, causing him to freak out.

“Let him go!” Mike yells, urgently. “Let him go!”

“Stay back, or I cut him!” Troy snaps.

“What do you want?!”

“I want to know how you did it!”

“How I did what?”

“I know you did something to me. Some nerdy science shit to make me do that!”

Mike almost rolled his eyes at the statement. “You mean piss your pants?”

Dustin, being Dustin, replies with, “Our friend has superpowers, and she squeezed your tiny bladder with her mind.”

“Shut up!” Troy grits his teeth, bringing the blade closer to his face. “I think I should save Toothless here a trip to the dentist. Help him lose the rest of his baby teeth.”

“Let him go.” Mike says again. “Let him go!”

“I’ll let him go, sure. But first... it’s your turn.”

“My turn for what?”

“Wet yourself.”

“What?”

“Jump…” Troy’s eyes gesture to the open water below. “Or Toothless here gets an early trip to the dentist.”

“NO!!” Dustin shouts, shaking his head, trying to wiggle out of the hold. “Stop! No! No!”

“Or I’ll cut him right now!” He continues, the blade now resting right on his lips, causing his hostage to whimper.

Mike shook with anger, but he had no choice. He didn’t want to be the cause of his friend getting hurt. “All right, just hold on!” He says, looking between the bullies as he starts walking away. “Hold on!”

“Mike, don’t do it. I don’t need my baby teeth, Mike! Mike, seriously, don’t!” His friend pleas, but he’s not listening as he gets closer and closer to the edge, stopping just as his toes went past the line.

With his big brown eyes he looks down at the blue water and wonders what hitting that would feel like. The fall was what? 50 feet? 70? Maybe a hundred? Would he even survive this? Would he never see any of his friends or family again? He hears Dustin pleading with him once more, and almost takes a step back, a step back to maybe striking up a deal with Troy; But would he even listen? Maybe jumping really was the only option here, so…

“Troy, I don’t think this is a good idea, man.” James says, a bit scared at the idea, yet his friend blows him off.

“Mike, don’t!” Dustin screams, as Mike takes a deep breath and starts closing his eyes, bracing himself for whatever awaits him below.

“Dentist’s office opens in five–”

This is for Dustin.

“Four!”

I’m sorry everyone.

“Three!”

Say Hi to Will and Steph for me.

“Two!”

Dustin yells his name.

“One!”

Just as Mike lets his foot slip down for the descent he felt himself get yanked backwards by his collar…

Someone else using the momentum to take his place.

He had enough time to stop himself from tumbling to see him plummeting into the Quarry.

“STEVE!!” Mike yells at the top of his lungs, everyone else staring in shock before running over to the edge. Now, everyone present expected to find the teenager’s body crashing into the water, or hear some kind of scream on the way down, yet instead…

They see the teenager panicking at how he found himself stopping in mid air like he could suddenly fly.

“Holy shit.” Dustin said, blue orbs blown wide just seconds before Steve started floating back towards them.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” The Harrington spewed, limbs frantically moving. He continued his descent up and up, right over the four boys and landing semi-gently on the ground.

“Steve?!” Mike said, surprised (and relief blooming onto his face).

He shot straight up in the sitting position, his hair a mess, his eyes big like saucers, his heart pounding like a never ending drum. What the heck just happened? “How the hell did I…?”

And right on cue, like you could hear boss music play as Eleven was storming over, her red wig gone and dirtied face full of rage. She quickly blew James off his feet, and snapped Troy’s arm like a twig. The boy cried and El told them to go. The two bullies waste no time to leave, their tails tucked between their legs as Dustin eggs them on.

“Yeah, that’s right! You better run!” He yells, a shit eating grin blooming onto his face. “She’s our friend and she’s crazy! You come back here and she’ll kill you! You hear me? She’ll kill you, you sons of bitches. She’ll kill you!”

“You think she would?” Mike asked, half rhetorical, half serious. 

He shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe? I was just saying that to scare them.”

“I wouldn’t let that get that far, alright?” Steve says, looking at them with amusement also. “You guys okay?”

“Okay?” Mike says, helping him get up. “Dude, you took my place!”

“Yeah, well, I would do it again if I–” He trails off, just as he notices Eleven’s knees buckling. “Hey– Hey! Eleven!” The boys rush over to the unconscious girl. “Eleven?”

“Is she okay? Why did she faint?”

“She might have overdid it. Eleven? Hey? Can you hear us? El?”

Eventually, She cracks her lids open slowly, finding all the boys hovering over her like she was made of glass. Glass. They shouldn’t be looking at her like that. Not after everything she’s done.

“El, are you okay? El?” Mike said, worriedly.

“Mike...” She sobbed, lip quivering. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

“The gate… I opened it. I’m the monster.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “No, El, you’re not the monster.”

“You saved us.” Steve said, with a smile. “You saved me. Do you understand? You saved me. Whatever you did in the past, that’s all said and done. All that matters now is what you do in the future. Okay?”

“Okay…” She sniffles and nods. “Okay.”

“Okay.” His expression grows as he sits her up. “Come here.” 

She allows herself to grab a hold of him, burying her head in his chest for a sense of comfort. Steve keeps her close, relieved that she’s here, relieved that she’s fine, relieved that she saved their lives. Whatever she’d done is done, now they must move forward and save their loved ones. But for now, they were allowed this one sentimental moment. He soon felt Mike wrapped his arms around them, just before Dustin did it too. 

Steve locks eyes with him, Dustin sharing a small smile while mouthing the words ‘Thank You’. Probably for the fact that he swapped places with Mike (Or was there something else beside that?). Whatever it was, Steve copies his expression before ruffling the top of his hat before continuing with the hug.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Lucas found himself hidden in a tree, watching with his binoculars as he spotted the suspiciously familiar vans behind the fence. It took him a moment to realize where he saw those vans. Realizing that he saw one parked outside his house when he left a while ago, he put two and two together right before this situation got worse. He watches as Men in uniform stroll out of the lab, guns in hand and pouring into the vehicles that made their way into the main roads.

His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, fuck.”

(TBC)

A/N: Only three more chapters to go for this season! This next one should be a "fun" ride for you all 😈

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[stonathandreamer]

Married!Stonathan with a daughter headcanons to brighten your day ✨

🔸 Stonathan Masterlist

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🔹 ⏪ Part 3 | Part 5 ⏩

A/N: I've been thinking about Steve and Jonathan having a kid a lot lately! Also, might've turned this into a semi-fanfic, but I don't care!

✨ First of all, I want to tell you that I headcanon Jonathan as being a photojournalist (because that's his dream job and I want my baby boy to be HAPPY!) and Steve... Well, I imagine him as a police officer (maybe because of the fact that Joe Keery played a cop in the 5th Season of Fargo, but it also opens the possibility of imagining Steve working with Father-in-law!Hopper!);

✨ Their daughter's name is Elizabeth Harrington-Byers, but they call her Lizzie or Liz (because I love the name "Elizabeth," and it's definitely a name Steve and Jonathan would pick);

✨ They only call her "Elizabeth" when they're mad at her (which is practically never);

✨ Steve tries teaching her how to say his name as her first word (because "daddy" could be either of them), so Jonathan tries teaching her his name;

✨ Joyce watches over her when they're at work. Steve and Jonathan (mostly Jonathan) call her every hour or so to check on Lizzie;

✨ Jonathan takes thousands of pictures of Lizzie and proudly shows them to his friends at work;

✨ Robin proudly take on the role of the "cool aunt";

— Robin: [Holding Elizabeth and pointing at Steve] Say "dingus", Lizzie!

— Steve: [Taking Elizabeth from Robin's arms] Don't come near my daughter ever again, Robin.

✨ One time, Elizabeth babbled something that sounded eerily similar to "mama," and it sent Steve and Jonathan into a spiral of panic;

— Steve: Did she just say "mama"?!

— Jonathan: No, no, no, no! It’s just baby talk... Probably.

✨ Her first word was, obviously, "daddy," though it's unclear which daddy she was referring to and that is topic of discussion still;

✨ Thanks to Steve's lack of a baby filter, Elizabeth knows a couple of bad words;

— Joyce: [Calling Jonathan] Your daughter just said "shit." You, Steve, and I are going to have a talk later...

— Jonathan: But, mom! It's Steve's fault...!

✨ Uncle!Will has a special nickname for his niece - Lilibet - and no one else is allowed to use it, not even Mike;

✨ They often get confused whenever Elizabeth calls dad because they don't know which one she's calling;

— Elizabeth: Dad!

— Jonathan: Yeah, sweetie?

— Elizabeth: No, Dad Steve!

