#karen wheeler came to say you look pretty

[heartsgettingwiser62]

Ok so I think I may be losing my mind over some plastic wrap lmao

But PLEASE look at this and tell me I'm not crazy and this is actually weird:

Karen I'm begging you to explain to me why the fuck do you have 2 plastic wrap packages from different brands UPSIDE DOWN in your kitchen cabinet. PLS.

Is it just me?? Is this completely normal and I'm losing my mind over nothing??? I mean probably but WHY ARE THEY THE ONLY THING THAT'S UPSIDE DOWN AND PLUS THEY'RE COMPLETELY LEGIBLE

So since I've spent the last 3 hours looking at fucking plastic wrap let me share some thoughts:

First of all, to structure this mess in some way, let's look at the dates. First, at the Reynolds Wrap invention date. Bc PLS LOOK AT THIS

Oh. Looks like it was created in 1947. Do you guys wanna know who was also born in 1947??

I. Uh. What the fuck. WHAT THE FUCK.

"It could be a coincidence" Dude I KNOW I'm just doing this bc I've spent hours researching about plastic wrap and I NEED to tell someone ok y'all are my therapists ksjdalkj

Now the Glad Wrap was founded in 1963, and some pages say that Kali was born in 1963, others in 1964, and others that in s2 she's 16/17 so there's no way she was born back then; so idk about this date.

Now let's go with the ads, starting with Glad Wrap bc it's by far the most interesting one.

I've seen multiple commercials but none of them seemed to have anything meaningful EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE WHICH IS MAKING ME ABSOLUTELY LOSE MY MIND:

Am I crazy. Do I seriously need to sleep. Or does that look an awful lot like Karen Wheeler??? Especially here in s4????

I mean, the hairstyle and the blond hair, but much more importantly, the outfit.

Like?????? I mean I get that it's 80's white wealthy woman fashion, fine, but that's a whole load of coincidences???

Now for the rest of the ad, the plastic wrap thingy that attacks the woman is pretty interesting, as well as the clock in the background for Vecna reasons. Regarding similarities with the Wheeler's kitchen, I could only catch due to the low quality the bowl with apples and the phone on the wall (you can't see it on the screenshot but there's a phone behind Mike). I couldn't really find anything about the strawberries, but if y'all know something pls tell me

As a bonus, the ad is from 1987, which as far as I know is when everyone guesses s5 is gonna take place in

Now there's no much to see in the Reynolds Wrap ads, except maybe this one:

(Ignore the yt bar lmao) Although not as much as the previous one, the woman's outfit in that frame does remind me of this Karen s4 look, the same look she has on that scene the damn plastic wrap came from.

Ik this is all probably meaningless, buuuut do you guys want more meaningless shit??

Let's go back to the Glad Wrap ad. The slogan for that specific ad is "Don't get mad. Get glad." Welp, Vecna's a fan of this last word bc out of 9 times it's said in s5, 4 are said by him.

Let's take a quick look at the most interesting time he says that word. We're in Vecna's monologue in chp 7, and in the same scene just some minutes before, he says this:

"I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized, I didn't have to."

Let's remember the slogan: "Don't get mad. Get glad."

Then, a couple minutes later, in the same scene:

"And soon, others were born. You were born. And I am so glad you were, Eleven. So very glad."

Now literally two seconds before this last line, this shot was happening:

And. Um. Do you. Do you guys know what's used for tattoos. Um.

Plastic wrap???

Do y'all get why I said I've a hundred percent lost my mind sjdfisdjfil

Ok so. That was it. Anyways I couldn't find anything else important about the rest of items in the kitchen shelve. If y'all have a better explanation as to WHY TF are those plastic wrap packages upside down and perfectly legible, PLS TELL ME. This said, goodbye

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

5 times Steph and Eddie refer to each other as husband and wife +1 time they make it official

Part 1 (also on ao3 here)

...............................................

Stevie probably should have shut this all down weeks ago.

The kids have been calling her mom since before she even came out to them, so she’s admittedly kind of given up on stopping that one. The problem is now they’ve gotten Eddie in on it.

Well, Eddie’s not calling her mom. If he started doing that, she thinks she’d no longer be fit for public. She’d have to crawl in a hole and never come out, like how old cats sometimes wander away to die alone, except she’d be dying not of old age but of the mortification of an unrequited crush. So luckily, that isn’t happening.

But now, as she arrives at the Wheelers’ house to pick up the kids after a D&D session, she’s forced to confront the fact that Eddie calling her mom is not apparently the worst thing that could come of this whole thing.

It starts when she’s getting on Dustin’s case about leaving his shit all over the basement. These kids treat every space they’re in like they own it, but Stevie is very aware how hard Karen had to work to convince Ted to let Eddie host Hellfire here, and she’s not about to let that hard work go to waste just because the kids left the basement a bomb site.

Dustin rolls his eyes at her nagging, lets out a long-suffering sigh and a “Yes, mom,” and Stevie has barely finished giving him an obligatory sisterly noogie before things get out of hand.

“If Stevie’s our mom, does that make Eddie our dad?” Lucas says, casually, completely unaware that putting ‘Eddie’ and ‘dad’ in the same sentence has just completely broken Stevie’s brain.

Eddie, though. Eddie smells blood in the water. He’s got that look on his face, that one Stevie usually loves, the one he always gets right before he commits to a bit with overdramatic vigour.

Sure enough, Eddie immediately prostrates himself over the couch, hand to his forehead, looking the picture of a lovelorn idiot. “Stevie,” he says, sounding genuinely heartbroken. “It’s just been so hard, raising our kids alone since the divorce.”

Stevie scoffs. “You’re raising our kids? You get them for a few hours once a week, pretty sure I’m the one shuttling their ungrateful asses to and from school every day.”

“Ungrateful?” Dustin splutters, as if he doesn’t show up at Stevie’s door at entirely random times of the day and demands she drive him to whatever nerd shit he’s got going on next.

“You’re right, that’s unfair,” she says, and then before anyone can get a word in: “You’re lovely, Will, always so polite. But the rest of you little shits. Ungrateful.”

Will smiles serenely as his friends immediately erupt into complaints, and Eddie ignores them all to prostrate himself at Stevie’s feet.

“I know I haven’t been around often, but baby, won’t you give me another chance?”

Stevie thinks she’d probably give Eddie anything he asked for, as long as he’s asking on his knees before her. It’s definitely a good look for him, and it’s only the clamour of the kids around her that keeps her face from going bright red.

She’s gotta play it cool here. Roll with the ridiculousness, always the best way to deal with Eddie, to keep him grinning at her like that, his whole face lit up like sunshine.

“Well…” she says, pretending to think it over, like she wouldn’t marry him in a heartbeat if he asked for real. That would be a bit much, given they’ve only known each other for a year and some change. “I suppose… although I’m not seeing a ring.”

Eddie grins like she’s fallen into some trap, and immediately slides the ring off his right hand- her favourite one with the big round stone in the middle that she likes to play with sometimes when they’re smoking together- and holds it up to her, a challenge in his eyes. Well. Only way out is through. She holds out her hand for him, the left one, and he slides the ring gently onto her ring finger. It fits perfectly.

“There you go,” he says, softly. His eyes are so warm, like pools of melted chocolate, and Stevie feels like she might drown in them. Her whole world has narrowed to the man on his knees before her- she’s distantly aware of the kids around them losing their minds (she’s pretty sure Mike is gagging, but that’s so far from her mind right now it might as well be happening on a different planet).

Eddie smiles up at her. “There’s my wife.”

“Your wife,” she whispers, unbearably fond. Stevie wants to hear him call her that for the rest of her life.

This really isn’t helping with her crush.

Sound filters in slowly, the world around them coming back in with the hushed whispers of the kids. Honestly, they’re quieter than she thought they’d be after this display, although the way Mike is rubbing his ribs suggests that this peace was hard won. They round the kids up pretty easily after that, with surprisingly little complaining as Stevie harangues them into cleaning up their shit. Eddie helps, occasionally glancing up at Stevie and looking quickly away with a fierce blush.

Later, after Stevie’s dropped off most of the kids and it’s only her and Will left in the car, riding home in silence as Stevie fiddles with the ring still on her finger, she tries not to read too much into everything that just happened. Will isn’t helping.

“So,” he says, in that sly, quiet way of his. “How long have you and Eddie been together?”

Stevie splutters. “That’s not- we’re not together. That was just- you know how Eddie is, he’s… theatrical.”

Will hums noncommittally. “He is. I don’t think that’s what that was, though. You like him, right?”

If this was any of the kids other than Will, Stevie thinks she’d deny it. God knows Dustin couldn’t be trusted with that information. But Will, quiet, sensitive Will- she thinks he’d get it.

“Yeah,” she says softly. “I really do. But it’s not- he doesn’t like me like that.”

She pulls up to the Byers’ house and parks the car in the drive. They both sit for a moment, basking in the silence. After a moment, Will suddenly leans over the gearshift, wrapping Stevie up in a weird, slightly uncomfortable hug. It feels nice.

“For what it’s worth,” he says as he pulls back and opens his door, “he looked really happy when he called you his wife. Even Eddie’s not that good of an actor.”

With that, he gently closes the car door behind him. Stevie watches as he runs up to his front door, and waves when Joyce comes out to greet him.

She drives most of the way home on autopilot, fiddling with the ring on her finger and thinking of Eddie’s face as he’d placed it on her hand. His gentle smile, his warm, chocolate eyes, full of something like love. His fingers had been rough with callouses as they’d brushed against hers, but still soft in a way that had nothing to do with his skin.

Maybe, she thinks, as she enters her quiet mausoleum of a house. Just maybe.

She goes to sleep that night, alone in her bed, with her last sight before unconsciousness being that of a gleaming ring on her left finger, and dreams of a husband who loves her.

[thisapplepielife]

Written for a @astrangersummer.

The Remnants

Week #11 Prompt: Sunglasses | Word Count: 898 | Rating: T | POV: Karen Wheeler | Characters: Karen, Steve Harrington | CW: Prior Major Character Death (Unspecified Member of The Party) | Tags: Future Fic, The Party, Unnamed Character Death, A Look at Grief, At Loss, Steve Harrington is Still Their Babysitter Person, The Kids Are Home For A Funeral

Inspired by the song Pink Skies by Zach Bryan.

The kids are in town for a funeral. 

Karen has been listening to them move around the basement, getting ready to go. She doesn't want to make them wait, not on her. Not today.

She's touching every surface in her kitchen, every counter, frantic. It doesn't make any sense. They were just here. She's sure of it.

She laid them out with her purse. She swore she did. 

She's yanking open drawers, then slamming them shut, over and over.

"Can I help you find something?"

It's Steve Harrington, standing at the edge of her kitchen.

She's not surprised to see him, because the kids don't want anything from anyone, except Steve Harrington, and she's had to stand back and accept that this isn't something she can fix.

She can't make a pot roast, and let them run wild on their bicycles. Not now.

If Steve can ease any of this for them, in any way, she'll be grateful. 

"My sunglasses," she says. They have to leave, and soon, but she can't go without them. 

Steve pulls his own sunglasses out of his shirt pocket, and hands them over, "Until yours turn up."

Karen takes them, isn't sure what else to do, and lets him lead her to one of the waiting black cars. He's not a kid, not anymore, none of them are, even if she'll always see them that way.

Even as they have to go to a funeral. 

After, Karen watches as Steve Harrington herds the remnants back through her house. All that's left of their little group. The Party. The fuss and fight gone out of them, now. The boys, and later, the girls, that trampled up and down her staircase, excited and loud, are now long grown. Men and women, somehow here in their places. 

They haven't all been gathered together, not all of them, not in years. Maybe not since Ted's funeral. 

Burying parents, that's the stage of life they've reached. It's a rite of passage that sneaks up on you, hard and fast, and often before you're ready. But it's the order of things, to be expected, even when it's a complete surprise.

But they shouldn't be burying each other. Not yet.

And now that they have, now that the seal is broken, they won't ever be whole again.

It's unfair. 

Now, they're silent as they walk past the doorway, and don't even look at the growth chart they all spent so much time and energy trying to be the tallest mark on. 

She listens to them go down the stairs, and maybe it's her imagination, or her failing hearing, but they still sound exactly the same as they did as kids. 

Now, though, the noise stops too soon. One pair of feet too few.

She leans in the doorway. Listens. Hand touching the carved-on piece of wood. The growth chart on the door frame started as Nancy, then Mike. By the time Holly came, all these other kids had scraped their own right alongside her kids. Cheating, standing on tiptoes, so desperate to grow taller than each other. 

The funeral was beautiful, but the kids are all pretty stoic. Like they didn't even notice. They aren't kids, not anymore. But they still feel like her kids, always will. All of them, and now one is missing. 

They've had a practice run at this at twelve-years-old, but then they got a do-over. They learned to believe in magic, to believe in the impossible being possible.

She knows that won't happen again. This time it's for real. One of them is really gone, dead and buried, and they don't know how to act.

She doesn't know how to act.

She's still supposed to be the adult here. The mom.

They'd spread their wings. Flew far, and wide, but always flocked home, together. 

She's pretty sure that won't happen again. They're cleaning the basement, clearing the drawers, mopping the floor. Steve's been up and down a dozen times, digging under the sink for cleaning supplies, then carrying up box after box, taking them out the front door, and she doesn't know where it's all going. 

Just that it's already gone.

The basement, their safe space, can't go on with one missing. Won't.

So, they're closing up shop. 

And she's having to watch from afar. Only getting kernels of secondhand knowledge from her daughter's ex-boyfriend. 

It's a strange life they've all lived.

But once they got past that, she thought they'd made it. That they'd all be fine. 

That she would eventually go first.

She wishes she could go back to the start. When Mike was so little, and just meeting Dustin, Lucas and Will for the first time. When they were just old enough to ride bikes down the driveway, and then later, out of sight. Not to be seen until the streetlights came on again.

Kids don't roam like that now. Her grandkids sure don't. Their parents, far too well aware of what can go bump in the night.

She listens.

It's quiet, too quiet, down there. 

She misses the sounds of screaming, tumbling dice and curse words they weren't supposed to be saying, but did anyway when they thought they could get away with it. 

She settles in her chair, and gets poked in the thigh. She reaches down, and her sunglasses aren't lost. 

Just broken. 

Just like everything else here today.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @astrangersummer and follow along with the fun!

[slut4megantheestallion]

"I think I'm falling in love."

Mike had a crush on you ever since you were new to Hawkins Highschool, he thought you were very pretty, your beautiful brown skin, your nose ring, and coily hair. Everything about you was perfect.

"How long are you going to stare at the new girl?" Dustin said, coming out of nowhere, startling Mike.

"What? I wasn't staring at her, I was looking at something else, and how long have you been behind me?" Mike said, questioning Dustin.

"Yeah.... right, We've been walking and talking to get to class and talking about D&D, but you weren't listening, and you started drifting off and starting to stare at the new girl." Dustin listening off.

"I wasn't staring at her." Mike said defensively know he was staring at the new girl.

"Sure." Dustin said, not believing Mike.

"Since your 'not' staring at her." Dustin emphasizes the word 'not', making Mike roll his eyes.

"Why don't you just talk to her or introduce yourself instead of staring at her." Dustin said.

Y/n was lost and confused about where her class was, already her first day and doesn't know what class she's in. " God, I hate school." Y/n muttered under her breath. Y/N says two guys talking to each other, so she walked over to them.

"Dude, she's walking over here. What do I do?" Mike said frantically.

"I don't know talk to her like a normal human being would, Look, I'm going to Math, you can stay here and talk to her." Dustin patted Mike on the back as he walked away from him.

"Hi, I'm new here, and I was wondering if you know where Mr. Wilson's class is?" Y/n asked Mike.

Mike looked at Y/n as his heart began to beat, 'She's very pretty up close,' Mike thought to himself.

"Oh, yeah, sure, it's actually upstairs, I can show you where it is." Mike said as he smiled nervously.

"Thank you, you're a life saver." Y/n smiles at Mike.

Y/n followed Mike as he led her the way to Mr. Wilson's Class.

"Thank you for leading me the way to my class. Sorry if I seemed like a bother." Y/n apologizes as she looks at Mike.

"It's no problem." Mike smiled.

"Hey, I never got your name, I probably should have asked you first before you led me the way to my class." Y/n softly chuckles, Mike loved your cute little chuckle his heart skipped at beat.

" It's Mike- Mike Wheeler." Mike introduced himself to Y/n.

" I'm Y/n L/n, I'm new. And I want to say thank you, and I hope i see you around." Y/n said as she smiled at Mike.

