#manipulative!steve harrington

[beautifmind]

Eddie Munson manip

for those curious these are all the resources i used to create this manip. i also use photoshop.

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[Graphics created by me, so please don't copy or steal.]

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[hawkinsbnbg]

Stepbrother Eddie who just wanted to protect his innocent little brother and thought that no one would ever deserve his baby.

He’d chase off Steve’s new boyfriends and return home with bloody knuckles—a result of his wrath—because how dare they lay their dirty hands on Steve?

Every day, when Steve came back from school, he’d check Steve’s pretty cunt to make sure the omega hadn't let some random alphas take his virginity.

If it required him to use his tongue and fingers for a thorough inspection, then no one would be the wiser. And if he knotted Steve’s cute ass once or twice every time before he fell asleep with a purring omega in his arms, then it was a little secret between him and his baby.

In the end, Eddie was the one who took Steve’s virginity because no one could protect his omega better than him.

[d3cayingdolly]

I heard that you're an actor, so act like a stand up guy

(my pinterest <3)

[estrellami-1]

Rereading this fic from @steddieas-shegoes and had to do this.

“You boys’d better sit down.” Wayne’s voice comes out quiet, almost hesitant.

“What’s up, old man?” Eddie asks. He sounds jovial, but everyone in attendance knows him. Knows he uses humor as a shield. Knows he’s scared.

Steve takes his hand.

“No easy way t’say it, so here goes.” He takes a deep breath. In, out. “I got cancer.”

Eddie freezes, then starts rambling. “That… that’s okay. I mean, It’s obviously not ideal, but. We’ve got money now. We can- treatment. There’s treatments, right? We can- we can do something?”

Steve squeezes his hand. Looks steadily at Wayne. “How are you feeling?”

“Fuck, good question,” Eddie mutters.

Wayne looks at him. At the look in his eyes. “I’ve been better.” He glances over at Eddie, then back to Steve. They both know he can’t say how he’s really feeling. Eddie’s already hanging by a thread as it is.

“Eds,” Steve murmurs, squeezing his hand with both of his. “Grab the three of us some water?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says. “Y-yeah, of course, I’ll- yeah. Okay.” He stands and walks out, not looking at either of them. They both know he’ll be okay; he just needs to process.

Wayne looks at Steve.

Steve looks at Wayne. Inclines his head.

Wayne sighs. Allows the tremor in his voice when he speaks. “Hurts all over, kid.” Steve nods. “Worst part is I won’t do the treatment.”

Steve frowns at him. “Why not?”

“Experimental. Painful. I’m already up in m’years, boy, I don’t got that many left. It’d be a waste.”

Steve nods, gaze sliding down to his lap. He doesn’t look up when he speaks. “My dad died from cancer.” Wayne stills. “I always thought it was anticlimactic, y’know? He was… God, he was a truly awful person. Just seemed like he deserved something just as awful to finally do him in. Didn’t seem fair that it was something so normal.” He meets Wayne’s gaze. “I’m starting to think he got what he deserved after all.”

Wayne works his jaw. Blinks away wetness. Says roughly, “Goddammit, kid, get me the phone book. I’m callin’ the hospital back.”

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[inflomora-art]

kinktober 15: incubus/consensual mind control, for you want to play with the sire? a collab with @emchant3d 🖤 twitter | patreon

[florallylly]

steve harrington so used to people's eyes on him, doesn't notice when someone is watching him OR hyper vigilant but also really good at reading people, knows eddie has been sneaking peeks at him from behind his textbook

[artiststarme]

Highway to Hell

Just another fun little story based on a random sentence song title that came to mind. I hope you guys like it and please leave a comment below!

~*~*~*~

Steve was a really bad driver. He knew it, his high school friends knew it, and the police knew it. He didn’t mean it in a technical way, he was perfectly capable of driving a car and not crashing it. Admittedly, he was reckless and he found driving laws to be more of a suggestion than a rule. Steve had his reasons though. 