✨ Elizabeth, in turn, gets confused when Steve and Jonathan call themselves "dad;"

— Steve: Okay, Lizzie, dad's going to work now, and your other dad's staying here with you.

— Elizabeth: Which one?

— Steve: Me.

— Elizabeth: So... You're staying home with me?

— Jonathan: [Sighs] No, sweetheart, I'm staying home with you.

✨ These are life long confusions, by the way;

✨ Uncle Will and Uncle Mike, who are a comic book illustrator and a writer, respectively, make several special comics for their niece;

✨ Elizabeth calls every member of the Party "Uncle" or "Aunt" much to El, Will and Mike's (her real uncles and aunt) annoyance;

✨ The party definitely teaches her how to play D&D - they haven't played that game in years, so they're a little rusty;

✨ As his daughter gets older, Jonathan starts to worry if she'll stop seeing them as her parents because they're not biologically related, or if she'll start asking for a mom;

✨ They're terribly concerned if she'll suffer bullying when Elizabeth starts at school;

✨ Jonathan is a bit more overprotective than Steve, and also a bit more strict too (but just a tiny bit);

✨ But he also has a huge soft spot for her. All Elizabeth needs is a "puppy eyes" stare, and Daddy Jonathan will do anything she wants;

✨ One time, Elizabeth got into a fight at school because some students were making fun of her for having two dads, and Lizzie, being Jonathan Byers' daughter, kicked their asses.

— Steve: Ha! She has your fighting prowess, Jon!

— Jonathan: Don't encourage her, Steve.

— Steve: Oh, come on, she was just defending our honor!

— Jonathan: [Sighing] Alright, fine... It was kinda cool.

✨ They freaked out a little bit (actually, a lot) when their daughter had her first period;

— Steve: [Holding two different brands of pads at the pharmacy] What's the difference between this one and this one?

— Jonathan: Uh... This one is regular and this one is ultra-thin.

— Steve: Ok... So what's the difference?

— Jonathan: [Sighs] We should've called my mom... Or Robin... Or any woman...

— Steve: We're taking both!

✨ Jonathan teaches her photography and even buys her a Polaroid camera for her birthday;

✨ Steve teaches her basketball, but Elizabeth's favorite sport is soccer. They watch soccer matches together, and Steve lets her curse freely, much to Jonathan's chagrin;

✨ They enjoy torturing Elizabeth's boyfriends. After all, a boyfriend's worst nightmare is meeting his girlfriend's dad, and Elizabeth happens to have two, so double the nightmare;

✨ It's Jonathan who teaches her how to drive because, and I quote, "your dad Steve drives like a cop chasing robbers";

✨ They love embarrassing her with stories of when they were younger;

— Steve: Hey, Liz, have I ever told you how I fell in love with your dad?

— Elizabeth: Ugh. Not again...

— Steve: He kicked my ass in high school! That's when I realized, "This is the man I want to marry!"

— Jonathan: And did you know your dad used to work at an ice cream parlor called "Scoops Ahoy"? Steve, go grab the photo album, show her the pictures I took of you wearing that cute sailor uniform!

— Elizabeth: Please, no!

✨ Elizabeth would never do even half of the stupid things Steve and Jonathan did when they were teenagers. Still, they worry she might do something dumb;

— Jonathan: But Liz is such a good kid...

— Steve: Yeah, but she's also our daughter!

— Jonathan: ... Fair point.

✨ When Elizabeth turns into a teenager, Steve realises his dream of having "six little nuggets" would be a nightmare, so they decide to stick with just one kid... For now.

[estrellami-1]

If I Should Stay

Once again I’m later than I’d like to be… ngl I kinda forgot I was supposed to post today 😬

Part 1 | . . . | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21

Just then, there’s another knock at the door. “All good in here?” Eddie asks.

“No,” Steve deadpans, “Robin’s torturing me.”

“I’m telling him to take care of himself,” Robin snarks back.

“How’s everyone out there?” Steve asks.

A pause, during which Steve and Robin look at each other. “That’s… about what I’m here for,” he finally answers. “Joyce Byers is here and I don’t think any of us have enough answers for her.”

“Christ,” Steve mutters, thunking his head back against the wall. “Okay. Thanks, Eddie. We’ll be out in a minute.”

“Alright.” He knocks once more, lets his knuckles drag down the wood before he walks away.

“So,” Robin says, wrapping a bandage around his torso. “Joyce.”

“Joyce,” Steve agrees.

“You ready?”

Steve pulls his shirt down, then considers the tear, the blood staining the edges. “I think maybe I should change first.”

She chuckles and pushes him in the direction of his room. “Go,” she says. “I’ll clean up.”

“I don’t deserve you!” He calls down the hall.

“You’d better believe it!” She yells back, and he cackles as he shuts his door.

His laugh wakes El, who’s sleeping in his bed. He winces as she murmurs sleepily. “Sorry, El,” he murmurs, moving to his bed to pass a hand over her head. “Forgot you were in here.”

She yawns, eyes fighting to stay open. “Okay?”

He smiles. “We’re fine, El. Go back to sleep, okay?”

“M’kay,” she mumbles, and does just that. She’s out again before he even reaches his closet.

He passes by the bathroom just as Robin opens the door, having finished putting everything away. He grabs her hand and squeezes once, letting her squeeze back before he drops her hand and squares his shoulders, walking into his living room like he’s preparing for battle.

“Everyone alright?” He asks Nancy, who nods, then cuts her eyes to Joyce’s anxious figure in the kitchen. She’s talking to Jonathan. Steve sees tears in both their eyes and decides to let them come to him before Joyce suddenly turns and faces him.

“You brought him back,” she whispers, tears dripping onto her cheeks as she moves to embrace him. “Thank you.” He accepts the hug before she suddenly pulls back. “I need to know, though… Jonathan told me about these… demonic-looking things-”

Steve nods, offers her a seat. Sits next to her and explains the Upside Down all over again. Her gaze hardens when he lifts his shirt and carefully moves the bandages, at her request.

“Okay,” she finally says. “What can I do?”

Steve smiles kindly. “Rest,” he says. “If you’d like to stay here for now, there’s room. If you’d like to go home, you can. But Will…” he sighs. “He’s… marked, now.”

“He’s involved,” Joyce nods and sets her jaw. “If he’s involved, fine. But know I will do everything in my power to keep him safe.”

“We all will,” Steve answers. “There’s more.” He waves Robin over. “She and I… we’re from the future. We’ve been through all this before.”

“Oh,” Joyce whispers. “You poor dears.”

Robin and Steve share a look. “It gets worse,” Robin admits, taking a seat next to Steve.

Steve grimaces. “It started with me,” he admits. “I, uh. Well. I was a bully. And I broke Jonathan’s camera.”

Robin rolls her eyes. “If you won’t tell the full story, I will. You only broke it because he took pictures of you and Nancy in your room.”

“He was looking for Will-”

“He took pictures of you-”

“Robs,” Steve sighs. “Water under the bridge. Hasn’t happened this time around, remember?”

Robin sighs dramatically, trying to get him to smile. It works. “But it happened last time before I knew you. Do you know how many things I wanted to say to him?”

Steve just raises a brow in response. “I’m pretty sure half of what you wanted to say is only legal in Russia.”

“I’m sorry,” Joyce says, effectively derailing them. “Did you say Jonathan took pictures of you and Nancy? Alone in your room?”

“Yeah, but we’re fine now. Or… we were fine. Last week. When we knew each other.”

Joyce rubs her temples. “Christ,” she mutters. “Are you… I don’t even know what to ask at this point. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Steve shrugs, then thinks about it. “I mean… as fine as you can be after everything, I guess.”

Joyce hums thoughtfully. “Okay,” she decides. “I think you need to tell me everything.”

So they do, taking turns when one forgets something, sometimes getting sidetracked, with Joyce guiding them back onto the topic.

“And that’s it,” Steve finally says with another shrug. “Now we’re here and we found Will and Barb, so it’s already going better than last time.”

“I think I need a drink,” Joyce says. “And I think you need several drinks.” She takes a breath. “Okay. I’m going to take you up on the offer of rest here, since I think Will’s happy here. After that, I’m in. Whatever you need.”

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[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Nightingales

A Stedancy fanfiction

Summary: Nancy helps Steve take care of an injured Eddie.

Nancy let herself in like Steve said she should. She found him in his kitchen, shirtless with bandages on his back, wrapped around his arms, and his stomach. Steve was leaning against the counter, drinking a glass of water.

"Hey," Nancy said softly.

"Hey," Steve said.

She noticed how tired he was. They all were. It would be a long time before anything would get back to normal, if at all.

"How's Eddie?" Nancy asked.