Y/n thought Mike was pretty cute and nervous he was talking to her.

"You too, well I'm of to class, bye Y/n." Mike nervously waved as he walked off.

Y/n fully adjusted to Hawkins Highschool, she joined cheerleading and was best friends with Chrissy, she also talks to Mike alot, she comes over to his house, Mike's mom loves Y/n, and his little sister and Nancy.

"Y/n, we love you in our home, Mike talks about you a lot." Karen said, smiling at Y/n, Y/n giggles looking back at Mike, who was embarrassed and nervous.

"OK, mom, Y/n and I are going upstairs before you can say anything embarrassing about me." Mike smiles nervously as he holds Y/n's hand, leading her to his room.

Y/n made it to Mike's room and kissed. I know this came out of the blue, but Mike and Y/n had been dating for 5 months.

Mike asked Y/n out after school. Mike saw Y/n smiling as she walked with her friends. She looked Flawless.

"Hey! Y/n." Mike called out as he grabbed Y/n's attention.

" I'll see you guys tomorrow." Y/n said to her friends as she walked over to Mike.

"Mike, you can do this.' Mike thought to himself.

" Hey, Mike. Do you need something?" Y/n asked as she looked at Y/n.

Her beautiful coily hair, her shiny brown eyes, and beautiful brown skin make her so beautiful in the sunlight as she's in her cheer outfit.

" I was wondering if you wanna go out with me, at the arcade." Mike said, looking back at Y/n.

"But, if you busy, I understand I can just ask you some other ti-." Mike was cut off as Y/n kisses Mike, Mike was shocked hewaa not expecting that, but he kissed her back as he held Y/n by her waist.

" I would love to." Y/n said, smiling at Mike, as she pecks him on the lips.

" Bye, Mike." Y/n walks off.

" Yes." Mike said smiling as he jumps in victory

That's when Mike started to fall in love with Y/n. They hanged out a lot, Y/n is always at his D&D games, and she's besties with Dustin.

Y/n and Mike made out in his bed as they passionately kissed each other. " I love you." Mike said as he looked at Y/n with so much love for her. Y/n wanted him to say those words when they started dating. " I love you, too." Y/n smiles as he kisses him.

Mike cups Y/n's face as they both rested their heads against each other as they hold hands.

Mike Wheeler was madly in love with Y/N, and Y/n was madly in love with Mike Wheeler.

(Sry if this was short) :(

[onstrangerthighs]

The Ugly Truth

Despite wishing her mother good night thirty minutes ago, Nancy’s eyes refuse to shut. Whenever she starts to drift off, she sees Barb crawling out from underground to blame her for what happened that night. Nancy would argue her case, but there’s no defense. She failed her friend. Barb hadn’t even wanted to go along in the first place! 

I’m going insane just lying here. Maybe some warm milk will calm me down.

She passes the bathroom on the way to the stairs. Mom’s not in the tub? I didn’t hear the water go off. Huh. 

The front door is open, and there’s the boy from Tina’s party who came speeding into Hawkins High School’s parking lot with his car radio on full blast. The boy Steve keeps staring at like a stunned fish. She’s shit with remembering names. Ben… something? 

Curiosity gets the better of her. She stays very still on the second step, ears and eyes peeled. 

Mom answered the door in her bathrobe? Nancy shifts her attention to Ben- no Billy, his name’s Billy. He seems… tense. Fidgety. 

“I’m Nancy’s mother.” 

“No.” 

For some reason, Billy saying that in a clearly sarcastic tone makes her mother twirl her hair and giggle, “Yes” like a schoolgirl with a crush. 

You’ve never acted this way with Dad. 

“Mrs. Wheeler.” 

“Um, I’m sorry, and you are?”

“Billy. Billy Hargrove.” He extends a hand for her to shake, and when she does, he puts his other hand over hers.

What the fuck is happening? Why aren’t you pulling away? 

“You must be here for Nancy.” 

“Nancy? No, no, no.”

One no would’ve done the trick. 

“Not my type.” 

Nancy snorts into her hand. 

“Uh… No, actually I am looking for my little sister Max. Goes by Maxine. She’s been missing all day, and, uh, to be honest with you, I’ve been worried sick, you know, so…”

“Oh.” 

You sound almost… disappointed. Why would you be, unless… No. Surely not. 

“I thought she was at Lucas’, but Mrs. Sinclair said your house is the…the designated hangout, so, you know… Here I am.” 

This has got to be the worst pretend pickup line I’ve ever heard. He’s got no interest in you, Mom. You know that, don’t you? 

Billy comes in, and if he notices Nancy lurking at the top of the stairs as he goes into the kitchen, he doesn’t say anything. 

“Their driveway is pretty dark this time of night,” Mom says, scribbling down an address for him. “So drive slowly.”

“Always.” He pockets the address and takes an extra bitter oatmeal cookie for the road. 

Under the kitchen light, her mother dies, and all she sees is Karen Wheeler biting her bottom lip as she watches him walk away, her eyes glued to his ass. 

Nancy doesn’t remember when her gun appeared in her hands, but her brain is surprisingly clear when she pulls the trigger. A bullet goes right between Karen’s eyes. 

Killing people is surprisingly easy when you see who they really are. 

Billy lies flat on the floor, hands cupped over his ears. 

“I’m not going to shoot you.” 

“You killed… your mother. God, Hicktown is fuckin’ crazy!” 

Boy, he really catches on quick. 

“You don’t know the half of it.” Nancy steps over Karen’s body and dials the number of Hopper’s secretary. She’s more likely to pick up than the Chief himself. “Hi, this is Nancy Wheeler. I need to talk to Chief Hopper. It’s important.”

She hears a grunt, and prepares the crocodile tears. Billy stares at her with a mix of awe and horror as her lower lip begins to tremble. “My mother st-started acting really strange. She turned the air conditioner down because she “liked it cold”. She-she loved the house being warm. Her voice came out all-all deep and empty. I looked into her eyes, and I knew my mother wasn’t…” she takes a shaky breath for added effect, then continues, “I knew she was gone. So I… I shot her. I don’t want to go to jail! I’m so scared, Chief.” 

“You did the right thing, calling me. I’ll stop by your house and take care of things, okay? Do you have anywhere else to go tonight?”

“I’m not sure. I-”

 Billy’s not on the floor anymore. His headlights are on. Crap.

I need to make sure he knows not to say anything. 

Nancy gets into the passenger seat and he sends her a dirty look. 

“You should really start locking your doors. It’s a safety precaution.”

“... I will keep that in mind. Now get out of my car.” 

“You said you were looking for your sister, right?”

“She’s not my sister.”

“But you said-” “I know what I said. Look, I’d prefer to forget everything said and done in your freakshow house, Wheeler.”

“Nancy.” 

“Fine. Nancy.” 

“I know where Max is.” 

“I’m not giving you shit in exchange for that information.” 

“Well I should hope not.” Has this sort of thing happened to him before?

“I know how to keep a secret. I just… why did you do it?” 

“We were always arguing. She never heard me. What pushed me over the edge was how she was with you. It made me want to puke. She should’ve stuck to her own age group.” 

Billy goes eerily quiet, hands gripping his steering wheel until his knuckles turn white. His shoulders slacken, and he unclenches his jaw to offer her a weary, appreciative smile. 

“Max is at the Byers’ house. Mike’s there, too. I can’t take him back to that house. He didn’t know… I don’t suppose you have room where you live?” Billy tenses up again. 

She takes that as a no.”

“I’ll be your guide to the Byers’. I’m sure Mrs. Byers wouldn’t mind us staying over.” 

He gives her a terse nod.

“Us includes you, Bonnie.”

Billy blinks several times, temporarily breaking out of his grim state. “Bonnie? Hold on, why the fuck am I not Clyde? Clyde’s a man.”

Nancy lets out a long sigh. “Do you actually care about that crap?”

“... No. I don’t,” he admits. “Bonnie has better hair anyway, so it fits.” 

“You think you’re funny, huh.” 

“I think I’m a fucking riot.” 

“Humor is subjective.”

“It was your joke!” 

****** “Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” 

Okay, now I wish I’d shot myself instead. 

“Nancy???” Steve exclaims, dragging his eyes away from Billy’s chest. 

So that’s why Billy took his jacket off. 

She snickers, shaking her head. Steve Alexander Harrington, you haven’t changed one bit. 

Billy seems to be glowing from Steve’s attention. Dorks. 

“What’re you doing here, amigo?”

“Yeah, I could ask you the same thing, amigo.” 

Oh, Steve, you’re not fooling anyone. 

“Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”

Nancy awkwardly waves. I doubt they’re even aware I exist. 

“Huh. That’s weird. I don’t know her.”

“Small, redhead, bit of a bitch?”

“I heard that!” a girl yells from inside the house. 

“I wanted you to!” 

“You guys are going to wake up the whole neighborhood!” Nancy yells.

“I think we’re a little quieter than a gu- guy who’s bangin’ his wife.” 

“Are you two… friends or something?” Steve says, squinting like he’s come face to face with an impossible math problem. 

“Amigos in crime.” 

“You didn’t tell him any embarrassing stories about me, did you? Nance?” 

“Stories? What stories?” 

“It’s a school night. We should all head inside and get some rest.”

“Nance!” 

“Shut up, Steve.”

“Yeah, shut up, Pretty Boy.” 

“Keep the flirting to a minimum, there are children present.”

Steve’s jaw drops. “WHAT? FLIRTING?”

Billy cackles, slapping his knee, his face matching the color of his shirt. 

New hobby unlocked. 

*****

“Does Mrs. Byers have any grub around here? I’m gonna check the fridge.”

“Billy, I wouldn’t do that if I were you-"

“WHAT THE FUCK-”

[harringroveera]

“Are you listening to me, Heather?”

“Yes, I am,” Heather said, rolling her eyes as she pressed the handset to her ear. “I’m listening to how much you blabber about your pretty boy, Billy. He’s so gorgeous. He’s so adorable! Have you seen him in his sailor costume!”

Billy snickered, his voice echoing through the phone. “Do I talk about him that much?”

“Only during work, after work, and before work.” She shrugged, brushing the nail file against the freshly painted nails. 

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I did this to myself, honestly,” she said, sighing softly. “I got you two together, now I’m suffering the consequences.” 

“Heather!” her mom’s voice echoed from inside the kitchen, and Heather looked up.

“What, Mom?” 

“Heather!” 

“I gotta go,” Heather said. “My mom is playing the game where she’ll keep calling my name until I come in to see her.”

“Want to go to the mall with me and Chris later?” Billy asked. “You don’t have a shift today, right?” 

“No.” She pursed her lips, pushing up to her feet. “Okay, yeah, sure. Maybe we can catch a movie.” 

“Cool. I’m picking you up in an hour.” 

She let out an approving hum, hanging up the phone and dropping the nail file to the couch before she strutted into the kitchen, where her mom was busy pouring orange juice into a thermos while she hummed to a song.

“Heather—”

“I’m here! God, Mom,” she said, stopping short before the kitchen counter with a forced smile on her lips. “What do you need?” 

“Okay, I need you to bring this lunch box to your dad,” her mom said. “It’s late now, but if you drive there, it’ll be faster. Your dad doesn’t like it when I don’t bring it on time.” 

“Why can’t he bring his own lunch in the morning when he goes to work like any capable person would?” 

“Don’t speak that way, darling.” 

Heather rolled her eyes, gazing at the brown lunch box on the counter. “I thought you always brought it to him, Mom.” 

“Oh, yes, but I have a spa appointment with Dorothy, Terese, and Karen. I won’t be back until later.”

“Why do you need to go to a spa?” 

“I’m going to the pool tomorrow!” 

Of course. Heather’s lips curled downward, but she didn’t say anything. Billy had a shift tomorrow, and that explained it.

“Don’t hang around with Karen Wheeler and her friends too much, Mom,” she said, turning around to grab a brown bag from the cabinet.

Her mom seemed surprised, though, as her eyes slightly widened when Heather came to put the lunch box and the thermos in the bag.

“Why would you say such a thing, darling?” 

She shrugged. “It’s just a general observation thing,” she said, taking the bag into her hand. “I’m going. And I won’t be back for lunch.” 

“Why—”

“I’m going out with Chrissy.” 

She left the kitchen without saying another word, going through the back door to the garage. It wasn’t that far from their house to the Hawkins Post, and afterwards she could head to Billy’s house, picking him up instead. Just one conversation with her mom had ruined the mood. She needed to get her mind off it for a while.

The mixtape Billy had put in the other day was still in the stereo, and Heather let it blast loudly on the way there, finding herself tapping on the steering wheel before she came to a stop before the building. 

Heather walked through the door, putting on a smile at the lady at the front desk. “Hi, Doris.” 

“Oh, Miss Holloway! Hello!” the lady said. “Are you looking for your dad?” 

“There’s quite literally no one else I’d be looking for here, Doris,” she said, holding up the brown bag in her hand. “I brought my dad his lunch, because he’s a grown man who still makes his wife bring his own food to his mouth.” 

Doris swallowed, the smile on her face twitching for a second. “He’s in the meeting room, sweetheart. But he’s already asked his assistant to get him lunch.” 

“Of course he has.” She sighed. “He has an assistant?”

“Oh, I mean the intern girl here, darling.” 

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she gave Doris another smile and walked to the meeting room, her good mood souring even more the second she saw the group of men in the meeting room. 

She pushed the door in, and her dad’s head jerked up in surprise. “Heather! What are you doing here?” 

“Brought you lunch, Dad,” she said, stepping into the room and scrunching up her nose at the smell of cigarettes. “Mom has something else to do.” 

“Such a sweet daughter you are, Heather,” the man sitting next to her dad said. 

“Thanks, honey, but I’ve already asked someone to get the food for all of us.” 

“Well, I already drove here to give you your lunch, so you’re eating it, Dad,” she said, dropping the bag to the table and standing next to him. “Mom cooked all of that, and you’re going to absolutely neglect the effort she did for you?” 

Her dad pressed his lips together, and Heather smiled, patting his shoulder. “I think she made your favorite, Dad.” 

“That may be better than hamburgers.”

“Of course it is,” she said.

“You’re growing to be a beautiful woman, Heather,” Phil said, taking a drag of his cigarette, his eyes roaming over her body blatantly even with her dad’s presence here.

“Thanks. How’s that receding hairline of yours? Is it still growing, or are you going to be bald soon?”

Phil’s smile dropped, and her dad clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Heather, don’t disrespect them.”

“Tell your employees to stop staring at my ass then. I’m not even eighteen yet, I can get them arrested, you know,” she said, and all their eyes darted away from her body, which was a relief.

“Oh, here’s Nancy Drew with the food,” another man said, a hand resting on his stomach. His name was Robert, maybe. She could never be bothered to remember the names of these men. 

Her eyes flitted up to the person walking in through the door, and she wouldn’t say she wasn’t surprised to see Nancy Wheeler entering the room. She didn’t know Wheeler was working here, but again, they weren’t friends. 

Heather didn’t have the fondest of feelings towards any member of the Wheeler family, but that might have been spurred up just because of Karen Wheeler. And, well, that was enough of a reason already. 

Nancy seemed surprised to see her too, halting in her steps for a mere second before she resumed handing out the packed hamburgers from the brown bag she held against her chest.

“Where were we?” her dad said, tapping the pen in his hand against the table. “Yeah, we still need something good. We’ve been slacking these days.”

“How about a piece on Iran?” a man on the other end of the table said.

“I want something local.”

“I hear there's a beauty pageant at the fair this year,” Bruce said. 

He was the worst one here, and everyone knew it. Even Nancy, as she shot the man a look before she walked past Heather with hurried steps.

“Excuse me,” she whispered softly, and Heather stepped aside, letting her go around the table and giving the men their food like she was feeding a bunch of pigs in the hogpen. 

“Yeah, I'm looking for above the fold here, Bruce.”

“Then clearly you haven’t seen Lucy Lebrock, because I’m not sure she’ll fit above the fold!” The man held his hands over his chest, barking out a loud and unrefined laugh as Heather’s lips twitched.

How annoying it would be if she had agreed to work for her dad in the summer. She would have quit on the first day.

“Fellas! In six hours, we go to print. I need something real,” her dad said, rubbing a hand over his temple.

“Oh, I think they’re real.”

The men laughed, because, of course, that was the kind of thing they would laugh at. Heather sighed, clutching her car keys in her hand and patting her dad’s shoulder. She had to leave before she decided to say more things that would ‘embarrass’ her dad in front of his colleagues.