There was very little to do in Hawkins for any sort of entertainment. One could only go to the arcade or go swimming at the lake so many times before it became boring just like everything else in the town. When the excitement surrounding fun activities wore out, Steve turned to racing down empty country roads and skidding down the highway to feel a thrill. 

And he liked it. The feeling of the wind tearing through the open windows, the exhilaration at the threat of danger, and the delight that came with gaslighting the cops that pulled him over. There was nothing better. 

All of that changed when the kids started hanging around though. Steve couldn’t race down the 25 mph roads at 70. He had to slow down and protect his precious cargo. As such, the only people that didn’t realize he was a notoriously bad driver were the kids and Robin. They considered him the safest driver they’d ever been around. He followed the speed limit to a T, didn’t have road rage like their parents, and always stopped at stop signs. What more could they ask for?

It lasted for a while, his good driving habits, enough that Hopper, Powell, and Callahan all took a sigh of relief. Not having to worry about Steve Harrington doing his darndest to wrap himself around a tree allowed them to let their guard down. Granted, it coincided with strange happenings, disappearances, and murders, but still, it was one less thing on their plate.  

When he started hanging out with Eddie after the events of Spring Break, Steve relaxed a little bit. He didn’t have to be so stringent with his driving and could start letting loose again. So he did. Whenever he was alone or driving somewhere with Eddie, he’d speed like a bat out of hell, ignore the recommended stop signs, take turns too fast, everything he shouldn’t do. 

Hopper was the one who pulled him over first after he illegally passed the police cruiser going 60 mph in a 45. 

“Harrington, what the hell? I thought you were done with this shit,” Hopper grumbled. His face was exasperated which made sense since his pseudo-son was being a little shit again. 

Steve just sent him a chagrined smile, “I’m sorry Hop, I didn’t mean to speed. I’m rushing Eddie back to the trailer because he’s feeling sick and I don’t want him throwing up in my car. I love the guy but not enough to deal with vomit, you know?”

Hopper just shook his head at him and waved him off. “Next time I catch you speeding, you’re getting a ticket. Go the speed limit, Steve.”

“Of course you won’t catch me again, Hop! I’ll see you at dinner tomorrow. Bye!” He called as Hopper walked back to the cruiser. He looked at Eddie in the passenger seat to face a deranged glare. “What’s up with you?”

“Me?!” Eddie shrieked. “You’re the one speeding like you have a death wish then blaming it on me to my future father-in-law! You’re not winning me any points here, Steve!”

“Wow hey, Hop likes you just fine. Also, future father-in-law? Let’s go back to that, as far as I know, you haven’t even proposed!”

“Gay marriage is illegal! Otherwise I would’ve-”

~*~*~*~

The next time they got pulled over, Steve blew through a stop sign. That one, admittedly, was his fault. He’d been too distracted with Eddie’s hand rubbing his thigh that he’d driven right through it. Luckily though, it was late and no one was out and about. Besides the police cruiser that was parked out of sight in the dark. 

As soon as Powell saw it was him, he told him to keep his eyes on the road and walked back to his car. He’d dealt a lot with Steve Harrington and he wasn’t willing to put up with the headache at 2 AM on a Tuesday. He’d get him next time, he was sure. 

~*~*~*~

Steve had a tactic for dealing with Callahan. His big brother could be a bit of a dumbass and as long as you muddied the situation enough, he would drop the lecture and ticket out of confused rage alone. It had worked with him every single time thus far and it wouldn’t fail him now. 

So, when he and Eddie got pulled over for speeding down an empty country road, Steve mustered up his bitchiest face. As soon as Phil walked up to the window, he started his act. 

“Phil, what the hell? Why are you pulling me over? I’m just trying to get home after a long day.”

“You were going 30 mph over the speed limit which is considered reckless driving. I should write you a ticket right now,” Callahan spoke with an air of cocky arrogance that was sure to fade. 

“Who says I was speeding? You were the one that had to speed to catch up to me. Why were you driving so quickly? Some might say that’s reckless.” The smile dropped off of Phil’s face immediately and he became defensive. 