"Worse than I am, he's sleeping right now," Steve said and sighed. "At least mine are getting better. It seems like sometimes his bites are getting worse. Although the doctor did talk about the possibility of the nerve damage being permanent. I hope not. He doesn't deserve that."

"No, he doesn't," Nancy whispered. "Do you need any help with him? I'll be glad to help. I figured I'd see Dustin over here."

"Yeah, Dustin got into a fight with his mother. She wanted him to stick around, didn't want him wandering off, which I don't blame her. The gates are closed, but they all know now, and the jocks are still on the warpath even though Eddie's been cleared of all charges. Plus, the whole fiasco with the police. . .Anyway, Dustin, as usual, put his foot in his mouth, so now he's grounded," Steve said.

"Yeah, Mike's been put on lock down, too, and he says that Lucas has as well," Nancy said. "The only reason that I got out is that I'm legally an adult, and I chose to stay in that house for as long as possible."

"They're all scared," Steve said.

"Yeah, I don't blame them, either," Nancy said. "Mom's pretty pissed at Joyce and Hopper for keeping them in the dark."

"I don't blame them for that either," Steve said.

"So, I guess Robin's parents have her on lockdown, too?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, yeah, and they don't care that she's now legally an adult either," he said as he finished his water.

Nancy watched him his swallow, staring at his throat for longer than she should have.

"So, you've got no one here to help you out with Eddie?" Nancy asked.

"I mean, Wayne comes by when he can, and Jeff. Gareth, of course, is being taken care of by his mother. His hand is still messed up. Doug refuses to step foot in here," Steve said. "Even if it's for Eddie."

"Why doesn't Doug want to step foot in here?" Nancy asked.

"In his eyes, all jocks are bullies," Steve rolled his eyes. "He tried to convince Jeff and Wayne to break Eddie out of here. I think Wayne might have given him what for, though."

"Well, that's not right. Even back then, you didn't toss anyone around. You were always there to stop Tommy and Carol," Nancy said, and then she smiled. "I wouldn't call you a bully, but a douchebag? Oh, yeah."

"That's fair," Steve smirked.

"Still, you saved his life, Doug should know that you're not a bully just because of your interests," Nancy said.

"It couldn't have been easy to watch Gareth get thrown around like that, especially in Gareth's own garage," Steve said.

"You're a lot more understanding than he is," Nancy said, looking at him softly.

"He'll come around, Eddie did, and if he doesn't, then it's his loss. It's too bad, though, I make really good brownies," Steve said and she laughed.

"I broke up with Jonathan," Nancy said, and Steve smiled, opening his mouth.

"AHHHH!"

Steve and Nancy both jumped. They looked at each other.

"Is that - ?"

"Nightmare."

They both took off. Nancy ran after Steve, her heart racing.

"CHRISSY! WAKE UP!"

They burst through the spare bedroom. Eddie was thrashing about, with the soaked sheets twisted around his legs. Nancy moved toward him, but Steve held her back.

"Eddie! Wake up! You're having a bad dream!" Steve yelled. "EDDIE!"

Eddie's eyes snapped open, and his arm shot out. He hit the pillow next to him.

"Fuck," Eddie sobbed. "I pissed myself again."

"It's okay, Eddie," Steve said and moved towards him. "Let's get you to the bathroom."

Steve and Nancy helped peel back the sheets before helping him sit up.

"You don't have to do that," Eddie said to Nancy.

"I want to. . .unless, do you not want me to help?" Nancy asked.

"I don't care," he scoffed, and Nancy smiled.

Nancy wrapped an arm around Eddie while Steve did the same on his other side. Together, Steve and Nancy helped him to the bathroom. They set him down on the toilet seat.

"You need a bath," Nancy said. "Do you want us to help with that?"

"Steve struggles when he gives me a bath," Eddie mumbled.

"Yeah, he tries to bite me when I give him one," Steve said. "Except when Wayne's helping me."

"Steven Nightingale over here forgets he's injured as well," Eddie said. "He needs a reminder."

"Steven Nightingale," Nancy snorted as she ran the bath, and Steve rolled his eyes. "It fits."

As the bath filled up, they gently helped Eddie out of his clothes. Nancy peeled off his bandages, and she couldn't stop the wince when she looked at his stitches.

"Yeah, it's fucked up, isn't it?" Eddie asked.

"Sorry," Nancy said.

"Don't be," he said.

"It looks a lot better than before," Steve said.

"Is he always this optimistic?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, yeah," Nancy smiled.

"I miss my nipple," Eddie said, holding a hand to his chest.

Nancy laughed and Eddie smiled when she did.

"Laugh it up, Wheeler, and be thankful you've got two of them," he said, showing her his dimples.

They lowered Eddie into the bath, and he hissed slightly before relaxing.

"Any particular way you like to wash your hair?" Nancy asked.

"No," Eddie said. "Go nuts."

"Well, I do. I got shampoo specifically for your hair," Steve said, as he grabbed them.

"You ever worried that one day you're going to go bald?" Eddie asked.

"Why would you say something like that? No, seriously, what have I ever done to you?" Steve asked and Nancy giggled.

"Sorry, I had to poke fun at you, big boy," Eddie said.

"Nancy," Steve said seriously. "My hairline isn't receding, is it?"

"No, you're good," she laughed. "Now, you've done it. He's going to be thinking about it all day."

"This bath is boring. You don't have any bath toys?" Eddie asked.

"How old are you?" He scoffed.

"Old enough," he grinned.

"Why don't you just play with yourself?" Nancy asked.

Eddie and Steve's heads turned to look at her. They both smirked.

"Okay, but you should know that I'm a screamer," Eddie said, gleefully.

"I mean, like, use your imagination," Nancy said, blushing. "That's not any better, is it?"

"No," Steve and Eddie said.

It fell silent as Eddie let Nancy and Steve wash his hair. Nancy smiled as Eddie hummed in contentment. She was pretty sure. . .was he humming Metallica?

"So you broke up with Jonathan, huh?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"So, like, any particular reason. . .?" Steve asked and Eddie snorted.

"Well, there are quite a few reasons. One of them is that we just don't understand each other anymore, and we both want different things," Nancy said.

They fell quiet again as they moved from washing Eddie's hair to carefully washing his body.

"Any other reason?" Steve asked.

"Well, I don't know, I'm trying to think," Nancy said, teasingly.

"Oh, come on, Wheeler, don't leave a man hanging," Eddie said.

"Okay, so one of the reasons might have been you," Nancy asked, smiling.

"Yeah?" Steve asked, grinning.

"Yeah."

"This is nice," Eddie said. "Do you guys usually flirt with each other while touching another man's junk? Unless you guys want me to be a part of this? I'm telling you now that you guys are going to have to do all the work. My arms hurt too much for me to even jerk off. . .hm, this is the most action I've gotten since that girl got dared to sleep with me."

"Sorry," Nancy and Steve said, pulling away and blushing.

"You know, if we were to invite you to sleep with us, I don't think it would be for a joke," Nancy said. "At least for me."

"Me neither," Steve said.

Eddie went quiet after that, his cheeks red. He stared at them for a long time, his dark eyes intense. They carefully got him out of the bathtub and dried him off before rebandaging his wounds. They carefully guided him back to the bedroom, wrapped up in the towel. They set him down in the chair, and Nancy sat down with him on the arm. Steve took the bed clothes down to the wash and came back to replace them with new ones. All the while, Nancy casually combed her fingers through Eddie's wet hair. He sighed and leaned into her touch. Steve placed his hands on his hips with a smile.

"Alright, done," Steve said. "I also got you some new sweats."

Eddie burst into tears and buried his face into Nancy's lap.

"Eddie?" Nancy asked softly.

"You don't have to wear the sweats! I can find you something else, you name it!" Steve exclaimed.

Eddie laughed and sat back up, wiping his face.

"No, Stevie, it's not that. I just don't want to go back to sleep," Eddie said.

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to. The doctors just recommended that you rest as much as possible until you're ready to move around," Steve said.

"We were dancing," Eddie said softly, eyes downcast.

"What?" Nancy asked.

"In the dream, Chrissy and I were dancing in my old living room. She was laughing and smiling. I twirled her around, and then she did the same for me, spinning me out. When I turned around, she was frozen like she had been - her eyes like they had been in real life. Suddenly, we were falling because the floor had broken underneath us, and I kept trying to reach for her. I couldn't catch her, and I couldn't wake her up. I just wanted to go back. I wanted to dance with her and make her laugh. Suddenly, we were back at that picnic table, but her broken body was sitting there in front of me. I kept wanting her to wake up, for her to actually be there," Eddie sobbed. "I couldn't save her."

"Eddie, there wasn't anything that you could have done," Nancy said.