“What about Starcourt?” Wheeler began, stopping abruptly in front of the door, blocking Heather’s path.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her, including Heather, and Wheeler's throat bobbed, her eyes darting around as the anxious look painted her face.

“I—I was just…thinking,” she continued, shaking her head. “I mean, I know everyone loves the mall, but how many small businesses have closed since it opened?”

Her voice turned firmer as she went on. Heather could see that Wheeler wanted to be a journalist from the passion that filled her every word. And at least she could come up with a better article to talk about than any of these men here.

“Like, five on Main, at least. It's changing the fabric of our town in a way—” 

“The Death of Small-Town America,” Bruce said, and Wheeler nodded eagerly, seeking validation, seemingly the only validation she had gotten since she worked here. “I like it. I like it a lot.”

“But I think I've got something even spicier,” he continued. “It’s about the missing mustard on my hamburger.” 

Heather rolled her eyes, watching as a hint of dejection flashed across Wheeler’s face while the rest of the men burst into laughter like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

“You think you can follow the clues and solve the case of the missing condiment, Nancy Drew?” Bruce said, and Wheeler nodded, coming forward to take the hamburger back from his hand.

“Sorry.”

“Look out, Phil, she might be after your job!”

Wheeler turned around, grabbing the door handle and yanking it open, and Heather heaved a sigh, shaking her head.

“Can’t you just eat it without the mustard?” Heather decided to speak up, hearing the laughter die out in the room as she folded her arms over her chest. “What’s gonna happen if you don’t eat mustard? Will you die?” 

“I just don’t like my food without mustard,” Bruce replied, while she felt Wheeler’s stare from the corner of her eyes.

“Shame, I was hoping for the latter to be true.” She gave him a smile, turning to Wheeler with her hand stretched out. “Give me that.” 

Wheeler looked at her, eyes wide with confusion, before she put the hamburger in her hand. Heather tossed it in the middle of the table, wiping her hands together.

“You either eat it, or starve.”

“Heather,” her dad said. “Watch your language.” 

“Are you gonna sit there and let these imbeciles insult her? Would you have wanted them to say the same things to me, Dad?” she said, looking back at the men. “She’s an employee here, she’s not your assistant or your unfortunate wife. If you want one, get one, and get them to fetch your food instead.” 

“That’s her job,” Bruce said.

“Her job is to work on articles, like the one she just talked about, which, by the way, is much better than what you just proposed,” she retorted. “So, eat your burger with no mustard, or don’t eat at all. You could lose a few pounds, you know, before your wife realizes how much of a halfwit man you are. The only thing you’re good for is money, and you don’t even make that much.” 

Heather inhaled softly as she finished, flashing them a smile one last time, and it was her dad who spoke up first.

“You can have mine. It got mustard. I’ll have the lunch my wife made me.”

“God, you men and your goddamn mustard. It’s such a big problem!” she exclaimed with a deadpan look. “People are losing jobs out there!” 

She gave her dad a final look and pulled the door open. “I’m leaving, Dad,” she said without looking back, and she stepped out of the meeting room.

The last time she was here was Take Your Child to Work Day, which was four years ago, and she left with the same amount of annoyance as she did back then. It was insufferable to stay in a closed space with those men without losing her mind.

She waved at the ladies outside, getting into her car as fast as she could to drive to Billy's house. He wouldn’t mind that she was early.

“Jesus—” Heather kicked at the brake as Wheeler stopped in front of her car. She rolled down her window, poking her head out. “Do you have a death wish? I mean, I get that working here makes you feel like it, but don’t jump in front of my car.” 

Wheeler marched to the opened window, glancing at the empty street before crouching down to meet her gaze. “Sorry.” 

“Okay,” she said. “Is there anything else?”

“Oh, uh,” Wheeler began, resting her hands on the window, and Heather looked at her confusedly. “I want to say something.”

“Are you going to say it any time soon? Because I have somewhere to go.” 

“Yeah, I—” She exhaled sharply, her throat working and her shoulder stiff with tension. “Thank you.” 

“Is that all?” Heather said. “That’s what got you looking like you’re about to tell me you have an undying love for me? A thank you?” 

Wheeler’s face fell, and she stammered, “Well, I mean, you helped me in there, so I thought—”

“I didn’t do it for you.” She tapped the steering wheel impatiently. “I did it because those men were irritating me.” 

“Oh.” 

“And I don’t need your thanks, Wheeler,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s useless.”

Wheeler seemed taken aback, her lips parting. She uttered, “Well, still. I still want to say that. Actually, you’re the first person to ever stand up for me, and I—”

“Not for you.”

“Right, yeah, not for me.” She nodded. “It got them to shut up for once, and I felt like I needed to tell you that.” 

“It wasn’t necessary.” 

“But could you just accept it?” 

“Why do I have to accept it? I didn’t stand up to those men for you, Wheeler.” 

“I still want to say thank you—”

“What’s your problem with insisting on making me accept this?”

“What’s your problem with refusing to accept this? It’s just a thank you, Holloway.”

“And I told you it wasn’t necessary. Words are useless. I don’t need your ‘sorry’ or your ‘thank you’,” Heather said. “Now, would you please let me leave? The longer I stay here, the sooner I feel like the stench from those men is going to get to me.”

Wheeler furrowed her eyebrows, and she said, “Words are useless to you.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you accept other than words?” 

“My god, Wheeler, what’s with you and this need to please everybody?” she groaned. “If I just take your words, will you let me go?” 

“No, because I know it’s not genuine.” 

Heather blew an exasperated breath, chewing on the inside of her cheek, before she nodded. “Okay. Scoops Ahoy. Ask Robin for my favorite flavors.” 

“What?”

“Two scoops of chocolate pudding, one scoop of U.S.S butterscotch. Extra cherries on top. I work tomorrow at one. So bring it to the pool half an hour before my shift.”

“You want me to bring ice cream to the pool for you?”

“That’s what you’re insisting on,” Heather said. “Now, can I leave?” 

Wheeler blinked, straightening her back and taking a step back. “Okay, um, I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” 

“Thank you, again,” she said. “And sorry. Again.”

Heather eyed her expression, her gaze roaming over Wheeler’s face, her wide brown eyes, and her rosy lips. She seemed grateful. Genuinely grateful.

She lifted her hand and wiped the smudge of lipstick against the line of Wheeler's lips, startling her. Her pupils dilated, but she didn’t recoil from her touch.

“You have a voice, use it. They’re men, not monsters, though it’s pretty close,” she said, cradling the side of her face. “Speak up, Nancy Drew. You usually have a much smarter mouth than this.”

“You’ve been looking at my mouth?” Wheeler asked, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

She smiled. “Don’t be late, Wheeler,” she said, patting Wheeler’s cheek before she withdrew her hand and drove away into the vacant street.

Wheeler was still standing frozen on the spot when Heather checked her side view mirror, seemingly taking the time to process everything.

The smile was plastered on her face even as she hung out with her friends, and they might have both guessed that she did, in fact, stand up for Nancy Wheeler. So maybe she did, and maybe she thought Wheeler wasn't bad like her mom, not to mention that she was much prettier than Karen, but Wheeler didn't have to know all that.

[renegade-diamonds]

Sending on a separate ask because it's a different topic but regarding possesive alpha Nancy... do you think she'd get possesive and jealous even when Robin is with Steve? During her ruts I mean. Like, sure, they're more like siblings than anything else, but he's still an alpha and he still gets Robin's attention, all of whis should be for Nancy only. If Steve wants to spend time with an omega so much he can go get his own. It's just alpha competition (something Steve hasn't participated on after junior year but for Nancy this is new and she feels no need to "behave herself" when another alpha is watching movies or sharing jokes with her omega (hers!!))

LMAO YES

Nancy's ruts are bad because she's a new alpha. She presented late, so she's learning how to deal with ruts and other alpha-issues when Steve's already had a few years to get used to it.

She does get really possessive of Robin around the time of her rut. She tries not too, but it really, really, really gets to her. Robin basically knows she's staying over at the Wheelers' house for a week whenever Nancy's rut starts, because otherwise it's guaranteed that Nancy will come looking for her anyway.

Nancy's parents pretty much gave-up on trying to keep them apart, and Robin's mother isn't around enough to really care one way or the other. So long as they're safe, it's open-season during their cycles lmao

Steve and Robin have a sibling-scent bond, which is why Nancy usually doesn't care if they hang out- except when she's in rut. When she's in that state of mind, it doesn't matter who Robin's with- all that matters is that she isn't here with Nancy.

And that drives her insane.

She's snapped and growled at Steve before for getting too touchy with Robin in her presence (she always apologizes right after), but it's never as serious as when strangers or 'outsiders' to their group try to make a move on her omega. The first and only fight Nancy ever got into was because some asshole on the baseball team decided to smack Robin's ass when she was in pre-heat right in front of Nancy.

Needless to say, Nancy launched herself at him like a feral gremlin and he ended up missing the rest of the baseball season. Karen came down to the school afterwards to yell at the principal. Which meant Nancy got off scot-free, because she was technically defending her future mate.

Nancy became a legend among the omegas at school after that. The story of how she defended Robin without hesitation against a baseball player nearly twice her size spread like wildfire. Although they never officially confirmed it before graduation, for most people, that was all the confirmation they needed to know that Nancy and Robin were spoken for.

[crawlingforwardx]

@ask-alicelockwood | continued from here.

After being asked to leave the hospital, everyone had pretty much unanimously agreed that they didn't want to split up. Steve had half-considered inviting everyone to come stay the night at his place since no one was home to tell him he couldn't have guests over. Nancy beat him to it though. Mrs. Wheeler wasn't going to let her out of her sight for one, but also the Wheeler's basement had become a sort of base for them over the last week. So it made the most sense.

Steve had hoped for sleep but sleep did not seem to be coming easy. As exhausted as he was, his mind was running overtime in light of everything that had happened over the last 15 or so hours. Alice was missing when he finally gave up on the idea and unsurprisingly, he found her outside with a cigarette in hand looking just as exhausted as him. Again, he felt that pang of guilt for ever involving her in any of this. He never wanted this to be a part of her reality.

"Mind sharing that?" He asks gesturing to the cigarette in her hand. Smoking had never been a consistent habit of his. He'd do it from time-to-time, usually when he was drinking. He really felt like he could use one right now though. Since Hawkins was screwed and all.

Taking it from her, Steve takes a generous drag and holds it for a moment before blowing the smoke back out. Being careful to blow it away from her. "Mrs. Wheeler just wants to help," he says. "She's a pretty good mom. Just wants to make sure you're all taken care of and shit." He had dated Nancy for about a year so Karen knew his home situation. Alice was new to her though. She didn't know she was in the same boat with mostly absent parents.

It's not a thought he wants to dwell on though. Both of their parents were shitty and likely wouldn't know anything had even happened until they either came back to this shit show or turned on the news.

He takes a second drag before handing the cigarette back to Alice to finish off. "I'm sure he'll give you a call soon," he tries to assure her. "It might not be a bad thing if he doesn't hurry back though. I mean, look at this shit show..." Steve gestures around them with a sweep of his arm. The Wheeler's house had managed to stay out of the way of harm but they could still see all the smoke billowing from here. Downtown Hawkins was apparently utterly destroyed and many homes and businesses were completely lost. Not to mention all the lives...

Shaking his head, he didn't really want to think about how screwed they were right now. Because this was only the beginning. It was bound to get a lot worse.

As Alice finishes her cigarette and puts it out, Steve turns to look at her before turning his gaze downward. His wounds had pretty much been completely forgotten by him. He'd been so wrapped up in all this other shit that he barely even registered the pain anymore. "That Vicodin's still working wonders." He says, though it was likely more from the adrenaline and his distracted mind now. "But yeah. I guess we should."

[marypsue]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on S1 of ST being a tragedy! No main character dies, so I never thought of it that way before

I mean, nobody has to die for a story to be a tragedy (at least, in the modern definition. I'm pretty sure '(almost) everybody dies' is a requirement of Greek tragedies and Renaissance revenge tragedies). But also, no main character dies in season one...if you take season one as part of a series. Which it wasn't originally conceived as.

I am not going looking for copies of the original pitch bible, because I am lazy, and also I only saw them floating around this webbed site. But the show changed a lot from the initial pitch (Joyce had a Long Island accent! Lucas' parents were divorcing! Murray was there and named Terry Ives! Most of what ended up in Hopper's character originally belonged to Mr. Clarke! The original pitch bible is fascinating). And part of the original pitch was a proposal for possible sequels.

The Duffers' proposal for a possible sequel was "It's ten years later, and Eleven is dead".

So that's the setup. Everything that came after season one was made up wholecloth after season one was a hit and people wanted more, but also people loved the adorable little psychic murder child (cue the Duffers shockedpikachu.jpg) and Netflix obviously recognised it would be a bad call to make a new season without her in it. So it makes sense to take season one as a unit, as a self-contained story on its own. You can also take it as part of a whole, but it makes sense to read it first as a complete story. Especially given the thematic drift of later seasons and the way they are...I'm just going to say it, each new season is very much added-on to what came before rather than being built on foundation that the earlier season(s) laid. It is very clear there was never a planned five-season story arc from the beginning. (This isn't necessarily always a bad thing, when it comes to sequels, but it does mean it makes sense to 'read' each season as its own thing.)

Okay, now that we've established all of that. Season one has one very clear goal, one very clear stake for the characters: save Will Byers from the Upside Down. (I like this. It makes the stakes both extremely high and extremely personal, it makes it very easy to understand each character's motivation, it also keeps the stakes grounded in reality. I like this a lot.) And by the end of the season, that goal is accomplished. So at first blush, you're right, season one doesn't look like a tragedy.

But when you start to unpack it a little, you start to see just how many important things were lost along the way. It's most glaringly obvious with Mike and El, with Nancy and Barb. The whole Wheeler family is fractured down the middle, with Mike and Nancy on one side and Ted, Karen, and Holly on the other, and Karen, who's been trying so hard the whole time to be part of her children's lives and understand what's going on with them, is aware of the ever-expanding gulf between them but will never be able to cross it, and will never fully know why. Hopper's finally managed to snatch a kid out of the jaws of death, save a woman he obviously cares about from the pain of losing a child, and Joyce has finally had someone believe her, support her, trust her. But it became blindingly obvious to me on my fourth rewatch that Hopper's plan, from the moment he went to leave the middle school gym, was always to trade El for Will. And that decision (and the fact that Joyce obviously understands that he did something to get the lab to let them go after Will, but she obviously doesn't dare press him on what) has broken her trust in him, and left him with what looks like an equally heavy burden of guilt as what he was carrying before. The lab stays open. The government gets away with everything. No one will ever know the true extent of the hurt they've caused.

And in the end, none of it even saved Will. He's back. He's alive. But he's spitting slugs in the sink. He's permanently marked by the Upside Down, and by trying to hide it from his family, he's putting a crack down the centre of them, as well. They're losing Will, just as surely as they had when they thought he was dead, just without him going anywhere.

And there's still a hole in the world.

The fragile bonds of community, the things that people share in common, the way catastrophe can bring people together and bring out the very best in them, are the major thematic threads woven through season one. Human connection is the only thing that can change what seems inevitable, the only thing that can bring back what's seemingly lost forever.

And it's still not enough to protect anyone from the random tragedy of the world.

The love was there. The love mattered. The love bent the entire course of the world around itself.

And it still wasn't quite enough.

If that's not a tragedy, then I don't know what is.

[fluffansmut-old]

Like you haven’t done that

Part 3

Summary: After you and Jonathan leave with your partners, doubt creeps into Joyces mind and she start to wonder if the choices she made were right, she calls up hopper for reassurance.

Content warnings: Byers!reader (only mentioned in this part though), mentions of sexual activity, self doubt, mentions of periods, sweet fluff

Word count: 973

AO3 | masterlist

Part 1 - Part 2

When Joyce heard the car pull out of the driveway, her children and their significant others inside, she thought about the speech she had given.

Was she too strict? Or was she the total opposite? Were her children about to go rogue and make irreversible mistakes, all while thinking they had her blessing?

All the doubt forming inside her got the upperhand and she felt like she was the worst mother in America.

She needed someone to talk to, some reassurance and a laugh.

So she picked up the phone in the hall, fingers dialing quickly.

“Hello Joyce” Hopper said, voice tired.

“Am I the worst parent ever?” she bluntly asked, not even bothering to say hi.

“Well if you are then join the fucking club” he said, unironicly.

“Did something happen with El?” Joyce asked, forgetting her own problems, now focused on helping Hopper.