“I’m a police officer, I’m allowed to speed.”

“Ohhh, so you think you’re above the law because you have a badge?” Steve raised an eyebrow and could only watch in delight as Phil’s face became more and more red.

“That’s not what I sai-”

“That’s awful, Phil. What would mom say right now? Or worse, what would Hopper say about his deputy mistreating the badge?”

Phil just looked at him in shock before he blinked. “How the hell do you do this every time? Do you know how many times you’ve tried to trick me when I’ve pulled you over?”

“Phil, that doesn’t sound like me at all. Why are you really pulling me over today? Are you trying to pull the annoying big brother card? Is this a prank?”

“You know it's not a prank, you were speeding!” He yelled at him.

“You were speeding!” Steve screamed back, pointing a finger at him accusingly. 

“Jesus Christ, just go home and stop fucking speeding! Fuck Steve, every time!” Phil screamed in fury before stomping back to his cruiser. 

Steve merely rolled up the window and turned his head to look at Eddie. He was once again shocked with his mouth gaping open. 

“Oh yeah, did I tell you that Phil’s my brother? Small world, huh?”

~*~*~*~

Of course no one in the Party believed Eddie when he told them that Steve drove like a maniac on crack. Every single person he told just shrugged it off and it was driving him insane. He even tried to convince Hopper to talk to the kids but he refused to get in the middle or risk fighting with his kid. 

To this day, the Party still doesn’t believe Eddie when he says that Steve is a reckless driver (and it’s infuriating because Steve smirks arrogantly anytime it comes up).

Bonus: Eddie knows Steve before the Upside Down because he almost hit him with his car when Eddie was walking home one day (Steve gave him a ride after but the damage was done)

That’s how he knew he could handle driving the RV and why he decided to throw him the reins. 

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[findafight]

Anyway - Stobin makes perfect sense to Tommy and Carole. Their only surprise/double take is that Steve’s managed to find someone else other the same weird sense of boundaries as Steve i.e. it’s months into their friendship before either of them thinks to ask for each others’ number, but they think nothing of attempting to sneak into each other’s houses at three in the morning.

It’s a bittersweet feeling; on the one hand, there’s NO way they’re getting him back now. On the other hand, they’re not responsible for trying to “look after” him (keeping him from presenting as “too” neurodivergent/queer) anymore. Looking back, he was kind of high maintenance…

Tommy and Carol crying screaming throwing up seeing stobin galavanting around town because that's THEIR job!! That's THEIR weird boy best friend what is Robin Buckley doing hanging off him and laughing with him and getting rides from him and wearing his sweaters?!? It took them years to build up to that (because they were kids lol) and Buckley comes in and within a MONTH of working together they're inseparable?? Where's the justice in that??

She's not even being his friend right! Instead of making sure he acts "normal" and doesn't draw attention to himself they are both acting openly strange in public! Steve had gotten worse when he started babysitting the middleschoolers but now? It's like he doesn't care! He's making weird faces in public with her, and she's encouraging this!

God they're never going to win him back now. Even though it was tough trying to get him not to act too weird or help figuring out WHY people were acting a certain way (Steve was always good at reading what people were feeling, but not necessarily the why of it all. Like why be annoyed at questions? WhyWhy pick on someone you barely know when they're just standing not doing anything? Why walk on lunch tables making speeches? (That last one Tommy and Carol couldn't answer either) which maybe led to sort of ignoring people he didn't know or care about?) They miss it now they no longer get to...

[nezxshi]

hellooo steddie fandom, the flight of icarus book is hurting my heart bc of all the shit that eddie went through.

does anyone have any good hurt comfort steddie fic recs? preferably one that's eddie-centric plz i just. i just want to read about steve making him feel safe and loved PLEASEEE THANKS

[acowardinmordor]

Actually, based on the previous post sparking a thought, and the common desire we seem to have for seeing Steve recaptured by Russians, have we considered: Russians capture Steve AND Dustin? Because Dustin would be a very effective pressure point to get Steve to do what he's told. And if the Russians found out that Steve has fought demo-monsters before, has been into the tunnels before, he'd be the perfect candidate to be sent in again for research.

ps whenever I post a random thought, it is an invitation to send me fic recs close to the concept

[cavinginhisfvce]

"You actually thought I loved you?"