"I know, everyone keeps fucking telling me that and I keep waiting for myself to believe it," He sniffled. "You must think that I'm so pathetic, I clearly can't handle all this shit."

"And you think we handle it?" Steve asked.

"Look at you," he scoffed.

"Eddie, we may look like we do, but we don't have it all together," Nancy said.

"Yeah, we're complete messes," Steve said.

"You're just telling me that," he frowned.

"Eddie, all of us have nightmares. All of us," Steve said. "I may not scream, but I wake up in the middle of dripping with sweat, and it takes me a minute to realize that there aren't Russians standing over me ready to cut me open."

"Russians?" he asked.

"There was a secret Russian underground base under Starcourt that I got trapped in last year with Dustin, Erica, and Robin," Steve said. "They tortured me, then they drugged Robin and I without our consent."

"Torture? They tortured you?!" Nancy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I thought it was obvious with my bloody face and all," Steve said.

"No, it wasn't," Nancy said. "Oh my god, Steve."

"It's fine, I'm fine, Nancy," Steve said.

"You just said that you have nightmares about Russians standing over you to cut you open," Eddie pointed out. "Oh, yeah, you guys are a mess."

"We're going to talk about that later when you're ready," Nancy said softly and turned to Eddie. "I know what it's like to feel guilty about feeling responsible for someone's death. My best friend, Barb, died, and all I could do was blame myself for it. Not even getting justice for the people who were responsible for it helped. The only thing that did was realizing that there wasn't anything that I could have done and reminding myself of that. . .constantly."

"And time. Time and moving forward really helps, man. Take as many steps as you want, and they can be whatever size you want them to be. They can even be baby steps," Steve said.

"He's right about that," Nancy said, laughing with Eddie.

"It's okay, not to be okay," Steve said, squeezing Eddie's hand. "We all went through hell."

Eddie leaned back against Nancy, letting her start up the hair brushing again. He sighed, wiping his face.

"I hope you don't mind me asking. . . why do you feel like it's your fault that Barb died?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, well, I probably should talk about it. It's still pretty difficult, but I was just beginning to date Steve, and I was completely smitten with him. Will had gone missing, but Steve wanted to throw this gathering with Tommy and Carol. . .which now that I'm thinking about, I realize that you probably didn't want to be alone," Nancy said.

"Yeah, I did do that," Steve said bashfully, scratching the back of his neck.

"Anyway, ever since I laid eyes on Steve, I wanted him. . .all of him. I had this plan. Get a new sweater, get a new bra, and get on birth control," Nancy said. "I wasn't ashamed of how I felt, but I also didn't want to be one of the many girls that he had slept with."

"Uh, it actually wasn't that many, to be honest," Steve admitted.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Nancy asked.

"Because I'm not sure that you'd believe me that you were only the second woman that I slept with. I told other people that I didn't sleep with them, but they just assumed that I was ashamed of sleeping with those women," Steve shrugged. "Everyone just wanted to use me for my father's name and popularity. Nancy was the only one who didn't. I should have come clean about that because rationally I knew that you wouldn't be like those other people."

"You know, I never really think that guys like you have it hard, but life really is hard for everyone," Eddie said, shaking his head.

"Well, I found that with the right people, it certainly makes life better," Steve grinned at the both of them.

"Nancy Wheeler, I just wanted to let you know that you have competition now," Eddie grinned.

"You're vunerable right now, I can take you," she laughed.

"I think even if I wasn't, you could absolutely destroy me," Eddie said

"Oh, in the worst way possible," Nancy grinned.

Eddie stared at her, resting his head on her shoulder, letting her brush the hair out of his eyes. A look of realization appeared in his eyes, and they went wide as she looked at her.

"Holy shit, so the first time you two had sex. . .your best friend died?" Eddie asked.

"The first time I had sex over all," she said.

"Damn, I can see how that would fuck you up," he said softly. "I'm sorry that happened."

"For the longest time, I felt ashamed for my feelings for Steve. The last words my best friend told me was that what I was about to do wasn't me. And when I was looking for Barb with Jonathan, he told me that I thought I was being rebellious, but really, that I was every other girl who wanted to sleep with Steve. He told me that I was going to be stuck in a loveless marriage to a former jock just like my parents," Nancy said.

"He said that?" Eddie said. "What a dick."

"He was being defensive. I don't think he actually meant that. At least, I hope he didn't," Nancy said. "For the longest time, I was ashamed of how I felt about Steve. I was afraid that everyone was right. I was even ashamed of having sex. Even when I wanted to be with him, I felt like I shouldn't, I felt like this wasn't what people wanted for me, what Barb wanted for me."

"Forced conformity doesn't just belong to the conservatives," Eddie whispered. "You'll find that people do it in every group."

"Yeah, I suppose," Nancy said and looked at Steve.. "And as the one year anniversary of Barb's death came up, the anniversary that we had sex, I suddenly found myself even more ashamed. I couldn't breathe, but I couldn't think about celebrating that. I was drowning and I wanted to tell you how much I loved you but I couldn't. You were there for me, you were there every step of the way for me during that year and I couldn't stop the shame I felt for loving you and also having feelings for Jonathan. He was the easier path to follow, the one that hurt the less. It was always you, Steve. I have always loved you. No one else got me the way that you did. No one else saw me the way that you did. It's always been you, Steve Harrington."

Steve had been holding his face in his hands and finally, his body started to shake with sobs.

"If you don't go to him, I will," Eddie said.

Nancy kissed Eddie's forehead, got up, and slid into Steve's lap. She tilted his head up, his red rimmed eyes meeting hers.

"Sorry about crying," Steve said.

"It's sweet," Nancy said.

She kissed Steve’s forehead, both cheeks, as well as a kiss on his nose before finally pressing her lips to his. She could feel more tears spill out, and a little sob came out as he kissed her back. She smiled and deepened it further, wrapping her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her hips. Her decision solidified even further as she slipped her tongue into his mouth, and he let out a moan. She suddenly felt like there were eyes on the back of her neck, and she remembered that Eddie was still in the room. Nancy didn't stop, and she didn't want to stop. She wanted Eddie to keep watching. Steve was the one to break the kiss, however.

"Sorry, Eddie, we forgot you were there," Steve said.

"No, man, it was a great show," Eddie said, his smile so wide his dimples were showing and his eyes were twinkling.

Nancy looked at Steve's hair, running her hands through it.

"You know, I think your hair might be receding a little," she said thoughtfully.

"What?!"

"You're right, Eddie, that was fun," Nancy said, and Eddie cackled.

Over the next couple of weeks, Nancy spent time between her house and Steve's. She was determined to help both Steve and Eddie, even when Steve didn't realize that she was helping him. Eddie was starting to move around more, and he could even walk downstairs, although he had to have help. Nancy insisted on having their first date at his house and having Eddie join them. Eddie, however, didn't know that it was a date, but Nancy just couldn't leave him out. Neither could Steve, apparently.

"Okay, so, I heard that you're going to Emerson, or at least you're planning to," Eddie said as he slurped the spaghetti.

"Oh, well, we don't have to talk about that," Nancy said, blushing.

"Did those idiots reject you?" Eddie asked. "Because I read the article that you wrote about me. . .thank you, by the way. . .it was totally metal. They'd be stupid to reject you."

"I agree," Nancy said, looking down at her food.

"I didn't know they rejected you, I thought you had gotten accepted," Steve said.

"Well, I did, but they sort of took it back," Nancy said.

"Hold on, did they - did they reject you because you helped me?" Eddie asked.

"No!" Nancy lied, and Eddie gave her a look. "Okay, yes, they did, but that makes them total assholes!"

"Goddamnit!" Eddie cursed, dropping his fork.

"Eddie, I don't regret helping you. As long as I live, I will never regret helping you or helping save this town. We saved the world, and maybe no one will ever know about that, but I'm okay with that. I would set my own career on fire if it meant saving you. . .this town. I risked it all to get justice for Barb and I'd do it again. I lost my job last summer to find the truth. There's nothing that I wouldn't do in order to do the right thing. Saving you was the right thing to do, Eddie Munson, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Nancy Wheeler, she cares about people," Steve said proudly.

"It's just. . .your dream," Eddie said.

"Emerson rejecting me isn't going to stop me from writing," Nancy said. "I can do anything and still write. Plus, I am putting in my applications to other places, and I know that one of them is going to accept me. When I do get accepted, I'll send Emerson a poloroid of the acceptance latter, a picture of my middle finger, and maybe a picture of my ass. One day, when I make it big, they're going to regret rejecting Nancy Wheeler."

"Well, damn," Eddie grinned. "That's definitely a plan."