“It's more a question of what didn’t happen with El…” the man said with a sigh. “She's been upside down and inside out all day long and I can't for the life of me figure out what’s going on?”

“Have you talked to her about it?” Joyce asked.

”I've tried, believe me, but she’s snappy and short with me.” he said, truly confused as to what happened to his girl. “all she wants to do is mope around in her room, she came out for dinner but there wasn’t much of a conversation there either”

“It’s hormones” Joyce said, having gone through it all before with her two eldest. “Trust me, she is feeling all the emotions on the register and she can't quite navigate or understand it herself, there isn't much to do than to have an insane amount of patients and try to talk to her, to reassure her that it's okay.”

“Huh” was Hopper's first response.

He hadn't really gotten into the mindset of raising a teenager yet. He still sometimes got aftersweats from that time late last year, when El woke him up screaming that something died in her bed. He hadn't known what to say nor what to do when he walked in on her with bloodstained sheets and pants to match. So Joyce and her experience, advice and never ending stash of pads had been the answer then too.

“You, knowing this, pretty much proves that you're not the worst parent ever” He then said, shifting the focus back to Joyce.

“It doesn´t feel that way, my eldest two are apperently having sex now, and it kinda annoys me that I didn´t know before hand.” The stress in her voice was so present, it almost felt like one could touch it. She took a shaky breath and Hopper almost wanted to jump through the phone to put a cigarette between her lips, to calm her a little. Before he could say anything she continued.

“ Like is my intuition slacking off? Was my sextalk too late? Am I only months away from sharing a grandchild with Karen Wheeler or Wayne Munson?”

The last question threw Hopper a little. Jonathan and Nancy were of course not a surprise, but at the mention of Munson he almost choked on his own spit.

Cos he knew Wayne, hell he had shared drinks with him more than a few times. He knew that he was an honest man, who fathered a child that originally wasn't supposed to be his. A role he and Hopper now shared. Hopper had a lot of good things to say about Wayne Munson.

That was also why he looked between his fingers, when he heard rumors about how Wayne's nephew was selling drugs on school property.

He knew very little about the younger munson, but he had seen him around town. And rumours spread quickly around Hawkins.

The kid looked intimidating. Almost scary even. Hopper knew that he was better than judging by looks, but in this case he couldn't help it and blurted out:

“Your girl is really sleeping with Munson's kid?”

He cared a great deal about Joyce and her kids, so for her daughter to be with someone of that reputation worried him a little.

“Hop, I’ve met him.” Joyce stated, she heard the weariness in his question. “and from what I know he’s a good kid, although life hasn’t been exactly kind to him”

Hopper wanted to take Joyce's word for it, but he was still weary, cos he knew things about Eddie Munson's father too.

To say he didn’t worry about if all those qualities that he possessed somehow genetically transferred to his son, was an understatement.

“I guess,” he muttered.Then he remembered the purpose of the call.

“You are doing a great job with them Joyce”

Those words made stray tears fall upon Joyce’s cheeks. This was essentially what she wanted to hear, it was what she worried about, daily. That she didn’t measure up, that the fact that her three kids didn’t have a father present would scar them in unimaginable ways.

“Thank you,” she said. “Do you want me to talk to El?”

Hopper thought about it, it would be convenient and calming to have someone else talk to her, but when push came to shove, she was his kid and he needed to be able to handle it.

“Thank you, but I’ll talk to her again myself,” he said. “You’ve inspired me.”

“I’m positive that you’ll do fine, you know it can’t be worse than what I’ve already been through tonight, and then you can totally manage” Joyce said.

“Please don’t remind me that there are worse things to come,” Hopper said with a groan. “If she ever comes in the future admitting that she wants to sleep with that wheeler kid then I don’t know what to”

“Send her to me” Joyce said, “I’ve got your back”

“And I got yours”

[sh1tbird-shantytown]

hi y’all. long time no see :-) so i’ve been gone for…a while. and i am working on that ask you sent if you know who you are. so expect that (it’s gonna be a whole story on ao3 cause you sent it months ago) that’s all my bad. but anyway, as an introduction back i’m gonna quickly rewrite one of my more popular (and unpopular) pieces on here as i re-enter the harringrove community again. i give you another version if karen wheeler gets what she deserves

;

Billy knew he had issues. Sure, he didn’t necessarily like to acknowledge them. He knew that too. He was reminded of it everyday.

His mom used to tell him that good people were easy to recognize. That if you look hard enough through a crowd they almost seemed to stand out more than everyone else. And he remembered she’d emphasize that they weren’t always pretty of handsome, she’d say looks were always deceiving. It’s the eyes that hood most of the soul.

His dad didn’t have kind eyes, they were dark and hollow and cold. He doesn’t know what, but Neil’s eyes died out before Billy grew a conscience.

When he first met Steve Harrington, the boy had more emotion just in his eyes than anyone Billy ever cared to remember. He thinks that’s why he couldn’t stop thinking about the guy. He took up such a small amount of space even though his personality had used to take up the whole school. He had history and he had hurt, but even if he made a fool of himself he still made an effort for Billy.

He thinks, maybe, that’s why he liked the guy as much as he did.

Karen Wheeler turned out to be one of those pretty people that his mom had warned him about. She had eyes kinda like Neil’s. Except instead of being cold, they were just dull.

He thinks that Karen Wheeler is a little like his mom. He hates himself for it, but he can’t just be friends with some mom. He clocked her attraction to him on the first night he met her. When he had been looking for Steve Harrington.

He’d felt disgusted. He ignored Steve Harrington and Karen Wheeler for weeks.

Steve Harrington approached him the day before Christmas break.

“Do you have holiday plans?” he’d leaned against Billy’s car and folded his arms against the cold.

Billy flicked his lighter, having ran out of cigarettes the week before, “No.”

“Me neither.”

It hadn’t been much of a conversation, in fact it was the most they’d had of one since the first basketball practice they’d shared. It had ended in them flipping each other off while grinning from ear to ear.

Billy counted it as a Christmas gift.

Steve continued talking to Billy from time to time. They discussed about lame shit after school until it came time that they had to leave to their respected homes.

He learned that Steve played hockey and liked the color blue and his favorite holiday was Valentine’s day. Billy told him that his favorite color was yellow and that he secretly liked Elton John and that his favorite season was spring.

“I thought you’d be more of a summer kind of guy,” Steve had told him over a bag of Cracker Jacks.

“Even though I’m allergic to them, I like the flowers,” he’d explained. And Steve had stared at him a long while after. Billy felt warm that day.

Steve had those soulful, kind eyes that Billy gradually felt himself stumbling over days to get to see.

It scared him, admittedly. Opening the can of worms that was his sexuality.

So, the closer he got to Steve Harrington, the more he inched towards Karen.

The dull eyes dragged him back down to Earth against his will even as he asked for it to happen. He knew she was a selfish woman, looking for anyone’s attention because she was simply unsatisfied in a cushy, suburban home. He knew he was selfish right back in seeking out her attention.

He hadn’t actually thought she’d act upon it.

It was one thing making lame eyes and leaning against doorframes. But the woman was desperate in her mission to be noticed. He didn’t feel up to it. He was scared of her scorn, of any words she’d say to him if he dropped his lame act.

He prayed at night that she’d just forget about him. Maybe she’d stop picking Mike up from school and stop waving in his direction every day. He asked for forgiveness because all his guilt was so heavy he could barely pick himself up off of the floor when he was done. He felt his personality slipping everyday Steve asked him why Mrs. Wheeler was waving at them. Biting his tongue when he wanted to emphasize that she was waving at him not them. He was her prize. He was a big pot of gold and nothing else. She had her family, now she wanted a toy of her own.

He resented Nancy and Mike Wheeler as they ignored him. He hated Mrs. Wheeler and her outdated flirting. He wanted to hate Steve because the dimwit didn’t immediately understand what was happening.

It took a month for Steve to stop asking about Karen’s weird behavior and for him to finally understand.

“You and her are flirting.”

Billy wasn’t startled easily, but he was in that unprecedented moment, “Who?”

Steve crossed his arms, unamused, “You know who.”

Billy dropped.

Really. He fell on his ass right on top of the gravel.

He couldn’t tell if he was relived or more terrified.

“You can’t tell anyone.”

Steve didn’t hide his emotions well, especially when he was worried.

“You’re shaking, Billy.” He kneeled down to Billy’s side. “Does this have to do with her?”

Billy couldn’t answer because he heard fast approaching heels make their way over to them.

“Oh my God, Billy? I saw you fall from over there, are you okay?” Mrs. Wheeler’s eyes stood out by the way she put on her makeup that day. Billy hated it because her eyes lacked the life Billy wanted to see.

He wanted to see the emotions Steve illuminated so freely, the love Steve had grown to so freely give to Billy now. And that’s what he looked for when he couldn’t find himself remembering the kind of person he pretended to be for Karen and his father.

He was just Billy in that moment. Little broken Billy Hargrove with nothing and everything to lose.

Steve stepped up and intercepted the woman, “Give him some space, Mrs. Wheeler. He’s really tired and he doesn’t need strangers asking a bunch of questions at the moment.”

Karen nonchalantly waved him off, “Oh, I’m not a strange—“

Steve interrupted, “Yes you are.”

Bill looked up at him as Karen gawked.

“Billy?” she glanced down at Billy like he could control the situation unraveling. The thing that really broke the dam of Billy’s head was the fact that she asked his name like she wasn’t exactly sure that was the right one.

Steve switched from civil to authoritative. The kind of look Jim Hopper gets when the townspeople start to question his authority and he has to show them he knows what’s up.

“I think you better leave us now, Mrs. Wheeler. Before I do something I might regret.”

Based off of the way Steve glanced back down at him, Billy was pretty sure Steve would not feel that bad about whatever it was he was thinking about.

[weirdo09]

be mine(just for a while i’m afraid)

a byler(bywheelclair) criminal past 90’s au fic

warnings: (slight) drug addiction/abuse, alcohol abuse, character death(one real, another staged), suicide attempts, (mentions of) overdose, depression, self harm(cutting), cigarettes, homophobia and troy walsh(he’s his own warning)(tell me if i missed anything!)

‘crime wasn’t usually high in a city like hawkins, well until these two came along. who are these two you ask? well, one goes by the name ‘mj’. all we know about him is that he stands at about 5’10-11 feet tall, he has jet black hair and pale skin. the other guy goes by no name we’ve heard but many people have called him ‘the lone one’. if you think you’ve saw them, please call your local police.’

will turned off the tv after all. ‘huh, so they are looking for me, too bad they’ll never catch me.’ he thought, smirking. will was considered a criminal in his own right but he’d like to call himself a vigilante. living in a big city like hawkins, most people could get away with small crime and it wasn’t like will exactly chose what he did for a living. it started about a couple years ago, he was fresh out of high school, looking forward to the world ahead him except those dreams would soon be crushed for his mom died months before his graduation.

her will split the money evenly between him and his older brother, jonathan. after that, will didn’t really see the whole point of living. so, he turned to stealing, small things that is. this coping mechanism didn’t exactly help but the rush almost made will forget about his mom’s death. soon, he and his brother’s relationship began to strain, jonathan being too busy with his new life to mind his own brother. that hurt for a while so, will dived deeper into the stealing rabbit hole. now, look at him, considered a criminal and still hurting as much as he did before. though, he’d like to say that he’s better off even with the bounty on his head.

he still had friends, other family and a ‘normal’ life, just not under his name. ‘william jacob byers’ was merely a name of a boy who went missing, surprisingly only four weeks after his mother’s death. will knew his brother was looking for him and if he still had the same spirit he had before his little brother left him, he probably still is. since his ‘disappearance’, will’s changed his name, his life, his whole identity, he was officially someone he couldn’t recognize and i like to think that he liked it that way. will without the tragedies and burdens that had inflicted him so early in life made him smile but also made him cry. he often wonders if his life would’ve been better if he didn’t fake it.

mike had watched his ‘name’ appear on the news, mj short for michael james. he smiled softly, putting out his cigarette. they were trying to catch him but with no avail for he resided on the outskirts of the big city of hawkins, indiana. he had a nice cozy apartment to himself, which was nice but often made him feel like he was missing something, an important piece to his life. mike filled that empty spot with drugs, hoping they’d do their intended job. they haven’t worked so far but he’s hopeful. hopeful, such a funny thing hope is. he was a hopeful child, people said, a child with dreams and ambitions impossible to achieve. ‘guess those assholes were right after all.’ mike thought grimly.

he had grown up in a small town, ironically with the same name as indiana’s second largest city, hawkins. oh, he hated that town, with their same houses, same lawns, same cars, same everything. it irked him like something never before. don’t even get him started on his family, his mother was considered a saint but was nothing of the sort. she settled down young, her ambitions and dreams seemed nonexistent when she settled with ted wheeler, a older rich man. karen wheeler, a pretty woman with an average family in an average suburban neighborhood in an average small town. god, mike hated it, the always pretending to be someone he wasn’t, always hiding parts of himself that he’d love to show, always been his mother’s little doll to dress and control whenever she saw fit.

mike hated that town with his whole being, possibly even more so. those years pretending to be a perfect family, a perfect example of how a good family should be almost crushed his dreams entirely. but then, after high school, it seemed like his world opened up. suddenly, all those dreams, ambitions and aspirations could come a reality. it was sad to look back on now, seeing how naive and gullible he once was. that day changed something inside him forever. june 30th, two three weeks after his high school graduation, he was officially 18 years old and the world was at the palm of his hand until it wasn’t. how mike regretted that day, that day he left his little sister and never came back. he hated himself deeply for leaving her in that house with those strangers.

him, giving into his own selfish desires, left that house as soon as he could. getting the best of him, mike just couldn’t find the strength to leave his precious baby sister but he did eventually. that night, holly had walked into his room to see mike about to crawl out his window. “mikey, where are you going?” she asked sleepy, mike turned to her voice and got up from the window. “oh, holly jolly, i’m just going to leave for a bit.” mike said sweetly, now that he looked back on it, it might as well have been bittersweet. “when are you coming back?” holly asked, tears threatening to come out her eyes. mike sighed before pulling his sister in a hug, “as soon as can, hol, as soon as i can.” he whispered to her, who was now crying softly in his shoulder. “i’ll visit you, ok? we can call and send letters to each other. it’ll be ok, holly, i promise.” mike said with a smile on his face.