Ship: Harringrove. Unedited.

TW: Child abuse, SA mention, toxic relationship, manipulation, breakup.

"You actually thought I loved you?"

Those words replayed in Billy's mind for hours after he'd left Steve's house, after he'd slipped into the Camaro and sped down to the Quarry to get trashed.

When Steve all but shouted it at Billy, the boy had wanted to yell back, "no, because no one fucking loves me. Not my mom, not my dad, not Max. Not you." But he knew the elder wouldn't care. It would just be a bunch of noise, embarrassing, soul crushing noise added to the room. The room where Steve once laid him down, and peppered kisses down his body, held his hands, and called him baby, sweet boy, he told Billy he was his. He belonged to Steve. The room where he told Billy he loved him. Told him he wanted to take the blond away from his shitty father.

He was so fucking stupid to think this thing with Harrington had meant anything to him, he was a goddamn fool to believe those round, chocolate pools when Steve showered him with praise.

It had never been anything more than lust induced infatuation, but stupid Billy went and fell in love. He fell for the boy with doe eyes and a shy, yet captivating smile. That same boy could spit vitriol in ways Billy could never imagine.

He was so dumb to believe that King Steve could ever love a damaged person like Billy, it was naive for him to give into the siren call of being loved and valued. 

Boys like Billy don't get tender touches, and sweet kisses, and if they do, they definitely don't get them long term.

It hurt, mostly because Billy had gone against his better judgment to be with the brunet, had defied his father's lessons, his rules, the same ones he spent years beating into his son, for a chance with the boy who smiled brighter than the sun shined.

He told Steve about his childhood, about his mother leaving him with his father, he told him about the babysitter who touched him, and the cop who followed in his footsteps the first time Billy was arrested for fighting.

Steve knew every intimate detail of Billy's life, he told him he was worth loving, only to quite literally laugh in his face. 

Two months after the breakup, Billy found himself holed up in Harrington's bedroom, his brows pinched in discomfort as the elder frantically attempted to apologize for his words just weeks before. He was red in the face as tears spilled down his cheeks, his voice trembled when he spoke. His hand was sweaty, something Billy once found amusing. 

He wanted to fold, wanted to jump onto Steve's lap and kiss the air out his lungs, chasing the sweetness that always accompanied one of the boy's millions of kisses. 

Instead, Billy did none of that. 

He slipped his hand from Steve's and abruptly stood up, his sock clad feet made no sound when they met the carpeted ground. There was no sound aside from the squeak of Steve's door as it swung open. 

There was silence until Billy was pulling on his boots at the door, and Harrington had breathlessly trailed behind him. 

"Why are you still leaving me? I need you, Blue Bird…Y-you can't leave…"

Steve's words almost tune out the ones from a few weeks ago, but they still ring louder than any confessions Billy's ever gotten.

He shakes his head, clicking his tongue as he turns his head to glare at the boy he wanted nothing more than to lay in bed with, cuddled up like they spent every free weekend together for the past ten months.

"You left. You don't get to cry, or pretend you're so heartbroken to be rid of me."

Steve is quick to object, his bottom lip quivering, Billy just wants to laugh, "I love you, please don't do this! I need you, Billy."

The younger boy takes a shaky breath, his eyes turning misty despite the anger fluttering in his stomach. 

"I'm tired of being treated like shit, by everyone, Steve! You dumped me, you don't love me, and if you do, you're gonna have to do more than cry to fix this." He pauses, flexing his fingers.

"You haven't even told me why you said that, why you had to go for the one thing you knew would hurt more than if you would've told me I deserve the crap I've been through! 

You love me, but what happens next time you change your mind, Steve?"

"I would never say that.