"She always has one," Steve said.

"Quit trying to make me fall in love with you, Wheeler, you're taken," Eddie said and shoved spaghetti into his mouth. "You and Steve both. . .you're killing me."

Nancy and Steve smiled at each other as Eddie ducked his head as he ate. Ducking his head caused his hair to fall into the spaghetti. Steve rolled his eyes and pulled a scrunchie out of his pocket. He got up and pulled Eddie's hair up into a ponytail.

"Eddie!" Steve clucked his tongue, and Nancy laughed.

As Nancy waited to hear back from colleges, she kept busy. She wrote and sent papers out to other newspapers. She did end up getting a part-time job at Bradley's Big Buy, which was a good distraction as well. During all of that, she managed to keep up with Steve and Eddie. They were a handful now but also a wonderful distraction. Eddie was moving around even more now, and he could even take baths by himself. He can also walk down into the living room without any help. Robin was the first one out of lockdown. . .well, officially. She still went to work with Steve.

"When you said, you were spending time with both Nancy and Eddie, I didn't know you meant like this," Robin said after bursting into his living room.

Steve was sprawled out next to Nancy on the couch. Steve was shirtless and wearing sweats. Meanwhile, Nancy was wearing Steve's shirt and no pants. Her legs were draped over Eddie's shoulders as he sat on the floor and let her braid his hair while he massaged her feet. The television was blaring in front of them.

"What did you think that I meant, you knew I was taking care of Eddie? Did you think I'd keep them separated?" Steve asked.

"Your girlfriend has her bare legs wrapped around another guy's neck," Robin said.

"I noticed," Steve said.

"I've touched his dick, too," Nancy said and Eddie snorted. "Then again, so has Steve."

"Does that make you more or less confused?" Eddie asked.

"More," Robin said. "You know, I don't want to know. . .unless you'd rather just put me out of misery and tell me."

"We're friends, Robin," Nancy said, rolling her eyes. "I've been helping Steve nurse him back to health."

"You tend to get a little close when you give a grown man a bath," Steve said.

"Whatever, so, my parents finally freed me, and I'm pretty sure that it won't be long before the other parents start to cave," Robin said.

"I know, Dustin's been hounding me to visit. He really wants to," Steve said. "His mother finally ungrounded him."

"He's been calling like 24/7, not that I mind," Eddie said and grinned. "I'm already planning a campaign. . .it's going to be so fucking chaotic. It's going to be here, too, so Doug's just going to have to stow his shit."

"What's the problem with Doug?" Robin asked.

"He hates me because I'm a jock," Steve said. "He won't step foot in here."

"Well, Doug's going to get his ass kicked if he doesn't turn that shit around," Robin said. "Did he learn nothing? Don't hate people because of their interests! Hate them because they're assholes!"

"Ah, he'll come around, I did!" Eddie beamed, and he nuzzled Steve's knee with his cheek, looking up at him with his warm brown eyes.

"Hell, if Jonathan can come around then I believe in Doug," Steve said.

"If Doug could hear you right now. . .," Nancy said.

"He'd be a piece of melted butter like I am," Eddie sighed.

"Seriously, what's going on with you three?" Robin asked, and they just smiled.

The summer had been hotter than usual, and it seemed to last longer than last year. At least, it felt that way to Nancy. Maybe she was just eager to hear from the other colleges. Now that Eddie was able to drag himself outside, the trio spent a lot of time in the pool and a lot of time beside it. He seemed to be doing better with his nightmares, especially after talking with Nancy and Steve. Of course, that had to change when the worst storm of the summer hit Hawkins. Lightning flashed in the sky, and thunder shook the house while rain came pouring down outside. Eddie pouted, staring longingly at the pool, his nose pressed up against the glass door.

"The water is calling to me, Steve," Eddie pouted. "It knows that in order for me to be completely better, I need to swim. It's the sky that's against me."

"Yeah, the sky has it out for you," Steve scoffed. "Come on, we can sit down and watch television. Don't be so dramatic."

"You and Nancy love it when I'm dramatic," Eddie pointed out. "Ooh, I feel a rant coming on."

"Seriously! That's even better," Steve said and dragged him into the living room. "Nance! Forget about Magnum PI, Eddie feels a rant coming on!"

"Oh! I'll go make popcorn. Eddie, hold that thought!" Nancy exclaimed.

Nancy rushed back into the room with a bowl of popcorn and bottles of water tucked under her arm. She handed water to Steve and then curled up next to him. She waved at Eddie to start. They loved it when he ranted. It was one of their favorite past times. Lately, they've started coming up with topics to throw at him, but not tonight, Eddie actually had a topic in mind.

"Okay, so I was thinking about my mom the other day and how she left Tennessee because she fell in love with my dad. I mean, I think she would have stayed if her family hadn't been such complete assholes. How different would my life have been? I wouldn't be right here! They found out she had sex before marriage, and they kicked her out?! This is the same family who wanted her to get married so she could have sex and give them grand babies. So, she skipped the marriage part? What's the difference? Why does it fucking matter? It's because sex is disgusting, it's a tool to create more humans, and you shouldn't get any enjoyment out of it, especially women! According to them, anyway. Why the fuck shouldn't women enjoy sex if they wanted to, you know? It's fucking gross, let a woman have sex if she wants to and if she doesn't want to than that's great, too! It's like society wants women to have sex and also be ashamed of it, too! You know what? Fuck society! I just keep thinking about my mom. . .pregnant at 19 and looking at the only family she had. . .my father. Boy, she was disappointed. Women deserve to be treated like the queens that they are! Nothing should hold them back from doing whatever the fuck they wanted to!" Eddie yelled. "Or whoever the fuck they wanted to."

Nancy and Steve watched as he climbed onto the coffee table, continuing to rant.

"God, he's so sexy when he rants," Nancy whispered.

"Yeah, he is," Steve replied.

BOOM! A loud clap of thunder sounded from outside, startling Eddie right off the table and into their arms. The lights flickered for a moment, and they all held their breath before they went put completely. Eddie clung to Nancy, burying his face into her neck.

"Well, now, what?" Eddie asked.

"Strip poker," Nancy blurted out.

Steve and Eddie turned to look at her. They grinned. Nancy beamed. It had gotten Eddie to smile.

"If you wanted to see us naked, Wheeler, all you had to do was ask," Eddie said.

"Do you want to play or not?" Nancy asked.

"This was a terrible idea," Eddie said, a little later.

He threw down his cards and crossed his arms.

"Well, I don't know why you made the last thing you take off your socks," Steve said.

"My feet get cold, Steve," Eddie said.

Nancy, Steve, and Eddie were sitting around his kitchen table. Steve was completely naked. Eddie was only wearing his socks, and the only thing that Nancy had managed to lose was her shirt. She was pretty sure that Steve had lost on purpose. Nancy smirked and pooled her winnings.

"Oh. This is a great shirt, Eddie," Nancy said.

"That's my favorite Metallica shirt, Nance," Eddie whined. "Can I have it back?"

"Hm, I should try it on first before I decide," Nancy said thoughtfully.

She unhooked her bra and dropped it on the floor. She smirked when Eddie let out a loud yelp. She slipped on the shirt.

"I've decided," Eddie said, staring at her. "I like it better on you."

"You're evil, Nancy Wheeler," Steve laughed and she giggled.

"She definitely knows exactly what she's doing," Eddie said. "And I love it."

Suddenly, the lights flickered back on, and Eddie let out a holler. He rushed into the living room and started blasting Metallica.

"He forgot to put his clothes back on," Steve said.

"Did he forget or did he choose not to?" Nancy asked in amusement.

"I'm glad he's feeling better," he said.

"Me too."

While the storm had stopped for a while, it came back that night when they had all gone to bed. Nancy was spooning Steve as the storm raged on outside.

"I don't think I can get to sleep," Steve said.

"Me neither, want to have sex?" she asked.

Steve turned around in Nancy's arms and leaned in to kiss her when they heard a whimper from outside the door. They pulled away from each other.

"Eddie?" Nancy asked.

Eddie timidly peaked his head through the crack in the door, his hands over his eyes.

"We played strip poker earlier and he's covering his eyes," Steve said.

"It's for my benefit, I don't what to know what you do to each other. I wouldn't be able to get it out of my head," Eddie said.

"Well, we weren't having sex yet, so you're good," Steve said.

"Yet? Shit, I'll go," Eddie said, dropping his hand.

"No, Eddie, what's wrong?" Nancy asked.

"Well, I can't sleep, the lightning and the thunder are reminding me of the Upside Down and I . . . ," Eddie trailed off. "Can I sleep with you guys?"