‘i promise, about the biggest ounce of bullshit i ever told.’ mike thought, lighting another cigarette. he visited a few times before he couldn’t bear the stares, the questions of when he’d get a girlfriend, a wife or kids, the sickeningly happy atmosphere. it was too much for mike so he stopped visiting and it hurt him more than anything else. to see his sister stuck with those people, those people who made his childhood a living hell. mike cries himself to sleep about it every night, a daily ritual. soon after that, he found a love for stealing, the emptiness in him that couldn’t be fixed with drugs was fixed(temporarily) with the rush of stealing. oh that adrenaline rush seemed to be the only thing keeping him alive, for his dreams were impossible to achieve, too much for little old him so he tucked them away in the back of his mind along with his old identity.

these days, will wasn’t too keen on stealing anything too big. he just wanted the stability of a normal life, the warmth of his mother. both of which he couldn’t have, so he spent the day lying away, thinking about the future that creep straight up behind him. then, an idea struck him. will decided to go on a run, no stealing intended, just something to clear his clear. so he went up out of his apartment, towards the autumn air with a sense of….life? whatever it was, it made him feel like a person for a while. he was content until he was met by a strange figure. the figure seemed taller, about a good four-five inches, had on a sweater, with their jet black hair in a ponytail and light blue jeans. they were sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette. the smell reminded will of his mother, which drew him near.

will, giving into his impulse, sat down next to the stranger. “uh, hi.” he said, the stranger turned to him, put their cigarette in the other hand. “hey.” they said with a half smile. “what’s your name?” will asked, mentally yelling at himself to stop right now. the stranger chuckled, “my name’s mike, but my friends call me mj.” mike replied before returning to his cigarette. ‘mj? where had he heard that name before? never mind that.’ will thought before saying, “nice name, mine’s will.” ‘will, will, will, will’ mike thought, his name was so strange yet so familiar. it wasn’t really strange, just strange considering he knew a boy named will, well loved a boy named will before he went missing and was reported dead. “nice, what are you doing in hawkins?” mike asked, taking another drag of his cigarette. “just..to visit some family, you?” will replied, mike gave him a look.

he could have sworn he had seen him somewhere once before but alas could not remember. mike was thrown out of his train of thought when will bluntly said, “you know, those things are going to kill you.” nodding at the cigarette. mike guffawed and smiled grimly, “gets the job done faster.” he replied and will frowned. “dying won’t solve all your problems, believe me, i’ve tried.” he said before looking down at his hands. sure, he’s tried to kill himself a few times after his mother’s death, as he felt he could never go on without her and if he did, he’d be betraying her. those first few months were like absolute hell, people giving their condolences and their fake vows of sympathy, he just wanted it all to stop, she wasn’t gone, she was still here, inside of him couldn’t they see? she’s still here!

he still remembers the first night without her, he walked into her room and laid there, sobbing. he wondered why they didn’t take him instead, why they had to take away the one person who loved him regardless. so, he slept in her room for a few days then being in there was too hurtful and he went back to his own room. his brother seemed to be the one who was given forgiveness to the most, it was like people almost completely forgot that he lost her too and it hurt him. soon, the suicide attempts started. the first happened two weeks after, he got some pills and popped them, knocking out instantly. he woke up in a hospital bed, sadly alive. that night he sobbed again, wishing he was dead and with his mom, wishing the pain would go away. will had to promise his brother that night that would never do that again, though that promise was very short lived. a week later, he tried to drown himself in the tub. luckily, jonathan got there before he could actually do it. the two brothers sobbed that night, “i can’t live without her, jonny.” will said wetly in jonathan’s shoulder, he just agreed patting his younger brother’s back.

some bad days, will tries to kill himself then panics and chickens out. he hasn’t tried recently and he’s kind of glad. life’s gotten a little bit better since then, her death anniversary still stings but it’s often welcomed with visiting her grave and crying most of the day. mike looked at will with a somber look, “you know, you’re a strange man, will,” he began to say then continued, “i’d say that i kinda like it.” mike finished, will chuckled softly. they talked for a while, what they talked about, i’m not sure but i know it made the both of them really happy.

the day after, mike was still thinking of will. c’mon who’d want to forget him? his chestnut brown hair that peeked out from his hoodie, his hazel green eyes, those eyes that were once on another he knew, just as lively. god, he desperately wanted to cry, as will was a reminder of his childhood sweetheart. will byers, his best friend turned lover, gone just like that and right after his mom died from lung cancer too. mike stared at his pack of cigarettes, how the irony. he stared out his window, wondering what to do today. then, it hit him, nov 6th, the day that will was reported missing and never came back, four weeks after his mom died. jonathan was distraught, having two of his family members gone like that, fours weeks apart.

the older boy left hawkins shortly after that, word spread that he currently resided in california with some friend. mike stopped to wonder if he noticed what today was too, if he was hurting just a much as he was. he knew that it probably wasn’t true for their bond was stronger than him and will’s, and the fact that they weren’t on the best of terms when he went missing. finally, mike cried, he cried and cried until who knows how long. such a funny thing, all he seemed to do now was cry and bitch and moan and smoke.(he only smoked when he was really stressed and now it seemed like that was all the time) after what seemed forever, mike was exhausted, ready to do something stupid that he’d forget tomorrow. so, he decided to drink his problems away then smoke ‘em away again tomorrow.

mike walked into his little kitchen and opened his wine cabinet, pulling out whatever wine was nearest and brought the bottle to his bed. he laid on his desk and then laid down on his bed, remembering he forgot a glass. after he got one, he started pouring glassful after glassful. mike felt tipsy but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, he had to thank his father for the high alcohol tolerance. mike put the bottle away and stared out the window once more. maybe he should’ve died that day instead of will, maybe then will might’ve reciprocated his feelings, maybe just maybe.

november 6th, 1988, the day will byers was reported missing from his home in hawkins, indiana. funny how the night before, he and his best friend parted ways by kissing each other goodbye. they only dated for about two months but it was evident that they loved each other dearly. “bye, mike, see you tomorrow.” will said, climbing on his bike. “bye, will.” mike said, smiling before stealing another kiss from his boyfriend. ‘boyfriend’, such lovely word when you’re in love and oh how in love mike was. will waved goodbye then faded away down the road, something in mike’s gut told him to come back but it was too late for in the morning, he would be gone. a week later, he was pronounced dead, only a few people came to his funeral mike included. he cried during the whole ceremony, jonathan came to check on him. “hey, mike, how are you doing?” he asked, mike stared at him, tears still flowing down his pale, flushed freckle covered cheeks.

“shouldn’t i be asking you that? i mean you just lost your brother.” mike asked, fidgeting with his collar, staring down at will inside his coffin, they decided to do an open casket, mike was disturbed by how peaceful will’s corpse looked. jonathan pulled mike into a hug, “yeah but you just lost your boyfriend.” jonathan said the last part in a whisper, hawkins was full of homophobes. that part only made mike cry harder, “i really loved him, jonathan.” he whispered, jonathan nodded. “he really loved you too, mike.” he whispered back. mike chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “ready to put him in the ground?” jonathan asked, mike frowned a bit. “too soon?” mike’s face contorted to a scowl. “yea, a bit.” he replied. the two watched as will was put into the soil, a handful of people who were there crying, mike scowled again. these people didn’t even know will, let alone like him.

mike knew trouble was about to brew when he saw his childhood bully, troy out the corner of his eye. for some reason, he saw him laughing and joking with james. then all of a sudden, troy began to walk towards him. just as he needed jonathan, he went up and left for some reason. once troy approached, mike was still. “hey, wheeler aren’t you happy that that fairy’s finally died? oh wait, aren’t you a fairy too?” troy said tauntingly, mike really resisted the urge to roll his eyes. he sighed, “what do you want, troy?” mike asked, already fed up with his bullshit. “oh nothing, just wanted to make sure that the fag was really died and now look at him! he probably killed by some othe-!” troy began to say but was interrupted by mike’s fist colliding with his cheek. surprisingly, he fell backward, blood was flowing out of his nose.

mike looked down at his fist, some of the fingers were covering in blood. he saw as troy’s mom approached her son. “what is going on here?” she asked then took a look at her son and mike. she stood in terror, giving a scared look at mike then grabbing her son, running away from the ceremony. jonathan came back after that, “hey, mike what happene-.” jonathan began to ask but had already put the puzzle pieces together. the rest of that evening mike spent in the police station, troy and his mom had charged him for assault and for some reason, attempted murder. mike sat there, unresponsive like he wasn’t even there. after that, they determined that the charges should be dropped and mike was discharged. he sure got an earful from his mom though.

“why did you hit that boy, mike?” she asked once they got back home, mike just walked right past her. “michael! look at me when i’m speaking to you!” karen demanded, mike shot her a hateful glare. “do you really want to know or is this just your absolute need for gossip?” mike snapped at her, karen’s face contorted into shock. “well, if you do want to know, i hit that boy, troy, my childhood bully because he kept calling will a fairy and a bunch of other slurs!” mike raised his voice a bit, hoping to get his voice across. karen asked somberly “what happened to my sweet little boy?” mike scoffed, “that ‘sweet’ little boy had to grow up because you just couldn’t handle having kids, could you, karen? you know me and nancy practically raised holly while you were out and about parading around like you were some single woman!” he hissed, karen stood there. “wha-, how did you even-?” she began to ask but mike interrupted, “oh, how do i know? how do i fucking know? because you left your wedding ring on the sink and you didn’t could home til 12 in the morning, karen. should i go on?”

mike asked, all his pent up anger now showing it’s face at his mom. “you know what? go to your room!” karen shouted, mike shouted back, “gladly!” he ran up the steps and slammed his door. karen collapsed on the floor, she was exhausted but not because of tiredness, because her perfect average life was crumbling right under her feet, her perfect little family torn apart all because of her. she pulled herself back up and grabbed a bottle of wine to wash away her pain. thinking back on that, mike was again hit with the sense of irony. here he was, with a bottle of wine hoping to wash his pain away. guess he was more like his mom then he thought, mike scowled at that.

will woke up with a sense that today was special but couldn’t figure out why. then, he realized today was the day that he went ‘missing’. he remember that day bright and clear. well almost clear, he remembered kissing mike and leaving his house then, he rode his bike down the road and everything was fuzzy after that. november 6th, 1988, the day will byers went ‘missing’ and was reported ‘dead.’ here’s what really happened as will ride his bike down the road, he didn’t think that cars would still be out that night and unluckily as he was, he got hit. it wasn’t anything too serious, a mild concussion, a broken left arm and a left kneecap. the stranger was hospitable enough to take him to the hospital, there will would stay for two-three weeks. while everyone in hawkins thought he was died, really will was there in the hospital. he was released sunday, november 20th, exactly two weeks after the incident and a week after his ‘death’.

will unfortunately suffered amnesia and couldn’t remember where he was from so one of the doctors offered to take him in until he fully recovered. this doctor’s name was jim hooper, who lost his youngest daughter a few years back. will found him intimidating at first but he warmed up to him eventually. saturday, november 21st, 1988, he was on his way to hawkins, the big city to live with jim and his other daughter, eleanor ‘el’. to say that el was a strange sort was an understatement, she was unique to say the most. she was louder than most girls will had known.(the few he could remember) she was also strongly influenced by the world and people around her, will thought that he’d get to know her nicely. he then spent two years with the hopper family, his concussion ended months ago, though bits and pieces were still hard to remember but they were happy to let him stay longer til he was back on his feet.

tuesday, november 6th, 1990, will was officially leaving the hopper’s house. he decided that he was ready to go and explore what else this (cruel) world had to offer him. el was the first to cry when the three were sitting outside the driveway in the fall sun. she grabbed will into a massive bear hug, “don’t forget about us, big bro.” el whispered, will began to cry as well. “i won’t, little sis.” he whispered back. he and hopper exchanged looks, unsure to hug or not. surprisingly, will took the initiative for the hug which hopper happily obliged. they hugged for about four minutes until el interrupted. “c’mon dad, before you convince him to stay any longer.” el joked, grabbing onto hopper’s sleeve. hopper wiped a tear from his eye before saying, “ah, ok, el, i’m really going to miss you, kid.” will smirked, “i’ll miss you too, dad.” hopper embraced will once again, el gave him their house number. “call anytime, i’d love to talk about your new adventures.” she said, smiling. will waved the two goodbye and walked towards the bus stop. next stop on the list, seattle, washington.

there was a supposed grunge scene happening there and will didn’t want to miss it. first, he took a bus to indianapolis. then, he bought a car which he would drive for the rest of the way. after roughly 26 hours, will had made it to seattle. the pacific northwest had a different charm than the midwest, to be honest, will kinda liked it. he found himself an apartment a few blocks away from the paramount theatre. there he loaded his stuff and himself in the tiny apartment they would call home. the first night was terrible, the jet lag was finally hitting him aside from this numbing headache that had magically appeared. in the night, it was still there but fuller than before. will decided to go to a nearby record store to clear his head. he grabbed a coat, his keys and headed off. he couldn’t help but smile at his new atmosphere, noting to call el later about his drive to seattle.

once he arrived at the record store, a certain record caught his attention. ‘bleach’ was on the cover and will knew he just had to buy it. so, he walked inside and noticed that there was really no one there except for the clerk at the register and another guy. he went to grab the record when he and the other guy touched hands, “oh, sorry, you can have it!” will exclaimed nervously, the guy laughed which sounded soothing. “oh, no, it’s ok, you go ahead, take it.” the guy said, handing to will. “thank you, uhm what’s your name?” will asked, smiling. “oh, me? my name’s lucas, how bout you?” lucas asked with a grin on his face. “will, have you lived here long?” will asked as the two walked to the register. “oh no, only about two-three years, you?” lucas asked. “just got here yesterday.” will replied, paying for his stuff.

the two of them continued their conversation outside. “ah, fresh meat then, what brings you to seattle?” lucas asked, will chuckled. “uhm, the music scene, i guess.” he replied, lucas nodded in agreement. “yeah, people have been flooding in the masses to here lately. music’s just a plus. where ya from?” lucas asked as they crossed the street. “indiana, you?” will replied, his feet seemed to mysteriously know the area. “same.” lucas said, “wanna check this new hot dog place ‘round the corner?” he asked, will nodded. most of will’s afternoon was spent hanging out with lucas, they exchanged numbers and parted ways at about 4 pm. when will got home, he searched his tons of boxes for the one labeled ‘kid’s record player’. hopper had to have labeled it. once he got it out, he hooked it up and pulled out his nirvana record.

he checked the back of the record, the first song was love buzz. will began to place the record on the player and put the needle at the start. ‘love buzz’ started to play.

‘would you believe me when i tell you’ ‘you are the queen of my heart’ ‘please don’t deceive me when i hurt you’ ‘just ain’t the way it seems’

kurt’s smooth vocals, the constant beat of the drums and the licks of guitar. will couldn’t get enough, he left the living room shortly to call el and hopper back in hawkins. the song still playing softly in the background.

‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’

will dialed the numbers and waited for them to answer. surprisingly it only took a second. “hey, will! how’s your trip going? did you meet some new people? how’s like wherever you are?” el exclaimed through the phone, will softly winced. “el, slow down, i can’t understand you!” will exclaimed back, tears threatening to fall, he missed his family dearly but el most of all. they were like two peas in a pod the two short years they spent together. they came to each other with everything, el’s a very open person so no secrets could be kept between the two. “oh, ok, hi will, what’s that song in the background?” el asked, holding the phone close to her ear so she could hear everything. “oh it’s love buzz.” will answered, looking over his shoulder. el scrunched her nose “who’s it by?” she asked, “some new band in seattle, nirvana i think.” will answered, el nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her.

“so how’s seattle?” el asked, just barely keeping her excitement to herself. will chuckled, he could feel how excited she was. “it’s nice, i met a guy.” he replied, el could find herself smirking. “is he cute?” she asked, will started to blush. “uh, yeah.” he stammered, el smirked further. “just don’t bring me a niece or nephew too soon!” she joked, will turned raspberry red. “eleanor!” he shouted, el just guffawed. hopper poked into the kitchen, “who’s giving me a grand baby? it better not be you!” hopper said, el chuckled again. “no but will might, he met a guy!” she said, hopper looked at her to know more. “eleanor, pass over the phone, i need to talk with your brother.” hopper said, el whispered into the phone. “good luck, dad heard!” will facepalmed, “i hate you so much, el.” he bemoaned, “i love you too, big bro!” she said before handing the phone to hopper.

“hello, son.” hopper said, will softly grimaced. “hey, dad, how are you?” he asked. “well fine considering your sister just told me you met a guy. what’s his name, what’s he like, do i have to beat his ass?” hopper asked. “oh no no, dad you don’t! he’s great but just a friend and his name’s lucas.” will replied, chuckling softly at his dad’s antics. “oh ok, just don’t send me any grandbabies yet and we’ll be good.” hopper joked, will screeched. “dad, stop! i’ll call you guys later!” will said before hanging up after saying goodbye. he thought about calling lucas until the conversation he had earlier popped into his head.

he blushed hard but called him anyway. the phone ringed and ringed until finally he answered. “sinclair residence.” will heard lucas’ smooth voice and he couldn’t help smiling. “hi, yes i’m looking for lucas, is he there?” will asked, playing along. lucas snorted “why yes, you have him, what’s going on, pretty boy?” lucas asked, will smiled further. “oh nothing, just got off the phone with my family, how about you?” will asked, his eyes closed. “yeah, nothing so far-. erica, put that down!” lucas shouted at someone, will suspected that that was his sister since he remembered lucas mentioning her. “hold on, sorry, pretty boy, i’ll have to call you back later!” lucas said before hanging up. will placed the phone down in its holder and fell out, laughing. seattle was good so far.

days followed into months and months followed into years. will has lived in seattle for 4 years and has dated lucas for 3. funny thing love is, how fleeting and fragile it all is. we met up with will, who was currently making out with lucas. they parted, “i love you, pretty boy.” lucas whispered into will’s ear, his stubble tickling will’s neck. “i love you too, lucas. that day, april 8th, 1994, 3 days after kurt cobain had reported to have killed himself and three weeks before will was to leave seattle to move back to indiana, where he’d bring lucas with him. they turned on the tv and it had been set to the news, where’s the couple would see kurt’s death reported. will stood there in shock, one thing was for sure, his trip here would end soon. lucas looked at him, holding him close, wiping something off will’s face. there were tears, will hadn’t had noticed he had been crying until lucas brought him to his chest, comforting him. there in that tiny apartment, the couple were somber from the new alongside the rest of the grunge world.

friday, april 22nd, 1994, the day that will was scheduled to head back home along with his boyfriend. “i’m really gonna miss this place.” lucas said, looking around the street. they had packed will’s car with the necessities and were about to head on the the road when will started to cry again. lucas frowned, grabbing will’s hand, pulling him close. “what’s wrong, baby?” he asked, will roughly wiped his tears. “it’s nothing, reall-.” will began to say before lucas shot him a look. “oh ok, i guess i’m still sad about leaving.” will admitted sincerely, lucas rubbed his back. “it’s alrigh’, pretty boy. we’ll be ok.” will closed his eyes, reeling into lucas’ warmth. “we’ll be ok.” will repeated to calm his nerves.

crazy to think that was only a few months ago, (back to the november 6th, present day) will and lucas were still going strong. it was just that lucas was away on business and wouldn’t come back until after today. will sighed, he always seemed to slip back into his old habits when lucas wasn’t around. he thought about his mom and that turned into a whole spiral. will walked into the bathroom and grabbed his pocket knife. he cut a small piece of his wrist before making another identical incision. will snapped back to reality and threw the pocket knife back in the drawer, locking it as to never touch it again. he wrapped up his wrist and walked over to the phone. will desperately needed lucas. the phone ringed and ringed before lucas answered.