I won't change my mind, Billy…please. Just give me one more chance, and I'll make this right…"

Billy scoffs, now turning to face the door. 

He doesn't believe Steve, not even a little, but he's so desperate for this to work out, so desperate to have something that makes his life of hurt just a little less painful. Even if that something might destroy him in the process. 

"You want a second chance, Harrington? Fuckin' earn that shit."

Steve doesn't reply, not that Billy gives him the chance to. 

By the time Billy's blinking, and Steve is about to confirm or deny his willingness to fight for the blond, he's peeling out Steve's driveway, his tires skidding with the movement. 

"You actually thought I loved you?" 

"No," Billy thinks bitterly. "But I love you."

[nonbinary-eddie-munson]

I was thinking about Steve and his lack of canonical backstory and my mind went to the book Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents (a great read if you don't have the best relationship with your parents) and how that could apply to Steve and his totally real parents who definitely exist. Here part of it, i hope you like it

-

Steve Harrington had been a bit of a sickly child, nothing overly serious but colds and flus that would have any other child sick for only a few days would have Steve down for a week.

Secretly the days Steve had to stay home sick from school were his favorite because that meant his mom or dad would take off work and spend the whole day with him! The times his dad would stay home with him he would have to stay in bed all day while his dad worked from the home office periodically coming up to check on him and bring him soup and if he was lucky even read him a book!

Steve’s favorite though was when his mom would stay home from work to take care of him. His mom would wrap him up in a blanket on the couch and they would cuddle and watch cartoons. At lunch time she would cook him soup and grilled cheese (always cut diagonally) while he sat on a stool at the kitchen island watching enraptured as she sang along to her Roy Orbison records. His parents were both so busy at work it often felt that the only times he really got attention from them was when he was sick so if he played up how sick he was in order to get to spend just one more day at home with them, could anyone really blame him?

Turns out yes. Yes they could. The days of afternoon cartoons and cuddles on the couch. Of diagonal grilled cheeses and his mom belting out Blue Lagoon and Leah in the kitchen ended abruptly and painfully his 6th grade year. Flu season came around and Steve had been sick for three days already. Sure 11 was getting a little old to cuddle with is mom on the couch, Tommy would definitely make fun of him for it if he knew. But the days he was sick were really the only times his mom openly showed him affection so he reveled in the love and attention of his parents on those rare occasions.

Steve had just woken up, still a bit feverish and his throat scratchy and slowly walked down the stairs his comforter wrapped around his shoulders and trailing on the floor. He found his mother in the kitchen hurriedly cooking breakfast, she looked him over quickly before giving an annoyed huff and turning back to the stove.

“I can’t stay home with you today Steven, the office is swamped with work so I need to go in.” She said briskly, “ I made you some oat meal, so make sure to eat before you go back to bed.”

“Oh.. Okay. Thank you mom” Steve replied unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. At his reply his mother turned from the stove a stern look on her face.

“Honestly Steven I don’t understand why you can’t be more like the other children and I don’t have the time to give in to your manipulations and stay home.”

Shocked at the coldness of his mother’s words Steve took an involuntary step back, a quiet whine leaving the back of his throat.

“There you go again with your drama, trying to make me feel bad” his mother snapped “now eat and go back to bed I have to get to work”  she removed the small pot from the burner and brushed past him making her way to the front door.

“I’ll see you when I’m home from work and if you’re not feeling better we’ll take you to the doctor again maybe he can figure out what’s wrong with you.” With that she was gone and so was Steve’s childhood. At least, that’s what it felt like.

The next morning despite still feeling awful Steve got up, dug some cold medicine out of the cabinet and forced himself to school, telling his mom he felt good enough to go. Steve didn’t want to be a bother, he didn’t want to manipulate his parents into staying home from work. So after that when he got sick again, sick enough to warrant staying home from school Steve would tell his parents he was fine on his own and wave them off to work. His mom would always call at lunch to make sure he was okay, but eventually even that stopped. Eventually Steve stopped telling them he was sick at all. After all he didn’t want to be manipulative like his mom said he was. He didn’t want to trick them into caring about him.