Nancy smiled and looked at Steve, who nodded. Eddie crawled in between them, slipping underneath the covers. He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling before turning over on his side and facing Nancy. She leaned on her elbow, looking at him. She stroked his cheek with her free hand.

"You want to tell us what else is bothering you?" Nancy asked.

Eddie sighed happily as Steve rubbed his back.

"No, I just want to stop thinking about it all for once," he said.

"You need a distraction?" Steve asked, his lips close to his ear.

"A really good one," he sighed.

Nancy leaned over Eddie and kissed him, her hair tickling his face. She felt Steve shift and attach his lips to Eddie's neck. Eddie gripped Nancy's waist, his hands slipping underneath the Metallica shirt that she was still wearing.

"Fuuuuck."

Things got even better after that, and suddenly, the three of them barely wanted to leave Steve's bedroom. Nancy really took control of the situation. There wasn't a single drop of shame in her entire body. . .there wasn't anything to feel guilty about. She loved every minute of it. She loved every touch, every kiss, and she loved being with both of them. She loved watching them together even more. What's even better was the cuddling naked afterward, and they let down more of their walls. . .it was all so intimate. The idea of being this intimate used to scare the shit out of Nancy, and it used to make her want to run away, and on several occasions, she did run away. She wasn't going to let fear stand in her way anymore.

"Did I ask you if I could host Hellfire here?" Eddie frowned.

He was sitting in between Steve's legs on the floor of the living room, his back against his chest as he scribbled in his notebook.

"No, you did not, but I don't mind," Steve said. "I plan on baking for it, anyway, I hope you don't mind."

"Are you going to make your brownies?" Eddie asked. "Please say yes, please say yes."

"Yeah, Eddie, I'm going to make my brownies," he laughed.

"Hell yeah!" Eddie said.

"I love seeing you so happy," Steve said.

He pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek before ducking his head down and going for his neck. It was his favorite spot, Nancy noticed. She was sitting across from them, scribbling in her own notebook.

"I'm going to try my hardest to get off of work in time," Nancy said. "I don't want to miss a thing."

"Thanks, baby," Eddie grinned. "And Steve, I cannot finish with you doing that."

"Oh, am I doing it wrong?" Steve asked.

"You never do it wrong, but I need to finish this up for tomorrow," Eddie said. "And once I'm finished, you have my full attention, big boy."

"So, tomorrow? Are you ready for that? It'd be the first time the kids have seen you since you were on your deathbed," Nancy said.

"Oh, I'm ready, I'm just wondering if the kids are," Eddie said and rubbed the scar on his cheek.

Steve moved his head to the other side and kissed his scarred cheek.

"You're beautiful," Steve said. "And the kids love you. You're not going to scare them off."

"Fuck it," Eddie said, tossing his notebook aside.

He turned around in Steve's arms, kissing him.

"I can finish this article later," Nancy said and locked her eyes on them.

The next day, Nancy rushed into Steve’s house, peeling off her vest. She found Eddie watching Steve bake in the kitchen.

"It hasn't started yet?" Nancy asked.

"Nope, you're just in time, sweetheart," Eddie said.

"Good," Nancy said as Steve slid the brownies into the oven. "I have a surprise for you, Eddie."

"Ooh, I love surprises!" Eddie grinned.

Nancy moved back towards the front door.

"Alright! You guys can bring it in!" Nancy called out and then moved back to Eddie. "Dining room."

Eddie moved out of the kitchen with Steve and Nancy. Argyle and Jonathan came through the hallway carrying a chair.

"My throne!" Eddie exclaimed.

They followed them into the dining room, which was also the living room, and watched them set it up at the head of the table.

"They helped me break into the school to steal it," Nancy said.

"You broke into the school for me?" Eddie asked, clutching his chest.

"Well, not just for you, I think Nancy would find any excuse to break in anywhere," Steve joked.

"Our beautiful thief," Eddie beamed.

"Also. . .," Nancy said, ignoring them, and grabbed her bag.

"Ooh! More stuff!"

She pulled out a 2 liter of Mountain Dew and a silver goblet.

"I thought to grab the chair, but it was Steve who thought to bring you this," Nancy said. "We know that it's been a drag for you not to be able to leave the house just quite yet, so we wanted to do something to cheer you up."

"This is the most romantic thing that anyone's ever done for me," Eddie whispered.

He cupped Nancy's face and kissed her deeply before doing the same with Steve.

"Oh, wow, he really appreciated it," Jonathan said.

"Oh, man, I like you, Eddie, but I don't want you to kiss me," Argyle said. "I'm seeing someone."

"He's our boyfriend," Nancy laughed.

"Boyfriend?!" Eddie exclaimed. "You really want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, we were going to talk about it after the game," Steve said. "Now is a good time as any."

"This day keeps getting better and better," Eddie said, pulling them into a hug. "You won't regret this. . .well, only a little bit. . .okay, so, maybe a lot, but I'm going to make it worth it, I swear."

Eddie pulled away, his arms around the both of them.

"I'm glad you're happy, Nance," Jonathan said.

"Yeah, I'm very happy," Nancy said, scratching Eddie's stomach. "I'm glad you're happy, too."

"Yeah," Jonathan said, looking at Argyle.

"You guys staying for Hellfire?" Eddie asked. "The kids were wanting pizza, so Steve will be ordering that, but he also made his famous brownies."

"That sounds like fun," Jonathan said.

"One thing, though, can I make the pizza?" Argyle asked.

"You're going to want him to," Jonathan grinned.

"Hell yeah," Eddie grinned.

While Steve helped Argyle in the kitchen, Nancy and Jonathan helped Eddie set up in the dining room. It wasn't long before the kids showed up, driven by the parents. That had been the agreement to let them come over. The parents would drop them off and pick them up. They came rumbling into Steve’s house like a wild stampede.

"Hey! Slow down!" Steve yelled.

"Eddie!" Dustin, Mike, and Lucas yelled before barreling into him.

"Hey, you little shitheads, careful! He's not a 100% yet, I don't want you assholes undoing all of mine and Nancy's hard work," Steve said.

"Bless him, he's so protective," Eddie said. "And I'm fine."

"Nancy's been helping out?" Dustin asked.

"And she's been absolutely lovely," Eddie asked, giving her a one-armed hug and kissing her forehead. "Couldn't have gotten through this without her or Steve. Well, I suppose I could have but I wouldn't have wanted to."

"See? I told you he was awesome," Mike said.

"I never doubted you, Michael," Nancy replied, rolling her eyes.

"Don't call me Michael, Nancy Eloise!" Mike replied.

"Don't call me Nancy Eloise, Michael!" She yelled.

"Delightful," Eddie grinned.

A few minutes later, Jeff, Gareth, and Doug showed up. Although Doug looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. When Steve asked Gareth about his arm, Doug let out a snort of derision. Gareth elbowed him in the stomach.

"Yeah, Doug hasn't really forgiven me for siding with Jason," Lucas told Nancy.

"Yeah, but you came to your senses and helped Eddie," Nancy frowned.

"It doesn't matter to him," Lucas said sadly.

"I'll be keeping an eye on him. Don't worry about him. You apologized and made up for it. If he can't accept it, that's on him," Nancy said, squeezing his shoulders. "You have a good heart, Lucas."

"Thanks, Nance," Lucas said and snorted. "I told Max, and she's threatened to run Doug over with her wheelchair."

"How is that going?" Nancy asked.

"Good, better than ever. Her mom is doing better, too. Right now, her mom and El are helping her with her physical therapy," Lucas said and paused. "Hold on, do I smell Steve’s brownies?"

"Yes," she giggled.

"Hell yeah!"

Robin and Vickie, who also drove Robin here, were the last ones to arrive. Finally, the party could start. The feast was first, with Eddie at the head of the table. Nancy sat to his right, and Steve sat to his left. Doug, of course, sat as far away from Steve and Lucas as possible. When it came time to partake of Steve's brownies, Doug turned his nose up at it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he poisoned it," Doug said. "All the nerds are here. It would be the perfect opportunity."

He closed his mouth and took the brownie when no one laughed at his poor 'joke.' Nancy and Eddie narrowed their eyes at Doug. That was his first strike. They all decided to enjoy their brownies and hoped that Doug wouldn't put his foot in his mouth again. It seemed to be going well. They cleared the table after desert and set up the game for the people who were playing. The ones who weren't playing walked across the room to the living area. It was a huge open concept with the living room on the other side. They easily turned the couch around to face the dining table so they could see and hear everything that was going on. Steve collapsed on the couch with Nancy.

"Oh, is Steve Harrington too good to play with us or just too stupid to handle the math?" Doug said.

Nancy and Eddie glared at him again. She could feel Steve tense underneath her and she could have sworn she heard Robin growl beside her. Strike two.