“hello, lucas sinclair here.” he answered in a groggy voice “uh hey, lucas, it’s will, did i wake you?” will asked, slightly regretting calling him. “oh no, baby, i’ve been up a while. what’s wrong?” lucas asked. will started sniffling, “i was uhm thinking about my mom and i uh cut myself.” he forced out, tears streaming down his face. lucas’ heart softened, “oh ok, did you dress them?” he asked, will hummed. “i need you to hold on for me, ok? i’ll get the next flight there tonight so i can see you, alright?” lucas said, will whined softly. “can you do that? i don’t want to be a bur-.” will began to ask when lucas cut him off. “baby, don’t you dare finish that sentence. i’m don’t give two shits about this damn job, what i care about is you so i’m going to come home tonight. that’s it, you hear me?” lucas asked, will smiled softly and hummed again. “alright, i’ll see you soon, ok? get some sleep and make sure you eat! love you so much, pretty boy.” lucas declared, will smiled harder. “o-o-ok, love you too, lucas.” will said before hanging up.

he then floated to the kitchen, thinking about mike. will knew it was wrong to think romantically about someone else when you’re in a committed relationship. it wasn’t like he didn’t love lucas with all his heart but will also felt a strong connection with him, something he’d felt once before in ‘88. he decided to talk to lucas about all of that later. right now, will was looking for something to eat in the fridge. nothing looked appetizing so he decided to order pizza. will waited as the pizza was to arrived, so he went to watch some tv. he scrolled through channels until he found daria, one of his favorite shows. after the pizza came, will grabbed it, paid the guy and plopped back on the couch.

he ate 6 slices before putting the pizza in the fridge and walking over to the bedroom, instantly falling asleep. will dreamt of his mom, surprise, surprise. she stood in a white gown, unlike her usual style and her hair was glowing down her back. she looked younger, happier, the one thing will couldn’t be without her. “remember that it wasn’t your fault and that i love you, baby, so much. can’t wait to see you.” joyce said, funny thing that those were her last words before dying in a hospital bed 9 hours after.

mike awoke in a cold sweat. nightmares seemed to plague his sleep more and more often. this time, it was about will ‘dying’ and his corpse coming back to tell him that he was all his fault and he never loved him. he was also crying, great, the hangover hit him instantly. mike ran to the bathroom and thankfully, made it to the toilet. after puking his guts out, mike popped a few tylenols, grabbed a glass of water and laid down. after a 2 hour nap, mike awoke still tired. so, he grabbed his pack of cigarettes, his lighter and sat on the fire escape. as mike smoked his first cigarette, he couldn’t help but remember what will had said about them then what he said after. ‘wonder what happened to him to have tried to kill himself…’ mike thought, blowing smoke into the early morning air.

will woke up to someone holding him. when he opened his eyes, there he saw lucas, fast asleep. will tried to get out of his hold but he just held on tighter. he huffed but was glad to get some extra sleep. ‘we’ll talk later i guess.’ will thought before drifting off. about 2 hours later, will was awoken by the smell of breakfast. he jumped up before remembering his wrist, will winced but made his way to the kitchen. there he found lucas dancing to candy rain by soul for real. “hey, baby! come join me!” lucas said, shaking his hips and reaching out a hand to will, who chuckled softly. “but i can’t danc-!” will began to say when lucas pulled him in. “just follow my lead.” lucas whispered. they waltzed, tangoed and slow danced. “ok that’s enough.” will declared, out of breath, lucas agreed.

the morning was spent eating, goofing off and getting ready of the day. lucas helps will redress his scars, which makes will force back tears. “uhm lucas, can we talk?” will said shakily. lucas hummed. “uh this may sound weird but i found a guy that i think i had a past relationship with.” lucas gave him a look, “why do you think?” his voice, strong with no waver. “well i uh got a concussion which basically made me forget the whole relationship and i think that i still love him.” will admitted. lucas stared at will’s arm, he knew that will couldn’t possibly think of breaking up with him. “lucas? i’m not breaking up with you if that’s what you’re thinking. i love the both of you but it’s fine if you don’t want m-.” will began to say when he then placed in lucas’ lap, who gave him a kiss.

“ah no, nena, todavía te quiero.” lucas whispered after pulling apart. will laid his head on lucas’ chest, “do you still love me?” he asked, “sí niño bonito, todavía te amo.” lucas replied, lifting will’s chin and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

after some time, the couple went in a search for mike. they found him at the park. “you should stay here.” will whispered, lucas nodded after looking around and placing a kiss on his cheek. will walked over to mike and took a spot next to him. “do you remember me?” will asked, mike looked at him then smiled. “of course i do, will.” he said, will looked surprised but was happy. he pulled mike into a hug, “is that your boyfriend over there or?” mike whispered in will’s ear, will hummed. “yeah, it’s kinda complicated but i love both of you and he’s ok with it.” will whispered back, mike exhaled. “so he wouldn’t mind if i kissed you right now?” mike asked, letting go of will. will began to blush, “uhm, i guess not bu-.” he began to say then he was interrupted by mike placing his lips onto of his.

it shocked to say the least but, he began to relax into the kiss. mike tasted like smoke and chocolate, will wanted more but, mike broke the kiss and will whined. “don’t worry, you’ll get more when we’re out of plain sight.” mike whispered and will smirked. they held hands, lucas couldn’t help but feel happy for his boyfriend and the three were off, to will’s and lucas’ shared apartment. there will and mike made out the whole time. will couldn’t believe how good mike tasted, it was so good, he really couldn’t get enough. mike broke the kiss to breathe then went at it again. lucas cleared his throat, the two parted, mike was clearly irritated with him. “getting take out, what y’all want?” “chinese is good!” mike hollered before going back to devouring will’s lips, god how long had it been since they kissed like this? mike couldn’t remember but he didn’t want it to stop.

after a few minutes, mike and will settled to cuddling. will was the big spoon with mike the small, who surprisingly fell asleep right after they got comfortable. lucas scooted close to the couple, “ya happy, baby?” he asked, will nodded leaning in for a kiss. lucas took and placed his lips onto of will’s. “take a nap, pretty boy, i’ll wake y’all up when the food gets here.” lucas whispered, will had happily obliged. he dreamt of that day, november 6th, crazy how it still has an effect on him. the driver carrying him to his car, the blood so much blood, the drive to the hospital, the sickeningly clean loud atmosphere, far away from home, from mike. he had flat lines in the hospital, dead in a hospital without family surrounding him, just like his mom….just like his mo-……

will was shooken awake and he screamed. mike was woken up, “what’s wrong, will?” he asked. will shook his head, his throat too tight. “hey, will, look at me.” mike said sternly, lucas looked at will in concern. will look at him, wheezing. “breathe with me, here, in, out, in, out.” mike said, grabbing one of will’s hands and placing it on his heart. will had calmed down 5 minutes later. he held mike’s face in his hands, his fingers in mike’s hair. will was safe, surrounded by the loves of his live, he was ok. will leaned in to kiss mike, he placed his lips on will’s. they kiss only for a second, will bringing mike’s forehead to his. after that, he pulled lucas to him, leaning his head on lucas’ shoulder. mike got out of will’s arms to go get his and will’s food. lucas pulled will into a hug. “you good, now?” he whispered into will’s hair, will nodded, exhaustion slowly taking over.

mike laid will’s head on his shoulder, eating his rice. lucas sat on the end of the couch, will’s legs atop of lucas’ lap. after they finished eating, lucas carried will to bed. the two of them trying to fit themselves in with will. once the three of them were comfortable, they drifted off to sleep. will was content with his boyfriends in their apartment of hawkins city, the small town of hawkins far from will’s mind. here he was, alive with his joys in life right by his side.

tagslist: @foodiewithdahoodie @adorewillbyers @thefruityfours @atbyler @eefonline @hazmatazz @evil-gay-person @finalgirlharrison @cgi-heart-eyes @cringefail-loser @eggo-owl @thatonesongyouretryingtoremember

[judasofsuburbia]

another snippet from my spicy six zombie apocolypse au! this is from ronance's chapter. tw: mild sexual content.

“Nancy Karen Wheeler,” Eddie starts.

“That’s not my middle name,” Nancy says.

“If you don’t take that with us, I’m gonna tell Robin that you don’t love her.”

Nancy rolls her eyes and shoves Eddie away. She keeps looking around for the kiddos to appear behind them but they’re all doing their own thing on the first floor of this house. Significantly beat up house with broken windows, various animal markings, and peeling walls. A typical house that they run into. They’re not staying here tonight, just ransacking it for goods. But this “good” was not on Nancy’s list of things to take. 

“It’ll take up too much room in my bag,” Nancy mumbles. Eddie's admiring an erotic painting that hung lopsided on the wall. Eddie blows a raspberry and gives her a pointed look. 

“Then ditch it after you have yourselves a night,” Eddie says with a teasing grin. 

“We don’t even know if it’s sanitary,” Nancy argues. 

“It’s literally still in the package,” Eddie exclaims, picking it up off the dusty mattress. He waves it in her face while Nancy scrunches her nose. 

“Don’t those…go bad or something after a while?” 

Eddie looks like he’s seconds away from bursting into full belly laughter. “Is Nancy Karen‒”

“Eddie, Christ, that’s not my middle name. What a bad middle name.”

“Fine, is Nancy Jacqueline Wheeler‒”

“Jacqueline?”

“Your parents seem like Kennedy people.”

“They’re republican.”

“Damn, that bites,” Eddie retorts. “What point was I trying to make?”

Nancy cracks a smile then. “I don’t know. Your undiagnosed ADHD is an enigma to us all.”

“Could be ADD,” Eddie argues pointlessly. He looks down at his hands and his eyes light up again. “Ah, yes! Nancy Elizabeth Wheeler was about to ask me if a dildo can expire.”

Nancy hits his arm and shushes him. “Shut the hell up!”

“No, no it’s cute,” Eddie says. “It’s really cute that you’re coming to Big Gay Eddie for help‒”

“I’m not coming to you for help,” Nancy seethes. 

“It might be too far to help you get into the leather straps but maybe if we did it over your clothes… or if Steve was there‒”

“I’m going to actually murder you,” Nancy spits. 

“What? He’s seen it all before!” Eddie says as he gestures to Nancy’s body. 

Nancy huffs and goes to leave the room. She reaches the door before she turns around and says, “You put that thing down, Edward Johnny Munson.”

“Johnny?"

“Johnny Cash,” Nancy says in her best southern drawl. 

Eddie narrows his eyes and then gave her a sad smile. “You talked to Wayne too much.”

Nancy returns the sad smile and says, “He was a great guy to talk to.”

Eddie nods fondly. They’re not sure where Wayne is. When the Lurkers took over, they were still in the Upside Down fighting Vecna. They saw no bodies when they came back but Eddie found a sticky note on the fridge that said, “I’ll find you one day, son”.

He keeps it in his wallet (which is pretty obsolete now but everyone has little things they carry that make them feel like people). Eddie doesn’t talk about it much but Nancy thinks Wayne is out there. He might have been old but he was ready to fight that whole town if it meant Eddie was okay. Some measly zombies are not going to stand in his way. 

The house, minus the strap-on, is actually good loot. There were tampons, bags of beans and rice, reusable water bottles, half-empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, and some unscented soap which is great for cleaning gear.

The group moves forward into the night and sets up camp in a barn. It’s Nancy, Steve, and Lucas’s turn to make dinner so Lucas starts a fire while Nancy and Steve set up the pots and pans. 

Nancy reaches into her backpack to dig around for a wooden spoon when she pulls out an unfamiliar box. She squeaks and Steve glances up from his bag. His eyes go wide as Nancy hurriedly shoves the box back into her bag. Nancy shoots him a glare and Steve holds his hands up in defense. 

“I didn’t see whatever you didn’t want me to see,” Steve says.

“Your boyfriend is dead fucking meat,” Nancy seethes.

“He usually is.”

“Little shit,” Nancy grumbles, violently shoving the box further into her bag. 

“Woah, woah, hey, don’t damage the goods,” Steve jokes. 

“I’m not,” Nancy stops herself to huff. “I’m not gonna…use it.”

“I don’t care if you do or don’t. I don’t even know how sanitary it is.”

“That’s what I said!”

“How, if you don’t mind me asking, did my boyfriend put that in there? Where the hell did you even get it?”

Nancy sighs loudly. “It was in the bedroom of the house. The one with the painting‒”

Steve whistles and nods. “Yeah, that was nice.”

Nancy scoffs and waves an exasperated hand. “Eddie found it and oh so graciously offered it to me and told me if I didn’t take it that I didn’t love Robin anymore.”

Steve sputters a laugh and shakes his head. Lucas comes back over and Nancy hurriedly hides her bag behind the back of the log she’s sitting on. 

“What’s so funny?” Lucas asks. 

“Nothing,” The two say. 

Lucas frowns. “I hate when you guys do that.”

“Do what?” Nancy asks. 

“Make jokes that you won’t tell us. We’re all adults here.”

“That is simply not true,” Steve says.

“Okay maybe not Erica but I’m nearly 18! What’s the goddamn joke?” Lucas whines. 

“It’s personal,” Nancy says sternly through gritted teeth.

Lucas looks at Steve and tilts his head. “Well?”

Steve deliberates for a moment while Nancy shoots daggers at him. Eventually, he shakes his head and says, “Yeah, we’re not having that talk today. Maybe some other time, sport.”

Lucas groans and gestures behind him. “Fire’s ready. You can take your little jokes over there.”

Nancy slaps his thigh as she stands and Steve ruffles his afro. Lucas shoves them both away and grumpily takes a seat on the log they were on. Nancy and Steve snicker to themselves but don’t bring up the box for the rest of the night.

Nancy tries to think of a way to get rid of it. But can't help also thinking about that unscented soap...

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

The First Real Intention (One-night Stands, Part 2.)

Description: Chief Hopper was a mystery since he appeared back in town. Most of the people thought of him as a “lost, whoring-around alcoholic junkie”. But what if he actually manages to find a friend amongst all of the known strangers he meets in Hawkins daily?

Part Summary: Staying at the Byers residence made you sure of one thing - Will having flu meant that you’ll be the only employee working at Melvald’s for some time. Which also means that James Hopper will be forced to talk to you. 

A/N: I know I’m taking a long time to even make these two even somewhat talk, but I just want to make the reader to be a part of Hawkins... Also, Joyce is literally the best character in any series ever (we stan a single strong mother) and she really needs a friend and someone to talk to. And even tho what happened in series 3, I think Karen is a great mother. Rewatching season 1 and 2 and seeing how tight Cara hugs Finn every time? Makes my heart m e l t.

Word Count: 2.9 K

Tagging: x

Master list: One-night Stands

"And then... Then he grabbed me and smashed me against the wall. For a moment, I didn't know what to do, but he was so angry and scary. The others were just watching it in shock and they couldn't even move. I had to do something, right? I couldn't just stand there and be scared of him. So I took a deep breath in and..." "Excuse me, what now?" - You asked with your fork between your fingers, watching the kid next sitting next to you. Four people were sitting around the round table and you were the only alarmed one. The kid's chicken casserole must've been too cold to be eaten at that moment, but Will didn't seem to care about that at the moment. With worries, you looked at Joyce sitting on the opposite side of the table, trying to figure out what the hell was Will talking about. Yet suddenly, you could hear Jonathan snickering as he watched your confused expression.