And that was just the thing, when he was little his mom would tell him how much he was wanted. How she had wanted a baby for years and had almost given up when she finally got pregnant with Steve, her little miracle. His childhood had been a happy one, his father constantly had a camera out taking pictures for the photo books his mom painstakingly put together. It had been filled with birthday parties and t-ball games and his mother singing and dancing in the kitchen. Sure his parents were busy but they had made time for him. At least they used to, when he was still cute and little and his parents coworkers were still impressed by stories of his little league home run hits and pictures of his round baby face missing two front teeth.

Because that was the thing about babies. Eventually they stopped being small and cute. Eventually they grew up. Eventually their parents stopped caring.

Steve tried his best to get them to keep caring, he signed up for every sport he could fit into his schedule and for awhile that was enough. As long as he excelled at sports it was enough to keep his parents attention. Sure as he got older his parents were around less and less, but they still managed to make most of his games. But like everything else eventually even that wasn’t enough and by his sophomore year of high school Steve stopped caring if they were even there. Or at least he told himself he did.

Steve’s parents were barely home, his father constantly traveling for work after he received a promotion, his mother going along on the trips despite the work she would miss after Steve’s father had come back from a work trip with lipstick on his collar for the third time. It was fine though, his parents not coming to his games meant he didn’t have to listen to his father pick apart his swimming form, or nag at him about how “Alex Carver wouldn’t of missed that shot” despite the fact that Steve had scored most of the points that game and even though he missed his last shot they had still won by well over 20 points so what was the big deal?

School and his grades were a whole other battle. When he had started high school Steve tried his best to get straight A’s he really did. He couldn’t help that the words and numbers on his homework pages and the black board floated around, but he did his best to get his work done and correct anyways.

Steve worked as hard as he could going to the library in his free period, asking the teachers for help when he didn’t understand something (which was often but for the most part his teachers were patient with him, he was an up and coming star on both the basketball and swim teams after all) and ended his freshman year with B’s in all his classes except for history and gym both of which he had gotten an A in! He had been so proud of himself and thought his parent would be too. Instead Steve’s father had screamed at him over his B’s, told Steve “he couldn’t believe he was raising such an idiot”.

That was the last straw for Steve really. He tried as hard as he could and it was never enough. No matter what he did, he was too slow, too dumb, too manipulative for his parents to give a shit about him. And if his parents didn’t give a shit why should he?

Steve stopped trying so hard to keep his grades up, only doing the bare minimum to keep his grades high enough so he wouldn’t get kicked from the basketball or swim team. He started throwing parties every weekend, trying to bring some noise into the cold lifeless house his parents barely bothered to come home to anymore.

By the end of his Sophomore year Steve had cemented his title of “King”. Sure his parents didn’t give a shit but the other kids at school worshiped him now, he had teachers excusing assignments he didn’t bother doing because word around the school was Steve was going to be the next Captain of the Basketball team and he had already been made Co-Captain of the swim team despite only being a sophomore.  He was the King of Hawkins high, every guy wanted to be his friend, every girl was practically lining up to date him and Steve reveled in it, at least he did for a little while.

-

If you made it this far thank you so much for reading! I'd love to know what you guys think! My brain already has ideas for character studies for Argyle, Nancy and Jonathan that I was thinking of writing also.

[catharusustulatus]

When the party finally meets Steve’s parents, they’re kind of shocked to find out just how similar Steve is to his mom. His mom is a lot younger than his dad, who has the same sharp nose, but is otherwise silent and ominous, what Steve might have been if he hadn’t changed.

Steve’s mom though…she has beautiful wavy chestnut hair, freckles and beauty marks across her face and arms. She and Steve stand, catching up, leaning against the dining room wall of the Wheeler house while Dustin and Robin watch in awe from the kitchen table. Steve and his mom stand the same, run their hand through their medium length hair the same, twirl the bottom of their shirt in thought the same. Have the same eyelashes, the same sad smile. Dustin and Robin laugh, mouths agape to see Steve as his mom’s mini me.