"Hey!" Eddie snapped. "I don't want to hear that kind of shit from you again, Douglas."

"What the fuck is your problem, anyway?" Jeff asked. "You know that math isn't my strong suit, either."

"Sorry, man," Doug muttered. "I told you guys that I didn't want to be here. I'm only doing this because I didn't get to visit Eddie."

"Then fucking leave, man, I don't want someone around who doesn't really want to be here," Eddie growled. "And you not coming to see me is your own doing."

"I haven't played with you guys in a while, so I'm going to play," Doug said.

"Well, how about you be a little nicer to the guy who's invited you into his home?" Eddie asked.

"Fine," Doug said.

"Good."

"If it bothers him so much, I can go upstairs," Steve muttered.

"This is your home, Steve. If he says shit again, we're kicking him out," Nancy said. "He needs a reality check."

She leaned further into him, throwing her legs over his and kissing him. She stroked the back of his neck, running her fingers gently through his hair. They smiled as they watched Eddie switch into the role of dungeon master.

"He's just as sexy when he dms," Steve said, and Nancy hummed in agreement.

It was almost smooth sailing, and Eddie was an absoute rockstar with the way he weaved the story. Honestly, Nancy and Steve couldn't wait until Eddie started to play with Corroded Coffin again. It was nice to see Mike, Dustin, Will, and Lucas play together again. It was nice to see Will get to know Eddie as a dungeon master. Of course, it was going great until Eddie introduced a character that sounded a lot like Steve. Doug snapped.

"Oh, come on, did Harrington brainwash you?" Doug asked.

"Douglas!" Eddie shrieked.

"No, seriously? What is everyone's deal with suddenly being okay with Harrington and being okay with Sinclair, who betrayed us? Why is everyone okay with hanging around with someone like him who hurt us?" Doug asked. "Did everyone forget about what they did to us? What they did to Gareth?"

"I certainly didn't, asshole, and I'm more than okay with them," Gareth scowled. "Because they're not the assholes who hurt us."

"Come on, Eddie, you used to make fun of jocks and everyone else who hated us," Doug said.

She was about to intervene when Eddie slammed his hands on the table and stood up.

"Because not every hates us, we make the assumption that everyone does because a few people do! Yeah, I used to think like that, but I grew out of it. . .I realized that Steve Harrington was different from all those other meatheads who couldn't shake the fact that we're different, so that must mean we're wrong. Steve saved my life. He brought me into his home when he didn't have to, and he nursed me back to health along with Nancy Wheeler. They sacrificed so much for me even when I didn't deserve it. I was such an idiot, I screwed up the plan, but Steve picked me up and carried me all the way to the hospital. Nancy sacrificed her career to find the truth for me, for her friend, and for everyone in this goddamn town. I'm not brainwashed! I'm in love!" Eddie shrieked.

While everyone was all distracted, Robin got up and walked around the table, right behind Doug. She pulled the picture frame off the wall and went to raise it over Doug's head, Doug none the wiser. Vickie quickly ran to her girlfriend and took the frame away from her, putting it back on the wall. Robin pouted as she guided her back to her seat.

"What?" Doug asked.

"I am madly, deeply in love with Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them. You're just like all the assholes who make the assumptions that because we listen to heavy metal, we're satantists! I won't have you talk shit about Steve anymore! I'm crazy about him, about Nancy, and I would do anything for them. I would bear their children if they fucking wanted me too!" Eddie yelled.

"Uh, Eddie, you're a man, you can't get pregnant," Dustin timidly pointed out.

"Don't rain on my parade, Henderson!" Eddie shrieked. "Listen, Doug, I think it's time for you to leave."

"What about the game?" He asked.

"I'll decide whether to let you back into Hellfire and Corroded Coffin when you decide to let go of your disgusting views," Eddie sneered. "We can keep playing without you."

"Fine," he muttered, and he pushed his chair back.

"And you know what's the worst thing about all of this?" Eddie asked Doug. "While you had no faith in Steve, Steve had all the faith in you that you'd come around."

Doug's face softened as he looked guilty. He sighed sadly before walking out of the house. Eddie sighed and sat back in his chair. Steve moved over to him.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"Am I okay? Are you okay, sweetheart?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, more than okay, no one's ever defended my honor before," Steve said, blushing.

"You deserve it," Eddie said and pulled Steve into his lap.

"So, all three of you?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah," Eddie said.

"Cool!" Dustin beamed and everyone else muttered their agreements.

"So," Nancy said, leaning on his shoulder. "You're in love with us, huh?"

"Yeah," Eddie grinned.

Nancy looked at Eddie then to Steve, who smiled at her, his hazel eyes twinkling.

"We're in love with you, too," Nancy said.

Eddie kissed Nancy before doing the same with Steve.

"Are we going to ignore the fact that Eddie wants them to get him pregnant?" Mike asked.

"Well, it's not like we haven't tried," Nancy smirked.

"Ugh, GROSS, Nancy," Mike scowled. "We just ate."

"Ignore him," Nancy said. "I'm sorry about Doug, Eddie."

"I still think he'll come around," Steve said.

"Well, if Steve has faith in Douglas, then I do, too," Eddie grinned.

"I know what will cheer you up," Nancy smiled. "I got into college."

"Holy shit! Why the fuck didn't you lead with that earlier?" Eddie asked. "That's great!"

"It really is," Steve agreed.

"It's a lot further than I had hoped, but it's a good school with a good journalism program," Nancy said.

"We'll make it work," Steve said. "You deserve this."

"Hell yeah," Eddie said. "You worked your ass off for this, and you never gave up. You more than earned this. We won't give up either."

"I love you," Nancy said and kissed them both.

"Alright, anymore drama?" Dustin asked. "Or are we going to play?"

Eddie scowled and threw a piece of paper at him. He patted Steve’s ass.

"All right, let's play," Eddie said.

"You can't dm with Steve in your lap, Eddie," Mike said.

"I've done a lot of things with Steve in my lap. You have no idea what I'm capable of, Michael," Eddie said.

"Don't call me Michael! And GROSS!"

Nancy laughed as she sat back on the couch with Robin and Vickie. She watched her beautiful men, her eyes twinkling with joy. The three of them still had a lot of healing to do, but Nancy knew they'd get there together.

[dreamwatch]

Echoes and Silence, Patience and Grace

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest

Day #4 - Prompt: Eddie | Word Count: 997 | Rating: T | CW: mention of abusive parent, mention of death of a parent, language | POV: Eddie | Tags: Angst with a happy ending, rock star Eddie Munson, Introspective Eddie Munson, character study | AO3

****

It’s an odd thing, to be moulded by hate. To know that the person you are now has been shaped by anger where most are shaped by love.

He doesn’t think about it a lot, dwelling on old hurts does no one any good according to Uncle Wayne, but it hits him like a sudden gust of wind the moment he passes the Welcome To Hawkins sign. 

He does this once a year if he can, though sometimes less if he’s touring. When he first started coming back, Wayne was still here in that shitty trailer the government gave him to replace the other shitty trailer they destroyed. They were blink and you’ll miss him visits, in at the ass crack of dawn to have breakfast with his uncle, then a quick drive through town before getting the fuck out. People still looked at him like shit. Resentment and hatred, squeezing him, making him all hard edges and sharp words, compressing him until he had to leave. Steve says it made a diamond out of him. But Steve’s a romantic fucker so it doesn’t count.

The hate was there long before poor Chrissy Cunningham died in his trailer. It’s not hard to pinpoint the moment everything changed. His mother’s death was like a finger snap; his life has been a collection of before and afters, but this was the first. A happy family broken down to a sad man who couldn’t care for his child, and a little boy who had to grieve for both of his parents, the living and the dead.

His mother worked in Melvalds until a few months before she died. Joyce Byers got the job she left behind. Maybe that’s why she turned a blind eye to him stealing when he was a kid. Melvalds is gone now, a deli touting organic produce in it’s place. He takes a picture on his phone to send back to Steve so they can laugh about it later. Steve doesn’t come with him on these trips; they’re not out and the less they’re seen together in certain places the better. Though they’ve been talking about it lately, since Halford came out. Maybe one day.

He doesn’t really know why he keeps coming back. It feels more like duty at this point. He doesn’t really remember his mother anymore. Just the memory of the memory, the idea of her. 

He swings his rental car past the high school, the bane of his existence for six fucking years, and all for nought. There are happy memories here, though they’re few and far between. Nights playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends, preaching his sermons from the dining room tables. An awkward audition that changed his life forever. 