"Nobody was hurt in real life, don't worry." - The older boy laughed, trying to put on a serious face again. With an unbelieving sigh, you rested your back on the chair's backrest, quietly snickering as well. Will, who didn't have a single clue about what was the problem, looked at both you and Jonathan before he said a silent... - "Oh." - Just like his mom. "You don't have to be worried. Will and his friends play this game, Dragons and Dungeons, almost every day after school... If they aren't out, biking around Hawkins." - Joyce laughed happily, seeing you relax after hearing such a vivid story of violence. Will caught your attention again when he smiled at his mom. - "Actually, it's Dungeons and Dragons, mom." - The boy corrected her with a smile. - "I'm playing this wizard character who travels with his party of friends, doing quests and such. It's really fun. My friend Mike comes up with the stories of every campaign, he's good at that."

"Good, good." - Trying to shake the shock off, you laughed. - "You got me scared for a moment there. So, who were you fighting against, if I may ask? Could you start over for me?" - After that, Will started to talk about the campaign in great detail, telling you a story of a party of three heroes and their great adventure in the Goldrum cavern. Apparently, his character was fighting against a minotaur that almost got them, but thanks to his protection spell, they got out of the danger unharmed. Even if it was kind of nerdy, you thought it sounded really cool. When all of you were finished eating dinner, Will brought some of his old artwork to show you what he was talking about. No wonder he had such a vivid and wild imagination if he and his friends played games like these.

Joyce watched the two of you with a smile. While Jonathan made the popcorn and put the VHS tape into the player, you were still sitting in the kitchen with Will and looked at all his artworks, being interested in all the stories behind them. You've heard the story of Will the Wise, the local wizard, and his brave friends. They have slain the Demogorgon and the Tessalhydra as the brave heroes they were, but they also fought other evil creatures, like Medusas and Minotaurs. Before the movie itself, you accompanied Joyce outside to keep her company on her smoke break. As usual, she offered you a cigarette and you said a polite "no, thank you". It was there when she started talking about Will appearing a little more... Pale than usual.

"I think it's the flu. I mean, it's fall already and it had to come sooner or later." - That was the explanation you came up with. For you, Will looked normal - but that was because you didn't know how he usually behaves. Even tho you didn't know each other that well, Joyce could tell that the moment you asked him to show you more of his artworks and tell you more stories, you officially became one of his favorite adults in the entirety of Hawkins - right after herself, Mr. Clarke and Mrs. Handerson, who always gave them sweets when they hung at Dustin's place. "You're probably right, Y/N, I'm just being overly worried. But, you know, I don't want to leave Will alone at home if he has flu. He's pretty fine today, but what about tomorrow's morning?" - Stressed out, Joyce stood up and walked around the house's terrace, hugging herself. You remained sitting on the bench and watched her. With one of your arms, you supported your head and the other one was resting in your lap.  

"That's because you won't be leaving him alone at home. The last two months I worked there, I have never seen you miss a shift, call in sick or take a day off. It's time for you to slow down a bit and stay with Will at home tomorrow, in case he's sick as we think. You can... Draw together, watch movies, play cards, I don't know. I think Chester will be happy about it as well." - Saying the last sentence, you looked down at the dog laying by your feet. The dog looked at you back just because it heard its name. When Chester realized you weren't talking to him, he just moved a bit closer to your feet, waiting for you to pet him. "But Donald..." "No Donald, Joyce, forget about Donald. Your kid is more important than some Melvald's in the downtown. And in case you didn't notice, I can already handle it on my own." - That was true. You remembered where everything was and when new goods were brought every day. Melvald's was safe in your hands.

Joyce sat back next to you, taking your hand to her, puffing out another bit of smoke. - "Thank you." - She said seriously, squeezing your palm a bit. - "It's great to have such a great friend and co-worker." You spent another five minutes on the terrace, just talking about nonsensical things. The weather was warm and fine, just like the day before and even though it was almost 8:30 p.m., the sky was still nicely bright.

Jonathan was the one choosing the movie. Since Joyce didn't want to watch a horror movie, he borrowed some family sitcoms from which you could choose. Not like you knew any of them. It was good at parts and it gave you a few cheap laughs. While you, Jonathan, and Will sat on the sofa and ate some warm popcorn, Joyce was long asleep in the armchair. Not too long after her, even Will dozed off, leaning his head into your shoulder - just from this short-lasting contact you could feel how hot and sweaty he is. It was definitely flu. Since you were the one Will made his pillow of, Jonathan carried him to his room when the movie ended. "She's just overworked, I think." - The older Byers boy told you when you closed the door to Will's room. When you tried to touch his forehead, just to make sure you were right, you could feel he's burning up. - "Mom is at her job almost all the time... I mean, she was, she's not there as much anymore since you started working at Melvald's. Her problem is that she doesn't know how to slow down. To be fair, she was always like that since Lonnie left us."

"I know, I know." - A sigh came out of your lips as you watched Joyce sleeping in the armchair. Damn, the eyebags were pretty darn impressive in her opinion. Was that position even comfortable at all? - "I asked her to stay at home tomorrow and watch over Will. I know that she'd usually ask you to do so; I also don't doubt that Will is capable of staying here on his own, but... She needs to catch a breath. And you, my young child friend, need to help me with your mom in that regard." For a moment, there was dead silence in the kitchen as you drank your glass of water. But as Jonathan slowly walked to the small hallway between his and Will's room, he chuckled, making you turn your head to look at his back. - "I'm not that much younger, you know?" - And just like that, the door to his room closed. Right. This left you sitting in the kitchen, grinning into your glass. Maybe, you weren't the biggest of friends with Joyce's boys, but this seemed like the right step forward in building some type of relationship with them.

As to be expected and as you were used to from your previous sleepovers at Joyce's, the morning was pretty chaotical. Especially when you argued with Joyce over her staying home. The argument was going through her head until the moment she checked on Will - the poor boy had a fever and cold sweat all over his body, being as pale as his bedsheets. When she drove herself and Will to the doctor's, she took you with them as well, driving you to Melvald's. Needless to be said, it was a shift like every other. Before opening the door to the public, you walked through the shop and checked everything's in order. Then you helped the delivery man carry the pastries inside the shop - not long after the first delivery man, Eugene delivered you new crops while taking the old ones back to his farm to compose them.

Eugene came every other day with new crops that were grown around the general area - they usually had everything from potatoes to cucumbers. And since fall was approaching already, Eugene was promising you the best pumpkins you've ever seen. Also, not like all the crops came directly from Eugene's farm. Donald settled a deal with most of the farmers around Hawkins and bought stuff from them regularly, making sure he's supporting the local economy. When Eugene left, Donald stopped by to check everything was a-ok. He also informed you that Joyce took a day off because Will was sick (as if you didn't know that already), asking you if you're alright with working there alone for a few days.

"Locals know me, Donald, you don't have to be worried. It's a small town, not like there will be a mile-long line just to buy potatoes. Joyce deserves a few days off, doesn't she?" "Of course she does, especially if her boy is sick. I was just wondering if you're alright with that. Simone and I will be leaving the town for a few days, unfortunately, and I don't know who else should I ask." - It was kind of sweet of Donald to worry that much, but for you, it wasn't that much of a big deal. You'll just be there on your own, making sure Melvald's running as everyone is used to. You knew how to accept deliveries and how to order stuff in case you'd be out something. Yet, you greatly doubted that would happen. "I'll be fine in here, Donald, I promise." - With that, you patted his shoulder a bit, walking him out of the door. - "I'd call you if I'd need anything, alright? I think I have your hotel's phone number, you gave it to Joyce last Friday. The shop won't burn down just because you're not in town."

Truth be told, it was more lonely when Joyce wasn't there, especially in the morning. Blasts played on the radio suddenly didn't have the right energy and you had no one to talk with when you got too bored. To your luck, people started coming in around lunch break to buy sandwiches, pre-made meals, groceries, or sweets to snack on. "Look at you, you're looking really good today. Did you do something to your hair?" - Karen Wheeler asked you while waiting for you to tell her the price for everything. You wholeheartedly giggled at that question, shaking your head. - "I think I just slept well. Also, it might be that I usually don't wear a turtleneck under this blue monstrosity, so that is why you might think I look good today."

Talking with Karen, you needed to thread very carefully. You didn't have any doubts about Karen being a nice, funny lady and a great mother, but you couldn't forget that she's one of the local gossipers. Who were you to blame her? Hawkins was a small town. You liked it, it was a pleasant change from where you lived before - but people living there for their whole life must've been bored to death. "It's not just today, you always look good." - Karen winked at you, which made you look back at her. First of all, the compliment was an honest one, making you warm up a bit as you felt yourself smiling. But there was another context to that question. Why would she suddenly start talking about your hair if the longest and deepest conversation you had was about if Airheads or Bonkers are better? Did she have a new haircut and no-one noticed?  "But you did something with your hair, didn't you?" - You guessed, putting the last bottle of milk into her paper bag. You knew you're right because Karen straightened up and smiled at you even more. "Where's Joyce? I don't remember a single morning she wouldn't be here." "Will, he's sick. Probably flu, but we don't know yet." - While you were making sure that you're giving her back the right amount of change, Karen's expression turned into a rather unhappy one. With one glance, she looked down at Holly and then back at. - "I hope not, Michael spent his whole evening with him yesterday. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for Will, but I hope our whole house won't catch it. I need to go, see you around Y/N."

"Nice talking to you, Karen!" - You waved behind her, watching her leading Holly by her hand. This was your first conversation with someone other than Joyce, and it felt pretty dang good. As you were used to, Mr. Clarke came in with a new science joke that made you laugh and Marissa was talking about the new batch of books they got delivered earlier that day. As usual, the whole place was pretty much tranquil until the very evening, when it got completely dead silent. With a sigh, you got on your feet and turned on the radio again, taking the papers to reassure you there's enough of everything on the shelves while dancing to the tunes. Honestly, you didn't even notice someone entered the shop until you got back to the cash register. Well, who would it be at that time of the day (five minutes before closing time precisely) be other than James Hopper?

Quietly, you slipped behind the register and waited until he moves too - yet to your surprise, he was growing more and more restless waiting for Joyce. Just after he took a deep breath in, you cleared your throat to make him look at you. "She's not here." - You said quietly, leaning your elbows to the counter. Hopper, as if he didn't realize he's not alone in there, turned at you with a strange expression. It was... He was surprised. That was the first time James Hopper ever looked with the intent of actually looking at you - now, you weren't the background character anymore because he was sort of forced to talk to you.

Your expression wasn't easy to decipher either. It was the same furrow you gave him yesterday (the one which he didn't see) that was saying everything and anything at the same time. "You're waiting for Joyce and I'm telling you she's not here." - You repeated to explain yourself, patting the counter in front of you. - "We'll gonna have to manage on our own today, but I know it doesn't make you ecstatic."

"If she's not here, where is she?" - Hopper asked, putting all of his groceries in front of you. He was curious and something about what you said made him less lethargic. It was a competition of furrows - while you were trying to figure out what is going on inside his head, Hopper furrowed as he tried to interpret your words in a way that would make sense to him. Yet being overthrown by his "why should I give a single fuck" attitude, he decided not to think about it any deeper. "Will is sick and she's staying there with him. She's not here in the evenings usually anymore." - You explained, counting his order. As expected, all Hopper said was a long hum, not paying attention after. Without asking him, your hand shot up to pull a pack of filterless Camels out of the shelf, putting them next to his purchase. "It will be 8.75, Chief." "I didn't mind." - Hopper mumbled all of a sudden when giving you the banknote, making you stop for a moment before fetching the right amount to give him back. - "You said I'm not ecstatic about you taking my order, but I didn't mind. Have a nice one, miss."

Tipping his hat, he grabbed everything and walked out of the store, leaving you watching the door. What in the world was that supposed to mean?

[reineyday]

hey! i think perhaps u should consider that billy fans arent relating to his racism, they are relating to his abusive past, and if you're willing to villify real people for relating to billy's abuse bc they themselves are abuse victims, you need to examine your own actions.

furthermore, while you are correct in saying a bad past doesnt excuse someone's present actions, this is a work of fiction where different fans are able to relate to different parts of different characters' stories. while it's perfectly valid for one person to look at billy and see his racist actions and hate him for it, it is also equally and perfectly valid for another person to see his abusive past and understand where he is coming from and want to defend him. i find that the problem lies with people who think it's okay to attack others for having a different interpretation on a work of fiction.

buckle up, this ended up being a LONG response. 😅 but it's genuine in spirit! i really am just trying to answer your post earnestly, since you invited replies.

this is a work of fiction. in my every day life, as a poc, if someone was racist to me then that would be the end of my interaction with them bc i need to protect myself first. i wouldnt be interested in forgiving them or hearing them out unless i see that theyre being honest about their mistake and working to be better (and that's a personal choice on my part; other poc might choose to drop them altogether and that's valid too.)

with billy, however, again: this is a work of fiction. im not just judging him based on a single interaction, i get to see as much of his story that the show gives us, and with billy, the duffers gave us a lot. they showed us that he's been abused since he was a child, that his mother left him alone with his abusive father. the duffers showed us that as a kid, he wanted to protect his mother--that he was a "good guy"--and then he got abandoned by her. they showed us that he would stand up against a monster that's been mind-controlling him--a gigantic monster that came out of literally nowhere for him, bc he knew nothing about the upside down--to save a girl who showed him the barest hint of compassion. the duffers literally showed us that billy was a protector in the past and that his last choice in life was to protect someone else (and apologize to his step-sister to boot).

i also know that racism is something that's learned. his father's been abusing him since he was a kid, and we even see billy get called homophobic slurs by his father. it's not a far leap to assume that his father is also racist, and that billy's own racism stems from survival--that disagreeing with his father about anything, including race, might get him beat up at home.

sure, in every day life, id stay far the fuck away from billy and any person even remotely like him--not just cuz of the racism, but his whole aggressive attitude puts me off by a mile and i wouldnt feel safe around him. max didnt. lucas didnt. that's all valid. but bc this is a work of fiction, i can also see that billy struggled a lot, i can understand that child abuse changes you on a fundamental level, i can see that he's been a protector in the past and is capable of choosing to do so again with some compassion, and i can think, "hey, i like the idea of that guy learning to be a better person, because i think he's capable of doing it and i like it when people do the work and unlearn the shitty things they had to think and do to survive."

god knows everyone who was a child in the early 2000s (in north america, at least) had to unlearn some homophobia. i myself had to be taught that using "gay" as an insult was bad, and i was mostly just a normal kid. (actually, i was a repressed queer kid l o l.) i wasnt calling people "gay" as an insult to be physically safe at home, i was just doing it to fit in. the second i understood it was bad, i trained myself out of it. i was in an environment that actively encouraged doing so, but it still took a little work to catch myself and remind myself that it's not bad to be gay, so it's not even insulting to use "gay" 'cuz it's just a descriptor. i actually had to do this with using "girl" as an insult too: it's not bad to be like a girl 'cuz girls aren't lesser, so why should it be an insult? and these are just very light examples of what i absorbed via osmosis from the media around me at the time. imagine being a child growing up with someone who physically harmed you every time you spoke up against homophobia and racism (and we do see billy getting a lot of sexist and homophobic shit from his dad, both in billy's memories and that one abuse scene). maybe if billy had some support, encouragement and actual physical safety himself, he'd be able to do it too.

we already established that billy likely learned his racism as a method of survival living with neil, and his anger is likely a coping mechanism to deal with his abusive home situation. these things led to his transgressions against lucas, max, and steve. this isnt me excusing him for those transgressions, but we as viewers are able to understand where it's coming from and why it might have happened. the thing is though: people can learn to be better. people can grow up to understand how their transgressions hurt other people, and work to be a better person. hell, look at steve harrington: remember when he called nancy a whore in season 1 and then called jonathan queer in a derogatory manner right after? but now he's a fan-favourite and robin's best friend. robin, who is a queer woman. steve was redeemed. why not billy?

attacking the people who relate to billy because they are or have been abuse survivors that coped using anger by calling them racist showcases a lack of empathy and critical thinking, in my opinion. hate billy all you want, but dont attack his fans bc you could be actively hurting some real people. im sure there are fans out there who like him because they too were once angry abuse survivors, and they might have hurt people in their own lives, made their own transgressions, have their own regrets--all in reaction to or consequences of the abuse they were suffering. telling those people that billy is irredeemable for his transgressions implies that those fans are irredeemable for their own past transgressions as well, that they cant grow and learn to be better, and they should feel guilty for liking billy because they see themselves in him. dont do that to people. dont cut off a source of hope and comfort for them, for the sake of your moral high ground. just let people like the fictional characters they like.

btw, to be crystal clear about this: billy's actions were not okay. lucas and max and steve and anyone else billy may have hurt are not obligated to forgive billy in any way, shape or form. but as an abuse survivor, i think billy himself should have been given more of a chance to grow as a person, with or without the absolution from his victims. he deserved to get love and support and to become better just for himself, and i believe this bc thats what i would want for anyone i love that's in a bad way at home. it's what i wanted for myself as a kid, when my mom would lecture me over and over about what "respect and responsibility" means to her. (and hey look, there's the reason i relate to billy hargrove!)

as a last note, to return quickly to the racism: dont forget that racism is just as much an action as it is a way of thinking. you can do racist things even without considering yourself a racist, by accident or because you didnt realize it was racist--because you didnt know better. at the end of the day, billy's character only interacted with lucas a couple times. billy was a (surprisingly) dimensional character, and there was a lot more material to judge him for, aside from his racism. this is just my opinion, but based on the rest of what we saw about billy, i personally think he was the type of character who did things that were racist to survive (and for the sake of power dynamics). i dont think he was inherently racist; he didnt seem to actively hate and aggressively scorn poc, he probably just learned some bullshit abt places in society from neil that he heavily internalized and (sub)consciously acts on.