[d3cayingdolly]

im just a girl in love with pretty boys trapped in a world of gym bros

[bowiemanips]

Camila Mendes and Joe Keery in stranger things, requests open!

[on-coming-dusk]

Summary: Wayne leaves the safety zone thinking he might find a couple of survivors that need help. If his lick is bad, he’ll find a few that need to be put down before they fully turn. The last thing he expects is to find a group of children, no adults in sight. 

Characters: Wayne Munson, Steve Harrington, Maxine Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Billy Hargrove, Eddie Munson, Gareth (the Great)

Warnings: Implied character death(s), unprocessed grief, implies manipulation, angst

Word Count: 1,355

A/N: This is the beginning of my Stranger Things zombie AU! This is actually a rewrite. I decided that I want this to be my first fic in present tense. So I rewrote this section and am reuploading it here. I have no idea how long it might be (yet). Steve is about fifteen here, Erica is roughly six, and I have all the other kids at nine. Wayne is written to be thirty six. This is a blend of zombie apocalypse worlds that I have been consuming recently and have inspired this work. It’s going to stay closest to the Warm Bodies universe (if you’re not familiar with the story it’s alright - you won’t need to know anything about it to understand!) Enjoy. 🙂

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

“Mr. Munson, why were you traveling alone?” Max asks, straight to the point as always. Wayne realized there is no beating around the bush with this one. 

“Maxine-”

“No Steve, it’s alright. That’s a fair question.” Wayne leans against his legs, edges closer to the fire. “We’ve been traveling together for a while. I’ll tell you my story, but it ain’t a happy one. You sure you wanna hear it?” 

Bright blue eyes dance in the dying flames as she looks up at him. “Is it scary?” 

“A little bit, yes. But most things are, Max, even before the zombies but especially now.” Wayne releases a steady exhale. “How about I tell you tomorrow, when the sun’s up and we’re on the move again?”

“Promise you’ll tell me?”

“Yes, I promise.”

She nods before turning her icy gaze to Steve. “You’ll sleep tonight?” 

“Wh-” Steve sighs before continuing. “Yeah, of course. I’m gonna take turns keeping watch tonight so that Mr. Munson can sleep too. You go lay with Erica, okay? I’ll see you in the morning.” She stares at him for a moment longer before moving to join the other kids, all fast asleep after another long day of walking. 

Wayne sits in silence with the teenager, listening to the girl get settled. He knows that it is time to extinguish the flames with all the little ones laying down for the night. He needs to put out the fire, to be safe, as a precaution. But he is cold. The flames can’t reach his core and fix the root of his problem but they are helping for now. All he can afford is another minute or two, that’s all he can risk, and even that isn’t responsible. It isn’t the responsible thing to do. He starts dumping handfuls of dirt onto the already weak fire. 

“Mr. Munson-” 

“Steve, please, call me Wayne.” His voice comes out choked and it surprises him. He is careful to keep his gaze locked on the last flames that dances. He has gone too long now not hearing his first name. If he hears Mr. Munson one more time he is sure he’ll shatter, break apart at the seams and fail all over again. “It’s the only thing I want in return for helping. Understand me?” 

The boy stares at him like he isn’t sure what to make of his words. “That’s all?”

“Yeah, I meant it when I said I want to help you and the little ones.” Wayne forces himself to his feet. He can’t keep sitting here, if he does he may never move again and there are people relying on him now. When he left the safety zone it was so that could help some poor bastards that are still out here. The last thing he expected was to find a group of kids led by one slightly older kid, but here he is now and he needs to protect them. No one else is going to do it, it was down to him, just like before. “Go peak on ‘em, make sure they’re asleep. I need to speak with you, just the two of us.” 

Steve nods, stays silent as he moves to where the kids are asleep. Wayne focuses on the task at hand, dumps more dirt over the last few embers. He pulls the flashlight from his side, aims it at the ground before turning it on. He has never liked the dark, but it is worse now than ever before. Every twig that snaps or leaf that rustles makes the hair on his neck stand on end. Monsters lurk in the shadows and they aren’t just zombies. 