Maybe he comes back to try and remind himself of the time before the hate. Before life became painful in an ever increasing number of ways. Before his mother left him in the care of a man that became an abusive bully. (He doesn’t see it as abuse, never really has. Just his dad being his dad and Eddie being Eddie and the two of them rubbing each other the wrong way. But he had a therapist for a while in LA when things were going to shit and they kept calling it abuse, and well, it stuck. He’s a whole new man.)

Then there was that last day of his academic career, a meeting with Chrissy Cunningham that upended his life and nearly killed him. And that was difficult in so many ways, but maybe the hardest was the hatred, the sheer overwhelming amount of it coming from everywhere. From the people of Hawkins, from Chrissy and Jason’s friends, from the police who never really did buy the stories. That was the hate on the outside.

But then there was the hate on the inside. The black hole of self-loathing for being such a fucking loser that he was dealing drugs to kids, despising himself for spending three years of his life as a high school senior, and even then never graduating; he should have been long gone way before Vecna got his claws into Chrissy.

And then, and god help him for this, the hate for Chrissy.

Because as much as he was ashamed of it, he did hate her for a while; it was her fault, right? She came to him, she dragged him into this. If she had never put that note in his locker it would never have happened. He’d have scraped his passing grade and got the fuck out of Hawkins. 

He’s long past that now, though.

He picks up flowers from the little shop on Main Street. The owner knows him now, she arrranges flowers over the phone when he can’t be there, even takes them out to the cemetery for him. Perks of being a rock star.

No one bothers him when he’s here. The odd person side eyes him but probably because they don’t recognise him. Small towns and their strangers, a hate hate relationship. He’s been spotted a few times over the years, the odd photograph and a signature. Something he’s usually okay with, but not here. But it’s not worth the blow up so he smiles, and chats and signs, and then he gets back to his business. 

He stops at Chrissy’s grave first, places the bouquet, says sorry, though he’s never been sure what he’s sorry for, and then he heads up the hill to his mom. He spends more time with her, though he doesn’t talk anymore. He’s in his forties now. He wonders what she would look like, would she be proud of him, but he doesn’t say it out loud anymore. There’s no point.

As he heads out of the cemetery he turns his phone back on; messages from Wayne and Steve start to come through. Checking if he’s okay. Loving him.

So yeah, he was moulded by hate, but you can break moulds, right? 

[thestrangestthing89]

Part 1

Part 2:

To me, the thing that gives away that something happened with Will and Mike when they were younger is in the way that Jonathan is also treated by Lonnie and the rest of the town. We see Jonathan getting bullied at school by Steve and his friends in S1. He gets called the f word. We know Jonathan isn't gay so these comments are likely just based off of those kids being assholes. They think Jonathan is weird so they call him something mean. But they probably don't even really believe what they are saying. They are just trying to be mean. Will has a lot of the same personality traits as Jonathan - he's quiet and sensitive. So him also getting bullied at school for this makes sense. However, I don't think it's enough evidence for people to actually believe that it's true when they are saying it. The whole town thought Will was gay and that that was the reason why he was killed. They don't talk about Jonathan like this - It's only Steve and his popular friends. Lonnie also doesn't call Jonathan the f word. In fact, when Will's fake body is found he's all about moving back into the house so they can be a "real family" again. In his mind, Will was the problem.

Lonnie has a lot of problems with toxic masculinity that are displayed with both Will and Jonathan. He makes them both go hunting to toughen them up. He also tries to get Will to go to baseball games to get him to like "normal" things. It's unclear if he also did this with Jonathan. It's likely he did up until Jonathan got old enough and started to refuse. But Lonnie doesn't have a problem with Jonathan even though he is also quiet and sensitive. In fact, Lonnie seems to try to get Jonathan on his side when Jonathan goes looking for Will at his house. Jonathan doesn't get called the f word by Lonnie. Only Will.

The time period matters here. People didn't ever discuss being gay especially in a small, conservative town. It would not have ever been mentioned. Kids at school saying slurs probably don't even really know what they are saying (especially the middle schoolers). They just know that it's insulting so they call the kids who they think are weird those insults. It doesn't mean they actually believe it, they are just trying to be mean. But Will is different. Everyone knows this kid is gay. They believe it. It's not simply that he was different or quiet or sensitive. But the thing to me that says the most is that Mike and Will's parents know it. Joyce knew it was important enough to mention it to Hopper when she reported Will as missing. Karen tries to talk to Mike about his feelings when Will is missing and it's a conversation that is very coded. She doesn't want him to hide anything from her. She wants him to trust her with his feelings. Ted makes a lot of passive aggressive comments about Mike being gay throughout the series - "you see what happens Michael", "our son with a girl". All of these conversations came from something and weren't just because Mike and Will were a little weird and nerdy. They were close. People are sure of this in a way they aren't when they are saying slurs off-handedly to Jonathan.

Mike is also very desperate to have people view him as normal. It's what accounts for a lot of his behavior in S3. He's scared. In order for him to know to be scared people would have had to have said something to him. He changes his behavior to be what people like and part of that includes avoiding Will. This isn't just about him being bullied for being a nerd. That's the story that's on the surface. There is more to it than that.

This in no way takes away from either character arch or the LGBTQ story. Both of them being bullied by their entire town since they were little kids is very realistic especially for the time period. And Mike trying to adapt and change his behavior to fit in because he was bullied for this makes sense. This wasn't simply about them being nerds. The show is never what it seems like on the surface.

Edit: I ended up adding another part to this because the more I think about it the more it makes sense.

[foreverautumn89]

I know!!! Who should Jonathan apologize to next? LONNIE? or Vecna?

@miwiromantics

No I'm not saying Steve is like Lonnie or Vecna at all just to be clear, but I'm saying thats how absurd it is for the fans to suggest it. It's that level of insanity to me that they think Jonathan should be the one to apologize for STANDING UP FOR HIS FAMILY AND HIMSELF. He isn't the one who did something wrong Steve did something really wrong, but apparently Steve has nothing to apologize for/never has done a thing wrong in his life according to them. we know how this fanbase works and know their logic: Steve is hot. Jonathan is gross. Steve is always justified in all he does. Jonathan is a monster. '#hope J dies s5 fingers crossed'.' You know the usual...

Yes I have seen alot of people saying that Jonathan should apologize to Steve for what happened during the fist fight yes. Let's zero in on that shall we?

Jonathan should apologize to Steve for punching him repeatedly AFTER:

-Steve bullying torturing and humiliating him for years

-publicly humiliating and torturing Jonathan multiple times while Jonathan was going through hell and just lost his little brother/the only person Jonathan really had

-Steve once again humiliating and hurting Jonathan this time around for doing absolutely wrong// for the high crime of Jonathan saving Steve's gf from certain death and comforting her like her friend afterwards and Steve not able to act like an adult and ask them what was going on LIKE A FCKING ADULT instead of flying off the handle and throwing a hissy fit temper tantrum that his girlfriend sat next to someone else ::GASP::

BUT HERES THE BIG ONE THE BIG THING ABOUT IT JUST SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING THE FIST FIGHT SCENE ITSELF::

So they're saying that: Jonathan should apologize for punching Steve after

-Steve said that he was a queer/insulting gay ppl when the whole town knows Jonathan's little brother is gay Troy brought it up about 12 mil times the town knows]

Steve said Jonathan was like Jonathan's abusive father that just used Will's death as a paycheck

Steve insulted Joyce [Jonathan's mentally ill mother], that btw just lost her child and was also going through hell and suffering and Steve decided to verbally beat up on her too

and finally Jonathan should apologize to Steve who insulted Jonathan's DEAD BABY BROTHER himself, called said brother a screw up and basically said that its Wills own fault that he died

SO yeah I completely agree with the fans that Jonathan owes Steve a big apology and Steve has absolutely nothing to apologize for 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

That's another thing: They keep claiming oh Jonathan deserved it because of this or that. Ok what did Will and Joyce do to deserve Steve's cruelty?

And this is once again why I laugh at the people who claim Steve never did anything wrong. I'm not surprised you ppl are the type of trash that would find nothing wrong with someone doing that to another person especially who just lost their little brother who was the only person he had btw and Jonathan didn't even do anything wrong to deserve the fist fight with Steve. He was being punished for saving Nancy's life. What kind of psycho takes Steve's side in that situation? [To be clear I'm saying the ppl who said Jonathan was worse than Vecna/deserved to be abused by Lonnie are trash not all st fans in general]

[ lets also remember that Jonathan did apologize in a way/show he was sorry-actions speak louder than words he saved Steve's life like how many times that night-he told Steve to go in the 1st place trying to save him before the thing showed up, then he actually saved him, then he saved Steve again from getting caught in the trap himself and attacked by the demogorgon that way.]]