TL; DR - in real life, you can and should make a snap judgement on a racist transgression because sometimes that's all we'll ever see of a person and we need to protect ourselves first. in fiction, however, we are afforded the ability to get a larger scope on a character's story, so we shouldnt attack other people for coming away from that character's story with different interpretations than your own. if you dont like someone else's interpretation, dont call them out--just block them and move on.

the way some billy discourse surrounding his racism goes, yall make it sound like hating billy and attacking billy fans means that youre being the better person for refusing to "excuse" racism, but to me it sounds like you might be more likely to fall into the trap of believing you cant do anything racist bc you pride yourself on not being one, so just... be careful. think critically about your actions. think about the way you think about things. accept fault if a poc brings up something to you that made them uncomfortable. oppressed groups can and often do still internalize other bad shit toward different minority groups. poc can still do racist things to other poc. just remember that. if youre defending this issue so staunchly that youre going into other people's inboxes about it, just make sure youre genuinely listening to their replies (like im assuming op is doing! hooray) instead of simply attacking without intent to listen.

A character having an abusive past does not excuse their racism, subtle racism or not and if you're relating to a character being racist because they have had a bad past maybe you need to examine your own actions.

(from a white person so if any POC disagree please let me know if you feel up to it)

[lighthouseas]

strange sleeping arrangements

In which Will and Mike get Murray’d and shenanigans ensue (this is not canon compliant).  I wrote this at 2 AM and it’s pretty messy but I tried.  I usually don’t write for other fandoms besides anipoke so we’ll see how this goes

TW/CW: mild swearing

Words: 3k

Mike Wheeler had a fairly large family, he liked to think.  He had two sisters and, obviously, two parents, making his family a family of five.  What he did not expect, however, was his already fairly large family of five to become a family of nine in the span of two days.  After the whole mess with Hawkins and the Upside Down opening up a massive gate through the entire town, the Wheeler house had been temporarily utilized for the Byers + Murray Bauman, for reasons that Mike could only decipher as “needing to relocate before the Russian government concocts a plan to assassinate him”.  As far as Mike could tell, he was the only one worried about this, as Joyce, who had also been involved with the whole Russia scheme, didn’t seem as pressed as Murray was.

As far as sleeping arrangements went, Mike’s mother had permitted Nancy and Jonathan to sleep in the same room only because of limited space, Joyce had gotten Holly’s room while Karen and Holly got what would normally be Mike’s parents’ room.  Ted Wheeler was perfectly content sleeping on the lazy boy.  As for Murray and Will, well, it was a bit more complicated.  Every time his mother told him he’d be sharing a room with Will, he physically recoiled.

What was wrong with him?

“Mike, why are you so resistant to sharing your room with Will? He’s our guest, for God’s sake.  Have some hospitality,” Karen scolded, shooting Mike a disapproving glare.  

“It’s- it’s just-” Mike really had no explanation for it.  The thought of doing such a thing, though he’d done it so many times before with all of the sleepovers he’d had with Will over the years, it scared him.  It scared him and shook him to his core and he didn’t know why.

Well, he sort of did know why, but he pretended he didn’t.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Wheeler.  I can just sleep in the basement,” Will chimed in.  His voice had an edge to it that Mike couldn’t seem to place.

Before Mike could say anything, Murray was in the doorframe leading into the kitchen, a bottle of what looked to be vodka clutched tightly in his hands as he scanned the room with a look of utter disapproval.

“Nope.  Not happening.  I am not, under any circumstance, having a twelve year old sleep in a dirty basement with me.”

“I’m fifteen,” Will corrected.

“Same difference!”

Mrs. Wheeler physically cringed at the sight of Murray, muttering a sort it out between the three of you before briskly exiting the kitchen.  Murray rolled his eyes, strutting into the kitchen and opening the fridge, clearly looking for some sort of food to combat the vodka.

Mike stole a glance over at Will, who had already been staring at him.  He quickly looked away, suddenly feeling a tightening in his chest.

Things had been different after El had fought Vecna.  Things had been different after Will had showed him the painting.

Hell, things had been different since that day Will had gotten back from the Upside Down.

Mike didn’t seem to have an ounce of hospitality left in him, and all he wanted to do was slam the door of his room in Will’s face and tell him to never walk in it, ever. 

“Mike,” Will whispered, glancing at Murray to make sure he wasn’t listening (he was busy slugging vodka and toasting Eggo waffles), “what’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange since we got back.” Will sighed, furrowing his brows at Mike. “Actually, you’ve been acting strange since you came to visit us.  What’s up with you?”

Mike clenched his fists so hard that he thought the veins in his hand might explode. “Nothing.  Nothing’s wrong.  My room is just messy.  I-” Mike swallowed hard, knowing damn well that wasn’t the reason, “I- uh- I wouldn’t want you staying in it.”

Will looked unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

The tightening in Mike’s chest seemed to suddenly explode. He stood up, slamming both hands down on the countertop in front of him. “I told you, nothing’s wrong!”

Will jumped, looking rather hurt by Mike’s sudden outburst.  He was about to say something more, but before he could, the sound of a toaster popping on the other side of the kitchen startled both boys.  Murray turned around, taking a sip of vodka and a bite of his now freshly-toasted waffle, raising an eyebrow at the two.

“Lover’s quarrel?”

The two boys glanced at each other with looks on par with what the actual hell is he talking about and both shouted “NO!” in unison at the man standing before them.

“My, my, no need to get so defensive! I was simply making an observation.” Murray shrugged, taking another bite of his Eggo. “You two argue like a pair of moody teenagers who are secretly in love with one another.  One of them,” he motioned to Mike, who visibly flinched, “is emotionally constipated when it comes to love because of, let me guess, his parents don’t actually love each other and he grew up with the expectation that his future “true love” would be exactly like that, so he needs a cute little fluffy emotional baggage compartment,” this time, Murray motioned to Will, who looked rather taken aback,  “to reassure him that he’s worth every penny of love because, oh my god, he’s head over heels for said boy and would do absolutely anything for him, even if it means shouldering the weight of his emotionally constipated love-of-his-life, who, by the way, probably hasn’t taken into account that he’s trauma dumping on a person who already has enough trauma as it is.”

The three sat in silence.  Mike looked over at Will, who was frozen on the spot, a clear, deep shade of red occupying his cheeks.  Mike opened his mouth to say something more, but found that all words escaped him.  

Because, goddamnit, Murray had somehow gotten everything that was going on in his head into words.  Odd words, but words nonetheless.  

Mike wanted to die.

Murray sighed. “The point is,” he said, swallowing the last bits of Eggo, “I don’t want a hopelessly in love twelve year old sleeping in the same room as me.  I left my adolescence long ago- I don’t want to have to relive it.  So for Pete’s sake, just share a goddamn room.”

With that, Murray retreated to the basement, still carrying the bottle of vodka in his hand.  Will and Mike looked at each other, then looked away, then looked at each other again before Mike sighed.

“Just take my room. I’ll take the basement.  I’m going to bed.” 

Will was about to protest, but Mike was already making his way down the basement steps.  Truthfully, Mike just wanted to get out of the situation as soon as possible, even if that meant sharing a basement with none other than Murray Bauman.

**

Mike couldn’t sleep.  The one very obvious reason why he couldn’t sleep was because of the fact that Murray snored extremely loudly.  Mike was surprised he hadn’t woken up the entire house.

The second reason (which, coincidentally, also had to do with Murray) was that he couldn’t stop thinking about the things Murray had said, and how spot-on they had been.

He was “emotionally constipated”, even if he hated to admit it to himself.  His parents had never loved each other- his mom had married his dad for the money and that was about it.  And yeah, okay, he had relied on Will for like, basically all of his emotional support throughout the years.  He’d never actually talked to El about that stuff because she had so much trauma already from quite literally being raised in a lab and he wasn’t about to compare his own problems to…that.  Maybe that was why his relationship with El had seemed so different lately, why his confession of “love” hadn’t felt right at all and had just felt like it needed to be there so that El wouldn’t die fighting Vecna.  He truly cared about El, but deep down, he knew he wouldn’t be able to love her in the way she so clearly loved him.  And that was something that terrified him to his core.  He wanted her to be happy, and he feared telling her the truth would devastate her.

But what about Will?  Mike realized that since the day Will had come back from the Upside Down, he had been, as Murray described, been treating him as somewhat of an “emotional baggage compartment”.  Only there to help Mike through pointless relationship problems with El, when he’d really been neglecting checking in to see if Will had been okay through it all.

“I’m such an asshole,” Mike murmured to himself, rubbing his temple with his fingers. 

He shot up from his sleeping bag, deciding that it wasn’t worth it trying to sleep with his thoughts, and quietly creeped up the basement stairs in order to not wake his rather odd guest.  If anyone saw him, he could just say he was getting water.  Which, honestly, could really help as a distraction from the situation he was in right now.  The pitter-patter of rain sounded outside the window, which only fueled the mood even more.

However, his endeavor was quickly put to a stop when he noticed a familiar face also standing in the kitchen, looking just as dumbfounded as he was.

“Hi,” Will uttered, a glass of what Mike hoped was water and not Murray’s vodka clutched tightly in hand.

“Hey,” Mike croaked in response.

“I was just-” 

“Oh, yeah, sorry.  I was just- uh- getting water. Yeah.”

“Oh.  Here.” Will quickly filled a cup for Mike and passed it to him.  The brush of Will’s fingers against his sent chills up Mike’s spine, though he tried not to show it.

“Thanks.”

The two sat in silence, awkwardly sipping their individual cups of water before Mike decided to break the tension.

“About what he said-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Will interrupted, diverting his gaze from Mike. “It’s- it’s not true, anyways.”

“No, no, it is,” Mike replied.  Will’s heart fluttered for a moment before Mike quickly caught himself. “I mean, the stuff about the emotions.  And everything.  I’m- I’m sorry if I keep using you as a “baggage compartment”, or whatever he said.  I’ve been an ass to you and you’ve been so tolerating of it and I’m sorry.”

Will was unsure of what to say, so he just nodded.  Mike had been an ass to him and still, all he wanted to do was grab his dumb face and kiss him.  He hated it.  

“Will?” Mike placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, snapping Will out of his daze. “You okay?”

Will jumped, turning red in the face before jerking his shoulder away. “Fine.  Just tired.  Goodnight.”

**

Without another word, Will turned and walked back to Mike’s room, leaving the latter standing in the kitchen.  He didn’t bother looking back at him in fear of doing something he would probably regret.  Will slammed the door to the room rather loudly.  He still wanted to punch Mike for hesitating in letting him share it.

Why did he hesitate, anyways?

He sat on the edge of the bed, the bed he’d half grown up in.  He’d had countless sleepovers and hangouts with Mike in this bed, but now it just felt empty.  Empty and sad.  The rain that was currently pouring outside didn’t help the mood.  Will’s mind drifted, and he was brought back to the fated day, the day where it was pouring outside and all he had wanted to do was play DND with Mike and Lucas, then Mike had said that…thing to him, and he’d left.  And then, in a pure fit of rage…he’d destroyed Castle Byers.

“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”

Will buried his head in his hands, sighing shakily.  He knew harboring feelings for Mike would only lead to heartbreak.  He knew, and still, his crush only continued to grow.  He’d been absolutely heartbroken when Mike had begun dating El.  Whenever the phone rang, Will always became hopeful that Mike was calling for him, but it was never the case.  It was always El.

Murray was right.  Right about everything.

Without thinking, Will walked over to the door, placing his hand on the doorknob.  He needed to say something.  If he didn’t, he feared he never would.  Just as he swung the door open, however, he was met with a pair of brown eyes staring back at him.  He blinked, trying to process the sight.  

“Hi,” Mike said, a smile curving at his lips.

“Hi,” Will echoed, suddenly realizing how close the two were.

Mike visibly hesitated before talking again. “Murray was right.”

“You’ve said that.” “No.  I mean…about everything.”

Unsure how to respond, Will stood in the doorframe like an idiot, watching as Mike clearly had some sort of mental battle that he couldn’t see very well on the surface.  He exhaled deeply, making direct eye contact with Will.

“I hope you thought he was right too.”

“What do you-”

Will was cut off by a pair of lips on his.  He froze for a second, processing the action, before feeling his entire body melt into it.  However, just as soon as it had started, Mike pulled away, eyes wide, as if in shock over what he himself had just done.

“Holy shit,” Mike murmured, observing Will’s expression (which was unreadable to him), “holy shit, I’m so sorry.”

Will couldn’t help but grin at Mike’s awkwardness, gently snaking an arm around his neck and pulling him so close that their foreheads touched.  Both boys’ breathing was incredibly shaky as they stared at each others’ lips.

“Yeah, I think Murray was onto something,” Will chuckled.

“Think so?” Mike replied. “I couldn’t sleep down there anyway, he snores so goddamn loud.”

At this, both laughed in unison, though rather quietly so they didn’t wake up the house.  All of a sudden, their laughter stopped as Will focused on Mike’s lips.  His voice could barely be heard above the pouring rain, but Mike managed to make it out.

“It’s always been you,” Will breathed.

“I know,” Mike whispered, “I know.”

Will leaned in first this time, drawing Mike closer to close the gap between the two.   Mike sighed into the kiss, eliciting a smile from Will as he reached up to run his hands through Mike’s curls.  Mike gently cupped Will’s face in his hands, drawing him ever closer.

It started sweet and gentle, but gradually, both became more desperate.  Will pulled back, suddenly realizing as he heard the creak of a door down the hallway that the bedroom door was still very much open and that anyone walking past would see the two of them making out.

“Shit.  Close the door.”

Mike laughed, quickly slamming the door shut and locked.  Before he had time to refocus himself on Will, he was pinned against a wall as Will kissed him desperately.  Mike was grabbing his shirt, pulling him closer.  He swiped his tongue along Will’s lip, asking for entrance, which only served to deepen their kiss more.  Finally, after what seemed like hours, both pulled away, breathing heavy as they tried to put lost air back in their lungs.

“Well.  Shit,” Mike breathed.

“Shit,” Will agreed.

“This means I can stay in my own bedroom now, right?” 

“Shut up,” Will laughed, pressing a kiss onto Mike’s lips.

“Also,” Mike started, “what- what does this mean?”

“It means we just made out for a good five minutes because of a man in your kitchen who drank too much vodka.”

Mike laughed, but his expression soon turned serious. “No. Really.  What does this mean?”

Will stayed silent for a moment.  His hands were still scrunched up in Mike’s shirt.  His heart was still beating a mile a minute.  His lips were still red from making out with his crush since, well, forever.

“I- I don’t know,” Will admitted.

Mike wrapped his arms around Will, this time just pulling him in for a simple hug. “Okay.  I understand. I mean, we are kind of in the middle of the apocalypse right now.  And my house is overflowing with people and if we keep doing this we’ll probably get caught.”

The two laughed, staying like that, hugging each other, in the middle of Mike Wheeler’s room.  Both could’ve honestly stayed like that forever.

“I guess we have Murray to thank,” Mike joked.

“And the sleeping arrangements that someone refused to comply to,” Will added.

Sharing a room with Will Byers was taking him back to old times, sure, but as Mike kissed Will once more, he felt it.  Something he hadn’t felt with El or anyone else.

Mike didn’t mind these new feelings.  They were better than anything he could’ve ever imagined.