“They’re asleep.” Steve is behind him again and Wayne bites the inside of his cheek to keep from reacting. 

“Good. Don’t need them all overhearing, just in case.” Wayne takes a seat again,pulls his jacket tighter around his shoulders in a vain attempt to keep warm. “You say you’re fifteen.?” 

“Yes.” Steve’s response is clipped.

“Wayne hums, looks at the beam of light on the ground. “I take it you never learned to drive before all this mess, did you?” He looks back up, finally meeting the boy’s gaze. 

Steve blinks in surprise, like this is the last thing that he expects to hear. “What?”

“You said you are from Indiana, right? Legal age to start driving there is fifteen, well, it was anyway, if you took that damn driving class. Though, something tells me with the end of the world you never got the chance to learn.”

“Um, well… My mom was teaching me to drive around our old neighborhood, Loch Nora. I - I haven’t had a lot of practice. But I know how to drive a little bit.” 

“Some experience is better than none. I take it you learned on an automatic?” 

“Yes.” Steve is staring at him, brows knit and eyes narrowed. 

“Guess I’ll have to teach you to drive stick then. That’s if you wanna learn. I’m not gonna force you to do anything you don’t want to. We’ll just be able to cover more ground if we have two people who can drive. It’ll allow us to cut out some risks, being able to stay on the move. Traveling on foot would be safer if there weren’t so many little ones in the group. We can’t keep moving at this rate, they’ll just keep getting more tired the longer that we’re out here. A car opens up the possibility of new threats, but I think it’s a chance worth taking. Our best chance of getting to the safety zone, all things considered, is by car. What do you think, Steve?”

Steve is still staring, mouth slightly agape. “I - I um… I-”

“Steve, are you alright?” If it were lighter or the fire was still burning Wayne might notice the way his shoulders shake as he tries to force rhythm back into his breathing. “Shit.” 

“I’m alright sir, I swear!” He sounds far from it, he is crying for Christ’s sake. 

“Don’t pretend to be okay when you aren’t, it’s bad for you.” Maybe someday he’ll listen to his own advice. Wayne keeps the beam of light aimed at the ground, giving Steve what little privacy he can spare. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you. And I’m sorry to put so much responsibility on you, but you’re the closest thing to another adult that I got right now.” 

“No that’s not it. I can help, I want to help.” Steve sniffles, wipes his face on the sleeve of his sweater. “I- I’m sorry. I just… I have to keep them safe, Wayne. They’ve been looking at me, asking questions that I don’t have the answers to for weeks now. I have no idea what I’m doing. We were going to die out here until you stumbled across us and they’re just so young. Erica is barely six, Wayne. They’re still babies.”

“You’ve got that right.” He places a tentative hand on the boy’s shoulder. “We can do this, Steve. I know it seems like the odds are stacked against us, and maybe they are, but that ain’t gonna stop us.” He takes a slow breath in, forces his voice to stay even. “I made a promise to someone I lost that I am going to help as many people as I can/ I might have only stumbled across your group but we’re here now. Our paths have crossed. We’re going to get to the safety zone, all of us. You hear me?” Wayne squeezes his shoulder, and Steve meets his gaze, gives a sure nod even as tears still run down his cheeks. “You need a minute?” 

“No, I’m alright.” He swallowed hard. “Do you have a car? Or do we like, steal something..?” 

“With a little luck I’ll still have a car. If something happened I fully plan on stealing something. You think you can live with that, kid?” 

Steve nods immediately. Maybe it’s bad luck to acknowledge it, but Wayne can feel it in his chest. They're going to be okay.

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End A/N: To be honest, I want to upload this to AO3 at some point but I am in the middle of writing several other works. I know myself well enough to know that I am going to keep writing this in bite sized pieces that I’ll probably just keep uploading here all linked together for now. 🙂

I would love any thoughts, opinions, general vibes or just a nice conversation! My inbox is always open!!!